170: If you don't manage the household, you won't know how expensive firewood and rice are.

Jiang Lan looked ahead.

Not far in front of him was a row of low-rise houses.

They were divided into small courtyards, appearing to be forty or fifty of them.

Unexpectedly, these courtyards did not seem dilapidated in his eyes.

If he had to compare, they were similar to the old house he had lived in back in Yan Country.

Is the Ten Thousand Demons Hall's Outer Sect Disciple accommodation this good?

Jiang Lan had previously thought that not sleeping on the ground would be considered good, and a cave would be even better.

But he didn't expect this place to be quite decent.

At this moment, Old Wolf waved his hand, signaling Jiang Lan to follow him.

Led by Old Wolf, Jiang Lan entered one of the small courtyards.

Unlike the other courtyards, this one was noticeably larger.

In the courtyard, Old Wolf looked at Jiang Lan and said, "Little fellow, what's your name? Lang Qing, right?"

Jiang Lan nodded.

"Wait in the courtyard," Old Wolf said, then skillfully pushed open the door and entered the room.

Jiang Lan remained still, standing where he was as Old Wolf had instructed, observing his surroundings.

The surrounding courtyards were all relatively quiet, appearing as if not many demons resided there.

After Jiang Lan observed for a while, Old Wolf also emerged from the house.

In his hand, he held a token.

The material of the token was different from the ten thousand demons token Jiang Lan had previously held.

The previous one looked like ordinary mortal iron; it felt cold in his hand, but even after a long time, there was no sign of rust on the token.

The one Old Wolf held, however, seemed to be a simple wooden plaque.

On the plaque were two neatly carved characters.

'Lang Qing'

Old Wolf walked up to Jiang Lan, handed him the plaque, and said,

"This is your credential as an Outer Sect Disciple. You can try to infuse Devilish Qi into it, and your contribution value will be displayed on the Disciple token."

Devilish Qi?

Jiang Lan's expression stiffened for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.

What demons called Devilish Qi was the same as a Martial Artist's True Qi.

It was just a different name.

There was no distinction of attributes either.

Jiang Lan took the token and tried to infuse his True Qi into it.

Immediately, a line of small characters slowly appeared below his name on the token.

'Contribution: One Hundred'

Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow.

Eh?

So advanced?

One must know that the Zhenwu Pavilion's contribution records were still handwritten.

This Ten Thousand Demons Hall token could actually show one's contribution value just by infusing True Qi?

That doesn't make sense.

Moreover, why did he have one hundred contribution?

Jiang Lan looked up at Old Wolf, asking with some confusion,

"Why do I... have one hundred contribution value?"

"It seems you truly know nothing about the Ten Thousand Demons Hall..." Old Wolf said with a smile, clearly in a good mood. He explained, "Within the Ten Thousand Demons Hall, some ten thousand demons tokens are released every year for various demons and forces within the territory. After releasing the ten thousand demons tokens, the Ten Thousand Demons Hall does not concern itself with their ownership; it's a free-for-all, whoever gets it, it's theirs.

"As for the means of acquiring a ten thousand demons token, whether it's bought or snatched, the Ten Thousand Demons Hall will not interfere.

"In any case, anyone who comes up the mountain with a ten thousand demons token can directly become an Outer Sect Disciple of our Ten Thousand Demons Hall.

"And contribution... ordinary Outer Sect Disciples don't have it; only those who enter the mountain with a ten thousand demons token can obtain it. This can be considered a benefit."

Jiang Lan nodded, now understanding.

Old Wolf saw that Jiang Lan didn't seem to attach much importance to the contribution, so he said,

"You Wolf Cub, don't look down on this one hundred contribution. An ordinary Outer Sect Disciple might not even get this much in three months. The Ten Thousand Demons Hall is different from the outside world. Here in the Ten Thousand Demons Hall, contribution is everything. Whatever you want to do, you can't do without contribution."

"I understand, thank you."

"No problem, I'm just idle anyway. Old Wolf has been lonely for a long time; it's nice to chat a bit."

Old Wolf continued, "Where do you want to live?"

"Huh?" Jiang Lan was puzzled, "Aren't these courtyards the residences? Does that mean I can pick any one I like?"

Hearing Jiang Lan's words, Old Wolf burst into laughter.

"You Wolf Cub, you're quite optimistic, 'pick any one.' You can live in this place, yes, but..."

"But what?" Jiang Lan asked.

"But you have to pay three contribution points daily," Old Wolf said. "Of course, there are places that don't require contribution, but the environment there is relatively worse."

Jiang Lan was relieved to hear this.

He finally understood why this place seemed so quiet.

So living here costs money?

Three contribution points a day.

According to Old Wolf, an ordinary Outer Sect Disciple would need three months to earn one hundred contribution points.

That averages out to just over one contribution point a day.

And renting this small courtyard for one day would cost the equivalent of three days of an ordinary Disciple's hard work.

It was like earning three thousand a month from work, but the rent was ten thousand a month.

However, Jiang Lan didn't even think about it and blurted out directly,

"I'll stay."

From their conversation just now, he had already learned that Yellow Demon Peak was just one of the thirty-three peaks of the Ten Thousand Demons Hall.

Even the Elder here was only in the Demon Infant Realm.

Therefore, he certainly wouldn't be staying here for long.

The amount of contribution didn't matter.

Now, he just needed to quickly get a suitable Cultivation Technique, then directly slaughter this demonic mountain, and he could go straight to the main peak.

Since he had come all this way, how could he not go and see the true appearance of that Kunpeng Demon Emperor?

Jiang Lan was also curious if two barbecue grills could handle it.

"Alright... I'll take you..." At this, Old Wolf paused, his eyes widening. "What did you say?"

Hearing Jiang Lan, he repeated,

"I'll stay."

Old Wolf gasped, "You little Wolf Cub, you truly don't know the cost of living until you manage a household. There's a place that doesn't require contribution, but you insist on living here. Isn't it all the same no matter where you live? Why spend those extra contribution points?

"Besides, once your contribution runs out, you'll still have to sleep in a demon cave."

"Thank you, but I still want to stay here."

Jiang Lan completely didn't want to see what Old Wolf's 'demon cave' was like.

He could even imagine it already.

The Black Snake Stream market before had left him with quite a bit of psychological trauma.

Seeing that Jiang Lan's mind was made up, Old Wolf knew he couldn't persuade him and could only shake his head helplessly.

"You Wolf Cub..."

Jiang Lan smiled and said nothing.

Old Wolf then pointed to a few of the surrounding courtyards and said,

"This one, this one... these ones are already occupied by demons. If you insist on living here, then choose a courtyard you like."

Jiang Lan looked around and said,

"Tsk tsk... I feel like it's still missing something. Is there anywhere better?"

Old Wolf: "?"