Chapter 40: Living is Not Easy

"Sword gambling?"

"Mm."

The shopkeeper grew interested and began to chat: "Xishan Market favors gambling. Although stone gambling and clam gambling are more common, sword gambling is where the real money is. One person, one weapon, a circle drawn on the ground as a prison—with your cultivation, as long as you can survive one match, you'll walk away with at least a dozen Spirit Pearls."

Chen Ci: "." What the hell is "surviving"?

"Actually, I picked up this Five Fierce God Statue. I myself have no strength to truss a chicken."

Chen Ci patted the dust off the statue he had placed on the counter, put it away, and explained: "I have never been fond of fighting in my life. This line of work isn't for me, not at all."

"How typical."

The shopkeeper rolled his eyes, his waist slumping back down: "We cultivators, how can you be so timid."

The shopkeeper stretched out his hand and gestured: "Actually, think about it positively. This is a business that guarantees profit without loss. Either you have money, or... you never have to worry about money again. Really, won't you try?"

"Heh."

Chen Ci rolled his eyes slightly. Thinking of the shopkeeper's stingy nature, a thought suddenly struck him, and he said: "Shopkeeper, I want to purchase five thousand drops of Essence Refining from you to send to Fuhu Altar. For such a big deal, why don't you sell me two hundred drops as a sample first so I can see the quality?"

The shopkeeper was visibly shaken, his eyes widening a fraction. He looked up and scrutinized Chen Ci for a few moments, then calmly spat out one word: "Scram."

If you won't sell, you won't sell; why the need to curse?

If it weren't for your advanced age, I'd give you a couple of punches.

Chen Ci quietly made a gesture, then suddenly remembered something. He took a gold-threaded Dao Tome from his bosom, full of expectation: "Shopkeeper, you complained that this Five Fierce God Statue had passed through too many hands, but this 'Five Chang Spirit-Communication Method' should be fine, right? It teaches you how to forge Dharma Artifacts step-by-step. Name your price."

"This Dao Tome was picked up together with the Dharma Artifact, right? I understand."

The shopkeeper didn't even lift his eyelids: "Pity, I don't collect things like Dao Tomes."

Huh?

Targeting me, are you?

"Not to mention whether other people's masters will come after the stolen goods, the Ten Immortals Sect still has some strength."

The shopkeeper said slowly: "As for Dao Tomes, if I have one, why would I buy another? If I don't have one, how would I know if this thing is real or fake, or if it's missing pages? Why buy it? Understand? Except for large, reputable firms that provide guarantees, all written Dao Tomes have no market and are very hard to circulate."

Chen Ci: "."

It's ruined, it's all stuck in my hands.

I thought I could make a profit, but in the end, I couldn't even recoup the cost of the Soul Fixing Talisman I threw out earlier. A total loss.

Angry. This Baibao Pavilion, not worth staying in!

"Actually, you He Mountain Sect disciples have quite an advantage in sword gambling. The He Mountain Dao path follows the integration of weapon and technique; at the Qi Refining realm, you have all the advantages."

The old shopkeeper chuckled: "It's a pity that in all of Quanzhou, the He Mountain Sect has only produced one Lin Qinhu."

"Shopkeeper, you know Lin Shixiong?"

Chen Ci, who had already turned to leave, circled back and asked curiously.

"The Lin Qinhu of those years had a cultivation level probably only slightly higher than yours. He won thirty-seven consecutive matches in seven years of sword gambling at Xishan Market. Otherwise, how do you think he secured his position at Fuhu Altar?"

The shopkeeper's tone was inexplicably wistful: "Only someone as brave and diligent as him could rely on himself to charge toward an Upper Grade Dao Foundation."

Thirty-seven wins in seven years of sword gambling—this Hutou Daoren is a ruthless man. No wonder others sit in Xishan Prefecture while I can only stay in Changping County, pitifully guarding a Sanyin Temple.

"How about it, tempted?"

The shopkeeper's tone shifted: "Why don't you try it too? The next Upper Grade Dao Foundation could be you!"

Chen Ci: "." This old scoundrel is truly wicked.

"Shopkeeper, you must make quite a bit from recommending people, right?"

Chen Ci finally couldn't help but ask with a sarcastic remark.

"I provide the guarantee for you; I only make a small profit if you win."

The shopkeeper said righteously: "Take a gamble. Qi Refining to Dao Foundation—really, you have to believe me."

"Actually, it's the same everywhere. Most ways to make money quickly involve licking blood off a blade. It's always hard for an honest person with principles like me to get rich overnight."

Chen Ci sighed, but then he thought: even though that old codger was trying to trick him into sword gambling, didn't that mean he thought highly of him among cultivators of similar strength?

I really am an expert!

But this expert was soon defeated by the high cost of accommodation.

"Five taels of gold a day, and it doesn't include food and drink?"

Chen Ci narrowed his eyes: "Shopkeeper, you're at the very edge of the market."

He had already made up his mind that until the matter in Changping County was settled, he would stay in Xishan Prefecture and not go back. Naturally, he had to find a place to stay. As the largest market in Xishan Prefecture, Fuyun Mountain naturally had inns for guests to stay overnight.

But this price...

"This Daoist, Fuyun Mountain is situated on a spirit vein; the accommodation fee isn't something I decided."

The shopkeeper was an old man with graying hair, his physique and blood energy quite vigorous, yet he had not entered the Dao. He bowed and smiled apologetically: "The Daoist could also stay in the center of Xishan Market; it's cheaper there. If you want even cheaper, you can only stay in Xishan Prefecture city."

Chen Ci frowned. Contrary to common sense, in Xishan Market, the closer one was to the central area, the cheaper the accommodation was. However, those places were less like inns and more like private rooms for gambling dens and brothels.

It looked cheap, but the actual expenses were unpredictable.

The further away from the center of Xishan Market, the more expensive the accommodation became.

As for Fuyun Market, Chen Ci had already inquired; staying there for a night was even more expensive.

No wonder most cultivators just came and went and didn't linger in the market for long.

"Give me... one day for now."

Chen Ci took out five taels of gold and handed them over: "What are the prices for food and drink in the inn?"

"Common goods, grain, wine, and meat are about a hundred times the price of the outside world."

The shopkeeper smiled politely: "However, this humble shop also provides Bigu Pills, Spirit Rice, and other food. The prices are similar to the market rate, with only a small processing fee. Guests can also go to the center of Xishan Market to eat; there..."

"It's cheaper there, right? I understand."

Chen Ci shook his head, not wanting to say more, took the room tag, and went straight to the third floor of the inn.

This Xishan Market is truly obsessed with money in every way, vulgar.

That night.

"Gaga!"

"Jiji!"

"Zhizhi!"

"Ah, ah!"

Chen Ci opened his eyes helplessly; it was the middle of the night and no one was sleeping, did they have no sense of public morality!

An inn that costs five taels of gold a night, and this is the condition you give me?!

Even wanting to practice the Qi-eating method, it was very difficult to calm his mind.

It wasn't until near dawn that the surroundings finally quieted down completely, though there were still occasional noises.

Chen Ci practiced for the whole night, but unfortunately, he gained very little.

Three Yin Qi-eating Method: 32/100 (Three sessions a day, one level can be advanced in four hundred days)

"Everything is good at home, but everything is difficult when traveling. Having a foundation is truly of great benefit to cultivation; wealth, companions, methods, and land—this saying does not deceive me."

Chen Ci frowned slightly and looked at the progress of his Three Yin True Qi; although Fuyun Mountain was situated on a spiritual vein, the bulk of it was over at Fuyun Market, and Xishan Market only grazed the edge, not to mention that the inn he was staying in was even more remote, causing his True Qi cultivation to be more than three times slower than it was at Sanyin Temple.

"It costs over a hundred taels of gold a month, and that's just for lodging; adding in food and cultivation, this expense is no small amount."

Chen Ci calculated that without anyone to serve him, and having to prepare all his cultivation materials himself, his cultivation efficiency would drop by another thirty percent.

"Should I just go live in the Xishan Prefecture city?"

Chen Ci considered it for a long time; although the mortal areas had more abundant supplies and were convenient for practicing, the turbid Qi was too heavy, and practicing Three Yin True Qi would likely be even slower.

He could afford to delay for a month, but what if the bureaucracy of Longhu Mountain was rampant, and he ran into someone who insisted on a combination of reviews, coordination, alignment, closed-loop, and exerting force, or if they simply didn't take the matter of Qingquan Village to heart and waited a year or half a year to go over, what would he do?

He could not afford to delay.

"I'll use the Huang Family Caravan to find out the situation; if there's no change in the short term, I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to bite the bullet and go back."

After all, Qingquan Village was eighty or ninety miles away from Changping County; if it weren't for the need to escort the Essence Refining tribute, he would never have run all the way to Xishan Prefecture.

Really.

(End of chapter)