Satisfied, Chen Mu left the bamboo forest.
After this exchange, he finally gathered ten earth spiritual roots.
"I will soon have an Earth Spirit Physique!" At the thought of this, he felt much safer.
The first step of the Immortal Cultivation plan was about to be achieved.
But at this moment, he noticed something strange.
There seemed to be a little tail behind him.
Chen Mu remained silent and only glanced at the back after he turned the corner.
He had an impression of the person following him. It was the Young City Lord.
If he remembered correctly, his name was Zhu Hong.
He looked simple on the outside, but he was a little shrewd.
Back then, it was this kid who tricked the immortal seekers from Flying Bull City to kneel in front of the Azure Yang Sect for half a day.
As for why he was following him?
Chen Mu made some guesses after some thought.
Back then, when he had received 500 low-grade spirit stones in public, it would be a lie to say that the others were not envious, jealous, and hateful.
However, after the Entrance Competition, he was directly sent to the stone forest.
The other Outer Sect disciples could not find him at all.
Now that he had finally appeared in the bamboo forest, he naturally attracted some attention.
From the bamboo forest to his current location, there were already a few places where there was no one.
Zhu Hong had not shown himself. He was probably trying to follow the clues to find where he lived.
"Hehe." Chen Mu smiled lightly.
Coincidentally, he also wanted to understand the current situation in the Outer Sect and was worried that no one would tell him about it.
...
Chen Mu returned without hiding anything. After half an hour, he arrived at the stone forest.
Then, he stopped.
At this moment, a domineering voice came from behind him!
"Junior Brother Chen! There are some things I want to tell you!"
Chen Mu turned around and walked over quickly.
...
Two minutes later, Chen Mu leaned against a strange rock.
In front of him, Zhu Hong rubbed his shoulders and bowed, his expression extremely humble.
"You still want to borrow spirit stones from me?"
"No… not at all…"
Zhu Hong shook his head repeatedly and waved his hands at the same time, looking like he would never dare to do it again.
Chen Mu snorted.
The Azure Yang Sect had its own rules, so robbing was definitely not allowed.
But they could borrow.
It was reasonable for fellow disciples to borrow some spirit stones when they needed some.
However, it was hard to say if they would return it after borrowing.
Zhu Hong was here to borrow spirit stones from him.
Chen Mu hated people who borrowed money but did not return it. He still remembered how his classmate had borrowed two dollars without returning it in his previous life!
At this thought, he extended his hand hatefully. "Lend me a few spirit stones!"
When Zhu Hong heard this, he pulled out seven low-grade spirit stones from his robe and painfully handed them to Chen Mu.
As the saying goes, a wise man submits to circumstances. He believed he was a wise man.
It was the same for earlier, after taking a beating, he immediately surrendered.
"Brother Chen, that's all I have…"
Chen Mu took a look at the low-grade spirit stones. They were indeed inferior to the ones given to him by the sect.
This was a genuine low-grade spirit stone.
Putting the spirit stones into his pocket, Chen Mu asked, "Tell me about the situation in the Outer Sect. Is it common to borrow spirit stones?"
Zhu Hong's silly face twisted into a mess as he replied, "It's quite common. The Outer Sect disciples who just entered have all basically been borrowed from…"
Zhu Hong began to speak slowly. As he spoke, he actually squeezed out a few tears.
Chen Mu naturally was not moved by him, but he did obtain some useful information.
Just like when he entered the sect, the entire Outer Sect's eight hundred plus disciples were also divided into two factions.
The first group was led by the second generation immortals, while the other group was led by ordinary Outer Sect disciples with no background.
When new disciples entered the sect, they would be asked to lend spirit stones by various old disciples.
To avoid this situation, they had to join one of the groups and seek protection.
After receiving protection, they naturally had to hand over their spirit stones as well.
To put it simply, it was a protection fee.
Of course, not all new disciples had to pay protection fees.
For those with good talent, not only would they not need to pay, but they would also be roped in by the two factions, and they would receive extra spirit stones every month.
When such disciples reached a high cultivation level, they would become the upper echelons of the faction.
Recalling how that Outer Sect disciple bowed to Zhou Jinglei, Chen Mu suddenly understood.
Zhou Jinglei was probably the one being roped in.
...
Actually, it was not just the Outer Sect. The Inner Sect and even the elders were divided into two factions.
One side was led by the Sect Leader, while the other was led by the First Elder.
If a sect wanted to continue developing, there had to be some internal competition.
This way, even if a disciple were to leave the sect in the future, they would not be like a rash youth who did not understand the ways of the world.
...
After understanding the situation in the sect, Chen Mu developed the idea of borrowing spirit stones.
He now had 420 spirit stones and was short of 580 spirit stones before he could level up Little Assistant again.
580 spirit stones, was that a lot?
There were 800 Outer Sect disciples, they only needed to lend him 0.7 spirit stones each.
It was not a lot.
However, taking the initiative to borrow was impossible.
It would affect his image too much!
He could not even get over his conscience.
At the same time, others would start defaming him.
Thinking up to this point, he said to Zhu Hong, "Brother, when you go back, you can intentionally or unintentionally tell the people around you where I live. If more people come to borrow spirit stones, I'll return these seven spirit stones to you."
Zhu Hong's expression changed.
He had just entered the sect not long ago, and the people he knew were all new Outer Sect disciples.
If those disciples came to borrow spirit stones, they would probably end up like him.
This was asking him to scam others!
Without waiting for him to think further, Chen Mu continued, "Brother, there's a saying that goes like this. If you are one step faster, every step becomes faster, one step slower, and every step becomes slower."
"In truth, my aptitude is also average. But because I obtained 500 spirit stones at the beginning and then used those 500 spirit stones to exchange for more Qi Gathering Pills, my cultivation level is higher than yours."
"After getting stronger, I've managed to borrow seven spirit stones from you, and I can borrow even more in the future."
"What about you?"
"Without these seven spirit stones, your strength would be slightly weaker than others. In the future, when new disciples enter the sect, others would be able to borrow spirit stones from new disciples, but you would not be able to."
"The more this is the case, the weaker you will become. If this vicious cycle continues, you should know the result."
Seeing that Zhu Hong's face had turned slightly pale, Chen Mu paused and gave him some time to react.
After half a minute, he continued, "Brother, let me ask you. Every year, 20% of the Outer Sect disciples are able to enter the Inner Sect during the Outer Sect Grand Competition. Do you know who your greatest competitor is?"
"Not those with extraordinary talent or those with powerful backgrounds. In any case, they would definitely be able to enter."
"Your true competitors are those around you with similar aptitudes."
"Think about it, if their spirit stones were borrowed, wouldn't that be equivalent to you obtaining spirit stones and gaining an advantage? Wouldn't that increase your chances of entering the Inner Sect?"
"If your spirit stones are taken away and your strength doesn't increase, doesn't that mean they have one less competitor?"
Zhu Hong's forehead was already dripping with sweat.
At this moment, he had a vague feeling that he would lose these seven spirit stones and become a servant disciple, eventually leaving the Azure Yang Sect.
Chen Mu patted his shoulder and smiled faintly.
"I know you might feel burdened, so I just want you to hint where I live."
"If they do not have any intention of borrowing, they will naturally not suffer any losses."
"But if they have the intention to borrow…"
"Who can they blame?"
"He who borrowed must be prepared to be borrowed from."
"Since they had evil intentions, they had to bear the consequences."
"You're doing it for the sake of justice."
"Thus, whether it is in terms of personal interest or righteousness, you should do it. Am I right?"
"Brother Chen… will you really return the spirit stones to me?" Zhu Hong's face paled slightly as he spoke in a trembling voice.
"I'm serious!" Chen Mu promised.
Zhu Hong cupped his hands. "Brother Chen, I know what to do. I'll take my leave!"
With that said, Zhu Hong turned around and slipped away, disappearing into the distance.
Chen Mu chuckled as he watched him leave. Then, he turned around and walked towards the cave.
He had just taken a few steps when he felt something poking his feet.
He bent down and pulled.
He pulled out a purple ginseng that was as thick as an infant's arm and exuded dense spiritual energy.