When he was done, he carried the newly chopped firewood to the menial disciples' quarters.
It was time for him to exchange the firewood for his contribution points of the day.
The menial disciples' quarters were huge in comparison to Lin Fan and Ho Jie's wooden hut.
Many menial disciples were scurrying around, carrying things, doing chores, and even cooking.
"Senior menial disciple, may I know where to put the firewood?" Lin Fan asked a menial disciple in brown robes and pointed at the firewood on his back.
The senior menial disciple turned around and was shocked.
The amount of firewood Lin Fan carried with him was more than double the amount a menial disciple could take.
The senior menial disciple led Lin Fan to a building, pointed to a shelf stacked with more firewood, and said, "Stack the firewood properly; mess it up and you won't get your contribution points. Come find me inside when you are done."
Lin Fan proceeded to do so.
When the other menial disciples walked by, they saw Lin Fan and didn't know who he was.
Until one of them thought about it for a while, slapped his forehead and said, "He must be that guy, banished as a menial disciple because his cultivation root was useless."
"Useless? You mean he doesn't have a cultivation root like us?"
"No, it's worse. I heard the inquiry stone projected some beasts."
"Think about it, beasts compared to the cultured gentleman's sword. What good can it be?"
They agreed with the conclusion, convinced that something primordial wouldn't be any good.
Their jealousy clouded their judgment and stirred up feelings of contempt for Lin Fan.
When they saw Lin Fan doing the heavy work of stacking the firewood, they felt immense satisfaction.
"Poor thing, getting only one contribution point for all this work, while we'd be getting two contribution points just for boiling water."
All of them burst out in laughter when they recalled how few contribution points Lin Fan made compared to them.
Lin Fan wasn't bothered; he had already seen them as custodians for his contribution points.
And on top of that, he could earn vengeance points from killing the beasts in the woods.
He just needed to wait for a chance to recycle and reuse their contribution points.
After he had finished stacking the firewood, he went into the room and passed his wooden slab to the senior menial disciple.
The senior menial disciple transferred one contribution point to Lin Fan and said, "There are items you can exchange with your contribution points over there. Feel free to look around."
Lin Fan walked over to a shelf with different items.
Spirit rice, pills, and weapons.
All essential items for cultivation.
Looking at the price tag of the spirit rice, he had an idea of how generous Ho Jie was.
For one kilogram of spirit rice, it would cost him ten contribution points.
Whereas outer disciples get ten kilograms of spirit rice per week for free.
In the end, Lin Fan didn't buy anything; he wanted to first figure out what was most crucial for him.
"I will be back again tomorrow. Thanks."
Lin Fan lifted the door curtain blocking the chill early spring breeze from entering, turned to the senior menial disciple, bid his farewell, and left.
….
When he got back to the wooden hut, Ho Jie was already back in the hut.
He was pouring something hot into a huge wooden barrel in front of him.
Splash.
White steam rose from the barrel, and a nice medicinal smell filled the air.
"Ah, Lin Fan. You are back just in time," Ho Jie said and motioned for Lin Fan to come over.
Lin Fan peeped into the barrel and saw the liquid inside was thick with an orange tint.
Bits of what looked like herbs floated inside.
"What's this about?" Lin Fan asked.
"This is the Essence Convergence Bath, the very first step to prepare you for cultivation.
"It will toughen your skin and bones.
"And it will also cleanse and open your meridian pathways for Qi flow.
"Stay inside for two hours."
Ho Jie chuckled and explained what the barrel was about.
With that, he went on to prepare their dinner.
Lin Fan then took off his robes and submerged himself into the huge barrel.
At first, a stinging sensation hit his skin once it came into contact with the herbal bath.
Slowly the sensation seeped through to his flesh, and then into the bone.
Weirdly, there wasn't any pain.
There must have been some numbing herbs inside the mixture to counter the pain.
A few minutes later, Lin Fan started to feel something trying to push through the pathways of his meridian.
From his dantian, the meager force slowly tried to barge its way outward to his limbs.
First to his shoulders, stopped, and with another wave of force, subsequently it pushed to his elbow.
When the force died down.
The whole process then started to repeat itself.
After a few cycles, the effect of the herbs wore off and it didn't do anything anymore.
With the effect gone, Lin Fan got out of the barrel and wiped himself dry.
When he was done changing into a new set of robes, Lin Fan closed his eyes and tried to see if there was any difference.
He could feel something tingling on his skin.
Something that was present in the air all along, and only after the bath could Lin Fan now feel it.
Qi!
Finally, Lin Fan was starting his cultivation journey.
By this time, Ho Jie had dinner ready and was calling for Lin Fan to join in.
Before Lin Fan sat down to tuck in, he clasped his hands and bowed, "Thank you. I will pay for the contribution points you used up for the bath."
"No... No need for all that. Like I said before, we are in it together now. An old man like me has no use for so many contribution points. And in any case, I did barter trade for it."
Ho Jie stopped Lin Fan and dragged him to sit at the table.
"Barter trade? Where?"
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Thanks everyone for your Golden ticket, Power Stones and gifts.