After reaching the hot spring, An Mo rushed in while dragging Su Jin with him.
"Come on Little Jin, let's see what this hot spring is like!... Eh?"
However, what came into An Mo's sight was not a hot spring but a slightly spacious area. On the left wall of this area was a shelf that was divided into grid-like spaces, while directly opposite it were doorways that were covered with silk-like white curtains.
"This is…?"
An Mo looked around at the shelf and the curtains with a bit of confusion. He was wondering why instead of a hot spring here, it was this strange room. Could Xai Lin had led them to the wrong room by accident?
Just when An Mo wanted to turn around and asked Xai Lin who had just entered, Su Jin noticed his confusion and spoke up.
"Big Brother An Mo, this is just the changing room. I think the curtains there lead to the hot spring."
"Changing room?"
An Mo muttered in bewilderment, as he was suddenly led to the shelf by a somewhat impatient Su Jin.
Reaching the shelf, An Mo realized that each section divided here had a white towel placed inside it.
Su Jin picked up one of the white towels and was about to change but seeing that An Mo was still a bit confused, he picked up another towel before shoving it into his hand and explained.
"Big Brother An Mo, normally in public or private bath houses and hot springs, they offer a space for you to change out of your clothes before entering the hot spring."
An Mo took the towel, but his confusion hadn't lessened and instead he asked even more bewildered.
"But why? I thought cultivators had storage artifacts; can't they just put their change of clothes in there?"
Xai Lin, who had already stopped by the entrance, chuckled and said.
"Not every cultivator can afford storage artifacts. Even the lowest level storage artifact cost hundreds of low-grade Spirits Stones. So, for a majority of loose cultivators in the Qi Condensation Realm, or even in the Foundation Establishment Realm, affording a storage artifact is a luxury. Even a Clan might not necessarily give their younger members a storage artifact, unless they're greatly valued. Perhaps only when one joins a Sect would one be issued a low-grade storage artifact for free, since any Sect that could be established would require having special channels for those types of resources, or a powerhouse to protect those resources."
An Mo listened carefully to this explanation, then asked.
"Does that mean the threshold for starting a Sect is extremely high?"
Su Jin was the one to answer this question.
"You could say that Big Brother An Mo. Only someone who has reached the Soul Emergence Realm can confidently form a Sect, and for a loose cultivator to reach the Soul Emergence Realm is not easy."
"Then doesn't that mean there aren't that many Sects in the cultivation world?"
Xai Lin shook her head and said.
"No, actually, the number of Sects, especially smaller ones formed by those below the Soul Emergence Realm, are numerous."
An Mo frown hearing this because this contradicted Su Jin's statement somewhat, but Xai Lin patiently explained.
"That's because those small Sects form by those below Soul Emergence Realm become vassals of those larger Sects that were formed by Soul Emergence realm cultivators, or above."
An Mo finally understood upon hearing this.
"Oh, so those larger Sects act as a backer for those smaller Sects while gifting them resources to cultivate disciples? Could it be that in returned the talented disciples found by smaller Sects are sent to the larger Sects?"
"That's right, Big Brother An Mo."
Su Jin said with a smile, while Xai Lin added.
"That could be said to be the main reason why the cultivation world, or rather the Human Realm, still generally operates like the Mortal Realms. Those large Sects and Clans realized that if they transformed the cultivation world into a place where only they could survive, it'll lead to their ruin. Rather, they would accommodate those weaker than them, and in return, they could create a large population that produces a few human resources to rope into their influence."
"Human resources…?"
An Mo couldn't help but repeat this new phrase while falling into a brief moment of contemplation.
Xai Lin glanced at An Mo, and seeing him like this, she had to once again remind herself that An Mo had always grown up in the Demonic Realm while having flawed Legacy Memories. These simple social norms that even three-year-olds were already used to was a completely new territory for him.
Suddenly, Xai Lin recalled trying to test An Mo with her disguise previously, and she belatedly realized how stupid such a decision was. Even if she arrived at the right conclusion, she had tested it on the wrong person.
An Mo soon snapped out of his thoughts, and said.
"Alright, I appreciate you two for explaining these things to me. But we've already wasted a bit of time here already! Come on, let's enter the hot spring!"
After saying that, An Mo quickly took off his clothes and placed them on the shelf. Then as he was wrapping the towel around his waist, he saw that Su Jin was awkwardly standing there while hesitating to change.
Seeing this, An Mo chuckled. But rather than teasing Su Jin, he took the towel from his hand and considerately unfolded it to cover his lower half.
"Here, you can change without feeling embarrassed. We won't peek at you."
An Mo turned his face to the side as he said that.
"I—"
Su Jin blushed and wanted to explained that he had visited public hot springs all the time with his older brother when he was younger, so he wasn't embarrassed about this. It was just that he had belatedly realized that he might be a third wheel butting into their time together, so he was hesitating on whether to suggest using separate rooms.
However, seeing even Xai Lin had turned around and was waiting for him to change, he decided to just go along with it. After all, they didn't seem to mind his presence even when being affectionate.
Su Jin smiled at this and happily began changing. However, in the middle of taking off his clothes, a thought popped into his mind that startled him.
He had belatedly realized once again that An Mo and Xai Lin seemed to be treating him like a child they were raising!