A new junior brother

On the 12th day of the eighth month of the 423rd year of the Qianfeng Great Wei Immortal Dynasty, the Empress Cishengxian celebrated her birthday. The occasion was auspicious for both offering sacrifices and weddings.

The newly built Ancestral Hall of the Chongming Sect has finally been put into use. The statues of the patriarchs of all generations can finally move out of the somewhat cramped and low-ceilinged huts and into a spacious, bright, and magnificent hall that exudes a faint sandalwood fragrance.

Standing outside the black asphalt wood gate, you can see that in the center of the hall are three tiers of statues. The top tier is the Three Pure Ones of Daoism, the ancestors of Daoism; the second tier is Patriarch Zhang, the founder of Double Brightness; and the third tier is the other five deceased sect leaders.

Beneath the statue of the patriarch is a large table made of sacred wood, upon which rests an incense burner, a Dharma flag, a register of names, and a large chime.

Stepping into the Ancestral Hall, the floor, paved with fine jade, gleams with a warm luster. Thousands of green lamps burn eternally on candle holders that run through the entire room on both sides, and the wisps of smoke they emit make the six statues of the Ancestral Masters, dressed in cloud robes and wearing hibiscus crowns, appear even more solemn and sacred.

The beams are carved with a blue dragon swimming in the sea, and the pillars are adorned with a real phoenix soaring through the sky.

Zhou Jiashi was neatly and efficiently tidied up, a stark contrast to his usual busy appearance in the fields.

Dressed in an indigo Daoist robe and wearing a Primordial Unity, he stood before the ancestral hall with a resolute look in his eyes. He formed the Taiji mudra with his hands, raised them to his brow, with his right hand below and his left hand above, and bowed his head to the back of his head, performing the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows.

Pei Yi offered three incense sticks, which Zhou Jiashi accepted with his head bowed, thanking his senior brother. He then stepped over the prayer mat with the Seven Star Steps, walked to the incense burner, and inserted the incense sticks with his right hand.

After lighting the incense, Zhou Jiashi returned to the prayer mat, formed the lotus mudra with his hands, and bowed again in a standing posture.

At this moment, Yuan Jin, sitting solemnly beneath the statue of the patriarch, struck the large chime. The clear, melodious sound of the chime flowed into everyone's hearts like a clear spring.

After the three chimes, Kang Dabao took out the yellow silk scroll he had already written on and walked to the statue of the patriarch, standing next to Zhou Jiashi. After performing the standing bow, he unfolded the scroll and solemnly read, "Disciple Kang Dabao today reports to the patriarch. There is a disciple, Zhou Yixiu, who is simple and honest, loyal and kind, exceptionally talented, and frugal in his dealings. Therefore, I have appointed him as the seventh-generation head of the Chongming Sect to teach in place of my master, and to bring Zhou Yixiu into my family."

After putting away the yellow silk, Kang Dabao took Zhou Yixiu's hand and led her to the statue of her teacher, where the latter bowed again.

After the chime rang three more times, Zhou Yixiu stood up again, and then heard Kang Dabao say with a gentle smile, "Junior Brother Zhou."

"Zhou Yixiu greets Senior Brother Sect Leader." Zhou Yixiu also greeted Pei Yi, Yuan Jin, and Jiang Qing one by one with a smile.

The younger generation who were observing the ceremony also came up to pay their respects to this newly appointed "junior" senior uncle.

"I never imagined that my father, in his seventies, would be able to join a sect." Zhou Xinran she looked at Zhou Yixiu's serious and earnest expression.

After living in the Chongming Sect for half a year since moving from Xuanwei City, the Zhou Household had completely adapted to life there.

Although Chongming City was remote and poor, the Zhou Household, being relatives of immortals, lived a life of luxury there, unlike in Xuanwei City where they had to live with extreme caution.

Zhou Yixiu and his daughter were also highly respected and lived comfortably there.

Zhou Yixiu's skill in farming has reached the First-Tier Superior-Grade. In theory, it would not be difficult for him to become an ordinary worshipper in some Foundation Establishment clans.

But the longer he spent with the people of the Chongming Sect, the more he felt he should settle down here.

After spending a long time with Zhou Yixiu, Kang Dabao also felt that he was a rare and kind person. Since the sect was in dire need of people, it was possible to bring him into the sect to strengthen itself.

Kang Dabao discussed it with his fellow disciples. They originally wanted to hire him as a retainer, but after calculating the costs, they realized they couldn't afford a long-term contract. So they tentatively asked him if he wanted to join the sect.

Unexpectedly, this question led to a perfect agreement between the two parties.

Zhou Yixiu had served as a farming master for countless families throughout his life, witnessing firsthand the intrigues and backstabbing within the wealthy and powerful.

After suffering a great calamity, he had the idea of finding a place to settle down and live out his old age. Being able to join the Chongming Sect, a harmonious sect, and become a formal disciple was a great blessing for him.

If he didn't have this intention, why would he have gone out of his way to help Kang Dabao swindle more spiritual honey from the female cultivators of the Lu Household?

Since "the man is in love and the woman is willing," Zhou Jiashi naturally became the fourth junior brother of Sect Leader Kang Da.

Besides the representatives of the three nearby families, there were also two cultivators in the hall observing the ceremony. They both showed some envy as they watched Zhou Yixiu join the Chongming Sect.

They were both around forty years old. Their cultivation levels were not high either, one Qi Refinement Fourth Layer and the other at the Qi Refining Second Layer.

The fair-skinned, tall man was named Wei Gu. He was at the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer and was a First-Tier Lower-Grade array master. He had been living a comfortable life in his hometown of Jingnan Prefecture thanks to his skill.

Unexpectedly, one day while drunk, he made a slip of the tongue and spoke out in public in a tavern or teahouse, discussing the Yuan Household's Foundation Establishment.

He had completely forgotten about it after he sobered up, until the next day when a drinking buddy mentioned it to him, and he suddenly remembered.

In fact, those words may not have reached the ears of the Yuan Household. Even if they had, Wei Gu's words at the time were not excessive, and the Yuan Household might not have had the leisure to cause him trouble.

But Wei Gu became more and more afraid, so he took his family and traveled through mountains and rivers, leaving the hometown where he had been born and raised for half his life, and came to Pingrong County to make a living.

Wei Gu was new to the area and urgently needed to earn some Spirit Stone to support his family, so he asked for a low price.

Kang Dabao happened to feel that some of the sect's secondary locations lacked complete array formations and needed to be added, so he invited him over.

The short, sallow-faced man Mo Ku. His story was rather unremarkable; he was just another ordinary Rogue Cultivator who had stumbled onto the path of cultivation by some twist of fate. He had been cultivating for nearly twenty years, yet he was still stuck at the Qi Refining Second Layer.

He spent some time in Chongming Market, but couldn't afford the Spirit Stone to rent a house. He hadn't mastered the skills of the farming master and hadn't even entered the next level. He didn't dare to learn from those desperate cultivators who went into the mountains to hunt beasts and gather herbs with Law Artifact. So, he could only be picked up by Sect Leader Kang Da without spending a penny.

He is currently tending the spirit field with Kang Rongquan so that Zhou Yixiu can focus more on cultivating the spirit locust tree.

Mo Ku had absolutely no complaints about doing the work but not earning a single penny.

For a poor and destitute Rogue Cultivator like him, having a place with spiritual energy to settle down without paying Spirit Stone, being able to cultivate peacefully in his spare time, and occasionally being able to eat half a bowl of spirit rice from Kang Rongquan and listen to Zhou Yixiu's experience in the field of Spirit Plant.

Compared to the days of wandering and struggling in spiritual practice in the past, this is not exploitation at all, it is simply a blessing!

If Kang Dabao treats Mo Ku too well, he might start to wonder if he's being targeted by Evil Cultivator who are waiting to use his flesh, blood, and marrow to refine magical Law Artifact and evil techniques.

Because of his experience working at the Chongming Sect these past few days, Mo Ku has come to understand Kang Dabao, the sect leader, a bit better.

This is the image of a patriarch who is quite stingy with himself but very kind to his fellow disciples.

He was fair in dealing with people, kind to others, and somewhat soft-hearted. Although his disciples respected and obeyed him, it was more out of love than fear.

Among the other disciples of Double Brightness, apart from Jiang Qing being a bit arrogant and Yuan Jin having a bit of a temper, there was no sign of any sinister or evil nature among them.

If Mo Ku could join a sect like Zhou Yixiu's, he certainly wouldn't suffer any losses. Not to mention being willing to become Kang Dabao brother, he would even be willing to become Kang Rongquan's master.

"What a pity, they don't even look down on us." Mo Ku sighed softly to himself, making up his mind that he must take good care of the Chongming Sect's spiritual fields, lest he lose this hard-won job.

Zhou Yixiu's initiation ceremony lasted from noon until late afternoon. Chongming Sect hadn't had such a lively event in many years, and it also helped Kang Dabao and others to review the rituals of fasting and offering.

After the initiation ceremony concluded, a small Daoist gathering was held, which Wei Gu and Mo Ku naturally couldn't bear to miss. After listening for a while, seeing that everyone on stage had shared a lot of valuable information, Wei Gu felt it wouldn't be good to just listen for nothing, so he also went up on stage and talked about some knowledge about formations.

Mo Ku was less capable; he couldn't understand much of what others were talking about, and he just memorized it whole in the hopes of reviewing and studying it later. He didn't have any insightful observations to share on stage.

After listening to the Huiyi Daoist assembly, both felt they had gained a great deal and returned home in high spirits. After the assembly ended, they walked together back to their respective residences. They had similar experiences in the Chongming Sect and had recently gotten along well, so they were sticking together for mutual support.

Wei Gu was the first to sigh, "The formation is almost complete, but I don't know where I'll be going after that."

The Chongming Sect is currently a small and insignificant sect, and it certainly wouldn't spend Spirit Stone to support an external array master for an extended period of time.

This made Wei Gu somewhat worried about whether he could find another comfortable host.

The saying "a skilled craftsman will never starve" is true. Wei Gu may not have to worry about business after he leaves, but it will be difficult to find a restaurant like Chongming Sect's that is so generous with its bills.

Don't let Kang Dabao's seemingly stingy appearance and low asking price fool you. As long as you do a good job, he'll be fair and honest, and won't deliberately nitpick to deduct from your dowry. That makes him a truly generous client.

Hearing his complaints, Mo Ku, who was standing beside him, sighed as well, "I just heard from the young master of the Ye Household that the world outside is in chaos right now. That Magistrate Xie has suddenly gained power and is acting extremely arrogantly. A few days ago, the state ordered all the counties to send people to serve in the state, so he went directly to several markets in the county to arrest Rogue Cultivator and gathered thirty of them. Unfortunately, our fellow cultivators from Pingrong County encountered the bad luck of the spirit array collapsing while they were mining, and they were all buried inside. We still don't know if they are alive or dead."

"Hmph." Wei Gu's expression also turned sour upon hearing Mo Ku's words. When he was cultivating in Jingnan Prefecture, the Yuan Household often conscripted their forces and Rogue Cultivator to participate in corvée labor and military affairs.

The corvée labor was alright; it was mostly rough and tiring work like mining and construction. Although it was tiring, the Yuan Household family cared about their reputation and wouldn't overwork the conscripted cultivators. They might even give you a few Spirit Stone when your corvée labor was over.

But if they were conscripted into the army, that would be bad news. The Yuan Household was willing to pay money, but they were also willing to let people die.

Wei Gu wasn't very lucky; he was also conscripted by the Yuan Household and participated in a military campaign.

However, Wei Gu was also considered lucky despite his bad luck. Because he had a skill, he only did odd jobs in the rear to assist high-level array masters, so he never went to the front line of the array.

He had witnessed the horrific scenes of cultivators fighting in formation, and still felt lingering fear. If Cloud Horn Prefecture were to wage war under the rule of the Immortal Dynasty, wouldn't it be rootless, independent Rogue Cultivator like them who would suffer the most?

"Alas, in this vast world, where can one find peace and tranquility to cultivate oneself?"

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