The two groups separated at the halfway point of the mountain and walked away along stone staircases to the left and right. Li Tan took the right path. After roughly fifteen minutes of walking along the winding mountain road, the space around him gradually widened. It was a semi-artificially excavated open area with many small and large houses. However, grains were scattered on the ground and red peppers were hanging on the walls. It looked entirely like a remote mountain village, with nothing remotely related to the word “cultivation.”
The term “apprentice” probably should be dropped when referring to these people. They seemed to have been tricked into coming here to do chores with sweet talk. Once everyone had gathered, they quickly divided into their own groups, forming cliques within an hour or so.
Most of them gathered in groups of three or five, while only Li Tan and a chubby little boy stood together.
Out of the corner of his eye, Li Tan noticed a figure gradually approaching. He turned his head and saw a middle-aged woman in her thirties.
The woman looked as if the whole world owed her money. With a frowning, unpleasant expression, she shouted at the new apprentices, “Be quiet!”
The effect was immediate. All sounds vanished in an instant.
The woman swept the surroundings with a gaze full of disdain and coldly said, “My name is Zhou Zhi. I’m in charge of assigning your tasks and training from now on. I’ll let you know what you should and shouldn’t do. I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.”
Zhou Zhi was quite imposing and immediately subdued these inexperienced young apprentices.
As if her wounded sense of pride had been satisfied, she continued with some satisfaction: “You are apprentice laborers, only half members of the Tianlang Sect. Therefore, you will receive only half the cultivation resources allocated to outer sect disciples each month. In addition, you are responsible for all sorts of chores around the sect, which are scored. The higher your score, the more you can obtain. Conversely, if you fail to complete assigned tasks, don’t even dream of getting cultivation resources. Tianlang Sect doesn’t feed idlers. Do you understand?”
Her gaze slowly shifted left and right. Many swallowed hard and lowered their heads, avoiding her eyes while murmuring softly, “We understand. We understand.”
Zhou Zhi nodded in satisfaction and continued, “Later, go choose a house for yourself. One person per room. Each house has a bag inside, containing the cultivation techniques given to you. Go there now, get your bag, and return here immediately. Oh, and the person holding the key is the house’s owner. Got it?”
“We got it,” the reply was weak.
Zhou Zhi suddenly glared and roared, “Didn’t you eat anything today?!”
The apprentices all shuddered, frightened, and hurriedly shouted loudly: “We got it!”
The woman snorted through her nose, proudly straightened her body, and then fixed an unfriendly gaze on Li Tan, asking sternly, “You there, why didn’t you speak?”
When everyone had shouted loudly just now, Li Tan hadn’t even opened his mouth.
Obviously, this sharp-eyed middle-aged woman had happened to notice him among dozens of people.
Too bad—he didn’t know how to respond, so Li Tan had just kept silent.
Zhou Zhi then sneered coldly and questioned, “What’s your name?”
“Li Tan.”
He answered truthfully.
“Fine, I’ll remember you.”
Zhou Zhi, expressionless, pointed her finger toward the east and ordered, “From now on, you’ll work in the kitchen.”
It was a strange response.
Li Tan slightly furrowed his brows in confusion. Those around him who had just been trying to make him look bad, thinking he was done for, were equally puzzled.
Shouldn’t she have assigned Li Tan a very tiring task as punishment?
But what was the situation in the kitchen?
Although they were all new to the Tianlang Sect, they knew that working in the kitchen usually meant chopping vegetables and fetching water for the head cook—tasks that didn’t even involve chopping firewood. It was not tiring at all, quite easy in fact.
However, a few senior apprentices who happened to pass by wore expressions of schadenfreude.
Noticing this, Li Tan realized the kitchen must not be as simple as it seemed. Could it involve some special task like fetching water from the foot of the mountain?
Possibly. But it didn’t really matter to him. According to what Zhou Zhi said, the punishment for failing to complete daily tasks was simply losing the cultivation resources. He didn’t plan to stay here for long anyway, so such a matter was trivial. Moreover, if necessary, he could transfer to the outer sect through proper channels, such as revealing part of his true abilities.
That’s what he thought. But in Zhou Zhi’s eyes, it was a completely different story—she must have thought helping in the kitchen wasn’t tiring, so he didn’t care.
Meanwhile, the passing senior apprentices showed even more expressions of schadenfreude, which made Li Tan even more puzzled.
Their reactions were a bit strange, weren’t they?
If it was a tough task like fetching water from far away, wouldn’t their reaction be a bit excessive?
Shaking off the messy thoughts, Li Tan became somewhat curious about the Tianlang Sect’s kitchen.
“Alright, now go choose your houses. Regroup here in half an hour.”
For some reason, Zhou Zhi slightly lifted the corners of her mouth, as if anticipating something.
The new apprentices loudly acknowledged and walked inside in pairs or small groups.
Soon, Li Tan understood why Zhou Zhi had that expression.
There were many houses in the Tianlang Sect’s laborer area, enough for each person to choose one. However, not all the houses were the same.
For example, the closest house to Li Tan was a two-story wooden building with an exquisite structure. However, there were only about ten such houses available. Yet there were fifty or sixty people looking for houses. Looking further away, the houses were clearly smaller, older, and more dilapidated. In areas overgrown with weeds, there were even straw huts that seemed like they would collapse with a single gust of wind.
Well, the meaning was obvious, right?
Bang! The sound of clashing weapons rang out. The people who had just walked together earlier shouted, “I found it first!” and started fighting fiercely. The scene became chaotic. Li Tan glanced sideways and noticed many senior apprentices watching indifferently, as if it were normal.
The law of the jungle—might makes right, strength determines everything! The Tianlang Sect had extended the ruthless rules of the cultivation world into the sect itself.
Li Tan didn’t have any thoughts of criticism about this practice, but seeing these people who had just been so friendly now clashing swords, he briefly showed disappointment in his eyes. Since he had walked ahead, he took the opportunity when no one was nearby and directly entered a house. Soon, he found the key on the table.
According to what Zhou Zhi said, whoever got the key first would own the house, and no one should be allowed to take it afterward.
But just as he was about to reach for the key, his hand trembled and he turned around.
The chubby little boy was standing right behind him.
A subtle atmosphere immediately filled the room.
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