The next morning, Su Bai sat on his favorite flat stone and cursed.

Reaching the higher cultivation realms was proving to be a logistical nightmare. Despite the sheer, terrifying volume of chaotic Qi he had successfully embezzled and digested from the Outer Sect disciples yesterday, his Dantian was still stubbornly sitting at the peak of the 8th Stage of Qi Refining.

’The gap between the 8th and 9th Stage requires an exponential increase in raw data,’ Su Bai rubbed his temples. ’I need more processing power. I need more Oblivion Pills.’

But a glaring issue had presented itself: his budget deficit.

He was completely broke.

His monthly allowance was basically minimum wage. A single Shattered-Soul Oblivion Pill cost 10 low-grade spirit stones. That was his entire monthly salary.

The Auction House purposely priced the suicide pills expensively so that any cultivator seeking to end their life had to be absolutely certain of their choice and work hard to afford it. It was a morbid preventative measure.

’I need capital,’ Su Bai resolved. He stood up and smoothed out his white robes. ’I need to secure a side hustle.’

He left Clear Cloud Peak and headed directly for the Main Peak.

The Main Peak was the largest and most bustling hub of the Radiant Sky Sect. It housed thousands of Inner Sect disciples. When Su Bai arrived, the morning training sessions had just begun.

Thousands of disciples were lined up in the grand courtyards, practicing their sword arts in perfect, synchronized movements under the watchful eyes of the teaching Elders.

Su Bai paused for a moment to watch. The fluid, majestic movements of the Elders guiding the disciples were genuinely beautiful. It was a highly coordinated, well-managed department.

Soon, a few disciples spotted him. Their eyes widened, and they instinctively wanted to break formation to greet the "Saint" who had sacrificed himself for the Outer Sect yesterday.

The teaching Elders immediately noticed the hesitation in the sword formations. They turned, ready to scold the distracted juniors, but the moment they saw Su Bai standing at the edge of the courtyard, their eyes lit up.

"Disciple Su!" an Elder called out warmly. He offered a respectful Daoist greeting.

Su Bai immediately returned the bow with perfect, professional courtesy. "Good morning, Elders. Please excuse my intrusion."

The Elders beamed. They find him incredibly pleasant and humble. Thanks to Su Bai clearing out the chaotic Qi of the Outer Sect laborers, the Inner Sect had just received an addition of highly motivated, newly-promoted Foundation Establishment seeds. He had done their department a massive favor.

"Please, do not mind me," Su Bai added, then gestured for them to continue. "I am just here to visit the Mission Pavilion."

With mutual nods of respect, the Elders resumed their instruction. Su Bai bypassed the training grounds and walked deeper into the peak. He eventually arrived at the towering Mission Pavilion.

Inside, a few Inner Sect disciples were huddled around a massive glowing board. They were browsing available tasks.

They respectfully made way for Su Bai as he approached.

Su Bai began scanning the job listings.

[Slay the Two-Headed Demonic Viper in the Western Swamps. Reward: 3 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]

’High mortality rate for terrible pay. Skip.’

[Clear the Spiritual Weeds from the Peak Master’s Garden. Reward: 100 Lowest-Grade Spirit Stone.]

’100 Lowest-Grade is exactly 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone. That doesn’t even cover the tax on an Oblivion Pill. Skip.’

Because the Inner Sect consisted mostly of Foundation Establishment cultivators, the lucrative missions were incredibly dangerous, while the safe, administrative tasks paid absolute pennies.

Su Bai sighed. He was about to give up when his eyes landed on a dusty, ignored listing at the very bottom of the board.

[Mission: Bulk Array Calibration (Quality Control)]

[Location: Heavenly Forge Peak]

[Task: Verify, align, and seal the Weight-Reduction and Durability Arrays on 10,000 standard-issue Outer Sect swords.]

[Reward: 10 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]

Su Bai’s eyes went wide. ’This is it. This is the golden ticket.’

Without hesitation, he reached up and pulled the mission parchment off the board.

Seeing what he had taken, a nearby disciple gasped in concern. "Senior Brother Su, wait! You shouldn’t take that one!"

"Is there a problem with it?" Su Bai asked.

"It’s a trap!" the junior warned earnestly. "Heavenly Forge Peak produces a massive batch of 10,000 standard-issue swords every few years. Before they can be shipped out, every single blade needs to be manually checked. You just inject a tiny bit of Qi, check the geometric lines, and stamp the seal. But doing it ten thousand times... it takes months!"

The disciple shuddered. "It is repetitive, mind-numbing, and soul-crushing labor. The Elders raised the payout to 10 spirit stones, but it’s still not worth it! Doing that mission gives cultivators massive spiritual migraines. It ruins their Dao Hearts because it’s so incredibly boring! Even the Heavenly Forge disciples absolutely refuse to do it!"

To a mystical cultivator seeking to sever the heavens and understand the profound Dao, assembly-line factory work was literal torture.

But to Su Bai? A former corporate slave who once spent three straight weeks auditing five hundred Excel spreadsheets without blinking?

’Ten spirit stones for basic data entry?’ Su Bai thought. His capitalist heart soared. ’It’s basically free money. And... I have a trump card’

"Thank you for the warning, Junior Brother," Su Bai smiled warmly. "But I find peace in mundane tasks. It is perfect for me."

The disciples watched him leave with wry, emotional smiles. They were fully convinced that Senior Brother Su was simply doing the sect’s dirtiest, most unwanted chores out of pure, selfless saintliness.

It didn’t take long for Su Bai to reach Heavenly Forge Peak. The air here was heavy, hot, and smelled of molten iron and sulfur.

The guarding disciples at the gate immediately recognized him. When Su Bai presented the dusty mission parchment, the guards nearly wept tears of joy. If no one from the outside took the mission, the Peak Master was going to force them to do the mind-numbing QA work.

They quickly escorted him inside to meet the overseeing manager, Elder Tie.

Elder Tie was a massive, muscular man with a thick beard. He was one of the Elders who had rushed to Su Bai’s peak before. When he saw Su Bai, his eyes glowed. He assumed the genius had come to fulfill his promise of tutoring the young disciples.

But when he saw the QA mission paper in Su Bai’s hand, Elder Tie almost choked on his own saliva.

"Absolutely not!" Elder Tie bellowed. "Martial Nephew Su, you are still recovering! I cannot allow someone of your caliber to do such arduous, soul-crushing labor! It is an insult to your status!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Elder Tie, I insist," Su Bai replied with absolute, unwavering professionalism. "Every sword given to our Outer Sect juniors must be perfect. Quality Control is the backbone of sect security. Please, allow me to contribute."

Moved by Su Bai’s absolute dedication to the sect’s infrastructure, Elder Tie’s eyes watered. He reluctantly agreed and led Su Bai to the massive warehouse where ten thousand identical, unpolished iron swords were piled up in terrifying, messy mountains.

"I will leave you to it, Martial Nephew. Take your time. Even a hundred swords a day is plenty," Elder Tie sighed, then he turned to leave.

"Junior Brother," Su Bai called out and turned to one of the assisting disciples standing nearby. "Could you fetch me a kettle of boiling water?"

The disciple instantly sprinted off, returning a minute later with a steaming iron kettle.

Su Bai smiled. ’Time to set up the office.’

Instead of sitting cross-legged on the floor and slowly appraising the swords one by one like a mystic, Su Bai immediately rearranged the environment.

He pulled over two massive wooden crates. He built a slanted, ergonomic desk. He designated the left side as the "Inbox" and the right side as the "Outbox."

The assisting disciples watched in profound confusion as he optimized the workplace logistics.

Finally, Su Bai took out the small pouch he had received from the System. He dropped the Obscuring Mind-Fog Tea leaves into a cup and poured the boiling water over them.

He took a long sip of the toxic, attention-destroying weed. It tasted like a premium matcha latte.

Instantly, his Reversal Body triggered. The "brain fog and lethargy" inverted violently.