Why are the Talismans I Drawn Banned Again?!

Chapter 320: Chapter 247 Self-Reliance_2
 

But Jiang Cheng felt his preparations might have been a bit too thorough, since the Tongtian Sect had thirty thousand great mountains and countless cultivators. Sneaking around and adding one more Foundation Establishment disciple like Liu Qing seemed unlikely to attract any attention.

Not to mention others, even Yun Shu from the same peak didn’t stir.

Of course, she might not have been around, having gone off to play elsewhere. In any case, the specifics of Yun Shu’s whereabouts were unclear to Jiang Cheng.

Not long after Jiang Cheng’s Foundation Establishment, the Internal Affairs Hall sent him his Disciple Jade Badge.

The Disciple Jade Badge was akin to an identity card within the sect, with additional functions resembling a social security card, meal card, etc.

It could record the number of Contribution Points a disciple had and the sect resources like cave dwellings they owned.

Another most important function was that it replaced the Reusable Type communication talisman, enabling long-distance communication with other jade badges, which was very convenient.

What Liu Qing received instead was a temporary identity Jade Token, which had identification and communication functions, but could not record Contribution Points or sect resources owned.

After distributing the jade badges, the disciple from the Internal Affairs Hall lingered, hesitant and seemingly with something on his mind.

Jiang Cheng asked curiously, “Brother, may I ask if there’s anything else?”

The Internal Affairs Hall disciple said awkwardly, “Junior Brother Jiang, there’s something I’m not sure whether I should address.”

“But feel free to speak, Brother.”

“Here’s the thing, normally I should inform Junior Brother that as a new disciple of our sect, you are eligible to collect a New Disciple Care Package from the Internal Affairs Hall.”

A newbie gift pack, eh? I get it; it’s like those in games.

Jiang Cheng asked, “I can go collect it, and then what?”

“Ahem, because the master of your peak owes the Internal Affairs Hall quite a bit in unpaid internal service fees, your Care Package has been temporarily withheld,” the disciple said.

Jiang Cheng: …

The Internal Affairs Hall disciple added, “However, as long as you could persuade your master to pay the fees, the Internal Affairs Hall will certainly issue the Care Package as usual.”

Jiang Cheng cautiously inquired, “May I ask how much exactly does my master owe?”

“A thousand Contribution Points a year, and your master hasn’t paid for over three hundred years. That would be more than three hundred thousand Contribution Points,” said the Internal Affairs Hall disciple with a smile, adopting an expression that seemed to anticipate Jiang Cheng would settle the debt.

But Jiang Cheng was likely to disappoint him.

As a game designer, Jiang Cheng naturally understood the Contribution Point system of the Tongtian Sect.

A thousand Contribution Points was about the annual income of an average Foundation Establishment disciple. From this point of view, the internal service fee was quite expensive. But in the Tongtian Sect, only those above the Nascent Soul could establish their own mountain gates, and Yun Shu was a Divinity Transformation cultivator. She could easily complete tasks and earn ten thousand Contribution Points at a time, so the fee wasn’t excessive for them.

For Jiang Cheng, however, it was indeed drastic as he had just advanced to Foundation Establishment and hadn’t taken on a single task, leaving his Contribution Points balance at zero.

“Alright, Brother, I got it. I’ll definitely persuade Elder Yun Shu to pay up soon.”

“Thank you, Junior Brother. Then I shall take my leave.”

“Take care.”

After sending off a debt-collecting brother, Jiang Cheng heaved a quiet sigh of relief.

This Immortal Sect life is nothing like what I imagined, is it?

He had envisioned riches and honor on his way here, only to find himself steeped in debt and prostration upon arrival.

Yun Shu, what a trickster you are!

Fortunately, the sect atmosphere was progressive, lacking a tradition of disciples paying off their master’s debts. Otherwise, Jiang Cheng was ready to flee in the night and defect to the Demonic Tao.

Before Jiang Cheng had a moment’s peace, he heard a call from the base of the mountain—another visitor had arrived.

This time, it was a Nascent Soul old man.

“Young friend, who might you be?”

“In reply to the elder, I am a disciple recently accepted by my master, named Jiang Cheng.”

“Good, good, and where is your master? I have something to discuss with her.”

Jiang Cheng tentatively asked, “Elder, if I’m not mistaken, Elder Yun Shu wouldn’t happen to owe you something as well, would she?”

“You can say that!” The Nascent Soul old man lamented earnestly, “I’ve been guarding the Immortal Peach Garden for five hundred years with utmost diligence, never once slipping up. Yet, starting from two hundred years ago, your master has been taking peaches from my garden as soon as they ripen each year. If only it ended there, but the key issue is your master never pays…”

The Nascent Soul elder let out all his grievances like pouring rain, seemingly without end.

After patiently listening, Jiang Cheng empathized deeply with the elder’s predicament and promised to talk to Yun Shu about it.

Then, an Artifact Refiner elder paid a visit.

He mentioned that Yun Shu had borrowed his magical treasures and never returned them, even taking away the luminous gemstones used for lighting in his home.

And then, a Beast Tamer elder came by, but this time it wasn’t about losing something or an unpaid debt. It was because Yun Shu had borrowed his Spirit Pigeon and returned it as promised a year later. However, the pigeon came back looking haggard and even developed a fear of laying eggs, and it never laid another egg again.

Situations like these were countless.

Jiang Cheng was somewhat numb to it all.

At first, he felt that Wan Yue Mountain Master’s decision to confine Yun Shu was too harsh, but gradually he came to realize that Wan Yue Mountain Master was doing a favor for the people ahead of time.

However, Jiang Cheng also keenly observed that these disputes generally occurred two to three hundred years ago.

This meant that their dissatisfaction with Yun Shu mostly stemmed from Yun Shu being penniless.

When Yun Shu had money, there probably wouldn’t have been as many troubles. Even if there were, they could be smoothed over with money.

After all, who doesn’t like a generous wealthy lady?

Although Jiang Cheng sympathized with the elders’ unfortunate experiences, to be honest, there was nothing he could do about it. The debts his master owed, his master had to pay back; it wasn’t really any of Jiang Cheng’s business.

Yun Shu?

He really didn’t know her well.

Even though Yun Shu hadn’t been much help to Jiang Cheng, at least she didn’t drag him down too much. As for debts and other disputes, they could wait until they reconciled in a few decades. Once Yun Shu became wealthy again, would she really not repay them?

It wasn’t a big deal.

One day, Jiang Cheng went to the Tongtian Sect’s Resource Division to collect the basic sustenance resources distributed by the Immortal Sect.

These sustenance resources were similar to the scholarships given out to graduate students on Earth—not a lot, but better than nothing.

“Hello, Jiang Cheng from North Forest Peak.”

Jiang Cheng took out his Disciple Jade Token and handed it to the sister in charge of distributing resources.

The sister used a formation to scan Jiang Cheng’s Jade Token, but instead of displaying the resource level, it showed black.

“I’m sorry, junior brother, the formation might be malfunctioning. I’ll go and ask about it. Just a moment.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Cheng, looking at the black content, suddenly had a bad feeling.

Soon, the sister came back.

“I’m sorry, junior brother, there’s no problem with our formation. It’s that your sect has been blacklisted by our Resource Division. I’m not sure about the specific situation, I apologize.”

Jiang Cheng listened and was quite calm.

What can I say, with precedent in mind, it wasn’t surprising.

Now he was just a bit curious about how many people Yun Shu had offended in the Tongtian Sect over these hundreds of years?

To be targeted like this?

But then again, being an unrecognized member within the Tongtian Sect wasn’t a solution. Jiang Cheng was planning to raise his cultivation level and earn Contribution Points to become an elder. Blacklisted individuals couldn’t become elders, after all.

“Forget it, there’s probably no chance of freeloading on resources and Contribution Points now. I might as well go and check out the Task Hall nearby.” Jiang Cheng said.

In the sect, Contribution Points were not only a form of “money” that could be used to purchase resources, but they were also a type of “merit.” When appointing public positions, what really mattered was a cultivator’s “historical Contribution Points.”

In other words, how many tasks you’ve done, how much you’ve contributed to the sect.

One’s personal Contribution Points could be increased through trading, bypassing the need for sect tasks. But “historical Contribution Points” only accounted for the points earned through tasks, they could only be accumulated through the number of tasks completed, and couldn’t be increased by underhanded means.

Under this system, cultivators who liked to coast along, like Yun Shu, simply couldn’t become elders.

But Jiang Cheng was different; he was hardworking, but his hard work was aimed at being able to coast along and enjoy life in the future, which wasn’t a conflict.

Inside Tongtian Sect were many outstanding talents, and the number of handsome men and beautiful women was immense. Even strong individuals like Yun Shu and Liu Qing wouldn’t necessarily be noticed by others right away.

Jiang Cheng, walking with Liu Qing to the entrance of the Task Hall, thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of not being the center of attention.

Back in Liang Kingdom, whether it was Liu Qing, Liang Lu, or Lin Yao, all had imposed an unbearable weight of scrutiny on him.

Jiang Cheng entered the Task Hall, trying to look for the familiar Talisman Section.

But after a full search, he couldn’t find any tasks related to talismans.

Left with no choice, he had to ask one of the hall’s staff members.

“Excuse me, sister. I’d like to take on some talisman-related tasks, but there doesn’t seem to be a designated Talisman Section here.”

The sister explained with a smile, “Our tasks are divided according to the needs of those who post them. Trade-related tasks are in the next hall over. Are you here to buy talismans or sell them?”