Cultivation Online

“Are there any special rewards for being the first to become a disciple? Besides the ten thousand points, obviously,” Yuan inquired.

“I am not aware of any other rewards, but I am just a worker in the Bamboo Garden, so I don’t know everything,” Senior Zhou shook his head.

“Is that so? Anyway, I’ll leave once I am ready to leave. Ten thousand points may seem like a lot at first, but if you consider that some things from the store cost millions of points, it’s just a drop in the bucket. I’m sure there are ways to earn thousands of points with minimal effort once I become a disciple.”

Senior Zhou was left speechless.

“I have never left the Bamboo Garden, so I can’t tell you if you’re right or wrong, but if you don’t want that ten thousand points, there’s nothing I can do to force it on you.”

With that, Senior Zhou turned around and walked away.

Once Senior Zhou left, Yuan returned to his routine.

Meanwhile, Lan Yingying continued spending all of her time cultivating after fully memorizing the cultivation technique.

Now that he was earning plenty of points, Yuan used some of them to help Lan Yingying with her quotas, paying for three months of quotas for her so that she could completely focus on her cultivation. A week later, Senior Zhou gathered the participants again. Those who had missed their quotas last week also missed another week, making that their third strike.

“Everyone on this list has missed their quotas three times. Their quotas will be doubled for an entire year, and they will also be prohibited from cultivating during that time. If they miss another quota, they will be executed.”

Everyone there turned to look at Yuan, as he was the reason these people missed their quotas. However, Yuan didn’t appear to have any pity for these people, who had threatened and attacked him out of greed.

After the announcement, Yuan approached Senior Zhou and asked, “Has anyone become a disciple yet?”

“No, but it won’t be much longer,” he said. “In that case, I’ll become the first.”

“Really?” Senior Zhou’s eyes widened, pleasantly surprised to hear this.

“Yes, but give me a few more minutes.”

Before leaving, he spoke with Lan Yingying.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I have already begun cultivating, and since you’ve already paid for three months of quotas, I can focus on my cultivation. I’ll come to you as soon as I become a cultivator,” Lan Yingying said to him.

Yuan nodded before turning to look at Yan Yiling and Bi Ziyan and speaking, “I’ll leave her in your care.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t let anyone bully her.”

“We owe you, after all.”

If Yuan hadn’t shared some of his points with them, they’d still be struggling to memorize the cultivation technique.

Yuan ended their conversation there and said to Senior Zhou, “I am ready to become a disciple.”

“Very well. Take this and inject your spiritual energy into it. It will take you to the Immortal Monastery.” Senior Zhou handed him a jade talisman.

After accepting the jade talisman, Yuan infused it with his spiritual energy. In an instant, his body disappeared from Lan Yingying and the others’ sight, leaving them staring at the now-empty space where he had stood.

In Yuan’s eyes, his surroundings blurred and flickered for a brief moment, as though reality itself was shifting. When his vision cleared, he found himself standing before a large gate with the sign ‘Immortal Monastry’ grandly displayed above. “I see another have crawled out of the Bamboo Garden,” a handsome young man suddenly remarked, standing beside the gate. His gaze was filled with disdain, his expression almost mocking, as if he were looking at a beggar who had wandered into the wrong place.

“Although you’ve become a cultivator and are technically a disciple of the Immortal Monastery, don’t let it go to your head,” the young man said firmly. “You’re just someone who came from the Bamboo Garden. You’re not a real disciple in my eyes.”

“Is that so?” Yuan calmly muttered, showing no sign of surprise at the awful treatment. He had encountered the same situation in the past as Tian Yang and knew what to expect.

Tian Yang had become a disciple through the Bamboo Garden, one of several ways to join the sect. However, this method was widely looked down upon by other disciples, especially those who entered through more proper avenues, such as entrance examinations or direct recruitment by the sect.

The Bamboo Garden was generally reserved for individuals from ordinary backgrounds, typically those lacking the talent, resources, or connections needed to pursue the more proper and respected methods of joining the sect. As a result, disciples who came from the Bamboo Garden were often viewed as inferior and bullied by their peers.

“If you want to survive in this place, you better walk with your head lowered and treat the real disciples as if they’re your ancestors. Otherwise, you won’t last long in this place.”

“Thank you for the advice. I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

“Hmph.”

The young man said nothing further, simply turning around and walking away, his disdainful demeanor lingering in the air.

Once he was completely out of sight, Yuan’s attention shifted to a small figure quickly approaching him from a distance. The person’s hurried movements and slightly panicked expression immediately caught Yuan’s attention.

Unlike the young man clad in a disciple’s uniform, the small figure wore the plain attire of a servant. Similar to the setup in the Bamboo Garden, the Immortal Monastery employed mortals to serve as servants, handling various mundane tasks to support the sect’s daily operations.

As the figure drew closer, Yuan realized that the person only seemed small due to a hunched back. In reality, it was an elderly man.

“I-I am sorry for greeting the Young Master so late! I didn’t dare come out until—I mean…”

“It’s fine. I understand. That guy just now was very menacing, after all.” Yuan showed a warm smile, catching the old man off-guard.

After snapping out of his daze, the old man straightened slightly—as much as his hunched back allowed—and introduced himself.

“This humble one’s surname is Zhai,” he said with a respectful tone. “I will be assisting you in settling into the sect.”