The shop sold bedding items like sheets and quilts, and the owner was afraid that those proud and aloof cultivators wouldn’t be caught dead carrying bedding through the streets, so he kept storage pouches in the shop. Since the customer had one, he didn’t need to worry about it after all, his main business was still selling bedding.
Shu Chen remembered a certain bed with nothing on it, and after circling the shop once, the smile on the owner’s face grew increasingly sincere.
Cultivators could reach a level where even sleep was unnecessary, making beds optional, but Shu Chen still had a modern mindset. Having spent a third of his day in bed, his bedding had to be soft and comfortable.
After picking out all sorts of things, Shu Chen waved his hand grandly. “Checkout.”
The shopkeeper made a show of fiddling with a gold-plated abacus before smiling warmly. “Young master, that’ll be three hundred and thirty mid-grade spirit stones.”
This was also why cultivators bought storage pouches this form of currency was truly inconvenient to carry, especially for someone like Shu Chen who spent money lavishly.
Xiao Nian finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. The shopkeeper’s expression clearly showed he was treating the little pervert like an easy mark.
He stopped Shu Chen’s hand that was reaching for his money pouch, exasperated. “Don’t you know how to haggle?”
Shu Chen: He really didn’t.
His mind worked quickly, and he shoved the money pouch into the male lead’s hands. “You pay. Whatever’s left is yours.”
Shopkeeper: Damn, I’m about to meet my match.
Xiao Nian had grown up in the mortal world, spending years roaming the streets. Through constant exposure, he’d become well-versed in the art of haggling, and he went straight for a fifty-percent cut.
The shopkeeper nearly jumped when he heard the offer. In decades of running this shop, he’d rarely encountered cultivators who knew how to bargain, and this was the first time he’d faced such a situation.
The consequence of not practicing regularly was that Xiao Nian nearly closed the deal at cost price, and the shopkeeper even threw in a storage pouch as a bonus.
The first thing Xiao Nian did with the storage pouch was stuff all the bags and bundles into it. It felt good to be unburdened again.
Shu Chen stood nearby, not being a dead weight, and stayed silent until they’d left the shop.
Xiao Nian, hands now free, propped them behind his head. “What, stunned into silence? Spendthrift.”
Shu Chen: “I wouldn’t say I’m a spendthrift.”
In his previous life, during university, he’d tried investing and starting his own business, both ending in failure. After losing all his savings, his father had urgently pulled the plug and handed him a plane ticket abroad the next day, trying to quash his entrepreneurial enthusiasm. From then on, he’d realized that as a rich second-generation with no business sense, recklessly starting ventures was more wasteful than just eating, drinking, and having fun.
Xiao Nian: “Oh, so you’re not.”
Given their special circumstances, mere verbal sparring counted as peaceful coexistence between the two. What followed was each of them quietly trying to screw the other over.
Shu Chen didn’t provide a storage pouch, so Xiao Nian’s hands quickly filled up with things again.
Xiao Nian: “Enough. Are you trying to eat yourself into being a pig?”
Shu Chen had never browsed the shops in the cultivation world, so everything looked novel to him especially the food. He had no idea what strange ingredients were used, but it all smelled delicious.
He tossed two newly wrapped snacks to the male lead. “It’s not your money, so shut up.”
Xiao Nian looked down on his disregard for food. “But you’re exhausting me.”
“Also, little young master who knows nothing of hardship, these things will spoil before they even reach your stomach.”
Shu Chen’s gaze landed on a clothing shop. “A meddling book boy don’t apply your mortal-world habits to this. The cultivation world has plenty of ways to preserve freshness.”
Originally an excuse to fend off his parents, the word “book boy” had over time taken on a meaning only the two of them understood more like a secret between owner and belonging.
Xiao Nian busied himself rearranging the bundles in his arms, making room for whatever the little pervert would buy next. “Seems I’ve seen too little of the world.”
Shu Chen: “It’s not just that you’ve seen too little you’ve got no connections either.”
“Starting tomorrow, for the next three months, the sect will put you new disciples under closed management. Don’t think about coming out during that time. The test after three months will determine your treatment in the outer sect.”
“Oh, and the sect has no disciple cafeteria. Cultivators don’t need to eat.” This was also to force new disciples to achieve bi gu fasting as early as possible and learn to absorb spiritual energy.
For those talented new disciples in the inner sect, this was naturally no problem, but for those in the outer sect, it wasn’t guaranteed. So the remaining free time was for them to prepare for what lay ahead.
Shu Chen could tell from the male lead’s empty-handed, wandering demeanor that he had no information at all.
Xiao Nian’s expression shifted. “Three months?”
Shu Chen nodded. “That’s right. For the next three months, you’ll have no food.”
Normal cultivators didn’t need to eat after achieving bi gu, but the male lead was different from normal people in every way he still got hungry.
A five-element spiritual root required absorbing even more spiritual energy, and in his current state, the energy couldn’t keep up with consumption. Before stepping onto the proper path of cultivation, he still needed the most primitive method of replenishment.
Sometimes, being special wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Xiao Nian looked around, then pointed at a plain, unassuming stall not far away with a smile. “Young master, let’s go check that out.”
Shu Chen, who had been buying nonstop, suddenly lost interest. “No, I don’t want any of that.”
Xiao Nian strode forward with an armful of things, blocking Shu Chen’s path. “I do. I’ve kept you company for this long you should at least spare me some time, young master.”
Shu Chen watched him calmly. Ever since they’d entered the town, he’d felt that, compared to before, the male lead’s temper had been far too good.
He was actually patient enough to reason with him now.
Shu Chen: “You pay for them, and you carry them yourself.”
Xiao Nian patted the things in his arms. “Of course.”
Shu Chen waved a hand, and all the food in Xiao Nian’s arms vanished into his storage ring. “Let’s go.”
Xiao Nian had bought too much, so Shu Chen threaded a black cord through the storage ring and twirled it in his hand as he walked, occasionally taking some of the load off the male lead depending on his mood.
By the time they returned to the sect, he was too exhausted to speak.
There was a faster, easier method available, but the little freak insisted on walking back.
By the time they stumbled into the room, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
Shu Chen stood in someone else’s room, finding fault with everything. “Why is there still so much dust? Didn’t you clean?”
For some reason, Xiao Nian didn’t flare up this time. He said lazily, “Wait until I’ve rested.”
Shu Chen frowned, formed a hand seal, and cleaned the place up. “Just this once. Hurry up and make the bed.” He tossed the bedding at the male lead.
Xiao Nian thought he’d misheard. He poked his head out from under the covers, incredulous. “You’re even trying to take over my bed?” His patience had its limits.
Shu Chen held his lifeline in his hands. “Most of your food is with me, after all.”
Xiao Nian yanked off his loose hair tie. “Tch, you’ve been waiting for this all along, haven’t you?”
Shu Chen: “No.”
Just as he didn’t believe what the male lead said, Xiao Nian didn’t believe him either. The two of them still had something in common: they both assumed the worst of each other.