Asking for Money

"That Shang Ziliang is the son of Peak Master Shang of Cloud Reaching Peak," Xu Ziqing grumbled to Chu Liang after leaving the Sword Transmission Hall. "He always acts like he's so great, relying on his father being the Peak Master. I've never liked him. And he always tries to get close to me, it's so annoying."

So that's how it is.

Shang Shuwen, the Peak Master of Cloud Reaching Peak, is a Confucian cultivator from Mount Shu. He was someone who had his name inscribed in the Jiangnan Gentleman Hall and was quite renowned in the martial world... His son, however, didn't seem to be anything like that.

Just as he was thinking, he saw a streak of fire fall from the southeast like a meteor, heading towards Silver Sword Peak.

Chu Liang's eyes immediately lit up.

"Junior Sister Ziqing, my master should be back. I'll go back to welcome her first," Chu Liang said.

"Oh..." The young girl nodded, then watched Chu Liang's back as he left.

Her gaze was reluctant to part.

Flying back to Silver Sword Peak on his sword, he indeed saw Di Nufeng, dressed in a black robe with red lapels, sitting in the Peak Master's pavilion with a commanding presence. Her chest seemed to be trembling, as if she were angry.

The Phoenix Spirit Blood Jade flickered in and out of sight from her anger.

"Master." Chu Liang stepped forward and said, "Disciple saw Master return and came specifically to welcome you."

"Hmm, anything happen these past two days?" Di Nufeng asked.

"Nothing. Disciple went on another mission, which went quite smoothly." Chu Liang nodded and asked again, "How about Master? Was this trip smooth?"

"Don't even mention it." At the mention of this, Di Nufeng's eyebrows immediately furrowed. "I was in the East Sea looking for any monsters causing trouble, and those people from Penglai Upper Sect just had to jump out and say I was destroying the East Sea's ecosystem! They insisted on driving me away! If I weren't thinking of the entire Mount Shu, I would have fought them!"

"..." Chu Liang was silent for a moment.

His master's actions were exactly as he had predicted.

Although she lightly mentioned looking for monsters, it was imaginable that her actions wouldn't be so calm.

When there were monsters causing trouble, Di Nufeng could help you eliminate the danger; when there were no monsters causing trouble, Di Nufeng herself was the danger.

It was likely that her causing chaos in the East Sea attracted the attention of the people from Penglai, who then stepped in to stop her.

Penglai Upper Sect is also one of the Divine Nine Immortal Sects, and their territory is in the East Sea area. Naturally, they wouldn't allow her to cause trouble like this on their doorstep.

Their actions were reasonable and justified.

As he thought this, he said, "The people from Penglai Upper Sect are too impolite!"

"Exactly!" Di Nufeng nodded indignantly.

As she spoke, she felt something was off and raised an eyebrow, glancing at Chu Liang. "Why are you so well-behaved today, coming to welcome me back immediately? Are you looking for something from me?"

"Isn't it only right for a disciple to welcome their master?" Chu Liang smiled slightly. "However... disciple also happens to have something I'd like to discuss with Master."

"Tch." Di Nufeng scoffed. "Speak."

"Disciple happened to be on a mission with someone from Jade Sword Peak this time. Among them was a disciple in the early Golden Core Realm, whose cultivation was far superior to mine, and whose flying sword and divine abilities were extremely powerful. And this person is not even a main force of Jade Sword Peak. Disciple is a bit worried... how can we compete with them during the Shu Mountain Summit?" Chu Liang said.

"You still have time to get stronger, you know. You have to believe in yourself," Di Nufeng said casually.

Chu Liang continued, "So disciple was thinking about how to strengthen myself. Besides diligent cultivation and improving my realm, disciple feels that I have too few divine abilities and techniques. So I wanted to ask Master to teach me some powerful divine abilities."

"Divine abilities?" Di Nufeng was stunned for a moment. "What divine abilities do I have to teach you?"

She was telling the truth.

The reason the Mount Shu leader didn't let her take disciples, besides seeing her unruly nature, was primarily because she was a Body Cultivator.

Body Cultivators, unlike martial arts practitioners, cultivate their physical bodies through Daoist techniques. They don't practice martial arts, only forging a powerful physique.

Di Nufeng's Crimson Flame Divine Phoenix Dharma Body, cultivated through the Inquiry of Dao via body cultivation, possessed undeniable terrifying power.

However, Body Cultivation is extremely rare and requires many coincidences and opportunities to achieve. The things she cultivated simply couldn't be passed on to disciples.

But.

Besides inheriting from their masters, Mount Shu disciples could also obtain divine abilities from the Guardian Hall. If they wanted to learn divine abilities that even their masters hadn't mastered, they could simply buy them directly from the Guardian Hall.

Chu Liang smiled slightly at this. "So, this disciple wants to purchase some from the Guardian Hall."

Di Nufeng's eyes narrowed slightly, as if sensing a hint of danger. "Then go buy them."

"This disciple is just... a bit short on funds..." Chu Liang said softly.

"Heh." Di Nufeng sneered. "You little brat, you're finally showing your true colors... You've been beating around the bush for so long, you just want to ask me for money, right?"

"This is all for Master's great cause," Chu Liang said earnestly.

He was constantly employing the art of language.

"Hmm..." Di Nufeng propped her chin, her sleeve half-slipped, revealing a section of her fair wrist. "You need divine abilities and magical artifacts, I can help you figure something out... But if you want money, I really don't have any."

"Master's monthly salary at Mount Shu isn't low, is it? And didn't they say the peak master gets extra allocations..." Chu Liang asked cautiously.

Actually, he had always been puzzled. Their Silver Sword Peak had always seemed poor; he had grown up with it and didn't think much of it.

But later, when he grew up and saw how wealthy the other peaks were, he couldn't help but find it strange. Especially since Silver Sword Peak only had him as a disciple, there was no issue of dividing resources.

Even if his master gave him a little pocket money each month, saving it up should be enough to buy a flying sword.

"Sigh." Di Nufeng sighed. "What can that little bit of money do... Not only am I penniless now, but I also owe a large amount of external debt."

"Why is that?" Chu Liang asked, puzzled.

Di Nufeng patted the wine gourd at her waist. "Do you think the wine that can make someone of my cultivation level drunk is easy to buy? This Drunken Immortal Brew costs five hundred Sword Coins per gourd."

"Ah?"

The wine he had seen Di Nufeng drinking since he was a child actually cost the price of a flying sword per gourd?

He was shocked.

This wasn't just heavy drinking, this was burning money.

"Everything I've told you is the truth. In short, besides external debt, I have nothing now. These past years traveling the world, besides this Phoenix Spirit Blood Jade, I've never had a single magical treasure or weapon. I rely entirely on my physical body." Di Nufeng spread her hands, adopting a stance of a dead pig not fearing boiling water. "Even if you're really in a hurry for money, there's nothing I can sell. If I really had to sell something, I could only sell this body."

Chu Liang's eyebrows twitched. "Is that convenient?"

"Get lost."

Chu Liang returned to his small wooden house dejectedly. His plan to get money had failed miserably, and he had also received the bad news that Di Nufeng had no intention of quitting drinking for the next hundred years.

It seems from now on, I can only rely on myself.

If I want flying swords, magical artifacts, elixirs, betrothal gifts, and talismans, I'll have to save up for them myself...

Or simply not buy them and wait for monsters to drop them.

Just as I rounded the hillside, I unexpectedly saw a figure.

With thick eyebrows and large eyes, dressed in a brocade robe, and radiating vitality, it was none other than Lin Bei, the disciple from Jade Sword Peak.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Seeing Chu Liang, Lin Bei immediately let out a hearty laugh and greeted, "Brother Chu, you're finally back!"

"Brother Lin, why are you waiting for me here? Is something the matter?" Chu Liang asked.

"Of course." Lin Bei said with a beaming smile, "I know of a well-paying mission that requires two Divine Intent Realm disciples who are skilled in cultivation, quick-witted, and handsome. I immediately thought that among all of Shu Mountain, it could only be the two of us!"

Chu Liang ignored his flattery and asked, "Where do we need to go?"

"Yanjiao City, Nanshan Academy."