After mentioned the matter of debt, Jim’s eyes took on a look of horror as he said, "Trust me when I say that the sect takes its debts seriously. If you don’t pay off the interest rate per month, you will get into big trouble."
"Once you miss a monthly payment, the sect will send enforcers to track you down and cut you into pieces. Then they will sell your blood, bones, flesh, organs, and remnant soul to pay off your debt."
"If that isn’t enough to pay off your debt, then the enforcement squad will come after you once you reincarnate and make you pay off your debt one way or another."
What Jim said made Loki swallow hard. This was because he owed the sect some money. Apparently, the awakening ceremony and the initiation program weren’t free. He had to repay the sect 100,000 energy stones at an interest rate of 1% per month.
Now that he heard that even death wouldn’t free him from this debt, he couldn’t help but say inwardly to himself, "Maybe those guys who failed the initiation and died didn’t have it so bad."
He doesn’t fear death thanks to the Rewind Metac, but as long as he is alive and a member of the Four Directions Sect, he has to pay the sect 1,000 energy stones per month.
So this debt is unlike the loans from loan sharks, which he can avoid by reversing time. It is an unavoidable consequence of gaining power and freedom through the Four Directions Sect.
With this piece of information, he made up his mind to make as many energy stones as possible, convert them into contribution points, and pay off his debt as soon as possible.
But he had to ask, saying, "But isn’t 100,000 energy stones too much to pay for the awakening? What if I die now and rejoin the sect? So I still have to pay the sect another 100,000 energy stones?"
Jim chuckled and said, "No price is too much to pay when you’re desperate. The Four Directions Sect is the only way to become a cultivator in the Central Planes. So they can charge however much they want for the power they offer."
"And yes, if you do die, you will have to pay the sect another 100,000 energy stones for awakening you. So, if you don’t manage to pay off your debt in this life, it will increase in your next life when you return to the sect."
"And it won’t matter if you return to the sect voluntarily or by force when the enforcement squad brings you here. Every single awakening will cost you, even if you don’t want it."
In response, Loki said, "So it is possible for cultivators to work for the sect for all eternity across every lifetime? How is that different from slavery?"
His question made Jim burst out laughing. As he laughed, he said, "Yes. How is that different from slavery?"
Then he shook his head and said, "It is different from slavery. But the difference is dependent on the person. For some people, the loan is not a problem."
"For those people, even if they die today unexpectedly, they will have enough money in their accounts to pay for the awakening of their next ten lifetimes. But for people like you and me, the cost of awakening can put us in a situation worse than the slavery of mortals."
After he said that, he sighed and said, "I guess this is what that saying about how everyone is a slave means. Either you’re a mortal and a slave to a cultivator, or you’re a cultivator and a slave to a sect. It is the way of the world."
Loki felt deeply that it wasn’t easy to gain freedom in this world. But he didn’t despair like Jim. After all, he had something to rely on.
From there, Jim took him out of the sect grounds into the city. Their destination was the accommodation that the society had prepared for new members like him. This is a privilege that those who didn’t join societies can’t have.
This made the third privilege that he was getting for joining a society. The first and most important privilege that he got for joining the Death Claw Society is to gain access to special missions in the sect that pay more than ordinary missions.
The second privilege was being assigned a guide like Jim, who would answer his questions, show him the way, and help him settle down. The third is the free accommodations.
Every privilege is something that will cost those who didn’t join societies a lot of money and time. So being a member of a society can be the difference between being able to pay off their debt to the sect in this lifetime or not.
Along the way to the free accommodations, Jim told him more information. One of the things he told Loki was about the many benefits gained from paying off the awakening debt.
Apparently, only those who have paid off their awakening debts can be called the true disciples of the Four Directions Sect. The sect calls the people who have paid their awakening debt inner disciples, while the debtors like him and Jim are outer disciples.
Loki was able to learn that the benefits of becoming a true disciple include being able to enter the public stock market and be invested in by people, trade in public markets and earn money from it, gain the opportunity to earn and use merit points, and use the public trading forum.
Jim told him that the sect possessed a stock market where disciples can be valued and listed as an initial public offering, which they can use to acquire investment from other cultivators who believe that they have potential.
True disciples can also buy stocks in the stock market and earn money when the value of their shares increases. The goal is to sell their shares when their value increases.