Chapter 253: Chapter 222: Accepting a Disciple_1

As for Xu Mu’s choice, his family members didn’t pay much attention. After all, he was an old man near death, so his decision wasn’t of great concern.

After the two had signed the agreement, they didn’t directly arrange for Xu Mu’s accommodation, instead asked him about the tasks he wanted to undertake.

The “tasks” mentioned in the contract were not as simple as hunting a monster beast in the wilderness.

Rather than tasks, they were more like work.

The easiest and most straightforward work was concocting pills. The grade and quantity of pills required varied.

At Xu Mu’s level, if he were to concoct a tier-three pill, he might need to produce thousands of bottles to complete the task.

For a tier-four, he would need hundreds of bottles, and for tier-five, about a hundred. As for a tier-six, perhaps thirty to forty bottles would suffice.

Generally, it would take at least half a year to complete the task.

One job completion every three years would mean working one year and having five rest years.

Apart from this, there were tasks like managing the medicinal garden, teaching apprentices, managing shops and so on, all mostly related to pills.

However, these tasks required a longer commitment – a minimum of a year to a maximum of three years. The only advantage was it was more relaxed.

For example, managing the medicinal garden didn’t require whole day supervision – a check every ten days or half a month would be sufficient.

If you were skillful, you could squeeze out some extra benefits from it.

The downside was if there was an issue with the medicinal garden, you were held accountable.

Xu Mu didn’t hesitate and chose the task of concocting Stay Age Pills.

He was very adept at creating Stay Age Pills, with one batch yielding up to hundreds of bottles. He could complete the task in less than two months.

Seeing that Xu Mu had chosen the pill concoction task, three people shook their heads again.

He truly had no regard for his own life!

Alchemy consumed vital energy. In Xu Mu’s condition, wasn’t that seeking death?

However, the three were neither related to him nor were they close friends. Seeing his obstinacy, they were too lazy to persuade him; better to die sooner than later!

Hopefully, he would be less stubborn in his next life.

After picking the task, he had to choose the residence.

But this was not managed by the Pill Hall, but by the Fairy Moon Palace’s Internal Affairs Hall.

The elder of the Internal Affairs Hall was taken aback when he saw Xu Mu’s old age. If the Elder of the Pill Hall hadn’t been with him, he might have turned him away.

“Elder Lu, I won’t say much. I hope you know what to do!”

The Pill Hall Elder vaguely instructed.

Pills were undoubtedly important to cultivators, hence the Pill Hall held an extraordinary position. The Internal Affairs Hall had to give them some face.

Unfortunately, the implications in his speech were not to favor Xu Mu.

Honestly, someone like Xu Mu, an old man without any potential, if not for the sect rules, they wouldn’t bother to take him in.

Even if he was accepted, they would just be going through the motions. They wouldn’t want to waste the resources of the Pill Hall on him.

The cost of the cultivation caves was deducted from within the Pill Hall.

The elder of the Internal Affairs Hall wisely acknowledged this, then took out a map. After stimulating it with spiritual power, a semi-transparent light curtain appeared.

Most of the area on the light screen was unclear, only the periphery was clearly visible.

“These are the areas you can choose from. The glowing locations are already inhabited.” he stated.

“I understand!”

Xu Mu had lived for hundreds of years and naturally he could see the hints from them.

However, he didn’t bother to argue about these petty matters. He casually selected a quiet spot.

After confirming, the Pill Hall Elder parted ways, and the Internal Affairs Hall Elder arranged for a Disciple on part-time duties to lead Xu Mu to his new residence.

“Elder, this is your residence. If you’re not satisfied, you need to discuss with the Elder in the Internal Affairs Hall!”

The guiding disciple was respectful, after all Xu Mu was now an Outer Sect Elder, and he was just an ordinary Disciple.

“I understand!”

Xu Mu nodded and proceeded to inspect his new dwelling.

The yard was quite spacious, almost a thousand square meters. It included a cultivation room, alchemy room, medicine room, kitchen, bedroom, and a storage room. In addition, there was half an acre of medicinal land planted with several spirit plants, the most precious among these being a tier-three laurel tree.

If this place was managed properly, it could relatively easily earn over ten Medium-grade Spirit Stones a year.

Xu Mu went around the place, saw no major issues, and let the guide leave.

He did not intend to live here for a lifetime, and after he broke through to the Golden Core Stage, his status would certainly greatly improve. At that time, the sect would surely provide him a better place, so there was no need to be nit- picky about this spot.

“I reckon this is the third sect I have joined, but this would be the first one that I would truly call home!”

If nothing unexpected happens, he probably would end up staying here for twenty years.

If he could break through to the Golden Core Stage, then twenty years wouldn’t seem that long.

Considerable time in exchange for a strong backer was rather a worthwhile deal.

After settling in, the next day Xu Mu went to the Pill Hall to collect the medicinal ingredients for his task.

In the following days, he was either concocting pills or polishing his cultivation, preparing to break through to the Golden Core Stage.

During this period, Fairy Moon Palace held a grand disciple acceptance ceremony, where they recruited a few extraordinarily gifted juniors.

Xu Mu didn’t join the hustle, his time was limited and he needed to seize every second to breakthrough to the Golden Core.

However, after the ceremony, work came knocking at his door.

“Elder Xu, why don’t you pick a few too!”

The elder of the Pill Hall handed Xu Mu a list of new disciples.

According to the agreement, he must cultivate a fourth tier Alchemist within twenty years, so the sooner, the better. The sect would not allow him to delay.

Therefore, Xu Mu had no choice but to grit his teeth and select. After all, he had taken benefits from others.

In addition to Xu Mu, there were many elders in the hall prepared to take in disciples.

Some elders, like Xu Mu, were bound by the contract and had no choice but to accept disciples, while others were voluntarily choosing disciples in the hope of cultivating assistants and receiving rewards from the sect.

Fairy Moon Palace was quite generous in this aspect. As long as they could cultivate outstanding disciples, they would receive various special treatment and benefits.

Xu Mu had just joined, and his status was not high, so he was last in line to select disciples.

By the time he had made his selections, a whole day had passed.

Xu Mu chose two apprentices in total, both in the late stages of Qi Cultivation, one named Ye Bufan and the other, Xiao Feng.

The reason he chose them was not because of their gifted talents; by the time it was his turn, there weren’t many good seeds left.

Mainly it was due to their names. Just hearing their names, it was evident that they were protagonists.

So, in a situation where it didn’t matter who he chose, he simply picked the two with better-sounding names.

Both were in their twenties, and their talent for cultivation was mediocre among Fairy Moon Palace disciples. They would surely advance to the Foundation Establishment stage but would likely go no further.

For older disciples with limited potential like them, when new disciples joined, they would either be sent to manage the outer sect or take up auxiliary roles, becoming Alchemists, Talisman Makers, Array Masters, etc, providing a new path for their cultivation journey.

Upon returning to the residence, he casually handed a few Alchemy manuals to the two men for them to study on their own and went back to his secluded cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, three years passed. Xu Mu felt that his cultivation had been polished enough and prepared to attempt a breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage.