Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cultivation Through Copulation.

Episode 8: Dark Moon Sect.

Wouldn’t a demonic sect suit me better?

Harvesting Yin to Replenish Yang seems to fit well with a demonic sect.

Even if I’m branded as part of a heretical sect, I doubt anyone in a demonic sect would point fingers over merits or anything.

Of course, Harvesting Yin to Replenish Yang would be risky even in a demonic sect. It’s an enticing skill, after all. Stealing abilities through sex.

Yes, I’ve decided.

I will join the most notorious demonic sect ever!

And then I’ll become the most notorious demonic cultivator, roam the world, and become an immortal! A demonic sect that accepts a sex fiends, sounds perfect!

Yuk-gyeong finished his noodles and calculated the cost,

“What? Three coins for a bowl of noodles?”

“Hey, customer. This is Manho, Manho. Prices are high, and you’re fussing over three coins? Geez, I’ve seen it all. We barely make a profit here. Pay up quickly and leave. There’s a line behind you.”

Yuk-gyeong tossed three coins to the staff and screamed internally as he left.

No wonder the people here dress so well. This is a wealthy neighborhood, isn’t it?

I better pass the sect entrance exam on the first try. I’m out of money. A few more meals and I’ll be broke.

Once I become a demonic cultivator, I’ll crush inns like this. How dare they charge three coins for noodles.

After grumbling for a while, Yuk-gyeong left the inn and headed to the street.

He intended to ask passersby about the infamous sects, since he didn’t know much about the top three sects.

“Excuse me, where is the most notorious sect around here? The most vicious and cruel one.”

“The most notorious sect? That would be the Dark Moon Sect, of course. They’re extremely vicious. If you get caught by them, it’s over, over.”

Oh, the Dark Moon Sect.

The name has a nice ring to it. It sounds subtly villainous and cool.

“Is it true that the Dark Moon Sect is so notorious? How does one join the Dark Moon Sect?”

“Yikes! You want to join the Dark Moon Sect! They are holding their entrance exam tomorrow! Entering such a dreadful sect.”

The man looked at Yuk-gyeong as if he were crazy.

Yes, yes. This is the look of someone who is truly looking at a demonic cultivator.

Get used to it, these fearful gazes.

Yuk-gyeong felt a sense of pride swelling in his chest, bowed his head slightly, and left the place.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Alright, the Dark Moon Sect it is.

After Yuk-gyeong left, the remaining passerby,

the man watched Yuk-gyeong’s retreating back with a look that said he had seen a lunatic.

Looking like a dandy, asking about a notorious cultivation sect?

“Asked me where such a notorious cultivation sect was and now wants to join it? I’ve seen all kinds of strange people.”

What are the entrance requirements for the Dark Moon Sect again?

One must be young, have a solid foundation, possess exceptional talent, and have a celestial connection, not to mention a Spiritual Root.

It’s a place where you need to meet all sorts of conditions to enter.

The man disparaged it as the worst sect, but the entrance requirements for the Dark Moon Sect were incredibly high.

The man shook his head.

“There’s no way a drifter like him can enter the Dark Moon Sect. Enough, I should go earn a living.”

The man pulled a mask over his face.

I wonder which merchant group is poorly prepared and setting out today.

If caught, they won’t even be able to collect their bones.

The man was a notorious bandit.

He was the faceless bandit active near Manho. A notorious criminal with a bounty of five silver taels on his head from the government!

To a notorious bandit, a notorious sect is…

A sect that cries out for justice.

Dark Moon Sect!

The foremost sect of the Yue Kingdom!

A grand sect that proudly holds a place among the top three sects among the countless sects in existence!

In front of the Dark Moon Sect, which uses several large mountains as its grounds, there was an unprecedented bustling crowd.

They were all ordinary people gathered to become cultivators, hoping for an encounter with immortals.

Occasionally, there were those who had laid the groundwork for cultivation, but from the perspective of the Dark Moon Sect, they were all of a similar level.

At the forefront of these dozens of ordinary people were those who had descended from the mountain.

These were the disciples of the Great Dark Moon Sect, specifically those belonging to the outer sect.

It was as if there was an air of immortal bones, different from the mundane world’s ordinary people.

Even though they breathed the same air, the outer sect disciples of the Dark Moon Sect seemed to be in a breeze, while the ordinary people appeared to be wading through mud.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere exuded by them being outer sect disciples.

They were the ones who had achieved the dream that all the ordinary people gathered here longed for.

It was similar to the admiration that Yuk-gyeong felt when he looked at company employees during his job-seeking days in his past life.

And perhaps that admiration was creating an intangible aura that didn’t even exist.

They are outer sect disciples.

Maybe, being in the lower ranks of the Dark Moon Sect, they were doing menial tasks like assisting with entrance exams.

Among those present, only Yuk-gyeong looked at the outer sect disciples with complete focus.

Of course, that didn’t change anything.

One of the outer sect disciples of the Dark Moon Sect stepped forward and shouted loudly.

“We will now begin the entrance exam for the Dark Moon Sect!”

Having woken up refreshed after a long time, Yuk-gyeong looked at the mountain of the Dark Moon Sect with bright eyes.

It was indeed treacherous. As if no one would believe it’s a neighborhood where immortals dwell, the summit was veiled in clouds, the trees stood ancient and lush, and an overwhelming aura of grandeur filled the air. The towering mountain seemed to gaze down upon mortals with an almost oppressive presence, evoking an instinctive sense of insignificance.

Ugh!

Yuk-gyeong stretched to shake off the feeling of intimidation.

After a long time of sleeping on the road, he finally got a night’s rest at an inn. So, his body felt quite refreshed.

Of course, the price of the inn was exorbitant due to the expensive area.

He wondered if he should just sleep outside for one more night since he’s been doing it all along, but since today was the day of the entrance exam. He decided to stay at the inn to manage his condition.

As expected.

Sleeping at the inn was much more refreshing than sleeping on the hard ground. It felt like I actually slept for real. Sleeping on the road never felt like real sleep.

Of course, his wallet also felt lighter. He had spent everything he had, leaving it completely empty.

Yuk-gyeong thought while lightly stretching his fingers.

‘What could the notorious Dark Moon Sect’s entrance exam be like? Locking up applicants like in solitude and telling them to kill each other, choosing only one? Senior sect members going around killing applicants, choosing only those who cross the boundary?’

Terrible scenarios unfolded in Yuk-gyeong’s mind.

Still, no matter what the exam entails, he had Foreseeing Fist.

These feeble cultivator wannabes, or should I say immortal wannabe wannabes, would be easy to deal with.

Oh, that muscular guy over there, he might be a problem.

Well, except for him. I’ll let him enter first. It’s not like they’re only choosing one person.

Yuk-gyeong observed the people around him, categorizing them into those he could surpass, those he might surpass, and those he definitely couldn’t, as he awaited the start of the entrance exam.

Finally, the entrance exam commenced!

The outer disciple in charge of guiding them shouted loudly.

“From now on…”

Kill each other?

If you don’t want to die, run?

Yuk-gyeong’s heart was pounding. What should he do? What would be good to do? He had to do whatever they asked.

When Yuk-gyeong’s tension reached its peak!

“The mountain hike begins!”

Huh? A mountain hike?

A real mountain hike? Like the ones department heads at small companies love so much?

Yuk-gyeong didn’t know, but entering the Dark Moon Sect was referred to as “ascending the mountain”.

It was said to be a hike to the entrance of the sect’s mountain gate, located at the foot of the Heavenly Cliff Mountain where the main sect was situated.

From Yuk-gyeong’s perspective, it was a rather anticlimactic affair.

He had resolved to do anything, but the task turned out to be a mountain hike!

It was hard not to feel deflated.

Well, at least they weren’t asking him to do something difficult.

Everyone gathered and began to climb the mountain.

The sight of what appeared to be a hundred people climbing was quite spectacular.

The hike along the mountain’s base was not difficult at all.

It was a light hike that didn’t even leave one breathless.

However, some very old people occasionally gave up on the hike.

An elderly man with white hair gave up and descended the mountain.

A frail young man, whose limbs had been trembling from the start, also couldn’t endure the hike and fell behind. It seemed his stamina was excessively low if he couldn’t handle even this level of hiking.

Those who would fall behind did, leaving only those for whom the hike posed no challenge.

There were indeed some who tried to approach the outer disciple leading the way far ahead.

However, all of them were blocked by the intangible aura emanating from the outer disciples, unable to even start a conversation. The closer they got to them, the more they felt as if their mouths were sealed shut.

The outer disciples seemed unwilling to mingle with ordinary people.

Yuk-gyeong, who had no intention of talking to the outer disciples, was climbing the mountain with ease.

Though he was in the middle of the group, questioning everything around him.

Yuk-gyeong still believed that the Dark Moon Sect was a highly malevolent demonic sect, so he didn’t think this entrance exam would be that simple.

He occasionally wondered if senior demonic cultivators would suddenly appear and kill people, or if wild beasts had been released on the mountain, but the hike was incredibly peaceful.

Thus, Yuk-gyeong’s tension gradually eased.

Then, a middle-aged man who looked scholarly enough to be a Confucian scholar, seemingly in his forties, spoke to him.

“Hello, sir.”

“…Hello.”

“We’re taking the Dark Moon Sect entrance exam together, so we should at least introduce ourselves. I am Ho Wol-cheon.”

Huh? Introduce ourselves?

How many disciples will the Dark Moon Sect recruit, and you want to introduce yourself to competitors in a fierce competition?

What kind of test will this notorious Dark Moon Sect give, and you want to build friendships?

Yuk-gyeong was puzzled but responded readily. After all, it didn’t cost anything to say his name.

“I’m Lee Yuk-gyeong.”

“Brother Lee. It’s fate that we are taking the Dark Moon Sect entrance exam at the same time. Isn’t it? In that case, let me give you some advice.”

Fate, he says. Even the innkeeper in Manho talks about fate.

In a city with cultivation sects, everyone seems to speak with profound wisdom.

Yuk-gyeong grumbled inwardly for no reason.

Maintaining a state of tension seemed to have sharpened his nerves.

While some were on high alert, others were casually offering advice to those beside them, which made him feel irritable.

“Advice, you say? What kind of advice do you intend to give me?”

“It seems this brother lacks immortal fate. You don’t seem suited for the Dark Moon Sect. How about leaving the mountain? Stop wasting your time.”

What?