《The Celestial Scholar》


 Chapter 1 - Ye Xue

    The Peaceful Woods was a forest located in the southern part of Red Flower City. The rumor says that there was a lake in the deepest part of that forest. This lake helped most of the common people without any cultivation to enter to the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering, allowing them to become a cultivator.


    In the deepest part of the forest, Ye Xue was carefully looking for the rumored lake. Hearing such rumor after arriving at Red Flower City, he hurriedly directed towards the Peaceful Woods the next morning.


    Ye Xue was a simple commoner. Both of his parents were simple villagers from a remote village without any special talent for cultivation. They were poor and could not afford Ye Xue to waste money in studying cultivation techniques. The chance for him to become a good cultivator was low but even so, he did not give up and has always dreamed to leave the village one day once he gets the opportunity, to achieve his dream, becoming a cultivator.


    The death of his parents a month ago, gave him the opportunity to leave the village, increasing his desire to become one even further. Now that he could achieve his dream, Ye Xue intended to take this opportunity by any means possible, even if it was not on his own capability.


    After walking in the depth of theforest for more than three hours, Ye Xue finally found the rumored lake. The blue water as clear as sapphire and the golden sands shining within it as if they were stars in the night sky confirmed him that it was truly the rumored lake that he heard back in the inn of Red Flower City.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started!¡± Ye Xue said excitedly.


    He hurriedly took off his clothes and started to bathe in the lake.Although Ye Xue never felt the qi within his body since his birth, nevertheless, he was still able to feel a relaxing energy entering within him. He guessed that it was probably the qi within the lake which started to enter his body.


    ¡°I can finally...finally become a cultivator!¡± Ye Xue affirmed high-spirited.


    Ye Xue was normally someone who was quite prudent, butsince he was about to realize one of his wildest dreams, he failed to notice that a huge and terrifying monster was heading towards him beneath his feet.


    Only when the giant aquatic snake leaped from the water, did he finally realized that he was in a terrible life-or-death situation. But it was already too late for him, the giant aquatic snake already opened his wide mouth, charging towards him.


    With a *Gulp* the giant aquatic snake swallowed Ye Xue, before returning from where he came from, the depths of the lake.


    ?


    In his unconscious state, Ye Xue was slowly descending into the stomach of the giant aquatic snake. The stomach of the giant aquatic snake was extremely strong, if one was to fall into the gastric acid of his stomach, one¡¯s body will end decomposing in a rapid state while still being alive, dying in less than 10 seconds.


    Either it was due to fate or being extremely lucky, the moment Ye Xue was about to enter in contact with the gastric acid, becoming the food of the giant aquatic snake, his body entered in contact with a small black stone floating upon it.The moment the small black stone entered in contact with him, a massive qi energy leaked from the stone. The energy was too tremendous for the giant aquatic snake''s stomach, upon entering into contact with the giant aquatic snake''s skin, the massive qi exploded, killing the giant aquatic snake on the spot. The lake which was normally calm suddenly became agitated by such occurrence.


    This black stone was made from enchanted obsidian, one of the most solid and strongest stones in the world. Fused with Ye Xue''s body, the massive qi did not threaten him. The small black stone was, in reality, an ancient artifact made by a celestial scholar before giving it to his descendant. The reason why was such a mythical artifact was there is unknown, but it did not change that the artifact has chosen Ye Xue as his owner, saving his life when he was on the verge of dying.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Woking up from his unconscious state, Ye Xue stood up and noticed that he was back to the surface, not far away from his clothes. Confused, he tried to recall what exactly happened but before he could, he suddenly had a huge headache, directly collapsing him on the spot.


    Several hours have passed since Ye Xue collapsed. The sun was already starting to set the moment he wakes up. But after waking up, he immediately understood that the small black stone within the giant aquatic snake¡¯s stomach, not only saved him but alsofused with his body as well.


    That small black stone was an ancient artifact of one of his ancestor, Ye Zheng. It was probably the reason why the small black stone fused with his body. Not only his ancestor was a celestial scholar living in the Heavenly Realm, he was the direct disciple of the celestial emperor¡¯s tutor as well. He was someone who was out from the reach of even the strongest cultivator in this world, not even to mention himself who was a mere mortal without any cultivation.


    ¡®At least, until now.¡¯ Ye Xue smiled wryly. Thanks to the ancient artifact, not only did he finally entered to the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering, allowing him to become a cultivator, he also gained the massive amount pieces of knowledge Ye Zhen had when he was still alive. That small black stone was truly a blessing to him.


    ¡°I should head back before the night comes. Yuan Xiang must be worried about me...¡±


    After reorganizing his thought, Ye Xue looked at the sky and decided to head back to Red Flower City.


    During the day, the beasts in the Peaceful Woods were weak. Even a simple villager with a little bit of fighting experience could beat them, they were small beasts such as frenzied squirrels, horned-rabbits, or wolves. But during the night, it was a completely different matter. Not even the cultivators who were at the late-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering could be spared, no need to mentionthose below them and mortals.


    Dressing his clothes, Ye Xue hurriedly directed towards Red Flower City.


    ?


    During that time, several hours ago...


    In front of the Warm Red Flower Inn, Yuan Xiang hurriedly entered the inn. When he saw Fan Meng leisurely eating on the counter, he walked towards him infuriated.


    ¡°Fan Meng! You...I heard that youmake a bet with big brother Xue if he dared to go to the Peaceful Woods alone. Is that true?¡±


    Yuan Xiang was Ye Xue¡¯s childhood friend as well as his best friend, they shared the same feeling of brotherhood with each other. After that he learned about the bet between his big brother and Fan Meng, he directly went looking for Fan Meng to confirm the truth.


    ¡°Humpf, so what? It can¡¯t be helped if your big brother is a fool. He dared make such a losing bet. Thanks to him, I can eat my fill tonight, since there is no way such rumor is true.¡± Fan Meng coldly said.


    Fan Meng was at the middle-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering. He entered the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering on his own and believe that hard work is the only key to become a cultivator. There was no way that someone who believes in such a bullshitting rumor could become a cultivator. He wanted Ye Xue to make a fool of himself after returning.


    ¡°Fan Meng¡­ You¡­ If ever something happens to big brother Xue, I, Yuan Xiang swear on my name that you will regret this!¡± With a cold glare, Yuan Xiang was about to leave the inn to search for his big brother, Ye Xue.But before he could, the inn¡¯s entrance opened.


    Turning his head, a young man approached them and excitedly said, "Yuan Xiang, I¡¯m back. And guess what? I succeeded! I entered the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering, I''ve finally become a cultivator!¡±


    It was obviously Ye Xue who returned from the Peaceful Woods.


    After examining his Ye Xue, when Yuan Xiang confirmed that he did not even a single scratch on him, he sighed in relief.Finally comprehending what Ye Xue just said, he stared blankly at him for a moment before showing a wide smile, saying,¡°Congratulation big brother Xue! I knew that you could do it!¡±


    Hearing Yuan Xiang¡¯s words, Fan Meng nearly spurted blood.


    Yuan Xiang¡­You¡­ How can you be so thick-skinned!

 Chapter 2 - Big brother Xue, are you sick?

    ¡°Fan Meng, my stone recording broke before I could arrive at the lake. Since I don¡¯t have any concrete evidence, I admit defeat.¡± Ye Xue slowly explained, showing a slight displeased expression.


    Even though Ye Xue did not really want to give away 5 gold coins for losing a bet, it was still better than revealing him with the stone recording about what happened. It was a small loss, but he was confident that he could make a fortune once he arrived in Snowy Mountain City.


    Receiving his money, since Man Feng already finished eating several minutes ago, he left the counter and headed to his room.


    By the time Ye Xue arrived and talked with Fan Meng and Yuan Xiang, a plate of food was already served in front of them. It was the free dinner included to the reservation they have made yesterday.


    Finishing their plate, Ye Xue and Yuan Xiang returned to their own room, packing their things to depart at dawn. They have to arrive in Snowy Mountain City as fast as possible. The quickest, the better. They have within two months before the starts of the Snowy Mountain School.


    By then, they need to increase their cultivation from the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering to the early-stage of the Intermediate Qi Gathering, that is to say, that they needed to break through 4 whole realms in order to be accepted as a student of the Snowy Mountain School.


    Such a feat was extremely hard for them who do not use resources such as cultivating plants, cultivating pills, spirits stones, etc... One could say that it was even impossible without resources but that was another matter for Ye Xue. After all, he possessed the knowledge of his ancestor, the knowledge of a learned scholar from the Heavenly Realm!


    What was the difference between the Heavenly Realm and the mortal world? It was literally as different as Heaven and Earth. The weakest celestial immortal from the Heavenly Realm could smash the strongest immortal from the mortal world as if he was a bug. It was not comparable!


    Calming his thought, Ye Xue sat on the ground and started organizing the memories of his ancestor. Right now, what Ye Xue need the most was a good Qi Gathering cultivation technique for his unique constitution.


    After that Ye Xue fused with the ancient artifact, Ye Xue learned that he possessed a unique constitution called the Ice Emperor Bloodline which was one of the top unique constitutions within the Heavenly Realm. But the only problem with that unique constitution was the slow growth of one¡¯s cultivation.


    For example, if Ye Xue and Yuan Xiang were both to cultivate with the same method for a month, Yuan Xiang¡¯s growth will be ten times faster compared to Ye Xue. It was the unique problem that the Ice Emperor Bloodline possessed, thus, making Ye Xue¡¯s situation extremely complicated.


    After browsing his ancestor¡¯s memories for an entire hour, he only found three Qi Gathering cultivation technique that was good enough for his Ice Emperor Bloodline. After a long thought, he decided to learn the Ice King Cultivating Technique. It was the one that gives the most benefits to his Ice Emperor Bloodline.


    Without wasting any time, he started controlling the flux of his Qi using the Ice King Cultivating Technique to familiarize with his new cultivating technique. It was only after two hours of meditation that he decided to go to bed due to the extreme exhaustion on his body, falling immediately asleep the moment his body fell on the bed.


    ?


    The next morning, Ye Xue and Yuan Xiang left Red Flower City at dawn. The distance between Red Flower City and Snowy Mountain City was quite far, approximately 1800 Li1. It will take them around 6 to 7 days of travel before reaching Snowy Mountain City. If they were to travel by carriage, It will take them only 3 to 4 days on a carriage, but due to the lack of money, they could not afford to travel by carriage.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    After a few hours of walking, Ye Xue suddenly stops which surprised Yuan Xiang. Waiting for several seconds, Ye Xue still did not move. Approaching him, Yuan Xiang noticed that he was closely examining a common herb with a shocked expression.


    Confused, Yuan Xiang could not help but asked, ¡°Big brother Xue...What is wrong with that plant?¡±


    ¡°Yuan Xiang, do you believe me? That herb is called the Wild Spring Grass, a precious plant used for cultivating pills. With this, we will easily reach the middle-stage Intermediate Qi Gathering within a week!¡± Ye Xue exclaimed, showing a delighted expression.


    Hearing Ye Xue¡¯s explanation, Yuan Xiang felt perplexed. ¡®Did big brother Xue has gone mad? I don¡¯t remember him learning plants properties¡­¡¯ Looking at Ye Xue showing a worried expression, he asked, ¡°Big brother Xue, are you sick?¡±


    ¡°...¡± Ye Xue was speechless.


    Although he did not expect Yuan Xiang to believe him on the spot, he never expected that kind of outcome. He did not know whether to laugh or cry.


    ¡°Nevermind. Just help me to collect this plant if you see one. I¡¯ll show you once we¡¯ll get to Snowy Mountain City.¡±


    Ye Xue still does not know if he should tell the truth to Yuan Xiang or not. He was afraid that such information could endanger him, thus, dodged the explanation. He believed that one day, he will be able to tell him about it, but not yet. They were still too weak to protect themselves, it was not the right time.


    Collecting all the Wild Spring Grass from the surroundings, they resumed their travel to Snowy Mountain City.


    ?


    Snowy Mountain City was a large city on the mountaintop of a huge mountain, the Snowy Mountain. On the top of being one of the five the biggest city within the Cloud Empire, the Snowy Mountain School was one of the most prestigious school as well.


    At the entrance of Snowy Mountain City, two men were slowly approaching the gates. Passing through the frozen river, the whistlings of the cold wind in addition to the snowflakes falling from the sky showed both of the men a magnificent scenery of the season called winter.


    Passing through the gates of the city, the temperature suddenly increased as if the city was showing them a warm welcome. Although one of the men was slightly unaffected by the cold temperature, the other one, on the contrary, was glad that such warmth suddenly invaded their body.


    Searching for a good place to stay, the duo visited the bustling city, surprised by the entertaining atmosphere. After walking for roughly twenty minutes, the two men found a good inn where they could stay. Once both of them unpacked their stuff, they separated and started visiting once again the city.


    Arriving in front of the commerce¡¯s district, the man looked at the goods displayed on the stalls with an excited expression. There were many things which interested him, but he restrained from spending his money.


    Thirty minutes have passed since the man visited the commerce¡¯s district. Just when he was about to leave the area, he suddenly heard a commotion inside a runesmith shop. Out of curiosity, he entered the runesmith shop.


    ¡°I already told you. As long as you can enchant my middle-tier human sword with a decent enchantment, I am willing to pay a decent amount of money!¡±


    In front of the counter, a young black-haired girl wearing a beautiful red silk robe was standing. The man could only see his back, but he could already guess that she must be quite a beauty from her exquisite and perfect jade-like figure.


    ¡°Young miss...I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t think I have enough talent to enchant such good weapon. If I was to enchant your weapon, I¡¯ll only deteriorate it.¡± With a worried expression, the runesmith said.


    Hearing the discussion, the man concluded that the runesmith was more likely not willing to accept the request due to the lack of his ability. Approaching them, they realized that someone entered.


    ¡°Welcome to my runesmith shop! What can I help you with?¡±


    The first one to react was the shop owner. Turning her head, the young black-haired girl¡¯s eyes directed towards the young man who just entered.


    ¡°I can probably enchant your weapon, but I have a few conditions.¡± The young man said, smiling confidently.


    <hr>


    1 1 Li = 500 meter. 1900 Li represents 900 Kilometers.

 Chapter 3 - Runesmithing

    ¡°I can probably enchant your weapon, but I have a condition.¡± Ye Xue said, smiling confidently.


    Examining the other¡¯s party qi, Zhu Jingyi frowned. The young man in front of him was just at the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering, which means that he recently become a cultivator.


    Could he truly enchant a middle-tier human sword with his level of cultivation? The answer was obvious. Of course not, but Zhu Jingyi did not directly refuse the other¡¯s party offer. She needs to teach that fellow a lesson.


    ¡°Sure, as long as you can enchant my weapon, I¡¯m willing to fulfill your conditions...¡± Zhu Jingyi said while emphasizing the ¡°as long as you can¡± with a smile on her face. After a pause, she continued. ¡°But it turns out that I¡¯m also a runesmith apprentice. Can you enlighten me on what kind of enchantment you can enchant on my weapon?¡±


    She wanted to test him to know if he was knowledgeable about runesmithing or if it was just a blunt lie. If he was spouting nonsense, then she was going to teach that fellow a lesson.


    Without knowing what Zhu Jingyi has in mind, Xe Yue said. ¡°There are many enchantments that I can make on your sword...If I tell you all of them, we¡¯ll be standing there for an eternity.¡±


    ¡®So arrogant!¡¯ Zhu Jingyi did not trust that young man at all. She believed that he does not know anything about runesmith and was just trying to dodge his incapability regarding it. She felt like she was going to explode but forced herself to restrain from doing so. After all, she was a composed young lady and it was unfitting for her to get angry all of sudden.


    Sneering, she coldly explained to him. ¡°There are a total of six enchants known for middle-grade human weapons within the Cloud Empire. How can you know so many of them that it needs you an eternity? If you drop your stupid act, I am willing to forgive you! Otherwise, I won''t be polite.¡±


    Wiping the sweats on his forehead, Ye Xue proposed. ¡°Then how about I enchant a weapon in front of you? Like this, you¡¯ll see if I am a runesmith or not.¡±


    ¡°Alright, go ahead.¡± Zhu Jingyi affirmed. She was impatiently waiting for this young lad to drop the act and apology in front of her but since he stills acted as if he was a runesmith, she will not abandon until that he begs her to forgive him before giving him a hard beating.


    ¡°The problem is that...I don¡¯t have enough money to buy a weapon.¡± Ye Xue said, shrugging his shoulders. ¡°Can I borrow you some money to buy one?¡± He asked.


    Zhu Jingyi could not believe it. Not only he was faking to be a runesmith but he was also shameless!


    Looking around her, She ordered the shop owner. ¡°Bring me that sword.¡± After buying the sword, she gave it to Ye Xue. She wanted to end this funny joke as soon as possible. ¡®Now let me see how you¡¯ll enchant that sword...you fake runesmith!¡¯ She almost wanted to say that out loud but forced herself to remain silent.


    Seeing that Zhu Jingyi was willing to buy him a sword, Ye Xue sighed in relief. In fact, he did have knowledge regarding runesmith but he was not sure if the runesmith from the Heavenly Realm was similar to the runesmith from the mortal world. But he could no longer back off now.


    Ye Xue needs to increase his funds to cultivate and break through the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering, and in order to do that, he needs a large amount of money. The quicker, the better. If he succeeds to enchant the sword in front of him, he could earn a massive amount of money through runesmithing.


    Believing in the knowledge of his ancestor, Ye Xue took the sword and started to proceed to engrave the inscriptions. Infusing his qi on his finger, the qi on his finger formed a thin needle, and with it, Ye Xue started to engrave the inscriptions on the sword.


    The process was slow but extremely precise. The more complex the inscription was, the more qi Ye Xue needs to infuse. Fortunately, it was still a simple common sword and enchanting such a sword did not require him to use a tremendous amount of qi. Thanks to that, his limited qi was enough to engrave an acceptable enchant on the sword. If a master runesmith watched such a scene, he will probably faint from the shock.


    Zhu Jingyi did not have a deep knowledge on runesmith but she was aware of the capability of Ye Xue the moment he started engraving. She widened both of her eyes upon seeing him engraving with his finger. It was the first time that she saw such a way to enchant a sword.


    Normally, one needs a needle to enchant a sword. The better quality the needle, the better enchant one could produce. But the young man in front of her discarded all common senses and used his finger as a replacement for the needle! Not only the inscriptions were unknown to her, the precision of his work was beyond amazing. Her master could not realize such a feat, not even mentioning herself.


    It was at this moment that Zhu Jingyi realized how talented the young man in front of her was. Not only he has a deep knowledge on runsmithing, he even broke all the common senses of this mortal world. She remembered that she once reads a book about people engraving inscriptions with their finger, but it was an extremely difficult technique that was lost thousands of years ago and she never thought once to see this technique here let alone by that young man.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡®His master must be a grandmaster runesmith...¡¯ Zhu Jingyi thought.


    But who in the world was that young man? She was no longer angry, on the contrary, her eyes were filled with respect. This young man has a deeper knowledge on runesmithing than her master. He was a peerless runesmith genius that could only be found once every thousand of years!


    ¡°I apologize for doubting about your capability brother senior.¡± Ashamed of herself, Zhu Jingyi bowed and apologized to Ye Xue. She truly thought that he was an ignorant idiot a few minutes ago, but that was no longer the case.


    ¡°No need to apology.¡± Ye Xue waved his hand. He was relieved to know that the method the runesmiths used from the Heavenly Realm was the same here as well. If Zhu Jingyi was to hear his thought, she will probably faint from the shock.


    ¡°Can I¡­take a closer look at the sword?¡± Zhu Jingyi faintly spoke.


    The sword was leaking a thin yet magnificent qi energy. She could not help but wanted to identify what kind of enchant did the young man used to upgrade this common sword.


    ¡°Sure. This sword is yours after all.¡± Ye Xue affirmed. It was her who bought the sword in the first place, there was no way he could claim that the sword belongs to him.


    But on the contrary to his expectation, Zhu Jingyi shook her head and said, ¡°This sword was yours the moment you engraved the inscriptions on it.¡±


    Infusing her qi on the sword, the thin qi energy from the sword became thicker, giving her the same impression that she was wielding a middle-tier human sword instead of a common sword. The sword looks stronger but sharper as well. She could no longer restrain the temptation to swing the sword.


    *Swoosh*


    The moment she swung the sword in the air, a flame ignited from the sword. It became a blazing sword! Shocked, she could not help but drop the sword from her hand. The sword could now match with a middle-tier human sword. How is it even possible? Not only it could match it, it even had a magic effect on it.


    ¡°Just what kind of enchant was that..?¡± She could not help but mutters.


    The enchantment was beyond any common sense.


    Regaining her composure, she turned her head to Ye Xue and said. ¡°This sword no longer belongs to me the moment you enchanted it.¡± After a short pause, she proposed, ¡°But if you don¡¯t mind, I am willing to buy this sword for 200 gold coins.¡±


    Hearing her words, Ye Xue¡¯s eyes widened. What was 200 gold coins? It was ten times the amount he possessed. He definitely could not refuse such offer.


    ¡°Of course, I am willing.¡± He said, with a smile.


    Zhu Jingyi was relieved once she knows that Ye Xue accepted the offer. She absolutely needs to win the favor of this young man and build a good relationship with him. It could bring her more benefits than the losses. Although his cultivation was still weak, he was on par with any master runesmith of the Cloud Empire. On top of that, she could help him to increase his cultivation by giving him cultivating pills and other resources. It was not a problem at all that his cultivation was weak.


    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve proven my ability in runesmithing, how about we start our business?¡± Ye Xue asked.


    Although 200 gold coins was a large sum, it was not enough for Ye Xue. As the saying goes, people die in pursuit of money, just as birds die in pursuit of food1. It was totally fitting Ye Xue¡¯s situation in his pursuit to become stronger.


    Zhu Jingyi excitedly asked. ¡°What are senior brother¡¯s conditions?¡± She even used ¡°senior brother¡± on her sentence, showing her respect to the other party.


    Pondering for a few minutes, Ye Xue said. ¡°The first condition is that I need a payment in advance. I am quite broke at the moment you see¡­¡± Scratching his head with a wry smile, he continued. ¡°The second condition is that you need to wait two days before I can enchant your sword. If you think that I am scamming you, you can always find me at the Snowy Humble Inn. This is where I¡¯m actually lodging. These two requests are my conditions.¡±


    The reason why Ye Xue delayed to two days was quite simple.


    For middle-tier human weapons, he could only enchant them after reaching the middle-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering. As for why only two days, it was because he was confident enough to break through the early-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering after buying the necessary resources to forge a cultivating pill.


    ¡®Senior brother is broke at this point? To actually stay at the Snowy Humble Inn¡­¡¯ Zhu Jingyi thought. But without hesitation, she said. ¡°I accept these two conditions.¡± It was quite impolite to directly ask him, which is why she accepted without asking the reason for these conditions.


    Thinking that she may be able to get on his good side, she proposed a price. ¡°How about 1500 gold coins as the cost of the enchant? Normally, the based price for an enchant of a middle-tier human weapon is around 1000 gold coins, but with brother senior¡¯s amazing capability, 1500 gold coins should be enough.¡± Without waiting for the other¡¯s party answer, she directly took out a purse from her storage ring.


    Opening the purse, Ye Xue saw the countless gold coins within it. Shocked, he directed his eyes back to Zhu Jingyi and noticed that she nodded, he realized that she indeed intended to directly pay the 1500 gold coins. His heart felt warm when he thought about how much she trusted him. After all, 1500 gold coins were in no way a casual amount someone could spend without hesitating.


    Keeping the purse on his hand, Ye Xue said. ¡°Alright. Come to see me in two days at the Snowy Humble Inn.¡±


    Completing her objective, Zhu Jingyi thanked him. ¡°I was desperately looking for a good runesmith to enchant my sword. I honestly thank you, senior brother, for saving me such trouble. Since my objective is completed, I am going to take my leave.¡± Before leaving the runesmith shop.


    Zhu Jingyi has many things to do today and did not see the time. As for the main reason, she needs to inform her master about today¡¯s encounter as well.


    Delighted to obtain more than he expected, Ye Xue was preparing to leave the runesmith shop until that a sudden thought stopped him.


    Walking back towards the counter, he tipped 5 gold coins to the shop owner.


    Looking at the back of the young man who was leaving his shop, the shop owner almost coughed blood.


    With tears that could be seen on his cheeks, he thought. ¡®Young man¡­ Although you calmed the ruckus made by that young woman at least tip me a little bit better! With that much money, at least gave me 50 gold coins¡­¡¯

 Chapter 4 - Forging the Qi Awakening Pill

    Once Ye Xue left the runesmith shop, he felt relieved. It was his first time engraving a weapon and he did not know if he was going to succeed after the first try or not. Although he trained his qi manipulation every day, he was not sure that he could perfectly shape the qi energy as he wanted to on his finger. Fortunately, everything went well.


    After leaving the commerce¡¯s district, Ye Xue has already spent more than 1300 gold coins. He bought several useful things such as a large bag, an apprentice alchemist cauldron, silver needles, aged blank papers, a sledgehammer, an anvil, medicinal herbs, empty vials, and a low-tier storage ring.


    They were expensive purchases but it was worth buying them. The apprentice alchemist cauldron and the medicinal herbs were necessary, allowing him to practice pill forging. The silver needles were used for medicinal purpose and the empty vials were used for poison and elixir concoctions. As for the sledgehammer and the anvil, they were both needed for blacksmithing.


    The low-tier storage ring alone cost him 300 gold coins. He almost hesitated to not buy it but he needed it to store the anvil and the apprentice alchemist cauldron. The other items were put inside the large bag.


    Heading back to the Snowy Humble Inn, Ye Xue saw Yuan Xiang who was waving his hand, calling for him.


    Sitting on a seat on the other side of Yuan Xiang, he asked.


    ¡°Did you registered us?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, without any problem. The only and hardest objective now is to reach the middle-stage of the Intermediate Qi Gathering before two months and we should probably be accepted without any problem.¡±


    They were talking about the registration for the Snowy Mountain Academy. To successfully register for the academy, one needs to register a month before the test started. They also need to be older than 14 years old and pay to registration fees of 50 gold coins.


    After arriving at Snowy Mountain City, they only had both 120 gold coins. It was the money they collected before departing from their village and kept for the registering fees. They were completely broke after the inscription and while Yuan Xiang was registering, Ye Xue was supposed to earn money through the medicinal herbs they collected during the travel.


    ¡°What about your side?¡± Yuan Xiang asked.


    Smiling, Ye Xue said. ¡°I did not sell the medicinal herbs but I have made a better deal.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Ye Xue slowly explained. ¡°A young lady was looking for someone to enchant her weapon. I succeeded to earn 1500 gold coins by promising to enchant it.¡±


    Hearing his words, Yuan Xiang¡¯s eyes widened. What was 1500 gold coins? When he was about to ask if his big brother made a mistake on the numbers, Ye Xue continued. ¡°But I already spent 1300 gold coins to buy several things. I have only 220 gold coins that remain.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Yuan Xiang¡¯s soul almost came out from his body hearing Xe Yue¡¯s words. Looking at the large bag next to Ye Xue, he asked.


    ¡°What did you bought?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Shrugging his shoulders, Ye Xue said. ¡°Nothing much, just some materials to help us cultivating as well as earning money.¡±


    ¡®Nothing much? You have just spent 1300 gold coins!¡¯ Yuan Xiang wanted to scold his big brother but restrained from doing so. After all, it was him who earned all that money and he understood how much expensive cultivating pill cost. He could only hope that these pills were worthy of their price.


    Seeing Yuan Xiang sighing with a depressed expression, he tried to cheer him up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We are definitely going to make a huge amount of money soon enough. We won¡¯t need to worry about money anymore.¡±


    Recalling how he earned the money, Yuan Xiang worriedly asked. ¡°By the way did you just said that you promised to enchant a weapon? Since when did you know something regarding runesmithing?¡±


    Avoiding eyes contact, Ye Xue explained. ¡°I happened to learn it back then in the village after meeting a grandmaster runesmith. He noticed that I had enough talent to become his disciple and teaches me how to enchant weapon and forge pills.¡±


    Looking at Ye Xue¡¯s eyes, Yuan Xiang knew that he was lying. He was his big brother since childhood after all. Since his big brother did not want to say it, he did not say anything. He was not going to force him because he noticed that he was telling the truth. He once doubted him and it turned out that his big brother was really knowledge about medicinal plants.


    With a sigh, Yuan Xiang said. ¡°I see. I hope that you can one day tell me what you are hiding to me.¡±


    ¡°Sorry... I will, definitely.¡±


    Since Yuan Xiang figured that he was lying, he could only apologize to him. He did not want to hide it from him but he did not want to endanger Yuan Xiang. He feared that one day, someone will see through him and he did not mind. But as long as he was not confident enough to protect him, he could not tell him the truth about his ancestor¡¯s knowledge.


    Ye Xue felt a little awkward. After all, they were childhood friends and both of them considered each other as their own blood but that was the reason why they never lied to each other. Thankfully, the food which Yuan Xiang ordered arrived.


    Noticing what Ye Xue felt, Yuan Xiang said, trying to change the subject. ¡°Let¡¯s forget it and eat our food.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, right.¡± Nodded Ye Xue with a smile.


    Finishing their dish, Ye Xue taught a good cultivation technique for Yuan Xiang before heading to his room. Entering his room, he started unpacking his stuff and decided to practice pill forging.


    Although he has the knowledge of his ancestor, Ye Xue never forged once a pill. He did know how to use the cauldron but did not have the experience necessary to forge a good pill. Using the few basic medicinal herbs he has, he tried to forge one of the most basic pills, the Regenerative Pill. It was one of the first pills an apprentice alchemist learn when forging pill.


    After several hours of training, he slowly got used to forging pill. After he succeeded the 30th Regenerative Pill, he decided to try to forge the Qi Awakening Pill.


    The Qi Awakening Pill was a pill that was extremely useful for cultivators below Elementary Qi Condensing. It helps one to absorb a massive amount of qi, increasing one¡¯s foundation to an astonishing level. It could only be used once but it was one of the best pills for cultivating.


    Succeeding to forge the Qi Awakening Pill on his first try, he produced 10 pills before stopping. Right after forging the pills, he headed to Yuan Xiang¡¯s room and gave him a pill, recommending him to take it before cultivating. He then returned to his own room and used the Qi Awakening Pill before starting to cultivate.


    The moment he swallowed the Qi Awakening Pill, he could feel the surroundings qi energy entering his body. Concentrating, he started to gather the qi energy using the Ice King Cultivation Technique.


    Without knowing exactly when the sleepiness appeared, he directed towards his bed and started sleeping. He was satisfied by the huge effect the Qi Awakening Pill gave him. Because not only did it helps him to cultivate more efficiently, it also helps him to gather the qi energy when sleeping which means that even if he slept, his qi energy will also increase even if it¡¯s half the effect when one is cultivating.


    Feeling that he was about to break through, he realized how effective the Qi Awakening Pill was only on the next morning.


    Because not only did he break through the middle-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering, he was also almost going to break through to the late-stage of the Elementary Qi Gathering as well.