Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

Yun Chuyou came down the mountain to share the good news about the changes in the identities of her younger martial sisters and brothers.

Meng He, now a true disciple, had bright shining eyes, "Elder Martial Sister is a direct disciple, and I am a true disciple; I am the second strongest disciple in the sect."

Yu Jiu sarcastically replied, "That’s because you are the second disciple to join the sect, right?"

There are only a few of them; they simply changed their status from ordinary disciples to true disciples—a mere name change. In this financially struggling sect with so few resources, what is there to fight over? Truly a foolish puppy.

"Junior Martial Brother Meng He, give me your hand."

Yun Chuyou quickly explained to Yu Jiu the difference of being a true disciple. She took out a thin silver needle and gently poked Meng He’s fingertip. The young demon’s skin was tough, and the needle couldn’t go in at all; instead, it bent.

She tried a second time, adding a bit of spiritual power, and successfully drew a drop of bright red blood.

A round drop of blood floated in the air and then fell into the wick of a lamp, a faint blue flame quietly lit up. With a deep connection, she had just taken Meng He’s heart blood.

"Meng He, this is your Soul Lamp. I will send it to the Soul Hall. As long as the lamp exists, you exist; when the person dies, the lamp goes out. If anything happens to you, you can still know a little through the Soul Lamp."

Her lamp was slightly different from Meng He’s; when it was made, a trace of spirit was mixed in. If she had an accident outside, this Soul Lamp might give her a chance to be reborn in a new body.

The lamp for direct disciples was supposed to be made this way, but Xie Fuzhi said, "Meng He’s body is special; it doesn’t need a spirit. Just his heart blood is enough."

Yun Chuyou didn’t really understand these processes either; after all, most of her knowledge came from her master Xie Fuzhi. Such details weren’t usually written in books, so she accepted what her master said.

It was probably because Meng He was a demon, so the process was different from her as a human cultivator. Yun Chuyou didn’t ask any more questions.

The Soul Hall was large, but it didn’t feel too empty, as there were many spirit tablets with names carved on them, honoring disciples who had contributed to Qingxu Sect but had passed away.

As long as they were inner disciples, they could enter the Soul Hall after death. The respected elders had their tablets placed higher, while the past leaders of Qingxu Sect were displayed in the first row directly facing the entrance.

Two lonely Soul Lamps were placed on the offering table in front of the leader’s spirit tablet. There used to be hundreds of Soul Lamps here, but now only two were lit. Zhong Wei asked, "Are these two the Soul Lamps of our master and Elder Martial Sister?"

Yun Chuyou nodded, "The one on the right is mine."

The special stand for the Soul Lamp is made of unique wooden material, with a slightly sunken area that perfectly fits the Soul Lamp. This special design ensures that the Soul Lamp will stay securely in place.

A long row of black soul wood can hold at least dozens of lamps, but when Yun Chuyou was about to place hers, she paused for a moment: her and her master’s Soul Lamp occupied the only two empty spots in that row. Was this row of wood so short that it could only hold two?

Yun Chuyou didn’t often come to the Soul Hall, so she might have been mistaken. Not thinking too much about it, she adjusted her grip on the Soul Lamp and placed Meng He’s lamp in the lower right empty spot. With a click, the Soul Hall finally had a third lamp.

Meng He was very happy, feeling like he finally had a name in the Qingxu Sect. Seeing the Soul Lamp in its place gave him a stronger sense of belonging to the sect.

Zhong Wei expressed a sincere envy in her eyes, "Elder Martial Sister, when will I be able to enter the Soul Hall?"

Yun Chuyou replied, "Wait until you reach Foundation Establishment; Master will take you as a true disciple."

Last night, she discussed with Xie Fuzhi that the Qingxu Sect would only focus on training a few disciples for a while. Now, Zhong Wei, as a Qi Refining cultivator, could be promoted to an inner disciple since she could be taken as a true disciple once she reaches the Foundation Establishment Stage.

When the sect grows, true disciples will need to be at least at the Golden Core Stage to qualify, and by then, inner disciples will be able to place the Soul Lamp in the Soul Hall.

After all, in the early days of a small company, an ordinary employee can also be a director. They are quite similar now. With few people in the sect, this batch will eventually become senior figures, so the requirements for advancing can be relaxed a bit.

"Elder Martial Sister, I will do my best to train!" If I can’t be the third one to enter the Soul Hall, I must become the fourth!

"Hmm, I believe in you." Yun Chuyou answered without any insincerity, but when she said this, she instinctively glanced at Yu Jiu beside her.

In fact, Yu Jiu was already in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, but he insisted on pretending to be just a small Qi Refining cultivator. She naturally couldn’t expose him, so she acted as if she didn’t know anything.

Meng He smugly glanced at Yu Jiu; he knew that this guy was just jealous. He pretended not to care, but in reality, he was like someone who couldn’t reach the grapes and said they were sour.

The younger martial sister was much more honest; her envy showed clearly on her face. The longing she revealed made Meng He feel more fond of this gentle and delicate younger martial sister.

At least she was honest, unlike Yu Jiu, who was a sly and sickly person and was completely unwilling to be straightforward.

"Do a good job, Elder Martial Brother will protect you. You should try to surpass Yu Jiu, that limping… unmotivated guy, as soon as possible!" Meng He felt a little nervous, thinking about how close he came to getting punished again.

After setting up the Soul Lamp, Yun Chuyou reminded, "Have you remembered the sect rules?"

Meng He quickly answered, "I’m writing, I’m writing!"

Yun Chuyou successfully gathered a total of two hundred and fifty rules in three days. Yu Jiu’s handwriting was beautiful, like a master calligrapher.

Meng He’s writing was rough, shaky, and looked like it was written by a chicken’s claw. At first, he wrote carefully, but as he got tired of copying, his handwriting became very messy, like a wild dog had scratched it out.

Yun Chuyou had no doubt that if Meng He tried to read it himself, he wouldn’t be able to figure out what the twisted strokes meant.

The rules turned in by the two of them were placed side by side, and the difference was shocking. Even someone who couldn’t read could see which was which.

"Meng He, you have an extra study now. You will practice calligraphy with Yu Jiu for an hour every day."

Meng He protested, "I don’t want to learn from him, and I am a cultivator—why would I need calligraphy?"

Yun Chuyou showed him a few talismans, "If you write calligraphy well, you can also draw talismans well. Good handwriting helps improve the quality of the talismans."

Talismans are naturally curved and twisted, and with Meng He’s messy handwriting, what he thought in his mind wouldn’t match what he drew at all; the final product would surely be a disaster.

To show that she did not mean to make things hard for Meng He, she took out a rule written by Meng He and wrote a few words in the blank space beside it, "I don’t expect you to reach Yu Jiu’s level. As long as you can practice the basic strokes well, that’s enough. I am not as good at writing as Junior Martial Brother Yu Jiu, which is why I want you to learn from him."

Yun Chuyou paused for a moment and added a few benefits, "To practice immortality, one must cultivate the mind. Calligraphy can help calm the heart, Meng He… I want you to practice writing because it will be good for your training."

Meng He was too rash; practicing writing and calming his mind would help him not to be too restless, which could disturb his mindset. Yu Jiu, on the other hand, was the opposite. Yun Chuyou hoped that lively Meng He could bring some fresh energy to Yu Jiu, so he wouldn’t always look so lifeless.

Yu Jiu smiled and said, "Senior Martial Sister, do I really have to teach him? I don’t really want to."

Even though he was praised for his beautiful calligraphy, Yu Jiu did not feel very happy. Before he became a ghost, he had a brief memory of being human.

He was born into a prestigious family, the first son of the Yu family in the Imperial Capital, and as the eldest grandson, he carried too many expectations.

However, a human body could not bear the extreme cold of a ghost’s form, which made him weak and sickly since birth. He suffered from pain until the moment his human body completely died.

This was the identity carefully chosen for him by his ghostly mother. The Yu family was a very strict noble family, with many descendants. Inside, there was a lot of hidden darkness and mystery. With the fortune of a noble family and countless resentful souls, they could nurture enough excellent ghost children.

The greater the pain in his body, the more twisted his character became. In the moment of "death," only then could the resentment reach the sky, allowing him to achieve a higher level of power. Yu Jiu, this ghost child, was born with power close to the Golden Core level.

However, he has now fallen in rank and is only at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

When Yu Jiu was born, the main line of his family had few members left, and he had to learn the six arts of a gentleman from a young age. By the age of two, he was already practicing writing. Because he was too weak, he was not good at horseback riding and archery, but he excelled in music, board games, calligraphy, and painting. However, these past skills did not make him proud; instead, they brought back painful memories that made him angry.

Of course, he didn’t want to teach for another important reason: people with many schemes hate those who are naive, and Yu Jiu really dislikes Meng He.

"Teaching comes with contributions to the sect."

Yun Chuyou had a smile just like his, "Meng He took on a task to kill demon beasts a few days ago. Junior Martial Brother Yu Jiu still owes the sect a large amount of contribution points. Qingxu Sect is just a small sect and cannot afford to support idle people."

In fact, no sect, big or small, would support their disciples for free, and the lower-level disciples in big sects, like chores, do a lot of work but earn very few points.

After all, doing tasks like weeding and farming cannot compare to earning points for killing monsters. However, inner disciples receive more resources, and direct disciples get subsidies from their masters, which makes their lives a bit easier.

But even top sects do not provide endless benefits to inner or direct disciples; they offer supplies based on the disciple’s progress. If a disciple’s progress is too slow and they fail their assessments, the sect will take back the generous resource subsidies.

Deep in debt, Yu Jiu chose to lower his head to the sect, "I will teach; is it one hour a day?"

"Yes, one hour gives five contribution points, and the time is arranged according to your training progress." Remembering the younger martial sister beside her, Yun Chuyou said, "The younger martial sister can join in the learning too, teaching two people gives ten contribution points for one hour, based on the number of times."

After all, teaching one is the same as teaching two; a harmonious relationship between senior and junior brothers and sisters means supporting each other and growing together.

"Can I learn too?" Zhong Wei said with rosy cheeks, "But I can’t read."

"No problem, Meng He can’t read either." The little demon, born in the Demon Realm, only knew how to fight, and though the name sounded artistic, in reality, he was quite illiterate.

"But I don’t have any contribution points for the sect." Learning requires money. In the Mortal World, whether going to a private school or hiring a teacher at home, you have to pay, as knowledge is not free.

Yun Chuyou generously said, "This basic teaching is considered a benefit of the sect; let’s use the sect’s funds."

After all, if you can’t read, you won’t even understand the techniques. Those precious jade slips that can directly impart knowledge are very expensive. The path of training is endless, and learning more basic knowledge is always beneficial.

Out of respect, Yun Chuyou also asked Yu Jiu, "Junior brother, do you have the energy to teach? If not, I can teach the younger martial sister."

"Sure." Letting out one sheep is the same as letting out two; it saves energy and time.

It is rare that what he learned in the past can be of some use, helping him reduce his debt a little. Yu Jiu agreed without hesitation, and even felt a twinge of guilt towards his strict teacher from long ago.

If he had known that the other person could help him, he should have acted quickly when he had the chance to let him die.

At that moment, Yu Jiu never thought that in the coming days, he would regret many times. He felt so foolish for agreeing to teach the silly dog, knowing that its brain was likely eaten by bugs, just for a mere five contribution points.

If the Elder Martial Sister didn’t multiply the contribution points by ten, his smart mind, beautiful face, outstanding charm, all his wonderful virtues, perfect character, and even his soul would have been destroyed by this guy!