Chapter 409: Chapter 263: Tuition Fee or Protection Fee?

On the slope behind the Taian Mountain Dining Hall stood dozens of large courtyards.

Each courtyard could house more than ten Outer Disciples.

To be fair, while it was impossible for an Outer Disciple of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect to get a private courtyard, the living conditions were still quite good, even with over a dozen people sharing one.

Zou Feng was assigned to the newly vacant Room D in Courtyard Nine.

The room was about a hundred square meters, fully furnished, and even had a small, artificial open-air hot spring in the back for bathing.

In the living room, several sets of standard-issue Martial Attire for Outer Disciples were neatly laid out, along with a bottle of Qi-Introducing Pills to be used with the Energy-Introducing Technique.

This showed just how wealthy and extravagant the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect was. They weren’t stingy with their initial investment, even though Outer Disciples were considered cannon fodder.

But on second thought, it made sense. This was Immortal Cultivation, after all. What was a small investment like this? There was no need to force hardship where it wasn’t necessary.

Besides, many of the Outer Disciples, like Zou Feng, had already made a name for themselves in their respective Outer Realms and had grown accustomed to a comfortable life.

After arriving at the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, the huge drop in status was one thing, but if they were also forced to live in a pigsty, it was likely that very few could have maintained their composure.

Zou Feng didn’t stand on ceremony. He was scheduled to officially start his duties in the back kitchen tomorrow. To put it bluntly, today was just for the newcomers to get familiar with their surroundings.

So, Zou Feng first took a bath and changed into the standard-issue Martial Attire of an Outer Disciple. He then took a Qi-Introducing Pill and began his attempt to cultivate the Energy-Introducing Technique.

Half an hour later, Zou Feng let out a long breath.

’As expected of something from the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect!’

’This Energy-Introducing Technique... don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s just a basic introductory Daoist Art. It’s perfectly balanced and contains an extremely profound method of nourishing the body and refining qi.’

’At the beginning of Cultivation, the effects might not be obvious. But with long-term practice, it nourishes the body and mind. In the future, once I advance to the Spiritual Energy Realm, the Spiritual Qi in my body will be exceptionally pure. Cultivating similar Daoist Arts from then on will naturally be twice as effective with half the effort.’

’Too bad... it’s completely useless to me!’ Zou Feng shook his head helplessly.

He glanced at his cultivation panel. As expected, the Energy-Introducing Technique hadn’t been recorded.

Daoist Arts with no obvious side effects couldn’t display a cultivation progress bar.

Zou Feng had long since grown unaccustomed to Daoist Arts that could only be cultivated slowly, grinding away over time.

’Tsk. If I can’t practice the Energy-Introducing Technique, my patrons won’t be pleased. Isn’t there a Daoist Art like an Evil Qi-Introducing Technique?’

At this thought, Zou Feng immediately took out his Token to check.

And with a search, he found that there actually was a technique called the "Evil Qi-Introducing Technique."

The Cultivation method wasn’t difficult. It was just a matter of finding a place with dense Evil Qi, drawing the Evil Qi into the body, and using Soul Refining Pills to help transform it so it could ultimately be refined and absorbed.

Naturally, this was much faster to cultivate than the Energy-Introducing Technique.

But even with an ample supply of Soul Refining Pills, cultivating this thing was still fraught with danger and could very likely cause hidden problems in the body that were extremely difficult to heal completely.

If the resulting Spirit Body was unstable, the further one progressed into the Upper Realms in their Cultivation, the more problems were likely to arise...

Zou Feng, however, was extremely satisfied with this art.

’This is the kind of Cultivation Skill a True Man should practice!’

’If it didn’t cost sixty points of Immortal Fate to purchase this art, it would be even more perfect...’

But then again, for a Daoist Art that offered such rapid progress, the price wasn’t considered expensive.

What was expensive were the senior insights that came with the art.

Those were the various lessons and experiences compiled by seniors of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect who had cultivated this art, designed to help practitioners avoid straying from the correct path and developing unbearable problems to the greatest extent possible.

Because while the Evil Qi-Introducing Technique itself wasn’t expensive, the accompanying compilation of senior experiences cost a whopping three hundred points of Immortal Fate.

Under normal circumstances, no one would buy just the Evil Qi-Introducing Technique without also buying the "senior insights."

But Zou Feng didn’t need any seniors. His patrons were enough.

So, the next thing he had to do was save up sixty points of Immortal Fate as quickly as possible to buy the Evil Qi-Introducing Technique.

Having made this decision, there was no longer any need to practice the Energy-Introducing Technique. Zou Feng decided to go out for a walk.

When he had first entered the courtyard, he had noticed that the landscaping in the front yard was quite nice.

Besides, judging by the time, it was about time to go and meet Teng County and Gongsun Jinghong.

When they parted ways earlier, the three of them had used their Tokens to establish contact, which was the equivalent of adding each other as friends.

Now that they were all settled in, the two women had taken the initiative to suggest coming over to continue living together.

Ten days wasn’t the end. Tonight, the eleventh day would begin, and they would continue to advance the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill by leaps and bounds.

It was worth mentioning that, for now, the side effect of the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill was an abnormally powerful urge in *that* department.

It would cause one to become completely engrossed, unconsciously ignoring the immense toll it took on the body.

Often, even when one’s body was completely drained, they would still carry on with pleasure.

Fortunately, Gongsun Jinghong’s personality was already a bit wild to begin with. Combined with the fact that Zou Feng didn’t have to bear the side effects and could maintain self-control, he could ensure that nothing truly bad happened to Gongsun Jinghong.

After leaving his room, before Zou Feng could even walk out of Courtyard Nine, he was stopped.

"Hey, you’re new, aren’t you?"

Zou Feng turned his head to see a young woman with delicate features, considerable beauty, and ear-length short hair standing on a set of steps, looking at him with a rather arrogant attitude.

This woman, judging by her eyes, was not one of those Old Witches skilled in preserving her appearance.

She was a genuine young girl of about eighteen.

To have reached the True Qi Realm at such a young age and joined the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect meant that the short-haired woman was most likely a native of the Eastern Earth Immortal Realm.

Natives of the Eastern Earth Immortal Realm could enjoy the benefits of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi from birth, allowing them to cultivate foundational Daoist Arts similar to the Energy-Introducing Technique from a young age.