Once they entered the sect, the Cultivator left them in a secluded area before flying away without saying another word.
While Yuan and the others looked around, a chubby old man approached them and said, “Welcome to the Bamboo Garden. This is where you will all be spending your next four years. While you are here, you are required to do labor for the sect, such as cutting wood and gathering water. Of course, if you manage to learn the cultivation technique before then, you’ll get to leave earlier.”
“Your schedule will be very simple. There will be a quota for each of you every week that must be completed, or you will be punished. I don’t care when you finish it. You can finish it on the first day of the week or even the last day of the week. As long as you meet your quota, you can spend the rest of your time cultivating. Any questions? Oh, you can call me Senior Kou.”
“Good. Follow me, I will show you the important facilities before I take you all to receive your uniforms and cultivation technique.”
Yuan and the others began following this fat old man through the Bamboo Garden.
“This area right here is the cafeteria. It will only be open two times a day for breakfast and dinner. If you fail to complete your quota, you will lose access to the cafeteria until you finish it.”
“This is the Bamboo Stream. You can wash your clothes here. If you go a little further down, you can even catch fishes. Do not gather your water here for your quotas. There is a separate area for that.”
“That building over there is the training hall. You can go there to train your body, but there won’t be any instructors to give you guidance. That is a privilege only for official disciples.”
“This entire area is the Bamboo Field. It’s where you’ll gather most of your supplies when you receive a quota that requires you to cut down bamboo.”
After spending almost the entire day walking around the Bamboo Garden, Senior Kou led them to their final stop for the day.
“This is the administration building. If you have any problems, you can come here to get it resolved. It’s also where you obtain uniforms if you somehow destroy your old ones. Of course, it won’t be free.”
“As for how you acquire money in this place— you will receive some money every time you complete your quota, and if you do more than you were requested, you will receive a bonus.”
“Senior Kou, I have a question.” Someone there suddenly raised his hand.
“What is it?”
“What else requires money in this place? Do we also have to pay for our food?”
“Food and rent will be for free. However, you will have to pay for everything else. If you get hurt and require medicine, you will need money. If your uniforms become unusable, you will need money to buy new ones.”
“Hell, if you somehow manage to collect enough money, you can even request to buy some cultivation treasures to increase your chances of becoming a Cultivator. However, that will take years if not decades of saving, and if you are still a mortal by then, you might as well give up.”
Sometime later, Yuan and the others were each given 2 sets of uniforms and a single cultivation technique.
“Basic Qi Gathering Technique…” Yuan read the name of the scroll in his grasp.
“Does anyone here not have two sets of uniforms and a cultivation technique?” Senior Kou asked them.
When nobody responded, he nodded and said, “Good, then let’s get you all settled in your new home.”
About an hour later, Senior Kou stopped before a split path with two different paths.
“The female’s living quarters will be on the left and the men’s living quarters will be on the right. Neither will be allowed to go to the other’s living quarters without permission. If you’re caught doing so, you will be punished severely. Keep this in mind.”
“You may now leave. There will be someone to assign your rooms when you arrive.”
The people there thanked Senior Kou for his time before going to their respective paths.
“Good luck, Tian Yang.” Meng Lili said to Yuan before she went to the left path.
“I will see you later.” Yuan nodded.
Dong!
A sudden earthquake stopped Yuan from looking through his memories.
‘What the? Why is there an earthquake? We should be on water!’ Yuan cried inwardly as he looked around with a puzzled face.
It was at this moment a voice resounded everywhere in the ship.
“We have encountered a Sea Demon, but there is no need to panic, as our experts are currently taking care of it as we speak.”
“What is a Sea Demon?” Yuan turned to ask Qin Kai.
“Oh, they’re basically magical beasts that live in the water. They are very common in this part of the ocean, and they can be quite dangerous if not dealt with quickly. We’ll definitely encounter many more of those until we reach our destination.”
“How powerful are they?” Yuan asked with an intrigued look on his face, as he has never heard of monsters existing in the sea before.
“The ones dwelling on the surface of the ocean aren’t much of an issue. A single Spirit Lord can deal with them. However, it’s those that usually dwell in the deeper parts of the ocean that we should be worried about, as they sometimes wander to the surface for whatever reason, and those will require a Spirit King if not multiple Spirit Kings to handle.”
“Furthermore, the closer we get to the Giant’s Continent, the more dangerous the sea creatures become, especially the Leviathans. Let’s pray to the heavens that we don’t encounter those monsters. They’re known as the lord of the seas, and meeting even a single one of them could mean disaster if not certain death for us.”