With a sweep of his sleeve, he put the ten spirit stones into his Storage Bag.
Senior Brother Qian then realized that he had been a little too greedy. He coughed twice, invited Liu Yu to sit down, and said warmly:
"Congratulations on becoming an inner sect disciple, Junior Brother!"
"Three years ago, I could already tell you were no ordinary man from the way you handled things. But I never imagined you would take another step forward in just three short years!"
"Leave the cave abode to me. I'll be sure to find you one you're happy with!"
Senior Brother Qian always got things done once he accepted a payment, so his "reputation" among the disciples was quite good.
"You flatter me. I merely got lucky. Sorry for the trouble with the cave abode, Senior Brother Qian."
Liu Yu was all smiles as well, exchanging a few pleasantries with Senior Brother Qian.
Then he took out the Silver Leaf Geng Yuanzhang had given him, passed it over, and said:
"Senior Brother Qian, this belongs to Uncle-Master Geng of the Rectified Origin Hall."
"Uncle-Master Geng instructed me to bring it to the General Affairs Hall. He said it would allow me to be allocated a cave abode on Green Spirit Peak."
Senior Brother Qian accepted the Silver Leaf and recognized it as Uncle-Master Geng's token. His estimation of Liu Yu rose considerably.
In more than ten years, only two people had received such a token from Uncle-Master Geng, and both had been outstanding inner sect disciples.
For this junior brother to win the old master's favor, he must truly have something special about him.
Green Spirit Peak was one of the spiritual mountains with the densest spiritual energy in the inner sect. Its spirit vein had reached the very limit of the first grade and was on the verge of advancing.
Its spiritual energy was at least twenty percent denser than that of the inner sect's other spiritual mountains, allowing for significantly faster cultivation.
Ten spirit stones could only secure a slightly better cave abode. Anything better than that was beyond his authority.
To obtain a cave abode on Green Spirit Peak, one had to make the proper arrangements with the Foundation Establishment steward responsible for such matters. Still, with Uncle-Master Geng of the Rectified Origin Hall favoring Liu Yu, it would most likely work out.
At that thought, Senior Brother Qian already placed Liu Yu on an equal footing with himself.
Whether Junior Brother Liu had a connection to Uncle-Master Geng or genuinely possessed something extraordinary, he was no longer someone Senior Brother Qian could push around as he pleased.
With that in mind, Senior Brother Qian immediately stood up.
He prepared to report the situation to the Foundation Establishment steward and apply for a cave abode on Green Spirit Peak, no longer daring to put on airs as a manager.
"Please wait a moment, Junior Brother Liu. I still need to report the matter of the Green Spirit Peak cave abode to the steward uncle-master."
"But with this token, it's as good as settled. I'll be right back."
Senior Brother Qian spoke courteously, then rose and strode toward the rear hall.
Liu Yu sat quietly beside the table and waited.
He could sense the change in Senior Brother Qian's attitude and understood the reason perfectly well, but he had no intention of explaining.
If he could ride the favorable wind of Uncle-Master Geng's influence to get this done, all the better.
About half a quarter of an hour later, Senior Brother Qian emerged from the rear hall with a smile on his face and a scroll in his hand.
He approached the table and slowly unrolled it, explaining as he did:
"Congratulations, Junior Brother Liu. The Foundation Establishment uncle-master has approved it."
"This scroll marks the locations of the cave abodes on Green Spirit Peak. The yellow dots indicate occupied abodes, while the green dots indicate those currently vacant."
"Choose one, Junior Brother!"
Liu Yu nodded slightly and looked over it.
The map depicted Green Spirit Peak, with different areas shaded in different colors according to the density of their spiritual energy.
Forty or fifty dots were scattered across the map. Most were yellow, marking occupied abodes, while only a dozen or so were green and currently vacant.
His new cave abode would serve him throughout the remainder of his Qi Refining Period cultivation. Since he would live there for a long time, he could not afford to choose carelessly.
"I'll take this one. Sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother."
After carefully studying the scroll, Liu Yu finally selected a cave abode near a node of the spirit vein and pointed to its green dot.
"Are you certain you want this one, Junior Brother Liu?"
"Once the cave abode is confirmed, you won't be able to change it!"
Senior Brother Qian checked once more. After receiving an affirmative answer, he formed a hand seal and pressed it toward the green dot.
The green dot immediately dimmed. When it lit up again, it had turned yellow.
He rolled up the scroll and headed into the rear hall again, apparently to report the selection to the Foundation Establishment Realm uncle-master.
Before long, he emerged again, this time holding a yellow token.
After sitting down, Senior Brother Qian pushed the token over and said with a smile:
"This is the control token for that Cave Abode Restriction. Be sure to keep it safe, Junior Brother. Getting a replacement is quite troublesome!"
"As for your old outer sect cave abode, return its Restriction Token to the General Affairs Hall once you've finished moving."
"There's no rush, though. Just bring it back within a month!"
His tone was extremely courteous. He now treated Liu Yu as an equal, speaking as though they were old friends of many years.
"I really must thank you for this, Senior Brother Qian. This is just a small token of my appreciation."
Liu Yu put the token into his Storage Bag, took out two more spirit stones, and pushed them over as they chatted.
With his cultivation having improved, he no longer needed to be quite so restrained when spending spirit stones.
A dozen or so spirit stones was nothing unusual for an inner sect disciple.
"I was only doing my duty. There's no need to be so polite, Junior Brother, no need at all."
Though Senior Brother Qian said this, he felt that this junior brother knew exactly how things worked, and his hands were anything but slow.
Without betraying a thing, he had already tucked the spirit stones into his Storage Bag.
"I've only just entered the inner sect and still have plenty of miscellaneous matters to handle, so I'll take my leave. When I have some free time, I'll treat you to a drink, Senior Brother Qian!"
Seeing that the matter was settled, Liu Yu exchanged a few more pleasantries with Senior Brother Qian before rising to take his leave.
By the time he left the General Affairs Hall, it was already Hai Hour.
A clear moon hung in the sky, spilling silver light that softened the darkness of the night.
Riding his Giant Wood Sword, Liu Yu spent six hours returning to Greenwood Peak. Since it was deep into the night, he encountered few cultivators along the way.
He took out the Restriction Token and opened the cave abode.
Sitting down in a chair, he fell into thought.
Now that he had a better cave abode, he planned to pack his belongings, return this abode's token tomorrow, and move to Green Spirit Peak.
Having made his decision, Liu Yu rose, went to the window, and reached out to open it.
As he looked at the familiar grass and trees of Greenwood Peak, his gaze gradually grew distant.
For a moment, countless emotions welled up within him.
He had been in this world for fourteen years. From a beggar boy with nothing to his name, he had become an inner sect disciple of the Primordial Yang Sect, finally gaining some measure of power to protect himself.
Those countless days and nights of solitary cultivation had not been wasted after all.
But the Foundation Establishment Realm was where the path to immortality truly began. With one's lifespan doubled, one became fundamentally different from mortals. Now was not the time to slack off.
"This matter still needs careful, long-term planning."
Gazing at the brilliant stars in the distance, Liu Yu's eyes slowly grew resolute.
Only after a long while did he close the window and sit cross-legged on the stone bed.
He took four jade bottles out of his Storage Bag. They all contained Purple Spirit Pills, ordinary pills used for cultivation in late Qi Refining, seized from the Storage Bags of the Pockmarked Cultivator and the Confucian-Robed Man.
Liu Yu could now be considered an Alchemist himself. After carefully inspecting the pills with his current knowledge, he found nothing wrong with them and could use them without concern.
He opened a jade bottle, picked up a pill, and swallowed it.
Circulating the Wood Spirit Art, he began refining its medicinal power, slowly increasing his magical power.
Several hours slipped by as he cultivated, and sunlight streamed in through the small window.
Thanks to Sacred Flying Immortal, My Favorite Is Cultivation Farming and Space, Readers Under Heaven 160 Ranking Card, 20191206162342345, Rain-Adoring Mist, Great Shrimp Knight, Star Grass and Cloud-Time Rain, Long Robe and Mandarin Jacket, Zhang Lei's Fleeting Dream, 539***086, Clear Moonlight Ripples, Days of Decadence, and all the other readers for supporting me with recommendation votes!
Thanks to Love Left and the Wind Stopped for the tip of 100 coins!
As a newcomer writing my first book, I've hit a serious bout of writer's block at this point, and I'm already a little unsure how to keep going. Although I have an outline, there are quite a few holes in the details, and I've been revising the earlier text all along. The recent plot really has been a bit padded, and I feel quite guilty about it. I won't say any more. I'll go have something to eat, then come back and keep writing.