Chapter 60: Pitiful and Miserable

Monk Dao, Ye Guan, and Nanling Yiyi left and returned to the Daoist Sect.

Shortly after they left, a spacetime rift opened. A golden-robed middle-aged man and an old man walked out of the rift.

The middle-aged man was the Clan Leader of the True Dragon Clan—Ao Tian!

Ao Tian’s eyes narrowed as he growled. “We’re too late!”

The old man’s face darkened. “It must have been Monk Dao!”

“Yes, it must have been him.” Ao Tian nodded and said, “Ye Guan is not strong enough to kill Ao Meng by himself.”

Ao Tian then turned to look in the direction of the Daoist Realm and muttered, “Since you don’t want to live your remaining days in peace, my True Dragon Clan will personally send you on your way!”

…

The three walked into the great hall of the Daoist Sect.

Ye Guan took out Ao Meng’s storage ring, and Nanling Yiyi’s eyes were glued to it. She wanted to know what was inside Ao Meng’s storage ring.

Even Monk Dao was filled with anticipation, and it was all because the True Dragon Clan was filthy rich.

Ye Guan opened the storage ring, revealing three hundred thousand gold spiritual crystals. There were also twelve Sky-grade demonic beast internal pills. There weren’t any Imperial-grade demonic beast internal pills, but they still struck it rich!

The three glanced at each other and laughed. It was a pretty big haul in their eyes.

“Master, the True Dragon Clan will definitely avenge their clan member,” said Ye Guan.

Monk Dao looked at him and asked, “What do you think we should do?”

Ye Guan thought about it and responded, “I’m still very weak, and I think I can only stand my ground against one of them, so I’ll let you handle the rest, Master!”

Nanling Yiyi couldn’t help but smile. Her junior disciple was too clever!

Monk Dao wordlessly stared at Ye Guan for a while before saying, “Young man, you look honest and upright, but you’re actually a cunning brat. You’re not a good person at all!”

He turned to look at Nanling Yiyi and said, “Little brat, you should be wary of him!”

Nanling Yiyi directed a contemptuous glare at Monk Dao, seemingly telling the latter to mind his own business.

Ye Guan chuckled hollowly and said, “I wasn’t lying when I said I can only stand my ground against one of them...”

Monk Dao turned to him and asked indifferently, “So why did you even dare to kill a True Dragon?”

Ye Guan thought about it for a moment before replying, “It’s not like I’m not allowed to try just because there’s a low chance of success.”

Monk Dao froze. He laughed heartily upon recovering and said, “You’re gutsy!”

He divided the contents of the storage ring into two and split them between Ye Guan and Nanling Yiyi. Ye Guan was slightly puzzled.

“Master, do you not want anything?” he asked.

Monk Dao shook his head and explained, “You two need those more than me.”

With that, he turned around and walked away.

Ye Guan examined the storage ring in front of him and saw 150,000 gold spiritual crystals, which meant he now had a total of 580,000 gold spiritual crystals.

Ye Guan reckoned that the gold spiritual crystals in the storage ring would be enough for his cultivation for the time being.

Cultivation! He sighed inwardly. The Daoist Sect didn’t really have a cultivation ground.

“Junior Disciple Ye, are you thinking of cultivating?” asked Nanling Yiyi.

“Yes.” Ye Guan nodded.

Nanling Yiyi chuckled and said, “You should go to the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.”

Ye Guan frowned slightly and asked, “The Immortal Treasures Pavilion?”

“Yes! They own cultivation rooms that are as good as the cultivation grounds of the Guanxuan Academy. The disciples of the six great clans often go there to cultivate.

“Of course, their cultivation rooms are expensive to rent. I heard that their most expensive cultivation rooms will cost you tens of thousands of gold spiritual crystals a day...”

Tens of thousands of gold spiritual crystals per day?! Ye Guan shook his head in exasperation. That’s too ridiculous! It feels like poor people should not walk down the path of cultivation.

“The Immortal Treasures Pavilion is pretty amazing. You can buy anything as long as you have enough money. It’s a pity that I’m poor. Otherwise, I would have already bought forbidden spell books from the Qingqiu Era to study!” Nanling Yiyi explained.

Ye Guan seemed confused as he asked, “Qingqiu Era?”

“You don’t know the Qingqiu Era?” Nanling Yiyi questioned.

Ye Guan wordlessly shook his head.

“The Zhongtu Divine Continent is under the governance of the Guanxuan Divine Continent, and the Guanxuan Universe has had two eras so far. The first era was the Sword Master Era, while the second era—the current era—is the Qingqiu Era.

“The Qingqiu Era is named after Academy Chief Qingqiu, and she’s currently the strongest figure throughout the Guanxuan Universe. Unfortunately, it had already been a thousand years since we heard any news about her.

“Some say that she had decided to look for the Sword Master, while some say that she had decided to hibernate,” said Nanling Yiyi.

She shook her head before continuing. “I’m not sure about the details, and I think the members of the Main Guanxuan Academy’s Committee are the only ones who know why she disappeared.”

Academy Chief Qingqiu! Ye Guan asked Little Pagoda, “Master Pagoda, do you know Academy Chief Qingqiu?”

“I do!” Little Pagoda answered.

Ye Guan sounded amazed as he said, “Master Pagoda, you’re really amazing. To think that you’re acquainted with so many powerhouses. I’m sorry to say this, but I had been thinking that you were just lying to me.”

Little Pagoda: ???

Meanwhile, Nanling Yiyi said, “If you want to cultivate properly, you should head to the Immortal Treasures Pavilion. Their cultivation grounds are great places to cultivate in peace because fights are forbidden in their buildings.

“In other words, the members of the True Dragon Clan cannot lay their hands on you while you’re cultivating in the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.”

“I understand. Thank you,” said Ye Guan with a nod.

Nanling Yiyi grinned and extended her storage ring that contained a hundred thousand gold spiritual crystals over to Ye Guan.

Ye Guan stared at the storage ring in a daze.

“Just think of it as taking out a loan from me,” Nanling Yiyi said.

Ye Guan shook his head and replied, “I still have enough gold spiritual crystals.”

Ye Guan was well aware that Nanling Yiyi was barely getting by, and he wasn’t shameless enough to accept her gold spiritual crystals knowing that fact.

“I—” Nanling Yiyi started.

However, Ye Guan interrupted her with a smile. “I’m seriously fine. Just keep it for yourself!”

Nanling Yiyi hesitated for quite a little, but she eventually nodded and said, “All right then, if you need gold spiritual crystals, just let me know. I don’t really have anything to use these gold spiritual crystals for the time being.”

“Sure, don’t mind me if I do by then,” said Ye Guan.

Nanling Yiyi got up and said, “I think we should start building your residence.”

“Yep, let’s do it.” Ye Guan nodded.

The two of them left the great hall.

After roughly three hours of hard work, Ye Guan’s simple residence was finally completed. It was neither too big nor too small; it was just the right size for one person.

The two also decided to renovate the daoist temple, which looked dilapidated and abandoned. The two worked hard to renovate both the interior and exterior of the temple, so they managed to complete the necessary renovations on the same night.

The two were sitting on the stone steps of the great hall to rest.

Ye Guan’s curiosity was suddenly piqued, and he asked, “Senior Disciple Yiyi, who’s the founder of our Daoist Sect?”

“I don’t know…” Nanling Yiyi shrugged. She chuckled bitterly and added, “I asked Master about it, but even he has no idea who founded the Daoist Sect.”

Ye Guan didn’t know what to say.

However, Ye Guan came up with an idea and asked Little Pagoda, “Master Pagoda, do you happen to know who founded the Daoist Sect?”

“Yes!” replied Little Pagoda.

“Who is it?” Ye Guan asked once again.

Little Pagoda answered, “The founder of the Daoist Sect is Great Daoist Brush Master!”

Ye Guan frowned and asked, “Great Daoist Brush Master? Is he stronger than the Sword Master?”

Little Pagoda was silent for a few moments before saying, “Well, if the Sword Master is not considered human, the Daoist Master is stronger. If the Sword Master is considered human, the Sword Master is stronger!”

Considered human? Ye Guan looked bewildered as he asked, “Does the Sword Master’s humanity even matter? We’re talking about his prowess here.”

“It matters!” Little Pagoda exclaimed.

Ye Guan didn’t know what to say.

After a while, Ye Guan parted ways with Nanling Yiyi and headed straight to the Immortal Treasures Pavilion. He wasn’t planning on wasting his time standing idly by.

His plan was to cultivate whenever he had time. He had to be strong enough for the upcoming Destiny Contest, and he also had to be strong enough to massacre the members of the True Dragon Clan.

Of course, he also had to be strong enough before visiting the Undying Clan to borrow a sword. Otherwise, the Undying Clan would definitely not honor his request.

Ye Guan was well aware that he had no time to waste. Right now, the only thing that mattered to him was becoming stronger, and he would do his best to become even stronger before and after the Destiny Contest.

It didn’t take Ye Guan a long time to reach the Immortal Treasures Pavilion using Sword Travel. Ye Guan soon entered the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.

Unbeknownst to him, a man had been keeping tabs on him from when he departed the Daoist Sect until he arrived at the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.

The man saw that Ye Guan had safely entered the Immortal Treasures Pavilion’s premises, so he looked away and drank wine from the gourd hanging from his waist.

The man was none other than Monk Dao!

…

Manager Mo Ya of the Immortal Treasures Pavilion Yong City branch was attending to Ye Guan. Manager Mo Ya was an attractive and intelligent woman.

She smiled at Ye Guan and said, “Young Lord, our cultivation rooms are divided into six ranks—Human, Earth, Profound, Sky, Imperial, and God. May I know which rank you’re interested in renting?”

“How much does it cost to rent a Sky-rank cultivation room?” Ye Guan asked.

Mo Ya’s smile deepened as she answered, “Ten thousand gold spiritual crystals a day.”

Ten thousand gold spiritual crystals! Ye Guan was flabbergasted. It’s truly expensive!

Ye Guan hesitated before asking, “What about Imperial-rank cultivation rooms?”

Mo Ya’s eyes brightened, and she replied excitedly, “Young Lord, Imperial-rank cultivation rooms will cost you twenty thousand gold spiritual crystals a day!”

“All right, I’ll rent a Human-rank cultivation room, then!” Ye Guan said.

Mo Ya’s smile instantly vanished. Are you playing around with me? You asked so many questions, but you’re actually choosing the cheapest one?

“A Human-rank cultivation room isn’t that expensive, is it?” Ye Guan asked.

Mo Ya composed herself and replied, “No, it’s only a thousand gold spiritual crystals a day.”

“Are there any cheaper options?” asked Ye Guan.

Mo Ya didn’t say anything in response. If Ye Guan weren’t handsome, she would have already chased him away.

Ye Guan smiled sheepishly and muttered, “My apologies, I’m a bit poor.”

“It’s fine; I understand,” Mo Ya responded politely.

Ye Guan extended a storage ring over to her and said, “Ten days in a Human-rank cultivation room, please!”

Mo Ya nodded slightly and accepted the storage ring. She examined it and confirmed the amount before saying, “This way, please.”

Mo Ya brought Ye Guan to a great hall with almost a hundred teleportation arrays.

“What aspect of cultivation would you like to focus on? We have many different rooms for you to choose from,” said Mo Ya.

Ye Guan thought about it for a moment before saying, “Spacetime gravity!!”

Mo Ya nodded and pointed at a nearby teleportation.

“That array will bring you to a cultivation room with an additional layer of gravity. Go ahead, and good luck!” she said.

Ye Guan hesitated, but his hesitation didn’t last that long as he said, “I’d like a room with ten additional layers of gravity.”

Ten additional layers! Mo Ya froze. She sounded doubtful as she asked, “Ten?”

Ye Guan nodded.

“You’re only a Spacetime Realm cultivator, are you sure about cultivating in a room with ten additional layers of gravity?” Mo Ya asked in a low voice.

Ye Guan nodded once more.

Mo Ya stared deeply at him before pointing at a teleportation array that was a bit distant from them.

“That teleportation array will bring you to the room you desire,” she said.

Ye Guan walked over to that teleportation array, but he paused upon recalling something. He turned around and asked Mo Ya, “Excuse me, may I know the maximum layers of additional gravity available here?”

“Sixteen!” Mo Ya replied.

“Are there any prizes upon clearing that room?” asked Ye Guan.

Mo Ya answered, “Yes. Those under the age of twenty will be awarded three hundred thousand gold spiritual crystals upon clearing the room with sixteen additional layers of gravity, but no one has succeeded so far.”

“Really?!” Ye Guan exclaimed in excitement. “I didn’t expect that I could earn money just by cultivating!”

Mo Ya wordlessly blinked in confusion.

Ye Guan smiled sheepishly and asked again, “Are there any clear conditions?”

“Yes. Aside from the age limit, one can only attempt it thrice a year,” Mo Ya said.

“Thank you for the clarification,” Ye Guan said before turning around to enter the teleportation array.

The teleportation array soon whisked him away.

Meanwhile, Mo Ya remained silent and stood unmoving for quite a while.

Eventually, she shook her head and muttered, “He’s pretty handsome, but he’s dirt poor! I wonder what clan he belongs to… he seemed rather pitiful and miserable.”

Mo Ya sighed once more before turning around to leave.