The Broken Knife Coin

"This was probably the most impulsive thing I'd ever done in my life."

Li Yi was gasping for breath, his heart still pounding wildly. An indescribable exhaustion washed over him, and every muscle in his body ached fiercely.

He had run fast.

In just half an hour, Li Yi had left the Ruined City and returned home to the Old Town District. For the moment, he was safe.

Thinking back on what had just happened, even he found it unbelievable.

He had only wanted to earn a few tens of thousands to go home and care for his Silent One parents. Yet at the crucial moment, he had actually become like those gamblers, staking his life on an unknown strange artifact.

Fortunately, he had come back alive.

If he had failed, he probably would have been filled with regret before he died.

"That dead Zhang Kaiwen had one thing right: one lifetime's fate is the fate of ten thousand lifetimes. If I want to change all this, I have to risk it once. Otherwise, like everyone else, I can only crawl on in this old, decrepit city like a rat, until one night I rot and breed maggots, leaving behind not a trace."

"At the moment I made that decision in the underground parking lot, I could feel the ambition in my heart swelling. It turned out I wasn't someone who could simply keep to the rules. I, too, longed to step onto the path of cultivation. I, too, longed to stir the winds and clouds and become someone important."

Li Yi closed his eyes and kept taking deep breaths.

When he thought back on his life over the past few years, all he felt was suffocation and oppression.

Endless jobs, endless Nutrient Solution purchases. He had clearly worked so hard, yet his family had gone from having modest savings to being stripped bare, and finally drowning in debt. Now, they did not even have the money to repair the Medical Pods. His parents would soon be unable to sustain their lives.

He was only twenty. His life had only just begun, so why did it feel as though it had already ended?

It should not have been like this.

Li Yi opened his eyes again. The fatigue and confusion from before were gone from his gaze, leaving only determination.

"But whether I can change all this still depends on my luck this time, on whether I got something valuable."

He then looked at the pile of filthy, old, tattered clothes he had been clutching in his arms.

These clothes had all been worn by the owner of that ancient tomb while they were alive. Their style and material were completely different from anything in modern society, carrying a trace of ancient charm while differing from traditional ancient clothing. Yet from the details, it was still clear that these garments had been exceedingly magnificent when intact.

Li Yi slowly unfolded the clothes one by one, trying to find something unusual.

The reason he had chosen to take this pile of worn-out clothes from the coffin was because he believed that if there had been any precious strange artifacts in the ancient tomb, they would have been kept close to the body.

But the tomb had been robbed before, so whether anything had been left behind was impossible to know.

"This one has nothing. Neither does this one."

As he unfolded each garment, Li Yi carefully searched for anything that might be valuable.

Only when he shook open the final piece of clothing did a crisp clatter ring out.

A broken object fell onto the living room tiles.

Li Yi immediately picked it up and examined it carefully. At last, he said with uncertainty, "Could this be a strange artifact? It doesn't really look like one. I can't see anything miraculous about it."

The thing in his hand looked like a small bronze knife, except only half of it remained. There was also a crooked, twisting inscription on it.

He tested it and found that the bronze knife was not sharp.

Only after taking out his phone and looking up some information did Li Yi barely manage to determine, "This isn't a small knife. It's a type of currency. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, this kind of money was called a Knife Coin."

Other than this half Knife Coin, he searched through that pile of tattered clothes several more times, but could not find anything else.

This was the only thing Li Yi had brought back at the risk of his life.

"I'm not a cultivator, so I don't know whether this half Knife Coin has any value. I need to find someone knowledgeable and ask about strange artifacts. But that person has to be trustworthy. There can't be any risk of exposure."

He thought again, and someone immediately came to mind.

Uncle Biao.

Uncle Biao was his father's friend. Six years ago, he had cultivated alongside Li Yi's father. Li Yi's father had possessed greater talent and progressed rapidly in cultivation, while Uncle Biao had been poorly gifted. In the end, Li Yi's father had suffered an accident and become a Silent One, his fate unknown. Uncle Biao, meanwhile, had given up cultivation and opened a meditation room in Tianchang City to teach newcomers how to cultivate.

With that in mind, Li Yi immediately packed up the pile of ragged clothes and tucked the half Knife Coin close against his body.

However, he did not set out right away, because there was still something he needed to do.

Picking up his phone, Li Yi called the Medical Pod after-sales repair line.

Very quickly, in less than half an hour, a Medical Pod after-sales engineer came to his door.

"Mr. Li, I told you last time that a chip in your other Medical Pod was burned out after running for too long. The Medical Pod is also past its six-year warranty period. The company can provide free repairs, but you'll need to purchase the damaged component yourself. The price is 49,999." Engineer Hu Bing said.

Li Yi said, "I scraped together the money over the past few days. I can pay you now. I won't make you come here for nothing."

"That's good." Engineer Hu Bing nodded.

Li Yi opened the bedroom door.

The bedroom was brightly lit, but the air was filled with the smell of alcohol and disinfectant.

There was no bed in the room. Instead, two Medical Pods covered in blinking indicator lights stood on the floor. Compared to the cramped, oppressive housing of the Old Town District, these two highly advanced Medical Pods seemed utterly out of place.

There was a person lying inside each Medical Pod.

The man had resolute, handsome features and was rather dashing. The woman was beautiful, but because they had both been unconscious for years, their complexions were poor and slightly pale.

Li Yi's parents had once been a perfectly matched, handsome man and beautiful woman, but now they could only lie here like vegetative patients.

And this situation had lasted for six full years.

"Dad. Mom."

Though he knew there would be no response, Li Yi still called out to them out of habit.

Engineer Hu Bing skillfully opened the panel of one Medical Pod and began making repairs.

Once the damaged component was replaced, the Medical Pod containing Li Yi's mother soon began operating normally again.

Seeing the situation improve, Li Yi finally let out the breath he had been holding.

Engineer Hu Bing said, "Mr. Li, the Nutrient Solution in both Medical Pods will run out in one day. Remember to buy more and refill them in time. If you can, I suggest stocking up on more Nutrient Solution early. There have been more and more cultivators lately, so demand for Nutrient Solution has increased. Nutrient Solution on the market has already gone up in price, and I estimate it will rise further after a while."

"The price went up?" Li Yi froze, then asked, "How much is one vial now?"

"The most basic Nutrient Solution has risen to one thousand now," Engineer Hu Bing said.

"It's gone up that much... I understand. Thank you." Li Yi fell silent at once.

"You're welcome." After finishing the repair work, Engineer Hu Bing left.

"The fifty thousand I earned by risking my life vanished in the blink of an eye. It seems I still can't stop. But this has made me understand that changing all this by working diligently and earning money is simply impossible. The only way is to live differently."

Li Yi silently thought as he touched the half Knife Coin in his pocket.

His parents had spent most of their savings buying these two Medical Pods before they fell into their slumber. Though the pods did not usually require much maintenance, Nutrient Solution had to be added every month to ensure the Silent Ones' lives could be sustained. Otherwise, the Silent Ones' bodies would starve to death.

One Medical Pod consumed at least three vials of Nutrient Solution per month.

But Li Yi's home had two Medical Pods, so they needed six vials.

That meant Li Yi had to earn at least 4,800 a month just to keep his parents alive.

Now that Nutrient Solution had gone up in price, he would have to earn at least 6,000 a month.

At first, the family had still had some savings. But over six years, the savings had been exhausted, the car had been sold, and the house had been sold as well. Fortunately, after his grandparents passed away, the Old Town District house had been left behind. Otherwise, they would have needed to rent a place to live.

"Dad, Mom, I have something to do today, so I can't stay here with you. But don't worry. I won't give up on you, and I'll definitely take good care of you. I won't let anything happen to you. Wait for me to come back."

Li Yi knew he could not waste any time.

Old Crow's people could come looking for him at any moment.

Before that happened, he had to determine the value of what he had as soon as possible.

At once.

Li Yi found a backpack and packed the pile of tattered clothes from the ancient tomb into it. Then, carrying the backpack and the half Knife Coin, he headed out.

Looking at the small remaining balance on his phone, he still splurged on a taxi to Uncle Biao's meditation room in order to save time.