Chapter 64 (1/2)

Without money, one could not go any further.

It was not until Lin Xun arrived at Donglin Town did he realize the meaning of these words.

Money was a must for every aspect of life such as clothing, food, accommodation and traveling. Practitioners, particularly, needed it more than common people could expect.

For example, an ordinary being ate whatever he could obtain. However, a practitioner had to eat spiritual grain and spiritual vegetables, as well as the flesh and blood of fierce beasts, to keep the body pure. But spiritual grain and spiritual vegetables were extremely expensive.

Moreover, some rich practitioners exclusively consumed spiritual panacea and elixirs to improve their cultivation, which were way too expensive for common practitioners to afford.

Besides, there were still many other aspects that required a practitioner to invest in large amounts of money, such as clothing, beast ride, fighting equipment, and cultivation manuals.

Why else would people say, “The poor go for civil and the rich seek martial virtues”?

Because only the sons of rich families could focus on martial arts without worrying about money.

As for the sons of poor families, even with excellent aptitude, they were not able to hold on too long in the way of cultivation for lack of resources and supports.

Why would so many young practitioners take part in the annual County Test, and others even consider this as a great chance to succeed?

Because by passing the test, many powerful forces, such as chambers of commerce, clans and aristocratic families, would pay attention to and even recruit them, providing them a myriad of resources and supports.

All were for the cultivation, but without wealth support one could not succeed.

During the seven days in Donglin Town, Lin Xun went out frequently to get familiar with and adapted to the imperial city as quickly as possible.

And throughout the seven days, he deeply realized the great importance of money.

Donglin Town was different from Green-sun Tribe, for it was much more prosperous with unimaginable cultivation resources. However, these resources were extremely difficult for one to obtain.

As for Lin Xun, it was his first time to a populated city. Thus it was even harder for him to survive in such a prosperous place, abundant with mighty practitioners and complicated forces.

Making money was his top priority.

This was all that Lin Xun could think about, as only by making enough money could he and Shia Zhi move to a new living place, acquire more cultivation resources and survive better in Ziyao Empire.

…

In front of the table, Lin Xun suddenly sighed slightly.

Shia Zhi looked up and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Xun closed his book and shook his head, “Nothing.”

The book he read was Imperial Geographic, which wrote about geography like the mountains and rivers in Ziyao Empire. He had just bought it from Li Kee Bookstore that night.

Lin Xun had intended to look up the mine prison where he had lived in the book, but eventually he found nothing but the position of Three Thousand Mountains. And further south was the Turbulent Wasteland, where Empire of the Dark, mortal enemy of Ziyao Empire, was located.

Lin Xun remembered clearly when he was pushed into a deep tunnel by Master Lu and had lost consciousness afterwards. When he finally awoke, he was already in Three Thousand Mountains.

So, Lin Xun couldn’t help thinking that the mine prison where he had lived before was possibly somewhere right in Three Thousand Mountains.

Unfortunately, Three Thousand Mountains was too vast to be specifically described in Imperial Geographic.

Actually, it was a good book. Through it, Lin Xun finally understood that the vast and boundless land where he stood was called continent Cangtu.

As for Ziyao Empire, it was just one of the numerous countries known in the continent.

“Are you still thinking about moving somewhere else?” Shia Zhi suddenly asked with her eyebrows frowning.

“Yep.”

Lin Xun replied randomly and opened another book called Cultivation Basics, which, as its named implied, wrote about basic knowledge on cultivation. It was simple in content, but rigorous in method.

In five separate parts, it described the five realms of cultivation including Martial, Gang Spirit, Sea Spirit, Tao Insight and Reincarnation Developing.

For example, all nine levels of Martial Realm were explained in detail from the first Qi Guiding to the last Spirit Turn.

However, these were all theoretical knowledge rather than true cultivation experiences. This could only provide readers with basic knowledge of each realm, what change one might meet once reaching it, and the specific criteria and sign for leveling up.

Although the book was shallow in content, Lin Xun was quite interested in reading it. He knew about cultivation, but what he lacked was the mastery of theoretical knowledge.

“No need to move, I like it here.” Shia Zhi had also taken a book called Imperial History Official and opened it to read.

Looking up, Lin Xun took a surprised glimpse of Shi Zhi and asked, “You like here?”