First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 4: Exchange

"Pill refining and forging talisman scrolls?" Cao Ren listened and nodded readily. "It seems like my father has some in his room. If you need them, I'll find them for you later when I'm off duty."

Although Cao Ren's father, Cao Shanyue, didn't pay much attention to his son's cultivation, their family had a rich collection that included many pill recipes and talisman scrolls.

However, most of what Cao Shanyue collected were items of low quality.

But for Shen Mo, who was just starting to practice, it was enough.

"Then it's settled." Shen Mo agreed.

"Alright."

Cao Ren nodded.

After discussing, the two of them began to seriously guard the mountain gate.

Compared to other tasks in the Linjiang Sect, guarding the mountain gate was not dangerous and extremely leisurely and boring.

The daily workload was minimal, apart from greeting and verifying the identities of the sect disciples entering and leaving the mountain gate, there was basically nothing else to do.

Unlike some disciples who were assigned to guard the spiritual fields and cultivate spiritual medicine, they were busy all day, fearing that the spiritual seeds in the rice fields would not grow well or encounter any problems.

Guarding the mountain gate, unless they encountered an enemy sect seeking revenge that hadn't been seen in a hundred years.

Otherwise, even if they were lazy and let in a few idle people, there would be no consequences.

The two of them continued to guard until noon.

Cao Ren greeted Shen Mo, "You watch for a while, I'll go cook first."

"Okay, go ahead." Shen Mo nodded and watched him leave.

There was no one in the Linjiang Sect who would bring you food while guarding the mountain gate.

If you wanted to eat, you either had to cook for yourself or go to the special dining area inside the mountain gate to buy food.

However, although the food in the dining area was delicious, the prices were quite high.

Usually, only the inner disciples who were not short of money would be willing to eat there.

Outer disciples like Shen Mo and Cao Ren could barely afford their daily expenses and would naturally choose to cook for themselves.

"Speaking of which, running a food business in the sect is not a bad idea." Shen Mo thought to himself, pondering in his heart.

If he could replicate the business model of ordering takeout from Earth, he might be able to make a fortune in the Linjiang Sect.

If that were the case, he wouldn't have to worry about not having enough money to support his cultivation.

But this idea was quickly rejected by Shen Mo.

After all, this was the Immortal World, not like Earth where everyone was law-abiding citizens.

Not to mention the profits in the food business, which were already occupied by the dining area. If he were to snatch their business, he would easily invite retaliation.

Even if the people from the dining area didn't bother with him, when it came time to deliver the orders, if they encountered disciples from the sect who didn't want to pay, he would be in for a lot of trouble.

Doing business requires an environment that follows the rules.

Transmigrating to a different world and expecting to achieve great success by simply using some knowledge and wisdom from his previous life was basically wishful thinking, unless he had absolute strength as a backing.

But if he had that kind of strength, who would still do this kind of work?

"Here it is!"

Just as Shen Mo was lost in thought, Cao Ren had already returned with the cooked food.

"It smells so good!"

Shen Mo turned around and smelled an extremely fragrant aroma, making his appetite soar.

"Is this spirit rice?" He looked at the pot of white and translucent rice and then at the two large deer legs on top of the rice. "Is this the meat of Demonic Beasts? Red-browed deer?"

"Not bad, you've got a good eye, you little brat."

"You're being too extravagant today, cooking Ling Rice and even eating Demonic Beast meat!"

This Ling Rice is different from ordinary rice. It is cultivated by practitioners using special rice seeds and can enhance one's vitality and cultivate the foundation.

As for Demonic Beast meat, it goes without saying. For cultivators, every part of a Demonic Beast is precious. Besides the most valuable Monster Core and some special parts that can be made into artifacts, the flesh and blood of Demonic Beasts are also quite valuable. Long-term consumption of them is beneficial for cultivation.

However, these are all rare things. Even inner disciples can't afford to eat them every day, let alone outer disciples like Cao Ren.

"They were all sent to me by my father," Cao Ren explained. "He recently saw that my cultivation base was approaching the Body Tempering Returned to Origin stage and that I was at a critical moment in breaking through the bottleneck of the Touching Realm. So he specifically instructed me to eat better food to break through as soon as possible."

"Isn't your father usually not concerned about your cultivation?" Shen Mo asked casually.

"He does care in his spare time!" Cao Ren laughed. "Today, since you agreed to give me a Qi Gathering Pill, I'll treat you to a meal as well."

Shen Mo naturally wouldn't be polite with Cao Ren's generosity.

So the two of them sat in the pavilion at the mountain gate and began to enjoy their meal.

"So delicious~"

The Ling Rice was sweet and left a lingering taste, and then they grabbed a piece of Red Brow Deer leg and tore off a large chunk of meat.

The rice and grilled meat together gave a satisfaction that couldn't be expressed in words.

After wolfing down their food, they finally felt full.

Shen Mo patted his stomach and finally felt comfortable.

"I'm really tired of this daily gatekeeping life."

Cao Ren finished his last bite of rice and muttered, "Being an outer disciple is really tough. It's like being unloved by your grandmother and unliked by your grandfather. If I want a future, I have to enter the Inner Sect."

This statement is not wrong.

The outer disciples of the Linjiang Sect, to put it nicely, are considered named disciples, but to put it bluntly, they are not much different from servants.

To become an outer disciple of the Linjiang Sect, the threshold is not very high.

Ordinary mortal children only need to have some qualifications for cultivation, find the mountain gate, and come to register their names.

But precisely because of this, the Linjiang Sect does not regard these people as true sect disciples and treats them as free labor.

The various benefits and monthly salaries of sect disciples have nothing to do with them.

If they want to receive some monthly salary for cultivation, they need to do various difficult tasks for the sect.

Moreover, the Linjiang Sect's Immortal Art Tower, Forge Hall, Spiritual Qi Pool, and Martial Arts Platform are all restricted areas for outer disciples.

To get rid of this situation, the only way is to enter the Inner Sect, leave one's own name on the Linjiang Sect's disciple roster, and obtain an identity token.

The requirement for the Linjiang Sect to accept inner disciples is that they must break through to the Qi Gathering stage.

"Fortunately, I'm also about to break through."

Cao Ren turned to look at Shen Mo and found some satisfaction in him.

After all, there are many outer disciples like Shen Mo who have been struggling for many years without any progress in their cultivation and are planning to leave the sect in disappointment.

Although he has been struggling for many years, he can still have the opportunity to advance sooner or later if he endures.

From Cao Ren's gaze, Shen Mo could guess what he was thinking.

But he didn't care how Cao Ren saw him. He just heard Cao Ren's sigh and silently contemplated his own plans for the future promotion and cultivation path.

After awakening the destiny panel, Shen Mo no longer had the idea of leaving.

Instead, he believed that there was still a chance to salvage his cultivation path.

(End of this chapter)