Tuition

A sect opened its Outer Sect to recruit disciples and impart knowledge and skills of cultivation. When disciples entered a sect to cultivate and study, they had to pay tuition.

Different grades of sects charged different tuition fees. The higher the sect's rank, the more expensive the tuition.

The Immortal Gate was merely a first-rank sect in the cultivation world, but in Immortal City, where there were only first-rank sects, it was the largest. Its annual tuition was one hundred Spirit Stones, not including all manner of miscellaneous fees.

One hundred Spirit Stones was not terribly expensive, but it was by no means cheap either—roughly a year's earnings for an ordinary Qi Refinement Rogue Cultivator, provided they suffered no injuries or illnesses, nor encountered anything else requiring a great expenditure of Spirit Stones.

Once sickness or disaster struck, or one ran into some difficulty that could only be solved with Spirit Stones, it was entirely possible to earn nothing for the whole year.

The New Year had been joyful, but once it was over, the burden of cultivation life seemed to press down once more.

Mo Shan placed a Storage Bag on the table and said somewhat guiltily, "I borrowed some Spirit Stones from a few brothers. Together with what I'd saved before, it comes to a little over eighty..."

Liu Ruhua comforted him, "Tomorrow, I'll go find the Dining Hall's manager and ask him to advance me some Spirit Stones..."

Just as Mo Shan was about to say something, he spotted Mo Hua eavesdropping through the crack in the door.

"Hua'er!"

Caught, Mo Hua could only give an awkward smile before running over to sit beside his mother.

Liu Ruhua affectionately pinched Mo Hua's ear and scolded him playfully, "You're so young, and already you know how to eavesdrop!"

"Father, Mother, are we short on Spirit Stones at home?"

"We are short by some," Mo Shan said. "But yesterday, your Uncle Ji said he would lend me some. He especially told me to make sure you study well in the sect."

"Uncle Ji?"

"That's right. Your Uncle Ji said you were smart and kept praising you." Liu Ruhua stroked Mo Hua's head.

"But Uncle Ji's family isn't well-off in Spirit Stones either," Mo Hua said.

Mo Shan let out a soft sigh. "I'll pay him back early once the New Year is over. These days, who has any Spirit Stones to spare?"

"I do!" Mo Hua said with a mischievous grin.

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua both froze for a moment.

Pumping his little legs, Mo Hua pattered back to his room, then returned hugging a Storage Bag tightly in his hands.

Mo Hua opened the Storage Bag. Inside, fifty Spirit Stones glimmered and reflected one another in a dazzling display. It was a beautiful sight. Yet the scene he had imagined—his parents moved to tears and praising him for being sensible—never came.

Mo Shan's expression turned grave, while Liu Ruhua's brows drew together slightly.

Mo Hua asked uneasily, "What's wrong?"

Keeping his tone as calm as possible, Mo Shan asked, "Hua'er, who gave you these Spirit Stones?"

"No one gave them to me. I earned them myself!"

Mo Shan was taken aback. "Earned... them yourself?"

Liu Ruhua's brow relaxed slightly. Gently pulling Mo Hua into her embrace, she said, "Then tell Mother—how did you earn them?"

"I drew Array Techniques for Fate Pavilion. They were only the simplest kind. I earned one Spirit Stone for every Array Technique I finished."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua looked at each other. Thinking back, their son had spent most of his time before and after the New Year in his room. He had hardly gone out to play, and even when he did leave the house, he returned shortly afterward. So he had been drawing Array Techniques to earn Spirit Stones.

The two looked again at the Spirit Stones in the bag. One Spirit Stone for one Array Technique—there were nearly fifty Spirit Stones in the bag, which meant he had drawn at least fifty...

Liu Ruhua could not help pulling Mo Hua closer.

Mo Shan opened his mouth several times, only to stop himself. He did not know what to say. In the end, he merely reached out and gently stroked Mo Hua's head.

"You earned these Spirit Stones through hard work. Keep them yourself. Save them for cultivation, or buy yourself something tasty. Father will find a way to deal with the Immortal Gate's tuition."

Mo Hua knew his father could not bear to use those Spirit Stones. His eyes turned, and he said, "Then Father and Mother can hold on to them for now and keep them for me. I'm just a child—I can't use that many, and they might easily be stolen or snatched away."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua were speechless as they looked at each other, unable to think of any words to refuse him.

In the end, Liu Ruhua said, "All right. Father and Mother will keep them for you first."

"Mm-hm, mm-hm!" Mo Hua nodded hard.

"All right, it's getting late. You start school tomorrow, so go to bed early."

"Mm. Good night, Father, Mother!"

Mo Hua got up to return to his room. After thinking for a moment, he turned back and added, "Father, Mother, spend them if you need to. Don't scrimp on my account."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Watching Mo Hua return to his room and shut the door, Mo Shan finally sighed and said with a bitter smile, "As his father, I'm not even as good as my own child."

"What are you saying?" Liu Ruhua comforted him. "It's a good thing that Hua'er knows how to consider his parents' circumstances. He can earn Spirit Stones with his own ability—we should be happy. It's just that..."

Liu Ruhua lowered her head to look at the Spirit Stones before her, then looked up at her husband with concern. "He's so young. Can he really draw Array Techniques for others and earn Spirit Stones? And earn so many... I'm afraid someone saw how young he was and wanted to..."

"I'll go take a look tomorrow."

As Mo Shan spoke, his gaze gradually sharpened.

The next day, Mo Hua got up on time. After cultivating for a while, he went with his mother, Liu Ruhua, to the Immortal Gate's Outer Sect to pay the tuition and register for school.

Mo Shan had left early. According to Liu Ruhua, he was going into the Inner Mountain with several Monster Hunters that day, so he had to go over early to prepare.

When they arrived at the Immortal Gate's Outer Sect, Liu Ruhua paid the tuition and completed his enrollment. Then she could not help looking at Mo Hua several more times.

Once he entered the Immortal Gate to cultivate, he would not be able to see his son again on ordinary days, unless the sect granted leave during holidays and festivals.

Liu Ruhua gave Mo Hua a few more reminders: cultivate well, get along with his fellow disciples, eat well, dress warmly, and do not bully others. Only then did she reluctantly head back.

Mo Hua stood outside the mountain gate and waved until Liu Ruhua's figure vanished around the bend in the road. Only then did he turn around.

Rather than entering the sect, he first went to Fate Pavilion on North Street, where he collected materials for twenty Bright Fire Formations from Fat Manager and agreed to submit them within half a month at the latest.

The sect had one day of leave during each of the first, middle, and last ten-day periods of every month. Mo Hua planned to slip out during those breaks to trade with Fat Manager.

For twenty sets of materials, Fat Manager still only charged a deposit of ten Spirit Stones. Their previous dealings with Mo Hua...'s older brother had all been pleasant, and the quality of the submitted array techniques had only grown better and better. Fat Manager was very satisfied, and for Mo Hua's sake, the deposit remained unchanged.

Having settled everything with Fat Manager, Mo Hua left Fate Pavilion in high spirits.

After Mo Hua left, he failed to notice a burly man standing silently outside Fate Pavilion, watching him.

Once Mo Hua was gone, the man walked through Fate Pavilion's doors.

The doorbell rang. Fat Manager looked up to see a plainly dressed yet handsome, upright man with sword-like brows and starry eyes scrutinizing him. A sharp edge that pressed upon the soul gleamed in the man's gaze.

Fat Manager recognized at a glance that this man was a Monster Hunter—a true Monster Hunter who had seen blood! Moreover, his attitude was far from friendly. The way he looked at Fat Manager was like he was looking at a monster beast waiting to be slaughtered.

Fat Manager did not believe his cultivation was inferior to the man's, but if they truly fought, the outcome would be hard to say. Monster Hunters lived year-round with their blades at their throats, risking their lives against monster beasts.

Meanwhile, he had sat behind the counter for so long that he did not know how many years it had been since he last touched a sword. His spell-fighting methods had long since grown rusty.

After weighing the matter, Fat Manager straightened his posture and cautiously asked, "Fellow Daoist, what kind of array technique do you need?"

The burly man was Mo Shan. He spread out a crumpled sheet of paper bearing a copied array technique. Several parts had been copied incorrectly, leaving smudged traces where they had been altered.

"What array technique is this?"

Fat Manager gave it a glance and said, "It's the Bright Fire Formation."

"You buy this kind of array technique?"

The man's tone made Fat Manager rather uncomfortable. On any normal day, he would not have bothered answering, but today he felt that anyone who entered was a guest, and guests ought to be treated with courtesy and thoroughness.

"Of course we do. It's a commonly used array technique. Ordinary cultivator families all have use for it, so the demand is fairly high."

Mo Shan asked, "Was that child who just left also drawing array techniques for you?"

Fat Manager said, "Such matters cannot be disclosed to outsiders. Fate Pavilion must protect its customers' privacy. That is the principle of our firm."

Mo Shan's gaze instantly turned blade-sharp as it bore down on him. With that piercing stare prickling against his back, Fat Manager gave it some thought and decided that cultivators should not be too rigid after all. Principles could be observed with some flexibility.

"It wasn't that child. It was his older brother."

Mo Shan frowned. "Older brother?"

Fat Manager said, "That's right. How old is that child? What array techniques could he possibly draw? He only runs errands for his older brother. The array techniques are all drawn by his older brother."

"He said that himself?"

"Of course," the manager replied. "Otherwise, why would we do business with a child?"

After saying that, the manager fixed Mo Shan with a wary stare.

"As for the child's name and where he lives, there is no way I will tell you."

Mo Shan rolled his eyes at Fat Manager. As if I, his father, wouldn't know his name and where he lives better than you do. Do I need you to tell me?

Still, upon learning that Mo Hua was not being used by someone else, Mo Shan's manner eased. He cupped his hands to Fat Manager and said, "My apologies for the disturbance. Farewell."

Fat Manager inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, though he merely nodded with faint arrogance on his face.

Mo Shan turned and left. Only after his back disappeared beyond the door did Fat Manager let out a long breath and mutter unhappily under his breath, "Didn't even buy anything..."