Money Makes the Devil Open Doors

"Moo Spring Ox, spring..."

Spring was naturally not an attribute.

However, Zhou Qing cultivated the Internal Scripture Chart. Within it, there were Three Passes along the spine: the Weilu Pass, Jiaji Pass, and Yuzhen Pass. Yet these three crucial checkpoints were already unobstructed, requiring no further concern.

What caught his attention was the fact that an adult human spine had twenty-six vertebrae.

Setting aside the two bones of the sacrum at the very end, the remaining cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae added up to exactly twenty-four. They represented the twenty-four steps of the path to heaven and could also correspond to the Twenty-Four Solar Terms.

Thus, after seeing the Moo Spring Ox, Zhou Qing had another idea. While his first four spirit rings encompassed the four major elements of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire, they could also include the cycle of the four seasons: spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

If the Internal Scripture Chart was to create an Inner Scenery World, the cycle of the four seasons was indispensable. Moreover, the spine ran through the entire human body. Matching its twenty-four vertebrae with the Twenty-Four Solar Terms would surely save him much trouble in his future cultivation.

"Sure enough, the more foundational cultivation is, the more thorough the preparation must be to lay a solid foundation." Zhou Qing made a note of the Moo Spring Ox as a possible choice for his future First Spirit Ring.

After all, there were far too few books on spirit beasts available to him right now. He would wait until he entered Nuoding Academy, look through the Library, and make more detailed considerations...

The next day.

Old Jack came to find Zhou Qing, looking utterly dejected.

He had failed?

Zhou Qing immediately understood. Old Jack had not managed to obtain another Work-Study Student slot from the other villages, so he said, "Grandpa Jack, don't worry. My family still has some savings. It's only a Work-Study Student slot—I can enroll as a regular student."

"Ah, expenses in the city are high." Feeling somewhat guilty toward Zhou Qing, Old Jack could only complain, "The shared slot from those other six villages went to a little girl. She was actually Innate Full Soul Power too, and she even had a Beast Martial Soul—a Soft Bone Rabbit..."

Xiao Wu?

Zhou Qing froze. He had not expected Xiao Wu to take the Work-Study Student slot jointly held by the other six villages within dozens of miles around Holy Soul Village.

But upon further thought, it made sense.

After all, Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form and had no normal human identity at all. Since she attended Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy as a Work-Study Student in the original story, that identity could not possibly have been something she made up. Without certification from Spirit Hall, Xiao Wu would not even have been able to enter the academy gates—given her temper in the original story, she would never climb over a wall. She would most likely argue with the gatekeeper instead.

"Grandpa Jack, don't worry. I can earn money while studying." Zhou Qing was not concerned about money. The inheritance left behind by that Soul Saint alone contained over three million Gold Soul Coins. Even after splitting it evenly with Tang San, he still had more than one and a half million. There was no need to worry about expenses at all.

"All right, then." Old Jack sighed, then continued, "From now on, I'll talk to the villagers who rent your family's land and help raise the rent."

Zhou Qing did not refuse this time.

After all, wealth should not be flaunted.

After helping Old Jack home, Zhou Qing went to the Blacksmith Shop where Tang San was. Hearing the clangs of forging, he noticed that, unlike before, they carried a certain rhythm.

The matter was obvious. Tang San had not gone to the Forge Workshop early that morning. Tang Hao was probably teaching him the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. But for Tang Hao to only now think of tending to Tang San's feelings was a little too deliberate...

In the blink of an eye, it was the day Nuoding City began its school term.

The day before setting out, Zhou Qing and Tang San visited the Spirit Rhyme Turtle, whose injuries had already improved enough that they no longer needed to periodically clean impurities from the cracks in its shell. They also gave the Secret Base one final cleaning before leaving.

Today, Zhou Qing said farewell to the village children and boarded an ox cart with Tang San. Together with Old Jack, they headed toward Nuoding City.

He turned back.

Watching the outline of Holy Soul Village gradually recede, Zhou Qing felt deeply moved. "Six years! I've been in this world for six years. At last, I'm truly leaving the village."

Though he had lived two lives, and had even sorted out the general direction of his cultivation path before departing, when he truly left home, he still felt a trace of confusion.

However, that confusion quickly faded and turned into resolve... probably.

Holy Soul Village was not far from Nuoding City, but at the speed of an ox cart, it still took nearly an entire morning to reach the outskirts of Nuoding City.

From afar, Zhou Qing spotted Nuoding City's gates. They stood over twenty meters tall.

Above the gate were the three large characters: "Nuoding City."

Upon arriving at the gate, Old Jack got down from the cart and led the ox cart through the entrance passage. He said to Zhou Qing and Tang San, "In the city, aside from nobles and high-status Soul Masters, commoners aren't allowed to drive carts."

Perhaps it was for traffic order and public safety within the city, but Zhou Qing saw something else as well: the divisions between nobles, Soul Masters, and commoners were stark and distinct.

Then he thought of his commoner parents, whom he had never met, being killed by a Soul Master for "offending a Soul Master"... Most likely, even if a Soul Master killed someone by accident, as long as they could find a sufficient excuse, they would be innocent.

In this era, a commoner's life was not considered a life.

Perhaps in major cities, where powerful factions had tangled interests and attacked one another, they would try their best not to leave behind evidence. But in a small city like this, nobles throwing their weight around was probably quite common.

Order and laws existed on the surface, but in most cases, whenever a Soul Master was involved—and that Soul Master had a substantial web of connections behind them—justice would likely not favor commoners.

Even if Spirit Hall could uphold justice, it still had to consider practical interests. After all, Nuoding City was fundamentally ruled by the City Lord and the officials and Soul Masters of his faction, not Spirit Hall.

And Spirit Hall favored Soul Masters—Commoner Soul Masters—not commoners themselves.

After entering Nuoding City, Old Jack parked the ox cart at a nearby station and led Zhou Qing and Tang San toward the junior Soul Master academy.

They arrived at the main gate.

Seeing people approach, the gatekeeper immediately stepped forward. He glanced at Old Jack's coarse linen clothes, his eyes openly brimming with disdain. "What do you want? This isn't a place for country bumpkins."

Old Jack took out Zhou Qing and Tang San's martial soul certificates and said to the gatekeeper, "Brother, we're from Holy Soul Village. These two children are from our village and have come here to study. One of them is a Work-Study Student."

The gatekeeper glanced at the certificates and frowned deeply.

How could trash martial souls like Blue Silver Grass have Innate Full Soul Power?

And a Heart Martial Soul...

A part of the body? The Vice City Lord's daughter seemed to have a martial soul that was also part of the body. It was the Brain, if he remembered correctly...

"Sir, may we go in now?" Zhou Qing said, slipping his hand into his pocket. Two Silver Soul Coins fell out and rolled beyond the gate.

Hearing the familiar sound, the gatekeeper immediately returned the Martial Soul certificate to Old Jack, opened the gate, and bent down to pick up the two Silver Soul Coins. Without even looking back, he pointed in a direction and said, "Those are the Silver Soul Coins I dropped! You can go in! The registration office is over there!"

Old Jack had just been about to say something when Zhou Qing pulled him back. "Forget it, Grandpa Jack. Let's go in."

"No, you two go ahead. I'll be heading back."

Old Jack looked at the spacious grounds and towering school buildings within the junior Soul Master Academy. The buildings of Holy Soul Village were simply incomparable. A sense of timidity rose in his heart, and he decided to leave.

"Alright, then."

Only after watching Old Jack's back disappear did Zhou Qing and Tang San head toward the registration office...