Continuing the Path of Lying Low, Steadily Building Foundations

Flowing Cloud Immortal City stood eight thousand li to the north in the Great Qian Kingdom. According to the records Mo Chen had read in the Wenyuan Pavilion, it was a vast city built alongside an enormous spiritual vein.

Here, there were no changes of imperial power as in mortal dynasties, only naked survival of the strongest and brutal competition on the great path to immortality. The extermination of a few little martial-world gangs would not stir so much as a ripple here.

Sword lights of every color streaked and crossed through the skies above Flowing Cloud City like shooting stars. Below, shops lined both sides of broad bluestone streets, their multicolored spiritual lights glittering together.

The spiritual energy in the air was so rich that even a single breath left one refreshed in body and mind.

Yet beneath the prosperity of this immortal city lay a gruesome mire where countless rogue cultivators struggled to survive for a few Low-Grade Spirit Stones or a bottle of Qi-Gathering Pill.

In the outskirts beyond the city, magical battles over resources were a common sight, sometimes ending in blood spilled on the spot.

The bustle of everyday life and the aura of immortality intertwined here into a bizarre, dazzling tapestry.

With a yellowed pack on his back and a wooden walking staff in hand, Mo Chen mingled with the crowd entering the city, quietly taking it all in.

To enter the cultivation world, Mo Chen had not removed his disguise. Instead, he had pushed his Disguise Art to its absolute limit.

Mo Chen now looked forty or fifty, his black hair streaked with white and his face weathered by wind and frost. He was the very picture of a man who had reached middle age without accomplishing a thing, an aging rogue cultivator at the bottom of the ladder who gave off the faint aura of the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Flowing Cloud Immortal City was controlled by the strongest sect within ten thousand li.

The Twin Crane Sect!

This half-month marked the Twin Crane Sect outer sect's once-in-a-decade recruitment of menial workers.

And laughably enough, even the various menial positions in the outer sect required passing one assessment after another...

The square teemed with people. Over a thousand early-stage Qi Refining rogue cultivators fought tooth and nail for a chance to enter the sect and secure an iron rice bowl—a meager but steady wage in Spirit Stones.

"Rejected! Over thirty, only at the first level of Qi Refining, and missing a hand? You'd be too slow even for planting crops in the spiritual herb gardens!"

"With meridians this shriveled, you'd work yourself to death within three days of mining. Get out! Don't waste my time!"

The steward in charge of recruitment wore an impatient expression. He leafed through silk sheets of credentials as though picking out livestock, mercilessly driving away one hopeful rogue cultivator after another.

Mo Chen stood at the very back of the line, shuffling forward slowly.

When he finally reached the steward's desk and handed over his aptitude test results and silk record of experience, the steward took one glance before his brows drew into a deep frown.

"Fifty years old, Qi Refining Third Layer? And mixed Spiritual Roots?"

The steward stared at Mo Chen as though he were a freak, making no effort to hide his disdain. "An old bag of bones like you already has half his body in the grave. What are you joining the crowd for? The Twin Crane Sect doesn't feed idlers. Go on, get out..."

Just as the steward was about to wave him away, Mo Chen calmly drew an exquisitely bound handwritten copy of the Gazetteer of Great Qian from his robes. Its tiny regular-script characters were as neat as could be, and he offered it with both hands.

"Honored immortal, please hear me out. This old man knows his aptitude is poor and his cultivation low. I cannot manage heavy labor that drains the body."

Mo Chen bowed at the waist and spoke humbly. "I spent decades managing a library in the mortal Great Qian Dynasty. When it comes to storing ancient books and Jade Slips, or repairing damaged volumes... I have some experience. I made this handwritten copy in my spare time. Please take a look, honored immortal."

The steward had been about to lose his temper, but a glimpse of the copy out of the corner of his eye stopped him short.

The brushstrokes were iron lines and silver hooks, forceful enough to bite three-tenths of an inch into wood, yet carried a strange air of tranquility. Clearly, decades of painstaking effort had gone into them.

The steward's expression shifted several times.

There was indeed one particular headache in the Twin Crane Sect's outer sect: the Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion.

It was an enormous nine-story building containing hundreds of thousands of low-tier cultivation methods, miscellaneous mortal writings, and notes left by predecessors.

With over ten thousand outer sect disciples, those coming and going each day to borrow books were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river.

These hot-blooded young disciples often came to blows inside the pavilion over a good spell, leaving its Jade Slips and Shu in utter disarray.

Worse still, every outer sect disciple was desperately striving to advance their cultivation, or even enter the inner sect. Who would willingly waste precious cultivation time on tedious registration, sorting, and repairs to damaged volumes?

Over the past few years, the menial workers assigned as caretakers had either been punished for slacking off or had their legs broken after offending disciples borrowing Shu.

"Forty years managing a library in the mortal world..."

The steward examined Mo Chen anew and rubbed his chin.

This old fellow is too old to dare cause trouble. With cultivation so low, he wouldn't dare steal either. Add decades of library experience, and he's perfect for this dull, fussy work.

Most importantly, he's cheap!

The steward vaguely recalled that the position paid only three low-grade Spirit Stones a month.

"All right."

The steward waved a broad hand. "You'll do!"

He then used his magical power to stamp a mark onto a Jade Slip and tossed over a drab gray set of menial worker's clothes.

"Count yourself lucky! The Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion happens to need someone to manage its first floor. But let me make the ugly part clear first: there are crowds and prying eyes everywhere, and the rules are strict. The paltry monthly wage is only three Low-Grade Spirit Stones. An old bag of bones like you had better behave and stay behind the counter, stamping and registering loans. Whatever you do, don't anger those genius disciples borrowing Shu. If someone beats you to death, the sect won't seek justice for you!"

"Thank you for granting my wish, honored immortal! This old man will perform his duties faithfully!"

Mo Chen accepted the clothes with both hands, his voice trembling with excitement as he bowed again and again.

At dusk.

Under the envious and jealous gazes of the rejected rogue cultivators, Mo Chen followed a young disciple into the Twin Crane Sect's outer sect grounds.

They passed around the disciples' cave residences, shrouded in spiritual mist. The farther inward they went, the louder the clamor grew.

At last, they stopped before an imposing nine-story pavilion that was clearly poorly maintained.

"There. That's the Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion."

The disciple guiding him spoke with a sour expression. "This place is noisy from morning till night, and the spiritual energy isn't all that abundant either. Your job is to handle registration at the first-floor counter, sort the Jade Slips people toss everywhere, and repair damaged Shu. Remember what the steward said: don't cause trouble. Playing deaf and dumb is the best way to stay alive."

Having finished his instructions, the disciple summoned his Flying Sword and fled the chaotic place as though escaping for his life.

Standing outside the entrance, Mo Chen surveyed the scene within, which resembled a vegetable market. Rather than feeling a headache coming on, he was secretly delighted.

After all, the darkest spot is right beneath the lamp. Even constables disguise themselves as nearby street vendors when they're after someone.

They took advantage of the simple fact that most people paid no attention to minor figures.

Besides, I've only just entered the cultivation world. Somewhere with this much foot traffic will let me learn more through everything I see and hear, so I won't be utterly clueless whenever someone asks me about it.

Mo Chen strolled into the hall at his leisure. Ignoring the arguing crowd, he went straight to a counter coated in a thick layer of dust, wiped it clean with a rag, and settled comfortably into his seat.

This nine-story Scripture Pavilion, filled with countless cultivation methods and the hundred arts of cultivation, is the best place for me to build myself up.

I couldn't ask for anything better~

He looked again at those geniuses, anxious and impatient over so-called heaven-ordained destiny and fortune, fighting over this and that. One even casually tossed a Jade Slip over, striking Mo Chen right on the head.

"Hey! Put that back for me. This cultivation method has an impressive name, but after reading it, I found out it was garbage. I'm not borrowing it!"

With that, the disciple at the seventh level of Qi Refining turned and left, showing not the slightest remorse for hitting Mo Chen on the head with the Jade Slip, as though that was exactly where he ought to have thrown it.

Geniuses? One day, I'll stand above every one of you!

Mo Chen casually picked a badly damaged copy of the first-tier spell Rainfall Technique out of the wastepaper basket beside his feet. Following the rules for storing cultivation methods, he placed it on a shelf.

That night, once the Scripture Pavilion closed to visitors, Mo Chen began cultivating. With a library like this at his disposal, why worry about finding a cultivation method that suited him?

Mo Chen lifted his teacup, blew the foam from the surface, and took a contented sip.

Go contend for destiny, snatch fortune, and fight each other to the death.

All I need to do is sit here stamping slips and repairing Shu.

Sooner or later, I'll grind every cultivation method taught in here all the way to great perfection!

From then on, the cultivation world's Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion had an Old Uncle Mo who always wore a silly, guileless grin, yet whose cultivation remained at only the Qi Refining Third Layer.