Chương 3: Eternal Shadow Sect

Raju summoned the inn's helper and ordered a lavish meal. In gratitude for the swift service, he tipped the helper generously with 30 coppers. The helper's eyes widened in appreciation, offering a thankful nod.

Once the food was served, Raju consumed it voraciously, as though he hadn't eaten in ages. Only when he felt the comforting weight of a full stomach did he finally lean back with satisfaction.

"Now that hits the spot," Raju mused as he tidied up the remnants of his meal. The sun outside suggested it was nearing midday, so it appeared he had enjoyed quite the hearty lunch.

Feeling refreshed, Raju decided to consult the system. "Given the unexpected events, I might not have maximized the demo period. If I'd known this would happen, I would've prepared a complete set of pills for each advancement stage. Hey, system, you there?"

Silence greeted him.

Growing slightly anxious, Raju tried again, "System? Can you hear me? I just want to know about accessing the Immortal Bag. Don't leave me hanging."

Despite his calls, it felt like the System wasn't receiving his thoughts.

With a sigh of exasperation, Raju muttered to himself, "Fine, if you won't answer, I'll see for myself." He then focused on accessing the Immortal Bag. To his astonishment, it opened effortlessly, revealing its contents just as before.

Confused and alarmed, he thought, "What the fuck is happening? System, did you extend the demo? I need answers." Yet, no response came forth.

'Are there any logs from the system?' Raju pondered. Unexpectedly, a stream of the system's most recent messages materialized in his mind.

[Time remaining for Immortal Storage Bag to be locked: 00:00:00]

[Host has been found unconscious.]

[System has encountered an E##@]

[@&@#()!*)]

[System initiating self-destruction. Note: Unable to reclaim what was transferred to Host.]

'Wait. . . What the fuck?!' Raju's disbelief was palpable. 'You're abandoning me just like that? What happened to being with me for a lifetime? A system like you can even malfunction? Which motherfucker coded you? If I ever find that bugger, I swear, I will bug it up with him! FUCK!'

His ire grew as he mulled over the realization that the system had self-destructed due to a mere glitch. 'What sort of flawed design allows for such abrupt termination? Were they concerned I'd exploit vulnerabilities to amass endless riches or something?'

'Who the hell designs this type of error handling? Were they afraid that I would make use of bugs to create infinite wealth?'

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Raju's focus shifted. 'At the very least, that bugger overlooked the Immortal Bag. With that in my possession, my journey to true immortality will remain unobstructed.' The irony wasn't lost on him - while the system had faltered, the most crucial item, the Immortal Bag, remained untouched and fully functional.

Once Raju had calmed his mind and begun to think more deeply, he realized that the Immortal Bag was not merely a source of endless resources but a tool for establishing his power. 'How should I utilize these resources wisely?' he pondered.

Though originally from Earth, Raju was not innately altruistic or inclined to work selflessly for humanity's betterment. While he would intervene if humanity faced annihilation, he had no intention of nurturing its advancement or handholding it along the way.

Yes, Raju was selfish, but his circumstances had shaped him that way. In his previous life, he had no personal history to speak of. His hard work had landed him a position at Googal, where he toiled as a virtual slave, devoid of personal development. Now, in this new life, he was an unwanted orphan, cast aside by his family and even the orphanage can't keep him as a freeloader.

From these experiences, Raju's mindset had crystallized: he would not help those who did not deserve it. In his eyes, many in humanity were mere freeloaders. Freeloaders. Heck, he would smack their asses if he encountered any, Raju thought.

Considering his options, Raju thought about starting a school, but that required a certain status, something he lacked entirely at the moment. Raju knew that money could work wonders, but that didn't give him a deep background.

Lots of money and no deep background means inviting everyone and telling them 'LOOT ME MFKRS'. So Raju crossed off the thought of creating a school.

'What other options do I have? An organization. Yes, this could be feasible. Wait, why do I think that I have read something like this somewhere? Ugh, never mind. Even if I copy the concept, that doesn't mean our story would be the same. If something works, then I should use it. It's as simple as this. Sorry, original authors.' Raju's train of thought was quite jumbled up with morality.

But who cares about morality in a power-hungry world? Morality had no value in such cases. One can only talk about morality when people are 'equal' and 'well-fed.'

'Whatever. Let's focus on creating the organization. What should I name it? How should I operate it? What would be the structure? What are the rules of recruitment? What are the rules of advancement? How should I present myself in the organization? Damn, when did I become a questioning machine?' Raju's thoughts went off as fast as light.

'Let's focus on one thing at a time. Name. I want it to be a hidden organization, as I am still not in a situation to reveal myself. And I haven't even started Prana cultivation. Well, I have to start thinking several steps ahead if I want to be the master of the shadows. Damn! That sounds good, 'Master of Shadows.' I am eternal, so let's name it Eternal Shadow Sect. Short for ESS.' Finally, after some time, the name of the organization—oops, from now on a sect—was finalized as the Eternal Shadow Sect.

Now, the next thing in line was the structure of the sect. Raju wanted to go the conventional way, with ranks such as seniors, juniors, instructors, elders, and sect master. But as he planned to remain anonymous, living in the shadows, he needed to make it more dramatic.

The top figure, the sect master, should be named the Shadow Master, or Master of Shadows. In the end, Raju went with Shadow Master. That fit the bill, while Master of Shadows sounded more like an achievement title.

After that, he decided to create 28 Halls. The reasoning behind creating 28 different Halls stemmed from his interest in a specific type of astrology from his previous life. Yes, some of you might have guessed it—the Vedic astrology.

As Raju had worked at Googal, he usually browsed some interesting topics in what little free time he had, and once he stumbled across Vedic astrology. Although astrology is a vast and intricate topic, one that can't easily be desecrated, Raju still decided to use it as the basis of his organization. After all, who would come to this planet and demand, 'Why did you do it?' in an accusatory manner?

Anyway, Vedic astrology in and of itself was a broad subject, and what interested him were the Nakshatras. It was said that Vedic astrology identified 27 Nakshatras, which were all feminine, and the 28th Nakshatra, usually referred to as the 22nd, was the only masculine Nakshatra. And so, Raju decided to name the Main Hall after this name: 'Abhijit Hall.'

It might have sounded awkward, as no one knew the meaning, but what "Abhijit" means is 'Invincible.' Abhijit is a Sanskrit word. However, Raju didn't have to educate anyone in this world about it. This was essentially his thoughts breaking the fourth wall for the readers.

Moving on, Raju decided to only introduce the Abhijit Hall in this Cultivation World because he almost knew that people would eventually become so powerful that they would be able to leave this world.

He still had no idea about the name of this world, how big it was, or its history. In the orphanage, there was no such thing as a library. Although the orphans were taught to read and write, the education stopped at that point.

Raju's goal was clear: first, to flesh out his organization and then find out more about this world.

Moving on, Raju thought about the structure of the Hall. As usual, there should be a Hall Master. Under him should be four Vice-Hall Masters, and under each Vice-Hall Master would be a Council of Stars. All the people in the Council of Stars would be senior disciples.

Under the Council of Stars would be the Initiates. These Initiates would be formal members of the Hall, or the sect, if considering the bigger picture. These initiates would be able to recruit apprentices. Who were these apprentices? They were also people in the sect, but they were the new fresh blood, similar to how there are outer sect disciples.

There were two other kinds of people as well, Servitors and the Outer Circle. Servitors were the people who helped the sect function—essentially all those needed for the daily upkeep of the sect. The Outer Circle consisted of people who believed in the sect and followed it; in short, the public.

After fleshing out the whole structure, Raju felt proud. "Damn, I'm quite an expert in creating new sects. I could have earned a degree in this," Raju chuckled.