"Demon. Are you in a bad mood?"
Yun Miaoqing spoke as she looked up at Lu Yang, who was resting with his eyes closed.
"A little," Lu Yang sighed, casually explaining the predicament he found himself in.
"This is a Demonic Sect. They treat the disciples within their gates as expendable materials, with no humanity to speak of," Yun Miaoqing said, her crimson lips parting slightly.
"Demon... Daoist Lu, your talent is not bad, and your character is excellent. Why must you suffer and compromise in this Demonic Sect?"
Yun Miaoqing said.
"As long as you release the restrictions on my body and help me escape this Demonic Sect, I can recommend you, allowing you to become a disciple of my Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion."
Yun Miaoqing wanted to court death, but he had no interest in accompanying her. When poor, one must focus on oneself. The most urgent matter was still how to improve himself.
After much deliberation, Lu Yang did not buy any Yin-Yang Immortal Flower. Instead, he spent everything he had to purchase ten Great Primal Energy Pills that could increase one's cultivation level.
"This life has basically reached a dead end."
"After all, I don't plan on repaying the loan, nor am I willing to waste decades as a beast of burden. When the loan is due, I will surely die without a burial place."
"So I must use this time to improve myself as quickly as possible!"
Lu Yang had already made up his mind. When he restarted his next life, he would choose to inherit his cultivation level. To do that, he had to raise his strength to a higher level as quickly as possible.
"If my cultivation level is too low, Liu Xin, who will be present at that time, might see through it. So at the very least, I must raise it to the same realm he was in," Lu Yang pondered in his heart.
"It has to be at least the mid-stage of the Qi Refining Realm, paired with a breath-concealing art. Only then might I be able to deceive him."
Lu Yang dared to think this way because he was confident. This was because the Qi Refining Realm had a total of ten levels, divided into initial, middle, late, and perfection stages. Within the minor realms, there were basically no bottlenecks; one only needed to accumulate enough quantity to break through.
What truly trapped the multitude of Qi Refining cultivators were the bottlenecks between the minor realms. From the early stage of Qi Refining to the middle stage, from the middle stage to the late stage, and from the late stage to the great perfection, the difficulty nearly multiplied each time, leaving countless cultivators unable to advance even an inch.
"According to my calculations, ten Great Primal Energy Pills, plus the spiritual vein in my cave residence, are enough for me to break through to the third level of Qi Refining. In fact, this is the cultivation level of most disciples in the sect. They rely on grinding through time and seniority to advance, only to get stuck at the bottleneck of the initial Qi Refining stage, becoming beasts of burden for the Saint Sect."
If nothing unexpected happened, Lu Yang would also be one of them. However, in this life, he held a variable in his hands. With a thought from Lu Yang, a wisp of steaming white Qi instantly appeared in his hand.
It moved as easily as his own arm, one moment taking the shape of a sword, the next turning into thick smoke. Innate Primordial Qi!
"According to Liu Xin, the greatest use of the Innate Primordial Qi is actually to help one break through bottlenecks. His ability to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining was definitely thanks to its help."
Liu Xin could use it to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining. It shouldn't be a problem for me to use it to break through to the middle stage.
"As long as I break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining, this life won't have been in vain. At worst, I'll just restart immediately. With a higher cultivation level in the next life, my starting point will also be better!"
A moment later, a voice came from outside the cave residence. His Great Primal Energy Pills had arrived. Lu Yang pushed the door open, only to see a woman standing outside his cave residence.
She wore plain clothes, her beauty was no less than Yun Miaoqing's, and her buxom figure was even superior.
"This humble one is Qingchen, greetings to Junior Brother Lu."
The woman gave a curtsy, then let out a soft laugh. Her laughter seemed to have a magical quality that soothed the heart, making one instinctively feel a sense of goodwill towards her.
"I have been ordered to escort the Great Primal Energy Pills you purchased, Junior Brother. Please take out your Token for inspection."
Lu Yang knew the procedure and immediately complied. As they completed the handover, this Fairy Qingchen gently probed, "For Junior Brother to be able to purchase so many medicinal pills this time, could it be that you've struck a fortune somewhere?"
"What is Senior Sister talking about?"
Lu Yang shook his head with a pained expression.
"I just took out several loans. I was thinking of raising my cultivation level so I could take on some missions with higher rewards."
"So that's how it is."
Fairy Qingchen nodded, her face full of concern.
"Junior Brother need not be so modest. Which one of us formal disciples doesn't have a few loans to our name? However... forgive Qingchen for being blunt, but Junior Brother, you still don't know how to be flexible."
"Oh?"
Seeing that Lu Yang was interested, Fairy Qingchen smiled faintly.
"There are only so many sect missions. How could you possibly repay so many loans by relying on missions alone?"
"In the Saint Sect, you can't get rich if you only know how to walk the common path," Fairy Qingchen said softly.
"I had previously thought Junior Brother had discovered a cave residence left behind by some senior brother and received his legacy, thus making a huge profit. That's why I brazenly asked. I didn't expect it to be otherwise."
"A cave residence..."
Lu Yang's eyelids lowered, his expression as calm as an ancient well, but his tone feigned excitement.
"I am dull-witted. I must ask Senior Sister to elaborate."
"Does Junior Brother know that the Saint Sect was established in the 'Heaven-Linking Cloud Sea'?"
Fairy Qingchen said lightly, "Within the sea of clouds, besides the four peaks of the inner sect, there are many other mountain peaks, all established by former True Disciples and elders."
"However, the Immortal Path is long, and over the years, there are always some who fall. Yet after they fall, their mountain peaks and cave residences are not removed. Instead, they are left behind within the sea of clouds. Although there are certain risks, every single one is a fortuitous opportunity. Even a small gain can be exchanged for a large number of contribution points!"
"If Junior Brother is interested, I happen to have recently discovered a relatively safe cave residence..."
Really?
I don't believe you! Lu Yang sneered inwardly, simply because Fairy Qingchen's persuasive manner was so strikingly similar to Liu Xin from his last life, who had tricked him into cultivating the Innate Dao Scripture. This is fishing!
What fortuitous cave residence? It's just bait. It seems I've revealed my wealth.
Seeing a newly entered disciple like me buy so many spiritual pills, she wants to trick me into going out and slaughtering me to take the pills for herself? Thinking of this, Lu Yang put on a look of temptation.
"I need to consider it."
"There's no rush in this matter."
Fairy Qingchen nodded upon hearing his words.
"The acceptance procedures are complete. After Junior Brother has thought it over, you can contact me."
"I've thought it over. I'm not going."
Seeing that the procedures were done, Lu Yang didn't say another word, picked up the bottle containing the spiritual pills, and returned to his cave residence, leaving only Fairy Qingchen standing there alone.
"???"
A moment later, the recovering Fairy Qingchen nearly shattered her silver teeth, and her pretty face was filled with killing intent.
"This Lu Yang... how dare he play me!"
Turning to leave, Fairy Qingchen soon arrived at another cave residence. Inside the cave residence, a young Daoist in magnificent robes had long been waiting. Seeing Fairy Qingchen's ugly expression, he frowned as well.
"You didn't succeed?"
Fairy Qingchen shook her head.
"This person... is a bit too cautious."
"And Senior Brother Zhao, this person borrowed money but didn't buy the Yin-Yang Immortal Flower, buying medicinal pills instead. I suspect he probably never intended to repay the money."
"Wants to default on his debt? In his next life!"
Zhao Xuhe sneered and shook his head upon hearing this.
"Did you know that for every new disciple who enters, the Saint Sect has long since secretly marked a price for them?"
"And the amount of funds a disciple can borrow within the Saint Sect will absolutely not exceed his price. This is to ensure that no matter what happens, the Saint Sect can recover its costs. Flesh, bones, organs, and soul... these are all valuable things, more than enough to repay the debt."
"He wants to raise his cultivation level? Let him."
"As long as the person is still here, a higher cultivation level is actually worth more money."
Zhao Xuhe grinned, the smell of blood seeming to flow between his lips and teeth.
"At that time, not only will we not lose out, we might even be able to make a profit."
"Besides, he may have the money to buy those spiritual pills, but he might not have the life to use them, right?"
"Senior Brother means..."
Zhao Xuhe nodded slightly, his words holding a hidden meaning.
"Many things are fine, as long as you don't get caught."
As soon as these words were spoken, Fairy Qingchen's beautiful eyes lit up.