So, he looked up a few motivational quotes on the player forums and said gently,
"Junior Sister, you must understand, what's past is prologue, and the future is an open road. As long as you stay here in the Guixi Sect, your path of cultivation will be smooth and easy. You'll be able to eat food this good every day."
"Think about it carefully. Staying here will be the best decision you ever make in your life."
'What's past is prologue, and the future is an open road?'
'Is he saying that the only way to survive is to stay in this demon's den and become a walking corpse they can manipulate at will?'
'This is 'the Celestial Dao is ruthless, treating all things as straw dogs,' and I'm just the most insignificant straw dog of all?!'
The meal left her terrified. She asked in a trembling voice, "E-Eldest Brother, I... I'm a little tired. Could you take me to my room to rest?"
Lin Qingfeng thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. I'll get you settled in first. It won't be too late to get familiar with the place tomorrow."
He led her out of the noisy Dining Pavilion.
Outside, the moon was high in the sky. A gust of evening wind brought a slight chill.
The two walked along a path paved with bluestone. Along the way, disciples of the Guixi Sect would occasionally ride the wind past them, and all who saw the new junior sister couldn't help but stop and stare.
"Eldest Brother! Is that the new junior sister who just joined?!"
"She's alive! She's really alive!"
"Our sect is truly destined for greatness!"
"Destined for greatness!"
Faced with these enthusiastic greetings, Su Ling'er just buried her head even lower.
They passed through an area of jade pavilions and ornate towers, where magnificent cave abodes were nestled among emerald bamboo and spiritual trees.
Su Ling'er's mind began to stir. 'Perhaps... this demon's den isn't all torture after all?'
'Any one of the cave abodes here is probably a hundred times more luxurious than the residence of the Qingxu Temple's Sect Leader. Even though I just joined, I was personally brought in by the Eldest Brother. My lodging... shouldn't be too bad, right?'
A tiny sliver of hope rose in her heart.
But Lin Qingfeng's steps didn't halt in front of any of the magnificent cave abodes.
He led her past this area wreathed in immortal energy and straight into the sect's heartland. The bluestone slabs underfoot disappeared, replaced by a dirt path.
Lin Qingfeng stopped.
He had stopped before a patch of barren land, clearly distinct from the luxurious cave abode district. And in the middle of this wasteland stood a solitary... thatched hut.
It was just a hovel, casually thrown together with withered yellow thatch and a few crooked logs. It was drafty on all sides, and large chunks of mud had peeled off the walls.
Su Ling'er stood frozen in place.
She glanced back at the brightly lit cluster of immortal cave abodes in the distance, then turned to look at the dilapidated thatched hut before her. The stark contrast made her face burn with humiliation.
She asked timidly, "Eldest Brother... I... from now on, will I be living here?"
[NPC Initial Residence]
[Description: The lowest-grade residence automatically generated by the sect for newly joined native NPCs. Provides only basic shelter.]
[Upgrade Conditions: NPCs can upgrade by completing sect missions, increasing their contribution points, or improving their own cave abode.]
Lin Qingfeng looked at the sect panel in front of him, then at Su Ling'er's stunned, pretty face, and sighed.
'The very first native NPC the sect recruits spawns with the crappiest thatched hut template. This is terrible for the sect's image!'
'Us players live in such nice cave abodes, how is she supposed to feel a sense of belonging?'
'No, I have to spin this with some fancy words!'
"Ahem, Junior Sister, do you find this place... a bit too simple? Of the three thousand Great Daos, what is the true essence? The world chases after the magnificence of cave abodes, but they forget that in Cultivation, one cultivates the heart, not external things."
He pointed to the luxurious cave abodes in the distance, his expression a mixture of pity and transcendence.
"Look at them. They reside on Warm Jade and rest in Spiritual Springs, their Dao hearts long shackled by extravagance. If the heart is covered in dust, then even living in a jade palace is no different from being in a magnificent cage."
"But this place," he turned and pointed solemnly at the dilapidated thatched hut, "is not a hut. It is the 'Abode of Returning to Truth,' specially established by our Guixi Sect for its disciples!"
'Abode of Returning to Truth? Are you sure?'
Su Ling'er blinked.
Lin Qingfeng said earnestly,
"Junior Sister, though you are not of the highest talent, you are still an uncarved jade. The sect does not wish for you to be corrupted by comfort too early. We hope that here, you will wash away all worldly vanity, temper your Dao heart, and comprehend the profound meaning of 'the Great Dao is simple, return to original purity.' Only when you achieve success will you understand the sect's painstaking efforts for you today!"
'Abode of Returning to Truth? Yeah, right! This is just his way of telling me this is all I deserve, isn't it?!'
'From the sect gate to the contract, from the Dining Pavilion to my living quarters, it's been one trap after another, all linked together! This demonic sect is really something else!'
But Su Ling'er knew she absolutely could not resist right now.
She took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in her mind, and when she looked up again, her face was wreathed in a smile.
"Eldest Brother's teachings are wise! As they say, 'one flower, one world; one leaf, one Bodhi.' This disciple was foolish and nearly failed to appreciate the sect's kind intentions!"
Seeing her expression, Lin Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. That you have such comprehension, Junior Sister, shows that your Dao heart is clear. Go on. Your path of cultivation begins here."
After painting another beautiful picture for her, he finally turned, humming an off-key tune as he disappeared around a bend in the path.
Only when his figure had completely vanished did the smile on Su Ling'er's face fade away.
She turned to face the broken door, which didn't even have a latch. After a long silence, she went inside.
The hut was completely empty. A pile of straw in the corner, reeking of mildew, barely qualified as a bed.
She began to guide spiritual energy into her body, intending to use the Spiritual Qi to cleanse the turbid energy left behind by the mortal food she had eaten.
However, upon inspecting herself internally, her spiritual sea was calm, without a single trace of worldly turbid energy stagnating within.
'The mortal food here doesn't create any turbid energy? Could it be... I misjudged Eldest Brother?'
A thousand tangled thoughts filled her mind, but they were no match for her body's exhaustion. She no longer had the strength to stay up, letting her body sink into the straw as she finally drifted off to sleep...
Meanwhile, far away in another part of the Guixi Sect, at the "Gentle Breeze Abode."
Lin Qingfeng pushed open the gate to his own cave abode, and a dense wave of Spiritual Qi washed over him. He comfortably hopped into his Spiritual Spring. As steam rose around him, he let out a long sigh.
"Sigh, I've really gone to great lengths to guide this junior sister onto the 'righteous path' and make her understand the true meaning of cultivation."
He leaned against the edge of the pool, picked up a Spirit Fruit, and took a bite.
"If I don't descend into hell, who will? To help my junior sister return to her original purity, I must tearfully reside in this cage, corroded by extravagance! Only by personally experiencing this decay can I better criticize it!"
And so, he closed his eyes to rest, allowing the hot spring to "corrode" his soul.
A moment later, lying on a bed carved from ten-thousand-year-old glacial jade, a thought crossed his mind.
[Do you wish to log out of "Ashen Heaven"?]
"Yes."
The presence of the figure on the bed fell silent. Only wisps of Spiritual Qi continued to seep into his organs, nourishing the physical shell...
...
[Secrets of the Outside World]
「Ashen Heaven Realm.」
The Supreme Elder of the righteous path's number one sword sect, the Celestial Palace of Swords, was hunting an ancient demonic dragon when he unintentionally stumbled into an ancient secret realm.
The demonic dragon, in its death throes, tore the secret realm open, and a ray of rosy light burst forth from the depths of the rift.
That light contained a kind of... life pulse.
Drawn by this power, the Supreme Elder gave up the chase and followed the light to its source.
At the same time, a Patrol Demon Ship from the demonic path's hegemon, the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Hall, was also drawn by this vibrant life force...