Funding Problem

The Ascension Academy stood on the edge of Seacloud City, backed by the sea. The Flying Boat bearing the Ascension Academy's banner flew straight over swathes of towering buildings before finally landing in a Flying Boat field packed with hundreds of wooden vessels.

The moment the vessel touched down, a handsome middle-aged man in a gray robe, with white hair and beard and a long green ruler in hand, drifted gracefully aboard. When Wei Daocheng saw him, he hurriedly cupped his hands. "Dean Fang!"

"Mhm. I have heard all about what happened. This was not your fault!" The Dean patted Wei Daocheng on the shoulder, then turned toward the Immortal Seedlings on the deck. "My name is Fang Zhuo, and I am the Dean of the Ascension Academy. The Academy originally stipulated that anyone who failed to gain entry into the Breathing Technique within thirty days would be expelled. However, the Foundation Establishment matter was unexpectedly interrupted, so the deadline has been postponed for now. I will give the disciples who have yet to gain entry another half month."

As for what would happen if they still failed to gain entry after half a month, he did not say, but everyone understood.

Not many were panicking. After all, there were only a few formal disciples who had yet to gain entry, and Qin Mountain's beasts had already cleared out a wave of them. Even fewer remained now.

As for the bookboys, servants, and maids, it did not matter whether they gained entry or not. Fang Zhuo's words were not meant for them.

"Those of you who have already gained entry each have an Identity Jade Token. Drip blood onto it to bind it. The token contains all sorts of information, including your personal details, residence, timetable, and a map of the Ascension Academy. All Academy notices will be issued through the jade token in the future. Those with money on them may deposit it in the Ascension Academy Money House. When the time comes, you can spend using your jade token."

"Common folk do not even have Curved Shaft Plows, yet the Cultivation World has invented mobile phones!" Yang Ning stared in shock at the Identity Jade Token that had suddenly appeared in his hand. It was the same size as a phone and rectangular too, except it was green.

The jade token's cover displayed his colored portrait, with his personal information written beside it.

Name: Yang Ning.

Age: 12

Status: Bookboy.

Residence: Kangjinlong Courtyard, No. 1275.

Funds: 0

He pricked his finger and placed a drop of blood on it. The blood spread across the jade token like ink, and the personal information vanished, replaced by apps for classes, timetables, tasks, shops, food delivery, escort services, auctions, accounts, and more!

Ignoring its appearance, what difference was there between these apps and a mobile phone?

It simply was not as rich in software as a phone, but for a student, it already had every app that ought to be there.

The most absurd thing was that it even had food delivery!

The moment he tapped on food delivery, countless shops appeared: Wang Family Demon Beast Meat, Li Family Pill Workshop, Qiqiang Seafood. Things that flew in the sky and swam in the sea—it had everything.

Tapping the escort service let him choose between sending and receiving deliveries.

The delivery range included not only the two hundred nations, three thousand sects, and tens of thousands of lineages within the Taiheng Realm, but even places beyond it: the Sun Sect, the Taiyin Sect, the Man Family, the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult, and more.

Yang Ning clearly remembered that the Taiheng Sect and the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult were enemies. So fighting did not stop them from making money, huh?

This thing was impressive, but it was far inferior to a phone. Its screen was green, as though a green filter had been laid over every normal image, making it rather ugly to look at.

He found it merely average, but the other Immortal Seedlings were stunned and could not stop exploring it.

He could only study it along with them, until Fang Zhuo gave a soft cough and he hurriedly raised his head.

"You arrived twenty-one days later than the other students. Though that was not your fault, the Academy cannot make tens of thousands of students wait for your few hundred people. Once you receive your timetables, you must study diligently and catch up as quickly as possible!" Fang Zhuo declared. "There is no need to fear falling behind. The first-year curriculum is still very basic. Put in some effort, and you will catch up quickly."

He seemed to have come merely to encourage the students, but once he started talking, he could not stop. Somehow, he veered into the founding history of the Ascension Academy, then its spirit, its famous students, and the like.

Yang Ning yawned nonstop. There was no need to hide it, since everyone else was yawning too, but Fang Zhuo turned a blind eye and spoke for more than two hours. He only stopped when it looked as though some people had fallen asleep on their feet.

Afterward, Wei Daocheng brought everyone to their residences. They were not separated; all of them were assigned to Kangjinlong Courtyard.

Yang Ning had thought he would have to share with others. Were schools not all collective dormitories?

Only after arriving did he learn that not only did everyone have private dorms, but the rooms also employed Meso-Sumeru methods. His room was actually five hundred square meters!

It included a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room, Pill Refining Room, Artifact Forging Room, talisman-making room, planting grounds, library, training grounds

Not only was it furnished with everything from furniture to bedding, there was also an enrollment set on the living room table, containing a Magic Robe, a Magic Sword, and three talismans.

One moon-white Magic Robe, which kept out summer heat and winter cold, could not be pierced by blades or spears, resisted water and fire, and could be adjusted in size. It even came with a self-cleansing formation that activated automatically once every dawn.

Its only flaw was that it could not change shape.

One Magic Sword, a top-grade mortal weapon. It could withstand the impact of qi and blood, meaning it could carry a Qi-Blood Field. Incomparably tough and sharp enough to slice through iron as though it were mud, it could serve as a family heirloom even in the households of princes, nobles, generals, and ministers.

A Water Control Talisman, capable of condensing water, repelling water, and controlling water. However, its effects were weak; it could only control a fist-sized mass. It was fine for bathing and drinking, but using it against enemies was tantamount to serving oneself up on a platter.

A Fire Control Talisman, capable of condensing fire, repelling fire, and controlling fire. Its effects were similar to the one above; it was meant for starting fires.

A Healing Talisman, capable of gathering vitality and coagulating blood to treat minor injuries, such as cut fingers or the bumps and bruises of cultivation.

"This treatment is far too good. The house alone is far better than the one I worked half my previous life to buy, not to mention all these cultivation sets!" For a moment, Yang Ning could not help voicing the same sentiment as Liu Shan.

With a place this good, only a ghost would miss home!

He did not have much luggage: several changes of clothes, a few tools he had made while on the boat, and fifty thousand taels of silver.

Now that he had a Magic Robe, he could throw away his clothes.

After gaining electrical control, the things he had processed using primitive tools immediately seemed somewhat crude. They still needed further refinement.

As for the silver.

Yang Ning opened his jade token, entered the food delivery app, and began researching prices.

Ordinary pork, beef, bear meat, tiger meat—even panda meat, which Yang Ning spotted—were all cheap, with a tael of silver buying over a hundred catties. But there was no need to buy such meat, since the Ascension Academy provided it for free.

However, once the listings rose to Fierce Beasts, prices immediately began doubling.

Fierce Beasts were animals that had cultivated qi and blood. Fierce Beast meat surged with qi and blood and was rich in nutrients, making it the staple food of Body Refinement Realm cultivators. Yang Ning had already discovered that ordinary fish had very poor effects.

Yet Third Level Fierce Beast meat cost one tael of silver per catty. The higher one went, the more prices rose by doubling: Fourth Level Fierce Beast meat was five taels per catty, Fifth Level was twenty-five taels, Sixth Level was one hundred taels, Seventh Level was five hundred taels, Eighth Level was twenty-five hundred taels, and Ninth Level was ten thousand taels.

Yang Ning could now eat thirty catties of meat a day. Buying Third Level meat would cost thirty taels a day, so fifty thousand taels could last him four years.

But his cultivation could not remain stuck at the Body Tempering Triple Layer forever. Once he reached the Fourth Level of Body Refinement, if he still ate Third Level meat, he would have to eat an enormous amount. He would not need to do anything all day but eat meat.

Not to mention that the Fifth and Sixth Levels required even more expensive meat. Fifty thousand taels would not last long at all.

Besides, eating meat was a poor man's method. Meat contained impurities, and the body needed to expend energy removing them. That was terribly inefficient.

Pills refined from Demon Beast essence contained fewer impurities, worked faster, and had a higher absorption rate. That was the proper choice.

Blood Essence Pills were suitable for cultivators from the Body Tempering Triple Layer through the Sixth Level of Body Refinement. At the Body Tempering Triple Layer, one pill was needed every five days, with each pill costing one thousand taels. Yang Ning was exceptionally gifted, so he might need two or three pills.

Other people at the Fourth Level of Body Refinement needed one every three days, while at the Fifth Level of Body Refinement they needed one a day. Yang Ning would need one a day at the Fourth Level and five a day at the Fifth Level?

Five thousand taels a day—fifty thousand taels would only last ten days!

"Ah, why did I not know how to embezzle?" Yang Ning shook his head. As the Minister of Works, he had handled silver by the tens of millions, yet he had not embezzled a single coin. The money on him was all symbolic patent fees he had taken to encourage invention.

Still, Yang Ning did not regret it. Embezzlement was something that went against one's heart, and was not cultivation all about having one's thoughts flow freely?

"How am I supposed to make money, then?" Though he still had money in hand, Yang Ning had always been the sort to take one step while looking ten ahead. He could not wait until he was truly broke before trying to earn money. Once he reached a dead end, the only ones willing to help him might be loan sharks!

After researching the marketplace, Yang Ning discovered that opening a shop there was quite easy, especially through the Ascension Academy student channel.

There was a huge market for Blood Essence Pills consumed from the Body Tempering Triple Layer to the Fifth Level of Body Refinement, Yiyuan Pills consumed at the Sixth Level of Body Refinement, and Dragon Marrow Pills consumed at the Body Refinement Seventh Level. Shops purchased them year-round, and listings sold quickly. Many stores remained sold out all year long.

Then there was artifact forging.

Low-level cultivators did not have many ways to earn money. Generally, they either hunted Demon Beasts or joined the Taiheng Defense Army to battle outside sects.

If one was going to war, one had to use weapons. The wear and tear on huge numbers of weapons created a massive artifact-forging market. Whether it was forging, repairing, or refurbishing weapons, business was booming.

However, both fields had one enormous problem: the market had flourished for too many years, resulting in several representative giants that had essentially pushed costs and quality to the limit for their respective grades.

Things were fine while he was in school, because the school provided materials for practice at low prices. The school would buy back finished products, or students could sell them outside cheaply.

But after graduation, without the school's support, students facing direct market competition would instantly comprehend the cruelty of this world.

In the end, they had only two paths: switch professions or join them.

"Still, I probably will not enter the market. If someone with my talent ends up with no sect willing to take me, I might as well die!" Yang Ning shook his head, but the hand scrolling through the interface abruptly stopped.

Wait!

Tuo Buchuan had said that the Taiheng Sect made even bookboys and servants learn artifact forging and pill refining, leaving them with no path to advancement.

But Yang Ning realized that he had no choice. He did not have an emperor father or the financial support of an entire nation. If he did not learn artifact forging, what was he supposed to do?

"Could this be the truth?" Yang Ning considered it, then shook his head again. He lacked money, but other bookboys and servants might not. For example, Su Bai had a father who was the Minister of Revenue!

"Keep looking, keep looking!" Yang Ning shook his head and pulled up his timetable again.

He had already transmigrated, yet he still had to go to school!

"Tomorrow at the hour of the Rabbit: Mineral Identification and Cognition."

I wonder whether the teachers at this school take attendance during class?