《The Rich Girl's Path of Domination》


 Find a Card, Get a Cheat Free! Special Offer Just For Today!

    When you were a homeless orphan, life was always tough. That was the lesson Huan had learned as she grew up.


    It could have been worse, of course. The city of Green Rock was relatively big, having a good number of wasteful rich people from where she could get sustenance. The city also had a relatively good public order, so the chance to get randomly killed on the street was acceptably low, as long as you didn''t get in the way of members of gangs or cultivator clans (which were pretty much gangs themselves).


    Huan had been lucky enough, and later clever enough, to survive until she was twelve years old in such a place, so she understood the rules very well, she knew the merchants who were kind enough to give her some of the leftovers, she knew the safest places to sleep... It was a whole thing, really.


    She had never been overly concerned about the future, figuring that simply trying to survive the day was more important, but whenever the thought of it entered her mind, Huan always figured that she wasn''t going to get up to anything special.


    She thought she would eventually find a reliable way to gain money, and then accumulate until she could obtain a place to live. After that... She would just keep going. However, it turned out that Huan''s fate would be very different from that. And it all started when she was searching through a pile of trash and found a card that seemed to be glowing faintly.


    There was something written on it. Huan had picked up a bit of reading characters over time, but she was by no means an expert, which was why she was immediately shocked upon discovering that she could understand what was written perfectly.


    ¡°Find a Card, Get a Cheat Free! Special Offer Just For Today!


    If you are reading this, that means you are the lucky winner of our special cosmic lottery!


    Is the world getting you down? Are you a bullied orphan with no connections? Are you an old cultivator with no potential left? Do you wish you could cast aside your weakness and rise to the top of the world?


    Then this offer is for you! By finding this card you have gained a free gift coupon to exchange for any cheat you want! That''s right, any cheat you want! That''s not a joke or a hoax!


    Do you want the power to drain people''s talent, skills, cultivation base and even longevity? You can get it! Do you want a supreme cultivation skill that will allow you to defeat foes of higher realms and break through bottlenecks without issue all the way to immortality? You can get it! Do you want a talisman who can suppress spiritual beasts, help you master any technique, or do whatever other function you happen to need at the time? You can get it!


    Choose whatever cheat you want, and it will be provided to you. This is a special offer that will be provided just to you, just for now. We hope you end up satisfied with your gift.¡±


    The effect reading those words had on Huan''s mind was akin to a bomb exploding. She could barely believe what she had read, but before she could even think about it, her heart had already made a decision.


    ¡°Unlimited money!¡± She screamed inside her head.


    The cheats mentioned in the card were indeed tempting, in an ethereal sense, but Huan could not think of possibly choosing anything other than money. Money was the most powerful force in the universe. Both normal people and cultivators bowed to it, and simply having more than other people was enough to look down on them. Money could buy food, shelter, protection, even power. That was Huan''s firm belief.


    The card in her hand disappeared into dots of light. Huan felt a stabbing pain in her head and grunted, but did not close her eyes, which allowed her to see the object that suddenly materialized.


    It was a purse. A golden purse of unbridled majesty. It hovered in the air for a moment before placing itself at Huan''s hip.


    Then, the purse changed. Gone was the majesty, and instead it became extremely normal, even threadbare, as if trying to match Huan''s clothes and general appearance.


    Then, it was over, and she was left looking at the purse, incapable of seeing anything weird about it. Huan reached with her hand inside it and pulled out a bunch of bronze coins. She was breathing hard out of sheer excitement as she looked the coins up and down and could not find anything unusual about them.


    She placed the coins back in the purse and decided to try something more interesting. She reached inside again and pulled out another bunch of coins. Except this time they were silver coins instead of bronze ones. She wiped her mouth with her arm, certain that she had to be drooling at that point.


    This was more money than she had ever held at once. Huan immediately shoved them back inside the purse, fearing that someone might see them. Having too much money visible on oneself was a good way to end up dead. So she looked around a bit before trying one last test.


    She pulled out a single coin this time, but it was a gold coin. She hid it within her hands and looked at it. Huan had never seen anything so beautiful. She couldn''t restrain herself and kissed the coin full-on. She was feeling a level of joy far from comparable to anything she had ever felt before as she thought about having unlimited money.


    She could do all sorts of things now that money wasn''t an issue anymore. She could go to the best restaurants and eat their most expensive dishes. She could walk into any store and buy whatever caught her eye, or even everything inside if she felt like it. She could buy a huge house on every city she went to.


    Huan then snapped out of her daydreams and put the coin back in the purse. She looked at herself and realized that no one was going to let someone dressed like that get inside any of the high-end places. Well, that was another thing she could solve with money. She was more than clever enough to do it.


    Huan walked through the town with intent, always keeping a careful watch of her surroundings. Her objective wasn''t far away, since she had started at the edge of the commercial district that bordered the poor area of the city.


    Her goal was a merchant called Li Tianzi, who owned a small store in the more populated part of the low-class district. It was a fairly good spot for someone of his caliber, which was only kept due to his adeptness at navigating the interests of the various factions that were involved in the scene. There were also rumors about him having a backer, but nothing confirmed.


    Li Tianzi''s shop was of the general type, instead of being specialized in something. There were always all sorts of knick-knacks and products of all types, but nothing specially great, as he knew enough to avoid the trouble that sort of thing would bring.


    And most important, his store was one of the few that did no reject absolutely anyone. As long as they had money, they could go in and buy anything they liked. Many street children who managed to get some money ended up spending it at that place.


    ¡°Welcome, child. What do you need today?¡± He asked, from behind the counter where he was sitting. She looked around the store, once again surprising herself with the sheer amount of stuff that was crammed within such a small store. There were things hanging on the walls and ceilings, things spread around disorganized shelves, and there were downright piles of things behind the counter and his chair.


    Huan approached the counter and asked in a meek voice ¡°Do you have any clothes my size? Not anything expensive, though, just something better than this.¡± She indicated her own rags.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°As a matter of fact, I do have something that might fit your specifications. Does a top, skirt and pantsuit set work for you?¡± He asked, receiving a nod in response ¡°Right. I think four bronze coins should be a reasonable price for it. Do you have enough?¡±


    Huan frowned, looking like she was struggling with the idea of parting with so much money (and she was, a bit, since the idea of unlimited money hadn''t really sunk in yet) but answered ¡°Okay.¡± And reached a hand inside the purse, checking around for a bit before pulling out the four coins.


    Tianzi received the money with a smile and reached behind him, checking around the piles of stuff to pull out each part of the set individually. They really weren''t anything special, but it was enough for her purposes. So she took them and thanked him before leaving.


    Huan went to a deserted alley to change into her new set of clothes. She threw her old ones away, as they would not help with her plan. With that came her next step: She had to clean herself.


    A good place for it was the communal bath house in the edge of the medium class district. Huan made for it, and paid a single bronze coin to go inside, where she could place her new clothes in a basket and wash herself with the bathing beans and water from one of the tanks put there for that purpose. She scrubbed herself as best she could and slowly used the provided container to bring a bit of water of the tank at a time to water herself.


    It was cold water, and the beans were not really high-class, but it was still a great luxury to someone like her, considering that a bronze coin could be put to more essential uses. She waited for her body to dry before going back to put her clothes back on.


    That done, she was looking like one of those peasant daughters that she saw playing on the street sometimes, but that was only a step in her plan.


    +0+


    From there on, Huan slowly improved her appearance more and more. She went into more mainstream stores each time to get better clothes, and quickly saw how much more friendly the shop people were when talking with someone who could possibly buy something, instead of a dirty street rat.


    Surprisingly enough, her magical purse changed its appearance to match whatever clothing she was wearing, so it wasn''t causing any dissonance with her dress.


    Soon enough, Huan was wearing a stylish and beautiful, but also practical dress, which was popular among the noble women in the city. She also bought some jewelry and nice shoes to match up with the clothes. Then she went to a hair salon and paid to have her hair fixed up.


    When they showed her a mirror to look at their work, Huan nodded in satisfaction. She looked like the perfect image of a noble young lady. With that, step two was complete.


    Step three was going to the highest class restaurant she could find that wasn''t solely based on reservation, and ask for the recommendations of the staff (¡°Money is not an object.¡± she said.) She ate her fill and some more, and for the first time in her life, Huan felt the sensation of being full.


    During the meal, one of the workers struck up a conversation with her, in which he asked about why a young noble lady like her was going around unescorted.


    Huan knew that this was a crucial moment, so she did her best to evoke a feeling of annoyance as she responded.


    ¡°Ah, they are around. You just can''t see them.¡± She shook her head ¡°Daddy won''t let me go around without bodyguards, but I hate it when they keep hovering over me, so I asked them to conceal themselves while they protected me. They are good at that.¡±


    That explanation seemed to convince him, and the conversation changed to one in which he seemed to be very interested on Huan''s family and connections.


    She had already imagined something like that would occur, as someone unknown suddenly appearing in such a high class establishment would draw attention, and information about it would certainly fetch a good price, so she already had a story ready.


    She called herself Li Huan (as Li was a very common last name) and said that her family was traveling around the world in a vacation, as well as explaining that they were part of a wealthy merchant group back on their hometown.


    She didn''t expect that story to really convince all the people who would be looking into the matter, but it was plausible enough, and hard enough to fully verify, that she expected it would give her enough leeway to do what she wanted.


    After the meal, Huan left to go towards the central merchant district. She had planned for step four to be buying a bunch of things she would need, but then she realized that it would be difficult to carry everything on her person.


    That was a problem, so Huan stopped for a moment while walking to contemplate what she should do about it. Then she looked to her inexhaustible purse and got an idea: The cheat she had gotten also included stealth elements despite her not having asked for it. Perhaps it could also serve as some sort of bag of holding.


    In order to test it, she went to a nearby jewelry store and bought two dozen precious gemstone collars. All together they weighted enough to make it hard to carry all at once, and their volume was definitely bigger than the volume her purse should have. The store manager had even given her a thick paper bag to carry them around (¡°a special service¡±, in his words).


    Huan left the store and went to a relatively quiet place, then started talking the collars off the bag and placing them on her purse. Soon enough, all of them were inside, and the purse hadn''t changed form even a bit, and was still the same weight as well.


    Smiling brightly, Huan then reached inside and easily pulled out the first collar she had placed in. It was very convenient to use.


    That dilemma solved, Huan went to where she had planned previously, and then she started having fun. It couldn''t be helped, even though most of what she bought were practical things like traveling clothes and rations, as well as maps and tents. Simply having enough money to buy whatever she wanted filled her with a sort of giddiness that was impossible to describe.


    And of course, once in a while she would find things she didn''t necessarily need, but would buy anyway. There were small toys and weapons, books (for when she learned how to read) and varied tools of every trade, small crafts and large amounts of all kinds of thread.


    However, she was jostled out of her happy haze of shopping when she noticed a particular shop. A small street stall manned by a middle-aged man who had both a sword and a fan on his hip.


    He was a cultivator. There was no way Huan could be wrong about that. The street children were usually adversarial with each other, but they did tend to inform the others of certain dangers, and that man had all the signs for being one of the biggest of those dangers, a cultivator.


    There were many horror stories of street rats trying to pickpocket cultivators only to die horribly due to losing their arms, having all their blood sucked out, or other horrors such as those.


    As such, signs such as his unusual musculature, the kinds of items he had, and the simple feeling she got when looking at him were clear indicators.


    The fact that his stall was in a very good spot and yet there were no other stalls around was also a pretty big clue.


    Huan felt fear and almost stepped back, but stopped herself by thinking of her magical purse. She had much more money than that cultivator could even imagine, so there was absolutely no reason to be intimidated by him. Her courage renewed, Huan walked towards his stall.


    ¡°Do you have anything that could be useful for non-cultivators?¡± She asked.


    The cultivator narrowed his eyes and responded ¡°I may have a few things, but I only trade for spirit stones, not ordinary money.¡±


    Spirit Stones. Pieces of solidified spiritual energy. Apparently they were a currency for cultivators, but normal people would hardly ever see them. Huan had seen a single piece once, when another street rat was showing off what he had received from a cultivator he helped guide around the city. (That street rat was later found dead, because showing off one''s wealth like that was a bad idea.)


    However, despite the situation being unexpected, Huan did not falter. She had the confidence of having all the money at her disposal, so she simply reached out inside her purse.


    The magic could give her all types of coins, so why wouldn''t it give other types of currency?


    Huan brought out a small green stone that seemed to glow faintly, exactly the same as what she had seen before. The cultivator looked at it and nodded, before starting to show off his wares.


    Not that he had much to sell her, considering Huan was limited to items that could be used without a cultivation base. Mostly it was trinkets that she had no interest in, like a pill to improve one''s appearance, but there was one thing she decided to buy.


    It was a ring. According to the cultivator (who introduced himself as Wang Fugui), it worked to automatically protect her body from impacts while it was being worn, and the power source used were spirit stones. She simply had to hold up spirit stones to the crystal in the ring and it would absorb the spiritual energy in them.


    The crystal would change colors to indicate how much energy it had left. White was full power and black was no power. According to Fugui, at full charge, it could block two attacks of a Foundation Establishment cultivator before running dry. Anyone below that level would need a lot of effort to get through it.


    ¡°I like it.¡± Huan said. That was an understatement, the thing was perfect for her. A defense literally powered by money? It had an amazing appeal ¡°How many do you want?¡± She asked, holding the spirit stone.


    ¡°Five medium quality spirit stones.¡± He answered.


    ''Medium quality. So there were differences in rank of spirit stones as well...'' Huan thought.


    She decided that what she had should be medium quality, considering that was what Fugui had mentioned, so she reached inside her purse and took out four more of the same type, handing them all to the man, who passed the ring to her.


    She put it on her finger before leaving. That had been a productive shopping experience.


    Now, it was time for step five. She needed a bodyguard, and she knew just where to find one.

 Money May Not Buy Happiness, But it Buys Bodyguards and Thats Just as Important

    Huan, after finishing her shopping, headed towards a specific building at the eastern part of the city.


    It was a gray pavilion which served as the only entrance to a huge walled area, housing several buildings and open areas. That place was named Sword and Arrow Pavilion, but was better known under a variety of nicknames: Training Grounds of City Guards, The Swords for Rent and Head Collection Office.


    It was a place with multiple purposes, from accepting young hopefuls to be trained in the arts of combat, to a mercenary office accepting all sorts of jobs, to a place where bounty hunters could bring proof of their kills in order to get rewards.


    It was a strange place, where coarse soldiers and refined nobles would interact on a daily basis, a sort of neutral ground. It was also a place where some street rats managed to actually struggle upwards, obtaining training and work.


    Huan entered the pavilion, which was a big and rowdy place, with several desks spread around where customers could make their requests. She headed towards one of the tables, which was manned by a pretty young woman wearing white clothing.


    ¡°Greetings, young lady. How may I help you?¡± She said with that very specific smile and tone of voice that seemed to be required for all similar service workers.


    ¡°I wish to hire a bodyguard.¡± Huan spoke with the most arrogant tone of voice she could muster.


    ¡°You have come to the right place, miss...¡± The woman waited.


    ¡°I am called Li Huan.¡±


    ¡°Miss Li. We have all kinds of bodyguards, and I can certainly suggest one who would meet your specifications. Do you have any specific requests?¡±


    ¡°Just one. I want the best, I don''t care how expensive it is. And quality is far better than quantity.¡± Huan spoke, crossing her arms and tapping a finger in impatience.


    ¡°Understood, Miss Li. Just one last question then: How long will the bodyguard contract last for?¡± She was already looking through the papers underneath the counter.


    ¡°Three days should be enough.¡± Huan said.


    ¡°In that case, please take a look at this profile to see if he suits his needs.¡± The woman spoke, putting a paper on the table.


    Huan looked down to take a look... And froze when she realized that she still didn''t know how to read. Inwardly panicking, she still managed to contain herself enough to think of something.


    ¡°Tch.¡± She made a sound of disdain ¡°Just give me the highlights, I don''t have time to waste.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The woman said, still with the same tone as before ¡°His name is Fang Xuanji. Sixth Level Qi Condensation Cultivator. His job performance has been evaluated as the maximum, five stars. The fee for hiring him as a bodyguard for three days is Thirty Medium Quality Spirit Stones. We will also need ten gold coins for the hiring fees.¡±


    Huan closed her eyes and considered for a few moments ¡°That is acceptable.¡± She then quickly reached into her purse and took out the required money, handing it off to the worker.


    ¡°He will be called shortly. Do you wish to specify a place for him to meet with you?¡± The woman asked.


    Again, Huan was brought up short, but quickly thought of something ¡°Yes. He can meet me at the Dream-Colored Pavilion.¡± She couldn''t hold back a smile upon saying that.


    ¡°Understood. Please take this identification amulet to confirm your identity later on.¡± She gave Huan a round golden amulet attached to a string.


    She placed it on her wrist and left to go where she had said.


    +0+


    The Dream-Colored Pavilion was a very different place from where she had just been. The ambiance was more similar to that of a high-class restaurant, with very opulent decorations and furniture, except it all tended to the more colorful side, most of which being soft colors. The clientele was almost entirely female.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    That was because that pavilion was a place to go in order to eat sweets. Some of the best sweet-makers in the region worked there day after day, crafting customized pastries and other sweetmeats, which were both tailored to the tastes of the client, but also to their aesthetic preferences.


    Huan had eaten sweets before, the cheap ones sold in street stalls, mostly thanks to some generous vendors. So, she had very high expectations for what she would get in that place.


    They were completely crushed. Huan essentially descended into a nirvana of taste, which was a much bigger shock than the high-class food she had eaten earlier. She was quite frankly unable to tell how long she spent in that state, but she only came out of it after hearing a voice speaking right next to her.


    ¡°Greetings.¡±


    Huan swallowed the food inside her mouth and turned to look to the talker. Just one glance was enough to show that he was definitely a cultivator. However, he was different from the vendor she had seen earlier in terms of one particular attribute: His age.


    While the previous man seemed to be middle-aged, Fang Xuanji appeared to be no more than fifteen years old. He was more a boy than a man, but Huan definitely wasn''t going to underestimate him because of that, specially considering that she felt a greater sense of danger from him than from that other cultivator.


    ¡°You must be Fang Xuanji.¡± She spoke to him.


    ¡°And you must be Miss Li Huan.¡± He replied, his voice calm and unhurried ¡°I am here as requested.¡±


    She was about to tell him to watch over her while she ate when she caught a glance of the sun clock nearby. She was almost late!


    Getting up and raising a hand to ask for the bill, Huan spoke a few words to Xuanji:


    ¡°I need to go to an inn where I can host an event. Take me to the most convenient high-class one.¡±


    +0+


    As it turned out, the most convenient high-class inn was a place called Red White Lodging. It wasn''t the best inn in the city, but it was certainly in the top ten, maybe even the top five.


    When they talked with the attendant on call, she quickly realized that their matter was beyond her capacity to decide, so she quickly called the manager to deal with this new very rich client. The manager was a beautiful red-haired woman with a mature charm, who appeared to be around thirty years old. She was called Xiao Yin.


    ¡°Please, could you explain to me what are your requirements for our service?¡± She asked in a polite, businesslike manner.


    ¡°I want to hold a small but very elite gathering. The space needs to be appropriate for the standards of the top players in the city. And since they are probably very busy, I intend to have it simply be a meal followed by some quick preliminary negotiations, so an hour should be enough.¡± Huan explained.


    ¡°The most troublesome matter is that I intend to hold this gathering tonight. Specifically, at the third hour after dusk. I am willing to pay extra to compensate this establishment for the trouble of having to prepare on such short notice.¡± She finished.


    Miss Yin was clearly very skilled at the business, since she didn''t even blink at Huan''s unusual request, instead getting right down to trying to negotiate prices. The rich girl simply asked her to state how much it would cost, so they could finish the deal fast.


    Huan had never heard of the saying ¡°if you have to ask how much it costs, you can''t afford it¡±, but she was showing the very essence of the saying with her clear disregard for the matter of negotiations.


    Of course, this caused the manager to revise her opinion about this girl''s financial means upwards (and it was already pretty high), so she quickly thought about those very expensive products and resources that even an inn like theirs couldn''t have access to all the time, and wondered how many of them she could gather in such a short time.


    ¡°150 gold coins should suffice to cover all expenses.¡± She stated.


    ¡°In that case, I''ll pay two hundred. The fifty coins are the promised extra.¡± Huan replied, reaching inside her purse for the money.


    Obviously, she knew that the ¡°extra¡± should already be included on the one fifty, but paying extra money without even thinking about it was part of the image she was trying to project. Well, there was also the fact that doing such things made her feel so giddy inside it was difficult to suppress the urge to smile.


    Miss Yin again didn''t show any outward reaction, even as Huan started pulling the money out of the purse. And thankfully enough, the convenience of the purse extended to being able to bring out those small stacks of coins tied together with strings, so it didn''t take that long for the money to be in front of the manager.


    ¡°I should be back here aroundthe second hour of dusk.¡± She said, before simply getting up from her provided chair and strolling out of the building, followed closely by Xuanji.


    Checking the time based on the sun, Huan was satisfied, there was still enough time to do what she needed.


    The next step on her plan was perhaps the most crucial one, and it was the reason why she had rushed things so much. Because that part of the plan had a very strict timing, and could not be easily replaced.


    She had prepared for a meeting with the most influential people in the city, so now she had to actually invite them to it. And that day happened to be a perfect chance to do it, since they were all guaranteed to be gathered on a single place.


    The Mountains and Rivers Auction House, which would be having its annual Grand Auction later that day.


    And honestly speaking, that was as far as she had actually planned things out. Huan would need to bring those people to meet with her, but she still hadn''t decided what exactly she intended to accomplish by doing that. She was going to have to think about it some more on the way.


    Still, Huan smiled as she comforted herself with the thought that she had so much money that there was no way she was going to end up on the losing side, regardless of what her plans ended up being.


    Xuanji noticed her smile, but didn''t ask about it. He was a very professional worker, after all.