Heir to the martial arts world, starting with not crying at the Grim Reaper

And so, Gu Jiu joined the Kaiyang Sect.

Several other people joined him today.

These people were all men.

In Gu Jiu's eyes, one of the men looked rather special. He was very thin, had a slight limp, and called himself "Aji".

Gu Jiu didn't know the specifics of the Kaiyang Sect, but its scale was quite impressive. In Ziyang Daji, where land was incredibly valuable, it actually occupied two small hills.

The five-courtyard complex is very grand and spacious, with houses piled up on two hilltops. If a single house were to house a large number of people, it could accommodate over a thousand.

As expected of a sect specializing in civil engineering!

"Our Kaiyang Sect offers absolutely top-notch benefits. Work hard, and you'll definitely have a bright future!"

"As long as you are diligent, you will not only receive a monthly bonus, but there are also rooms available in the back that you can move into. This is the only place in Ziyang Market that provides room and board."

……

And so, Gu Jiu became a disciple of the Kaiyang Sect.

Being called a "disciple in name" is just a nicer title; in reality, they are just workhorses.

In Gu Jiu's mind, no matter which martial arts force you belong to, if you are a nominal disciple or an outer disciple, you are basically a beast of burden, doing the most work but receiving the least reward.

Those who work in civil engineering are most in need of oxen and horses!

That afternoon, Gu Jiu and the other new recruits started working.

Because they were new to the job, their work was relatively simple; they just needed to transport the polished stones from the east of the city to the construction site in the west.

To be honest, this workload was quite heavy. Gu Jiu felt that it was almost as heavy as the high-intensity moving of goods at the freight company back then.

But he is no longer the person he once was.

Back then, he was seen as a "skinny guy" by others, thin and weak, practically risking his life for money.

Now, not only has his Void Cloud Force begun to develop, but his physique has also become much stronger.

After all, he has been eating meat every day these days, and the Qi Yun Jin can nourish his body's blood and qi.

So this job wasn't too difficult for him.

There were eight of them. Apart from the three newcomers, the other five senior students had also only recently started learning the craft.

Compared to Gu Jiu's effortless control, these people were finding it rather difficult, except for one person.

That is "Aji," who joined Gu Jiu's class today.

Despite his skinny appearance and slight limp, he could carry just as many stones as Gu Jiu.

The others were all thinking about how to slack off and take a break, but Gu Jiu and Aji were still working.

Because the number of stones each person has to move is fixed, they can rest once they've finished moving them.

Gu Jiu finished his work ahead of schedule, covered in sweat, and waited for dinner.

Looking at his fellow apprentices who were still moving goods, Gu Jiu felt that this place was really "rich in money and heavy in work". They had only started at noon, and the intensity of the work they were doing in the afternoon was already quite high.

There was absolutely no time for anyone to "intern" and adapt.

Outside, fellow disciples gradually returned.

Once there were more people, the Kaiyang Sect began to eat.

The food was brought out bucket by bucket.

To Gu Jiu's relief, the food was indeed quite good: one dish of stir-fried cabbage with lard, and another of braised pork offal. At least the "plenty of oil" mentioned in the notice was true.

Since Gu Jiu started practicing martial arts, his appetite has increased significantly. These days, he could only eat until he was half full at the Ziyang Market, but today he ate to his heart's content.

During the meal, the group of fellow disciples who had been moving stones gathered together and started chatting.

As they talked, they realized that their situations were quite similar.

Those from out of town can only do this kind of heavy work.

If I don't find work soon, I'll eventually be kicked out or end up on the streets, because everything is expensive at this Ziyang market.

After finishing their meal, the group dispersed to rest, knowing they would have new work to do the next day.

Gu Jiu couldn't rest yet; he still had to practice martial arts.

As usual, after spending two hours frolicking under the waterfall that night, Gu Jiu returned to his lodgings, finally bringing his fulfilling day to an end.

He lay in bed, feeling somewhat tired, but in a good mood.

The work at the Kaiyang Sect wasn't easy, but it was within his capabilities, and it also solved his problem of not making ends meet.

Another advantage is that when he is not deliberately cultivating under the waterfall, this intensity of physical exertion allows the Void Cloud Force to blend more gently with his flesh and blood, nourishing his qi and blood.

Lying in bed, looking at the spider webs on the roof beams of her newly rented apartment, Gu Jiu knew that she had finally managed to settle down, albeit barely.

He really enjoyed these relatively peaceful days.

Working and practicing martial arts every day is monotonous, but I can clearly feel myself getting stronger.

However, in the following days, he found that his experience working at the Kaiyang Sect was not as wonderful as he had imagined.

In the past few days, they have been doing simple jobs such as delivering stones and timber.

But in the last two days, they've started doing heavy work.

Really hard work.

At this moment, Gu Jiu was standing halfway up the mountain, constantly smashing the rocks with a hammer.

This kind of work is not only physically demanding, but also somewhat dangerous.

There was a cliff right next to him, with no bottom in sight. If he were to fall straight down, Gu Jiu believed that even with the protection of the Void Cloud Force, he could at most die a more complete death.

Midway through, one of the disciples slipped and fell on a protruding stone platform below, breaking his leg. It was lucky he didn't die.

Gu Jiu finally understood why the Kaiyang Sect could provide such high wages, have good food, and still be short-staffed for so long.

The Ziyang Grand Market is built against the mountain and has been expanding continuously. However, the mountain terrain is treacherous, making it much more dangerous to pave roads, build bridges, or construct palaces than to build them on flat ground.

Even he found this kind of work a bit grueling.

Civil engineering is really tough!

During this period, his honeymoon with the Kaiyang Sect quickly came to an end.

Besides the fact that the work had become more difficult and dangerous, it was also due to the rules of the Kaiyang Sect.

There were people supervising them while they worked.

These overseers were all inner disciples, and all the inner disciples were women.

These women usually sit in makeshift sheds chatting and drinking tea. If they see you slacking off even a little, they'll yell and scold you. Some of them are short-tempered and will even whip you.

These overseers were truly harsh and mean to them.

But you really shouldn't offend these women, because they are related to whether you can get your full allowance, or even your monthly bonus.

Furthermore, as a sect, Kaiyang Sect requires its outer disciples to gather together every morning and evening.

Ostensibly, they were to practice "Kaiyang Fist" together to improve their health, but in reality, most of the time they were just "listening to the leaders hold meetings" and "listening to the leaders reprimand people."

These women each talked for ages, it was enough to give anyone a headache.

Gu Jiu had the same feeling he had when he was a corporate slave, being dragged by his boss to attend those pointless meetings every day, a pure waste of his life.

This feeling is terrible, even worse than constantly carrying stones and building roads through mountains.

This is pure mental torture.

He has already decided that he will work this month, collect his paycheck, and then leave.

It's true that you can't love what you do; you have to change careers.

During this time, Gu Jiu learned about the two sect leaders of the Kaiyang Sect.

The Grand Master Zhao Zhu and the Second Grand Master Zhuang Ling.

Their clothes were not the black and red of the other inner disciples, but a rather elegant purple.

Those look like the uniform of the Ziyang Sect.

Gu Jiu couldn't help but recall what his "uncle" had said to him when he first entered the sect.

"Our Kaiyang Sect is no small sect. The Ziyang Sect has the character 'Yang' in its name, and so do we. Do you understand what that means?"

It turns out that the Kaiyang Sect is indeed a subordinate force of the Ziyang Sect, mainly responsible for the construction work of the Ziyang Grand Market.

That day, Gu Jiu had just finished his work when his supervisor, Xia Qing, found him and said, "Bu Jingyun, come with me. The Second Sect Master has a reward for you."

Although Gu Jiu considered himself one of the best workers here and was determined to get the reward, he was still quite surprised by the sudden reward, especially from the high and mighty Second Sect Master.

For a moment, everyone couldn't help but cast envious, jealous, and hateful glances at them.

Under this gaze, Gu Jiu followed the overseer toward the courtyard where the Second Sect Master was located.

He wanted to see what the second sect leader could possibly reward him with.