The Price of Running Away

"Senior Brother Gu, Senior Brother Gu, it's time for morning class."

At dawn, Gu Qingfeng woke from a deep sleep.

He opened the door and found Junior Brother Zhao from next door standing outside.

After sleeping through the night, a little more of his memory had returned.

Junior Brother Zhao was probably one of the few acquaintances his former self had, perhaps even closer than that peach-eyed junior sister.

Since they were neighbors, and Junior Brother Zhao greatly respected him as his senior brother, they did many things together.

Junior Brother Zhao was rather young, only thirteen or fourteen—the youngest in the sect—and his temperament was fairly innocent.

Golden Core Celestial Venerable had always cared only about results. The disciples were relatively free in their cultivation within the sect, but daily morning class was indispensable.

Since Gu Qingfeng had risen a little late, the two hurried to the open ground before Garan Hall.

The Golden Core Immortal Sect consisted of many halls: Hall of Morality, Hall of the Divine Official, Hall of the Four Sovereigns, Garan Hall, Hall of the Heavenly Kings, Guanyin Hall, and more.

In short, Buddhist and Daoist halls were all mixed together, and the statues they attended were a complete mess as well.

It always gave one the feeling that they had stolen and snatched everything from outside, then dumped it all in their home in one go.

Yet just when one felt that all this was utterly jarring, the stone stele on the open ground bearing the four words "Buddha is originally Dao" made the discord seem a little more reasonable.

Quite a few fellow disciples had already begun training in the square.

They were practicing swordsmanship.

Golden Core Swordsmanship!

At that moment, Core Branches sprouted one after another from their shoulders and navels. Using the Core Branches as swords, they formed pairs and slashed and thrust at each other.

For a time, the clashing of Core Branches rang without end.

Whether the Core Branches or the Golden Cores hanging from them, they were usually quite tough. Only when Golden Core Celestial Venerable chanted scriptures did they become fragile. Thus, the Golden Core Swordsmanship was performed by the fellow disciples with considerable flair.

The sight Gu Qingfeng found hardest to endure was the senior and junior sisters pairing off, swaying their bodies as they fenced with the Core Branches growing from their navels. It looked like two men dueling with that thing, making for an extraordinarily bizarre scene.

At that moment, Junior Brother Zhao gave a loud shout, signaling Gu Qingfeng to cross swords.

Gu Qingfeng silently recited the formula, and Core Branches swiftly emerged from his body as he joined the other in battle.

Golden Core Swordsmanship had five forms. Its movements were broad and forceful, relatively simple; in truth, it tested only whose Core Branch was thicker and tougher, without many flashy tricks.

After exchanging several blows, Junior Brother Zhao said in delight, "Senior Brother Gu, you've become thicker—and harder too!"

Gu Qingfeng found himself powerless to complain. "Little Junior Brother, you're still as hard as iron as ever."

As he spoke, the two thrust several more times at each other with swishing strikes.

By the time their fierce battle ended, an hour had passed.

Morning class ended. Sweating all over, the fellow disciples withdrew their Core Branches one after another, plugging the holes and beginning to rest.

But there were exceptions.

A red-nosed man called Wang Qian kept his Core Branch and Golden Core on display, refusing to retract them.

That was because he truly was one of the standouts here. His Core Branch was thick and sturdy, while his Golden Core was a bright yellow, its golden radiance threaded with wisps of dark red—the sign of vigorous blood vitality.

Rumor had it that he was the person most likely to become a newly promoted inner disciple.

He did this purely to show off.

Of course, there was another rumor: Golden Core Celestial Venerable was his maternal uncle.

At this, Gu Qingfeng could not help scratching his head, cursing inwardly, Damn it, first daughters, then nephews. A demonic sect that eats people, yet it has so many relatives pulling strings—making it look like some Lineage business.

As they walked, Junior Brother Zhao said happily, "Senior Brother Gu, look—not only has your Core Branch become thicker and harder, your Golden Core has grown bigger and yellower too. You definitely won't have any problems at Master's next assessment."

It was clear this little junior brother had been quite close to his former self and had always worried that he would run into trouble during the next assessment.

After all, he had nearly capsized yesterday.

Gu Qingfeng did not know whether it was because Junior Brother Zhao was young, or because the locals were simply innocent, but he could not see the slightest worry on the boy's face about becoming a "human pill."

He vaguely remembered that this youngest junior brother had once said that once his cultivation succeeded, he wanted to return home and deal with the bully who had tormented his parents, avenging them.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the fourteenth day of the seventh month. Only one day remained until the Celestial Venerable's assessment.

Naturally, Gu Qingfeng had been cultivating diligently throughout these past days.

Perhaps because he was fairly talented, his Golden Core had grown a little bigger and yellower. He should now be able to rank among the middle tier of his fellow disciples.

[Gu Qingfeng]

[Age: Seventeen]

[Lifespan: Five years and thirteen days]

Naturally, his lifespan had also decreased by more than a year.

Gu Qingfeng felt that if he continued cultivating like this, in less than one or two months, he would train his lifespan down to zero and ride a crane westward.

But all of it was worth it. It was preparation for getting through tomorrow's assessment and reversing the price.

Yet Gu Qingfeng knew that even if he passed tomorrow's assessment, there was not much time left.

Their increasingly mature Golden Cores might be swept away in one pot someday without warning. After all, vegetables and fruits in a garden were often harvested all at once.

People died in every assessment. Since they were more "mature" now, would tomorrow's assessment kill even more people?

But Gu Qingfeng had not expected that before the assessment on the fifteenth even arrived, people had already died.

The fourteenth day of the seventh month. Light rain.

Four blood-drenched corpses hung from the arms of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue.

At the sight of those corpses, everyone could not help trembling with fear, their legs shaking.

The corpses had no skin.

Or rather, their skins had been flayed off alive and hung like clothes from four other hands of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue.

So at a glance, though only four people had died, it looked as if there were eight corpses. Whenever the wind blew, those four fresh human skins swayed there like kites.

The three holes on those corpses were also torn open, clearly caused by Core Branches and Golden Cores being ripped out by the roots.

Even with his memories incomplete, Gu Qingfeng recognized one of the human skins. Its owner was called Zhang Lei, their "Second Senior Brother," one of the four inner disciples.

Even inner disciples could die?

At that moment, Golden Core Celestial Venerable coughed and said, "I have raised you, taught you immortal arts, treated you as family, and treated you quite well. Yet some people are ungrateful white-eyed wolves who cannot be raised, wanting to run away in secret."

"If you wanted to leave, why not tell your master openly? Would I stop you? Perhaps I would even give you magical treasures and immortal pills, so you would not be bullied outside and tarnish the name of the Golden Core Immortal Sect. But some people insist on sneaking around."

"What I hate most are those who do not love their sect!"

"It truly breaks my heart."

Golden Core Celestial Venerable wore an expression of utter grief and indignation.

"Look carefully. This is the price of not loving the sect. As my good disciples, do not learn such bad ways."

"Alright, disperse. Tomorrow I will assess what you have learned. Rest well."

As he spoke, he revealed a benevolent expression once more.

Had Gu Qingfeng not witnessed him kill without batting an eye, that benevolent appearance might well have deceived many people.

Looking at the corpses hanging there with flesh and skin separated, Gu Qingfeng worried inwardly, Can I endure tomorrow?