Chapter 226 The Ruthless Senior Brother of the Path of Merciless Path, Used as Cannon Fodder (Part 9) ...

Poor young hero Shen was sent all the way to the Seventh Elder's mountain, and he still couldn't understand why most swordsmen in martial arts novels were poor, and why sword cultivators were still poor even in the world of cultivation.

Hengmo was very happy to hear that a familiar friend had come to visit. After hearing about his experience of taking fasting pills, he immediately shared the delicious food he had eaten during this time.

While eating the hot meal, Shen Ting couldn't help but burst into tears: "Xiao Mo, the life I've been living for so long has been absolutely inhuman."

Shen Ting felt extremely wronged: "My master even lied to me, saying that learning swordsmanship requires focusing solely on the sword and that one cannot indulge in eating, drinking, or having fun. Later, I found out that he himself secretly went to the training ground to hunt and roast meat. I could even smell it."

The Third Elder, who had just arrived intending to watch his little apprentice show off his sword-learning career, paused abruptly, turned sharply, and went to the small kitchen to find something to eat.

What else can he do? Can he go over and argue with his apprentice about whether he cheated on his food?!

I have a feeling that this time it backfired. After sending the little apprentice over, Heng Mo, this promising talent, is even less willing to learn swordsmanship.

After the Third Elder secretly slipped away, he went to Heng Mo's small kitchen to make him braised pork and braised pork hock. He also went to Xiao Qi's wine cellar to get a jar of Zhu Ye Qing liquor. With a sip of wine and a bite of meat, even he himself would not want to suffer through the hardships of learning sword cultivation.

So what if you have high cultivation and a long lifespan? You suffer for a thousand years while others live happily for eight hundred. The Third Elder felt that he was more miserable.

Heng Mo listened to his friend complaining while eating and couldn't help but admire him. How could his mouth be so big that he could wolf down his food while clearly complaining?

Heng Mo listened to him ramble on for a long time and roughly summarized that the Third Elder was not only poor, but also particularly despicable. He had no money to support his disciples, so he tricked them into eating the cheapest fasting pills. His two senior brothers had even subtly reminded him of this.

Shen Ting became even more aggrieved as she spoke, swallowing the meatball in her mouth while complaining, "I'm such an idiot! I didn't even realize it, I thought my senior brother was trying to distract me with delicious food, sob sob sob..."

Heng Mo seized the opportunity to put a big chicken leg on his plate, successfully silencing his whimpering, and then subtly moved on to the next topic.

There wasn't much to do on the mountain. When Lin You was alone with Heng Mo, he would go to cultivate nearby. Having finally come to the cultivation world, he naturally wanted to get as much spiritual energy as possible.

But when someone comes, she is still a very responsible system, after all, the mission is not yet completed, and she always has to prevent accidents from happening.

After his emperor was sent to a time-travel world by Lin You at great expense, Heng Mo became much less wary of her and much closer to her.

Even during meals, T would always make a point of saving a portion for Lin You. Now, with the Concealing Breath Bead as an aid, Lin You could conceal herself along with the food.

She was now sitting next to him, eating her own meal, watching Heng Mo feed her while trying to get information out of her.

And you know what? Most of her targets are quite cunning. The system forum also explains this: only those with exceptional talent and who are destined for great fortune are chosen as her targets.

Talent, to put it bluntly, is intelligence. Smart people are all cunning, and Lin You is already used to it.

On the system forum, many systems expressed their deep resentment towards this, which Lin You found very incomprehensible. The ultimate goal of the system is to help the task recipients solve their difficulties, and the completed task is actually what the task recipients have always wanted to do.

If the mission target is not harmed, the mission can basically be completed. Why do so many systems insist on going against the mission target?!

She couldn't resist opening the forum and posting her first thread. The thread explained in detail that the system and the task subjects had a win-win relationship, how easy the world tasks were for the task subjects, and how many task subjects would automatically complete their tasks after avoiding the calamity.

To increase credibility, she even chose two different worlds for her task and described in detail the simple process of completing the task and her experience of winning without lifting a finger.

Special note, in bold: [Everyone knows the target is incredibly intelligent. You could easily be carried to victory by this exceptionally intelligent target, yet you insist on going against the smart person. What level of stubbornness do you have?]

Lin You wasn't feeling sorry for the systems that toiled away for years to complete missions, only to have a success rate of less than 50%. She was mainly feeling sorry for the mission targets.

We're all suffering people, so let's not let these systems torment us!

Lin You posted the message with a try-it-out mentality. She had never left a message on the forum before and was not very familiar with it. She was unaware that the forum assigned titles based on ability.

After Lin You finished her meal listening to Shen Ting's gossip, the forum post had gone viral and was even pinned and featured by the main system.

The popularity of her drawing talismans with her bare hands from the last world was still there. Someone with the same name and surname posted a thread under the title of junior administrator, and the thread quickly got thousands of replies.

Ninety-nine percent of the people who came were asking for high-grade talismans. Lin You didn't intend to keep anything to herself, since she couldn't possibly handle all those orders by herself.

She created a new thread, detailing her experiences in the cultivation world, including becoming an apprentice, cultivating, learning talisman drawing, alchemy, weapon crafting, formations, swordsmanship, and magic.

[1L: I feel like the big shot misunderstands us. We don't know that talisman drawing is possible in the cultivation world? We simply can't learn it!]

[7L: Perhaps the expert has some misunderstanding about himself. What do you mean by saying you can draw advanced talismans with just a little learning? Your "just" is different from our "just"!]

[11L: What are you guys still arguing about? Didn't anyone realize that this expert can also refine weapons and pills?! What kind of powerful backer is she?!]

[13L: No, those who can see it are already begging for help from the big shots! Big shots, look at me, I have 200 points, please give me a Foundation Establishment Pill!]

[15L: Seeking high-quality spiritual artifacts, any type, price negotiable!]

[16L: Seeking all kinds of elixirs, magical artifacts, and talismans. I'm not picky about children; I'll sell whatever you have, just leave me a little bit.]

…………

Lin You replied to the post, completely bewildered: How could I not learn it? Isn't it very simple?

Then a bunch of people started yelling at her, saying she was like Versailles, that she had hurt everyone's fragile and young hearts, and that they needed a Qi-Nourishing Pill or a Lucky Charm to heal her.

Watching a group of people whine and act spoiled in the comments section, it took Lin You a while to find one or two sentences of explanation mixed in with these comments.

It turns out that not all employees can cultivate. Just like Xiao Mo's side, cultivation requires spiritual roots. Although the employees of the Quick Transmigration Bureau are considered to be born with special advantages, only about three percent of them can cultivate.

Of those three percent, those who have the opportunity to cultivate, are willing to put in the effort, and have the ability to succeed are even fewer than one in ten.

Of the remaining people, most were offensive types, and those who could learn alchemy, weapon crafting, and talisman drawing were extremely rare.

Learning ability isn't something you can just have whenever you want. Just like some people study for three years and can only get into an undergraduate program, while others easily get into top universities.

Even if employees gain experience points, they can indeed improve their soul strength and enhance their memory. However, without self-cultivation, mental energy is mostly used to maintain the soul's survival and will not directly make a person exceptionally intelligent.

Lin You suddenly realized something: she wasn't actually as incompetent as she thought.

She also fought her way through more than ten million college entrance exam takers to enter one of the top universities in the country, ranking among the top thousand out of those ten million.

Lin You is an orphan. Although her older sister provides her with living expenses, she tries to save on unnecessary expenses. She doesn't have any extra tutoring or can't attend schools with better teachers, so she relies solely on her own abilities to learn.

Lin You suddenly realized that she was not ordinary, and she didn't need to be too careful. Although she didn't need to become an immortal, she could still explore the path of cultivation.

After making up her mind, Lin You's state of mind also showed signs of a breakthrough. She greeted Heng Mo and went to the meditation room.

After hearing that she wanted to break through, Heng Mo stopped worrying and continued to coax Chen Ting into talking, while feeding him snacks and subtly guiding him to continue.

Braised pork belly and braised pork hock are both meat dishes. To make them delicious, you need to cook them over high heat with various spices until the skin of the braised pork belly is smooth and the meat is tender, and the braised pork hock is soft and falls off the bone.

An hour later, the Third Elder finally finished eating and drinking. He cast a cleansing spell on himself to make sure no suspicious smell remained before leisurely returning home.

The Third Elder, who was thoroughly enjoying his meal, never expected that by simply going to freeload a meal, his disciple would practically reveal the color of his underwear when he returned.

Third Elder: ………

Is it too late for him to take the person back now?

But he had just told Xiaoqi a lot about the disadvantages of an only disciple lacking companionship, how humans are social animals, and how being alone can easily affect one's temperament, etc.

He generously stated that his little apprentice was familiar with Heng Mo and that he wouldn't mind sending the person over to keep Heng Mo company. He even used this as an excuse to swindle seventy bottles of pills from him.

If he takes the person back as soon as they're delivered, it's obvious that Xiao Qi will be unhappy.

If this causes their supply of medicinal pills to be cut off, how will I support my disciples?!

Shen Ting truly lived up to his reputation as a gossip expert. Not only was he well-informed about the Third Elder's faction, but he also had a comprehensive collection of information about the sect.

For example, the price of a mid-grade spirit stone in Hengmo was not enough to hire Senior Brother Qingmu, who was in the Golden Core stage, but this senior brother was too worried and would take care of his junior brothers and sisters whenever he had free time.

Senior Brother Qingmu had heard about Anguo's situation and took on the mission out of fear that something might happen to him, not for the spirit stones.

For example, a mid-grade spirit stone wouldn't be enough to hire two late-stage Foundation Establishment sword cultivators to exorcise demons for three days; at most, it could only escort him once.

The reason why his two senior brothers accepted his job was entirely because of the Seventh Elder's influence, and also because they heard from Senior Brother Qingmu that there would be danger, so they went to protect him.

In addition, Heng Mo finally understood why sword cultivators were so poor. Every cultivator needs spiritual energy to cultivate, and they need to use spirit stones to accelerate their cultivation.

Other cultivators can maintain a basic progress as long as they meditate and cultivate regularly every day. Even if they practice their professional skills, it won't consume too much spiritual energy.

Take talisman cultivators for example. They have enough spiritual power to draw talismans for half a day, and they can also save up the finished products to sell for spirit stones. They can also continuously dump their inventory when fighting.

For example, alchemy practitioners only need to tend the fire, add the medicine, and watch the furnace. As long as they remember the method and proportions, they only need to use spiritual energy when adding the medicine. There is almost no consumption of spiritual energy, and they can even earn spirit stones.

For example, magic practitioners, although they are also offensive and require a lot of spiritual power, can use their own bodies as a conduit to mobilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for their own use. Of the spiritual energy needed for ten attacks, only 10% comes from their own efforts.

Sword cultivators are different. Every time they draw their swords, they use their own spiritual power. They can't unleash their ultimate moves many times with all their spiritual power, and even ultimate moves require practice to master.

Even ordinary moves require spiritual energy. The more spiritual energy used, the slower the return of spiritual energy is, so one can only rely on spirit stones to cultivate.

Sword cultivators aren't without income. Those with high attack power are best suited to be raw material wholesalers. Unfortunately, raw materials are always the cheapest, so no matter how hard a sword cultivator works, the spirit stones they earn are barely enough for their own cultivation.

Just hearing that makes me feel like there's no future in sight, like everything is going dark.

Every sword cultivator's foundation is built upon thousands upon thousands of spirit stones, though of course you can choose not to spend any spirit stones.

At most, your cultivation will be slower and your skills will be weaker. Other sword cultivators can fight ten opponents of the same level and challenge those of higher levels. Your combat strength is so low that you'd be embarrassed to even mention that you're a sword cultivator... that's all.

If that's the case, then why bother becoming a sword cultivator? Is it because it's poor, or because all you can do is hunt and sell raw materials?

After finishing his meal, Shen Ting grabbed Heng Mo and wouldn't let go. "Little Mo, we've known each other for a long time. My master and your master have also known each other for a long time. When I become a great sword cultivator and you become a great alchemist, I'll provide you with materials."

Shen Ting had heard that the most important thing for a raw material supplier like a sword cultivator is to find a processing partner to work with.

The ideal partner is someone who can refine pills and craft weapons, who can provide the sword cultivator with the resources they need while they're out exploring – the minerals they mine, the grass they gather, the fruits they pick, the hunts they hunt – and also the pills, weapons, and spirit stones they need.