Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Initiation (2)
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It was a small building.
Yet despite its modest size, the structure exuded an indescribable dignity, and the atmosphere around it felt solemn and sacred.
The golden cords strung around the building, the few talismans attached, and the enigmatic runes carved into its walls made it clear that this place was protected by powerful barriers.
The plaque above the entrance read "Ancestral Hall."
Gong Son-cheong pulled an identity token from his robes, waved it once toward the surroundings, and stepped inside the Ancestral Hall.
As the initiates followed the outer disciple inside, a musty smell greeted them first. The dusty odor unique to old buildings lingered no matter how much you swept and scrubbed.
Still, the interior was spotless, a sign that someone cleaned it meticulously every single day.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about the Ancestral Hall.
Like a shrine, it held just a single spirit tablet and framed portrait, with an altar before them. A few sticks of incense were burning on the altar, sending up thin trails of smoke.
Yuk-gyeong's gaze fell on the spirit tablet and portrait.
The frame contained the portrait of a wrinkled, stern-faced old man glaring fiercely with wide eyes.
Gong Son-cheong politely clasped his hands toward the portrait, bowed deeply at the waist, then straightened and stepped aside.
He spoke to the initiates.
"This is Yang Un True Person, the founding patriarch of the Radiant Moon Sect. Offer your respects and swear to uphold the sect's honor and legacy. Swear by your ancestors that you will never betray the sect."
The initiates bowed nine times, mumbling the oaths as Gong Son-cheong instructed.
With that, the simple yet solemn initiation rite concluded, and Gong Son-cheong hurried out of the Ancestral Hall.
He seemed uncomfortable in the sacred atmosphere. Or perhaps he worried he'd get scolded for lingering too long in the sect's holy sanctum.
Next, Gong Son-cheong led the initiates to a stone stele.
The stele, about as tall as a person, was inscribed with bold, sweeping strokes.
The outer disciple pointed to it and said,
"These are the sect's rules. The three virtues that every disciple of the Radiant Moon Sect must uphold."
First, do not betray the sect.
Second, do not tarnish the sect's honor.
Third, do not casually threaten the lives of fellow disciples.
They were three brief yet strict rules.
Of course, more detailed regulations existed separately, written in the sect rulebook, he added. But don't worry too much. They wouldn't make them memorize it.
As long as disciples followed these three rules, there shouldn't be any problems.
"If you've all committed them to memory, I'll guide you to your quarters now. Follow closely."
Gong Son-cheong led the initiates back through the inner and outer gates to an ambiguous area just inside the outer sect's main entrance.
This liminal zone was the most crowded.
People with sun-bronzed skin hauled trash, cooked meals, and cleaned. Sturdy housewives, young maidens, pot-bellied old men, and earnest youths were all there.
Unlike the inner or outer sects, this place reeked of everyday life.
"This is the Miscellaneous Labor Quarter. Your quarters are inside."
Gong Son-cheong crossed the quarter as he spoke.
As they passed through, many laborers in the Miscellaneous Labor Quarter greeted the outer disciple in blue robes. Gong Son-cheong nodded curtly like a proper stiff and kept walking.
Soon, they arrived at the quarters.
It was a thatched-roof house, not too dilapidated. But thatch had a shabby charm that couldn't be helped.
Even so, it had multiple rooms, and Gong Son-cheong told them to take one each.
Then, without another word, he turned and left.
No explanation of how they were supposed to live here or anything.
The two kids and three young men stood there dumbfounded, glancing around. Realizing their situation, they eventually headed to their rooms.
Yuk-gyeong grabbed Yu Yeong-yeong as she moved toward a room and asked,
"So we just live here from now on? Without doing chores like the outer disciples earlier?"
"We'll end up doing chores, sure. Rest for today, though. They won't assign anything yet."
"Are we just going to do chores from now on? Like the outer disciples?"
"Haha, just chores like outer disciples? No. The chores outer disciples do are important ones—hauling herbs, heating furnaces for pill refining. The real menial labor happens here, outside the outer sect, in the Miscellaneous Labor Quarter. Cooking, trash, cleaning."
Miscellaneous Labor Quarter? So this is it. The place for real grunt work?
Why are our quarters here? Don't tell me...
"So who goes to the Miscellaneous Labor Quarter?"
"We do! We're initiates now. Not outer disciples yet, so we help out here. We're not becoming full laborers, but we go through an adjustment period in the quarter."
Internship here too? Probation period?
Working people in the labor quarter, no less. Isn't that too much?
We came to become immortals, and now we're doing chores.
No, isn't cultivation demanding enough without chores? Yuk-gyeong couldn't wrap his head around it.
Seniority hazing. Yeah, that's it. Classic bullying the newbies.
"What, is this some hazing ritual? Breaking in the rookies?"
"Hazing? It's just how it works. Initiates spend a few months doing chores here. While cultivating, of course. They don't make us labor all day like the real workers. We came to cultivate, after all."
Right, we came to cultivate. While working?
Well, honestly, chores were nothing to Yuk-gyeong, hardened by all sorts of farm and odd jobs back home. It just threw him off since he'd come for cultivation.
Seeing his expression, Yu Yeong-yeong chuckled lightly and soothed him.
"After a few months here, you get promoted to outer disciple. Time worked counts as Merit Points. Service to the sect, you know."
"What can you do with Merit Points?"
"Trade them for sect techniques or artifacts. They're like money—sect currency only."
Local currency, huh. Local currency.
Anyway, chores earn you spendable cash later. Good thing it's not unpaid.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Night fell earlier on the mountain than elsewhere.
With the mountain's shadow blocking the twilight, darkness draped its veil swiftly.
The once-bustling Miscellaneous Labor Quarter grew quiet.
By then, Yuk-gyeong stepped out of his room and quietly gazed at the darkened sect gates.
Told not to do anything during the day, he'd napped deeply, so sleep wouldn't come at night.
Refreshed from the nap, the wind-like energy flowing through his body felt cooler, somehow. Or maybe it was just the mountain breeze.
His mind felt clearer too, dredging up memories that had eluded him before.
Like the contents of the last xianxia novel he'd read in his previous life.
'Can't recall the title, but the story feels sharper now. Even some details.'
Now fully in the cultivation world, he could milk the novel's plot for advantages. Time to grow strong in the mighty Radiant Moon Sect and become an immortal.
But Radiant Moon Sect... the name rings a bell from the novel too.
Radiant Moon Sect... why does it nag at me?
Thinking about it in the murky night makes it worse.
Something's slipping my mind.
Pacing the courtyard, Yuk-gyeong racked his brain for what he'd forgotten.
It was definitely from the novel.
What was it...
Then, a memory flashed by.
"Ah, Radiant Moon Sect!"
Yuk-gyeong smacked his forehead.
Why had he forgotten?
The Radiant Moon Sect was the one wiped out by the protagonist, Yongheon, rising in the neighboring kingdom!
He'd read it in the novel, but since it was just some villain sect, it hadn't stuck.
Plus, hearing how it symbolized the righteous path made him never suspect it'd be the one the protagonist destroys.
Damn. Of all places, he joined a doomed sect.
A year in this world, forgetting plot details, and this happens. Especially minor villain sect stuff—he barely remembered.
Makes sense; to jot it down, he'd need paper, brush, ink—luxuries a rural bumpkin couldn't afford.
And his farming family wouldn't let a kid who skipped studies use scholarly tools.
Should he have bought them anyway, risked the beatings, to preserve his memories?
Karma, pure karma.
Skipping them to avoid trouble led straight to this crisis.
How did the protagonist grudge the Radiant Moon Sect? No clue. Probably beefed with some disciple. Even righteous sects have rotten apples.
Then he powered up and came back to annihilate them.
Spare anyone? No way! Not a soul survived—not even ants. Protagonist's style: no loose ends.
Not for nothing it's Chinese xianxia, acid bath path.
"Too late to back out of initiation now?"
Yeah, right?
After the sacred rite? The sect wouldn't allow it. Especially for a Single Spiritual Root talent.
They'd break his legs to keep him—or kill him!
Yuk-gyeong clutched his head, screaming silently.
Of all the rotten luck!
Radiant Moon Sect!
If it'd been a demonic sect like he first aimed for, he could've watched it crumble from afar, profited even. Should've gone color demon!
Ending up in the doomed house—ruined, totally ruined. First instinct's always right. Switched answers and now paying for it.
"No. Even if the sky falls, there's a way out."
First, grow using sect support. Single Spiritual Root means good backing.
Then, during exchanges with neighboring cultivation sects, buddy up with the protagonist!
Friendly matches build bonds; with time, he could befriend him. Train to join those events, naturally.
Sect dooms, but maybe he survives?
As if...
Novel had him return at insane levels, leveling the mountain. Can't match that speed? Die in the fallout.
No choice. Build strength to at least escape.
Hope the destruction's far off...
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