Dao of Money

Chen Ren moved through the hallways of the Divine Coin Sect with a deep frown etched on his face. He still couldn’t believe he’d made such a basic mistake. He had known breaking through to the foundation establishment realm would take effort, but he hadn’t expected it to drag it on for long. He had assumed one day at most. He had even left Qing He in charge before going into closed-door cultivation—yet clearly, even she could only handle so much when left alone with Princess Yanyue in the same building.

Beside him, Yalan walked next to him and her voice echoed in his mind.

“What are you going to do now?”

Chen Ren slowed, glancing at her. “I don’t know. First, talk to Anji and figure out why she wants to enter the pagoda in the first place.” His frown deepened. “And then probably ask the princess what exactly she’s trying to do. Qing He warned me that Princess Yanyue likes her toys.”

Yalan snorted, a sharp, amused sound. “Every royal likes their toys. What do you think happens when someone is born with so much wealth and influence that they don’t need to work a single day in their life? Even cultivation becomes easy. They’re simply handed the most qi-rich places in the empire. It twists a person’s personality.”

Chen Ren exhaled slowly. “Maybe. But at least Princess Yanyue doesn’t seem… twisted in an evil way. If anything, she gives off a chaotic-neutral feeling.”

“We will definitely see more of that in the pagoda. No matter how she acts here, her true nature will show when she’s fighting for treasures.”

Chen Ren didn’t reply.

Every time the pagoda was mentioned, a knot formed tighter in his stomach. No matter how confident he was, no matter how strong his new foundation felt… he couldn’t ignore the truth: In just a couple of weeks, he would be standing inside that ancient pagoda, surrounded by cultivators from the four Guardian sects, and countless others who either wanted glory, inheritance, or blood.

He tried not to think about the pagoda yet and focused on the immediate mess in front of him. With Yalan at his side, Chen Ren made his way toward Anji’s room. As he approached, faint voices drifted from beneath the door—Wang Jun’s rough tone and Anji’s softer one. Chen Ren let out a long sigh before pushing the door open.

The conversation inside cut off instantly.

Anji straightened from where she’d been standing, while Wang Jun looked at him with a frown on his face. Both of them stared at him. Anji recovered first, stepping forward to close the door for privacy.

“Sect Leader Chen,” she said with a small bow. “I felt you breaking through to the foundation establishment Establishment realm just a while ago. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Chen Ren said with a nod. “I’m guessing you felt the wave of qi I let out.”

Wang Jun snorted loudly. “Everyone did, kid. You should really learn how to hold it back.”

Chen Ren raised a brow at him. “I didn’t even know that would happen. Nothing like that happened when I broke through to the qi refinement realm.”

“As I expected,” Wang Jun grumbled. “Your knowledge is still lacking. Listen carefully, when a cultivator breaks into higher realms, their dantian shifts. That creates a wave of qi. It’s instinctive, like a cultivator announcing to the heavens, ‘I am stepping forward.’ If you don’t want the whole world feeling it, you have to deliberately suppress it.”

Chen Ren nodded. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

Honestly, he wasn’t bothered. It wasn’t like he needed to hide his breakthrough from anyone in Meadow Village.

Instead, he shifted his attention back to the pair. “What were you two discussing before we came in?”

Anji lowered her eyes briefly before answering with a soft sigh, “It was nothing serious, Sect Leader Chen. I was simply asking my master for permission to enter the Pagoda of Eternity.”

Wang Jun snorted at Anji’s words. “She only just stepped into the second step of soul cultivation. Something like the pagoda will eat her alive.”

Before Chen Ren could respond, Yalan flicked her tail with irritation and said, “Do you even know what the Pagoda of Eternity is?”

Wang Jun huffed. “Who do you think I am? Of course I know. I helped build the damn thing.”

All three of them froze.

Chen Ren blinked. “What?”

Even Anji’s mouth fell open.

Yalan leaned forward from the bed, staring hard at him. “You helped… construct the Pagoda of Eternity?”

Wang Jun looked very pleased with himself. “Ohh, now you’re all interested, hm?” He smirked. “Yes. I helped in its construction. I’m old enough for that, apparently.”

Chen Ren stepped closer. “I guess you are old enough.”

Wang Jun’s face twisted. “Don’t remind me of my age, brat.” He waved his tongue dismissively. “I only helped because I owed a favor to that Azure Immortal Sect leader. Can’t even remember his name now. But heavens, that man chased me for an entire year about that stupid favour. Every gathering, every auction—‘Senior Wang, have you forgotten?’ ‘Senior Wang, the Pagoda needs your touch.’ Annoying bastard.”

Chen Ren’s eyes sharpened. “So… you know the pathways inside? The layout? The places where treasures are hidden?”

Wang Jun went still. Completely still.

Chen Ren had a sudden bad feeling creep up his spine.

The old head stared blankly at him… then his face tightened, eyes narrowing in frustration.

“I don’t remember. Fuck.”

Anji stepped forward immediately. “Master, what do you mean you don’t remember?”

“I mean I actually don’t remember! I helped build the damn thing, and now that I try to recall it, it’s like… like someone scrubbed parts of my mind clean.”

Chen Ren exhaled slowly, rubbing his forehead. “You said you were involved in the construction of it.”

“I was,” Wang Jun grumbled. “But I can’t seem to remember what I did. I know I helped overlook some of the arrays inside the pagoda, but the details? Gone. Completely gone.”

A disappointed sigh escaped Chen Ren. “That’s… unfortunate.”

Wang Jun shot him an offended look. “Do you think I remember everything about my life? I’ve lived longer than your entire ancestry put together, kid. The pagoda wasn’t even one of my achievements. More like a chore. A stupidly long, complicated chore. From what I do remember, the damn thing was mostly a glorified meat grinder to weed out useless disciples and collect their treasures.”

Chen Ren almost winced at how casually he said it but nodded anyway. If Wang Jun actually remembered the layout or the traps, it would’ve made traversing the pagoda far easier. But as he thought about it, something didn’t line up.

A question clicked into place.

“You told me you helped because the sect leader of Azure Immortal Sect begged you,” Chen Ren said slowly. “But wasn’t he a nascent soul cultivator? And you were only a domain manifestation realm cultivator back then.”

Wang Jun scoffed. “He wasn’t a nascent soul when he was building the pagoda. Back then he had just broken into domain manifestation. A fresh one. Barely knew how to stabilize his domain. No one in the empire had any idea how to cross that barrier at the time.”

He stretched his neck with a crack. “I don’t know where that nascent soul rumor came from, but as far as I know, that guy went into secluded cultivation right after the pagoda was finished and never came out again.”

Yalan narrowed her eyes. “Do you know what eventually happened to the Azure Immortal Sect?”

Wang Jun shook his head. “No idea. I was probably already sleeping when it all went to shit. Or I just didn’t care enough to listen. Could be either.”

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He shrugged like the disappearance of a thousand-year-old sect was the same as not remembering the location of a street vendor.

Chen Ren exchanged a heavy look with Yalan. Every answer raised more questions.

And none of it made him feel any better about what waited for them inside the Pagoda of Eternity.

Wang Jun huffed again. “It’s not like I got every piece of news in the world. Most people were too scared to approach me anyway.”

Chen Ren didn’t bother acknowledging the old man’s brag. He was too busy sorting through what he’d just learned. If Wang Jun was right, then maybe the pagoda didn’t contain the inheritance of a nascent soul cultivator after all. Maybe the original creator never even reached that level.

Honestly? It didn’t shock him. Stories always grew bigger over centuries—small truths becoming legends, legends becoming myths. And myths becoming “go climb this death tower, there’s a godly prize waiting for you.”

Still… something bothered him.

Why did the Azure Immortal Sect become the Corpse Lands? What disaster turned a thriving thousand-year old sect into a wasteland?

He would probably find answers once he got there.

Chen Ren finally dragged his attention back to the actual reason he came to the room. Anji, who looked troubled ever since Wang Jun started talking, stood awkwardly to the side.

“Anji,” he said, “I heard you talked to Princess Yanyue. What exactly did the two of you discuss?”

Anji straightened, her fingers tightening clutching the sides of her dress. “She found me yesterday while I was helping the kids wash their plates. She said she could sense that I wasn’t a regular mortal and invited me to dine with her.”

She swallowed and added, “I… I’m sorry, Sect Leader Chen. I should’ve asked for your permission, but you were in secluded cultivation and… I didn’t know how to reject a princess.” Her expression turned embarrassed. “I was shocked when Tang Xiulan told me someone like her was staying here.”

Chen Ren frowned lightly, a thought creeping in. Could Princess Yanyue’s artifacts sense soul cultivators too? If so, that was going to be a problem.

He hid his concern and asked, “And you told her you’re a soul cultivator?”

Anji nodded slowly. “Yes. But she had already guessed it before I said anything. By the time we were eating, she was sure of it.”

Of course she was. Princess Yanyue always seemed two steps ahead of everyone.

This… was going to be messy.

Yalan flicked her tail once and narrowed her eyes at Anji. “What else did you tell her?”

Anji shook her head quickly. “Not much. I avoided anything related to my background or how I learned soul cultivation. I just told her it wasn’t something I could share.” She hesitated before continuing, “But… she was very interested in Sect Leader Chen. And you. And everyone in the sect.”

Chen Ren felt his stomach tighten.

Anji went on, “Her guards have been talking to the mortal members. Asking how the sect works, who does what, how we run things. They’re pretending to be friendly, but it’s obvious they’re gathering information.”

Chen Ren rubbed his forehead, sighing internally. Of course she was snooping around. Princess Yanyue didn’t know what the word “boundary” meant.

Convincing her to stop… that was going to be difficult. Maybe impossible. Qing He might help, he thought. She’s the only one the princess listens to without turning arrogant.

Though, thinking wouldn’t solve anything right now, so he pushed that aside and focused on Anji.

“She also told you about the Pagoda of Eternity,” Chen Ren said. “And convinced you to come with us.”

Anji lowered her eyes but nodded. “She mentioned it, yes… but I decided to go on my own.”

Wang Jun snorted so loudly even Yalan twitched an ear. “You decided to die, that’s what you decided. I thought your common sense was better than this.”

Anji’s expression didn’t falter. “I won’t die there, Master. You’re already teaching me how to use my soul power to protect myself.”

Chen Ren raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t teach me that.”

Wang Jun didn’t even look ashamed. “You don’t need it. She does.” Then he shifted on the bed to get a better look at Anji and added bluntly, “But even that won’t help you in a place like the pagoda. You need to understand, the place isn’t an illusion which will simply kick you out for failing.”

His eyes narrowed.

“You can actually die. Your body disappears. Your soul disappears. There won’t even be a funeral because the tower absorbs everything.”

“I agree. You’re not strong enough. Even compared to the qirefinement cultivators, your combat power is too low. Going there is too much of a risk,” Yalan said.

Anji’s brows drew together, her frustration finally surfacing. “That’s exactly why I want to go. It’s risky, yes, but I can’t stay in this sect forever and rely on everyone else to protect me. I want to grow stronger too. And the pagoda… it’s the one place that can help me do that fast.”

Chen Ren folded his arms, frowning. “It might make you stronger, but what if you die?”

Anji didn’t hesitate. “I won’t. I’ve learned a lot since joining the sect. And I’m sure Master can teach me some offensive soul techniques. Everyone has a soul. No one expects it to be attacked. That alone gives me an advantage. And I don’t want to reach the top, I just want to explore the lower floors.”

The room fell quiet for a breath.

“Hm. She is already close to the third step of soul cultivation… that isn’t a bad point to start teaching her more aggressive spells,” Wang Jun said, looking at her straightly.

Anji’s eyes brightened immediately, relief and hope mixing on her face. But before she could speak, Chen Ren rounded on Wang Jun.

“You’re actually considering letting her go?”

Wang Jun’s head moved as if he was shrugging. “Do I have a choice? I’m a head. If she wants to go, I can’t chain her down. And you definitely don’t strike me as the type who would cage her either, right?”

Chen Ren clenched his jaw. “…It’s still too risky.”

“Obviously it’s risky,” Wang Jun snapped. “But every cultivator faces risk. If she stays in this room doing nothing, the only thing she’ll cultivate is body fat.”

Yalan snorted.

Wang Jun continued, “Besides, there is one condition if she enters the pagoda.”

“What is it, Master? I’ll do anything,” Anji said, looking expectantly at the head.

A slow, pleased smile spread across Wang Jun’s wrinkled face.

“You need to bring me with you to the pagoda.”

***

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