Chapter 11

First update of the day! There will be another one at noon.

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“Yellow Weasel?” Wang Lin was taken aback. The first person he thought of was the young man in yellow who had mocked him before. He felt that the other party was more fitting for this nickname, but he wasn’t sure if the other party was talking about him.

“Huh? You didn’t see him? He’s the one responsible for arranging the tasks for the named disciples. He’s also a named disciple, but he has already gained the qualifications to cultivate immortal techniques. He wears yellow clothes and looks like he’s not a good person, like a wolf cub. We all call him that in private.” Zhang Hu took a sip of water and explained with gritted teeth.

Wang Lin took a bite of the sweet potato and said, “I know who you’re talking about. I saw him today. He told me that starting from tomorrow, I have to fill ten barrels of water every day, or I won’t get any food.”

Zhang Hu was stunned, staring at Wang Lin for a long time before suddenly asking, “Brother, did you have a grudge with him before?”

Wang Lin shook his head and asked, “What do you mean?”

Zhang Hu looked at Wang Lin with a pitiful gaze and asked, “Wang Lin, do you think the barrels he’s talking about are as big as the ones we use at home, this big?” As he spoke, he gestured with his hands.

Wang Lin felt a bad premonition and nodded.

Zhang Hu smiled bitterly and said, “You must have offended the Yellow Weasel. The barrels he’s talking about are as big as our room, ten barrels of water in total… Wang Lin, I don’t want these sweet potatoes anymore. You keep them. I think you’ll be lucky to have a meal every four or five days. You’re new here, and the few places in the mountains where wild fruits grow have been taken over by others. Only the elders can go and pick a few. I’ll eat my wild fruits tomorrow.” Saying this, he put the remaining sweet potatoes on the table, sighed, and lay back down on his bed.

A spark of anger rose in Wang Lin’s heart. He gritted his teeth, thinking of his parents’ hopeful gazes, and forcibly suppressed his anger. He lay down on the bed, seething with anger, and fell asleep.

The next day, before dawn, he got out of bed. Zhang Hu was still snoring. Wang Lin changed into his gray clothes and hurriedly walked to the storage area. As he arrived, the sun gradually rose in the east. The young man in yellow pushed open the door, glanced at Wang Lin with a slanted eye, and said in a mocking tone, “You’re still on time. Go inside and get the buckets. Go out through the east gate; there’s a spring in the mountains. Go there to fetch water.”

After saying this, he ignored Wang Lin, sat cross-legged on the ground, and slowly practiced breathing exercises as the sun rose. A faint white mist emerged from his nostrils, like two white dragons rolling.

Wang Lin’s eyes showed envy. He walked into the room and finally saw the ten enormous barrels behind a door. He smiled bitterly, picked up two buckets, and walked toward the east gate.

After a long walk, he finally arrived at the spring. The scenery here was quite beautiful, with the sound of water like a heavenly melody soothing the heart.

Wang Lin had no time to enjoy the scenery. He filled the buckets and hurriedly carried them up the mountain.

By dusk, he had only filled one barrel. If it weren’t for the sweet potatoes he had eaten at noon, he wouldn’t have had the strength to continue the work. Even so, his legs and arms were already sore and painful with every movement.

He pondered for a moment, carried a half-filled bucket to a secluded place, and cautiously looked around to ensure no one was there. He took out the stone bead from his chest, placed it in the bucket, and shook it. After a while, he fished out the bead and put it away, then drank the water in the bucket. A warm feeling immediately spread in his stomach, and the soreness in his muscles slowly dissipated.

Although the effect was not as good as dew, Wang Lin was extremely excited. He touched the spot on his chest where he kept the stone bead and decided again that he must not let anyone know he had this treasure!

After drinking the half-filled bucket of water, his muscles were no longer sore, and he felt refreshed. He immediately continued his water-fetching work.

That day, he filled one and a half barrels. After drinking another half-filled bucket of water treated with the mysterious bead, to avoid suspicion, he pretended to be extremely exhausted and returned to his residence.

Not long after, Zhang Hu returned, still looking extremely tired. They chatted for a while, and after much hesitation, Zhang Hu asked for two sweet potatoes, ate them, and fell asleep on the bed.

Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, Wang Lin had been in the Hengyue Sect for a month.

Wang Lin now knew that Zhang Hu’s job was to chop wood. He had to chop enough wood every day to have a meal. Since he became a named disciple of the Hengyue Sect, he had been chopping wood for three years. Three years ago, he could only have a meal every three or four days, relying on water to fill his stomach. Now, he had shortened the time to two days to have a meal.

According to him, named disciples had to do miscellaneous tasks for ten years, and only when they could have three meals a day without fail would they be taught some basic immortal techniques.

Inner disciples were different. They each had their own master and did not need to do any miscellaneous tasks. They had their own rooms, and their main job was to cultivate.

In addition, there was another type of person, between inner disciples and named disciples, like Wang Hao, who became someone else’s servant. In simple terms, a servant was a servant.

These people did not need to do miscellaneous tasks and could cultivate some low-level immortal techniques. They only needed to complete the tasks assigned by their master. However, these people often had average talent and would not have much success in life, only serving as servants for life.

Talent, as Wang Lin learned from Zhang Hu, was essentially the spirit root. Everyone had some spirit root in their body, but the key was the amount. If someone with sufficient spirit root could master an immortal technique in a year, someone with insufficient spirit root might need ten or even a hundred years.

Human life is limited, and those with average talent often did not have much development in their lives. This is why immortal sects placed great importance on the spirit root when recruiting disciples.

In this month, Wang Lin drank a lot of water treated with the mysterious bead every day while fetching water. His body became stronger, and he seemed to have endless strength. He went from taking six days to fill ten barrels to only three days.

However, to avoid suspicion, he got up before the sun came up every day and walked slowly on the mountain path with the buckets. This way, even though others were surprised that he could complete the task in three days, they mostly attributed it to his early rising and hard work.