The Emerald Cloud Inn?
Chen Yu looked at the building ahead with a puzzled expression.
There was actually an inn on Emerald Cloud Peak?
Beside him, Lü Yanyan noticed his expression and explained with a smile, "The housing provided by the sect is only free for two years. After that, renewing the lease costs fifty points a year. Not everyone can afford that burden."
As she spoke, Lü Yanyan stepped into the inn and beckoned to Chen Yu.
"Come on in."
"Oh."
Chen Yu walked inside.
Room prices were posted at the entrance.
Single room with a window: four points per month, breakfast included.
Standard single room: three points per month, breakfast included.
Double room: two points per month, no breakfast.
Six-person room: one point per month, no breakfast.
There were four price tiers in total.
At first glance, they seemed quite cheap.
But on closer thought, once the two-year beginner period ended, food, clothing, and everyday necessities would all cost points. Cultivation would be an even bigger expense, and failing to complete the monthly routine assignment would incur a penalty on top of that...
"Without points, you can't take a single step!" Chen Yu sighed.
Looking at it that way,
the thirty-six points he had were actually quite a lot.
The problem was that the five hundred points needed to cultivate the True Essence Profound Canon were an unavoidable expense. Even if he sold Ah Zhen, he would still be short a whopping four hundred points.
As he calculated all this,
Lü Yanyan had already sat down at a table by a window on the inn's ground floor and beckoned to Chen Yu.
"Junior brother, come sit."
"Okay."
Chen Yu nodded.
He walked over and sat down.
The inn was spacious, and many of the nearby tables were full.
"Just a pot of the free tea, please," Lü Yanyan told the innkeeper.
The tea arrived shortly afterward.
"The inn lets people rest here for free," Lü Yanyan said. "That makes it a resting place for many disciples, and also the place where all kinds of news spread fastest."
As she spoke, she pointed at several people at the next table.
They were talking loudly.
They made no attempt to keep their voices down.
"You all heard about what happened at the Mass Burial Grounds on Little Bamboo Peak last night, right?"
"Not really. All I know is that more than thirty disciples died, and even Elder Song from Purple Bamboo Peak was badly injured."
"Thirty-eight disciples, to be exact. Twenty-seven of them were from our Emerald Cloud Peak."
"That's... ah! It's no surprise, really. Among the five Outer Sect peaks, the disciples on Heavenly Flame Peak, Jade Yao Peak, and Ten Thousand Mountains Peak might have tiring lives, but they only need to work every day to complete their routine assignments and earn points steadily. Purple Bamboo Peak's disciples are all rich or well-connected, so there's nothing to say there. Only us poor bastards on Emerald Cloud Peak have it this rough. If something hadn't come up last night, I might've gone to the Mass Burial Grounds too. After all, that was a whole unit of Spirit Essence!"
"Exactly! But Elder Sun must be hurting the most right now. So many people died at once, and he won't be getting those loans back. Haha!"
"So what actually happened on Little Bamboo Peak last night?"
"Apparently... apparently, Immortal Ruins appeared at the Mass Burial Grounds. I heard that elsewhere too, so judge for yourselves whether it's true. Little Bamboo Peak has been sealed off, after all. Nobody can guarantee what really happened."
Immortal Ruins?
Chen Yu felt like laughing.
How could Immortal Ruins appear in a place as eerie and terrifying as the Mass Burial Grounds?
Just as the people at the next table reached this point in their conversation, the innkeeper came over to remind them that their free resting time was up.
The inn was large, but Emerald Cloud Peak had even more disciples. If every disciple could drink tea and rest here indefinitely, there would be no way to keep the business running.
Once that group had left,
Chen Yu looked at Lü Yanyan and asked, "Senior sister, did Immortal Ruins really appear on Little Bamboo Peak?"
"Most likely," Lü Yanyan said. "After last night's incident, I asked around. A lot of people said Immortal Ruins had appeared."
Chen Yu frowned at that.
Then Lü Yanyan sighed.
"Let's hope that isn't the case."
"Oh?" Chen Yu asked in confusion. "Why do you say that, senior sister?"
"Because immortal manifestations often come with danger. Those bigwigs in the sect won't take the risk themselves. They'll just send a batch of disciples in first to scout the way."
"Forget it. Let's not talk about that."
Lü Yanyan shook her head, then smiled again as she looked at Chen Yu. "I've already taken the lead you provided yesterday to Elder Song and exchanged it for points. Starting today, you're a member of my 'Carefree Joy' service."
Naturally, Chen Yu didn't believe there was any actual "Carefree Joy" service.
But he still wore an innocent smile.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Yanyan."
"You're welcome."
Lü Yanyan's smile deepened.
Junior brothers this handsome and this easy to fool were getting rare.
She did feel guilty, but not very.
After all, compared with the guilt in her heart, the loan hanging over her head did a much better job of keeping her clearheaded.
She had exchanged yesterday's lead for ten points. With three points deducted for one violation, she had made a net profit of seven points. Not much, but not little either.
"Speaking of points, senior sister, if I want to earn some, are there any other ways besides routine assignments?" Chen Yu asked.
"There are," Lü Yanyan said with a smile.
"Apart from routine assignments and the jobs on the assignment board, the usual ways to get points are White Dove Tickets and gambling houses."
"White Dove Tickets are a form of entertainment run by the sect. They randomly combine characters from the first eighty characters of the Thousand Character Classic and print them on tickets. At the start of each month, you can spend one point to buy a ticket with a combination of characters... at the end of the month, the sect announces the winning combination..."
"As for gambling houses... I don't think I need to explain those. They offer all sorts of games."
So White Dove Tickets were basically... lottery tickets.
Seeing Chen Yu deep in thought,
Lü Yanyan couldn't help warning him, "Junior brother, take my advice. It's best to stay away from gambling houses. Never expect to earn points by gambling. They'll devour you until not even scraps of bone are left. As for White Dove Tickets... some people really have made a fortune from them, but they only exist in legends. My advice is, you can play for fun, but don't take it seriously."
"Thank you, senior sister." Chen Yu nodded.
Naturally, he wouldn't expect to make a fortune through gambling or lottery tickets.
It was just that earning points through the two ordinary kinds of assignments was too slow...
"Are there any other ways?"
"There are..." Lü Yanyan frowned in thought. "You could go to Elder Sun
"for a loan, or get onto the Dao Sect's Outer Sect Genius Ranking."
Taking out a loan was out of the question.
Chen Yu asked curiously, "The Outer Sect Genius Ranking?"
"Right," Lü Yanyan said. "If you become a genius recognized by the Dao Sect, you can collect a reward of thirty points from an elder every month, and you're exempt from routine assignments too."
That sounded very promising.
Chen Yu asked, "Then how do I get onto the Outer Sect Genius Ranking?"
"It's simple. Just pick one of the ten current geniuses, challenge them, and win," Lü Yanyan joked.
"Oh..."
"Huh?"
Lü Yanyan froze when she saw Chen Yu's thoughtful, serious expression.
"Junior brother, you're not really planning to challenge them, are you? I was only joking when I said it was simple! All ten disciples on the Outer Sect Genius Ranking are at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining, just one step away from promotion to the Inner Sect. They aren't that easy to challenge..."