Li Shangyan left Purple Garden in a daze.
Why wasn’t the test today?
But he didn’t dare ask.
Back at his little courtyard at the foot of Ziyang Peak, Li Shangyan felt somewhat lost.
It was noon now. If he returned to the urban world, it would be midnight there, and there would still be nothing to do.
Just as he was wondering what to do today, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
Li Shangyan opened the door and found a slightly chubby young man, about twenty-four or twenty-five, standing outside.
Before Li Shangyan could speak, the young man said first, “My name is Su Dekuai. I live next door. Junior Brother, did you just move in?”
“Su Dekuai?” Li Shangyan blinked.
Was there really someone named that?
Clearly used to being misunderstood, Su Dekuai helplessly explained, “The Su in my name means ‘to awaken’!”
Li Shangyan coughed dryly. “Senior Brother Su, hello. May I ask what you need?”
Su Dekuai was very outgoing. “Oh, nothing! I just saw that a new neighbor moved in next door, so I came over to say hi!”
“You look unfamiliar, Junior Brother. Which peak did you come from?”
Li Shangyan said, “I’m an outer disciple. I just joined Ziyang Peak.”
“Huh? An outer disciple? Then how did you manage to join Ziyang Peak?” Su Dekuai was surprised.
Li Shangyan smiled bitterly. “I have Five Elements Perfection, and nowhere else to go, so the Sect Leader arranged for me to stay on Ziyang Peak.”
Su Dekuai cried out, “Five Elements Perfection? You’re the legendary number one mediocre talent?”
“Uh…” Li Shangyan wanted to hit the fat man.
But he couldn’t beat him!
So he chose to keep to himself.
Su Dekuai didn’t notice anything wrong at all. Instead, he asked excitedly, “Junior Brother, I heard Five Elements Perfection cultivation progresses very slowly. Is that true for you?”
Li Shangyan really wanted to punch him.
But he still said, “It really is very slow! It took me a whole year to cultivate to Qi Refining Layer 2.”
“Junior Brother, don’t get discouraged. Back when I first entered the sect, it also took me a year to reach Qi Refining Layer 2…” As he said that, Su Dekuai froze.
“You, with Five Elements Perfection, reached Layer 2 in one year?”
Seeing that he had finally shocked the fat man, Li Shangyan pretended to be troubled and said, “Yeah, it’s so slow! Steward Wang Yuan said that if I were a single-attribute cultivator, I might already have surpassed the Foundation Establishment stage.”
“Compared to that, it really is much slower.”
“Senior Brother, do you have any suggestions for increasing cultivation speed?”
Hearing Li Shangyan humblebrag like that, it was Su Dekuai’s turn to shut down.
Damn!
A Five Elements Perfection cultivator’s speed was actually catching up to his!
Su Dekuai quickly changed the subject. “Well, you still need a master’s guidance. By the way, who is your master? Which big shot is it?”
Li Shangyan said, “I don’t have a master yet! However, the Sect Leader told me to follow Elder Ye’s guidance.”
Su Dekuai was stunned and asked in confusion, “Which Elder Ye?”
“Ye Ziyuan!”
“Ah?”
Hearing that answer, a trace of fascination flashed in Su Dekuai’s eyes, followed immediately by intense fear.
He couldn’t help shivering, and his gaze at Li Shangyan grew complicated.
There was envy, but more than that, sympathy!
Noticing Su Dekuai’s odd reaction, Li Shangyan was stirred and quickly asked, “Senior Brother, is there something wrong with Elder Ye…?”
Su Dekuai hedged, “Well… Elder Ye is a bit special.”
He glanced left and right, then lowered his voice and said, “She’s a demoness!”
“A de… demoness?” Li Shangyan frowned. “Is she a demon cultivator?”
Su Dekuai blinked. “Demon cultivator? What’s that?”
Li Shangyan coughed dryly and asked, “Nothing. Then what do you mean?”
Damn!
I’d read too many cultivation novels!
I thought this world had demon cultivators…
Su Dekuai said, “Elder Ye especially likes messing with people. From top to bottom on Ziyang Peak, no one has escaped her torment.”
Li Shangyan could not imagine a woman like that liking to mess with people.
“Did you get it wrong? Do you mean Elder Ye Ziyuan?”
Su Dekuai nodded.
Li Shangyan still didn’t quite believe it. “But she…”
Su Dekuai asked, “You’ve met her already?”
Li Shangyan nodded. “I just met her, and she seemed very quiet. There was nothing strange about her at all.”
Su Dekuai said, “You were lucky to see her gentle side.”
“When you see her other side, you’ll know what a real storm is!”
As he said this, Su Dekuai seemed to remember something unpleasant and couldn’t help shivering.
Li Shangyan finally understood what Ye Ziyuan meant by that test.
So that was it. She wanted him to see her other side.
So!
Does she have split personality disorder?
When Li Shangyan wanted to ask more, Su Dekuai didn’t want to talk anymore.
He patted Li Shangyan on the shoulder and said sympathetically, “Junior Brother, good luck!”
Li Shangyan asked, “Senior Brother, the Sect Leader said that if I don’t get Elder Ye’s approval, I will have to figure out my cultivation on my own.
“May I ask where I can get cultivation techniques?”
Su Dekuai smiled and said, “Besides learning from a master, you can also exchange for techniques in the Sect’s Scripture Pavilion.
“But you’ll need Sect contribution points to exchange for them.”
Li Shangyan asked, “How do I get contribution points?”
Su Dekuai laughed. “Contribution points are the Sect’s currency. You can earn them by completing Sect missions.
“You can also sell your extra Spirit Stones, elixirs, Spiritual Artifacts, and so on to the Sect in exchange for contribution points.”
“However, few people use the second method, because the Sect usually buys them at a discount.”
“So even if they have extras, many disciples would rather barter with other senior and junior brothers. At least then they don’t lose money.”
Hearing this, Li Shangyan suddenly had an idea.
He asked, “Senior Brother, do you need Spirit Stones?”
Su Dekuai rolled his eyes at him. “Isn’t that obvious? What cultivator doesn’t need Spirit Stones?”
Li Shangyan said, “I have a low-grade Spirit Stone. How much gold can I get for it?”
A trace of surprise flashed in Su Dekuai’s eyes as he asked in disbelief, “You’re exchanging Spirit Stones for gold?”
Li Shangyan nodded and pretended to be embarrassed. “Yes. The Sect gave me a low-grade Spirit Stone yesterday. But I’m short on cash right now, so I want to exchange the Spirit Stone for gold.”
Hearing that, Su Dekuai understood somewhat.
Xuan Yuan Sect wasn’t a charity sect; the disciples still had to rely on themselves for life inside the sect.
New outer disciples also needed gold and silver to cover their basic living expenses.
Seeing that Li Shangyan didn’t look like he was lying, a smile appeared on Su Dekuai’s chubby face.
“At market price, one low-grade Spirit Stone can be exchanged for one hundred taels of gold.”
“If you’re sincerely selling it, Senior Brother won’t take advantage of you. I’ll give you two hundred taels of gold!”
Hearing that price, Li Shangyan was stunned.
“Two… two hundred taels?”
Wasn’t that twenty jin?
A tiny little piece of lousy jade the size of a fingernail, for twenty jin of gold?
Hearing Li Shangyan’s question, Su Dekuai instead said a little awkwardly, “Junior Brother, sorry. I could have given you more gold.
“It’s just that I only have this much gold on hand right now. In a few days, I’ll go get some more.
“You can have as much as you want from me. After all, it’s worthless stuff!”
Gold isn’t worth anything? Seriously?
Li Shangyan coughed and quickly nodded in agreement. “Of course!”
As he spoke, he took out the fingernail-sized Spirit Stone and handed it to Su Dekuai.
Although Su Dekuai was an inner disciple and had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, the monthly support he received from the Sect was only ten low-grade Spirit Stones.
Trading some worthless gold for one-tenth of that allowance was an extremely good deal.
The two happily completed the transaction.