Chapter 1

Because these individuals are the most dangerous bandits, if one happens to encounter them, the fortunate ones may have a significant portion of their task items forcibly taken under the pretext of collecting protection fees, while the unfortunate ones may be completely stripped of all their belongings

Within the Yunmeng Sect, however, several factions have long since emerged. Although these factions cannot be said to be completely incompatible, they certainly do not enjoy harmonious coexistence. Various schemes and intrigues abound, a situation that is directly related to the higher-ups of the Yunmeng Sect focusing solely on cultivation while neglecting management. After all, in a major sect with hundreds of thousands of cultivators, it would be unusual not to encounter problems without a strong leader to oversee affairs. In comparison, the robbery incidents encountered by Wu Yan are merely trivial matters.

Ignoring the furious expression of the "Senior Brother who has attained enlightenment" behind him, which was a result of his dignity being disrespected, Wu Yan swiftly vanished within the Refining Hall. This place is one of the nine Refining Halls specifically established for the refining disciples of the Outer Nine Peaks. Inside the hall, there are a total of eighty-one fire eyes. By submitting a spirit stone, one can choose a fire eye for refining. It is said that due to the purity of the fire vein here, the success rate of refining is very high

Therefore, Wu Yan had long decided not to participate in that so-called challenge competition. After all, Senior Brother Ma Lian had always looked down on him. If he were to challenge him and ended up with a humiliating defeat, he might very well set some difficult problems for him. Despite the fact that he had already posed countless similar problems over the past thirty years.

This is a mine belonging to the Yunmeng Sect, but it has long been depleted. Currently, only Wu Yan is mining here. The reason is not that he is pretentiously aloof, but rather that he cannot compete with others. One can easily understand that a person at the eighth level of the Qi Refining stage cannot possibly contend for better mining sites. If luck is not on his side, being eliminated by others would merely be a matter of moments.

Certainly, such extravagant spending is something Wu Yan would definitely shy away from. However, Senior Brother Ma Lian has been mysteriously holed up here for the past few months, so he has no choice but to come here to submit his tasks

Wu Yan certainly wanted to participate in this challenge, but he hoped even more to change his identity by elevating his cultivation to the tenth level. This was not only to enhance his self-defense capabilities but also because he truly dared not challenge the senior brother with a horse face who had overshadowed him for a full thirty years.

Indeed, if there are sufficient spirit stones and elixirs available, although the training time may be shortened, one can still rapidly enhance their cultivation. However, with no background, Wu Yan does not possess enough spirit stones to purchase elixirs. Although he can earn four to five spirit stones each month by completing tasks, after deducting various expenses, the remaining amount is very little. After painstakingly saving for thirty years, his total assets amount to merely thirty-four spirit stones. A single Dragon Essence Pill, which can enhance cultivation, requires fifty spirit stones. If Wu Yan wishes to buy one, he would need to work hard for another decade or so.

Although it was not his first time entering this Refining Hall, Wu Yan still felt somewhat hesitant. This was likely related to his financial constraints, as what lay before him were grand and magnificent refining halls exuding astonishing spiritual energy. Moreover, the cultivators coming in and out, whether in terms of their cultivation level or the magical tools they possessed, were enough to make him feel utterly ashamed countless times. To be honest, Wu Yan even suspected that the horse-faced senior brother had sent him here to submit a task as a creative way to torment his fragile heart

Ah! It seems that I truly have no hope of establishing a foundation in this life. Perhaps reaching the tenth level of Qi Refinement before my passing would be quite remarkable. After all, I still have a lifespan of one hundred and fifty years. Although this is less than the three hundred years of the Foundation Establishment stage, it is still much better than those mortals." With a nonchalant shrug, Wu Yan walked out of the cave he was in.

Before him stood a black furnace, half his height, with flames slowly extinguishing within. After a moment, as the temperature of the furnace decreased, Wu Yan skillfully cast a spell, instantly reducing the black furnace to the size of a fist

After carefully examining his appearance once more, Wu Yan finally confirmed that he did not resemble a fat sheep. Only then did he release his flying artifact, while cautiously holding onto his only offensive artifact. He carefully flew towards the base, which was a thousand miles away, all the while praying in his heart not to encounter his fellow disciples.

"Oh? Is that you, Junior Brother Wu? You look quite worn out, I assume you just returned from a mission! Ha! How did it go? How is the preparation of materials for this month? You mustn't let it happen again like last month when Senior Brother Ma deducted another spirit stone from you!" As Wu Yan just landed his flying artifact in front of the Artifact Refining Hall, a round-faced cultivator walked out, his pair of narrow eyes darting around, seemingly asking with a hint of glee.

However, this time the sealed hall was opened quickly, and Senior Brother Ma Lian along with another young cultivator walked out with broad smiles. This scene left Wu Yan, who was prepared for a protracted battle, somewhat taken aback, and more importantly, anxious. After all, this situation was not characteristic of Senior Brother Ma Lian. Had his ability to create challenges for himself ascended to an even higher level? With this thought, Wu Yan's heart inevitably sank.

He glanced at the miniature furnace in his hand and suddenly chuckled self-deprecatingly. As of today, he had been a member of the Yunmeng Sect for a full thirty years. Back then, he had worked tirelessly to join this foremost sect of cultivation in the Blue Star, and countless people had envied him. Yet, who knew that although he had joined the Yunmeng Sect, he had become a veritable laborer.

However, Wu Yan clearly knew that this fellow made a living by flattering Senior Brother Ma. Not to mention that his monthly tasks were significantly less than his own, even his cultivation level at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement was only achieved after consuming two Dragon Marrow Pills. It was likely that, for the sake of those two pills, this guy's family business in the secular world was on the verge of bankruptcy. Sometimes, Wu Yan really wanted to ask him whether the so-called 'thousands of acres of fertile land' he often boasted about still existed.

Wu Yan covered nearly a thousand miles in just one day and night to safely reach the station, which can be attributed to his correct choice of route. In fact, to avoid encounters with those bandit-like senior brothers, he had almost memorized the terrain of the areas within a few thousand miles where missions could potentially be carried out. He even set traps in advance in some dangerous sections that he frequently passed through. Therefore, even if he were to unfortunately encounter some unscrupulous cultivators, as long as they were not at the Foundation Establishment stage, he could successfully escape.

In addition, there is another method to become a senior external disciple, which is the "Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate" challenge held every ten years by the Nine Peaks. Any cultivator who believes they can surpass a higher-level disciple in a certain aspect is eligible to participate. As long as they can emerge victorious, regardless of whether their cultivation level has reached the tenth layer, they will become a senior external disciple. Those who perform exceptionally well are even more likely to become assistants to Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivators during alchemy or artifact refining.

"Hehe! So it is Junior Brother Wu who has arrived. Senior Brother, I am currently at a critical stage of refining the weapon, please wait a moment." Just as Wu Yan was looking around, the voice of Senior Brother Ma, with a horse-like face, suddenly came from a sealed hall beside him, startling him greatly.

The sect's residence of the Yunmeng Sect is located in the Yunmeng Mountain Range, which spans tens of thousands of miles. Among the eighteen main peaks, they are divided into the Inner Nine Peaks and the Outer Nine Peaks based on the abundance of spiritual energy. The Inner Nine Peaks are undoubtedly accessible only to cultivators with exceptional talent. It is said that every cultivator who can enter the Inner Nine Peaks has a significant chance of reaching the Core Formation stage. Of course, if a cultivator from the Outer Nine Peaks can achieve the Core Formation stage, they can also become a disciple of the Inner Nine Peaks. The Inner Nine Peaks are undoubtedly accessible only to cultivators with exceptional talent. It is said that every cultivator who can enter the Inner Nine Peaks has a significant chance of reaching the Core Formation stage. Of course, if a cultivator from the Outer Nine Peaks can achieve the Core Formation stage, they can also become a disciple of the Inner Nine Peaks

Fifteen pounds of inferior pig iron, three pounds and five taels of inferior copper sand, five taels and two qian of silver powder, three pieces of coarse grinding stone... Hmm, this month's tasks are almost completed. Let's see what excuses Senior Brother Ma Lian can come up with to deduct my spirit stones At this moment, Wu Yan was half-closing his eyes, murmuring to himself as he calculated the nearly one hundred types of materials in his storage bag

But Wu Yan immediately rolled his eyes in exasperation. Does this horse-faced senior brother not know how to come up with some creative excuses? Why is it always at critical moments? Moreover, if you are going to refine weapons, just refine them! Why run around like a revolving lantern? Does he really think that shouting unexpectedly will scare himself half to death? Or does he believe that this will enhance his imposing presence even more?

Certainly, one should not expect the higher-ups of the Yunmeng Sect to pay attention to such matters. In fact, although the Yunmeng Sect is regarded as the largest sect in the Blue Star, this is merely for external perception. More accurately, it is because the Yunmeng Sect possesses nearly one hundred Yuanying stage cultivators and two transformation stage elders, which means that there are hardly any forces that dare to provoke them

Sighing softly, in order to prevent those few spirit stones from being openly deducted, Wu Yan had no choice but to lean against the wall to carry out what Senior Brother Ma Lian referred to as 'waiting for a moment.' However, only the ghosts knew how long this moment would actually last; after all, the last time he had waited outside for nearly an entire day.

It is known that thirty years ago, that horse-faced senior brother was already capable of refining some low-grade magical tools, and recently he has been mysteriously preparing to refine mid-grade magical tools. Although Wu Yan believes he can also refine some simple low-grade magical tools, that is the extent of his ability. After all, most mid-grade magical tools can only be refined by foundation-building stage cultivators, while top-grade magical tools can only be refined by core formation stage cultivators.

As for the cultivators of the Outer Nine Peaks, they are divided into inner disciples and outer disciples. Inner disciples refer to those who have successfully established their foundation; these individuals not only do not need to complete the tasks assigned to them but also receive a substantial amount of spirit stones each month. Outer disciples, on the other hand, are those who have not yet established their foundation. These cultivators are further categorized into various types based on their different tasks related to the -图-书, including deacon disciples, spirit beast disciples, alchemy disciples, weapon refining disciples, and talisman crafting disciples.

Wu Yan's status as a firework disciple is thus one level lower, specifically serving the refining disciples. His main tasks include mining for gold and gathering ordinary materials for the refining disciples. The cultivator referred to by Wu Yan as Senior Brother Ma Lian is one such refining disciple. Additionally, there are talisman disciples who specifically serve the talisman-making disciples, and herb disciples who serve the alchemy disciples, among others.

Oh..." Wu Yan responded nonchalantly and turned to walk into the hall. As for this cultivator who joined the Yunmeng Sect at the same time as him, he truly had nothing much to say. This fellow was at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Stage, which was slightly higher than Wu Yan's cultivation level. Because of this, he arrogantly considered himself a senior brother, adopting the demeanor of a highly accomplished individual.

According to the regulations of the Yunmeng Sect, any cultivator who lacks sufficient aptitude or has not reached the Foundation Establishment stage must complete certain assigned tasks each month. For instance, Wu Yan, as a fire worker among the outer disciples, spends more than two-thirds of his time each month on tasks such as mining, collecting gold, and refining materials. Only the remaining time can be devoted to cultivation. Cultivators with better aptitude may be able to maintain their cultivation progress.

Indeed, low-level disciples like Wu Yan are not without hope for advancement. Even if they cannot successfully establish their foundation, as long as their cultivation reaches the tenth level of the Qi Refining Stage, they can become advanced external disciples. This is the fundamental reason why Wu Yan is so eager to reach the tenth level of cultivation.

However, Wu Yan's qualifications are as poor as they can be; over the course of thirty years, he has barely managed to advance from the seventh level of Qi Refinement to the eighth level.

However, it is worth mentioning that the experiences of Master Ma and Wu Yan in their cultivation are quite similar; both have only advanced one level in their cultivation over the span of thirty years. This has secretly pleased Wu Yan countless times, for no matter what, even if he is the most foolish fool, at least there is a greater fool accompanying him not far away