Estimating that the Beastmaster Peak disciples had likely left, Qin Yu strolled back to Maple Leaf Square.

As expected, there was a fresh batch of spirit beast waste, and judging by the amount, it was even more than last time. It seemed that Li Zhengtong's actions the day before had angered them, and they retaliated.

Qin Yu cursed under his breath and quickly walked over to Li Zhengtong.

"Did they say anything?" he asked.

"They just asked why the leaves on the trees were missing. They didn't say much else," Li Zhengtong replied.

Qin Yu nodded. "Alright, let’s get to work!"

"After we’re done, let's go fishing and roast some fish for dinner!" Qin Yu added.

Li Zhengtong, who had also been relying on the fasting pills, was delighted. He, too, was nostalgic for real food.

With both of them working together, things moved much faster.

They worked quickly and soon cleared away all the trash. Qin Yu clapped his hands and said to Li Zhengtong, "You finish cleaning up these scattered leaves, I’ll go for a walk."

"Got it!" Li Zhengtong replied.

Qin Yu wandered along the route the Beastmaster Peak disciples had taken. It wasn’t just the square that had been soiled; he figured the spirit beasts would have made a mess along the way as well.

However, Qin Yu noticed something odd: the spirit beasts seemed to avoid defecating on major roads, perhaps because these areas weren't cleaned by the low-ranking disciples. This meant the spirit beasts could control themselves, but chose to treat the square as a toilet, purposely leaving their mess there. And who had to clean it? The low-ranking disciples, like them.

Qin Yu soon encountered another disciple, a young man named Xiao Zhi, a new low-ranking disciple this year. Though Qin Yu didn’t know him, Xiao Zhi immediately recognized him.

After a brief exchange, Xiao Zhi began to vent about the spirit beast problem at Beastmaster Peak. Xiao Zhi had tried to stand up to the Beastmaster Peak disciples, only to be scolded harshly. Fortunately, he hadn’t been beaten—apparently only a very few unlucky ones got hit.

Qin Yu speculated that the Beastmaster Peak disciples must have been irritated by Xiao Zhi earlier and, in a bad mood, had slapped Li Zhengtong when they encountered him in the square.

Qin Yu continued walking, silently noting down everything he learned. Over the next half hour, he met five or six other low-ranking disciples who were all facing the same problem.

The more people who had grievances with Beastmaster Peak, the better. Qin Yu thought about uniting them to stand up to the Beastmaster Peak disciples, but quickly realized that their combined strength was still too weak. Even with a large group, they would just end up getting beaten by the outer disciples.

He thought about reporting this to the sect, but the chances of that leading to any real change seemed slim. Low-ranking disciples like them were essentially just workers in the sect. Their grievances didn’t hold much weight.

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Qin Yu had an idea: relying on the sect wouldn’t work. They would need to rely on themselves to solve this problem. But even with all the low-ranking disciples together, their power was too weak. He wondered if there were any people in the sect who disliked Beastmaster Peak. He made a mental note to look into that later.

He finished his stroll and returned to Maple Leaf Square.

The spirit beasts had passed, leaving behind their usual mess. Qin Yu and Li Zhengtong cleaned up quickly and made sure everything was finished before the inspectors arrived.

"You stay here and wait for the inspectors. I’m going to the market for a bit. After they finish, come find me," Qin Yu said.

"Alright, Yu-ge!" Li Zhengtong replied.

Qin Yu quickly left and, after about half an hour of walking, arrived at the sect's market.

The market was bustling, a stark contrast to the quiet Maple Leaf Square. Stalls lined the streets, selling food, tea, alcohol, spiritual medicines, spirit pets, weapons, cultivation techniques, and more.

Qin Yu was surprised to see that some of the stalls were run by external sects, like a weapons store from the Iron Sight Sect, a pet store from the Demon Beasts Pavilion, and a medicinal herb store from the Ten Thousand Leaf Valley. These sects were leaders in their respective fields, and their presence here was a testament to the grandeur of the Xuantian Sect.

As a sect with peaks dedicated to alchemy, beast taming, and weapon forging, the Xuantian Sect's influence extended to all kinds of products related to cultivation. The fact that these stores were thriving here proved just how big-hearted the Xuantian Sect was.

However, Qin Yu noticed one glaring absence: there were no stalls from the Hehuan Sect. It seemed the Xuantian Sect wasn’t very tolerant of others.

Though Qin Yu was impressed by the high-end stores, he could only look. Even a simple cup of tea or a plate of food would cost contribution points or spirit stones. Without selling the sword Elder Wu gave him when he joined or maybe even selling Li Zhengtong, he could never afford a single cup of tea.

For now, he only had a bit of copper and silver coins, enough to buy some basic items from the stalls run by disciples.

The road vendors had a much wider variety of goods, though the quality was inferior compared to the stores. Qin Yu walked up to a stall run by a disciple from the Alchemy Peak.

"Hey, brother, do you have any pills that can speed up cultivation?" Qin Yu asked.

"Of course! We have Qi Cultivation Pills—8 contribution points or 8 low-grade spirit stones each; we also have Vitality Powder—5 contribution points or 5 spirit stones per packet..." The stall owner continued listing items, all priced in contribution points or spirit stones.

‘Can’t afford any of that!’ Qin Yu thought to himself.

He awkwardly laughed and quickly moved on.

After looking around, he found that anything related to cultivation was out of his reach. However, ordinary goods like copper and silver coins could still get him basic daily necessities or simple snacks.

A skewer of candied fruit cost three copper coins, a grilled sausage cost three copper coins, and a serving of fried chicken skewers cost five copper coins.

‘Everything is so expensive here,’ Qin Yu thought to himself.

Back in the small town, two copper coins could buy him a big, fragrant meat pie and a warm bowl of tofu brain. Here, he couldn’t even afford a single skewer of candied fruit.

The vendors selling snacks were mostly low-ranking disciples who had completed their service years and were preparing to leave the sect. They made a little extra money before heading home.

While the prices were higher than normal, Qin Yu didn’t mind. He had to spend the money, so he bought a couple of grilled sausages, meat buns, and fried pork strips.

He didn’t bother with the candied fruit because he only liked the flat ones.

After taking a big bite of the meat bun and a piece of fried pork, Qin Yu almost shed a tear. After a week without any fatty food, this was pure bliss.

The meat bun oozed with juice, the fried pork was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the grilled sausage had a perfect crispy skin. After months of hard living, this was exactly what he needed.

Looking around the lively market, Qin Yu felt something was missing.

‘No stinky tofu? How can a market be complete without stinky tofu?’

Back in his previous life, every snack street had stinky tofu. But it seemed this world didn’t have it, and it left the market feeling incomplete.

‘When I’m short on money, I’m definitely coming here to sell stinky tofu. I’ll use my family’s secret recipe to conquer everyone in the Xuantian Sect!’ Qin Yu thought with a grin.