Demons and monsters wreak havoc: gain one new confidante every day.

early morning.

Shen You woke up in the dormitory of the apprentices in hemp clothing, and immediately smelled a sour and pungent odor.

Although he had become a martial artist, he still shared a large communal bed with a dozen or so apprentices dressed in hemp clothing. These apprentices were used to poverty and rarely took baths. Every day, the room was filled with a strong smell of feet, sweat, and body odor, making him miserable.

"Thankfully, this kind of life is about to end! Once I pass the Mai examination, I can enter the inner court and completely escape this life!"

Shen You had heard that the apprentices in blue robes in the inner courtyard were all in rooms of four or five people, and each had their own bed. She couldn't help but imagine that when they slept, they wouldn't be so crowded or smelly.

"Get up! It's another hopeful day!" Shen You sat up from the communal bed and stretched with a satisfied yawn.

"Brother Shen..."

Shen You looked down and saw a large face covered in acne right in front of her.

"Woqu, what are you doing?"

Shen You pushed the man away, only to realize that it was his brother, Zhang Erniu, who slept in the next bunk and was also an apprentice in hemp clothing.

Shen You had only been awake in this outer courtyard for half a month, and there were not many people he could talk to. Zhang Erniu was one of the people he interacted with the most.

"Why are you so close to me so early in the morning?" Shen You asked, puzzled.

"Brother Shen..." Zhang Erniu's face showed a bitter smile, "I'm leaving..."

"Go? Go where?" Shen You raised an eyebrow.

"I... I'm getting old..." Zhang Erniu said hoarsely.

"You've reached the age where you want to leave?" Shen You asked疑惑地, "How old are you this year?"

"I'm eighteen..."

"Eighteen?" Shen You was a little confused. "You mean you're only eighteen and you have to leave? You have to leave this place? Who made that rule?"

"That's the rule in the outer courtyard... After all, the main hall can't support us forever, so if we haven't become apprentices in blue robes by the time we turn eighteen, we'll be expelled from the outer courtyard..." Zhang Erniu's eyes widened slightly. "Brother Shen, don't you know this rule?"

"Cough! Of course I know!" Shen You said, feigning composure. "I was just half asleep!"

It turns out that Renxintang even has a rule about kicking people out.

Shen You curled his lip, feeling that the rule was really inhumane. After all, according to his observation, many of these apprentices in hemp clothing were destitute and helpless. If they left Renxin Hall, they might really not know where to go.

Are we destined to go to the outer city of Chengdu and fend for ourselves?

"Erniu, do you have anywhere to go?" Shen You asked casually.

"No..." Zhang Erniu shook his head with a heavy expression. "Maybe if I leave Renxintang, I'll disappear into some corner in the blink of an eye... There are gangs, demons, and scions of powerful families outside. It's not uncommon for me to be devoured without a trace if I'm not careful..."

"I see..." Hearing Zhang Erniu say this, Shen You didn't know what to say for a moment.

Although Zhang Erniu seemed to be in a terrible situation, he and Zhang Erniu were only acquaintances who occasionally exchanged a few words, so he felt nothing when he heard him say that.

Zhang Erniu gave a wry smile and said, "Alright, I didn't actually come here to talk to you about this. It's just that we've known each other for a while, and I wanted to say goodbye before I left. I don't know anyone else in this courtyard... Oh, by the way, I haven't congratulated you on becoming a martial artist yet. I heard you were quite impressive yesterday, defeating Wang Hu with a single punch!"

"Ah, thank you..." Normally, Shen You would definitely have boasted about it, but hearing Zhang Erniu's praise, she only felt a little depressed.

"Alright, I'm off then. I don't have much here, so let's get going..."

Zhang Erniu got up and walked out of the dormitory.

Shen You kept staring at his back, unable to take her eyes off him.

If I hadn't awakened the "Fate Jade", would I have ended up like him, reaching the age required, being expelled from the outer courtyard, and left to fend for myself?

For an ordinary person like Zhang Erniu, going to the outer city of Rongcheng would mean certain death.

"This damned world is truly a monster, devouring people without spitting out the bones!" Shen You couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Shaking his head, Shen You got up and prepared to fetch water as usual.

Just then, he suddenly paused, as if he had thought of something.

"Wait a minute, in this godforsaken world, ordinary people can't control their own destiny and could disappear at any moment..."

"So, what exactly was Aunt Dou like last night...?"

Shen You thought of Aunt Dou, who wasn't in the room last night, and suddenly felt inexplicably uneasy.

I hope nothing bad has happened to Aunt Dou.

……

Even during her afternoon meditation, Shen You remained absent-minded.

"The older woman wasn't in her room last night. Where could she have gone?"

Because he was busy with chores and cultivation all day, he didn't even have time to check on Aunt Dou's condition, and could only worry about her in his heart.

Snapped!

"You brat, instead of cultivating properly, what are you doing standing around in the dark!"

Guard Xue walked over and impatiently slapped Shen You on the head.

This slap brought Shen You back to her senses.

He had no time to think about Aunt Dou and hurriedly dealt with Guard Xue.

"Brother Xue! How could I dare not cultivate properly? I just happened to think of some things."

Shen You covered her head and quickly put on a smile.

"Hmph!" Guard Xue glanced coldly at Shen You. "I thought you'd become a martial artist and thought you were all grown up, no longer taking me seriously!"

"How could that be!" Shen You patted his chest, vowing confidently, "Boss Xue, you'll always be my boss! Once the boss, always the boss! Even if I don't respect anyone else, I can't disrespect Boss Xue!"

"That brat, still the same old scoundrel!"

Guard Xue cursed and beckoned to Shen You, "Come with me!"

He turned and left, and Shen You, unaware of what was happening, quickly followed behind.

Having reached a place some distance from the others, Guard Xue stopped and said:

"Do you know why we don't see any other apprentices in hemp clothing with martial arts skills here?"

Shen You then realized that Guard Xue was going to give her some instructions in person.

Why can't we see any other Mai with martial arts skills?

Shen You thought for a moment, "Because they don't have meat to eat?"

Snapped!

Guard Xue slapped Shen You on the head again, "Even you can eat the flesh and blood of demonic beasts, do you think others can't?"

Guard Xue sneered, "Besides, ordinary people don't eat the flesh and blood of demonic beasts; instead, they consume 'Foundation Building Pills' to become martial artists. However, 'Foundation Building Pills' are worth several tens of taels of silver, something you penniless commoners can't even dream of!"

"Besides that, there are many truly exceptionally talented individuals who break through to the Martial Artist level at a young age, and even continue to 'break through the Yuan' and 'break through the Qiao' levels, reaching the second or third rank!"

"Rumor has it that the eldest daughter of the Lin family in the east of the city broke through her cultivation barrier and became a martial artist at the age of eleven. Now, at the tender age of sixteen, she is already a fourth-rank martial master! Compared to such a prodigy, you are utterly worthless!"

"I see!"

Shen You covered her head again, unable to help but say, "You didn't have to hit me like that, did you? I was just joking..."

In fact, Shen You knew that his innate talent was only 100, and there were definitely many people with better aptitude than him.

There must be countless geniuses like the eldest daughter of the Lin family, but I am simply unaware of them due to my limited perspective.

"So, Boss Xue, why can't we see Ma Yi, who has the strength of a martial artist, in the outer courtyard?" Shen You asked again.

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you!"

Guard Xue's expression turned serious as he said, "Of course, some of the apprentices in the hemp robes can become martial artists, though few, but there are a few every year. These hemp robe apprentices with martial arts skills are naturally not a concern for the hemp robe instructors. They all entered the inner courtyard early on, and many are already working for the pharmacists."

"They're already working for the apothecary?" Shen You asked in surprise. "But wasn't it said that only apprentices in blue robes could stay by the apothecary's side?"

As far as Shen You knew, there were three levels of apprentices: Hemp Robe, Green Robe, and White Robe. The outer court was for Hemp Robe apprentices, while the inner court was for Green Robe apprentices. The White Robe apprentices were the ones who had the closest relationship with the pharmacists, participated in the pharmacists' alchemy affairs, and helped the pharmacists with some daily chores.

Guard Xue explained, "It's not only apprentices in blue robes who can follow a pharmacist. Nor can all apprentices in blue robes follow a pharmacist."

"The number of pharmacists is limited, and the number of apprentices each pharmacist can train each year is also limited. After all, each apprentice in green robes, and even each apprentice in white robes, consumes a portion of resources, and it's impossible to expand indefinitely. So, this part is actually limited in number."

"Therefore, the apprentices in green robes are divided into two types. One type is the apprentices who follow the pharmacist, and the other type is the apprentices who do odd jobs in the inner courtyard. Naturally, those who can follow the pharmacist have greater potential for development. That's why many people will fight tooth and nail for these few spots."

Upon hearing what Guard Xue said, Shen You suddenly understood.

"So those apprentices in hemp clothing who followed the pharmacist were eyeing these few spots from the very beginning?"

"That's right!"

Guard Xue's expression was solemn. "So even if you pass the examination tomorrow, you still have to wait for the pharmacist to select you and allocate the precious spots to you. Those who can go to the pharmacist's side in advance and work for him will naturally have a greater advantage."

"I see……"

Shen You gave a wry smile.

He finally understood what Boss Xue was trying to say.

Even if one has the strength to become a Qingyi (a high-ranking official), it doesn't necessarily mean one can work under a pharmacist; there are still many variables involved.

If you can't find a pharmacist willing to give you their precious spot, even if you go to the inner court, you'll be at the very bottom of the bottom.

Those participating in this competition included not only ordinary apprentices in the same clothing examination as him, but also martial arts apprentices who had been following the pharmacist.

Even martial artists are vying to become a junior female warrior.

The intensity of the competition is self-evident.

"Brother Xue, what should I do?" Shen You asked hurriedly.

He knew that after saying so much, Boss Xue would definitely give him some advice.

Xue Laoda has always helped him a lot, and he will always remember it.

Guard Xue said, "If you want to stand out, you have to fight a fierce battle."

His gaze fell on Shen You, revealing a hint of fierceness.

"Martial artists will inevitably fight, and the way to fight is naturally through mutual slaughter! In this chaotic world of demons and monsters, slaughter is unavoidable!"

He paused, then said in a deep voice:

"That's why I called you here today to teach you the 'Tiger-Taming Saber Technique.' This saber technique is extremely powerful. If you can learn even a little bit of it, it will be enough for you to show your prowess in tomorrow's test."

Tiger-Taming Saber Technique?!

Shen You was startled, and the next moment he knelt down before Guard Xue.

"Brother Xue, no, Brother Xue! I will never forget your kindness!"

"You little rascal, you know how to take advantage of others!"

Guard Xue smiled and said, "Get up! If you can enter the inner courtyard, it will certainly be more interesting there!"

At that moment, Guard Xue took a stance and taught Shen You a set of "Tiger Subduing Saber Techniques" move by move.