The skies thundered, and Huang Lu rested in his home. It was just yesterday that Qian Ziyi left. Someone knocked on the door.

"Huang Lu, are you there?" It was a woman's voice. It was that lady again.

"If you're here to sell your body, I won't buy."

She bowed. "I want to thank you for it. I wasn't thinking straight. But more importantly, may we offer you an invitation to visit the Wild Blood Sect? As the visit of the Prince has ended, it's time for us to return to the Sect."

Huang Lu frowned. "Visit, the Wild Blood Sect?"

"Yes. Our Sect is located in the Wildblood Steppes, it is a two week journey from this town. It would be a great honor to Lady Qian if you would accept her invitation."

Huang Lu thought about it, and realised, he had never actually left the town in his entire life. He had absolutely no idea where the Wildblood Steppes are. "But... what would I do if I visit?"

The lady gave a strange look and then answered. "Most visitors partake in spars, exchange discourse on combat, make friends, trade artefacts, learn about techniques... I suppose?"

"Ah. When is the invitation for?" Huang Lu found it strange that cultivators invited those who defeated them in battle. If it was Huang Lu, he would certainly want to get stronger first, then only attempt another spar. No, he would only invite someone if he was confident he could win! This was obviously an attempt to get Huang Lu to visit and have both of them fight again.

"Any time?"

"Ah." He decided he would like to go to a sect, but he certainly did not want to be humiliated or anything. That wouldn't be nice. "Thank you for the invitation. I will go, but perhaps not so soon."

The lady bowed. "Thank you, I will relay the message to lady Qian."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The next day, he went and sat down with the same bunch of guards again, and asked more questions. The guards looked at him funny, but they all knew him as Huang Lu the street rat, so they answered him anyway.

"How do cultivators make money? Why are they so rich?" This was something he never quite understood anyway.

"Usually sects manage certain territories and they receive a portion of the taxes. These are the orthodox, recognised sects. The independent sects usually invest in businesses, or they trade in the hunted goods."

Taxes? Out. Investment? Out. Hunted goods. What's that?

"Spirit beasts, duh. And wild spirit plants and stuff. Apparently they are used to make all sorts of medicine so all the cultivators would sometimes sell their harvested products. Cultivators usually use spirit beast cores, as currency, but that's usually only available in 3rd-realm beasts and above. The rest just uses normal currency."

"Uhm... what do you normally do when you visit a sect?"

"Oh, do you intend to join a sect?"

"Maybe, apparently it's not a good thing to be independent."

"Ah yes, it is not a good thing because everyone assumes you are a demon cultivator. That's bad."

"What's a demon cultivator?"

The guards laughed at Huang Lu. "Huang Lu, are you that much of a street rat that you don't even know what demon cultivators are?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Eh."

"It's okay." The guard tapped him on the shoulder. "Now that you've somehow learned how to cultivate, I guess you should know. Demon cultivators use other people as the fuel for their cultivation. Usually other cultivators since mortals are generally useless to them."

"Oh." That sounded horrible. "Are there... good demon cultivators?"

"Nope. If we discover someone is a demon cultivator, we'll usually kill them on sight."

"I see." Ah well, he'd probably encounter demon cultivators eventually. With his heavenly favor, demon cultivators will be drawn to him like moths to a flame.

"Are you one?"

"No." Huang Lu answered firmly. "So... where's the Wildblood Steppes?"

"Oh you want to join the Wild Blood Sect?"

Huang Lu wasn't sure, but so far he did not get a good impression of them. He knew he was going to get stronger with his heavenly cultivation. It's so overpowered that all he needed to do was sleep and make sure that the writer of his fate continues to write his story.

"You should certainly still check it out though. I heard it's a rather beautiful place."

Huang Lu nodded. "Yeah, but I'm broke."

"Oh! Why don't you escort some caravans! The merchants usually need some protection, especially if they are travelling to the other towns."

Huang Lu nodded. "That's a good idea." Odd jobs!