vstars 43. Bullying the weak? I don't have that habit!
43. Bullying the weak? I don't have that habit!
It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Xu Yan returned to the Taoist temple. He really didn't want to eat any more bland vegetarian food, so he simply found He and Cheng and said he wanted to go into the city to take a look.
He Tiannan pondered for a moment, then took out several jade talismans and handed them to Xu Yan, instructing him to crush them for protection if he encountered danger.
Xu Yan was well aware that their current situation was far from safe. He had originally intended to bring He Tiannan along as a bodyguard, but the other party clearly had no such intention.
Was he not expressing himself clearly enough?
He wanted to speak, but He Tiannan waved him off.
Xu Yan walked away, her mind heavy with worries, feeling truly choked up.
The two of them had gotten along quite well before, so why did things change so abruptly?
Does this mean that once the cause and effect are settled, there will be no further connection, and no more inquiries or questions?
But what about these jade talismans?
That deliberate feeling didn't disappear; instead, it became even stronger!
Was it a deliberate test, or an intentional encouragement?
The Taoist temple and the ancient city are not far apart. With He Tiannan's cultivation level, as long as the jade talisman can hold out for a moment, he can immediately reach the city!
Having figured this out, Xu Yan no longer hesitated, left the Taoist temple alone, and headed straight for the city.
Inside the temple, He and Cheng sat facing each other under a tree.
Master Cheng poured He Tiannan a cup of fresh tea: "That kid went out?"
He Tiannan snorted: "A little impatience means you're not a proper person!" His words carried a hint of anger at his lack of ambition.
"Children and grandchildren have their own blessings." Master Cheng poured himself another cup. "We can only help them get on their feet and see them off for a while. In the end, they have to walk their own path."
He Tiannan didn't say anything, but picked up the tea and savored it carefully.
Calm waters cannot produce excellent sailors.
Every cultivator has their own destiny; they either grow through setbacks or perish in failure.
"What are your plans for the future, my dear brother?" Master Cheng asked again.
He Tiannan snapped out of his reverie and put down his teacup: "Once this matter is settled, I will travel the world and return to Lijian Gorge for seclusion when the time is right."
Master Cheng said solemnly, "You still can't let go of that sword intent?"
He Tiannan downplayed the issue, saying, "I might reap some rewards once I break through to the Nascent Soul stage."
Master Cheng advised, "Why are you so persistent?"
"Sigh, I can't let go!" He Tiannan sighed softly, a hint of disappointment appearing between his brows.
Legend has it that the Sword Sharpening Gorge contains a wisp of sword intent left behind by an ancient great master. From ancient times to the present, countless cultivators have tried to obtain it, but none have succeeded.
He Tiannan also went to Lijian Gorge under the guidance of the legend. He spent the night at Shitai and dreamed of an ancient flying sword. After waking up, his swordsmanship improved by leaps and bounds. From then on, he believed the legend and was convinced that he was the destined one of that sword intent.
He has progressed from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, and is now almost at Nascent Soul, but the dream has not reappeared, and the sword intent is nowhere to be found.
By this time, Xu Yan had arrived outside the city. Several gatekeepers stood lazily by the gate, watching the people entering and leaving pay the city gate tax.
Nearly a hundred people carrying loads on their shoulders and in their hands lined up at the city gate.
Seeing the novelty, Xu Yan consciously stood at the back of the line.
Well, it's just basic quality of modern people.
When it was Xu Yan's turn, he was in trouble again.
The common people all paid taxes with copper coins, but the least valuable thing on his body was the spirit pearl.
Not wanting to break the rules, he simply took out one coin, intending to exchange it for a few copper coins.
The gatekeeper's eyes widened at the sight, and without saying a word, he kowtowed and apologized. The surrounding people also knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.
Xu Yan was stunned and refused to get up no matter which one he was helped to.
The great writer Xu had never seen anything like this before, and in the end, he could only flee in disarray.
Only after he had run far away did the group of people get up tremblingly, and several gatekeepers took off running without even looking back at the city gate.
Upon receiving the news, the people stopped entering the city and immediately turned around and left.
Xu Yan knew nothing about this, and chose the largest restaurant on the busiest street, ordering a table of the finest food.
Before long, a variety of exquisite dishes, whose names I didn't know, were served one by one.
He grabbed his chopsticks and devoured the food in no time, leaving the dishes in a complete mess.
Xu Yan patted his round belly and let out a satisfied burp: "Waiter, the bill!"
The waiter immediately presented the bill: "Thank you for your consideration. It is sixteen taels and three mace of silver. You can give me sixteen taels."
Xu Yan said slowly and deliberately, "I have no money!"
The waiter's expression immediately changed: "Sir, you must be joking."
"I'm not kidding!" Xu Yan tossed a spirit pearl onto the table. "How about I pay the bill with this?"
The waiter's expression changed again, and he quickly called the manager over.
The shopkeeper quickly smiled apologetically and returned the spirit pearl with both hands: "Immortal Master, you are too kind. This meal is on the house!"
"What do you mean 'please'? Am I here to dine and dash? Hurry up, how many spirit pearls do you want!" Xu Yan said with dissatisfaction.
He had already realized something was wrong, but as a good socialist youth, how could he not pay for his meal?
The shopkeeper was almost in tears. He tremblingly held up three fingers, hesitated for a moment, and then withdrew one.
Xu Yan was speechless: "Do you think I'm someone who lacks a few spirit pearls? Hurry up, how many spirit pearls do you want?!"
The shopkeeper's face twitched, but he couldn't manage a smile. He steeled himself and held up five fingers.
"Only five?" Xu Yan frowned. "Only five for such a big table? Is that enough?"
A bowl of noodles at Yuanji Immortal Workshop costs three pearls, while a table of dishes here only costs five pearls?
"That's enough, that's enough, we can make a profit!" The shopkeeper nodded vigorously.
Xu Yan directly gave him ten spirit beads: "Consider the extras a bonus!"
The shopkeeper was overjoyed, his old face beaming with happiness: "Thank you so much, Immortal Master! Thank you so much, Immortal Master!"
She tried to kneel down and kowtow, but Xu Yan grabbed her arm, saying, "Go away, go away, I'll sit by myself for a while, don't bother me!"
He wasn't an arrogant person, nor did he have a habit of bullying the weak, but the behavior of the shopkeeper and the waiter was enough to explain a lot.
If he's too polite, the shopkeeper might just imagine what he'll do!
The shopkeeper left, thanking him profusely. Xu Yan crossed his arms and looked outside, his mind racing with calculations.
He calculated the price of the two spiritual techniques based on the prices in the immortal market. The two spiritual techniques were equivalent to two million pearls, which was roughly equivalent to five or six million in the real world.
However, food and drink in mortal cities are much cheaper than in immortal markets. Now, the actual value of the two spiritual techniques is probably close to ten million, or even more!
That's a huge sum of money!
Well, one bead is roughly equal to ten yuan, and one magic spell costs about a thousand yuan. It took three days to travel from Lijian Gorge to Lichen Temple. At sixteen magic spells a day, that's sixteen thousand yuan, so for three days, it's a total of forty-eight thousand yuan... Setting up the formation used up nearly a hundred more, making it almost a hundred thousand yuan...
Thinking about this made him feel terrible.
Is spiritual practice really that expensive?
I thought I had achieved financial freedom, but it turns out I don't have many of those two spiritual techniques, which isn't enough to cover my expenses at all!
day!
Xu Yan really wanted to flip the table on the spot.
The Ten Directions Spiritual Technique cost a whole hundred million! And he just missed it?
If there were spirit mines in the real world... well, never mind. This thing is essentially a type of jade. Even if there were mines, he couldn't afford to buy it. Besides, whether it has spiritual power or not is the key point!