Firelight Star's First Human Clan: The Firewood Sect

【“What…”】

【“Hahahaha! He said, ‘I’ve been waiting outside in this ridiculously long line—how come it still isn’t my turn to give birth?!’ Hahaha! Don’t you think bull-headed people are stupid?”】

【You remain expressionless.】

【“Such a stupid bull-headed race, and yet the sects of our human race are still their vassals.”】

【Know-It-All’s laughter came to an abrupt stop.】

【“Uh…”】

【He had forgotten once again that you were human.】

【Before entering Firewood Town, you told Know-It-All that he could leave.】

【He had initially been forced to follow you, but now that you were letting him go, he was reluctant to leave.】

【“Senior, you’ve come to our Blazing Star to handle some business, so there must be plenty of things you’re unfamiliar with. With your humble servant accompanying you, you’ll be spared the trouble of asking around everywhere.”】

【You noticed that there were very few non-humans in and around Firewood Town. The place was mostly populated by humans, while the occasional non-human hurried through town, apparently only passing by.】

【For that reason, you didn’t want a non-human following you around. You didn’t want him causing trouble when you later sought guidance from your master.】

【In the end, Know-It-All left reluctantly.】

【“Senior, I have no fixed residence and travel from place to place. It may not be easy for you to find me the next time you want me…”】

【You clasped your hands behind your back, adopting the bearing of a true master.】

【“Don’t worry. My eyes will always be watching you.”】

【In Know-It-All’s eyes, you were clearly only half his height, yet at that moment, you seemed to grow taller and taller.】

【A true big shot was a true big shot! Could it be that he could see everything happening across the entire planet?】

【Amazing!】

【After Know-It-All left, you released Chen Five.】

【“Follow him.”】

【Chen Five glanced at Know-It-All’s retreating figure.】

【“Although I’m also at the Qi Transformation realm, that fellow is slightly stronger than I am. I could easily lose him.”】

【“If you lose him, so be it. When the time comes, go fight the non-humans. Kill one and break even; kill two and you’ll make a profit! Once you’re done, I’ll summon you again the next day.”】

【Chen Five agreed wholeheartedly.】

【“As the Sword-Bearer of the Human Realm, it is only right that I do so!”】

【You entered Firewood Town and arrived before the gates of the Firewood Sect.】

【You saw a number of plainly dressed Firewood Sect disciples coming and going within the sect compound.】

【Some carried hoes, some bundles of firewood, and others buckets of water.】

【“They must be outer-sect servant disciples.”】

【Tomorrow, you would learn that all of them were core disciples of the inner sect.】

【You had arrived at a very convenient time. The Firewood Sect was recruiting new disciples.】

【Tomorrow, you would learn that the Firewood Sect recruited new disciples every single day.】

【Keeping a low profile, you went to the end of the line and waited for your aptitude to be tested.】

【Unlike the Fortune Star Winged God Cult, whose test involved all sorts of flashy nonsense, such as the Winged God’s Gaze…】

【The Firewood Sect used a black, unremarkable stone to test aptitude.】

【This thing could only test for an immortal root. It could not detect special constitutions, special souls, or destiny.】

【“A ninth-grade immortal root?】

【Wonderful, wonderful!】

【Child, the path of immortality is already slowly unfolding before you!】

【Quick, go to the rear courtyard and collect a set of disciple’s robes, then fill three vats with water!】

【This is part of cultivating immortality!”】

【After testing for ages, they finally found someone with an immortal root, and the white-bearded old man in charge of recruitment at the gate was thrilled.】

【A while later, they found another one.】

【“What?! A genius with an eighth-grade immortal root?!】

【Someone come here at once! Arrange for an Elder to receive this child!】

【Child, you may choose any master in the entire sect!】

【See that wheat field to the west of town? From now on, you’ll be responsible for farming it. After the autumn harvest, all you need to do is hand over seventy percent to the sect. The rest is yours!”】

【The corner of your mouth twitched.】

【The largest human sect on Blazing Star was actually this impoverished. Its disciples had to provide all their own food and drink.】

【By that logic, could it be that the other human factions didn’t even count as cultivation sects? Were they merely martial-arts gangs?】

【Very likely.】

【You were beginning to worry that you wouldn’t be able to learn anything useful after joining the Firewood Sect, because this sect might not even have a Core Formation cultivator!】

【At last, it was your turn.】

【The white-bearded old man, whose clothes were covered in patches, spoke to you with great kindness. “Child, put your hand on it.”】

【There was nothing wrong with him calling you a child. Although you currently possessed a lifespan of more than a thousand years, your actual age was only a little over sixty. Compared to him, you really were a child.】

【“Um, old sir, may I ask whether there are any Core Formation cultivators in the Firewood Sect?”】

【At this moment, you used “Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger” to adjust the aura of your cultivation to your true level—the ninth turn of Qi Transformation.】

【You didn’t lower your aura any further because you had no intention of becoming an ordinary disciple.】

【You wanted to join the sect, contribute to its development, and exchange knowledge and guidance with its members so that you could grasp the essentials of breaking through.】

【In any case, cultivating on a second-tier star was the same no matter where you did it.】

【You could sense that the white-bearded old man was only at the fourth turn of Qi Transformation.】

【The old man smiled and nodded.】

【“Child, you know quite a lot. You even know about Core Formation? Of course we have some! Our Firewood Sect may not be large, but both the sect’s Old Ancestor and our current Sect Master have reached Core Formation!”】

【So a Core Formation cultivator was already called the Old Ancestor? The prestige of the number-one human sect on Blazing Star had fallen another notch.】

【Still, having Core Formation cultivators was good enough. At the very least, they could share some genuine cultivation experience.】

【“I am at the ninth turn of Qi Transformation and would like to join your sect. Together, I hope to make the sect bigger and stronger and restore it to glory! Would that be acceptable?”】

【The white-bearded old man smiled. Then he stood up and helped you into the wooden chair where he had been sitting.】

【“From this moment onward, you are the Grand Elder of our Firewood Sect.”】

【This old man was none other than the Firewood Sect’s Grand Elder. He had abdicated on the spot and handed his position over to you.】

【Your arrival caused an uproar throughout the Firewood Sect.】

【Though, in total, there were only a little over a hundred people in the entire sect.】

【The Firewood Sect’s Old Ancestor was named Shen Yifeng. He had no martial nickname; everyone in the sect simply called him the Old Ancestor.】

【Whenever he went out to buy vegetables, the common folk called him Old Shen.】

【The surname Shen? You felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.】

【The current Sect Master of the Firewood Sect was named Ma Bang. He, on the other hand, had a martial nickname: Ma Three-Blades.】

【That was because he had been a bandit in his youth, skilled with the saber, and had committed many heinous acts.】

【Later, he encountered Shen Yifeng, who gave him a thorough thrashing. From then on, he laid down his butcher’s knife and devoted himself to cultivation under Shen Yifeng.】

【Shen Yifeng and Ma Bang hosted a banquet in your honor. There were four dishes and one soup, though none of them contained much oil.】

【Still, you could tell that this was the finest spread the Firewood Sect could afford.】

【“Hahaha! Chen, your willingness to join our Firewood Sect is truly a blessing for us!”】

【“For Chen to reach the ninth turn of Qi Transformation at such a young age, you are certain to break through to Core Formation in the future. When that happens, our Firewood Sect will have three Core Formation cultivators, and our status as a vassal of the Ironblood Sect will be utterly secure!”】

【You were both amused and speechless. The greatest wish of the sect’s Old Ancestor and Sect Master was actually to remain a vassal of the Ironblood Sect forever.】

【“You fellow Daoists are certainly warm and welcoming. But I’m a complete stranger who claims he wants to join you—aren’t you worried I might have ulterior motives?”】

【Shen Yifeng glanced around at the ramshackle firewood door of the bare, impoverished house.】

【“What could you possibly be after?”】