Now, you are slaves

【You were completely speechless.】

【The Firewood Sect is so poor that no one with ill intentions would ever bother plotting against them.】

【It was like a leopard chasing a lamb—after eating it, the leopard still ended up ten thousand calories in debt.】

【“If I may ask, why has our Firewood Sect fallen into such dire straits?”】

【Shen Yifeng gave you a strange look.】

【You added, “I’m from another planet.”】

【“I see. But as far as I know, even on other planets, the human race is more or less in the same situation, isn’t it?”】

【“There aren’t many humans in my hometown.”】

【“Oh, I see…”】

【Shen Yifeng told you that on Fireglow Star, a planet ruled and managed by countless sects, there existed a natural food chain.】

【The larger sects preyed on the smaller sects, while the smaller sects preyed on the common people.】

【The Firewood Sect was under the Ironblood Sect, which drained away all the wealth the sect created.】

【But the Firewood Sect couldn’t bring itself to prey on the commoners of Firewood Town and the surrounding areas, so all they could do was tighten their belts.】

【“Senior Shen, you truly have a kind and generous heart…”】

【Your admiration for him was sincere.】

【Shen Yifeng merely waved his hand with a smile.】

【“We’re all neighbors. Everyone’s having a hard time already, so why make things worse by turning on one another?”】

【At that moment, Sect Master Ma Bang asked,】

【“Young Friend Chen, do you have a residence permit?”】

【You shook your head.】

【You figured that on Fireglow Star, where household registration was strictly controlled and human smuggling was rigorously prevented, your lack of a residence permit would once again keep the Firewood Sect from accepting you.】

【Unexpectedly,】

【Shen Yifeng said calmly,】

【“No matter, no matter. They’ve imposed a whole pile of outrageous conditions on outsiders of the human race. If you refuse to comply, they won’t issue you a residence permit. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t apply for one either. No permit is no problem. As long as you’re in the Firewood Sect or Firewood Town, no one will check yours.”】

【This was the second time since arriving in the True Realm that you had felt a trace of warmth.】

【And so, you joined the Firewood Sect and took up the position of Sixth Elder.】

【Ma Bang had initially wanted to make you the Grand Elder, saying that positions should be assigned according to cultivation level.】

【But you only wanted to cultivate. You had no interest whatsoever in being an elder—or anything of the sort.】

【Both sides compromised, and in the end, you became the lowest-ranking elder: the Sixth Elder.】

【All third-generation disciples of the Firewood Sect had to farm, work, and perform odd jobs. Part of the money they earned and the crops they harvested had to be handed over to the sect as tuition.】

【In theory, second-generation disciples and first-generation elders didn’t have to do any of that. They only needed to manage the sect and teach the disciples how to cultivate.】

【But that was only in theory.】

【Whenever the harvest was poor, they too had to go out and perform tricks for money or work in the fields alongside the disciples.】

【As a newcomer, you were treated rather considerately by everyone in the sect, and they didn’t make you do any work.】

【But you often saw Shen Yifeng and Ma Bang helping out in the fields or using their immortal arts to solve problems for the townspeople in exchange for some extra income. You felt embarrassed about doing nothing but eating for free all day.】

【So you took out some of your savings.】

【“I have some pills. If we sell them at a cultivator market, we should have enough to pay the Ironblood Sect’s taxes this month.”】

【Seeing the Firewood Sect’s leaders worrying over the taxes, you offered a little assistance.】

【Shen Yifeng firmly refused to accept it.】

【“No, no, no. These are resources for your own cultivation. The sect can’t take them! Normally, the sect is supposed to provide its disciples with some cultivation resources, but our Firewood Sect can’t give you anything. How could we possibly let you spend your own savings as well?”】

【Under normal circumstances, a sect was supposed to distribute cultivation resources to its members every month.】

【But everyone in the Firewood Sect cultivated completely without resources. They had nothing and simply relied on sheer effort.】

【“It’s fine. I made these myself. I can go into the mountains and find more materials later, then refine some more.”】

【The pills made from materials gathered casually in the mountains were naturally of rather poor quality.】

【But you had “Enhance!” With a level increase, even if it didn’t improve the quality of the pills, it could still enhance their medicinal effects and significantly raise their value.】

【“You know how to refine pills?”】

【“Yes.”】

【“My goodness! The Firewood Sect really struck gold this time!”】

【The pleasant surprises awaiting the Firewood Sect were only beginning.】

【There was no cultivator market in Firewood Town. Ma Bang personally rode a horse to a neighboring town a hundred li away and found a market there to sell your pills.】

【He had started out as a bandit and had plenty of “methods” when it came to doing business. He managed to sell all your pills at a very high price.】

【The Firewood Sect’s tax problem was solved, and there were even some origin stones left over.】

【Ma Bang returned the surplus origin stones to you, but you simply waved your hand and distributed them among the sect’s disciples.】

【The disciples had never even seen origin stones before.】

【Although these things couldn’t be used directly to increase one’s cultivation in the True Realm, they were hard currency!】

【For a time, your prestige within the Firewood Sect skyrocketed.】

【Taking advantage of that prestige, you launched sweeping economic reforms throughout the sect.】

【The disciples could continue farming. After all, it wasn’t busy season all year round.】

【But there was no need for them to work outside the sect for money anymore.】

【Instead, they would go into the mountains to gather spirit plants.】

【Of course, you first had to teach them how to identify spirit plants. Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult. At worst, they could simply pull up everything they couldn’t identify and bring it back.】

【With spirit plants, you could refine pills.】

【You already had a pill furnace, which had belonged to the original owner of your storage pouch.】

【Without an earthfire, ordinary firewood would have to do.】

【Besides, your pill-refining skills had improved considerably during the years you spent aboard the starship.】

【Once the pills were refined, Ma Bang—the business genius—would take them to the market and sell them.】

【Thus began the Firewood Sect’s accumulation of wealth.】

【Year forty. Age sixty-four.】

【One time, while Ma Bang was returning from the neighboring town, he encountered a group of bandits.】

【They were all cultivators, and many different races were among them—a complete rabble.】

【Ma Bang fought his way out, but one of the accompanying disciples was killed.】

【“S-Sixth Elder, some of the origin stones were stolen. T-This is all that’s left. Here, take them…”】

【The gravest-injured disciple held out the bloodstained origin stones with both hands.】

【Before you could take them, his hands fell limp, and the origin stones scattered across the ground.】

【You transformed into Super Saiyan One on the spot, charged into the mountains, and wiped the bandits’ entire stronghold off the map.】

【Watching you unleash your might and blow an alien bandit apart with one punch, Ma Bang was completely dumbfounded.】

【“Wasn’t Elder Chen only at the ninth revolution of Qi Transformation? How is he even stronger than me, a third-revolution Core Formation cultivator…?”】

【You had killed fewer than one-tenth of the alien bandits.】

【The remaining hundred-plus bandits were all kneeling before you.】

【Ma Bang walked over and reminded you,】

【“Elder Chen, I used to run with people on the wrong side of the law, and I know better than anyone that men who live by the blade don’t understand gratitude. If you spare them today, they won’t thank you. They may even come looking for trouble with you in the future. If they can’t defeat you, they might target the weaker people around you instead…”】

【The corners of your mouth lifted. Your eyes told him clearly: Did you really think I was some kind of good person?】

【You have passed judgment on the fate of these bandits.】

【“Starting today, you’re miners for our Firewood Sect! Get to the mines and start digging!”】