Without a ruthless heart, there are no windfalls

After eating and drinking his fill, Jiang Yi wanted to help clean up, but Old Li's wife and Widow Qin stopped him.

The two women swiftly tidied everything up, letting no one else lend a hand.

The rice wine tasted sweet, but it packed a powerful afterkick; a gust of wind was enough to knock a drinker over.

He Laohun and Old Li had drunk to their hearts' content. Now, dizzy and hugging their wine jars, they were nearly lying beneath the table.

"Brother Yi, pour me a few more bowls..."

"Come on, Brother He, bottoms up!"

"A little horse piss, and you can't even tell east from west!"

Old Li's wife grabbed him by the ear and dragged him back inside.

Jiang Yi supported He Laohun and dumped him onto his wooden bed.

Once they were settled, the courtyard compound fell quiet in an instant.

Widow Qin fetched a jar of honey from her room, scooped out a spoonful, mixed it with water, and handed it to Jiang Yi.

"Have a cup of honey water to sober up, Brother Yi. You still have to work first thing tomorrow."

Jiang Yi thanked her and accepted it with both hands. The body's original owner had finally done something good, forging this kindly connection.

In the courtyard compound, He Laohun seemed close to him, but their friendship did not run particularly deep.

Widow Qin, on the other hand, had looked after him in many ways, openly and quietly alike. She was the one most willing to help.

She said softly,

"The end of the month is almost here. Every workshop will have to rush its work again. Luckily, you've broken through to the second level of Qi Refining, Brother Yi. If you were still at the first, you'd have a hard time enduring it."

For the workshops across the outer sect's four peaks, the end of the month was the hardest time to bear.

They were forever falling behind their "production schedules," forcing the mortal laborers to take turns rushing the work.

If they encountered a kind-hearted task overseer like Yang Xun, they would receive some talisman money as compensation. If they were unlucky enough to get Sewing Peak's Zhou Bapi, they had to buy their own medicine even if they worked until they vomited blood.

After finishing the honey water, Jiang Yi did indeed feel the wine's effects subside.

"You should take care of yourself too, Sister-in-law Qin. I remember your twelve-year term is almost over. Your days of hardship are finally coming to an end."

Widow Qin sighed wistfully.

"Leaving the Qianji Sect and coming down from Crimson Flame Peak only means I won't be driven to work every day. Life will still be a struggle. There's little difference."

Jiang Yi offered some comfort.

"Northern Mang Ridge has plenty of markets. You're at the third level of Qi Refining, and you know grinding, engraving, and forging. Finding work at a trading house or shop won't be difficult. It has to be better than being driven like an ox or horse day after day."

Widow Qin chuckled softly. Years of hardship had added a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, but one could still tell she had been a striking beauty in her youth.

"You have a good heart, Brother Yi. It's a pity you ended up on the demonic path. Don't spend any more money on Luo Xiaoniangzi. Focus on your cultivation. You're the most diligent person in our courtyard, and the most likely to reach the fifth level of Qi Refining."

Jiang Yi cupped his hands and smiled.

"Then may your auspicious words come true, Sister-in-law Qin. When I reach the fifth level of Qi Refining, I'll present you with a generous gift to honor your good wishes."

Widow Qin stared at Jiang Yi, her gaze turning distant as she said in a quiet voice,

"Don't call me sister-in-law anymore. I once had a younger brother about your age, just as handsome as you. If you don't mind, call me 'sister.'"

Jiang Yi readily obliged, happy to forge that connection.

"All right, Sister Qin."

The corners of Widow Qin's eyes relaxed, revealing a faint charm.

"I've put that bear gallbladder in sorghum liquor for you. Have a few sips every day. It nourishes your Qi and Blood and clears heat toxins."

Jiang Yi thanked her again. Seeing that it was late, he bade Widow Qin farewell and slipped back into his room.

As the door closed, it shut out the howling north wind.

Today's spirit rice porridge and spirit fish soup had nourished his body to some extent.

Jiang Yi settled cross-legged on his bed, regulating his breathing as he cultivated.

Only after circulating his True Qi a full twenty times, completing two greater celestial circuits, did he stop, his entire body brimming with fullness.

After breaking through to the second level of Qi Refining, every cultivation session sent wisps of heat seeping out between his bones, greatly increasing his Qi and Blood and strengthening his vitality.

This was the benefit of transforming his sinews and bones. As long as he consolidated and stabilized his progress, his strength would continue to grow.

It was said that his original thousand jin of strength could multiply several times over.

To reach the fifth level, I must make every wisp and strand of True Qi as heavy as lead and mercury. Only when a breath of Qi can hang suspended without falling is it perfected. Otherwise, I cannot break open the origin gate or establish the inner palace.

Jiang Yi keenly felt that the ungraded "Meridian-Regulating Qi Circulation Art" was far too ineffective.

At this rate of cultivation, when would he ever break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining?

He suppressed his distracting thoughts. Golden light emerged in his eyes, and the heavenly book manifested.

An hour had long since passed.

The results appeared on the golden page.

[Example one: In the courtyard compound's eastern room, He Laohun has saved thirty-nine thousand talisman coins, hidden inside the lining of his tattered quilt.]

[Example two: In the courtyard compound's southern room, Li Gensheng and his wife have saved fifteen thousand talisman coins, wrapped in kraft paper and pressed beneath the water vat in the kitchen corner.]

[Example three: In the courtyard compound's western room, Qin Ru has saved fifty thousand talisman coins...]

Jiang Yi was speechless. So all his opportunities to "seek wealth" had landed on his neighbors in the courtyard.

Was he supposed to start with acquaintances when scheming for money?

He shook his head and pretended he had not seen those examples, afraid that another glance or two might shake his resolve.

Together, they amounted to a little over a hundred thousand talisman coins, enough to purchase a ninth-grade Qi Refining cultivation method.

And I call myself a demonic cultivator! Jiang Yi, oh, Jiang Yi, you truly disgrace the name!

Mocking himself, Jiang Yi skipped the first three entries and looked through the others.

A dozen or so breaths later, he lowered his eyelids.

These mortal laborers really do like hiding talisman money everywhere. Sewn into loincloths, buried beneath trees... all waiting to be retrieved once their twelve-year terms are up.

Jiang Yi was in a quandary. He was a mortal laborer himself; how could he not know how hard talisman money was to earn?

Stealing the hard-earned savings these beasts of burden had scraped together was no different from taking several living people's lives.

Even if he dressed it up with "I am a demonic cultivator," he still could not get past his own conscience.

My old boss was right. Without ruthlessness, you cannot stand firm; without a ruthless heart, there are no windfalls.

I really don't make much of a demonic cultivator.

After considering it for a moment, Jiang Yi gulped down several mouthfuls of bear gallbladder liquor. Its fierce, burning bite swept down his throat, slowly bolstering the spirit in his chest.

With a shift of thought, he canceled the question.

It's not as though I'm so poor I'm starving to death. Why commit needless sins?

Jiang Yi concentrated, watching the writing fade from the heavenly book's golden page.

Its brilliant radiance was close to falling dormant. He had just one final opportunity to make a petition today.

He changed his wording and asked again.

[I humbly petition the heavenly book to show me ownerless wealth.]

[Additional conditions: Preferably the undiscovered hidden wealth of Qianji Sect disciples or mortal laborers who died in recent years.]

Jiang Yi's mind worked quickly. Stealing from the living would cost him some conscience and leave him uneasy.

But taking money from the dead was no great matter.

He would simply consider it their "investment" in him.

After all, there were hundreds of mortal laborers across the outer sect's peaks.

There was certainly no shortage of people who had died before spending all their money.

This could work!

Jiang Yi watched the heavenly book's golden page flicker several times before directly displaying the results.

Does death erase karmic ties? Is that why it was so fast?

He guessed inwardly.

[Subject of inquiry: Ownerless wealth]

[Time spent on deduction: One breath]

[Example one: Zhao Shuan, a mortal laborer of Soul-Nourishing Peak, was put into a medicinal field five days ago. He buried eight thousand talisman coins by the old pagoda tree at the foot of the mountain.]

[Example two: Song Haoyang, a mortal laborer of Sewing Peak, strayed into the "Heart-Seizing Forest" two days ago. He hid five thousand talisman coins in a fishpond.]

[Example three: Yang Zhi, son of Crimson Flame Peak's task overseer Yang Xun, perished in the Cave of Myriad Beasts half a year ago. He left a copy of the "Lesser Forging Origin Fire-Control Art" in a separate residence at the foot of the mountain.]

[Example four: Herb-Gathering Peak...]

He finished reading.

There were four "karmic ties" in all, totaling twenty-four thousand talisman coins.

Jiang Yi let out a long breath. His purse would be full enough now. Spirit rice and spirit fish at every meal would be no problem, and he could also begin planning his entry into the inner sect.

I should be able to sleep soundly and peacefully tonight.

Even though the wooden bed beneath him had only a layer of dry straw and a mattress, Jiang Yi felt more comfortable than ever before.

But his thoughts turned, and he reflected,

The Qianji Sect really does lose quite a few mortal laborers. Put into medicinal fields, straying into the Heart-Seizing Forest-even a task overseer's son died in the Cave of Myriad Beasts... I must reach the fifth level of Qi Refining as soon as possible to keep myself safe.