The sect leader felt Ren's cultivation now that his void was open. His breath felt at least five hundred years old. It was calm and stable, unlike the breaths of many cultivators he had met, yet he couldn't tell which stage he was at. His soul wasn't weak but he wasn't in Nascent or Soul transformation. This left him in a puzzle long after Ren had given up on the test.
"We'll search for a better crystal master, I promise you!" Liuyue assured, full of certainty. But Ren wasn't the least bothered by the failure here. He looked on the bright side which was more about the cultivation levels instead of the stages. All he knew was that he was on par with the leader of this sect.
After all, cultivation stages were only useful to ascend from being a mortal to an immortal who could cross the galaxy and travel to other worlds.
He turned to the sect leader and gave a better salute, truthfully grateful for enlightening him without his knowledge. "Thank you." He straightened. "We'll get going now."
With that, Ren turned to the door they had walked in through, his disciples following him.
"Wait!"
Ren offered the sect leader his attention one last time. "If you'd like, you are welcome to join my sect as an elder. Your disciples will also join without any other tests. Their foundation is-"
"Sorry, but, I'm not interested."
Yes. His goal wasn't to dilly-dally and follow orders. Maybe he would have accepted this fine offer had Liuyue not come to find him. But his future self had already made it clear; he needed to fully focus. This was possibly his last life. "I have a sect of my own."
"Oh? I haven't heard of it. Where is-"
"Right here." He glanced at his only two disciples.
"Oh! Okay. Then, please let me see you out."
There was no jealousy or envy from him, something that Ren truly appreciated because of how rare it was in both worlds.
Walking out of the hall, they found the three disciples from earlier kneeling on a bar of nails by the stairs and the elder who had promised to punish them stood next to them, supervising.
He made eye contact with Ren which lasted a brief seconds. An eye conversation that left him confused.
"I hope to you again, Master Renshen. And if you ever need any help that I can offer, please contact me through this." He gave Ren a black token. "This can also be useful in an auction within the city. They'll give you a twenty percent discount on any item you purchase."
"Thank you."
Liu Ming received it on Ren's behalf. "We can walk the rest of the way by ourselves. Thank you for hosting us."
They saluted at each other and Ren walked out of the gates and towards the carriage awaiting them.
"Where are we going, Master?" Liuyue asked excitedly. "Can we go shopping? I want to show you around the city since this is your first time here."
Stolen novel; please report.
Feeling the thrill pulsating in her, Ren found himself unable to turn her down.
"Very well then."
#############
For the next three days, Ren immersed himself in books that explained in depth everything about the cultivation levels and stages, from the Qi foundation to the Immortal transformation. He genuinely wanted to learn and grow stronger.
When he wasn't reading, he was watching Clay play with Han or meditating to merge further with his ability and skills.
His intelligence on earth had been high, to begin with, and coupled with his broadened perception, the understanding was easy.
The journey to immortality wasn't all about brute strength or talent, one needed a functioning brain, patience, control, and minimal anger. And yet the two still played a part, just like how he was seven hundred years old and only with a cultivation level of two thousand whilst a human his age would either be dead or already an immortal.
He found himself in between weak and strong which wasn't a good feeling at all.
"Ssss...." Clay rolled over the book he was busy reading, craving attention.
"Little bastard. Haven't I told you not to interrupt when I'm busy?"
It ignored him and rolled again to lie on its back hoping Ren would notice the development on its body.
"What is this?" He squinted to study the extra layer with a ganoid shape. Ren touched it to feel it. "A scale? But you already have them. Who am I kidding? Why should I be surprised if I wake up one day and find you looking like a toad? Nothing in this world is what I was used to, except the nature of the heart."
He exhaled abandoning the book to get up from the desk. "Let's go out for some air."
Clay hopped on his arm excitedly, reminding him of how Liuyue acted around him.
To his surprise, he was informed that his disciples had gone into seclusion in the quiet rooms at the back of the residence. 'Diligent. Matches my style. I see why I may have chosen those two.'
And with nothing to do, Ren decided to go outside the residence in search of spirit stones. He had learned that these types of stones had refined energy, unlike the raw energy that flowed through spiritual veins. Since he couldn't sense any veins close by, the spirit stones would be useful for the three of them.
He walked around the market, refraining from buying anything other than what he came here for.
Minding his own business and training his focus, someone suddenly bumped into him along the busy street. "Sorry. I'm sorry," the little boy apologized and hurried off.
"A beggar? Maybe these worlds aren't that different."
He patted the left side of the belt around his waist and noticed that his pouch was gone. "A pickpocketer! How absurd. But unlucky you, my money is quite safe." It was in the safest place where no one other than himself could access, the void.
He had taught himself how to put things in there and how to retrieve them.
On his first attempt, the broken shards of swords almost sliced his hand. The piece of sleeve from the elder was also retrieved along with the willow branches.
He almost threw up from the disgust of carrying these things with him all this time.
After walking around searching for what he was looking for, he finally found the street which was radiating with the stones displayed on stands for all to buy.
They weren't what he was expecting, but then again, if they polished, that would have only made these money-hungry sellers lose money by failing to scam people.
Clay made some movement in Ren's sleeve which he immediately forbade. "Stay in there. You're too colorful, especially in the daylight."
"Sss..."
"I don't care what you mean but if you dare show yourself, I'll lock you up in that cage I got you from."
It hissed again and defied his warning. But before Ren could toss it into the void, he noticed the color change. Clay was now a seemingly normal yellow snake, and so were his pupils. "You can do that? One point for you Clay."
It hissed flattered, before slithering up his arm to sit on his right shoulder. "I'm going shopping with a snake. How ridiculous."
From one stand to the other, Ren chose the best according to his instincts, which were never wrong most of the time. One stone cost between fifty and one hundred and fifty coins. Quite expensive. If asked for his opinion, ten coins was a reasonable price. But sadly, nobody did or ever would. This was not his city or his people.
"This one as we-" He placed his hand on a stone just as another hand was choosing it. From its elegant and soft touch, he recognized it belonged to a woman before he looked at the owner.
With his senses tuned down to zero, he hadn't felt her presence. No. He just hadn't cared about who else was close to him.
She giggled making eye contact. Her hand was gently on his. "Oh dear, looks like we are destined. Why don't you let me have this one, handsome little brother?" She flashed him a seductive smile.
"I'm not your little brother." Ren yanked his hand from beneath hers, taking with him the stone. "...how much will these..."
The female was left glaring at him, annoyed that, for the first time, a 'mortal' hadn't fallen under her Charm breath, much less, a human. She bit her lip in anguish, tearing it slightly before licking it clean to heal the tear. 'That stone is quite precious. Where is this human taking it? Who is his master?'