"The Outer Sect Genius Ranking..."
After leaving the Emerald Cloud Inn, Chen Yu kept turning the matter over in his mind.
He now knew all the ways he could earn points.
Gambling dens and lotteries were out of the question.
Routine assignments were a lost cause, too. Catching three violations in a month would already be cause to burn incense in thanks.
A great experience, super reliable.
As for the random assignments on the mission board... those with high rewards were dangerous, while those with low rewards meant competing with a crowd. Besides, without any Martial Skills, it was hard to get any decent assignments.
Opportunities to earn points like yesterday's didn't come along every day, either...
"To break through to the Qi Refining Sixth-Layer Peak, I need two cultivation arts of different attributes. That's 200 points. On top of that, I need an aura-concealing art, bringing the total to 300. But I only have 36 points right now, and there are still the monthly routine assignments..."
"They're forcing people to take out loans..."
Chen Yu sighed.
The damned Dao Sect had its Outer Sect disciples firmly in its clutches.
Wanted to raise your cultivation and grow stronger? Take out a loan. If you borrowed money and made it onto the Outer Sect Genius Ranking, fine. If you didn't, you would spend your whole life working for the Dao Sect to pay it back.
Didn't want a loan and hoped to save up slowly? That left you without even a shred of hope. Qi Refining cultivators only lived around a hundred and twenty years in total. The points needed to exchange for Martial Skills and secret arts weighed on you like a mountain. Add everyday food, clothing, lodging, travel, and routine assignments—how long could you hold out? Keep grinding away, and wouldn't you still end up working for the Dao Sect your whole life?
He hadn't expected that even after transmigrating into a cultivation world, he still couldn't escape loans.
I'm not borrowing!
Chen Yu thought.
Absolutely not!
His thoughts were full of defiance,
but his two legs disobeyed him and carried him to Elder Sun's residence on Emerald Cloud Peak.
"You damned legs!"
"What are you doing?!"
Looking at the crude stone house before him, his damned legs walked over uncontrollably, and his damned hand gently knocked on the door of its own accord.
A voice came from inside.
"Who is it?"
"Your disciple, Chen Yu," his damned mouth answered.
"..."
A brief silence followed.
The stone house's door opened.
Elder Sun's face appeared behind the crack. He narrowed his eyes.
"You?" Elder Sun straightened his robes as he stepped outside, then looked at Chen Yu and asked, "What is it?"
His damned mouth broke into a smile. "A loan."
"?"
Elder Sun froze, then asked with a frown:
"I recall that when you advanced from Registered Disciple to the Outer Sect, Elder Wu rewarded you with a piece of spirit essence in accordance with sect rules, didn't he?"
"Yes." His damned head nodded. "But it was refined from my Dao companion, so it has some sentimental value."
Elder Sun chuckled. "A loyal, sentimental one, then."
With that,
he waved his hand.
A ledger appeared from who knew where.
"I already explained the rules for borrowing from me, but I'll tell you again. Take 100 points as an example. The first year is interest-free. In the second year, you repay 110 points. In the third, 120... understand?"
"Don't new disciples get two interest-free years?" his damned mouth asked.
Elder Sun said, "Not anymore."
"... All right."
"How much?"
"300 points."
"..."
At that, Elder Sun looked Chen Yu up and down, as though appraising his worth. Finally, he nodded. "Acceptable."
He muttered something under his breath. "A false spirit embryo can't be refined into high-grade or Supreme Spirit Essence, but medium-grade is still possible..."
He wrote Chen Yu's name in the register.
Then he entered 300 points after it.
Next,
Elder Sun held out his hand. "Your token."
His damned hand uncontrollably removed the token from his waist and handed it over.
Elder Sun's fingertips shifted slightly, sending a strand of Spiritual Power into it. The points on the token immediately increased by 300.
"Done."
Elder Sun returned the token to Chen Yu.
His damned hands cupped together. "Thank you, Elder."
"Off you go."
Elder Sun waved him away.
He hadn't expected the loan process to be so quick. It was settled in just a few minutes.
Chen Yu returned to the jade steps.
His back was covered in cold sweat.
"That was terrifying! Just now... it was like someone possessed me."
As he spoke, he glanced at his token.
"Huh? Where did these 300 points come from?"
While Chen Yu was pondering this, two Dao Sect disciples in white robes approached from nearby. Unlike the others, their robes had no designs on the chest. They ignored Chen Yu entirely and went straight to Elder Sun's stone house.
"Elder Sun, Elder Wu wants you to head to the mass burial ground immediately."
"... Understood."
Chen Yu never found out what happened after that.
With 336 points now in his possession, he had returned to the bustling plaza halfway up Emerald Cloud Peak and headed to the scripture library.
At the scripture library's entrance,
the old man who, like Chen Yu, had a false spirit embryo and had also advanced from Registered Disciple to the Outer Sect was lying in a rocking chair, reading.
Hearing approaching footsteps, he looked up.
Seeing that it was Chen Yu, he asked:
"Got your loan from Elder Sun?"
"Hm?"
Chen Yu froze. "How did you know?"
"Heh." The old man merely smiled without explaining. "Go on in."
"Yes."
An old fellow who can guard the scripture library really is no ordinary man.
A false spirit embryo,
an advancement from Registered Disciple to the Outer Sect.
Chen Yu found the old man's identity increasingly mysterious.
Still, his immediate priority was to go inside and choose cultivation arts.
He stepped into the scripture library.
Looking at the cultivation arts lining the wooden shelves,
The True Origin Mystic Canon requires five cultivation arts of different attributes. For the first one, I can choose any attribute I like, but after that, I have to follow the order of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
In other words, if I choose fire this time, the next one has to be earth.
He thought for a moment.
Then shrugged.
Without any martial techniques, whichever attribute I cultivate,
it'll all be the same anyway. It doesn't really matter.
Chen Yu first headed toward the nearest fire-attribute cultivation arts.
He took a book from the shelf.
"Flame-Transforming Art."
He opened it.
And saw the comments section inside.
[Don't cultivate this. (Posted after 90 days of cultivation)] [Listen to our advice!!! (Posted after 30 days of cultivation)] [Damn it, I didn't listen, and now I regret it to death! If you're a Heavenly Flame Peak disciple hoping to do the sect's routine assignments by "transforming flames," choose the Fire-Calling Art instead. Whatever you do, don't choose this! Its name is a complete trap. Sure, it's a bit more powerful, but you have to reach the sixth layer of Qi Refining before you can "transform flames." Before then, you can't do the routine assignments at all. (Posted after 1 year of cultivation)]
That was all.
There were only those three comments for the Flame-Transforming Art.
"Looks like the Heavenly Flame Peak disciples who came afterward all took the advice."
Since there was no time limit anyway, Chen Yu picked up the Fire-Calling Art to take a look.
He opened it.
[Finally saved enough points! (Posted after 0 days of cultivation)] [If you want to do the sect's routine assignments, you have to choose this one. (Posted after 7 days of cultivation)] [The Fire-Calling Art may be a little weaker, but its advantage is that you can start doing the sect's routine assignments early and slowly accumulate points. By comparison, it's better suited to newly admitted disciples! (Posted after 1 year of cultivation)] [...]
The rest were just pointless comments.
Chen Yu thought for a moment.
"I don't need to do Heavenly Flame Peak's routine assignments. Since the Flame-Transforming Art is stronger than the Fire-Calling Art, of course I'll choose the Flame-Transforming Art."
After reading the comments for the other fire-attribute cultivation arts,
in the end,
Chen Yu still chose the Flame-Transforming Art.
He took the token from his waist, picked up the book, flipped to the back, and took out the jade slip for the Flame-Manipulating Art. He lightly touched his token to the jade slip, and a faint light flashed.
100 points were deducted.
At the same time,
a passage appeared in Chen Yu's mind.
Heaven and earth possess spirit; all things contain fire. Fire does not merely burn and destroy; it can also create and transform. Draw qi into the body, refine dust into warmth, condense breath into flame, and let it cycle ceaselessly through the heavens...
Chen Yu did not stop to study the Flame-Transforming Art in detail,
but turned toward the other shelves.
"I still need an earth-attribute cultivation art and an aura-concealing art..."