Chapter 9: The Central Continent0

Lu Yang asked nervously, “Do I have to compensate?” The most valuable thing I have on me is my brain.0

“Compensate?” The senior male disciple took a glimpse at the book in his hand, then glanced at Lu Yang, his eyes twitching hard.0

According to the rules, he does need to pay with spirit stones, but the problem is that if word of this book were to get out, it would be equivalent to waiting for the Dragon and Phoenix tribes to join hands and charge all the way from the Demon Region to the Central Continent for the Dao-Seeking Sect.1

Although the Dao-Seeking Sect is not afraid of these two tribes, and the dragon liver and phoenix marrow taste delicious and consuming them can nourish the yin and the yang…we are after all an upright sect. Having a forbidden book like Dragon and Phoenix Transformation in our scripture library will ultimately tarnish our reputation.0

The senior male disciple casually hid the book into his sleeve with an indifferent expression.“Compensate? What book did you dirty? I didn’t see it.” Destroying a book in the scripture library is too conspicuous and will trigger an array; it’d be better to destroy it outside instead.1

Lu Yang instantly connected the dots—Senior Brother wants to keep it for himself. 0

That’s why he said nothing happened just now; I get it.0

The two exchanged glances with the corners of their mouth raised up, as if they had truly understood the other party’s intentions.3

The incident with the forbidden book was just a minor episode; Lu Yang hadn’t forgotten his real objective for coming to the scripture library.0

After scouring through the place for what felt like eternity, he finally found the book he desired—Geography of The Continent—a book providing an introduction to the Central Continent.2

Lu Yang rubbed his hand in excitement and began poring over the book.0

“There exist humans, demons, monsters, and other beings in this world. The Central Continent is where the Human race congregate, and the largest power on this continent is the Great Xia Dynasty, the sole nation on the Central Continent. It controls the destiny of the human race and represents their legitimate bloodline.”3

He mused to himself, “If that’s the case, my house is also part of the Great Xia Dynasty’s jurisdiction even though it’s close to the Dao-Seeking Sect.”0

Lu Yang continued to read, “To the east of the continent lies a vast ocean with scattered islands. Every now and then, ancient beasts such as the giant kun fish[1], the great peng bird,[2] and the faceless hundun beast[3] will be sighted.0

“To the west of the continent is the Golden Buddhist Kingdom, a nation of boundless Pure Land[4] and temples that are countless as grains of sand.0

“To the south of the continent is the Demon Region, where the Dragon Tribe and Phoenix Tribe reign supreme. The demon race is cruel and bloodthirsty, and they are constantly in conflict with the Great Xia Dynasty. There are even demons hiding within the Great Xia Dynasty, posing a threat to humans.0

“To the north of the continent is the Extreme North. The ice never melts, no grass grows, humans are sparse in numbers, and other beings hardly appear; only the strongest of races can live in this place.0

“The human race and cultivators make up the majority of the Central Continent. Some cultivators choose to serve in the court as an official, while most other cultivators choose to establish their own sects or join an existing one. The continent is dotted with numerous sects, the most powerful being the Five Great Immortal Sects, which the Dao-Seeking Sect is a member of; they are recognized as the leaders of the righteous path.”0

As Lu Yang read on, he analyzed, ”The book even states that each sect from the Five Great Immortal Sects surely has a Transcendent Tribulation expert and methods equivalent to such power…Does that mean that the sect leader is a Transcendent Tribulation expert? Or could the Dao-Seeking Sect have a grand elder who is living isolated from the world?”0

Thinking about how he had the fortune to become the disciple of the sect leader who might be a Transcendent Tribulation expert, Lu Yang was over the moon. He stood up and poured himself a cup of water to calm his jubilation before sitting back down and continuing to read.1

“The diabolic path cultivators are extremely bloodthirsty, using other living beings’ lives to grow their own cultivation; they pose a greater threat than the demons. Ultimately, they are cultivators that are not presentable and hide in the shadows. Under the combined efforts of the Great Xia Dynasty and the Five Great Immortal Sects to suppress them, the diabolic path’s sects only dare to act in secret.” 1

Apart from the cultivators of the diabolic path, the book also touched upon something called “perverse devil,” but the description was relatively obscure. It simply mentioned how perverse devils were born heartless and the shadows of the human race; they were something beyond the realms of common understanding and should be avoided at all costs. It was so mysterious that Lu Yang still didn’t understand what a perverse devil was.2

“The currency of mortals is gold, silver, and copper, while the currency of cultivators is spirit stones, classified into grades of high, medium, and low.”0

Afterward, Lu Yang started to learn about the basic common knowledge of cultivation, including the standards for each cultivation stage, what the hundred arts of cultivation exactly comprised, the breeds of demon beasts, the tiers of cultivation techniques, and the history of the Central Continent.0

The information Lu Yang had gleaned from the storyteller in the teahouse was far from what was enough for him to find a place in the cultivation world.0

As he absorbed the lines of interesting knowledge, he found himself immersed and swimming in the sea of knowledge. Only until evening did he feel a pang of hunger and remember that he hadn’t eaten for a day.0

The senior male disciple was no longer standing guard at the entrance. Instead, it was a senior female disciple.0

Lu Yang asked respectfully, “Senior Sister, sorry for disrupting, I am a disciple who just joined yesterday and am still unfamiliar with the Dao-Seeking Sect. Is there a place for meals in the Dao-Seeking Sect?”0

The senior female disciple was startled by Lu Yang. She shuddered, and her eyes were furtive, visibly scared of speaking with people. Most people are able to abide by the scripture library’s rules and need no reminders, so my personality is a good fit for this place.0

Not daring to meet Lu Yang’s eyes, her head was lowered as she softly muttered, “So you just joined, Junior Brother? There is a dining hall in the Dao-Seeking Sect, but as someone experienced, I won’t recommend eating there.”0

Lu Yang was befuddled. “Why is that so? Is there a problem with the dining hall?”0

“It is at Hundred Refinements Peak; it belongs to Fifth Elder.”0

Lu Yang was taken aback. The name doesn’t sound like a place for preparing meals. “Regarding this Hundred Refinements Peak…”0

“Fifth Elder specializes in crafting weapons, so the Hundred Refinements Peak is naturally a peak dedicated to that. The dining hall is located right on this peak, and the chefs in the dining halls are all top-notch weapon crafting masters. Their mantou [5] can pierce through mountains, their rice grains can be used as covert weapons, and their youtiao [6] can even smash apart steel and bones.”4

Lu Yang didn’t know where to start cursing. “Why can the chefs become weapon crafting masters?”0

The senior female disciple timidly explained, “Think about it, Junior Brother, a crucial part of being a chef is controlling the heat, and this is precisely what the weapon crafting masters excel at. These two professions are more closely related than you think.”1

Lu Yang nodded sincerely. “Indeed, they are more closely related than I’d thought.”0

Noting Lu Yang’s plain attire, the senior female disciple hesitated for a bit. “Moreover, when you purchase weapons, oh wait, I mean, going to the dining hall to eat requires spirit stones. Junior Brother, you don’t seem to be…very well-off.” 0

Most cultivators’ attires may not be luxurious, but they’re at least made from common spirit items such as celestial silkworm silk, which makes them impervious to fire and water. 0

From Lu Yang’s modest attire that was patched with many scraps of cloth, she could tell at one glance that he came from a mortal background.0

Lu Yang could only laugh sheepishly. She got it right, I don’t have a single spirit stone.0

“No need to be embarrassed, there are many disciples in the Dao-Seeking Sect who were mortals,” the senior female disciple comforted him. “There are other ways to get food, umm, you can go and take a look at Pill Cauldron Peak. There should be discarded Fasting Pills, you can try asking them for some.”0

She added, “The Pill Cauldron Peak has high standards for their pills, so even if they call it discarded, it is simply because they are of lower quality; you don’t have to worry about it being poisonous.0

“However, when you are at the Pill Cauldron Peak, you have to be careful of Seventh Elder who is the peak master, Senior Brother Wu Ming, Senior Brother Wen Da, Senior Sister Qing Kong, Junior Brother Long Yan…anyways, just be careful.”1

Setting aside his bewilderment, Lu Yang cupped his fists. “Thank you, Senior Sister. I am Lu Yang. May I ask what your name is?”0

“I’m Zhou Lulu.”1