Six Months Later

The youth checked his mask before opening the Guild building doors. The inside was still as lively as it had been six months ago. But the only difference was –

“Boy, back from your commission?”

“Did the blue-dotted tiger put up a good fight!?”

“Going to take another commission now?”

Questions like these came from the numerous mercenaries who now knew him from either being at a party with him or just talking to him in the Guild building. The youth answered them with a polite smile and bantered with them before heading to the counter. Even the people waiting in line in front of the counter greeted him. As he waited, he chatted with them.

The line gradually shrunk, and it was his turn. He took a look, and it was the freckled young girl Qing Mei manning the counter.

“Hey, Qing Mei, the hag isn’t here?” The youth made idle conversation as he gave her the commission paper.

“No, grandma is out back, resting,” she replied with a smile and examined the paper, “So, you’re here regarding the completion of the black-ranked solo commission ‘eradication of an ambush of ten blue-dotted tigers’?”

“Ah, yes. And here’s the proof of completion,” the youth raised his left hand. On it, there was a ring with a small white gemstone. The gemstone briefly shone before ten pairs of ears materialized on the counter. This was a space ring with ten cubic meters of space. It was gifted to him by Hao Yunan. Or rather, it was an investment. And considering how costly these rings are, it was a rather sizeable investment.

Qing Mei finished counting the ears and nodded in satisfaction, “That’s ten pairs of ears. Your black-ranked solo commission has been deemed complete. Please wait for payment.”

“Is there still a need for such formalities among us, Qing Mei?” the youth smiled bitterly under his mask.

Qing Mei seemed to have understood his expression and smiled, “My formalities are for everyone regardless of how long they’ve been here. Grandmother would get very upset if she saw me favor you.”

“Sure,” he nodded and didn’t push on.

“Then let me get your money. Stay put.” Having said this, she left the counter with the ears and went to the back. After a while, she came back with a small pouch that made metallic sounds when moved. She placed it on the counter and said, “Here’s your payment. We’ll be looking forward to receiving your assistance soon.”

“Alright then,” the youth lifted the pouch. The pouch suddenly transformed into a beam of light that was sucked into the space ring.

“Are you going to take another commission right now?” Qing Mei asked.

“No,” the youth got out of the line and replied, “I have somewhere to be.” The youth didn’t stay and chat. He said his goodbyes to everyone and left the guild building.

He walked back to the inn where he was staying all this time. In the streets, he thought back to the time he spent here. It was really…uneventful, to say the least. Not much happened. He just completed commission after commission and saved money. Well, the occasional attempts on his life were also a thing, but that’s not that important. After the first five tries, they began to use more covert methods like poisoning his food and sabotaging his missions. But once they saw that not even those worked and combined with his limited contact with Hao Yunan, they simply gave up.

Soon, he reached the inn. He opened the door and was greeted by another bustling scene. The inn’s ground floor was a restaurant for hungry travelers, and the upper floor was for those who wanted to stay a night or a few. As soon as he entered the inn, the helper waved at him in between serving tables, “Mister, your six months are up. Do you want to extend your stay?”

“Well, just for one more day,” the youth replied. His space ring glowed, and a tael of silver materialized in his hand. He tossed it over to the helper and walked upstairs to his room. From below, he could hear an ‘I hope you enjoy your stay.’ He smiled and entered his room.

Closing and locking the door behind him, he took off his mask and took a deep breath. “I still can’t get used to how stuffy it is.”

He sat down at the desk and placed his mask on it. He took out an account book, a brush, and some ink. Grinding the ink, he began writing. He had documented all his earnings and expenditures in the past six months in this book. Taking the hardest and most well-paying commissions frequently and keeping his expenses minimal, he had saved up quite a bit. But he had a goal in mind.

“I got two gold taels from this commission, and I feel like I deserved it. Those blue-dotted tigers were no joke.” Even though he had read it in books, the real thing was far worse than he anticipated. Blue-dotted tigers were most known for their speed and incredible bite force capable of biting through a tree. Had he not used archery to reduce their numbers beforehand, a close-quarters fight with them might’ve proven to be deadly.

“So, all in all, I have just about 123 gold taels and 75 silver taels, well above the initial goal. That’s good,” the youth closed the book in satisfaction.

Jian Gong’s voice rang in his mind, “So, are you going to go there tomorrow or today?”

“Of course, today. It’s only noon. The day hasn’t ended yet. But first, [Status]!”

A screen that only he could see popped up in front of his eyes.

Status

Quests

Search

Settings

Upgrade

Name: N/A

Status: Unsynchronized

Race: Human

Constitution: Perfect Harmony Body(Divine Grade)

Spirit Root: Myriad Elements Spirit Root(Divine Grade)

Level: Ninth Stage of Qi Refinement Realm

Proficiency: (Click to access)

Combat Power: First Stage of Blood Condensation Realm

Sanity: 77

Cultivation Art: Celestial Monarch’s Cultivation Art

Status Effect: None

“I have to buy the Blood Condensation Pill to advance to the next realm, but that’s expensive as hell!” And it was. All pills needed to advance to the next realm were expensive. And the prices grew the higher the realm. The Tendon Transformation Pill costs two times more than the Blood Condensation Pill. And if he were to buy the latter now, he’d need another three months to reach his goal.

Jian Gong shook his head and said, “I still suggest you buy the pill now and advance. The three months are nothing for a cultivator.”

“I’ll do that afterward. Now that I’m a Black-ranked mercenary, it’ll take me three months to get the money for the pill.”

Jian Gong stared at him silently for a while before sighing and saying, “Well, you’re the boss.”

“Alright then, let’s be off!” The youth put the account book into his space ring and wore his mask again. He left the inn and went towards the commercial area of the city. Soon, the rows of inns and houses changed to rows and rows of shops and restaurants. Among all of them, he went into one that seemingly had no customers, even though it was the busiest time of day.

Inside the empty shop, there were no products. One couldn’t even tell what this place used to sell. It was eerily quiet, only the sunlight and the noise from outside peered through the windows. The shop only had rows of shelves, a counter, and dimmed lanterns.

The youth walked inside the shop and looked around with covetous eyes. Taking a deep breath, he shouted, “Old man Yu, you there!?” His voice reverberated in the empty shop. Soon, footsteps sounded above him, and afterward, a door behind the counter opened to reveal an elderly man.

“You’re here, lad,” the elderly man surnamed Yu greeted him, “and well before the agreement.”

“That I am, old man,” the youth laughed, “and I’ve got the money. Do we have a deal?”

“We do. I’m not going to go back on my word.” Old man Yu went back upstairs and, after a while, came back with a bamboo scroll. He looked around first. Seeing as there was no place to unfurl the scroll, he suggested, “You want to come up, lad?”

“Nah, no need,” the youth pointed his fist towards a wall, and a table materialized from his space ring. He turned around and smiled, “There. We can sign it there.”

Old man Yu simply looked at him with a neutral expression, “You…uh, just keep a whole table inside your space ring?”

“I mean, yeah? This ring is very convenient.”

“That’s the biggest misuse of a space ring I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“And how many space ring users have you seen?”

“Plenty, lad. Don’t underestimate the elderly.”

The youth chuckled, “As you wish. Then let’s sign the deed.”

The old man unfurled the bamboo scroll on the table. It was a property transfer contract. It had the government’s seal as well. On the bottom of the scroll were two boxes, one for the previous owner’s thumbprint and one for the new owner’s. The youth carefully read the terms and conditions. Seeing that there was nothing out of the norm, he sliced the tip of his thumb with his incisor and drew blood. Afterward, he pressed his thumb onto the scroll and left a bloodied thumbprint.

Old man Yu looked at him and said, “You’ve been waiting a long time for this, no?”

“Too long,” the youth admitted. “I’d like it if you didn’t make me wait any longer.”

“Sure,” Old man Yu took out a needle from his pocket and pricked his thumb with it. With blood dyeing his thumb, he also left a print on the scroll.

The youth closed the bamboo scroll and put it in his space ring. He put his palm out, and a pouch of taels appeared on it from his space ring. Handing it to the old man, he smiled, “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Old man Yu smiled back, “The pleasure’s mine.”