A few days passed in a flash, and the cold grew more intense.
The icy pellets of snow gradually turned into cottony clumps, blanketing the peaks of the Outer Sect.
As soon as Jiang Yi got off work, he headed to the Ice and Fire Cave, where a waiter immediately came forward to greet him.
"Brother Yi, the usual?"
Jiang Yi gave a slight nod.
"I'm tired of fish. Do you have anything else? I want to try something different."
The waiter replied, "Today we caught some Green Shrimp. They're raised in the Spirit Pool on the Inner Peak. They taste great and are quite nourishing."
Jiang Yi asked, "What's the price?"
The waiter bent slightly at the waist.
"Thirty talisman coins apiece. They weigh about eight pounds each. It's up to you how many you'd like, Brother Yi."
'Tsk, that's not cheap at all!'
Jiang Yi nodded.
"I'll trouble you to bring me ten shrimp, two bowls of rice, and a few other nice dishes."
The waiter wiped down the table and chairs before serving a pot of tea.
"You got it! Please have a seat, Brother Yi. I'll have the kitchen prepare it with care! The weather's getting colder, would you like me to warm some wine for you?"
"Alright."
'As expected, money makes you the man!'
'This service is much more attentive than my last few visits.'
The thought flashed through Jiang Yi's mind, and he dismissed the waiter to get back to his work.
With his wealth, buying out their entire stock of eight-pound Green Shrimp wouldn't be an issue.
'But there's no need for a mere Mortal Servant to attract attention. Flaunting wealth only invites trouble.'
'Eating and drinking like this... the money just flows away like water.'
Sitting in a corner, Jiang Yi calculated inwardly. Thanks to the guidance from the Celestial Book Golden Paper, he'd managed to get his hands on all that ownerless wealth without much effort.
Except for the *Little Refining Yuan Fire Control Technique* hidden by Marshal Yang's son—which he hadn't had time to retrieve from off the mountain—everything else was now in his own purse.
With this "startup capital" in hand, Jiang Yi started eating Spiritual Meals to nourish his body and strengthen his physique.
After all his spending, the windfall of 24,000 talisman coins had already dwindled to about fifteen or sixteen thousand.
'You get what you pay for. The effects were immediate.'
A smile touched Jiang Yi's lips. 'How many days has it been since I reached the Qi Cultivation Second Layer?'
Now, his Cultivation was fully consolidated, and his True Qi had surged, transforming from thin wisps into a flow as thick as his thumb.
According to He the Venerable, he had probably reached the "Middle Stage."
'By the time I use up all 24,000 talisman coins, I should be able to break through to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.'
Jiang Yi made a rough calculation. That would probably be around the start of winter.
'The beauty of Cultivation is its steady progress. The satisfaction of the climb is completely addicting!'
He thought to himself, 'My aptitude is far from great. It's barely below average, just enough to scrape past the Sect's threshold. I'm still a long way from directly entering the Inner Sect as a Disciple.
'If I really had to work while cultivating painstakingly, reaching the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer would take forever!'
The Ice and Fire Cave was warm and lively. Jiang Yi fiddled with his wine cup.
The old yellow wine was warmed by a small red clay stove, making its aroma stronger and its taste mellower.
His thoughts drifted and spread with the rising steam.
'Among the several hundred Mortal Servants in the Outer Sect Four Peaks, at least a third are on par with me. If they had a steady supply of Spirit Rice and Spiritual Food and were willing to work hard, they could probably touch the edge of becoming a "Servant."
'But the talisman coins earned by the vast majority of Mortal Servants from their labor are nowhere near enough to support such expenses.'
Jiang Yi gradually came to a clearer understanding of Demon Dao cultivation.
If the Immortal Dao meant some people were born destined to be carefree Yellow Crowned Feather Guests on the mountain…
...then the Demon Dao was a single-plank bridge that millions tried to cross, a race to see who could get ahead, who would risk their life for it.
Before long, the Spirit Rice and Green Shrimp were brought to the table, accompanied by two or three small side dishes and a large bowl of bear paws.
Just a couple of days ago, Jiang Yi would have devoured his food like a starving ghost. But now that he was eating his fill regularly, he could afford to eat slowly, savoring every bite.
He even had the leisure to observe the other patrons coming and going in the Ice and Fire Cave.
The Mortal Servants on Red Flame Peak who could afford to eat out often, and eat Spirit Rice at that, were mostly not ordinary.
They had connections, or they had backing. It was bound to be one of the two.
Jiang Yi took a sip of the warm old yellow wine, ate a boiled, crisp Green Shrimp, and listened to the idle chatter within the Ice and Fire Cave.
'This life of toil, like that of cattle and horses, is starting to have some flavor.'
"Did you hear? Zhou Zhiyi from Sewing Peak threw a huge fit! This month's quota for the Hundred Shadows Magical Robe was cut by two, and he got chewed out by a senior brother from the Inner Sect. I reckon the Mortal Servants on Sewing Peak are in for a rough time."
"That's news only the Inner Sect should know. How do you know about it, Brother Zheng?"
"Heh, don't you know who my brother-in-law is?"
"I almost forgot, Brother Zheng is Marshal Luo of Nourishing Soul Peak's brother-in-law."
Jiang Yi discreetly glanced at the nearby table. The young, chubby man at the head of it looked very familiar.
'I've seen him before,' he thought, 'when lining up for work in the morning.'
'I think his name is Zheng Dajiang?'
'A Servant's brother-in-law. He's got connections, then.'
'No wonder he's living so comfortably.'
"Brother Zheng, why don't you go to Nourishing Soul Peak? The work at Red Flame Peak is so hard."
Someone asked.
"You guys don't know shit!"
Zheng Dajiang had been drinking and was slurring his words a little.
"Nourishing Soul Peak is where they refine the Hundred Soul Banner. Mortal Servants there have to draw from the Life and Death Lottery. If you have bad luck and draw a death slip, you have to go to Luohun Gorge and scout the path for the Inner Sect Disciples! It's certain death!"
'Damn!'
It wasn't just Zheng Dajiang's tablemates who were shocked; Jiang Yi's heart skipped a beat as well.
'This Demonic Sect is just one pitfall after another.'
'After the twelve-year term is up, will even half of the Mortal Servants make it off this mountain alive?'
"In comparison, Red Flame Peak is tough, but it's not so easy to lose your life! And..."
Zheng Dajiang wanted to be deliberately mysterious and keep them in suspense, but unfortunately, he wasn't the patient type. After a few words of flattery from his work friends, he spilled the beans.
"Marshal Yang's retirement term is up. His son died in the Hundred Beasts Cave half a year ago. If my brother-in-law is willing to pull some strings, I might just become 'Marshal Zheng' in the future!"
As soon as he said this, his tablemates immediately started calling him "Marshal Zheng."
They chimed in with pleasantries like "You'll have to look after us then."
Jiang Yi listened for a little while longer but didn't stay. He was a lightweight drinker and only had half a pot of the old yellow wine, leaving the rest with the waiter for safekeeping.
As he walked out of the Ice and Fire Cave, a cold wind blew straight at his neck. Fortunately, his Qi Cultivation Second Layer body was strong, and he instantly dispelled the knife-like chill.
'We may all be cattle and horses here, but our ways of life are completely different.'
Jiang Yi sighed internally. The lowest-ranking cultivators in the Outer Sect Four Peaks were Mortal Servants like himself, doing numbingly repetitive work day after day, struggling to survive.
A step above were people like Zheng Dajiang, who had someone backing them. If they cultivated diligently and reached the Qi Cultivation Fourth or Fifth Layer, they could at least secure a "profitable future."
And at the top were the "Servants." They managed a workshop and dozens of Mortal Servants, and no longer had to do hard labor themselves, only answer to the Directors and senior brothers from the Inner Sect.
'Going from a Mortal Servant to a Servant is like going from a line worker to a shift supervisor. It's a real jump in status.
'Thanks to the Celestial Book, I'm slowly moving up from the lowest way of life to the middle tier.'
Jiang Yi wasn't greedy or demanding. With the Celestial Book in hand, it was only a matter of time before he ascended the Qi Cultivation Twelve-Story Floors.
This was his current ambition!
Back at the Big Mixed Courtyard, everyone was already asleep. It was very quiet.
GULP.
Jiang Yi tilted his head back and finished the last mouthful of the Bear Gallbladder Wine that Widow Qin had given him.
The burning sensation of the wine surged through his chest and abdomen, generating trickles of heat.
With the "nourishment" of the past few days, his physique grew stronger by the day, and the number of True Qi Circulations he could perform gradually increased.
He could now complete five Great Circulations.
Jiang Yi had asked the Celestial Book Golden Paper. The condition to reach Qi Cultivation Second Layer Perfection and break through to the Third Layer was to circulate True Qi through his entire body, completing ten Great Circulations within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
The so-called Great Circulation meant exhaling and letting the breath sink, channeling energy from the lower abdomen down to the perineum, where it would split into two streams and descend to the soles of the feet.
Then, upon inhaling, one would touch the tongue to the upper palate, and the energy would travel from the soles of the feet up to the crown of the head, merging at the tip of the tongue.
This connection of True Qi in one breath cycle constituted a single, complete circulation.
Jiang Yi remembered that the original owner of his body had cultivated diligently for a full seven years and had only just managed to complete a single circulation.
'Ten Circulations, and the Third Layer will be within reach.'
He temporarily set this as his small goal.
Before going to sleep, he blinked out of habit.
The Celestial Book Golden Paper suddenly materialized.
[I beg the Celestial Book, show me what I need to pay attention to at work tomorrow, so that I may seek good fortune and avoid disaster, and not attract trouble.]
After solving the problem of his empty purse, Jiang Yi had been using the Celestial Book to record information about everyone on Red Flame Peak.
He would ask questions such as, [I beg the Celestial Book, show me the life, temperament, and preferences of He the Venerable, whom I know.]
Over several days, he had completely grasped the temperaments, preferences, and unusual quirks of his few work friends from the Big Mixed Courtyard, as well as Yang Xun, the Marshal of the Quenching Room.
For example, Yang Xun was emotionally unstable due to the loss of his son; he was quick to anger but sympathetic toward the young, and would occasionally show a bit of kindness.
For people like Old He and Old Li, it only took twelve hours to get a result.
But for Widow Qin, it took sixteen hours.
As for Yang Xun, the Marshal of the Quenching Room on Red Flame Peak, it took twenty-four hours.
Jiang Yi guessed that the Celestial Book probably made its judgment based on the target's Cultivation level and Realm.
After familiarizing himself with his "base of operations" on Red Flame Peak, he began using the Celestial Book's ability to see cause and effect to "divine" for himself.
A question a day to seek fortune and avoid disaster, lest his Luck turn sour one day and he get himself killed over nothing.
This was a good habit Jiang Yi had started after learning that "accidents" often happened to the Mortal Servants of the Outer Sect Four Peaks.
BUZZ. A golden light rippled into view.
[Inquiry: Good or Ill Fortune]
[Deduction Time: Six hours]
'I'll check it in the morning. For Demon Dao Cultivation, every step must be cautious. "Stability" is the top priority!'
Silently repeating his mantra of "stability," Jiang Yi peacefully drifted off to sleep.