Extracting all things: My attributes grow infinitely.

"Junior brother, this is the sixth-grade cave dwelling you applied for. The rent and protection fee for the cave dwelling will cost a total of 200 contribution points per year. Remember to pay the fee on time when it expires."

The man smiled and handed a token to Jiang Chuan.

Jiang Chuan was stunned.

Following Cui Chenghua's advice, he applied for a sixth-class cave dwelling. However, the normal rental price for a sixth-class cave dwelling should be 80 contribution points per month. How come it became 200 points here?

He asked calmly, "Senior brother, what does this protection fee mean?"

The man seemed to have anticipated his question, his smile unchanged, and he casually explained, "The protection fund, as the name suggests, is to protect you from being disturbed by others while you are cultivating in your cave. After all, there are many outer disciples of the Immortal Alliance, and it is inevitable that there will be some unruly individuals."

Jiang Chuan frowned. "Isn't private fighting strictly prohibited within the Immortal Alliance?"

Upon hearing this, the man gave a meaningful smile: "Open fighting is naturally not allowed... but if we fight in private, as long as we handle it cleanly afterward, who can find out?"

Jiang Chuan's heart sank immediately.

In this situation,

It seems a little different from what Cui Chenghua described?

Seeing his silence, the man added a few more words, his voice carrying a hint of half-joking and half-threatening: "Junior brother, you may not know this, but there is a group of people in the outer sect who act extremely maliciously. They specifically target new disciples like you. Moreover, this protection money is not for me, but is to be handed over to the Qingjie Association."

"Our Qingjie Association is one of the three major forces in the outer sect. Several of our vice presidents are experts at the seventh level of Qi Refining. As long as you have our name attached to you, anyone who dares to touch you will have to think twice about the consequences."

"Of course, junior brother, you can choose to pay or not."

"It's entirely voluntary."

"However, senior brother, you must make the unpleasant things clear beforehand."

His smile vanished, and his tone turned cold: "If you pay the protection fee, you'll be under the protection of our Qingjie Society. But if you don't pay... then if something happens, we won't be able to help you."

Having said all that, Jiang Chuan understood perfectly.

This Immortal Alliance is completely different from the friendly and mutually supportive cultivation holy land described by Cui Chenghua!

Outer disciples are indeed free.

But what Cui Chenghua didn't say was that the price of this freedom was the inability to guarantee even the most basic safety of life.

The smiling man in front of him is probably closely connected to the so-called bandits he's talking about.

If he dares not pay this protection fee, he probably won't even survive tonight.

This is a blatant threat!

Jiang Chuan's expression changed several times, but he finally suppressed his anger and accepted the cave token with a blank expression.

The man's smile returned to its warm tone, and he patted the boy's shoulder, praising him repeatedly: "Junior brother is indeed a wise man. From now on, you can cultivate in peace in the cave. I guarantee that no one will disturb you."

Jiang Chuan took a deep breath and asked again, "Senior brother, I have another question. A disciple who was guiding me introduced me to some jobs... Are these jobs reliable?"

Upon hearing this, the man gave him a half-smile.

Perhaps because Jiang Chuan's attitude was relatively straightforward, he showed a rare bit of patience.

He said slowly, "Since you asked, junior brother, I'll kindly give you a heads-up. It's true that there are easy ways to make money in the outer sect, but those jobs have long been snapped up by people with connections. How could a newcomer like you with no background possibly get a chance?"

"If a newcomer encounters such a good thing that comes knocking on their door, there's a good chance they're the one being traded. Junior brother, don't end up being sold out and happily helping others count the money."

Jiang Chuan felt a chill run down his spine, a cold sensation shooting from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

He immediately recalled the horrific scene of the massacre of the entire village.

Those mortals were used as materials for blood sacrifice by cultivators, slaughtered and cut down like livestock.

In this world, even mortals are regarded as resources for immortals to be plundered at any time. How could cultivators themselves possibly escape the law of the jungle?

Cui Chenghua's disguise was too convincing.

Surprisingly, he didn't have the slightest suspicion from beginning to end.

If it weren't for the man in front of him reminding him, he probably wouldn't have known he was being sold!

Jiang Chuan suppressed his surging emotions, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

The man waved his hand and added, "If you want to earn contribution points, first assess your own capabilities. If you're not strong enough, don't trust those privately arranged missions. If you want to take on missions, go to the mission list. Although there are some traps, at least the missions there are publicly released by the Immortal Alliance, so you don't have to deal with them face-to-face, which is more reliable. As for how to use the mission list, you'll understand when you get to the cave."

"Thank you, senior brother."

Jiang Chuan clasped his hands in a fist salute again, accepted the token, and turned to leave.

Stepping outside, the sunlight shone on him, bringing him some warmth.

But his heart was filled with coldness.

He looked up and glanced at the celestial mountains floating in the sky in the distance.

Amidst the swirling clouds and mist, palaces and pavilions appear and disappear, resembling a true fairyland.

But at this moment, in his eyes, those magnificent and imposing celestial palaces seemed like gaping maws ready to devour anyone.

Immortal Alliance...

What the hell is this place?!

He withdrew his gaze, ceasing his thoughts. His immediate priority was to return to his cave and figure out how to make money.

As for Cui Chenghua...

Jiang Chuan's eyes turned cold.

Anyone who dares to mess with him should be prepared for retaliation; he's never been a kind soul.

……

Jiang Chuan sped along the plank road and soon arrived at his cave dwelling.

As the token was pressed into the groove, a pale blue ripple appeared on the stone wall, and the heavy stone door slowly opened with a deep rumble, revealing the true appearance of the cave's interior.

It is said to be a cave dwelling.

In reality, it was just a stone chamber carved into the mountainside.

The interior space is several tens of meters wide, with fluorite embedded in the walls for illumination. The concentration of spiritual energy is slightly higher than outside, but not by much.

In the center of the stone chamber was a stone bed for meditation, and in the corner was a set of rough pottery tea set. That was all the furnishings in this cave dwelling.

With these conditions, you get 80 contribution points a year, and they still want to charge an extra 120 protection points.

Jiang Chuan glanced around expressionlessly.

I didn't think about it any further.

He was past the age of worrying about such trivial matters. As long as he could cultivate in peace, everything else could be put aside for the time being.

He turned around and sealed the stone door, then casually activated the protective array that came with the cave.

After doing all this, he turned his gaze to the deepest part of the cave.

Directly behind the stone bed, a bronze mirror about three feet tall floated in mid-air, its surface smooth as water and shimmering with a pale golden light.

"Is this the task list that senior brother mentioned?"

Jiang Chuan stepped forward and extended a wisp of his spiritual energy to touch the mirror.

The moment the spiritual intention came into contact with the mirror, the bronze mirror suddenly lit up.

An invisible force surged into his mind and consciousness, and a complex array of images unfolded, like a giant illusory scroll being unfurled.

Mirror of Ten Thousand Immortals.

That is its name.

Jiang Chuan examined it for a moment and quickly figured out its purpose.

It is not simply a task-issuing tool, but a complete set of magic array network terminals covering the entire Immortal Alliance.

From the Myriad Immortals Mirror, he can browse information uploaded by other cultivators, purchase cultivation techniques, pills, and magical artifacts, and accept and submit tasks.

There was even a discussion forum for outer disciples to communicate privately, which served a similar purpose to the online platform in the Origin Realm.

"It's a good thing, actually."

Jiang Chuan became somewhat interested and, with a slight thought, first opened the trading section of the Myriad Immortals Mirror.

Instantly.

A densely packed list of products unfolded before his eyes.

[Five Elements Spiritual Root: Low Grade, Price: 100 Contribution Points]

[Four Elements Spiritual Roots: Medium Grade, Price: 500 Contribution Points]

【Glazed Qi: Grade 8, Level 2, Price: 1200 Contribution Points】

[Turbid Qi: Rank 7, Tier 4, Price: 3000 Contribution Points]

【《Nian Guang Xuan Zhang》: Qi Cultivation Technique, Current Number of Practitioners: 0, Price: 10000 Contribution Points】

……