“Reporting to the Deacon, this disciple will take the menial task at the Formation Hall.”
Fang Ping pointed at one of the bamboo slips.
Formation Hall Menial Task: Head to the outer sect’s Formation Hall and help cut the Spirit Jade used for making formation disks. Must cut at least two hundred pieces. Reward: twenty sect contribution points.
Deacon Zhao glanced at it and nodded. “The Formation Hall menial task, is it? Remember to finish it as soon as possible. That Formation Hall Deacon was just urging me about it yesterday.”
As he spoke, he reached out and beckoned, pulling the corresponding bamboo slip down from the wall.
Picking up a brush, he recorded Fang Ping’s name and accepted task in the ledger, then tossed over a token for entering and leaving the outer sect’s Formation Hall to perform the menial work.
Fang Ping caught the token. “Many thanks, Deacon!”
Deacon Zhao could not be bothered to respond. He picked up his Dao book again and merely waved his hand, signaling him to scram if he had no other business.
He quickly left the hall.
Only after walking quite far did Fang Ping turn back to look.
However, there were many eyes and ears on Tiandu Peak. He said nothing and headed straight for the Formation Hall.
Despite being called the Formation Hall, there were actually very few formation talents in the outer sect. The main purpose of establishing this hall was to run errands and perform rough chores for the Luoyang Sect’s inner sect Formation Hall.
For example, the task Fang Ping had accepted—the cut Spirit Jade was to be sent entirely to the inner sect.
However, after cutting large pieces of natural Spirit Jade, there would always be some leftover scraps.
These scraps were useless to formation cultivators. Because they were small and irregularly shaped, they were difficult to use for other purposes, so they were mostly thrown away as waste in the end.
Fang Ping’s reasoning for choosing this task was simple: these Spirit Jade scraps were not truly worthless. If one gathered enough pieces of relatively good quality, they could be exchanged for money.
Although it might only amount to one or two Spirit Stones, it was at least a little income, enough for outer sect disciples to supplement their cultivation expenses.
…
A quarter of an hour later.
Fang Ping arrived at the Formation Hall, situated in a remote location on the southern side of Tiandu Peak.
After showing his token to the two outer sect disciples standing guard, Fang Ping entered the hall’s small courtyard.
Several outer sect disciples who had accepted the same task were already busy here. Hearing footsteps, they only spared a brief glance before refocusing on the work before them.
It sounded easy, but in reality, it consumed a great deal of Spiritual Power and demanded a certain level of precision in Spiritual Power control.
A slight mistake, cutting off just a tiny bit too much, could ruin the entire piece.
If the final yield did not meet the standard, the menial task would be judged as incomplete. Not only would all their labor be for nothing, but they might even face punishment!
“You’re a new disciple?”
At this moment, a Formation Hall disciple wearing the white robes of the inner sect walked out from inside the building.
After confirming Fang Ping’s identity and learning that he had never taken this chore before, the Formation Hall disciple could not help but frown.
“You’ve never done this before, so why did you suddenly take it today?”
He complained for a moment right to Fang Ping’s face, but there was nothing he could do.
He could only give a few brief instructions according to the rules, explaining the cutting techniques and specific standards to Fang Ping. Then, without caring whether Fang Ping had actually understood, he returned inside.
“Outer sect disciples really have it hard!”
Fang Ping sighed inwardly. He found a seat and observed how the other outer sect disciples worked for a while. Only then did he pick up a large Spirit Jade slab, mark it with his tools, and circulate the Minor Geng Metal Incantation with his Spiritual Power to begin cutting bit by bit.
Spirit Jade was not considered a very sturdy material, but Fang Ping’s strength was only at the second layer of Qi Condensation. His Spiritual Power was meager.
The Five Elements Sutra he cultivated was also a common, mass-market method.
Trying to cut Spirit Jade by relying on the Spiritual Power of the Five Elements Sutra was quite laborious.
After much hard work, his Spiritual Power was nearing exhaustion in only half a shichen.
He could only pause his work, sit cross-legged on the spot, and meditate to quickly recover.
Among the other outer sect disciples, one at the third layer of Qi Condensation fared a bit better and could last longer. The other second-layer Qi Condensation disciples had Spiritual Power capacities similar to Fang Ping’s.
One person was even worse off than him and had begun meditating early on.
Working in such fits and starts, Fang Ping had only managed to cut out a dozen or so formation disk blanks by the end of the day.
At this rate, he would have to busy himself at the Formation Hall for at least ten more days. During this period, because of the continuous consumption of his Spiritual Power, his cultivation progress would be practically negligible!
“At this rate, when will I ever advance to the mid Qi Condensation stage?”
As the day’s work neared its end, the third-layer Qi Condensation disciple could not help but sigh. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
These words seemed to resonate with the several disciples present.
One of them, feeling it deeply, said, “Becoming an outer sect disciple means at least four menial tasks every year, and occasionally there are sudden matters that need handling. Our cultivation aptitudes were already poor, and we have no resources. Now we can’t even guarantee our cultivation time. What kind of beast-of-burden life is this… Sometimes when I calm down and think about it, we really might not be as carefree as those Rogue Cultivators.”
However, complaints were just complaints.
If anyone were truly asked to leave the Luoyang Sect and become a free and unfettered Rogue Cultivator, absolutely no one present would be willing to do it.
No matter how hard the outer sect disciples of the Luoyang Sect worked, they were still far better off than Rogue Cultivators.
Not only was their safety guaranteed, they could also benefit from the Spiritual Qi emitted by the second-tier High Grade spiritual vein of Mount Cangyue’s main peak.
Although the Spiritual Qi was consumed by several Golden Core ancestors and Foundation Establishment cultivators, and further intercepted layer by layer by formation arrays, leaving the concentration at Tiandu Peak at only the level of a first-tier Middle Grade spiritual vein—even so, it was still not something the outside regions could compare to.
“You’re just doing a menial task, where are all these complaints coming from!”
At this moment, the inner sect disciple who was overseeing the Formation Hall walked out again.
He looked at them arrogantly and said, “Once you become an inner sect disciple, the number of assigned menial tasks is immediately cut in half. Become a true disciple, and you are exempt from ordinary menial tasks entirely. Before complaining, first think about why you’re still muddling along in the outer sect so many years after entering the sect. Have you truly been cultivating hard?”
These words carried a bit of a “let them eat cake” flavor.
The outer sect disciples were furious inwardly, but they dared not openly contradict an inner sect Formation Hall disciple with boundless prospects. They immediately chorused their agreement, preparing to scatter.
“What’s the rush? All of you get back here and clean up these scraps.”
The Formation Hall disciple called them back irritably, pointed at the leftover scraps on the ground from their cutting, then flicked his sleeve and strode away with his head held high.
Fang Ping and the others exchanged glances, seeing the helplessness in each other’s eyes, and could only return to continue cleaning.
Of course, during the cleanup, the disciples doing the menial work here were not idle either.
Taking advantage of the tidying process, each of them picked out a few pieces of Spirit Jade from the scraps that were of relatively good quality or had only been discarded due to slight cutting mistakes.
These waste Spirit Jade pieces could no longer be used to make formation disks, but for practicing carving formation patterns, they were basically no different from whole Spirit Jade.
In the marketplace, impoverished formation apprentices would occasionally buy these waste Spirit Jade pieces at a low price for practice.
After the group tacitly divided the waste Spirit Jade pieces evenly, they smiled at each other and went their separate ways.