‘Damn, damn, damn! Elder Zhao, you’ve been so calm these past days and I let my guard down, but I can smell trouble coming from miles away with those two. Elder Zhao, you really are my true arch-nemesis.’

Cang Song, who was the one spying from behind the pavilion wall, felt like crying when he was stared at by the couple standing beside Elder Zhao.

It should be known that with the first ten thousand contribution points he saved, Cang Song didn’t hesitate to rush to the Heritage Pavilion and buy a Qi disguise technique of Founder-Tier.

He then trained it tirelessly until he reached a level where not even strong Golden Core cultivators could detect him, which left him proud and at ease. After all, in the continent, aside from his own sect, there were only cultivators at most at the Golden Core level.

But right there, of all places, with Elder Zhao calling him, was a couple who saw through him so easily, screaming trouble from every angle.

“Cang Song, come out, you’ve already been seen. Come guide your junior brother and sister, they are new to the sect,” Elder Zhao scolded sternly, holding back a smile.

Helpless, the poor disciple Cang had to come out of his hiding spot and quickly greeted the elder and the disciples politely.

“Hello, Elder Zhao, junior brother and sister, Cang Song greets you!” he said, bowing.

Elder Zhao rolled his eyes upon seeing him bow even more deeply to the junior disciples than to him, which also left the couple confused. Stunned, they quickly returned the greeting politely.

After finishing that, Cang Song turned to the elder with a polite smile.

“Uhh… Elder Zhao, not that I mind guiding the most esteemed junior brother and sister here, but… err… well, I am a core disciple now…”

Taking a deep breath, he played his trump card to try and escape the predicament, leaving his words implied so as not to be too direct and risk offending the new disciples.

Elder Zhao looked at him seriously for a moment and nodded, which greatly relieved Cang Song.

But before he could say his goodbyes, the elder’s next word made him want to cry:

“And?” he asked him to continue, freezing the poor core disciple completely.

With a face worse than crying, he looked helplessly at his arch-nemesis.

“Elder, wouldn’t it be bad to ask a core disciple to do this sort of thing? Not that I feel offended to guide the junior brother and sister, but due to my identity as my master’s direct disciple, it might not be appropriate.”

He made his final attempt, smiling bitterly.

“What’s inappropriate about it?” Elder Zhao snorted.

Unfortunately, his struggle was useless, and his sadness only worsened when he heard the elder’s next words.

“Cang Song, stop wasting time. These two just joined the sect after causing trouble, provoking strong cultivators, and then being hunted by thousands of cultivators, including hundreds of Nascent Souls. They’re still tired, so go, go!”

Elder Zhao shooed him away with both hands and an irritated look, making the poor Cang Song feel the world spin and darken, almost fainting on the spot after hearing that.

‘Damn it, my instincts about troublesome people never lie!’ The poor disciple Cang was helpless and nervous, but he could only honestly guide the disciples.

The said couple, Lei Yun and Mu Luyi, upon seeing the confusing scene, had thousands of question marks pop up above their heads, wondering things like:

Why was the elder talking about that in front of that senior disciple?

Why did the senior disciple seem so cowardly, wanting to run away from the very beginning?

And why did the elder call a core disciple to act as a guide for outer disciples, and he didn’t seem to have the power to refuse?

Though confused, they followed the peculiar disciple who accepted to guide them.

What they didn’t know yet was that, although in other sects the status of a core disciple was usually much greater than that of an outer elder—where the latter would actually flatter the former, and the disciple could even give orders to the elder—in the Infinite Dao Sect, it wasn’t so.

All the disciples of the sect knew that the status of an outer elder was only below that of higher-ranking elders, but even the latter did not disrespect them.

This was the mentality Aotian had created in the sect, because in the end, all the elders were him, and if he granted greater status to a disciple or lowered too much the status of an outer elder, the disciples could trample his authority if he was present only as an outer elder, which would be terrible.

Creating this different mindset ensured that his control and harmony within the sect were much greater, sparing him from future headaches.

Cang Song, unable to escape, began guiding the couple honestly and seriously after Elder Zhao left.

The three first introduced themselves and exchanged greetings before moving on.

Since they were already there, Cang Song pointed to the building beside them. It was beautiful, with some golden patterns across the walls, green jade circling the pillars, and a red roof. The building was huge and elegant, but without exaggerated opulence.

“Junior brother Lie, junior sister Mu, since we’re here, let’s first introduce this place,” he said, and after receiving nods from the couple, he continued: “This is the Treasure Pavilion. Normally, disciples don’t come here much unless they are members of this pavilion or under orders from some elder. Most of the sect’s strategic resources for communal use are stored here, but as I said, only those with authorization can enter.”

“The items stored here are meant for distribution to all pavilions. If you want something, as disciples, you’ll need to go to the Exchange Pavilion, which is affiliated with the Treasure Pavilion. There, you can both buy items from the sect and sell items to it. You can also post exchange offers between disciples, though contribution points can’t be used for that.”

He explained, and the couple listened in silence, only nodding affirmatively until he reached the final part.

“Senior brother Cang, why can’t disciples trade with contribution points?” Lei Yun asked, slightly confused. Normally, other sects also had such contribution point systems, but without these restrictions.

“Well, contribution points are the sect’s strategic resources, allowing access to very special things that cannot be found in the outside world. Just in terms of value, you can exchange one contribution point for a mid-grade spirit stone, although the opposite is not possible, which already shows part of their worth.”

“As for your question, we don’t have a definitive answer for why trading contribution points between disciples is prohibited, but the consensus is that the sect fears wealthy disciples might accumulate too many points just through their wealth.”

Cang Song explained seriously while flying smoothly on his sword, accompanied by the two. Only Mu Luyin was flying by herself, which made Cang Song’s mouth twitch.

“And why would that be a problem?” Mu Luyin asked, intrigued. She had intended exactly that, since she had brought a lot of wealth from home to live better in the sect.

“That’s the point. What the sect fears isn’t that disciples possess many points, but rather that they have them undeservedly. If it were just a matter of value, fifty thousand contribution points for a Core-Tier technique of the sect, equivalent to fifty thousand mid-grade stones, wouldn’t be expensive, but cheap. The sect doesn’t want us to obtain this easily, relying only on external wealth. It wants us to contribute, to work for the sect, to build feelings for it through tasks, and to gain experience. Well, that’s what most believe, myself included.”

Blinking thoughtfully as he spoke, Cang Song revealed what he had learned and concluded from others’ conversations.

Unfortunately, if this question were asked to Aotian and he answered honestly, the entire romanticized idea invented by the disciples would be shattered to pieces, for he would say: “Of course it’s because I fear disciples having too many points! What if they want to buy something I don’t have, wouldn’t my act be ruined?!”

But the poor disciples had no way of imagining the shamelessness of the true leader of their sect.

Cang Song then continued introducing the other pavilions:

Alchemy Pavilion – Where one could request and order pills. Providing the recipe materials saved many contribution points.

Refinement Pavilion – Same as the Alchemy Pavilion, but dealing with artifacts.

Talisman Pavilion –

Same as the previous two, but with talismans.

Formation Pavilion – Where one could order formation disks and flags, or directly request that a formation be established somewhere by pavilion members.

Sword Pavilion – Where one could request sparring and guidance in exchange for contribution points. The points charged were supervised by elders, who decided how much each fight was worth and against whom one would spar, to prevent corruption among disciples.

Missions Pavilion – A place to accept or create missions, also with anti-corruption measures.

Beasts Pavilion – Where one could rent or buy spirit beasts, with certain rules; if they were killed or mistreated, there could be fines, punishments, or even forced return of the beast.

Punishment Pavilion – Basically, the sect’s barracks. There were cells for offenders and punitive measures were applied. Disciples could report crimes that occurred within the sect, and the pavilion was responsible for investigating and resolving the problems.

Heritage Pavilion – Where one could buy and access cultivation techniques, spells, and inheritances of auxiliary arts. There was also a reading area, where one paid one contribution point per hour of use, containing common books acquired by the sect, without real cultivation techniques. In addition, there was a purchasing area with spirit stones, with techniques, spells, and inheritances of auxiliary arts acquired from the outside world, which disciples could buy to gift to family members.

The sect was still not very complex, and Cang Song took only a few hours to introduce everything. There were also meeting places for disciples, such as the sect’s plazas, and free teaching spaces for the four auxiliary cultivation arts for outer disciples.

There was also the dining hall for Qi Refinement disciples, who could not live without eating. Currently it was closed, since the sect no longer had disciples of that realm. However, it was opened about once a month, allowing disciples to participate in a banquet to rejoice and bond, since impurities were not a major problem for the sect’s cultivators.

Regarding this last one, Aotian had actually been lately searching for cookbooks and recipes in the mortal world, since such things practically did not exist in the immortal side of the world. Upon acquiring them, he immediately synthesized them, improving the recipes more and more, and because of this, the sect’s food had been getting better and better, with disciples always looking forward to the day the dining hall opened.

Cang Song also strongly recommended that the couple attend when it opened, explaining that impurities were not a problem in the sect.

Having shown everything, he chose to end the tour without including the mortal cities under the sect’s influence beyond the mountain, as there wasn’t much worth seeing there yet.

He then led the couple to the outer elder responsible for selecting cave mansions for disciples, leaving them there.

Mu Luyin and Lei Yun thanked him with respect and gratitude before going to choose their caves and end the busy day.

The two, just like Rihai and Aotian, decided to live together in the same cave.

The last interesting moment of the day was Lei Yun’s absolute shock, when while cultivating, he realized there wasn’t even a single impurity from Golden Core and below in the sect’s ambient energy.

“WHAT?! Impossible!!”

That was just another normal day in the Infinite Dao Sect.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep