A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

The assessment of the Green Bamboo Sect has ended. After everyone returned to the sect, the newly promoted formal disciples were taken to the Trial Pavilion.

There, they will be divided up by the waiting deacons.

As for Zhou Ping and the other outer disciples, they went directly back to their respective residences at Xinzhu Academy.

They were temporarily sidelined and would have to wait until the next morning for someone to assign them daily tasks.

After returning to his residence, Zhou Ping felt somewhat down. Although he had successfully joined the Green Bamboo Sect, the treatment of outer disciples and formal disciples was vastly different.

Once formal disciples are assigned to various halls, they will be guided in martial arts training by dedicated instructors. Martial arts manuals are readily available, and they only need to focus on cultivation.

Those who perform exceptionally well will be accepted as personal disciples by the elders.

Although outer disciples are also assigned to martial arts training, it is limited to some basic martial arts; more advanced martial arts must be obtained by exchanging contribution points from the sect.

While cultivating, they also need to take care of some assigned daily tasks, which is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also earns very few contribution points.

To put it nicely, they were outer disciples, but in reality, their status wasn't much higher than that of the sect's servants.

Zhou Ping lay on the bed, recalling the news he had heard from the other disciples, and began to make plans in secret.

Although the daily tasks assigned to outer disciples by the Green Bamboo Sect are numerous, they can be summarized into a few main categories.

Several of these were recognized as lucrative and desirable jobs, such as tending medicinal herb fields, feeding horses, and guarding the mountain gate.

These tasks are extremely simple, requiring neither effort nor time, allowing people to have more time to cultivate martial arts, making them highly sought after.

For outer disciples who want to stand out in the Green Bamboo Sect, martial arts training is the most important path to advancement.

Only those with outstanding martial arts skills can break through the various assessments and trials in the later stages and be promoted to formal disciples.

Therefore, the competition for these lucrative positions is always extremely fierce at this time, with everyone displaying their unique abilities.

Zhou Ping was naturally unwilling to give up on securing these missions, but given his circumstances, the probability of success was rather pitiful.

With no background, no connections, and a family that had long been impoverished, he really didn't know where to begin.

Fortunately, after much deliberation, he found a more reliable method, which should have a high probability of success.

Zhou Ping lay on the hard bed, waiting for tomorrow's task assignments without thinking further.

Feeling a dull ache in his chest, he jolted awake and sat up.

How could I have forgotten about it!

Zhou Ping reached into his pocket and took out two items, then gently placed them on the bed.

He naturally moved the exquisite bamboo token aside, his gaze fixed intently on another peculiar object.

That heavy three-inch "iron nail"!

Zhou Ping carefully examined the "culprit" who had stabbed him. It was about three inches long, covered in dirt, and so dirty that it was difficult to see clearly.

"That's strange... I clearly lost a lot of blood?"

Zhou Ping looked down at the straw sandals stained with blood, his face full of confusion.

Without thinking too much, he got up, scooped a ladle of water from the basin, and carefully washed the "iron nail" in it.

Zhou Ping turned around and jumped onto the bed, placed it in his palm, and examined it carefully.

It must be some kind of metal I don't recognize, right? I really can't figure out what kind of material could be so heavy.

The nail is entirely dark brown, with a rough surface covered with strange patterns, like scribbles.

Zhou Ping held it up to his eyes and examined it inch by inch, but the more he looked, the more dizzy he became.

Those strange patterns seemed to come alive, "wriggling" back and forth in his eyes.

Some look like little tadpoles, others like long centipedes, densely covering the nails, making one dizzy and lightheaded after looking at them for a while.

Zhou Ping raised his head and shook it vigorously before the dizziness disappeared.

"What a strange pattern."

He then stretched out his arms and began to observe from a distance.

One end of the nail has irregular serrations, much like a notch after it has been broken.

But the other end was smooth and round, black as if it had been burned.

"This is definitely not a nail!"

He tried biting it with his teeth and almost broke his back molars. The rough surface of the tooth didn't leave any teeth marks or even a scratch.

After careful observation, Zhou Ping discovered that it not only didn't resemble an iron nail in appearance, but it didn't resemble one in any way!

The material, weight, and forging technique all exuded strangeness, which aroused Zhou Ping's strong interest, who still had the mind of a child.

He played with the black thing back and forth, tossing it between his left and right hands. It was heavy, and he liked it very much.

After a while, Zhou Ping heard footsteps outside. He hurriedly hid the "iron nail" under the bed board and pretended to rest.

Immediately afterwards, a chubby figure dragged himself into the house.

The person who came was Chen Dafu, who had become a formal disciple. As soon as he entered the room, he went to Zhou Ping's bedside and sat down on it.

"Crunch!"

The wooden bed groaned under the weight, and Zhou Ping, feigning surprise, sat up abruptly.

"Young Master Chen, what can I do for you?"

"No advice, no advice, don't get agitated!"

Seeing Zhou Ping's strong reaction, Chen Dafu quickly waved his hands and explained.

"Now that I've become a formal disciple... I'm back to pack my things."

"Oh, congratulations, Young Master Chen, on becoming a formal disciple."

Zhou Ping replied indifferently, leaning against the headboard and staring at him with a questioning look, as if asking if there was anything else.

Chen Dafu scratched his head sheepishly, then secretly glanced at Zhou Ping's right foot.

"Brother Zhou, we've become acquainted as roommates. If you encounter any difficulties at Qingzhu Sect in the future, just let me know. I, Chen Dafu, will do my best to help!"

Zhou Ping found it somewhat amusing that the two of them had only stayed under the same roof for one night and yet they had become friends?

"Young Master Chen, you don't need to keep worrying about your foot injury. I'm just doing my job, so our deal is done."

Zhou Ping said to Chen Dafu with a serious expression, which was also his true feeling.

"Yes, yes, my father always taught me that when you're out in the world, you should make good connections and, as is the way of business, you should make many friends."

"I feel much better now that you don't hold a grudge against me."

Chen Dafu muttered to Zhou Ping, saying that he was a year younger than Zhou Ping, but his courage seemed to be ten years younger.

After all, he was just an eleven-year-old child, and the fact that he had left the person covered in blood and gore left him feeling terrified.

After seeing that Zhou Ping was indeed alright, Chen Dafu chatted with him for a few minutes before packing his bags and leaving.

From Chen Dafu, Zhou Ping learned that his other roommate was also from a wealthy family in Tianyan Town.

However, he had already come down the mountain before the assessment began, and was one of the dozen or so children who gave up the assessment.

It's easy to hear Chen Dafu's disdain for his cowardice and his self-satisfaction with his own courage in his tone.

Zhou Ping merely smiled at these things. The struggles between these young masters of wealthy families were too far removed from his life, and he had no interest in them.

He was pleased that he would be living alone in the house from then on.

This undoubtedly made him feel much more relaxed. After all, living in the same room with strangers can make one feel somewhat restrained and restricted.

As for whether other disciples would be arranged to move in later, Zhou Ping thought about it and felt that the possibility was extremely small.

Hundreds of teenagers participated in the assessment, but in the end, only eighty-one outer disciples, including Zhou Ping, were able to remain at Xinzhu Academy.

The others either became formal disciples like Chen Dafu and moved to better accommodations, or they failed the assessment and were sent down the mountain.

The entire Hsinchu compound suddenly had a large number of empty houses, and Zhou Ping was not alone in this situation. Some houses were even completely deserted.