Demon Cultivator: Heaven and earth are the cauldron, and all living beings are the medicine

As night deepened, countless stars twinkled in the sky, and a bright moon hung high, casting its pure light down upon the Azure Bloom Sect, illuminating a gaunt and skinny youth.

The youth, looking hurried, placed over a hundred bundles of firewood in the area designated by the sect. With the task paper in hand, he headed towards the sect's council hall.

Inside the council hall, a portly middle-aged man yawned widely and stretched heavily, preparing to rise from his chair and leave.

At that moment, a grey-robed youth appeared at the entrance, holding a task paper in his hand. He looked at the middle-aged man and slowly spoke,

“Elder, the task is complete. Where are my spirit stones?”

The middle-aged man, upon seeing the youth, was immediately dumbfounded. He snatched the task paper from the youth's hand and took a close look. Sure enough, a 'Completed' stamp was marked at the top.

“I wouldn’t have guessed it. Other errand disciples might not even finish one task in a week, yet your small frame has completed the daily tasks for two consecutive days.”

The middle-aged man exclaimed in surprise, taking out a pouch emitting a faint blue glow from his waist and handing it to the youth.

“Thank you, Elder. This disciple takes his leave!”

The youth snatched the pouch containing the spirit stones, bowed towards the middle-aged man, and quickly left the sect's council hall.

Ning Lu walked in the night, heading slowly towards his wooden hut, lost in thought.

The sect clearly stipulated that if an errand disciple’s cultivation reached the advanced Body Tempering Realm, they could shed their errand disciple status and officially become an outer sect disciple.

Although this was the rule, in recent decades, no errand disciple had ever been promoted to an outer sect disciple—not even one.

The reason for this phenomenon was simple. Those disciples with both background and talent directly became outer sect disciples on the very first day they joined the sect.

And the errand disciples of today were nothing more than two types of people.

The first type, which made up the vast majority, consisted of individuals with mediocre talent. They could cultivate, but they weren't outstanding. They all had some background, enough to support their entry into the Azure Bloom Sect, but not enough to directly become outer sect disciples.

The second type, a minority, was similar to Ning Lu. They possessed considerable talent, but had almost no background to speak of.

Errand disciples had to complete various tedious tasks every day. The first type of person was often only able to finish their tasks in a day, leaving them with no time to cultivate. As a result, their cultivation forever stagnated, and their status remained that of an errand disciple.

The second type of person had decent talent and could occasionally complete their daily tasks ahead of schedule, perhaps having slightly more time to cultivate compared to the former. However, compared to outer sect disciples, this cultivation time was still too short. Consequently, their cultivation might improve slightly, but it was far from meeting the requirements to become an outer sect disciple, naturally preventing them from ever escaping their errand disciple status.

Thus, the Azure Bloom Sect had formed a vicious cycle: errand disciples would always be errand disciples, with almost no hope of being promoted to outer sect disciples.

But, could it be that what others couldn't achieve, Ning Lu couldn't either?

Others indulged in their comfort zones, were unmotivated, and had already resigned themselves to being errand disciples for life.

But Ning Lu was different. He insisted on existing outside the system, insisted on being that lone, fierce beast. He didn't need family, love, or friendship. He would control his own destiny and never compromise!

He possessed excellent cultivation talent, exceptional comprehension, and a supreme Primordial Ancient Cauldron. This destined him to be the exception, the only errand disciple in decades to be promoted to an outer sect disciple.

For the next week, Ning Lu repeated his actions, specifically choosing tasks that no one else wanted and completing them early in the afternoon each day.

Then, he used the Primordial Ancient Cauldron to continuously improve his cultivation and comprehend the 'Attraction Art'.

Just as there were divisions in cultivation realms, there were also divisions in the mastery of techniques.

From low to high, the mastery of techniques could be divided into: Entry, Minor Success, Major Success, and Perfection.

Day after day, Ning Lu patiently waited until night, handing in his tasks to the sect elder just before the council hall closed.

This way, he could prevent the Primordial Ancient Cauldron from being discovered and ensure a daily income of a few spirit stones.

A week later, the youth's wish came true. Executing his plan day after day, he successfully raised his cultivation to the advanced Body Tempering Realm and cultivated the 'Attraction Art' to the level of Major Success.

That evening, Ning Lu walked with light steps, heading to the council hall in a cheerful mood.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the youth's face, revealing a hint of youthfulness and vitality.

Now that the youth's cultivation had continuously improved, his living conditions had also improved compared to before. This allowed him to grow from a skeleton into a relatively strong youth, with solid muscles growing all over his body and his complexion gradually becoming ruddy, no longer as pale and sickly as before.

The youth appeared before the council hall, stepped inside, and walked directly to the familiar middle-aged man.

“Oh, it’s you again, Ning boy. You've completed another task?”

The middle-aged man, seeing the youth, was not surprised and asked with a smile.

“No, Elder, I have broken through to the advanced Body Tempering Realm.” A smile tugged at the corners of Ning Lu's mouth, barely suppressing the anticipation for the future and the surge of emotions in his heart.

“Oh, that’s good.” The middle-aged man responded, not quite processing it.

The next moment, the middle-aged man suddenly stood up, his pupils constricting into needles as he looked at the youth in disbelief, asking again,

“What did you say? You broke through to the advanced Body Tempering Realm? Aren't you an errand disciple?”

“Yes, is there a problem? Didn't the sect say that errand disciples who reach the advanced Body Tempering Realm can be promoted to outer sect disciples?” The youth calmly said, gazing at the shocked middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man gasped, exclaiming, “What kind of monster are you? Do you know that the sect has never had an errand disciple become an outer sect disciple in decades?”

“Well, there is one now, isn't there?” Ning Lu sneered, his dark eyes seeming to hide a colossal beast.

The middle-aged man chuckled repeatedly, but did not mock the youth in the slightest, as if ridiculing himself for living too comfortably all these years, seemingly convinced that errand disciples could only ever be errand disciples.

The middle-aged man turned around, took out a yellow robe from a cabinet deep within the council hall, and solemnly handed it to the youth.

“Good lad! From today onwards, you are an outer sect disciple of the sect. But since the sect has never had an errand disciple promoted to an outer sect disciple before, I don't have any extra cultivation techniques to give you for now.”

“It's fine, I appreciate the Elder's kindness.”

The youth accepted the yellow robe, smiled faintly, and turned to leave the council hall.

The middle-aged man watched the youth's departing figure, feeling a myriad of emotions, as if seeing a younger version of himself.

But as he aged, the years wore down the middle-aged man's passion, and his dreams gradually withered with his age.

But Ning Lu was different! His ambition was immense. Becoming an outer sect disciple of the Azure Bloom Sect was merely the beginning of his path to pursuing his ideals.

And he would never allow his dreams to wither with age!