Legends from the mortal realm speak of cultivators living free and unfettered lives. The reality, however, is that this was not always the case and only applied to only two specific kinds of cultivators.
One type had an abundance of cultivation resources and wealth. On top of practicing their cultivation and spiritual skills, each day was filled with exchanging pleasantries between friends, brewing wine and tea, and enjoying the day’s sunrise and sunset. This type was exempt from any worldly worries.
The other type included those who’d given up on the path of immortality. For them, resources were extremely hard to find and they fully understood there was no way they could advance any further. They would either waste their days sleeping or wander into the forests and mountains, hoping to find caves filled with treasures or a master cultivator who could take them in as a disciple—all so they could continue to freely live their lives into old age.
Aside from these two types of cultivators who had such leisurely days, everyone’s life at the sect was intense and busy.
Resources were everything in the beginning stages of cultivation. With them, it was possible to advance by leaps and bounds; without them, a cultivator would be stuck forever, unable to move even an inch forward.
The plump Daoist Yu Sanliang had never given up hope. He ran errands all day long just to earn the pittance of Spirit Stones offered to him, but to Yu Sanliang, this was his way of life. He enjoyed having his days filled with purpose, even if it made no real difference at the end of the day.
Fang Xing evaluated and came to understand this about Yu Sanliang.
Whatever Yu Sanliang’s purpose was, Fang Xing wouldn’t challenge his delusions of one day achieving something noteworthy. Without that bubble of delusion—without any glimpse of hope—who knew what would become of him?
After befriending Fang Xing, Yu Sanliang—of all people—had become extremely warm-hearted and zealous. He would voluntarily pay the silvers required for Fang Xing’s meals every month, and he always patiently reminded Fang Xing not to waste his days lazing about.
"On top of some silvers, there are other benefits too. Where do you think I get the money for your meals each month? Of course, most importantly, you can earn another Spirit Stone every three months! That is practically double the income of a regular D-Rank disciple! Shidi Fang, are you sure you’re not moved by this? Don’t block your ears…."
As they drank, Yu Sanliang talked endlessly in an effort to convince Fang Xing to join him at the Miscellaneous Department. In his mind, Fang Xing had already become a layabout who only slept and ate all day long.
"Say it again and I can’t promise I won’t kick you out.…" Fang Xing covered his ears, itching to send Yu Sanliang flying again. ‘I have more than thirty Spirit Stones all to myself; why should I run errands for them? Now, if only there were more hours in a day so I could practice more….’ Of course, no one else needed to know any of this.
"Fine, I’ll stop…" Yu Sanliang relented with a concerned expression, "but what are you going to do about your resources?"
Fang Xing just rolled his eyes. "Isn’t it almost time to get another Spirit Stone from the sect’s distributions?"
"One Stone every three months, how could that be enough! Plus, who knows whose hands it’ll actually end up in…."
‘So having two every three months would be enough?’ Fang Xing thought to himself while giving Yu Sanliang a withering glance, only to interrupt when he saw the plump Daoist was about to say something more. "Ok. That’s enough. I don’t want to go to your Miscellaneous Department. Remember the last time you treated them to wine? Remember how they acted all holier-than-thou? None of them even had a decent cultivation level! You want me to kiss their *sses like you do? The only reason I’d go there is to smash that place into pieces!"
Despite Fang Xing's young age, his temper was not to be taken lightly. Unable to try to reason with him further, Yu Sanliang was left with no other option but to relent. However, he was still reluctant to give up on Fang Xing, causing him to mutter, "Yeah, but you still need to earn some Spirit Stones somehow…."
Fang Xing laughed at that. "I’ll show you how I earn Spirit Stones one of these days!"
—
The day all the disciples had been waiting for had finally arrived: the day of the Spirit Stone distribution. This time in particular included the D-Rank disciples who were finally allowed to receive their Stone after their three-month wait.
The C-Rank disciples received one Stone every second month, B-Ranks would receive one every month, and the A-Ranks would be given two every month. The outer court was divided into these four ranks, and although the distribution occurred on the fifteenth day of each month, only those of the eligible rank were allowed to collect.
"Shidi Fang, are you awake yet?" Yu Sanliang planned to take Fang Xing to collect their Spirit Stone from the sect and had arrived in front of Fang Xing’s cottage early in the morning.
"Argh! What’s with all this noise so early in the morning!" Fang Xing was still half asleep. He’d only just now gone to bed after a long night practicing Qi and breathing exercises, and he was clearly in a bad mood.
"Oh my, wake up now, Shidi Fang Xing! The earlier we go, the less likely things are going to happen." After throwing Fang Xing’s robe over his head, Yu Sanliang dragged the tired boy out the door.
The monthly Spirit Stone distributions were conducted at the Qing-Mu Hall around three miles away and—although the sun had yet to rise—the path to the hall was already filled with people heading towards the same destination.
Long queues could be seen at the Qing-Mu Hall even at this time of day. There were four lines, with only the leftmost—the line for the A-Rank disciples—nearly empty. Within the thousands of outer court disciples, only a dozen were of the highest rank and they didn’t need to come early at all. Inside a small pavilion, an elderly, silver-haired man was speaking to an A-Rank disciple while slowly fanning his palm-frond fan.
The second line from the left was for the B-Rank disciples. There were only a handful of them present at the moment, and all of them were in rather high spirits. In comparison to the A-Rank, the B-Rank had a good hundred disciples, and although they might have been inferior to the highest of ranks, they were no doubt extremely talented when compared against those in the C and D-Ranks.
The C-Rank disciples had been allocated to the third line, and several dozen had already queued up for their Spirit Stones with more still eagerly joining. Although they all appeared to be less arrogant than the B-Rank disciples overall, the looks they gave towards the rightmost line were filled with contempt and ridicule.
The D-Rank was naturally the worst one within the sect. With over one hundred of the total six hundred disciples already present in the hall, their queue stretched all the way down to the stone staircases. Each and every one of these people also appeared to be excited, and they bobbed their heads up and down to see if their place in line had moved forward or not. No one in this queue had the guts to look back at the C-Rank disciples sneering their way—it was obvious the D-Rank disciples felt a sense of inferiority towards them.
Essentially, the higher ranks looked down on the lower ranks. A-Rank disciples looked down on everyone, B-Rank disciples looked down on the C and D-Ranks, C-Rank disciples looked down on the D-Ranks, and those within the D-Rank... looked down on themselves.
Of course, as was the case with everything in this world, there were exceptions. Disciples with a wealthy clan would have enough money to buy their own Spirit Stones, and some of them may even be better off than those in the A-Rank. Those exceptionally wealthy disciples were the least likely to be here early, especially for the sake of only a Spirit Stone or two. To them, it didn’t make much of a difference at all.
—
Feeling bored, Fang Xing lazily stood in the line with the other D-Rank disciples until he noticed someone sneering at him from the C-Rank queue. "What are you looking at?" Fang Xing asked. "You want me to dig out your eyes?"
The disciple was of a feeble stature and looked more like a scholar than a disciple of the sect. After seeing Fang Xing being squeezed between all of these tall people—particularly behind a rather plump man that made the boy seem even smaller—he couldn’t help but find the sight amusing. Who would have thought this little brat had such a temperament? With only one look, Fang Xing began to verbally lash out at him like a shrew.
Although the C-Rank disciple was indeed frail, he’d always looked down on those in the D-Rank. He might have allowed this to slide if it was from someone else, but a kid in a lower rank? There was no way he was going to let this go. "Humph! A D-Rank disciple. How impetuous, such poor manners!"
"Hey you sissy, what did you say?" A loud shout drew everyone’s attention. Fang Xing had always had a dislike for people like this.
"Who did you just call a sissy?" the feeble disciple angrily asked, his face growing red.
"Who do you think? Sissy! You d*ckless eunuch!"
"You’re a sect disciple, too; why would you use such vulgar words?" the feeble disciple questioned again, growing uneasy.
"Vulgar like your mom! Sissy!"
The feeble disciple stomped his foot and pointed his finger at Fang Xing. "Such... disrespect!"
Fang Xing’s cursing and scolding skills may have even surpassed two of those matchmakers1 in the countryside combined. Back in Guiyan Valley, Fang Xing had once climbed to the top of a tree before launching his verbal attacks at four brothers until they were unable to speak. It had enraged the brothers so much they were determined to cut down the tree just to get at Fang Xing.
Faced with someone so inarticulate, Fang Xing found this as easy as drinking a glass of water.