Contribution Task: Poison-Sand Centipede (5.2k characters)

But before Fang Shu could rejoice for long, he quickly learned from Er Daiyuan and the others that—

A little over a hundred Dao merits a year was not enough to guarantee a place among the inner disciples.

Generally speaking, one needed at least two hundred to stand a chance, while two hundred and fifty was more reliable. And if one wanted to compete for the top three, one had to earn over three hundred merits!

This instantly sobered Fang Shu.

He had Long Gu as his immortal backer, but the other disciples in the temple likewise had their own families and masters behind them.

Moreover, aside from the Venom Hall, there were another seventeen halls within the temple. As for the Foundation Establishment immortals beyond the Eighteen Halls, Fang Shu did not even know their exact number.

Besides, every year there were bound to be some fellows willing to fight and risk their lives. A single mission might earn them fifty or sixty merits, perhaps even over a hundred.

I cannot simply sit and wait! This thought arose in Fang Shu's heart.

He also began quietly pondering why Long Gu had cut off his path to descending the mountain for missions.

Was it a deliberate test, or would she rather see him miss out on inner disciple status than risk life and limb earning Dao merits, only to die outside?

But no matter what, he had to obtain inner disciple status.

Especially when his thoughts drifted to the casual advice Old Mountain Lord had given him before he came up the mountain.

Vaguely, he suspected that obtaining inner disciple status might bring other opportunities afterward.

Setting aside his distracting thoughts.

Fang Shu stopped spending every day cultivating and studying methods in the Yin-Yang Gu Pit. Instead, he began appearing