Li Changde

Arriving at the Merit Affairs Hall, Dong Lin found the duty officer and handled the various procedures for advancing to the inner sect.

First, he exchanged his Sect Jade Token. The light cyan token was replaced with a dark cyan one, its texture visibly warmer and more delicate. It even seemed to possess a faint soul-tempering effect.

"Keep this jade token safe. It is exclusive to inner sect disciples, a Black-Tier Illusion Artifact. Unlike the entry-level Illusion Artifacts used as outer sect disciple tokens, Inner Sect Jade Tokens are uniformly crafted by artifact refiners of Black Tier and above. Carrying one on your person can slowly temper your spirit."

"Thank you for clearing that up, Deacon."

"You're welcome. It has been many years since the sect last had a specially recruited inner sect disciple.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Li Changde, a deacon of the Merit Affairs Hall.

"I am Master Xuan's eldest disciple. My teacher asked me to look after you.

"Junior Brother, you've only just entered the sect. If you run into any difficulties, tell your Senior Brother."

After helping Dong Lin complete the procedures, Li Changde rose to his feet, patted Dong Lin on the shoulder, and spoke.

"Greetings, Senior Brother. Thank you for Elder Xuan's care. There actually is something I was just hoping to ask you about."

"Go ahead, Junior Brother."

"I want to find some work to offset my sect missions. Does Senior Brother have anything to recommend?"

"Ah, there really are quite a few twists and turns to that.

"Let me think. Junior Brother, you've only just stepped onto the path of cultivation. You don't have any trade to rely on, do you?"

Dong Lin smiled wryly. "That is indeed the case. Aside from cultivation, I don't know the first thing about anything else."

"Mm, that does make things rather troublesome. The sect's artifact refiners and alchemists sometimes issue missions to recruit apprentices. You can keep an eye on the mission postings in the main hall of the Merit Affairs Hall.

"Of course, missions recruiting apprentices are usually extremely sought-after, so they are hard to secure.

"Even if you do secure one, you still have to pass through the masters' layers upon layers of selection.

"The sect's artifact refining rooms and alchemy chambers are even harder to enter. Those do not recruit apprentices.

"Besides those two major fields, there is also planting Spirit Rice, raising spirit beasts, and the like. Those are all rather arduous.

"Whether in terms of earnings or long-term prospects, they simply cannot compare with alchemy and artifact refining.

"Planting Spirit Rice in particular brings dismal harvests when you first start out without experience.

"The only advantage is that the barrier to entry is much lower than for alchemy or artifact refining. You do not necessarily need a teacher to guide you; you can consult relevant books and feel your way forward on your own."

"Alright, thank you for the trouble, Senior Brother. I'll go back and think it over."

"Mm, there's no rush. Inner sect disciples at the Qi Refining Stage have twice the basic mission requirements of outer sect disciples. Every five years, you must complete ten Yellow Tier sect missions.

"The jobs I just mentioned can also offset part of that. Junior Brother, decide for yourself."

"Mm-hm, then I'll take my leave first, Senior Brother."

"Junior Brother, let's add each other as friends. If you have any questions, you can contact me directly through the jade token."

"This Sect Jade Token can add friends too? Alright, Senior Brother. How does it work?"

"Mm-hm, this is a function only available on Inner Sect Jade Tokens. Come, Junior Brother, I'll teach you. It should be done like this."

After successfully establishing contact with Deacon Li through their jade tokens, Dong Lin returned to his Spirit Chamber and first sorted through the resources he currently possessed.

Because the cultivation chamber's spiritual energy had been exceptionally abundant, aside from the one Qi-Gathering Pill he had taken to help him sense qi, Dong Lin had kept the other nineteen Qi-Gathering Pills on him.

At present, Dong Lin had one Vajra Pill, nine Yellow-Tier Mid-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills, ten Yellow-Tier High-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills, ten Black-Tier Mid-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills, and several Five-Grain Pills.

He also had two hundred and thirteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones remaining, along with one thousand Sect Contribution Points.

Over nearly half a year, Dong Lin had spent a total of one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones buying Five-Grain Pills.

The expense of eating alone was quite considerable.

As an auxiliary pill for Body Tempering, the Vajra Pill had been set aside by Dong Lin and never used.

For the time being, Dong Lin had no plans to embark on the path of Body Tempering.

His current assets could be considered rather substantial.

This was mainly thanks to the "compensation payment" of one thousand Sect Contribution Points and the "inheritance" of four High-Grade Spirit Stones.

They had ensured that Dong Lin never lacked food or clothing since stepping onto the path of cultivation.

With Chief Steward Xuan's help on his path of cultivation, he had not encountered any setbacks along the way.

"They say the world of immortals is a sea of treacherous clouds and strange waves, where the weak are meat for the strong. Yet my circumstances are a little too good.

"Since coming to this world, I haven't even left the mountain gate. I wonder whether the world outside is as harmonious and friendly as the sect."

After forming a preliminary plan for the period ahead, Dong Lin went to the Merit Affairs Hall once more.

The outer hall of the Merit Affairs Hall could be said to be the busiest place in the entire sect.

All missions within the sect were posted and accepted here.

The outer hall was enormous, encompassing mission postings from every department and individual in the sect.

There was a unified sect mission posting area, as well as dedicated posting areas for each department.

The missions were all displayed on enormous jade boards.

The Merit Affairs Hall branch in the outer sect also had identical jade boards, with mission postings and completion statuses synchronized with the inner sect.

Looking at the "liquid crystal display screens" before him, Dong Lin felt deeply moved.

Since the mountain had just been sealed, many missions requiring travel outside had been suspended or canceled.

Thus, the current missions in the hall leaned somewhat toward cultivation and development.

The demand for artifact refining and alchemy continued as usual.

But because materials could not be obtained from outside for a long time to come, many gathering and planting missions had surged.

Missions to gather medicinal herbs in the secret realms of the back mountain accounted for a large proportion.

Under normal circumstances, the sect purchased all kinds of supplies externally, and the medicinal fields outside could also provide part of the replenishment.

Now that this portion was missing, the supply of medicinal ingredients needed for alchemy had suddenly grown tight.

Five years was not particularly long for cultivators.

Some sect ancestors would spend ten or eight years in seclusion with a single closed-door cultivation session.

Sealing the mountain for five years and cutting off contact with the outside world during that period—

For the Heaven Sect, it was merely an explanation offered to the empire's rulers.

It was only yielding a portion of its benefits. Five years was not enough to make a top-tier reclusive Immortal Sect like the Heaven Sect suffer any real injury.

But it was enough to let certain people make a fortune until their bowls overflowed.

After over a thousand years of development, the Heaven Sect's infrastructure had become exceedingly complete. It was entirely capable of self-sufficiency.

The five-year mountain-sealing period was the result of Sect Master Xuan Sheng's consideration after taking overall control of the situation.

Five taels of Mystic Spirit Grass, one Sect Contribution Point per tael, unlimited quantity.

One Blood Spirit Ginseng, twenty Sect Contribution Points per tael, remaining demand: seventy-six taels.

One Nether Yin Snow Lotus, fourteen Sect Contribution Points per tael, remaining demand: eight taels.

The jade boards in the hall contained a great many herbal missions, a dazzling riot of different kinds.

Most of these required disciples to enter the secret realms in the sect's back mountain to gather them.

The Heaven Sect lay amid a range of mountains. Through the unceasing exploration of generations of sect masters and elders, nearly all the Innate Secret Realms within the mountain gates had been discovered.

As independent small spaces separate from this world, no one knew how Innate Secret Realms had formed.

Most were hidden where Spirit Veins converged, containing many spirit herbs and spirit mines.

They were treasured lands for cultivators.

Their spatial expanses were incomparably vast, inhabited by a bewildering variety of spirit beasts.

Their strength ranged from Yellow Tier to Earth Grade, corresponding to human cultivators from Qi Refining to the Golden Core Realm.

As Innate Secret Realms belonging exclusively to the Heaven Sect, the Heaven-Tier spirit beasts within these secret realms had almost all been swept away by the sect elders.

Apart from a very small number of Heaven-Tier spirit beasts that had been tamed by the sect, there were no longer any wild Heaven-Tier spirit beasts in the secret realms.

This greatly increased the safety of sect disciples when they entered the secret realms to train and seek treasures.

The secret realm within the sect with the greatest space and the most medicinal herbs and spirit beasts was called the Dawnsource Secret Realm.

This secret realm was relatively low in danger, and it contained a considerable number of low-tier spirit herbs.

It was the secret realm most frequently visited by sect disciples at Foundation Establishment and below.