Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Allure of Wealth
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"Demon... are you in a bad mood?"
Yun Miaoqing spoke as she looked up at Lu Yang, who was resting with his eyes closed.
"A little."
Lu Yang sighed and casually explained the predicament he was in.
"This is the Demon Sect. They treat their disciples as consumables, devoid of all humanity," Yun Miaoqing said, her red lips parting slightly.
"Demon... Daoist Friend Lu, you have good talent and a fine disposition. Why must you endure such grievances in this Demon Sect?" Yun Miaoqing said. "As long as you remove the restrictions on me and help me escape, I can recommend you to become a disciple of my Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion."
Yun Miaoqing was asking for death, and he had no interest in joining her.
When you're in a tough spot, you look out for yourself first. The most urgent matter was still how to improve himself.
After careful consideration, Lu Yang didn't buy the Yin-Yang Immortal Flower. Instead, he spent every last coin he had on ten Grand Origin Qi Pills that could increase his cultivation.
"This life is basically a dead end already."
"After all, I have no intention of repaying the loan, nor am I willing to waste decades as a workhorse. Once the loan is due, I'll surely die a miserable death."
"So I must use this time to improve myself as quickly as possible!"
Lu Yang had already made up his mind. When he started his next life, he would choose to inherit his cultivation. To do that, he had to raise his strength to a higher level as fast as he could.
"If my cultivation is too low, Liu Xin, who was there at the time, might see through it. So I need to at least reach the same realm he was at." Lu Yang mused internally. "I must reach the mid-stage of the Qi Refining Realm, and pair it with a qi concealment art. Only then might I be able to fool him."
Lu Yang dared to think this way because he was confident.
The Qi Refining Realm was divided into ten layers, with early, middle, late, and peak stages. Within these minor stages, there were basically no bottlenecks; one could break through simply by accumulating enough power.
What truly trapped most Qi Refining cultivators were the bottlenecks between the minor stages.
From the early to the middle stage, middle to late, and late to peak, the difficulty increased exponentially, leaving countless cultivators unable to advance an inch.
"By my calculations, ten Grand Origin Qi Pills plus the spiritual meridian in my abode should be enough for me to break through to the third layer of Qi Refining. In fact, this is the cultivation level of most disciples in the sect. They grind away, slowly gaining seniority, only to get stuck at the bottleneck of the early Qi Refining stage and become workhorses for the Saint Sect."
If nothing unexpected happened, Lu Yang would have been one of them.
But in this life, he held a wild card.
With a thought, a wisp of swirling white Qi appeared in Lu Yang's hand. It moved as an extension of his will, sometimes taking the shape of a sword, other times turning into thick smoke.
Innate Primal Qi!
"According to Liu Xin, the greatest use of the Innate Primal Qi is actually to help people break through bottlenecks. He definitely relied on it to reach the late stage of Qi Refining."
Liu Xin could use it to break through to the late Qi Refining stage.
So it shouldn't be a problem for me to use it to reach the middle stage.
"As long as I break through to the middle stage, this life won't have been a waste. At worst, I can just start over immediately. With a higher cultivation in the next life, my starting point will be much better!"
A moment later, a voice came from outside his abode.
His Grand Origin Qi Pills had arrived.
Lu Yang pushed the door open and saw a woman standing outside. She was dressed in simple clothes, her beauty no less than Yun Miaoqing's, and her voluptuous figure was perhaps even more impressive.
"I am Qingchen. Greetings, Junior Brother Lu." The woman offered a graceful curtsy, then chuckled softly. Her laughter seemed to hold a magical quality that captivated the heart, making one feel an instinctive fondness for her. "I've been tasked with delivering the Grand Origin Qi Pills you purchased. Would you please present your token for verification?"
Lu Yang knew the procedure and immediately complied.
While they completed the transaction, this Fairy Qingchen probed gently, "Junior Brother, to be able to purchase so many pills... have you come into a fortune somewhere?"
"You flatter me, Senior Sister."
Lu Yang shook his head, a pained look on his face. "I've just taken out several loans. I was hoping to raise my cultivation so I could take on some higher-paying missions."
"I see."
Fairy Qingchen nodded with a look of concern. "Junior Brother, you needn't sell yourself short. Which of us formal disciples isn't saddled with a few loans? However... if you'll forgive my bluntness, Junior Brother, you still don't know how to be flexible."
"Oh?"
Seeing Lu Yang's interest, Fairy Qingchen smiled faintly. "There are only so many sect missions. How could you possibly repay all those loans just by doing missions?"
"In the Saint Sect, you'll never get rich by sticking to the beaten path," Fairy Qingchen said softly. "I had previously thought you must have discovered the abode of some Senior Brother who passed on and received his inheritance to have made such a fortune. That's why I was bold enough to ask. I didn't expect that wasn't the case."
"An abode..."
Lu Yang's eyelids drooped, his gaze as still as water in an old well, but his tone feigned excitement. "I am slow-witted. Please, Senior Sister, tell me more."
"Junior Brother, do you know that the Saint Sect was established in the 'Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea'?"
Fairy Qingchen said calmly, "Within the Cloud Sea, besides the Four Inner Sect Peaks, there are many other peaks established by former true disciples and elders."
"But the path of cultivation is long, and over the years, some have inevitably fallen. After their demise, their mountain abodes aren't removed but are left behind in the Cloud Sea. Although there are certain risks, each and every one is a potential opportunity. Even the smallest find can be exchanged for a great number of contribution points!"
"If you're interested, Junior Brother, I happen to have recently discovered a relatively safe abode..."
*Is that so? I don't believe you for a second!*
Lu Yang sneered inwardly. Fairy Qingchen's gentle and guiding manner was strikingly similar to how Liu Xin had tricked him into cultivating the Innate Dao Scripture in his previous life.
*She's fishing!*
*What opportunity? It's just bait.*
*It seems I've flaunted my wealth. She saw a newly initiated disciple like me buying so many spirit pills and wants to lure me out, kill me, and take them for herself?*
At this thought, Lu Yang put on a tempted expression. "I'll need to think about it."
"There's no rush." Fairy Qingchen nodded upon hearing this. "The verification is complete. You can contact me after you've had time to consider it, Junior Brother."
"I've considered it. I'm not going."
Seeing that the transaction was finished, Lu Yang didn't say another word, simply picked up the vial of spirit pills, and returned to his abode, leaving Fairy Qingchen standing there alone.
"???"
A moment later, the reality of the situation dawned on Fairy Qingchen. She nearly shattered her teeth in rage, her pretty face contorted with killing intent. "That Lu Yang... he dared to toy with me!"
Turning away, Fairy Qingchen soon arrived at another abode.
Inside, a young Daoist in fine robes had been waiting for some time. Seeing Qingchen's ugly expression, he frowned as well.
"You didn't succeed?"
Fairy Qingchen shook her head. "This person... is a bit too cautious."
"And Senior Brother Zhao, he borrowed money but didn't buy the Yin-Yang Immortal Flower. He bought pills instead. I suspect he never had any intention of paying it back."
"Trying to default on his debt? In his next life, maybe!"
Zhao Xuhe sneered and shook his head. "Did you know that the Saint Sect has already secretly put a price on every new disciple?"
"The amount a disciple can borrow within the sect will never exceed his price. This ensures that no matter what happens, the Saint Sect can always recoup its costs. Flesh and bone, internal organs, the soul... these are all valuable commodities, more than enough to repay a debt."
"He wants to improve his cultivation? Let him."
"As long as he's still around, a higher cultivation level just makes him more valuable."
Zhao Xuhe grinned, the taste of blood seemingly on his lips. "When the time comes, not only will we not lose anything, we might even turn a profit."
"Besides, he may have the money to buy those spirit pills, but he might not live long enough to use them, right?"
"Senior Brother, you mean..."
Zhao Xuhe nodded slightly, his meaning clear. "Many things are fine... as long as you don't get caught."
At these words, a bright glint appeared in Fairy Qingchen's beautiful eyes.