Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 345 Senior Brother of the Yellow Springs Sect
In early August, the weather gradually turned cooler, and the grasslands of northern Xinjiang began to turn yellow.

In the past, the people of northern Xinjiang would have been worried about making a living during the winter.

Whether we have enough sheep this year, whether they are fat enough, whether we can survive the winter after offering sacrifices to the tribal chief, whether there will be blizzards this year... these kinds of questions are matters of life and death.

But for the people of Fengdu City in northern Xinjiang, there's no need to worry about these things this year.

Whether inside or outside the city, the people of northern Xinjiang live a prosperous life with herds of cattle and sheep.

No matter how harsh the winter, the cold wind blowing down from the snowy holy city can't reach Fengdu, let alone cross those towering city walls.

Moreover, there are many supplies transported from the Central Plains. They are a bit expensive, but the people of the Northern Frontier are now wealthy and are not stingy when it comes to buying what they need.

After things calmed down, all sorts of shops began to appear in Fengdu City.

The food, drink and daily necessities were almost all provided. Even a well-known restaurant in the Central Plains opened a branch in Fengdu City. However, it still mainly catered to people from the Central Plains, as taste is something that even a god could not please.

The three-story restaurant called Judelou was one of them.

The famous Peking duck, which is quite famous in the Central Plains, was criticized for its small portion size and high price when it came to Fengdu City.

The same goes for other tea snacks and drinks; many people in northern Xinjiang believe that only fools with too much money would patronize this Juedelou restaurant.

However, two distinguished guests have arrived today, both of whom look like young gentlemen.

One looked distinguished, probably a young master from a family with a long tradition of scholarship and refinement. The other, though dressed in fine clothes, had dark skin and shifty eyes, looking like he'd never seen the world before.

The shopkeeper immediately knew what was going on. It was probably a poor boy who had met a rich young master. The two chatted happily, and the rich young master took him out to broaden his horizons.

Moreover, this was no ordinary rich young master, because he casually tossed down a gold ingot.

The gold was so solid, bigger than the palm of your hand, that it was enough to book the entire Juedelou restaurant for half a month, yet they only allowed a few casual dishes and drinks to be served.

This rich young master is nothing short of a god of wealth.

The shopkeeper looked at the dark-skinned poor boy with envy. This wasn't just climbing the social ladder; it was leaping over the dragon gate.

The manager hurriedly greeted the young master personally and ordered someone to break the large piece of gold into pieces. This young master dared to give it, but he dared not actually accept it, otherwise the business of Jude Restaurant would be ruined.

The shopkeeper was unaware that the dragon gate these two were leaping over was much higher than he had imagined.

The dark-skinned youth drank wine in large gulps and ate meat in large chunks without any manners. He ate with his mouth full of oil and then called out to another person, "Senior Brother Fang, why aren't you eating? This roast duck tastes really good, but the wine is a bit weak. I brought some mare's milk wine, would you like some?"

Fang Hao looked at the simple and honest young man, smiled and shook his head, saying, "Junior Brother Qin, please do as you please. I have no particular appetite."

"That's right. Senior brother, you are an immortal with cultivation, while I am just a mortal."

After saying that, he stopped being polite, took the leather bag from his waist and drank the wine in big gulps. Then he swept the roast duck on the table clean. Not satisfied with the meal, he urged the restaurant to bring more.

He ate more than a dozen ducks before patting his belly to indicate that he was seven-tenths full. His appetite left the manager of Juedelou restaurant dumbfounded. The young man didn't look particularly fat or strong, but his appetite was truly astonishing.

The shopkeeper then realized that he had not encountered any wealthy young master; these two were probably not ordinary people. He immediately became even more respectful and was glad that he had not been impolite in any way.

This guess is not wrong. Fang Hao and Qin Le are both disciples who have just passed the test of Huangquan Sect. They will officially become second-generation disciples of Huangquan Sect after the apprenticeship ceremony. If they are lucky, one of them will be the senior disciple of the second generation. They can be said to have a bright future.

Unlike Qin Le, Fang Hao came with his own skills.

In terms of background, Fang Hao was far superior to Chen Ye, a rogue cultivator. He was a disciple of Lu Xingzhou, the head of the Burning Incense Sect, and a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage.

Despite his background, he still passed the Yellow Springs Sect's hellish trials step by step, waiting to be received by the sect leader like an ordinary person. It's hard to believe if this were told. Only Qin Le knew nothing about it, only that Fang Hao knew how to cultivate before becoming a disciple, so he called him senior brother.

It wasn't that Fang Hao intentionally concealed his identity; it was just that he arrived at the wrong time.

He should have arrived in the Northern Frontier much earlier, but he encountered some trouble on the way, and by the time Fang Hao arrived at the Yellow Springs Sect, the founding ceremony had already passed.

Fang Hao then sought an audience with Chen Ye under the guise of a rogue cultivator. The servants under the Yellow Spring Sect did not recognize him and regarded him as an ordinary rogue cultivator, so they wrote down his identity as a rogue cultivator and sent it to him.

As a result, many people sought to see Chen Ye, but Chen Ye preferred to be a hands-off manager, so he was basically never able to meet with anyone.

In the end, Qu Heng noticed something was wrong. It didn't seem right that such a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator had come to Fengdu City.

After observing Fang Hao in secret for a while and confirming that he had no ulterior motives, she was slightly relieved and quickly notified Pang Duoduo to handle the situation.

Pang Duoduo rushed back from Qingguan Mountain and was also surprised to see Fang Hao. When she learned that Fang Hao was coming to join the Huangquan Sect, Pang Duoduo gave him a suggestion, hoping that he would pass the Huangquan Sect's test with dignity and integrity before coming to become its disciple.

Fang Hao didn't understand at first. This sounded really like bullying. After all, he was a Nascent Soul cultivator. How many Nascent Soul cultivators could the Yellow Springs Sect produce?

However, Pang Duoduo always spoke with purpose and never spoke recklessly. Fang Hao accepted Pang Duoduo's suggestion and treated himself as an ordinary rogue cultivator, queuing up to participate in the Yellow Spring Sect's trial.

Who would have thought that this trial would be so difficult? Fang Hao only realized that he was also burdened with sins after entering hell.

When Fang Hao became Lu Xingzhou's disciple, he wasn't the only one. There were bound to be various open and covert struggles among them. Such was the style of the Burning Incense Sect, so Fang Hao didn't think there was anything wrong with framing, slander, and sowing discord. In fact, he sometimes even enjoyed it.

Although he never actually killed anyone, some of his fellow disciples suffered greatly at his hands.

At the time, I didn't think anything was wrong, until the torture began, and all the memories of the past flooded back. What I remember most vividly is not the excitement of my own victory, but the resentful, bitter, or desperate expressions of the losers.

The excruciating pain from the torture recurred throughout his past experiences until Fang Hao let out a heavy sigh. Suddenly, he felt a lightness in his body, and all the pain vanished.

The ghostly soldier in charge of the execution poured two spoonfuls of boiling oil on Fang Hao's face. Finding him unharmed, the soldier clapped his hands and laughed, "Congratulations! Your sins are gone, you've passed!"

Fang Hao hadn't committed many crimes, and the competition among inner disciples was commonplace in the Burning Incense Sect, so the torture wouldn't be too severe.

After leaving the underworld, Fang Hao learned that only three people, including himself, had passed the trial.

Not everyone is deeply sinful, but many sinful people give up halfway because if they become disciples of the Yellow Spring Sect, the days of torture and purification will become a regular occurrence. They must always remember not to violate the rules in the slightest, otherwise the torture will be another torment.

After experiencing that hellish torture, few people want to go through it again. Rather than being punished for not being able to bear the rules, they would rather quit as soon as possible.

Qin Le and Fang Hao were two of them, along with a girl named Xi Yue. The two men and one woman were the second-generation disciples of the Yellow Springs Sect.

However, she seemed to have lived in Fengdu City for a long time, and after meeting Fang Qin, she disappeared without a trace.

With only a few days until the apprenticeship ceremony, Qin Le, who was always busy, dragged Fang Hao on a trip.

Although Fang Hao preferred quiet to activity, he still wanted to explore Fengdu City properly, so he and Qin Le came to Juede Restaurant to pass the time. The location was perfect, offering a view of the most bustling part of Fengdu City.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the two sat on the third floor by the window, leisurely watching the lively scene below.

On the street, a group of ghostly soldiers were escorting two prisoners past, and judging from the looks of it, they were going to be sent to the Department of Punishment for punishment.

Qin Le immediately became curious and asked Fang Hao, "What a big fuss, Senior Brother! What did these two do to deserve such a large escort?"

(End of this chapter)