Night fell.
The two of them lit a campfire in the courtyard. Zhao Ziwei was extremely generous, pulling out a large slab of air-dried Tier-2 Spirit Beast meat from his storage bag.
He roasted it over the fire on his door-panel greatsword until it sizzled with oil.
Mo Fan, taking advantage of this moment of being well-fed and watered, began to consult this "senior veteran" about the common knowledge of the Azure Cloud Sect's inner sect.
"Brother Ziwei, what exactly are the rules and regulations of this Azure Cloud Sect inner sect? I'm a newcomer, completely in the dark, and can't even tell north from south right now," Mo Fan asked humbly while chewing on the roasted meat, which was a bit tough on the teeth but contained traces of spiritual Qi.
"Hey, it's actually very simple! Don't think of the inner sect as something too sacred."
Zhao Ziwei poked at the roasted meat, explaining in an extremely down-to-earth manner that even carried a strong vibe of a modern university.
"Our Azure Cloud Sect is actually just a giant university with extremely strict rules. Everyone who enters the inner sect majors in the same core mental cultivation method: the advanced chapters of the Azure Cloud Art."
"But as the saying goes, 'The master leads you to the door, but cultivation depends on the individual.' The skill directions everyone chooses based on their Spirit Root attributes—or you could say their 'majors'—are vastly different."
"The sect has Five Great Main Peaks, each overseen by powerful elders with real authority at the peak of Golden Core or even half-step Nascent Soul."
Zhao Ziwei counted on his pitch-black fingers, listing them off like family treasures:
The Main Peak: "The most badass is, of course, the Main Peak, which is also where the Sect Master's lineage resides. It's the dazzling, gold-and-jade mountain you climbed yesterday that looks like it wants to pave the ground with Spirit Stones.
They major in offense and the Dao of the Sword. Their comprehensive strength is the highest, and the elites of the sect are all there. For example, that Elder Liu Yun who always keeps a straight face, and that incredibly arrogant Luo Yu, are both direct descendants of the Main Peak."
Alchemy Peak: "Ranking below that, there's the Alchemy Peak, which majors in pill refining. That place floats with the scent of medicine all day, but their furnaces frequently explode and injure people."
Forging Peak: "Majors in artifact refining and clanks noisily every day."
Sunset Peak: "Which is entirely female cultivators and majors in array formations."
Spirit Herb Peak: "Which specializes in cultivating spiritual plants."
"These Five Great Main Peaks each stand on the most core nodes of the spirit vein. Not only are they teaching and living areas, but together they construct the extremely complete Mountain Protection Array of our Azure Cloud Sect."
"I heard that once that grand array is activated, even an old monster at the Soul Transformation stage would get a layer of skin peeled off if they tried to force their way in!"
"Besides these five, there are some functional peaks responsible for law enforcement and logistics, as well as some unpopular, weak little peaks."
Mo Fan nodded repeatedly as he listened. Isn't this setup exactly like the "hot core colleges" and "unpopular majors" in a university?
"Then what about our Hundred Forging Peak? Where do we rank in this Mountain Protection Array?" Mo Fan asked casually.
"Us?" Zhao Ziwei rolled his eyes massively and laughed with extreme self-mockery. "Our Hundred Forging Peak isn't even in the protection system of that Mountain Protection Array at all!"
"To put it bluntly, this place has long been an abandoned department existing only in name; we can't even suck two mouthfuls of the spirit vein's exhaust fumes."
"If it weren't to find a place for that madman Lin Dong to settle, and to conveniently serve as a trash can to house us thorns, this mountain would have been wiped off the map long ago and given to outside rogue cultivators to build cave dwellings."
Mo Fan silently memorized this crucial intelligence.
Then, pretending to be extremely apprehensive, like a new employee terrified of the boss, he probed indirectly:
"Brother Ziwei, since we're already here, then... when are we going to pay our respects to Peak Master Lin Dong?"
"We have to go report for duty and go through the onboarding process, right? Otherwise, if we get slapped with a charge of great disrespect..."
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Zhao Ziwei almost choked to death on a mouthful of roasted meat. He pounded his chest hard, put down his makeshift chopsticks, and looked at Mo Fan with a strange gaze, as if looking at a rare species.
"Pay respects to the Peak Master? Brother, are you still sleepwalking?"
Zhao Ziwei acted as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"I've been in this abandoned mine mountain for over a year, almost two, and I've only seen his back from a great distance once when I went deep into the mountains."
"Who the fuck knows which dark corner or mine shaft he's hiding in right now, doing those perverted experiments!"
"We don't go see him?" Mo Fan was ecstatic internally, his heart pounding, but on the surface, he still feigned extreme worry. "But the sect's rules..."
"Fuck the rules!"
Zhao Ziwei waved his hand carelessly, speaking with complete indifference. "At our Hundred Forging Peak, the thing we care least about is those empty formalities!"
"The sect's higher-ups have lowered their bottom line for our group to an extremely low level: As long as you don't murder and rob, don't do anti-human things that deceive the master and destroy the ancestors, and most importantly, don't lightly leave Hundred Forging Peak to cause trouble outside..."
"Those old fogeys on the Main Peak would be more than happy if we just died on this barren mountain forever and never showed our faces for the rest of our lives to cause them grief!"
Under his hat, Mo Fan let out a long, long sigh of relief. The stone that had been hanging in his throat finally landed securely.
He didn't have to pay daily respects, and he didn't have to face the risk of being sliced up for research by his enemy at any moment.
As long as that madman Lin Dong didn't actively come looking for him, he could unscrupulously lay out his undead blueprint in this legitimate lawless zone.
This was simply a Necromancer's paradise!
"By the way, Brother Ziwei." Mo Fan glanced at this messy but extremely massive courtyard, as well as those ore scraps and metal semi-finished products that clearly weren't cheap.
"Since we are exiled, the sect definitely doesn't look favorably upon us. So where does the money you use to get these artifact refining materials... come from?"
He was carrying a massive fortune of several thousand low-grade Spirit Stones in his pocket, and was currently stressing over not finding a place in the inner sect to spend it legally.
"You don't understand this, do you? This involves the extremely cruel economics of the inner sect!"
Zhao Ziwei raised an eyebrow smugly.
"Although we are exiled, as a basic welfare for inner sect disciples, the sect doesn't dare to openly dock our pay for fear of gossip. Every month, a few pitiful mid-grade Spirit Stones are sent over as our fixed quota salary. However..."
He lowered his voice, his tone becoming serious.
"In the inner sect, the true premium currency isn't Spirit Stones at all, but [ Sect Contribution Points ]."
"Spirit Stones are money in the mortal world outside, but in the inner sect, top-tier cultivation methods, high-grade magical artifacts, and even rare realm-breaking pills and precious ores are all tightly controlled by the sect. They only recognize Contribution Points!"
"Even if your pockets are bulging with mountains of gold and silver, without Contribution Points, the elders of the Scripture Pavilion and the Treasure Vault won't even spare you a glance."
"If you want Contribution Points, you have to go work and risk your life for the sect. When there's a chance in the future, I'll take you to the Mission Hall on the outskirts of the Main Peak to broaden your horizons, and you'll understand."
After eating and drinking their fill, the night deepened.
Zhao Ziwei patted his round belly and enthusiastically threw an arm over Mo Fan's shoulder.
"Brother Xiaoqi, meeting is destiny! You just arrived. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll take you deep into the back mountain to look around and familiarize yourself with the terrain!"
He winked, his tone carrying an unconcealable excitement.
"And incidentally, I'll introduce you to a few other senior brothers and sisters of ours here! Let me tell you, they are all extremely interesting and rare talents! I guarantee it will open your eyes and leave you wanting more!"
"Interesting?!"
Hearing these two words, the highest-level DEFCON 1 air raid sirens instantly blared in Mo Fan's mind.
Those eerie cave entrances spewing multi-colored toxic smoke he saw during the day...
The tooth-aching sounds of chainsaw cutting he heard...
And that mushroom cloud that rose from the ground and startled a mountain full of vultures, flashed before his eyes one by one.
If even someone like Zhao Ziwei—who had severe ADHD—found them "interesting"...
Just how hair-raising and heaven-defyingly perverted must they be?!
"No no no no no!"
Mo Fan's eyes widened in horror, shaking his head like a rattle-drum.
He waved his hands frantically in front of his chest, refusing sternly, his entire body screaming rejection:
"I appreciate Senior Brother's kindness! I truly appreciate it! But I am naturally fond of quietness and have extreme social anxiety! I stutter and get heart palpitations the moment I meet strangers!"
"Tomorrow... Tomorrow, I'd better just find a deserted barren hill nearby by myself and settle my living arrangements first!"
"Getting to know the neighbors... let's plan that for the long term! We'll talk about it later! Definitely talk about it later!"
Watching Zhao Ziwei regretfully go to clean up his wooden plank bed, Mo Fan sat by the dying campfire, secretly wiping a handful of cold sweat from his forehead.
If I can't afford to provoke them, can't I at least hide?
Right now, not seeing Lin Dong was the greatest news in the world. As for those bizarre neighbors branded with the title of "interesting," it was better to avoid them if possible.
Best if they grew old and died without ever interacting in this lifetime.
The most urgent task was to quickly stake out an absolutely private, absolutely safe territory deep in this lawless abandoned mine mountain, and secretly build up his own undead base!
Only with a skeleton army in hand could he truly get a peaceful night's sleep in this Arkham Asylum!
This was the very foundation for him, Mo Fan, to establish himself in the inner sect!