Chapter 9: Wealth Touches the Heart

“Demon… you’re in a bad mood.”

Yun Miaoqing said as she looked up at Lu Yang, who was resting with his eyes closed.

“Just a little.”

Lu Yang sighed and casually recounted the predicament he was facing.

“This is the Demonic Sect. They treat the disciples within the sect as consumable materials. There is no humanity to speak of.” Yun Miaoqing parted her red lips lightly.

“Demon… Fellow Daoist Lu, your talent is good, and your temperament is excellent. Why must you compromise yourself in this Demonic Sect?” Yun Miaoqing said, “As long as you remove the restrictions on my body and help me escape from the Demonic Sect, I can recommend you to become a disciple of my [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion]…”

Yun Miaoqing wanted to seek death, but he had no interest in accompanying her.

When poor, attend to one’s own virtue. His urgent task was still how to improve himself.

After careful consideration, Lu Yang didn’t buy any Yin-Yang Immortal Flowers. Instead, he spent his entire fortune purchasing 10 [Vitality Great Pills] that could increase his cultivation.

“This life has basically reached a dead end.”

“After all, I neither plan to repay the loan nor am willing to waste decades being a beast of burden. Once the loan term is up, I’ll definitely die without a burial place.”

“So I must use this time to improve myself as quickly as possible!”

Lu Yang had already made up his mind. When he restarted in the next life, he would choose ‘Cultivation Base’. Therefore, he had to raise his strength to a higher level as soon as possible.

“If my cultivation is too low, I might be seen through by Liu Xin, who will be present at that time. So at the very least, I need to raise it to the same realm he was in back then.” Lu Yang pondered in his heart. “It has to be at least the middle stage of Qi Refining, paired with a breath-concealing technique. Only then might I deceive him.”

Lu Yang dared to think this way because he was confident.

The Qi Refining Realm had ten layers in total, divided into Initial, Middle, Late, and Perfected stages. Within a minor stage, there were basically no bottlenecks— one only needed to accumulate quantity to break through.

What truly trapped the multitude of Qi Refining cultivators were the bottlenecks between minor stages.

From Initial to Middle, Middle to Late, and Late to Great Perfection, the difficulty almost doubled each time, preventing countless cultivators from advancing even an inch.

“According to my calculations, 10 [Vitality Great Pills] plus the spirit vein of the Cave Abode are 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 rely on enduring time and seniority to improve, eventually getting stuck at the bottleneck of the Initial Stage and reduced to beasts of burden for the Saint Sect…”

If nothing unexpected happened, Lu Yang would have been one of them.

However, in this life, he held a variable in his hands.

With a thought, a wisp of steaming, misty white Qi appeared in his hand. As commanded by his mind, it sometimes transformed into the shape of a sword, sometimes into thick smoke.

[Primordial One Qi] .

“According to Liu Xin, the greatest use of the [Primordial One Qi] is actually helping people break through bottlenecks. His ability to break through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining certainly owes credit to it.”

Liu Xin could use it to break through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining.

For me to use it to break through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining shouldn’t be a problem.

“As long as I break through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, this life won’t be considered a waste. At worst, I’ll restart immediately. With higher cultivation in the next life, my starting point will be better too!”

A moment later, a voice came from outside the Cave Abode.

His [Vitality Great Pills] had arrived.

Lu Yang pushed open the door and saw a woman standing outside. She was dressed in plain clothes, her beauty no less than Yun Miaoqing’s, and her figure even more voluptuous.

“This humble one is Qing Chen. Greetings, Junior Brother Lu.” The woman gave a graceful curtsy, then laughed softly. Her laughter seemed magical, gladdening the heart and making one involuntarily feel fond of her. “I was ordered to deliver the [Vitality Great Pills] Junior Brother purchased. Please take out your token for verification, Junior Brother.”

Lu Yang knew the procedure and did as asked immediately.

While exchanging the items, Fairy Qing Chen probed softly, “Junior Brother was able to purchase so many pills this time. Could it be that you struck it rich somewhere?”

“What are you saying, Senior Sister?”

Lu Yang shook his head with a bitter expression. “I just took out several loans. I was thinking of improving my cultivation so I can take on some high-paying missions.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Fairy Qing Chen nodded with a look of concern. “Junior Brother need not belittle yourself. Which of us formal disciples doesn’t have a few loans on our backs?”

“However… forgive Qing Chen for speaking frankly, but Junior Brother, you still don’t know how to be flexible.”

“Oh?”

Seeing Lu Yang’s interest, Fairy Qing Chen smiled slightly. “There are only so many sect missions. How could you possibly pay off so many loans relying solely on missions?”

“In the Saint Sect, if you only know how to walk the ordinary path, it’s impossible to get rich.” Fairy Qing Chen said softly, “I previously thought Junior Brother had discovered a Cave Abode left behind by some Senior Brother and made a fortune from the inheritance, which is why I shamelessly asked. I didn’t expect it not to be the case.”

“Cave Abode…”

Lu Yang lowered his eyelids, his gaze calm as an ancient well, but his tone feigned temptation. “I am dull-witted. Please explain in detail, Senior Sister.”

“Junior Brother, do you know that the Saint Sect was established in the ‘Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea’?”

Fairy Qing Chen said indifferently, “Within the Cloud Sea, besides the Four Inner Peaks, there are many other peaks established by past true disciples and elders.”

“However, the path to immortality is long, and over the years, people inevitably fall. Yet after they fall, their mountain peaks and Cave Abodes are not removed but remain in the Cloud Sea. Although there are certain risks, every single one is an opportunity. Even a casual harvest can be exchanged for a large amount of Contribution Points!”

“Junior Brother, if you are interested, this humble one recently discovered a relatively safe Cave Abode…”

Really? I don’t believe it!

Lu Yang sneered in his heart. Fairy Qing Chen’s persuasive appearance looked too much like Liu Xin tricking him into cultivating the [Primordial Dao Scripture] in his previous life.

This was fishing!

What Cave Abode opportunity? It was just bait.

It seemed he had revealed his wealth. Seeing a newly entered disciple like him purchase so many spirit pills, they wanted to trick him into going out, kill him, and take the spirit pills for themselves?

Thinking of this, Lu Yang showed a look of temptation. “I need to consider it.”

“There is no rush.” Hearing this, Fairy Qing Chen nodded. “The acceptance procedures are complete. Junior Brother, you can contact me after you go back and think it over…”

“I’ve thought it over. I’m not going.”

Seeing the procedures were done, Lu Yang grabbed the bottle containing the spirit pills without another word and returned to his Cave Abode, leaving Fairy Qing Chen standing there alone.

“???”

A moment later, Fairy Qing Chen, having reacted, almost crushed her silver teeth. Her pretty face was fully exposed with a murderous aura. “This Lu Yang… actually dared to play me!”

Turning around to leave, Fairy Qing Chen soon arrived at another Cave Abode.

Inside the cave, a young Daoist dressed in fine robes had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Fairy Qing Chen’s ugly expression, he frowned as well.

“Didn’t succeed?”

Fairy Qing Chen shook her head. “This person… is a bit too cautious.”

“Moreover, Senior Brother Zhao, this person borrowed money but didn’t buy Yin-Yang Immortal Flowers. Instead, he bought pills. I suspect he probably never thought about paying the money back.”

“Wanting to welsh on the debt? In his next life, maybe!”

Hearing this, Zhao Xuhe shook his head with a cold sneer. “Do you know that for every newly entered disciple, the Saint Sect has already secretly marked a price on them?”

“And the amount a disciple can borrow within the Saint Sect will absolutely not exceed their price. This is to ensure that no matter what happens, the Saint Sect can recover the cost. Bones, flesh, five viscera, soul… these are all valuable good things, more than enough to pay back the money.”

“He wants to improve his cultivation? Let him improve.”

“As long as the person is still here, higher cultivation makes him even more valuable.”

Zhao Xuhe grinned, the smell of blood seeming to flow between his teeth. “At that time, not only will we not lose money, but we might even make a profit.”

“Besides, he has the money to buy the spirit pills, but he may not necessarily have the life to use them, right?”

“Senior Brother means…”

Zhao Xuhe nodded slightly, implying something. “For many things, as long as you’re not discovered, it’s fine.”

Upon hearing this, Fairy Qing Chen’s beautiful eyes instantly brightened slightly.

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