“Your name is Gu Changsheng?”
In front of a lush Spirit Field, a plump woman wearing a teal Steward’s robe regarded the young man before her with curiosity.
The collar of the woman’s teal Steward’s robe was cut very low. Her every frown and smile made her ample bosom sway, and with her pair of alluring eyes, she was truly bewitching to the bone.
“Steward Li, this junior is indeed…”
The young man kept his head bowed, not daring to look at her, afraid that catching sight of her figure would offend her and get him killed.
“You don’t need to be nervous. Big sister likes young men like you best—handsome, refined, and in the prime of life…”
Watching the nervous young man, Steward Li gave a seductive laugh and walked straight up to him. She lifted Gu Changsheng’s chin, making him meet her gaze. Gu Changsheng was half a head taller than Steward Li when he looked up. From this angle, all he had to do was lower his eyes to see the deep valley between her breasts…
But Gu Changsheng didn’t dare. Before coming to work as a servant disciple, he had seen one on the road staring up at a Fairy’s skirt as she flew overhead on her sword… The Fairy had cut him down with a single slash.
His head and body lay apart, and no one came to claim his corpse.
“……”
Seeing how nervous Gu Changsheng was, the Steward, Li Hongyue, felt disappointed. Her voice turned cold.
“What Spiritual Root did the test reveal?”
“Steward Li, it’s a Chaos Spiritual Root.”
“Hmm? A Chaos Spiritual Root?”
When Li Hongyue heard that Gu Changsheng had a Chaos Spiritual Root, her expression froze. Then she bent over laughing. “Hahaha! Of all the unlucky Spiritual Roots, you had to get that one. Honestly… even a Five-Element Spiritual Root, that useless trash, would be better than yours.”
Li Hongyue laughed so hard she could barely stand up straight. The view inside her low-cut collar was completely unobstructed.
Gu Changsheng awkwardly looked away and said helplessly, “I’m sorry to have made a spectacle of myself, Steward Li.”
“Normally, you could take that token and seek patronage from some Elders. But your Spiritual Root is just too poor. Other people might need only ten spirit stones to cultivate to the next stage, but your Chaos Spiritual Root would take a hundred, or even more…”
“No elder would spend the resources of ten Disciples to cultivate a money pit like you. So even with the token your family left you, you can’t join the outer sect. You can only stay here as a servant disciple…”
Steward Li grabbed Gu Changsheng’s hand, placed it against her chest, and pressed the token in his hand down…
The warm, soft sensation left Gu Changsheng stunned.
This…
What was Steward Li trying to do? Was she going to use this chance to accuse him of being lecherous and kill him?
Although the feel of Steward Li’s chest was soft and pleasant, back in his hometown Gu Changsheng certainly wouldn’t have turned down such an unexpected treat.
But after witnessing his parents’ deaths, as well as the fate of the servant disciple who had been cut in two by a female cultivator, Gu Changsheng hurriedly pulled his hand back… and said with alarm:
“But my grandfather said that if I took this token to seek patronage from Elder Wang, the Backing Mountain Sect would definitely take me in. Changsheng begs you to inform him and give this token to Elder Wang…”
Elder Wang had been his grandfather’s close friend.
Before his grandfather died, he had instructed his descendants that if they took this token to Elder Wang, he would accept them as disciples no matter what Spiritual Root they had.
Gu Changsheng had been nothing more than a mortal.
His grandfather had once been an Inner Sect Disciple of the Backing Mountain Sect. Unfortunately, he had been gravely wounded after leaving the mountain in his early years, and could only withdraw to the mountains, marry, and have children. He passed away early, leaving behind only an initiation token from the Backing Mountain Sect. He had said that if any of his descendants ever wanted to cultivate, they could take the token and seek patronage from the sect…
When he was fourteen, his parents were working in their fields when they were caught in the crossfire of cultivators fighting in the air. Both died, leaving him alone. The villagers saw that he was young and had lost both parents, called him a jinx, and refused to let him stay in the village.
Gu Changsheng had no choice but to leave the village. It took him three years to finally find the Backing Mountain Sect, thousands of miles away.
“Elder Wang?”
Li Hongyue rolled her eyes. “Elder Wang suffered Qi Deviation and passed away last year. Invoking his name won’t work on me. So tell me, are you willing to stay and work as a servant disciple or not?”
Elder Wang had passed away?
Looking at Steward Li’s hostile expression, Gu Changsheng had no choice but to accept the truth. He smiled bitterly. “I’m willing.”
“At least you know what’s good for you, boy. Be sensible from now on. Work hard and take good care of big sister, and I won’t treat you badly.”
Steward Li smiled sweetly, satisfied, and fished the token out from between her breasts before putting it away. She planned to sell it to the rogue cultivators outside the sect for a huge profit when she got the chance.
Seeing that the young man still hadn’t understood her hints, though she had made them so obvious, Steward Li could only abandon the idea of energy harvesting him and turn to giving him serious instructions.
“Working here as a water-carrying servant disciple is hard, but you’ll get three spirit pills and ten pounds of spirit rice each month.”
“Remember, the Spirit Herbs and spirit medicines in this Spirit Field are rare treasures of the sect. Even a single plant is worth more than your life… Water them three times a day, and you must use water from the mountain spring below the mountain. Each spirit medicine needs a different amount of water, so you’d better memorize the management manual.”
“Starting tomorrow, get up at four in the morning to carry water. If you fail to finish your task and the higher-ups blame me, I won’t be able to protect you.”
After all, as long as the young man stayed, she could energy-harvest him whenever she wanted. But if he botched the work in the Servant Quarters, he might not even live to see tomorrow’s sun…
“Rest assured, Steward Li. I’ll remember,” Gu Changsheng replied.
“Work hard… If you get tired, eat some spirit rice to replenish your strength… Just make sure you don’t let the work fall behind… As for those spirit pills, don’t eat them yet. You’ll understand why later.”
“And if you run out of spirit rice and want more…”
Steward Li said, moving right up to Gu Changsheng. She rested a slender hand on his chest and made as if to slip it inside…
She breathed out a fragrant sigh and whispered, “You can come to my room tonight to get some…”
Gu Changsheng’s expression stiffened. The scene beneath the flying sword flashed through his mind again, making his scalp prickle. He hurriedly pushed Steward Li away and gave an awkward laugh. “No need. I have enough spirit rice.”
“Tsk, what a spoilsport!”
Steward Li left, displeased at being rejected.
After Steward Li left, Gu Changsheng weighed the spirit pills and spirit rice in his hands. He realized the amount of spirit rice was wrong. The spirit pills were easy to count—exactly three—but there were at most five pounds of spirit rice!
“That woman really is up to no good. She’s not only skimming my spirit rice, she’s trying to trick me into making a mistake so she can kill me…”
“People in the Cultivation World are terrifying. Good thing I was smart enough to refuse.”
Gu Changsheng muttered to himself. After looking over the Spirit Field management manual, he got to work. He knew very well that if he wanted to embark on the Path of Immortal Cultivation, he had to stay here. Even if it meant working as a servant disciple, he had to stay.
Gu Changsheng pushed aside his distracting thoughts and began carrying water.
One load…
Two loads…
By the time he had carried ten loads, Gu Changsheng felt as if every last bit of strength had been drained from his body.
Exhausted, Gu Changsheng had forgotten Steward Li’s warning. Without thinking, he pulled a spirit pill from his clothes and swallowed it…
After swallowing the spirit pill, the blood essence recovery he had expected never came. Instead, he felt a foul energy from the pill spreading throughout his body!
Then a wave of excruciating pain hit him…
“It hurts.”
Gu Changsheng looked utterly bewildered, with no idea what had happened.
By rights, even if something given by an immortal couldn’t greatly replenish his vitality, it should at least nourish his body. So why did it feel like poison?
Could these so-called cultivators really prey on even mortals?
How could they have no scruples at all?
Half an hour later…
Gu Changsheng, his face deathly pale, had regained some strength. He shakily climbed to his feet.
Before he could steady himself, he felt dizzy and started to topple over. Just then, a thin hand caught him.
Gu Changsheng instinctively turned around. A thin young man stood behind him, staring at him expressionlessly.
Gu Changsheng hurriedly thanked him. “Thank you!”
The young man coldly shook his head. “Don’t mention it. I was just worried that if you died, I’d have to do all the work in this Spirit Field by myself…”
“Huh?” Gu Changsheng was taken aback, thinking the young man was just saying the opposite of what he meant.
Once he saw that Gu Changsheng was all right, the thin young man released him with a look of disgust. “You’ve got some nerve, refusing Steward Li. Don’t you know that last month another servant disciple refused her offer to sleep with him, and she worked him to death? You turned her down too. I doubt you’ll live much longer.”
Gu Changsheng was startled. “Why? There are so many servant disciples. Couldn’t she just pick a few of them? Why is she targeting me?”
The thin young man glanced at Gu Changsheng and sneered. “Who knows? Maybe you look refined, or your yang essence is strong, so you’d be more effective to energy-harvest?”
Gu Changsheng froze, committing this to memory.
“By the way, brother, is something wrong with those spirit pills? Why does my stomach hurt so much after taking one?”
The thin young man reacted as if he’d seen a ghost and hurriedly waved his hands.
“If you want to live, don’t ask questions. Just take whatever they give you… Whether it’s real or not… doesn’t matter.”
“And remember, you’d better finish watering the Spirit Field today before you leave. Otherwise, tomorrow you’ll be fertilizer for it.”
After saying that, the thin young man turned and left.
Watching his cold retreating figure, Gu Changsheng couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“What is this? I came here to cultivate immortality, and she wants me to sleep with her…”
“Forget it. I’ll eat some spirit rice and get back to work.”
Gu Changsheng grabbed a handful of spirit rice from his pocket and chewed it listlessly. The spirit rice was real.
The only downside was that it hadn’t been cooked, so it didn’t taste very good. But after eating it, he did feel his strength returning.
He should have gone straight to rest in his current state. But remembering the thin young man’s warning, Gu Changsheng forced his exhausted body back to the Spirit Field and continued watering.
One bucket, two buckets…
At last, when Gu Changsheng poured the final bucket, the strength he had regained from eating the spirit rice was completely spent. His vision went black, and he collapsed from exhaustion.
After an unknown length of time…
Gu Changsheng opened his eyes groggily and saw Steward Li sitting on the ground, impatiently calling his name.
When she saw that Gu Changsheng was awake, Steward Li breathed a sigh of relief, then complained irritably.
“I told you to come find me tonight, but you just had to ignore me and push yourself here. Now look, you nearly worked yourself to death…”
She bent at the waist, looking down at Gu Changsheng from above, her chest hanging low…
Gu Changsheng pretended not to notice and struggled to his feet. Only then did he realize it was already daylight.
Just as Gu Changsheng was about to ask about the spirit pills, Steward Li impatiently stood up straight and casually handed him a box of food.
“Hurry up and eat. Then get back to work. That boy you talked to yesterday is dead. Starting today, you’re responsible for the section of the Spirit Field he used to tend. You’ve got a lot more work ahead of you.”
“What? He’s dead?”
Gu Changsheng froze mid-bite and abruptly looked at Steward Li.
“Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t. If he told you anything yesterday, just forget it. Don’t get yourself burned… And you can take his spirit rice and spirit pills.”
After tossing him the spirit rice, Steward Li pointed behind her and instructed, “Remember to bury him while you’re at it. It wouldn’t look good if the higher-ups saw him…”
Gu Changsheng clenched his fists and said quietly, “Understood!”
After Steward Li left, Gu Changsheng finally noticed the thin young man’s corpse lying not far from where he had passed out…
He remembered what the young man had said, and the man who had been casually cut in half before he came to the Backing Mountain Sect.
“So in the eyes of cultivators, mortal lives are no more than ants. They use you when you’re useful, then kill you when they’re done…”
Thinking of Steward Li, who had tried to lure him to her room earlier, killing the young man in the blink of an eye, Gu Changsheng felt a chill run down his spine.
After taking a moment to compose himself, Gu Changsheng began digging a hole beside the young man.
Just as Gu Changsheng finished burying the young man and was about to leave, a broken gourd rolled out of the dirt…
“How could something this worthless, something nobody wants, be in the middle of a Spirit Field?”
The broken gourd looked old. It was dull yellow all over and completely unremarkable, covered in dirt and riddled with cracks. Gu Changsheng was grieving, and seeing the broken gourd made him feel a kindred sorrow.
“Come to think of it, I’m just like you. We’re both worthless things that people casually throw away and trample on. From now on, you can come with me and hold my spirit rice.”
Gu Changsheng picked up the broken gourd and carefully wiped off the dirt with his sleeve. He then reverently hung it from his waist and casually dropped the few spirit pills at his waist inside.
Then he began watering the fields for a new day!
With the thin young man dead, Gu Changsheng’s workload had doubled, so he could only eat spirit rice as he worked…
It was late at night before Gu Changsheng finished watering.
Starlight fell in scattered points, shining on Gu Changsheng and the little gourd at his waist.
As a faint glow flowed around it, violet light enveloped the five spirit pills inside the little gourd.
Wisps of energy also seeped into Gu Changsheng’s body. Though he had been on the verge of exhaustion, he gradually regained much of his strength without even noticing…
“Let’s go eat. Tomorrow, it’s back to work.”
Gu Changsheng headed to the canteen in the Servant Quarters.
After finishing his meal, Gu Changsheng felt much better.
Though he couldn’t see an end to this life, at least he was still alive.
Back in his simple thatched hut, Gu Changsheng casually set the broken gourd on the cabinet beside his bed, then fell into a deep sleep.
That night, in the moonlight, Gu Changsheng failed to notice the broken gourd beside his bed suddenly give off a faint violet light.
The violet light slowly sank into the space between Gu Changsheng’s eyebrows.
Then it vanished.
“……”