So Poor

It was a good thing he had run into Meng Guan. Had it been some other cultivator, there would probably have been another life on his hands.

Thinking of Meng Guan's expression at the time and the question that had slipped from his mouth, Wei Fan could not help but find it amusing.

He really had asked that.

But upon further thought, Wei Fan understood.

He and Meng Guan were friends. Seeing his friend destroying a corpse and erasing the evidence, there was nothing wrong with asking about it.

Had it been anyone else, the moment Meng Guan saw that scene, he would likely have already used the Conceal Breath Art and fled without a trace.

How could he have stepped forward to ask about it?

"At the time, I had only just left the Red Spirit Gold Mine and gone less than a hundred li when I saw someone who looked very much like Brother Wei cut down a Rogue Cultivator with a single sword strike. It scared me half to death. I hurriedly used the Conceal Breath Art to hide nearby, not even daring to acknowledge you."

Hearing Wei Fan's words, Meng Guan's old face turned bright red. His beard twitched as he added a few more sentences.

"Only after hiding in the dark and observing for a while, confirming that it really was Brother Wei, did I come out to recognize you. Sigh, only afterward did I learn that the Rogue Cultivator had a grudge against you, Fellow Daoist. His death was no loss at all!"

By the end, Meng Guan shook his head, a trace of ferocity appearing on his face.

Judging by his expression, he seemed to wish that he, rather than Wei Fan, had been the one to grind Chen Zhou's bones to dust and scatter his ashes.

After listening to the two men's vivid accounts, He Song was momentarily speechless.

Who could have imagined that when Wei Fan left the Immortal Market to help him kill someone, he would bring Meng Guan back with him along the way?

When He Song had first seen Wei Fan and Meng Guan at the courtyard gate, he had not expected it either.

Yet it had truly happened.

This...

It could only be called an incredible coincidence.

"Oh, right. I brought back some of Chen Zhou's ashes. They're in his Storage Pouch. Here." Once the matter had been explained, Wei Fan quickly pulled a Storage Pouch from his robes and handed it to He Song.

Before leaving the courtyard, he had promised He Song that he would bring some ashes back.

Now that Chen Zhou was dead and his corpse had been burned, he had naturally brought back a little of the ashes.

Not much, but enough.

As for the Storage Pouch, he had naturally taken it from Chen Zhou's body.

It was a small Storage Pouch, with space inside measuring roughly one meter across for storing items.

At the Magic Artifact Pavilion, one could usually buy one for a hundred Spirit Stones.

Chen Zhou's Storage Pouch was of this kind.

Though a hundred Spirit Stones could be considered quite a sum for cultivators in the early Qi Refining stages and the Qi Refining Middle Stage,

it did not interest Wei Fan, who was in the Qi Refining Late Stage.

Taking the Storage Pouch,

He Song immediately sent a thread of spiritual power into it.

At once, a pile of items appeared before him.

A small jar.

Several Spirit Talismans.

A small pile of Spirit Stones.

Several changes of clothes.

A copy of the Thick Earth Technique.

And some other miscellaneous items.

His gaze swept over the items one by one before pausing briefly on the small jar.

If he was not mistaken, Chen Zhou's ashes should be inside it.

As for the other items,

He Song gave them a glance and quickly calculated their value.

The several Spirit Talismans were all low-grade Spirit Talismans, worth around twenty to thirty Spirit Stones.

He Song counted the small pile of Spirit Stones. There were fifty-four in total.

The changes of clothes were worthless, the Thick Earth Technique was worthless, and the miscellaneous items were worthless as well.

All in all,

Chen Zhou's entire fortune, Storage Pouch included, was worth only around a hundred and eighty Spirit Stones.

So poor.

He Song shook his head inwardly, feeling that such a meager fortune truly did not match Chen Zhou's identity as a Rogue Cultivator.

Did they not say that Rogue Cultivators were wealthier than cultivators of the Immortal Market?

Yet now that he saw it, that did not seem to be the case.

But after thinking it over, He Song understood again.

Rogue Cultivators lived by licking blood from the edge of a blade. The resources they obtained had likely all been used for their own cultivation.

Had Chen Zhou not joined the Immortal Market as a Spirit Plant Farmer and gained a stable source of income, his fortune would likely not have amounted to even this much.

Then, thinking of himself, He Song gave a mute laugh.

Chen Zhou was actually considered rich.

He himself only had a dozen or so Spirit Stones on him at present and did not even own a Storage Pouch.

If one had to say it,

he was the poorest of all.

"Fellow Daoist, keep these spoils of war. Just remember that you owe me a favor in the future."

Seeing He Song empty everything from the Storage Pouch, Wei Fan spoke with a smile in his eyes.

Within their little circle of three, He Song had the lowest cultivation, as well as the lowest annual stipend.

Though he had finally broken through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage and his annual stipend had only just increased, he was still far from well-off.

Wei Fan himself was a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator and received abundant resources.

Meng Guan was a Qi Refining stage 6 cultivator. After serving as a minor commander in the Ore Vein for three years, his family fortune was surely quite substantial as well.

Only He Song had just broken through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage and had not yet begun receiving this year's stipend.

Seeing how strapped He Song was, Wei Fan naturally wanted to help him out a little.

In a few years,

when He Song began receiving the annual stipend of the Qi Refining Middle Stage, his finances would gradually become more comfortable.

By then, there would be no need to care about such a trivial matter.

It was only a little over a hundred Spirit Stones. Wei Fan did not take it to heart.

In a few years' time, He Song likely would not care about this small amount of Spirit Stones either.

The talk of remembering a favor was merely an excuse to make He Song accept the items.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist, you should put them away. Just owe him a favor when the time comes. Now that you have broken through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage, the Spirit Stones you receive will increase. In a few years, you will understand that this amount of Spirit Stones is nothing at all."

Seeing Wei Fan persuade him, Meng Guan nodded and added his own persuasion.

He had previously been a manager at the Spirit Medicine Pavilion. Though his cultivation and position were inferior to Wei Fan's, he still understood some of the ways of cultivators in the Immortal Market.

The annual stipends cultivators of the Immortal Market received from their positions were not much.

But they had other sources of income.

For instance, Zhao Lin, a talisman master, could earn Spirit Stones by making talismans in addition to the annual stipend provided by the Immortal Market.

The Spirit Stones one could receive from the Immortal Market's annual stipend alone might be few.

But once the Spirit Stones one could earn through the Hundred Arts of Cultivation were added, the total income would increase greatly.

This was also the main reason most Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivators could save up Spirit Stones.

Ordinary cultivation, buying pills, buying Magic Artifacts, buying Spirit Talismans, buying spells—all of these required Spirit Stones.

Without additional income, relying solely on the annual stipend issued by the Immortal Market would leave one stretched thin.

A few years were enough for an ordinary cultivator to learn one of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation and earn Spirit Stones from it.

That was why they spoke of a few years later.

"Very well. Then I shall respectfully accept rather than decline. I will certainly keep this favor engraved in my heart."

After thinking it over, He Song did not refuse.

Since Wei Fan and Meng Guan intended to help him, he would simply accept.

After all, as they said, in a few years, no one would care about items worth a little over a hundred Spirit Stones.

Moreover, He Song would remember this favor in his heart.

Yet He Song was still somewhat doubtful of their words.

Because three years had passed,

and he had still not even begun the Array Dao Primer.

And even if he did begin the Array Dao and could set up a Spirit Gathering Array, he could not possibly risk his life by setting arrays for others in exchange for Spirit Stones.

Therefore, whether he would truly be able to regard a little over a hundred Spirit Stones as nothing in a few years' time,

even He Song did not dare guarantee it.