Strictly speaking, this was an exchange.
Back in the day, when he was a spirit slave in the stone house district, Overseer Liu had been the first to become arrogant and overbearing, only to end up fleeing the sect in disgrace; there had been no news of him since.
When it was Overseer Duan's turn to rise, he hadn't held power for many years before Su Yulong's scheme against Wei Zhong was exposed, causing both to fall from grace.
Instead, it was Overseer Liu, who had always maintained good relations with everyone, who rose to prominence. Behind him was none other than True Heir Yan Ling.
This incident proved that in the Demonic Path, as long as you could stay alive, you could always usher in change. Because your enemies might just unknowingly play themselves to death.
Waiting itself was an opportunity.
The first thing Yan Ling would do upon returning was undoubtedly to take control of the stone house district. The place provided a significant amount of Spirit Sand, which could help her further expand her forces and offer financial support.
A mid-second-tier alchemist like Tanai Chan held considerable connections within the Foundation Establishment circle. Recommending her would be like delivering a generous gift to the currently talent-seeking True Heir Yan Ling.
Under this exchange of interests, arranging for him to join a slave-catching team was a trivial matter. If Yan Ling emerged victorious in the competition later, Tanai Chan herself could reap significant benefits.
This matter wasn't just helping Wang Yu; it was also helping herself.
Who knows, she might even free herself from her status as a human slave? Having that sliver of hope was better than having none at all.
As his thoughts raced, Wang Yu only needed to hint a few times before Tanai Chan caught on. Whether to place a bet or not wasn't up to her; she was compelled by Yu Tangtang's order to ensure Wang Yu's success.
"You had this planned all along?"
Wang Yu didn't answer, merely looked at her.
Another period of silence ensued.
"I agree."
"Then I'll trouble Senior Tanai. This is my communication jade slip. Notify me once the recommendation is settled."
With that, he stood to leave. He had stayed in this medicinal garden long enough; it was time to return.
But then Tanai Chan's voice came from behind him.
"You want to use the slave-catching mission to return to the Taihu Spiritual Domain? You want to go home? You want to leave the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect?"
"Perhaps."
Wang Yu gave an ambiguous answer. By the time Tanai Chan wanted to inquire further, he had already disappeared into the distance.
She could only sigh alone, though it was unclear what she was sighing about—perhaps herself.
After returning to his residence in the Corpse Rest District, Wang Yu continued his cultivation.
His main focus was on the **"Flood Dragon Strength"** technique. As a peak first-tier body refining method, it could support Wang Yu's breakthrough to the second tier. Having just reached the seventh layer, if he could achieve Body Refining Foundation Establishment first, the vital energy and blood would surely be sufficient for him to complete the three transformations.
He had always been worried about the impact of his physical mutilation.
One could say: *His success stemmed from this, and his worries stemmed from this!*
The disadvantage brought by his severed arm was immense, yet it also made him determined to cultivate the **"Corpse Demon Secret Art"** to compensate. It was this very decision that granted him strength surpassing his realm. The extraordinary combat power he possessed at the fifth level of Qi Refining was largely credited to this Corpse Arm. Later, as he accumulated more and more perfected spell arts, his attainments in the art path surpassed the contribution of the Corpse Arm. Therefore, the arm's assistance was no longer as prominent. After breaking through to Foundation Establishment, it would be best to use a secret art to regenerate the arm.
The Body Refining Path could aid him in this aspect. Supplemented by the power of the "Yin Blood Pill" from the Corpse Demon Secret Art, there was a certain probability of early regeneration. Failing that, seeking limb-regeneration pills in Heavenly Treasure City was another option.
"The Corpse Demon Secret Art has only been in a placement slot for a little over five years, close to six. It will take over ten more years to complete it. The only short-term way to complete it is through medicinal pills."
Headache!
Studying his four placement slots, Wang Yu felt they were far from enough. Based on past patterns, the fifth slot would only appear after he broke through to Foundation Establishment. He wondered if there was a limit to the number of placement slots.
...
...
One month later.
Wang Yu, sitting in a large wooden tub absorbing body refinement secret medicine, suddenly sensed activity from his communication jade slip. Picking it up, he saw it was indeed from Tanai Chan.
The matter of his promotion to the Inner Sect was settled. She hadn't taken a single spirit stone from him, handling everything from start to finish. He only needed to go to the **[Ancestral Master Hall]** in the Various Halls District.
As for the slave-catching mission, that would require further waiting.
In the bathtub, Wang Yu waited until he had fully digested the secret medicine before rising and dressing. Without the assistance of the third-tier Flood Dragon inner core, the efficacy of the secret medicine would be greatly reduced. But it didn't matter much; Wang Yu was accustomed to preparing for rainy days. Having sought out the trade, he had naturally prepared a batch of the improved secret medicine in advance, enough to see him through to the 'Nine Dragon Tendons' level.
Two hours later.
Various Halls District — Ancestral Master Hall.
The benefits for Inner Sect disciples far surpassed those of Outer Sect disciples. The person in charge here was a Core Formation elder, which was quite rare within the Ten Districts of Reverse Blood. After all, the spiritual energy environment here was only high second-tier, insufficient to support a Core Formation cultivator. Those high-and-mighty elders cultivated within the nine peaks or were outside the sect.
"Wang Yu. Served as an Outer Sect disciple for fifteen... sixteen years. Sect contribution points less than two thousand. You're quite lucky to have Tanai Chan vouch for you."
"Senior, you flatter me." Wang Yu hurriedly bowed his head. How could he admit that he had only undertaken two missions, both of the local-benefit type that didn't award contribution points?
The Core Formation elder glanced at him but said nothing more.
"Hand over your token. Use this one from now on."
The Black Blood Token was exchanged for a Purple Blood Token—the Inner Sect disciple token. All recorded information was transferred.
Next came the benefits of an Inner Sect disciple.
A set of standard Inner Sect disciple robes: white inner garment, dark blue outer robe embroidered with blood-colored patterns depicting the nine peaks. It was even a graded treasure, a high first-tier magical garment. Basic functions like warming in winter, cooling in summer, and self-cleaning were standard. It could also activate the spiritual patterns on the garment. Channeling spiritual power could form a 360-degree, gap-free oval spiritual shield. One could also activate the Swift Wind spiritual patterns to significantly increase movement speed.
It combined practicality and aesthetics. This single magical garment was worth most of a mid-Qi Refining cultivator's assets. Even Wang Yu hadn't expected the Inner Sect disciple benefits to be this good.
Additionally:
* A high first-tier flight artifact: **Blue Butterfly Sword**. It was similar to the one he had acquired in the gorge near Spider Mountain, but of a higher grade and newer. The sword guard was butterfly-shaped, purely a flying sword for transportation.
* A mid-grade storage pouch with internal space roughly the size of a small room.
Those were the physical benefits. The rest pertained to elevated privileges. For instance, he received a 20% discount for entering many special sect facilities that consumed contribution points. The Scripture Collection Hall's second floor was opened to him. He could freely read the biographies, strange tales, and even texts explaining cultivation realms in the Discourse Hall. In specialized places like the Artifact Refining Hall, Alchemy Hall, and Formation Pavilion... he only needed to add a "little" extra spirit stones to jump the queue and have his needs prioritized.
This "little" mainly referred to bidding among Inner Sect disciples; whoever offered more got served first—something Outer Sect disciples couldn't do.
The above benefits were just the basics. The key change was the identity itself.
**(End of Chapter)**