He didn’t have to wait long to hear another knock on the door.
“Hello, sir. I am Zack. Manager for Mr. Sunhouse, owner of this hotel. I heard you want to discuss business with us.” Castiel heard a voice from the other side of the door.
After he opened his door, he saw a very handsome white man in his thirties accompanied by two bodyguards. He was dressed in a three-piece white suit with a blue tie. The bodyguards wore all black suits. One of the bodyguards had a greatsword on his back while the other was wearing metal claws on both hands. Oddly, all three of them had normal black eyes. Zack was blonde while the bodyguards were brunette.
-They must be wearing contact lenses to confuse their potential enemies.- He thought.
Castiel did feel a slight sense of danger from the bodyguards but that was all. Zack was taken aback as he saw a teen open the door but other than that, he didn't show much reaction. He could not look down on a customer based on appearance, otherwise he would be out of his job soon.
“Would you like to get a tour of the villa now before making any decisions?” Zack asked Castiel courteously.
“Let’s go.” Castiel hung both his swords on his waist and followed them.
.
The villa was right beside the main road. About an hour away from the hotel. Castiel could feel noticeably better mana concentration in the air compared to the mortal area but it won’t have any impact on him who is practicing Fundamentals of God. His cultivation is too slow to begin with.
The villa was in pristine condition indicating it had always been taken care of even while empty. The villa had 4 bedrooms, a hall and a kitchen. Best redeeming feature of the villa was a very large lawn which he encountered just as he entered the villa premises, and a ten feet tall reinforced concrete fence surrounding the whole villa. All he cared about was a large enough space to practice skills and privacy.
“I am satisfied. I would like to rent it for a year.” Castiel said to Zack without wasting any time.
“50 primary mana stones for a year. You have to pay at the beginning. Sign this contract if you agree.” Zack said. -That’s why nobody wants to rent this place.- Castiel thought. But he immediately signed the contract and paid. He didn’t think Mr. Sunhouse will miss these 50 primary mana stones, so he didn’t bargain.
“Pleasure doing business with you, sir. If you need anything, you can contact the hotel reception and ask for me by name. I will help you anyway I can.” Zack bowed courteously and went on his merryway.
.
The next few days, he just stayed home and cultivated peacefully. He was waiting for his mana channels to heal before he decided to do anything. Cultivating straight to peak mid qi-gathering was still hurting his channels.
After a week, his channels had fully healed and were not hurting anymore. Now he had to plan his cultivation for the next year.
-First I need to buy human anatomy books that are followed in Serafin University of Excellence to prepare for unblocking my mana channels once I reach pinnacle qi-gathering.
Then, I need to hire some help to take care of my daily necessities and run errands for me.- Castiel murmured.
He asked around and went to a large bookstore near the city center. As he entered the store, he saw an old man with grey hairs and deep green eyes sitting behind the counter. The elder was sitting cross-legged on a couch. Castiel felt oddly peaceful just by being near him. -Must be flora affinity.- He assumed.
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He looked around the store and saw endless shelves of books. All the shelves were protected by powerful formations. There were quite a few old and young people browsing the shelves. He even saw a group of merfolks sitting at a table and deeply engrossed in some books. Everyone was talking in hushed tones. It seemed more like a library than a bookstore.
“Hello elder. Do you have human anatomy books studied in SUE?” He asked the elderly store clerk. Before the elder could get a word in, he sensed a tall presence beside him.
“You won’t find a single book that is studied in SUE in any store in the empire.” The presence tapped on his shoulder and said in a calm voice. He turned to find a six feet tall, extremely beautiful girl with dusky skin. She looked to be in her early twenties. She also had the same greenish eyes as the elder and was wearing large circular framed glasses. She was donning a white frock with gold embroidery.
He felt even more at peace in her aura. Her aura was like a pristine jungle at dawn.
“This is my daughter, Fream. She just graduated from SUE Medical College. She is also a 6th level herbalist.” The elder introduced the girl proudly. He had a powerful baritone voice. Castiel stared at the girl in shock. She was the second absolute genius he had encountered after Carla Seraphim.
The herbalist profession entails manipulating spirit plants. They can produce spirit plants faster or modify them to have higher yield. Mortal genetic technology has no way to modify spirit plants because the mana contained in them counters any and all attempts at genetic modification.
Cultivators with flora affinity can manipulate spirit plants to fight but they cannot expedite the process of a plant bearing its fruit. For that, they need to study the anatomy of plants to precisely manipulate them with mana. This profession is called herbalism.
Since Fream was a 6th level herbalist, she was capable of manipulating nascent soul plant lifeforms. She also had to have studied thousands of different spirit plants’ anatomy to reach her level. That’s why Castiel had even more of a reason to be shocked because she was a genius in intellect.
“Not a single store in the empire? Why?” Castiel snapped out of his daze and asked Fream in return.
“Well, we don’t study mass-produced books in SUE. For each subject, there is a handwritten manuscript with the highest human knowledge that the professors use to teach. Some big organizations might have copies of these manuscripts but it is impossible for you to get in touch with them.” Fream pushed her glasses up, crossed her hands to support her bust, and explained gently. Castiel tried not to stare at her bust.
“Why do you need to study human anatomy in particular?” Fream asked. Fream acted like she was oblivious to her charm.
“I need a full map of the human mana channel network.” Castiel did not think there was any need to hide this. Since it should be quite a common desire for cultivators.
“Why do you need to buy the SUE human anatomy book for that? You do know nascent souls can see their own mana channel network, right? Mana channel network is already a semi public information. You just need to buy that information, not the whole human anatomy book.” Fream asked in puzzlement. Castiel was quite embarrassed by this sudden revelation.
To be honest, he had a blindspot in his thought process. When Leo told him that nascent souls can see their own mana channels, he should have guessed that the human mana channel network might not be secret knowledge.
“So, do you have that information?” He asked.
“Yes. It will cost you 10 primary mana stones. No bargaining.” The elder said. Fream went to get the book while he waited. After a while she returned with a very thin book. The book had brown bindings and with ‘The Human Mana Channel Network’ written in gold. Castiel paid the money for the book. Now he only had 20 primary mana stones remaining.
-If this book alone cost me 10 primary mana stones, I don’t think I would have been able to buy the full SUE human anatomy book even if it was available.- He thought.
“Can you tell me, according to you, what is the fastest way for combat cultivators to earn money?” He asked the elder. He wanted to try his luck since these two people were friendly.
“A lot. You can go outside the city boundary to hunt beasts for their beast cores or go deep into the mountains for a chance to encounter spirit herbs or fruits. You can also hunt bounties released by powerful families and organizations. You can register in the mercenary union to complete tasks assigned by others to the union and get paid a commission.” Fream answered again before the elder could get a word in. He was used to his daughter’s antics and just closed his eyes to meditate.
“Want to buy a basic compendium of herbs and beasts? Just 5 primary mana stones.” Fream crouched slightly to get her mouth close to his ears and whispered. Castiel’s breathing hastened, influenced by her perfume. He lowered his head to hide his blush.
He paid 5 more primary mana stones for the compendium. He didn’t know if he was getting scammed but he wouldn’t mind even if that was the case. She had already helped him too much. He already felt like he owed her one.