Immortality Cultivation: Fellow Daoists, please live for two more episodes!

If Shuiyue's outer sect is like a university that practices a laissez-faire approach, then Shuiyue's inner sect is like a series of publicly listed companies.

Subordinate to various Foundation Establishment cultivators, each with its own responsibilities and profits and losses, the monthly points system that was once a matter of life and death for outer sect disciples can no longer be imposed on them.

However, if you think that inner disciples no longer need to submit points to the sect, then you are wrong.

What are you thinking? This is Shuiyue.

In reality, inner disciples bear far more burdens than outer disciples, but their masters cover all of these expenses.

The master takes the lion's share, the disciple takes the smaller share; the master shoulders the sect's share for you, and you run errands for the master, or...

And those independent disciples without a master, like Zhou Youyuan.

The monthly fee has tripled from 100 points to 300.

It's like forcing you to choose a master; if you don't, you'll be worn down, but if you do, you'll be tied down.

However, these things are irrelevant to him for the time being.

Once the miscellaneous items in the storage bags were sold, along with the points and bamboo tokens that were already inside, they were all taken out.

He has nearly 10,000 points in his account, and the monthly fee of 300 yuan is enough for him to live on for three years. He won't be driven to death by money within three years.

Putting aside the economic pressures, the inner gate is much better than the outer gate.

The resources that inner disciples can access are on a completely different level from those of outer disciples. Just the cultivation techniques and classic texts in the library alone are far superior to those in the dilapidated outer disciple's room.

What he needs now is resources.

……

Sunset Peak, Library.

This place is much grander than the library outside the gate. It is a three-story wooden building with upturned eaves. Two old locust trees at the entrance cover half of the courtyard wall. A lean young Taoist priest stands under the corridor, holding a scroll of names in his hand, and is making marks on it.

Zhou Youyuan stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting: "Excuse me, senior brother."

The lean Taoist priest didn't even raise his head: "Go to the second floor to register for borrowing books, go to the third floor to report for purchasing cultivation techniques, reservations for the Treasure Performance Platform are not my responsibility, and finding all the True Immortals is even less my responsibility. Is there anything else?"

It blocked everything completely in one breath.

Zhou Youyuan wasn't annoyed. He took out two spirit marrows from his sleeve and placed them on the corridor railing. With a push of his finger, the spirit marrows rolled to the side of the roster.

The same old method, the same old routine, but in Shuiyue... this method has never had a problem.

The lean Taoist priest paused for a moment:

"Which junior brother is this?"

"The newly recruited member of the inner sect is surnamed Sun."

Zhou Youyuan flashed his disciple token: "I'd like to inquire about Master Qi's Treasure Performance Platform, but I don't know who to contact."

The lean Taoist then raised his head, looked him up and down, lingered on the token for a moment, and then glanced at the spiritual marrow on the corridor railing.

"Just look for me. My surname is He, He Qing, and I'm the manager of the library at Luoxia Peak."

He Qing tucked the pen behind his ear, then reached into his sleeve and deftly gathered the spiritual essence. "The matter of the performance stage does indeed fall under my jurisdiction. What do you want to know?"

"Rules, numbering system, fees."

"The rules are simple. Master Qi's ancient mirror is his own. He is lending it to the disciples of the sect and only charges for the materials."

He Qing held up three fingers: "It costs 3,000 points to enter once. You need to bring your own soul-suppressing materials. Zhou Tian inside the mirror doesn't recognize people. If you make a mistake, Master Qi will not be responsible."

"What about getting a number?"

"There are seven more people ahead of you. It could take a month or two, depending on when those ahead of you come out."

He Qing paused for a moment, then added, "But if you want to cut in line, I can help you move up three seats by adding a thousand points."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, senior brother."

The bamboo tally was handed over, but instead of four thousand, it was five thousand.

He Qing glanced at him with some surprise, not because he was surprised that this new junior brother was perceptive. In Shuiyue, those who didn't have any sense of propriety would have been swallowed up long ago, and they would never have made it into the inner sect.

But this younger brother is so capable; in Shuiyue, money naturally buys ability.

"Okay, I'll write it down for you, Sun..."

He Qing lowered his head to flip through the roster, but his tone became more polite and respectful: "Sun Yunqi?"

"right."

He Qing picked up a pen and wrote his name on the roster, then tore off a bamboo slip and handed it to him: "Use this to get a number, and someone will notify you when the time comes."

Zhou Youyuan took the bamboo skewer and put it into his sleeve.

The matter was settled, but he didn't leave.

"Senior Brother He, I heard you have quite a few cultivation techniques in your library?"

He Qing's lips curled up slightly, just like Manager Lü's—the smile of a businessman who had smelled profit: "What, Junior Brother, you want to buy a cultivation technique?"

"Just browsing."

"Browsing is free, but buying anything costs money."

He Qing turned and pointed into the building: "Third floor, the unaffiliated cultivator area. Disciples without a master can only enter the unaffiliated cultivator area. The cultivation techniques inside are all left behind by generations of unaffiliated cultivators. They are not of high grade, but they are cheap."

"Lead the way."

He Qing was quite decisive; having accepted the bribe, he did his job and led Zhou Youyuan up to the third floor.

The area for independent cultivators was small, with wooden shelves on three sides, on which dozens of cultivation manuals were scattered. It was much more shabby than the full display on the second floor.

Zhou Youyuan looked through the books row by row, occasionally pulling one out, flipping through a couple of pages, and then putting it back in. His movements were neither fast nor slow, like he was picking out vegetables at a market.

He Qing leaned against the door frame, watching him without urging him.

"How much is this one?"

Zhou Youyuan pulled out a booklet with an indigo cover.

He Qing peeked over and said, "The 'Soul Nourishing Technique,' an introductory cultivation method for nurturing the soul, costs two hundred points. Not many people buy this stuff; I'll give it to you for one hundred and eighty if you want."

Zhou Youyuan tucked the booklet under his arm and then pulled out a second one, with a brown cover and the title "Sparkling Sword Manual" written on the spine.

"This one is a bit more expensive, six hundred. It's an introduction to sword control, following the path of using qi to wield the sword. It's simple and straightforward, and you can progress very quickly in the Qi Refining stage."

He Qing paused for a moment, then said, "However, I advise you that this technique has a flaw. There's a backdoor in it, so if you're going to practice it on your own, it's best not to."

"It's alright, this is exactly what Junior Brother wants."

"Understand!"

Zhou Youyuan tucked the second book inside, and then pulled out a thin booklet without a cover from the corner. The pages were yellowed, as if it had been flipped through many times and then stuffed back in.

He Qing glanced at it and frowned: "The Record of Qi Transformation? This thing is almost rotten. Are you sure you want it? Eighty points, no bargaining."

"want."

"become."

He Qing took a pen and wrote three entries on the roster: "A total of 880 points, deducted from your account."

Zhou Youyuan put the three booklets into his storage bag and bowed to He Qing, saying, "Thank you, Senior Brother He."

"Don't mention it, it's just business."

He Qing tucked the pen back behind his ear: "By the way, when it's your turn at the Treasure Performance Stage, I'll have someone notify you which cave you'll be staying in."

"District C, No. 17."

"I've got it."

Zhou Youyuan turned and went downstairs. When he walked out of the library, the sun was already setting, and the old locust tree under the corridor cast dappled shadows on the ground.

Instead of returning directly to his cave, he walked slowly along the mountain path of Luoxia Peak, lost in thought as he went.

The three cultivation techniques cost less than a thousand points.

Cheap, incredibly cheap.

Cheap items at Shuiyue have only two possibilities: either they're used as bait for you, or... they're used by others as bait to lure you in.

Zhou Youyuan reached into his storage bag, his fingertips touched the covers of the three booklets, and without lingering, quickly withdrew his hand.

Now that he has the bait, finding the pieces shouldn't be difficult, and even the chessboard will soon be his turn.

It can be said that good things are on the horizon.