Yanfu Vast Land. This was the name of this world.
Its boundless territory was divided into the Five Domains. Jiang Yi had read the "simple teaching materials" from Daoism and knew the land beneath his feet was one of them, named the Nanzhan Continent.
He had heard that the Nanzhan Continent was vast and wide, with ten major sects and a hundred nations constantly at war. Bordering the Barbaric Wilderness, it was a place of endless slaughter and conflict—quite a lively scene.
However, the Daoism textbooks didn't have much substance. Their content was vague and abstract, so Jiang Yi only remembered two key points.
First, in the Yanfu Vast Land, there were four great Daoist Lineages that manifested in the world: Immortal, Buddha, Fiend, and Demon.
Only Dharma Lineages belonging to these Daoist Lineages were permitted to establish schools of Daoism and widely open their gates to new disciples.
The Qianji Sect was part of the Demon Dao Dharma Lineage.
Second, Loose Cultivators and Wild Cultivators had no future. They were relegated to the ranks of 'Heterodox Sects,' finding it difficult even to join a proper Sect as a Mortal Servant. Their only option was to find work in the Black Workshops.
To draw a parallel, they were basically vagrants with no credentials or official status.
Seeing Jiang Yi's curiosity, Steward Lin was happy to offer some guidance:
"Immortality, ascending amidst rosy clouds, roaming beyond the heavens, living with carefree abandon—that is the path for those born with an Immortal's destiny.
"Junior Brother Jiang, for insignificant specks like you and me, survival is a struggle. We're just trying to earn a few more talisman coins and eat a few more mouthfuls of Spirit Rice. We might go our whole lives without ever seeing a 'True Cultivator'."
That was true. Jiang Yi nodded. Based on the original owner's experiences, he had never even seen a Cultivator who could command water and fire or summon spirits, let alone a Great Divine Power User who could ride swords on the wind, move mountains, or part seas.
Take the Qianji Sect, for example. Most Servants were at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer. Above them were the Directors, positions that could only be held by Inner Sect Disciples, who were around the Qi Cultivation Sixth or Seventh Layer.
As for whether there were any Cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer in the sect, Jiang Yi really had no idea.
And this was already the limit of the world he could perceive.
"No matter how hard it is for us, at the end of the day, we're still 'Cultivators.' If we're diligent, there's always hope we can shed the label of 'Mortal' and avoid wallowing in the muck of the secular world."
Steward Lin lifted his chin, a hint of pride in his voice:
"Junior Brother Jiang, think about it. Without a Sect, where would you and I go to earn talisman coins? Without talisman coins, how could we trade for Spirit Rice? Not to mention learning techniques, practicing our skills, and advancing our cultivation.
"That's why the common mortals at the foot of the mountain would break their heads trying to get in.
"And it's even more true for the Daoist Child Students. Pledging themselves to a Sect is their only way up!"
Jiang Yi's brow furrowed slightly. He felt that something was off.
'Cultivation starts with being a wage slave?'
"Senior Brother Lin."
Jiang Yi asked tentatively,
"What if... what if Loose Cultivators and Wild Cultivators gathered together, claimed a mountain, cultivated a Spirit Field, and gathered Spiritual Qi..."
Steward Lin laughed heartily.
"Wouldn't that just be the 'Outer Dao'? Haha, it has happened over the millennia, but they were all wiped out with a flick of a finger by the great figures from above.
"Sigh, it seems the schools of Daoism really don't have any good teachers. They're practically useless.
"Junior Brother Jiang, you must remember this: the greatest crime in the Yanfu Vast Land is to break away from a Dharma Lineage and betray a Daoist Lineage! To become a parasite of the Dao!
"Especially those of the Outer Dao who establish their own sect and create a Dharma Lineage without a Daoist Decree—nine out of ten of them are such parasites."
'A parasite of the Dao?'
Jiang Yi's expression was a little strange. Hearing such "righteous and stern" words from a member of the Demon Dao felt completely out of place.
He wanted to ask for more information and learn the inside story, hoping to get a clearer picture of this world, but he saw Steward Lin shake his head.
"Junior Brother Jiang, my business for today is done. I must meditate and cultivate. When I have time in the future, I will discuss it with you in more detail."
Jiang Yi took the hint and excused himself, feeling a bit envious of "retired" folks like Steward Lin who were living out their days in the Lower Courtyard.
He didn't have to work, had the "freedom to cultivate," and even received a monthly "stipend" from the sect.
It was a good life that the many Mortal Servants of the Qianji Sect could only dream of.
"I wonder how long I'll have to endure before I can be like Steward Lin."
Jiang Yi walked down the mountain path toward the Big Mixed Courtyard on Red Flame Peak.
This world, where Immortals and Buddhas revealed their divinity and Fiends and Demons stood alongside them, was infinitely vaster than his previous life.
'I've finally made it here. How can I be content with just being a Mortal Servant!'
"Even as mere Cattle and Horses, one dreams of becoming an Immortal, of pursuing Cultivation."
Jiang Yi considered his current situation. He had to work for four hours every day, and sometimes even "work overtime." His work was split between two places: the Quenching Room and the Forging Room.
The tasks weren't complicated. The first was "Fire Control"—using his meager True Qi to manipulate a Pill Furnace and maintain the right temperature. The second was hammering refined iron with True Qi to form rough blanks.
These jobs weren't difficult. Someone at the Qi Cultivation First Layer could learn them in a few days and master them with practice.
They were just tedious, monotonous, and draining.
'If I only work four hours a day, I can make about two thousand talisman coins a month. Rent in the Big Mixed Courtyard costs four hundred, and food and drink, assuming I eat just enough to not starve, will be another three hundred.'
Jiang Yi calculated carefully. Without talisman coins in his pocket, it was impossible to get anywhere, whether on the mountain or off.
The Qianji Sect didn't place too many restrictions on its Mortal Servants. As long as you could afford the talisman coins, you could even seek out Daoist Techniques.
It was just that the prices were exorbitant.
Attending a single lecture by an Inner Sect Elder on the secrets of cultivation cost five hundred talisman coins.
As for learning a technique, exchanging for a look at a Ninth Grade Technique at the Qi Cultivation level would cost at least ten thousand to start.
Not to mention the rare Fasting Elixirs or the Quiet Chambers overflowing with Spiritual Energy for meditation.
'The Qianji Sect seems generous only because it has ways to take back the talisman coins it gives out.
'This Yanfu Demon Dao, ruling the world with its laws... it's quite interesting.'
Jiang Yi mulled it over, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.
'The sect earns it, the sect spends it, and you can't take a single coin home?'
Contemplating his future as he walked, Jiang Yi soon arrived back at the Big Mixed Courtyard.
This was the "workers' dormitory" arranged by Red Flame Peak.
Usually, seven or eight people, or even more than a dozen, were crammed into one place.
Jiang Yi's living situation was actually decent. He remembered a large communal bunkhouse that cost two hundred talisman coins a month, where twenty to thirty people lived together in filth and chaos, no better than a pigsty or a cowshed.
Back down the mountain, these people might have been respectable and glamorous, dressed in fine clothes and eating delicacies. But once they sold themselves to the Qianji Sect to become Mortal Servants, they couldn't put on such airs anymore.
No matter how much the Demon Dao talked about rules, it still had the word "Demon" in its name.
The common cultivation methods were not righteous; most required extracting souls, drawing blood, or nurturing oneself with Essence.
If you worked honestly and did your job, you could still earn talisman coins.
But if you broke the rules and didn't know your place, you'd likely be eaten alive, leaving not even a scrap behind.
"Brother Yi, you're back. Didn't you go to work today?"
In the Big Mixed Courtyard, besides him and He the Venerable, there was a married couple with the surname Li, and a widow with the surname Qin.
There were four households in total, each occupying one room.
The one who greeted Jiang Yi was Widow Qin.
This woman's cultivation wasn't bad. The gossipy He the Venerable had once guessed that she must be at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.
"Greetings, Sister-in-law Qin."
Jiang Yi made a Daoist salute and greeted her politely,
"I didn't work today. I was following Marshal Yang's orders, recruiting new people from the Lower Courtyard."
Widow Qin smiled sweetly.
"That's a nice assignment. Your eyes are all red; you must have been suffering from the smoke in the Quenching Room. I just happened to brew some Sweet Chrysanthemum Tea. Go ahead and pour a pot to drink, it'll help soothe the irritation."
"Thank you, Sister-in-law Qin,"
Jiang Yi said.
Gossip always gathers at a widow's door. He only exchanged a few pleasantries, thanked her for her kindness, and then slipped back into his tiny room.
'It's like the sheds from my old summer jobs.'
The "private room" he rented for five hundred talisman coins a month wasn't large; it was barely a place to shelter from the elements.
The four rough-hewn earthen walls could only accommodate a plank bed, a table, and a chair.
Jiang Yi often felt that it was less a room and more a cage that trapped one's life.
He quickly suppressed these stray thoughts and raised a hand to rub his eyes. 'Should I get some medicine?' he wondered.
Ever since he transmigrated, his eyes had felt like they were full of wheat awns, stabbing him with pain from time to time. It was extremely uncomfortable.
'I earned a bit from the recruiting trip, and with my diligent work these past few days, I've almost saved up three thousand talisman coins.
'If I go to the Inner Sect to attend a lecture on the secrets of Qi Cultivation, once definitely won't be enough. It'll cost at least two thousand coins... The medicine will have to wait,' he reasoned.
He was no longer the original owner, that miserable Red Flame Peak Manual Laborer who saved every penny just to go all-in for a Factory Girl.
Since he had come to the Yanfu Vast Land, the most important thing was, of course, Cultivation!
And being in the Qianji Sect, the most direct path to advancement was undoubtedly to seek out Daoist Techniques!
'This is no time to be frugal! If I can break through to the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, my work will become easier, if nothing else...'
Just as Jiang Yi was pondering this, he suddenly felt his eyes sting. A golden light seemed to flicker, and an endless stream of tiny, tadpole-like characters poured out from within.
[Esteemed Immortal Friend, I bid you peace!]
[The Great Dao transforms, the myriad phenomena are replaced; pray take up this book and bear witness to Karma!]