After the sect's initiation ceremony came a month of introductory instruction, covering many things, such as arrangements for sect benefits, confirmation of duties, transmission of cultivation methods, and the setting in which they would study.
They would have to grow accustomed to all this gradually in Jincheng, but two things had to be done immediately.
One was acquiring cultivation methods, which concerned their cultivation and required them to go to the Hidden Sword Pavilion to choose for themselves; the other was working their connections to secure their official postings. A good position would not fall into their laps out of thin air. If they did not fight for one, they would end up in the most dangerous places, swamped with petty affairs and plagued by frequent appearances of monsters.
Of course, everything had two sides. The hardest places might also be those that tempered people best, provided they could make it through.
This was the greatest distinguishing feature of the Demonic Sect lineage, something the Daoist Sect and Buddhist Sect would not tolerate, believing it infringed on mortals' right to govern themselves.
The Quanzhen Sect's philosophy gave equal weight to cultivation and engagement with the world; it would not give you a completely independent space, free from worries over food and drink, supplied with resources, where all you needed to do each day was concentrate on cultivation. Cultivators raised that way were useless, ignorant of the world's suffering and unfamiliar with human dealings, yet fond of admiring their own solitary fragrance, just like those cultivation-addled fools of the Daoist Sect.
Once they reached the Foundation Cultivation Realm, they would definitely be assigned to local posts. The dozens of small towns under the Great Wind Plains, places like Right River Town, were where these people went. They might oversee people's livelihoods, hunt down monsters, or contend with outside forces, continually growing in the process, then changing positions according to their achievements in office and changes in their cultivation realms.
They might rise higher, squander their years and accomplish nothing, or meet their end in some battle.
Those capable of emerging from such an environment were, without exception, outstanding talents with excellent strength, temperament, and ability. This ensured the smooth operation of the Quanzhen Sect's entire system: called out, they could fight; sent out, they could govern. Their outstanding individual strength filled the Daoist Sect with deep apprehension.
Those fellows Hou Niao had encountered in Right River Town when he first came to the Shan Kingdom were pieces within this system, working hard to build themselves up as they awaited a chance to soar into the sky.
That was why they had to work their connections, pay their respects to powerful factions, and pit themselves against one another, striving to be assigned somewhere advantageous. This was extremely important.
But Hou Niao did not need to worry about that for the time being. He had yet to reach the Foundation Cultivation Realm; sending him out would only be offering up his head, so he could remain in Jincheng for now.
That did not mean he could simply idle his days away. He could not serve as a chief official, but he could still be a yamen runner or an officer carrying out errands. Running about on odd jobs and standing in court calling for order were still within his abilities.
His specific destination would naturally become clear a month later. What he needed to do now was go to the Hidden Sword Pavilion to choose the direction of his future cultivation methods, along with combat techniques he could use at his present stage.
He hurried to the Hidden Sword Pavilion, only to be startled by the scene before him. More than a hundred people had gathered there, noisy and bustling, packing the small pavilion so tightly that not even water could get through. His desire to pick out cultivation methods vanished at once.
Commandant Li had once told him that those cultivation manuals of his were all top-grade foundational cultivation methods of the Daoist Sect, in no way inferior to Quanzhen's in that respect, and he could certainly continue practicing them. As for combat techniques, what could be more useful than fighting the wandering souls in the Soul Realm?
That was real combat, with all manner of weapons and law techniques he had never heard of or seen before...
Having settled on a plan, he decided to get himself established first and find somewhere to stay in Jincheng. Now that they had become formal Quanzhen disciples, they could no longer linger in their lodgings at the Outer Residence, and he did not know how long he would remain at the Qi Gathering Stage. A suitable home was something he needed now.
He could not be bothered to search personally, either. Leaving such trivial matters to a professional would save him worry and effort.
Once he identified himself as a Quanzhen disciple, the property broker immediately put away any crooked ideas of fishing in troubled waters to turn a profit. For mortals like them, anyone in this world could be offended except these cultivators.
Jincheng's layout was, in fact, centered on the Sword Manor, and rents depended solely on their distance from it. The broker had considerable experience in this regard and soon secured him a place in a neighborhood on the edge of the city, with exceptionally quiet surroundings, whose residents were mostly impoverished scholars and small workshop owners.
The broker understood cultivators' needs very well, and a satisfied Hou Niao rewarded him with a substantial ingot as his fee.
The landlord's surname was Mu. He came from a small merchant background, and his lineage had few members. He owned two courtyard homes here, so he rented out the smaller one to supplement the household's expenses. It suited Hou Niao perfectly.
That evening, after a bout of fighting in the Soul Realm, a thoroughly satisfied Hou Niao took out the Treasure Gourd. He needed to see just what medicine was being sold inside this gourd.
Following the method the Venerable Master had taught him, he pressed his hand against the gourd's mouth and activated the method formula... This was how low-level cultivators opened a Treasure Gourd. After reaching Profound Connection, a turn of the divine soul would suffice, but he currently had neither divine soul nor spiritual sense.
The Treasure Gourd opened, revealing his initiation gifts and three months' worth of sect benefits neatly arranged inside. He did not know whether these differed between realms or individuals, nor could he be bothered to quibble over every little thing. Such a large sect would hardly play tricks on a minor disciple like him.
The first thing that met his eyes was a sword, a standard-issue Xiuzhen longsword of the Quanzhen Sect, forged with Xiuzhen materials mixed into it. At a glance, it was several grades above his heavy sword... Those four penniless fellows—and to think Luo Fool had even composed a poem about it.
There were three jade slips. One recorded the Quanzhen Sect's history, beginning several thousand years ago: its successive patriarchs, prominent figures, and historical events, set out at length with no detail too small.
One was an overview of the Shan Kingdom and the surrounding Xiuzhen powers. This was rather more concrete, giving a rough picture of the Quanzhen Sect's strength and general distribution. The Great Wind Plains was an important border region confronting the Daoist Anhe Kingdom and held a special position.
The third jade slip was an outline of the Dao Register, covering every aspect of Xiuzhen. Besides mainstream areas such as cultivation methods, it also included various supporting paths, such as the Dao of Alchemy, the Dao of Talismans, the Dao of Formation, the Dao of Artifice, and the Dao of Beasts, to help disciples choose an area in which they excelled.
These three jade slips could essentially give a minor cultivator just setting foot on the Dao Path a general understanding of the Xiuzhen environment around him. They might mean little to seasoned rogue cultivators, but they were very important to Hou Niao. Only after reading them could he truly count as part of this Xiuzhen circle.
Thirty low-grade spirit stones, presumably ten per month, the allotment for a Qi Gathering cultivator.
Three bottles of pills, all Qi Gathering Pills, the mainstay pill of the Qi Gathering Stage, with ten pills per bottle. Opening one and taking a sniff, he found they differed from the Qi Gathering Pills Daoist Chongling had given him, and were probably inferior. That was perfectly normal; after all, no school could compare to the Daoist Sect in these aids to cultivation.
Their areas of emphasis simply differed.
You were provided with The Sword Was Originally Demonic by the great author Duo Duo.