The Demon Lord is My Dark Moonlight [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 34

The path to becoming a disciple was rigorous. Those with high aptitude would be taken as “Inner Disciples” by the elders, receiving the best resources. Those with average talent became “Outer Disciples.”

Outer Disciples were a world apart from odd-job workers like Gu Jinli. They were true cultivators, and their primary duty was to train; they didn’t touch menial chores. To put it in modern terms: it was the difference between being a student at a prestigious school and being the lady who works in the cafeteria. In the Cultivation World, having a spiritual root was your tuition.

…

Well, at least I’ll be living with the Outer Disciples eventually. That’s a plus.

Gu Jinli tidied her temporary bed and took the wooden token she’d received from the manager, heading out to collect her bedding and take a look around the sect. Since her “shift” didn’t start until tomorrow, today still belonged to her.

“No wandering aimlessly within the sect.”

The disciple at the Registry Hall took her token and handed over a set of bedding, not forgetting to add: “Once you’ve got your things, go straight back!”

“Will do.”

Gu Jinli nodded and hurried back to her room. It was a classic “communal bunk” setup—one massive platform for many people to sleep on. The prime spots at the ends were already taken, leaving her stuck right in the middle. It was, objectively, the most uncomfortable spot.

“Hey, newbie. The selection isn’t even over; how did you get sent here already?”

A woman sitting at the edge of the bunk had been staring at her since she walked in. “What’s your spiritual root? Is the purity that low?”

To not even qualify as an Outer Disciple, her talent must be abysmal. This woman herself had been an Outer Disciple for a few years before being reassigned to the kitchens when her progress stalled.

“I don’t have a spiritual root,” Gu Jinli replied cheerfully as she smoothed out her blankets. “So they sent me straight here.”

“You don’t have any spiritual root?!”

The woman looked at her in total disbelief. How could a person exist without one? Even commoners and newborns usually had some form of spiritual root; the only difference was purity and whether it was enough to actually cultivate.

“I hate to admit it, but that’s the reality.” Gu Jinli shrugged and changed the subject. “By the way, where’s the… ‘cafeteria’? I’m starving.”

“Cafeteria?” The term confused the woman, but she caught the meaning. “It’s not mealtime yet, so there’s no food. But you can head down the mountain to buy some essentials. Once you start working tomorrow, you won’t have the chance.”

Is there a city at the bottom? Gu Jinli’s eyes lit up. “Is it far? How do I get there?”

“It’s a long walk, but the sect has transportation arrays. Just let the manager know.”

*****

Luoyun City:

Gu Jinli stood at the city gates, staring up at the massive characters carved into the stone. The flowing crowd and grand architecture gave her a sense of déjà vu. Not long ago, she had stood before another gate just like this.

“Candied haws! Get your candied haws!”

“Steamed cakes! Fresh cakes here!”

“Lanterns! Come see the lanterns…”

The cacophony of vendors and the bustle of the crowd sketched the picture of a thriving town. Red bricks, green tiles, and streets paved with blue stone. It was all so familiar yet so new—more refined than any TV set and filled with a warmth that felt… human.

This is it. This is the world of the living.

Standing in the crowd, Gu Jinli felt deeply touched. This was where humans were meant to be—not in a world of slaughter and schemes, but in a place filled with the peaceful atmosphere of daily life.

“Did you hear?”

“About the Secret Realm, right?”

“Yeah. The major sects lost a lot of people. Word is there’s a woman inside who can control demonic beasts…”

“It wasn’t just beasts; it was a swarm of Nizoren Man-eating Ants.”

The teahouse was the best place for intel. Gu Jinli sat there, sipping her tea, and felt her heart skip a beat.

I had set two entrances for the Secret Realm: the Phantom Forest and the first-ranked sect. It seemed the first sect hadn’t kept the secret but opened it to the world, drawing in countless cultivators. But according to the gossip, few had made it out alive.

The mention of the “woman controlling man-eating ants” bothered her. That sounded exactly like Shen Chigui. The desert was the only place those ants appeared, and they had just been through that together.

Could it really be her? Did she learn to control them? No, she shouldn’t be able to do that until she gets the sword. Maybe it’s something else.

Gu Jinli couldn’t help but wonder: if it was her, how did she do it? Pheromone interference? Scents? She pondered this as she left for the pawnshop to trade some minor items from the Tower for local currency. She wanted to buy a steamed cake for her bunkmate as a thank-you gift.

******

Whether Shen Chigui was the one controlling the ants was something no one knew for sure. After a while, Gu Jinli pushed the thought aside. She had escaped; it wasn’t her problem anymore. She focused on shopping until the sky turned dark.

When she returned to the sect, it was nearly 10:00 PM. The room was full of people huddled in small groups on the bunk.

“Newbie’s back,” someone noted. “We saw the bed but no person. Where have you been?”

“I went down the mountain,” Gu Jinli replied. She greeted everyone politely but didn’t take out the steamed cake yet, planning to give it to her bunkmate when they were alone.

Her new life as a “sweeper monk” was simple but exhausting. She cleaned a specific sector in the mornings, and by 3:00 PM, she had to head to the herbal gardens to weed and catch insects for two hours. The Jiuyi Sect only provided two meals a day, and the workload was staggering.

By the end of her first month, Gu Jinli felt like she was falling apart. It was almost as tiring as being dragged through the desert by the lead.

The lead…

She frowned. By now, Shen Chigui should have the “Night Moon” sword. Once she had that, she would be unstoppable. She likely knew Gu Jinli had fled by now.

But I’ve quit the mission. As long as I don’t go looking for her, she shouldn’t come looking for a mere stuttering maid.

She had settled into a rhythm with her seven roommates. Her immediate neighbor was Su Hua, and the one who first spoke to her was Lin Hui. They all worked in the kitchens. Living with so many people inevitably led to friction, and cliques were the norm.

Gu Jinli had arrived the latest and was never one to initiate social interactions, which effectively made her the “neutral party” in the room—someone close to no one.

However, lately, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being subtly ostracized. Aside from Su Hua, her bunkmate, who would still exchange a few words with her, the others—including Lin Hui—had gone silent. They ignored her with a practiced, seamless indifference.

“The new disciple trials start tomorrow. The manager said we have to go help.”

“Us? At the Phantom Forest?”

“Yeah, that’s the place.”

“No wonder… but I heard that last time…”

As Gu Jinli returned to the dormitory that evening, she overheard her roommates whispering in small groups. She caught the keywords “new disciples” and “Phantom Forest,” but they clammed up before she could hear more.

The Phantom Forest? That was where she had first appeared. Were the new disciples being tested there?

Her confusion didn’t last long. The next morning, the Outer Court manager arrived and took a group of workers, Gu Jinli included.

She soon realized what the job was: the Outer Court disciples were undergoing their final assessment within the forest. Consequently, they needed staff to man various checkpoints to record scores and assist (or monitor) the candidates.

The Phantom Forest was divided into three concentric testing zones: the Outer, Middle, and Inner circles. The Inner circle was, naturally, the most difficult and dangerous. Gu Jinli was assigned to the Inner circle—ironically, the very area where the Secret Realm entrance had been. Because of this familiarity, she didn’t find the assignment particularly daunting.

“The Inner circle has a lot of demonic beasts. You have to be careful,” Su Hua whispered, looking worried when she saw Gu Jinli’s placement.

“I know. Thanks,” Gu Jinli replied with a soft nod.

They traveled to the forest on the manager’s flying vessel, but reaching the Inner circle from the landing site required trekking on foot.

“Fire a signal if you’re in danger!”

“Keep your maps ready; do not stray outside your designated zones!”

The elders leading the group issued constant reminders. Being in the Inner circle, Gu Jinli received the bulk of the warnings. She looked down at the map in her palm, memorizing the landmarks and boundaries.

By 11:15 AM, everyone was in position. Gu Jinli reached her post and hid herself just as a swarm of cultivators on flying swords appeared in the sky—the candidates. Their goal was to hunt demonic beasts within a set timeframe. Different tiers of beasts granted different points; once killed, the beast (or a token) would be handed over to a nearby monitor like Gu Jinli to be recorded.

Truthfully, it was incredibly boring. The candidates would take a while to reach the Inner circle. Gu Jinli could only wait, unable to move around much because she was only safe within the ten-meter radius of the protective array set up around her post. She felt like a tethered animal.

About two hours later, just as she was starting to count the leaves on the trees, the first disciple arrived. Clad in the sect’s brown uniform, she ran toward Gu Jinli, gasping for breath.

“Here… these are mine.”

Without even a greeting, the girl pulled several blood-soaked carcasses from her storage bag. Gu Jinli took out the “Detector” provided by the sect and began the tally.

“One Tier-1, three Tier-2, six Tier-3… that’s a total of twenty-five points.”

Gu Jinli finished the recording quickly. Honestly, this was easier than sweeping floors or weeding gardens, even if it was tedious.

“Only that much?” The girl pouted in disappointment, noted her score, and hurried off.

A while later, another disciple came running from a side path, shouting in panic: “Save me! Save me! I met a monster!”

A monster? That was an odd way to put it. Did he run into a mutated beast?

“What happened? Get over here!” Gu Jinli shouted, waving him toward her. The protective array was meant to shield disciples as well. She even stepped to the very edge of her circle to reach out.

But the next second, she froze.

“Save me! Save…”

The words died in the disciple’s throat. He looked as if an invisible hand had snatched him by the neck. His breathing turned into a desperate wheeze, his face flushing a deep, terrifying purple. He collapsed to the ground, clawing at the air as he suffocated.

This is the ‘monster’?

The scene was so hauntingly familiar that Gu Jinli didn’t even need to guess. Her expression darkened, and she called out the name of the only person capable of this.

“Shen Chigui!”

Only she could use Ghost Qi with such lethal elegance. Gritting her teeth, Gu Jinli stepped out of her protective circle and moved toward the dying boy.

“Let him go! Now!”

“Big Sister.”

Shen Chigui stepped out from the shadows behind the suffocating disciple. She wasn’t surprised that Gu Jinli recognized her instantly. In fact, she looked quite pleased.

“Why did you come so far away all by yourself?” she asked, her voice a mix of a pout and a grievance. “You didn’t even wait for me. How heartless.”

“Why should I wait for you? We have nothing to do with each other…”

Seeing the look on Shen Chigui’s face, Gu Jinli knew this wasn’t going to end well. It was strange; logically, Shen Chigui’s personality wasn’t one to fixate on a “stuttering maid” who ran away. At most, she’d just kill her the next time they crossed paths. She wouldn’t hunt her down personally.

“Big Sister, saying that really hurts my feelings.”

Shen Chigui’s smile didn’t waver, but her gaze deepened, turning dark and meaningful.

“I’m quite unhappy, Big Sister.”

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