Next morning!

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and dewdrops clung to the branches and leaves. In the Study Palace's Martial Arts Arena, Tang Peiqing descended gracefully from the Sky Dome.

Below him, righteous disciples from all over Qingzhou, here for further studies, were already waiting to listen to his guidance and clarification.

"Senior Brother, what are you..."

However, amidst the crowd, a small incident occurred.

Jia Chuchu and four other Golden Sword Sect disciples blinked rapidly, looking puzzled at Xu Chang, who was strolling around with his hands behind his back and his head held high.

"Cough cough, it's nothing, I'm just wandering around."

Xu Chang coughed twice, his eyes darting around evasively.

Jia Chuchu and the others gave him peculiar looks, and some of the other righteous disciples curiously observed this unfamiliar face, Xu Chang.

They had been here to study and listen to teachings for almost a month, and for many, it was the first time seeing Xu Chang. This was because Xu Chang lived a reclusive life to avoid getting too deeply involved with Ghost Ridge Palace.

"This is my Senior Brother, an inner disciple."

Jia Chuchu explained to familiar friends, to prevent Xu Chang from feeling out of place.

"Next, we will continue yesterday's lecture. This time, I will personally share some insights into the Ten Levels of Yunling Realm, which involves the Five Elements Theory, closely related to the future cultivation within the Secret Realm."

Tang Peiqing began speaking slowly, and the crowd settled down, all eyes were now focused on listening to the teachings, with no one paying attention to Xu Chang anymore.

This made Xu Chang breathe a sigh of relief. He leaned against a landscape tree, pretending to admire the scenery, while actually listening intently.

After half an hour, Tang Peiqing temporarily paused and smiled, "Today's lecture on the Five Elements Theory will end here for now. Next, I will answer your questions and provide some examples.

The youngster leaning against the tree, I see you bear Sword Intent, but the Geng Metal in your lower dantian is too dark, suggesting you've encountered an error in your cultivation.

When you return, perhaps you should try boiling and consuming Flame Sunflower and find a Fire Attribute cushion for meditation. Fire restrains Metal, and when these two harmonize and run in the Twelve Great Circuits, only then can you resolve it. Otherwise, your path to breaking through to the Secret Realm will be very arduous."

Xu Chang was stunned. His lower dantian had indeed been faintly aching, and he had never figured out why. Even his own Master hadn't discerned the issue, yet today Tang Peiqing had illuminated the problem and provided a solution.

"Thank you, Elder Tang, for your enlightenment. I will never forget your kindness."

Gratitude welled up in Xu Chang's heart, and he bowed deeply to Tang Peiqing.

The nearby righteous disciples were envious, being guided by a Taoist Platform Realm expert is truly a rare fortune.

Tang Peiqing continued to instruct several other cultivators and then took off into the air amidst the reluctant gazes of numerous righteous disciples.

"Senior Brother!"

Jia Chuchu and a few junior brothers and sisters ran over to Xu Chang.

"Well, I was just genuinely grateful for Elder Tang's guidance. He is indeed a senior with great cultivation, humble and courteous, unlike those bloodthirsty Demon Cultivators, but this only applies to Elder Tang personally, and does not mean I endorse the Demon Path."

Seeing the juniors giggle secretly, Xu Chang remained stubborn in his words.

"Yes, yes, we understand, Senior Brother."

The Golden Sword Sect disciples didn't argue, just exchanged glances, seeing the teasing in each other's eyes.

....

By the afternoon.

In the area where Ghost Ridge Palace's Puppet Hall was located, it had been transformed into a massive production district.

Towering iron furnaces were everywhere, the intense heat distorting the air.

On the production line, similar to an assembly line, rudimentary puppet machines autonomously followed the procedures, producing various components.

There were also Puppet Hall disciples who mastered puppetry techniques, carving formations on puppet parts, meticulously crafting precision components, and tuning the products.

Apart from common war weapons like the Spider Main Battle Mecha, many are everyday technology products usable by ordinary people.

Here, aside from the official Puppet Hall disciples, most were Ghost Ridge Palace juniors coming to work part-time.

Puppet Hall is the largest hall within Ghost Ridge Palace, encompassing all the disciples with talent in puppetry within the sect, but it still couldn't meet the production demand.

Therefore, Puppet Hall constantly recruits a large number of part-time disciples, using their spiritual power for simple tasks.

Due to the generous treatment, the number of disciples coming to work part-time was several times that of the official Puppet Hall disciples.

"With a Third Level of Yunling Realm cultivation, the C District Steel Refining Plant is working on quenching Spirit Pattern Treasure Steel, where they're short-handed. Head there, and you'll get paid two Spirit Stones daily. Are you willing?"

"Willing, willing, I'm not afraid of hardship."

"Firefly Sea here needs people to collect Firefly Stone Mines. Do we have any proficient divers? We need 30 people to dive for mining, cultivation at least Fifth Level of Yunling Realm or above. We will reward Spirit Stones based on the quantity mined, minimum daily guarantee of four Spirit Stones."

"Me, me, me, pick me, pick me."

"I'm great at swimming, diving is definitely not a problem."

At the gate, the disciples lined up to work part-time, under the assignment of the official Puppet Hall disciples, entered various positions to start working in an orderly manner.

"What's wrong with your face?"

The Puppet Hall disciple in charge of allocation and registration paused, looking at the person standing in front of them, covered in black clothing revealing only the eyes, nose, and mouth, like a masked bandit, instinctively stepped back a few steps.

"I recently had a mishap in cultivation, it's unpleasant to look at."

Xu Chang spoke in a hoarse voice. For the sake of the Ten Thousand Sword Alliance's cultivation techniques in the Book Collection Pavilion, he ultimately couldn't resist coming to work, but his shame made it hard for him to save face. Afraid of being recognized as a righteous disciple, he resorted to donning all black.

"Practicing the Human Worm Offering technique, are you? Sigh, I must say you all are so stubborn. Even the Sect Master doesn't allow you to do such reckless things, yet you're still persisting in cultivating such a lethal technique, making yourself neither human nor ghost."

The registering Puppet Hall disciple shook his head and said, "What's your cultivation level? Since your body is damaged, I'll arrange some simple tasks for you."

"Seventh Level of Yunling Realm!"

"What!"

This time, the registering Puppet Hall disciple was genuinely surprised. After all, being a part-time worker, as an inner disciple, the monthly salary that the sect rewards is a hundred low-grade spirit stones. Plus, they often have other sources of income or are busy with cultivation, so they aren't short of the reward of a few spirit stones a day. Generally, they wouldn't come to the Puppet Hall for odd jobs.

The surrounding disciples in line were also drawn in, all casting curious glances. Inner disciples coming to do part-time work is indeed a rare sight, so everyone couldn't help but find it intriguing.

"I have a seventh-level cultivation in Yunling Realm."

Xu Chang saw others' disbelief and subconsciously strengthened his tone, simultaneously releasing his spiritual power to prove his words were not false.

However, with Xu Chang's shift in tone, Jia Chuchu, who was also in line, felt the voice seemed somewhat familiar.

"This voice, it sounds a bit familiar."

"I think so too."

"Seems like I've heard it somewhere before."

Other Golden Sword Sect disciples also felt similarly.

Jia Chuchu stared at the person in black at the front and felt more and more familiar. Moreover, since her senior brother also had a seventh-level cultivation in Yunling Realm, a guess formed in her heart.

"Do you think that might be Senior Brother?"

Jia Chuchu voiced her bold guess.

"No way, wasn't Senior Brother the one who hated the Ghost Ridge Palace the most? How could he possibly come here to work for the Puppet Hall?"

"He scolded us last time for aiding the Ghost Ridge Palace. No way he would come here."

"Senior Brother is the proudest, it absolutely can't be him."

The other junior brothers repeatedly shook their heads, refusing to believe Xu Chang would come here.

"Hmph, you are all so stubborn. Senior Brother can also adapt, don't you understand?"

Jia Chuchu saw they didn't believe her guess, her eyes turned, and she shouted at Xu Chang's back.

"Senior Brother Xu, look up, there's a sword cultivator doing sword control and sky escape!"

Jia Chuchu knew her senior brother was a sword enthusiast and would definitely react upon hearing about a sword cultivator.

"Where?"

Sure enough, upon hearing the voice, Xu Chang instinctively looked up. Those able to perform sword control and sky escape are basically Secret Realm sword cultivators, strong at their level. Such sword cultivators were rare in the Golden Sword Sect, even more so in the Ghost Ridge Palace.

However, there was nothing overhead, not even a hair.

Xu Chang suddenly realized, recalling that familiar voice just now, and his body froze.

"Senior Brother Xu, it really is you! I told you it was our senior brother."

Jia Chuchu waved her little fist, her face full of smug satisfaction.

The other three Golden Sword Sect disciples also saw Xu Chang's reaction, combined with that familiar feeling, Jia Chuchu was indeed correct.

Immediately, these Golden Sword Sect disciples looked at Xu Chang's back, their eyes full of shock, not expecting their senior brother, who was the most opposed to the Ghost Ridge Palace, to have also fallen.

Xu Chang was completely overwhelmed by shame, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to hide.

The person he most wanted to avoid had still seen through his disguise.

"Oh, I was wondering why an inner disciple would come to work, turns out it's a righteous cultivator here for further training!"

"No wonder, acting so sneaky, afraid we'd recognize him."

"These righteous disciples are really thin-skinned, there's nothing embarrassing about it."

The disciples from the Ghost Ridge Palace in line also laughed, realizing everything.

Xu Chang was socially mortified on the spot, standing like a statue, unmoving.

Jia Chuchu seemed to realize belatedly that she might have caused trouble and awkwardly said, "Senior Brother, I didn't mean to."

Xu Chang took a deep breath, it took him a good half-minute before he finally chose to remove his mask.

"I am Xu Chang from the Golden Sword Sect. I used to have misunderstandings about Ghost Ridge Palace, but through real interaction, I've found that it's not just any ordinary demon path. Especially your system, there's much I admire, more open, advanced, and superior in many areas compared to our righteous sects. I've come specifically to learn and observe, I apologize for any offense."

Xu Chang's voice was full of ups and downs, but after truly letting go of his inner pretense, his speech was finally empowered, daring to face his heart. The Ghost Ridge Palace, indeed, had areas he needed to come to learn from.

"Our Ghost Ridge Palace welcomes all friends with common interests, even if they are from the righteous path."

The registering Puppet Hall disciple cupped his hands, his tone gentle. The products produced by their Puppet Hall are sold to these righteous sects, after all. Once Xu Chang was trained, he could help bring in sales for them.

"Thank you."

Xu Chang returned the courtesy, both shared a smile.

This left the few Golden Sword Sect disciples stunned. Is this truly their senior brother who rejected the Ghost Ridge Palace?

Xu Chang untangled his internal knot, immediately registered there, and began his day of work at the Puppet Hall in the Ghost Ridge Palace.

Thus, Xu Chang, the most resolute among the righteous disciples who came for further training, ultimately violated his initial vow, becoming one who worked for the demon path.

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