"Why are you wasting words on him? Drag him out, damn it!"
Wang Fan lost his patience and roared at the Odd-Job Disciple:
"Yes!"
At the order, the scrawny disciple grabbed one of Chun Xiaobai's legs and dragged him outside.
"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on?"
Chun Xiaobai had been soaring through the clouds in his dreams when he suddenly felt his body floating forward sideways, beyond his control.
Only when he opened his eyes did he realize someone had dragged him out of the thatched hut.
He hurriedly scrambled up from the ground, brushed the dust off himself, and looked up.
All the newly admitted Odd-Job Disciples who had arrived with him yesterday were standing in the clearing outside the hut.
"We have to get up and work this early?"
Standing off to one side, Chun Xiaobai grumbled in dissatisfaction, yawning over and over.
Mostly, it was because he hadn't slept well last night.
Not only did drafts blow through all four sides of this lousy thatched hut, but he also had quite a few "roommates" living inside.
In the middle of the night, he had felt something bite his foot. He'd slapped it with the back of his hand, then felt around and discovered a rat weighing a good two pounds.
The fright had made him shudder. For the rest of the night, he'd slept with one eye open, matching wits and courage with that pack of rats until dawn.
Just then.
A servant disciple behind him with a shrewd gleam in his eyes walked past Chun Xiaobai, bumping his shoulder on the way.
He ran up to Wang Fan, took out a money pouch, and bowed and scraped as he said ingratiatingly,
"Steward Wang, a modest gift. Just a small token of my respect."
Wang Fan accepted the bulging pouch and hefted it in his hand. A crisp metallic clinking came from inside.
There was quite a bit in there.
These bits of silver were useless to true cultivators, but in the mortal towns outside, they were hard currency.
For people like them, who would spend their entire lives stuck in the Qi Refining Stage without any prospects, silver was the only valuable currency apart from spirit stones.
After all, with this silver, they could live as wealthy men once they left the sect.
Wang Fan tucked the pouch into his robes, then patted the disciple's shoulder with satisfaction and praised him.
"You... know how things work!"
"Senior Brother Liu of the outer sect's Double Ninth Peak has two herb gardens that need their spirit herbs watered. That job is yours."
"Thank you, Steward Wang!" The disciple was overjoyed.
"Holy shit, these damn unwritten rules are popular in every world!"
The corner of Chun Xiaobai's mouth twitched.
Once someone took the lead, others followed.
Soon, everyone hoping for easy work or a job with perks began stuffing bits of silver and family heirlooms into Steward Wang's hands.
Before long, Wang Fan's loose robes were bulging.
All the cushy assignments he had available, such as watching the Medicine Field, planting spirit rice, or feeding a senior brother's spirit beasts, were handed out as well.
Those left were much like Chun Xiaobai: either short of money to begin with, or in too much of a hurry when they came to prepare for these "social niceties."
Chun Xiaobai had a faint feeling that something was wrong.
Sure enough...
The delight on Wang Fan's face flickered away. His little eyes settled on Chun Xiaobai first, and he pointed a finger.
"You! Go scrub the outer sect senior brothers' toilets on Green Bamboo Peak."
"What???"
Chun Xiaobai was dumbfounded.
"Are you deaf? I told you to scrub the toilets!"
Wang Fan glared at him and said impatiently.
"I'll inspect them later. If there's any smell left, you'll lick them clean for me."
Although Immortal Cultivation practitioners could abstain from food, that was only a method they used when eating was inconvenient.
Low-level cultivators still ate wild delicacies imbued with spiritual energy in their daily lives. What went in had to come out, so naturally, someone had to do this work.
"Wait, that isn't right!" Chun Xiaobai scratched his forehead.
When I was the bandit king of Black Wind Stronghold, all I had to do was open my mouth to be fed and stretch out my arms to be dressed. Why did coming here for Immortal Cultivation mean scrubbing other people's toilets?
Wasn't life supposed to get better and better once you started Immortal Cultivation?
How had my standard of living actually gone backward after I came here to become an immortal?
The more Chun Xiaobai thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt cheated.
The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt.
"Fuck Immortal Cultivation! I quit! I'm going back to my old trade, finding a mountain to plant my banner on, and becoming a bandit king again!"
Seeing him standing there without moving, Wang Fan flew into a towering rage and kicked at him.
But before his foot could land on Chun Xiaobai, Chun Xiaobai's large hand clamped tightly around his ankle.
Wang Fan curled his lips and yanked hard, expecting to send Chun Xiaobai sprawling.
Instead, he discovered that his leg seemed welded to the other man's hand. It wouldn't budge.
"You old bastard, say that again." Chun Xiaobai raised his head, his gaze icy. "What did you want this Great King to do?"
"You're courting death!"
Wang Fan's expression darkened abruptly as he unleashed his second-level Qi Refining Stage cultivation.
He gathered a mass of spiritual energy in his left hand, concentrating it around his fist before smashing it toward Chun Xiaobai's face.
He'd thought he could cripple this worthless ant of a servant who merely had a little extra strength.
Yet a moment later, Chun Xiaobai caught his fist just as effortlessly.
He tugged hard, but it still wouldn't budge.
Only then did Wang Fan realize something was wrong. I've run into a tough one!
The surrounding Odd-Job Disciples stared at Chun Xiaobai in horror. They had never imagined that this fellow Odd-Job Disciple could have such a powerful grip.
With just two hands, he had immobilized Deacon Wang, who was at the second level of the Qi Refining Stage.
Suddenly.
The anger on Wang Fan's face vanished, and he spoke with a smile that never reached his eyes.
"Ha ha!"
"Well... brother, I was only joking earlier. If you don't like this job, I... I'll give you another one!"
"Another one?"
Chun Xiaobai snorted coldly.
He knew perfectly well that since he'd chosen to fight today, he would no longer be able to get by in the Odd-Job Disciples' quarters.
How could this fellow have become a steward without someone backing him?
Especially in an Immortal Cultivation sect where human lives were worth no more than weeds and strength decided everything, could he really bully newcomers so comfortably without connections?
"Yes, yes, yes! I'll give you another one!" Wang Fan suppressed his panic and continued.
"Senior Sister Wang on Cinnabar Glow Peak needs an alchemy attendant to help with chores. This... this cushy job is yours!"
At those words, the surrounding disciples looked over with envy.
Helping an alchemist with chores!
This was an opportunity every Odd-Job Disciple dreamed of. Just picking up a few scraps of pill residue would be worth a month's work guarding a herb garden.
Seeing the murderous intent Wang Fan couldn't hide deep in his eyes, Chun Xiaobai sneered inwardly.
Odd-Job Disciples like us, helping an alchemist with chores?
We'd be human guinea pigs, testing pills instead, wouldn't we?
Crack!
A crisp, teeth-grating snap of breaking bone suddenly rang out through the quiet morning.
At the sound, the surrounding Odd-Job Disciples shuddered and abruptly stepped back in unison.
"Aaargh!!"
The ankle Chun Xiaobai had gripped now dangled limply, and Wang Fan screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
"What are you all standing around for? Get him! Kill him! Whoever kills him gets the alchemy attendant job!"
"Holy shit!" Chun Xiaobai raised an eyebrow.
"I was going to let it end with crippling one of your legs, but you really don't know when to stop courting death, you old bastard!"
Before you continue