[The Moon Above, Stele within the Waterfall]
[Seeing this wondrous scene, your heart fills with happiness, Life Value upper limit +0.1]
[Current Life Value upper limit 342.1 points]
Fan Wubing opened his eyes, having completed today's meditation before the Enlightenment Stele.
He couldn't help but admire himself for enduring such days for nearly ten years. If he had this patience in his previous life, he would've succeeded in anything and wouldn't have ended up not earning money and wrecking his health.
He returned to the shore, stretched his body, and nodded in satisfaction.
"I can't tread water any longer. Now I indeed have some freedom to move. After all, this is the Cultivation World; being just an ordinary person is out of the question."
He looked at his status panel,
342.1 Life Value points, hmm... According to the game data quantification of "Long Immortal Journey", a commoner, who neither practices martial arts nor cultivates, has a maximum of 100 Life Value points.
"Now, with 342.1 Life Value points, I've far surpassed the peak of ordinary people. But compared to cultivators and martial artists, it's still insignificant."
A Qi Refining Stage cultivator, without deliberately tempering the body, generally won't exceed 500 Life Value points; if they do temper the body, it can be higher but usually not exceeding 1000 points.
Martial artists are different. They mainly practice inner strength and build their physique, usually having higher Life Value than cultivators of the same level, capable in both offense and defense, but in Immortal Techniques, they are significantly weaker.
Of course, there are exceptions of gifted individuals who manage to balance both cultivation and martial arts.
"Purely based on Life Value, I am now roughly equivalent to the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Refining."
But Fan Wubing understood that although this is the world of "Long Immortal Journey", it's not just a game world. A true cultivator's stage is a reflection of comprehensive qualities; corresponding Life Value comes with corresponding combat power.
"Right now, I am like I have Life Value but no corresponding combat power."
Because the mutual transformation of Life Value and combat power has not yet been realized.
Therefore, it's still best to avoid conflict with others for now. Wait until I gather artifacts that can convert Life Value into combat power, then consider other things.
Fan Wubing would never miss even the daily 0.1 point increase in the Life Value upper limit; naturally, he also meticulously plans everything else, never acting rashly. If he acted recklessly, he would have been dead as a baby.
He returned to his residence and habitually knocked on his senior sister's door.
No response, it seemed she hadn't returned yet.
Back in his room, he took out his journal and looked through the itinerary,
"Tomorrow is March 1st, time for the monthly allowance again." He frowned slightly, "Hopefully, I can retrieve the allowance smoothly this time."
He fell asleep.
The next morning, Fan Wubing got up early, washed up, and after a casual bite, he headed out.
The place to collect the monthly allowance was on Fulu Peak of the Twelve Immortal Peaks. Fulu Peak manages sect internal affairs, logistics, material coordination, and contribution and task arrangements among the peaks.
After passing through the long Cloud Profound Corridor between Fulu Peak and Enlightenment Peak, a flat large plaza comes into view.
Though it was still early morning, the plaza was already filled with people.
Collecting allowances was arguably the most vibrant time of the month in the Eternal Immortal Sect. After all, who doesn't love payday?
Disciples from various peaks gathered in groups, chatting and laughing. It was the year for newcomers, with many fresh young faces full of vitality.
Fan Wubing walked alone into the plaza, standing in a corner, waiting for the allowance distribution.
Even though he kept a low profile, he was still recognized.
In a large sect like the Eternal Immortal Sect, for someone to become known, they would either have to be very strong or very odd.
Fan Wubing was the latter.
Everyone in the Eternal Immortal Sect knew about the situation on Enlightenment Peak. Once one of the three main peaks, it swiftly declined over the past twenty or thirty years, from having over a thousand disciples at its peak to now only two remaining.
And these two are quite peculiar.
The eldest, Fu Ming, transformed from a flood dragon, yet harboring no dragon's ambition, chose to emulate humans in seeking the dragon transformation dao instead of pursuing cultivation.
The youngest, Fan Wubing, was out of the ordinary when he was taken in by Yushan Daoist, the Enlightenment Peak Master, being incredibly weak and having yet to contribute anything to the sect.
As soon as Fan Wubing settled in, he heard the murmurs of those nearby, some not even bothering to lower their voices,
"That kid's here again. From Enlightenment Peak, right? It's said he joined the Eternal Immortal Sect at five years old; no one knows his cultivation level, but the disciples of Fulu Peak say he's never contributed anything to the sect."
"No contribution, yet collects the allowance, freeloading?"
"His Enlightenment Peak has been at the bottom for contributions for years, unable to sustain itself, causing the sect to subsidize it every year."
"Hey, I think he looks handsome; he doesn't seem like someone who would freeload."
"Humph, who wouldn't dress up nicely when stepping out?"
"I heard there's another disciple who, like him, joined at five under special circumstances?"
"Yes, but that one is a top-tier genius. At only fifteen, they're already at the Foundation Establishment Stage and rumored to be preparing for the Golden Core recently."
"Fifteen? Golden Core?! Oh my god, I was only at the second layer of Qi Refining at fifteen!"
"Tsk, the gap between people is just that wide."
Suddenly,
"Silence!"
The two doors of the grand hall at the front of the plaza opened, Fulu Peak's disciples emerged from one door, reading out the collection rules as usual, one door for entrance, the other for exit.
After the procedures were completed, queuing began.
Those disciples who had collected their monthly allowance carried, held, or strapped on big and small packages, primarily containing spirit stones, pills, cultivation techniques, immortal skills, and artifacts. Those with special contributions would receive special rewards.
Disciples who received special rewards from Immortal Peaks would typically flaunt them to show the extraordinary contributions their peak made to the sect the previous month.
This happened every month.
Fan Wubing just wanted to quickly collect Enlightenment Peak's allowance and then contemplate his next steps.
"Enlightenment Peak!"
It was his turn to be called.
Fan Wuqi stood up and walked towards the grand hall.
Instantly, all eyes were fixed on him,
"He's alone, huh?"
"Why wouldn't he be alone? Enlightenment Peak's allowance is so little, even a dog could carry it back."
Fan Wubing remained undisturbed, relying on his thick-skinned nature. He had to hear these words every month, to the point where most people were tired of saying them. It was just that last month was the freshman month, and many new students joined, giving the senior students something to talk about.
He entered the grand hall and approached the elder in charge of recording,
"Elder, disciple Fan Wubing, here to collect the March allowance for Enlightenment Peak."
Internal Affairs Elder Zhang Jingwei squinted his eyes, searching through the Jade Scroll Immortal Record,
"Enlightenment Peak...Enlightenment Peak...oh, found it. March allowance, one low-grade spirit stone."
Fan Wubing was stunned,
"Elder, are you sure you didn't read it wrong? One piece?"
Though it had never been abundant before, it had never been as little as just one stone. This was clearly intentional!
Internal Affairs Elder Zhang Jingwei kept his calm composure and said without changing his expression,
"Your Enlightenment Peak has a total of two disciples, with nearly a decade of zero contributions. The allowance freezing mechanism had long been triggered. It was only because of Enlightenment Peak's past contributions that the supply wasn't cut off. As for you, you lack cultivation and find it hard to contribute. But what about your senior sister? She was in the Nascent Soul Realm ten years ago. There's no possibility of her being unable to contribute... Look at the records yourself..."
He displayed the Jade Scroll Immortal Record to Fan Wubing.
A row of "zeroes".
Fan Wubing's expression slightly restrained,
"Elder, my senior sister told me that Enlightenment Peak's contributions to the sect should allow it to be unconditionally supported for fifty years."
Zhang Jingwei snorted coldly,
"Ten years of zero contribution... If it truly was inability, the Eternal Immortal Sect could afford to support the current Enlightenment Peak, given its vast resources. But since she clearly has the ability to contribute, yet does nothing, it shows her heart isn't with the Eternal Immortal Sect at all! In that case, why bother about any allowances? So, let her come and collect her part herself."
That tone...
Fan Wubing somewhat understood that this elder held quite a bit of resentment towards his senior sister. He was merely enduring this dissatisfaction on behalf of his senior sister.
However, he didn't blame his senior sister for it.
He knew very well that in the past decade, his senior sister hadn't focused on the Eternal Immortal Sect because she was searching for ways to improve his physique and find a cultivation method for him.
His senior sister often went out for several months at a time, and whenever she came back, she was extremely fatigued, usually needing to sleep for several days to recover.
"Elder, is it true that as long as there's a contribution, it's acceptable?" Fan Wubing asked.
"Of course. But you, with no cultivation, speak of contribution?"
"No need for the elder to worry."
Fan Wubing accepted the one low-grade spirit stone and turned to leave.