Jim shook his head and said with pity, "So, unless she is incredibly lucky and manages to stumble onto the correct way to gain acknowledgement of the Supreme Metac of her Pathway, she will never be able to raise in status."
This made Loki sigh in relief inwardly. He was glad that he hadn’t chosen to use the Beautiful Woman Metac. He was also glad that the Sword Pathway wasn’t a dead end either.
But he didn’t show his relief outwardly to Jim. He kept his true feelings to himself, while outwardly, he said, "Good for Craig that is Sword Pathway is not a dead end."
The name that he mentioned drew Jim’s attention. His head snapped to Loki and said, "Do you mean that lucky man who gained the favor of the Bloodhound?"
Jim’s voice became full of envy as he said, "What a lucky man. He is in a much better situation than the two of us. At the very least, the leader of his society won’t turn him into a zombie puppet. At most, Bloodhound will just kill him."
Then he sighed and said, "Who am I kidding? Even if I pay off my awakening debt and become an inner sect disciple, it is still unlikely that I’ll be able to raise my status in this lifetime. I should just focus on raising my talent and advancing to rank 3. I should..."
Meanwhile, Loki’s eyes were widened in shock. He quickly interrupted Jim and said, "Wait a minute. What do you mean by the leader of a society turning its members into zombie puppets?"
His question made Jim smile at him and say, "Did you think you were able to join the Death Claw Society because the leader took a liking to you?"
Then he laughed and said, "Of course, you won’t be entirely wrong to think so. The leader certainly likes you."
His eyes roamed all over Loki as he said, "Yes. The leader took a liking to your body. And what a good-looking body you have."
Loki chuckled and said, "Stop scaring me."
Jim didn’t know if he was not afraid or was simply pretending not to be afraid, but what he did know was that Loki’s true feelings didn’t matter.
So he sneered and said, "Nothing is free. All the benefits that you gain by joining the Death Claw Society not only cost a price, but they are also expensive."
"Our leader is a cultivator of the Death Pathway. So only those who have a strong body or a particularly powerful soul are allowed to join the Death Claw Society. This is so that they can be used as excellent raw materials to make zombies and other resources for cultivation."
"The only reason why you haven’t been killed yet is either that the leader doesn’t need you yet or that the leader wants you to grow stronger before harvesting you. So mark my words, your days are numbered."
Loki felt his heart beating wildly in fear, but he wasn’t overwhelmed by it because he had something to rely on. But he couldn’t understand why Jim seemed fine at the prospect of being used as raw materials to create zombies.
So he asked, "What about you? Does the leader also plan to use you to make zombie puppets?"
Loki’s question made Jim raise an eyebrow and say, "Yes, I am. What of it?"
Loki was surprised by his nonchalance about the possibility of being turned into a zombie puppet, so he asked, "Why aren’t you worried?"
This time, Jim laughed. Then he said, "Such ignorance."
Then he said, "I can’t be worried about it because I don’t have any choice in the matter. I can’t do anything about it, so I might as well give up resisting."
"In the Four Directions Sect, everyone has to be useful to someone above them, regardless of where they are. This is the rule."
"I was able to join this society because the leader of the society found me useful. Those who couldn’t join societies weren’t considered useful. But that doesn’t mean that someone stronger won’t swoop in someday and turn them into resources for cultivation."
"So nothing will change if I had joined another society or if I didn’t join a society at all. Another society just means it is someone else who will get to use me. And by joining a society, at least I will be able to accumulate resources fast enough to improve my strength and change my fate."
Loki still wasn’t satisfied with this explanation, so he asked, "What’s the difference between this and being sold off at an auction in the initiation program? Why bother trying at all when you know someone else will just use you as cultivation material one day?"
Jim looked him in the eye as he said, "Because I have a next life to look forward to and because I will get paid for the services that I render to my society."
"The people who were sold during the initiation program weren’t members of the Four Directions Sect, so they don’t get to receive the money that was used to buy them. But we are different. We are not lowly slaves anymore. We are cultivators. So we must be paid for our labor and every piece of our flesh."
"If the leader turns me into a zombie puppet, he must pay the sect for my value, and the sect will give me a cut. That cut will be deposited into my account, so when I reincarnate and rejoin the sect, I will have my payment waiting for me, and my previous lifetime of cultivation won’t be a waste."
"So, all in all, it is a good thing that I am valuable to someone. At least, this way, even if it takes me 100 lifetimes, I will still be able to rise to the top."
This time, Loki was satisfied. His eyes lit up in understanding as he thought to himself, "This is the benefit of knowing that there is life after death and that death is not the end."