The next day, he tidied his clothes the best he could to make himself presentable. Unfortunately, his old, pretty short-cloak was too worn out by now. He took all of the money he had left, which was just over 1 low grade spirit stone's worth. A far cry from his highest number, even more so compared to what he was expecting to possess by this point. His money making schemes haven’t been panning out particularly well.
His Alchemy, while being the most advanced of his skills, couldn’t be used to make a huge amount of money because of him being unfamiliar with the toxicity reducing skills, though that should hopefully be remedied in the coming days as it was taught as part of the Alchemy class.
His formations on the other hand were too low level and still required relatively expensive equipment and ingredients to make something, if they were to last any amount of time. Otherwise, a product not lasting more than a few weeks meant that most of the prospective customers were better off saving a bit more for a higher tiered formations. This meant that while lower level formations are very useful for an individual, they make little to no money, at least not in such a high level place as the sect itself. Perhaps they would be valued higher outside and far away from the sect grounds.
His blacksmith skills on the other hand were left completely untrained ever since he left the valley and consequently, he couldn’t make any tools or artefacts either. Selling his tier 2 formations as a weapon inscriber was an option, but that required at least some level of connections and a willing blacksmith who required the services, which is easier said than done since there is probably no lack of disciples capable of tier 2 formations in the sect. This is not even mentioning the fact that his experience inscribing or carving formations onto weapons and other tools was practically zero, leaving aside his one Tier 1 sword he helped create in the valley.
No shiny rocks in the wallet means no ability to buy cultivation resources or martial arts or techniques. His cultivation has barely progressed due to this and the fact that his busy schedule left little time to spend on cultivation in general. On the other hand, his proficiency in the Phoenix flight arts got a little better after the experience of fighting a stronger opponent and has been steadily improving over the past month.
His basic weapons training was the only other notable improvement. Which brought his musings to the topic at hand.
He was now standing before a slightly fancy restaurant at the bottom of the mountain where his “Cultivation school" was located.
*sigh* “Here I go! I hope it goes smoothly and I’ll be having sword classes tomorrow by this time.”
He walked up to the civilian staff who greeted him at the entrance.
“Hello, there should be a reservation made on behalf of my name, Fan Lei. I’m also expecting an elder to join me later.”
“Oh! You’re finally here. The Elder has already arrived and is waiting for you. He… didn’t want to be disturbed until you arrived,” the answer came but the eyes of the other party were searching, looking for something in Finlay's eyes.
Finlay was a bit confused and he could see something between bewilderment and relief on the face of the staff person.
‘Uh oh. Hopefully I wasn’t pushed into something weird or unusual.’
“...okay. Please lead the way.”
Finlay followed the other lady up the stairs to the second floor, worryingly enough. The second floor is reserved for vip rooms that are a bit expensive. Combined with the fact that his martial instructor awkwardly asked him to carry all his money, he was having a bad feeling about this.
‘No matter. The Sword training is more important. If there was something weird about this instructor and the Martial teacher still said this was better for me, that can only mean that the instructor is just that good. Only inn that way, could he try to reassure himself and calm down.
Before long, the staff member arrived at a room and motioned to Finlay that this was it and promptly left, shouting out a quick, “Please call us if you need anything.”
Finlay took a moment to rein in his stray thoughts and pushed down the weirdness that was developing around this meeting. He adjusted his clothes a little to look the best he can, donning a stoic face and a cold expression, he opened the door, ready to bow and greet the elder behind in a formal way.
Instead, when he opened the door and looked inside at the only person staying there, he simply froze.
‘Him?!... No that can’t be. Haha, no no. This would be the twist of the century if he was supposed to be my sword instructor.'
What he saw inside was a very luxurious room with a large table, glass and silverware placed on it for 2 people with an assortment of wine and freshly brewed tea on a side counter. The most salient feature of the room was a hunchback figure huddling below the window, stealing glances to the outside. He wore nothing but a bunch of rags that were surprisingly clean. The other notable feature on him apart from his unkempt black and grey hair was the copious amounts of small and large leather sacs. He also seemed vaguely familiar to FInlay, but couldn’t quite place the man’s identity.
His first thought was that some random passerby beggar accidentally made it in instead of whoever was supposed to be here, but that was instantly dismissed. How could such a thing be even possible so deep inside the sect and if that truly was what happened, this was no simple beggar. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Also, he finally realised where he saw the man before. He was the very same money crazed old man who took bets on the newbie Punching competition.
‘How could it be so simple? I need to remember, it is now a cultivation world that I live in and can’t be using the same logic of the old world to figure out weird situations. Besides, no harm done in being respectful to a stranger.’
Once he decided, he slowly closed the door and offered a bow to the back of the other person.
“Greetings elder… May I know if I’m in the right room?”
The figure lazily turned around to glance at Finlay sideways in a very non cultivator type demeanour.
“Hmm? That depends on where you want to be brat. If you’re here to only ask such stupid questions, get lost from my eyes. I’m a busy man,” after saying that, he turned back to the window, stealing curious yet sneaky glances of the outside.
Finlay was a little confused for a moment, but then decided to trust his instinct and bowed once again.
“I apologise for any disrespect Elder. This junior is Fan Lei, here to receive instruction from you. I came here following the advice from martial Instructor Wei Qi.”
A non committal “Hmm” was all he got for that. As he awkwardly held his bowed position, an etiquette to show respect to elders, the hunchback man turned around to glare at Finlay.
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“What? If you’re here already, just take a seat. Why are you fixed in such a position like an idiot? Are you trying to mock me?!!”
Finlay panicked and quickly tried to stammer out an apology only for the old man to burst out laughing.
“Hahahah! Hee hehe. Ohh hahaha ohoohohoho. That was the funniest face I’ve seen today! Sooo funny!Ohuuhaheehaahahaha…”
The hunchbacked man fell on his back, threw his arms and legs up in the air with roaring laughter.
Finlay’s expression was even more twisted in bafflement as his mouth hung open in almost shock at the unexpected scene.
“Godessess balls! You should look at your face right now! Hahaha…” The laughter continued for a while even after Finlay got his bearings and schooled his expression into a resigned one.
*sigh*
Finlay could only sigh. It seemed like this was a twist of the century after all.
The meeting eventually took on a more normal appearance, at least on the surface, eventually. The hunched back man eventually calmed down and sat before Finlay as he gazed at every inch of Finlay, as if measuring him up like a piece of meat, about to be cooked for dinner.
Finlay squirmed a little under his gaze but he was able to distract himself with his Analyse skill’s output.
Identity :
???? Qian
Male
62 years old
The Coin Sword
Job :
Honorary Elder of the True Sky Immortal Sect
Cultivation :
Qi condensation level 9 → 7 (Wind attribute); (Demonic corruption damage)
There were too many standout points in that status. Keeping aside the cultivation details, The age of 62 is pretty young, especially for a late stage Qi condensation level. The appearance of an old man was also wird considering the late stage Qi condensation cultivation level at an age of just 62. They should be a full elder instead of an honorary one, let alone be left in such a terrible situation. The personal identification as The Coin Sword just seems equally weird.
The Cultivation information says a lot more! The reduced cultivation level from 9 to 7 can only be interpreted by Finlay as damaged cultivation and the Demonic corruption damage tag was the most ominous thing he had ever seen or heard with the system or outside. He tried to see if he could find out more on it by identifying the tag.
Demonic Corruption Damage :
This person’s Qi channels and Dantian(Qi core) were extensively damaged by forcibly infused Demonic Qi, although remedied later on, the damage persists, reducing his cultivation level and preventing him from improving it further, severing his path to ascension.
After reading that description, FInlay’s expression changed slightly, along with how he looked at the seemingly old man before him. He had a bit of respect now. A respect not of an Elder but someone who had made the ultimate sacrifice as a cultivator for the sake of protecting others.
Unfortunately, that growing respect was quickly chipped away everytime he looked at the elder’s antics. Still, he had come to learn and it is clear that the old man before him is a master.
Seeing as how the old man seemed to be content staring at Finlay without saying anything, Finlay took the initiative to bring up the purpose of his visit once again.
“Senior, like I said before. I’m here to-” unfortunately, his words were cut off by vigorous waving from the eccentric elder.
“Later! Later. First is food. Why else did we even come to a restaurant? We’ll talk after that.”
FInlay wanted to protest, but he felt what the other party said was reasonable and so, he called in a person waiting outside to order some food.
“Hmm…what to order? What to order? Since you’ll be paying, let’s go with…this and…this and…”
Finlay was a bit worried when he heard that but he couldn’t exactly say no. He reluctantly ordered some light snacks and tea for himself. He watched with some concern as the other person devoured dozens of items as they were rapidly brought and served. With his growing anxiety, he couldn’t even much attention to appreciate the fact that there was barely any delay between the order and the cooked items being served.
Once their stomachs were full, one of them more than the other, Finlay finally got to the topic. Thankfully, the elder readily agreed to teach him the sword.
“Hmm…It’s no big deal, no big deal. Just make sure to come to the place in front of the academy before sunrise tomorrow. After all, Wei Qi personally asked me. How could I say no after that? Hahaha…”
Finlay sighed in relief that at least the task of finding a sword instructor was a success. His relief was quickly frozen over by the following words though.
“Oh, don’t forget to bring the fee when you come tomorrow. It will be 10 low grade spirit stones per week.”
Finlay’s face went blank as he stared at the old man. Contrary to his external countenance, there was a mounting panic in his head. He barely had 1 low grade spirit stone in total to his name. How in the world was he going to pay a 10 low grade spirit stone weekly fee. His face went pale as he tried to voice his protest.
“Se-senior!!”
“Uhh!! Stop shouting?? What’s the matter?”
“Where in the world am I going to bring in that kind of spirit stones from?!”
“What do you mean?!...You are a pauper! I hate broke fools the most! You can be forgiven for being impolite. You can be forgiven for being incompetent and You can even be forgiven for being a complete idiot and I would still have taken you in to teach, but how can I possibly teach you if you can’t pay up??”
Finlay’s face went increasingly paler as the other party kept shouting.
“To think that idiot Wei QI set me up with a useless thing like you…Arrgh. If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have eaten more at least.”
Finlay wanted to curse at the other after hearing the last part. But it wouldn’t do to lose his temper now, especially as a proper cultivator that he now is. It took a lot of time for Finlay to convince the other old man to see some reason. After over an hour of shameless begging and pleading, the fee came down to 1 low grade spirit stone per week, which was already going to be an intimidating task for Finlay.
In a mounting and deep worry, he bid farewell for the senior cultivator before he left the room himself. His way was blocked by the restaurant staff who served their private room.
“Young master, this is your total bill. Please check and pay for it before leaving.”
Finlay was brought out of his contemplation at that. He simply nodded once he understood what it was and received the bill into his hands and promptly froze almost immediately as he laid eyes on the contents.
“Fo- four Low grade spirit stones?! Tha- that doesn’t even make sense!! How could it be that much??!”
The expression of the restaurant staff member changed a bit at that. He still patiently explained each dish to Finlay and how much they cost to be served in the private room etc.
The dishes contained several Qi enriched ingredients and expensive herbs used in high level Tier 2 Alchemy etc. There was an added cost for having a private room and a dedicated server. On top of that, there was an outrageous service charge for being served immediately without delay. That was because, it was only possible to do that with a high level spatial storage device that generally, only Foundation establishment cultivators possessed. He regretted not speaking up when he suspected earlier how they were bringing out steaming hot dishes within a minute of placing the order.
“Ahh….this is going to be awkward, but I don’t have that kind of money on hand.”
“Ohh that’s fine, young master. The restaurant has a financing option that charges only a modest interest rate. There is nothing to worry about.” Despite the words being said and the tone, the smile on the server turned noticeably cold and distant. Finlay could only sigh at his misfortune.
He finally exited the restaurant after signing an agreement to pay back in monthly instalments. Even though there was a no interest option to Core disciples he kept his identity hidden and only used his inner disciple badge.
‘Ahh…after all this trouble, these sword wielding classes better be worth it! Now, what should I do about making money in the short term?’
He started off towards his friendly dumpling, Wang Doshan’s place to see if he could bounce off a few ideas to earn those pesky shiny rocks that he desperately needed right now.
To be continued.