Gold-plated snacks

He doesn't know for how long he played the flute but he does know that he received an uncountable number of snacks and lots of tea on the house. The shopkeeper was, surprisingly, a handsome youngman who looked like he was in his early twenties.

He was expecting the owner to be a middle aged fellow if he is being honest.

The young man also offered him many snacks some that he has never seen before, but he hasn't seen a lot of things in his life. So no judgment on his part.

He doesn't even have the right to be judgemental when every single one of those dishes tasted like money.

By that he meant, every single one of them had edible gold or silver coatings as decoration.

Shen Mingze had half the mind to just take those dishes and run but the pride he had left in him didn't let him do so.

They do say, your ego is what stops you from accomplishing great things…

He decided for the sake of his sanity, he would not eat anything that was coated with any precious metals.

When the young man still insisted that he take something as a thank you gift, Shen Mingze agreed.

Right now he was walking towards the location of the alley where he was supposed to meet little Ten, three plates of high quality meat buns in his hands. Whatever that meant..

The shop owner truly was a nice young man, he will achieve great things in the future, having such a kind heart.

[ Player… aren't you like 17 or something..? Why are you calling a 56 year old man 'young' ]

"..."

Shen Mingze suddenly paused mid step, but he continued to walk on as if nothing happened the next second, he was in the middle of the road.

"How many years old? Did you say 26?"

[ Player aren't you a bit too young to be suffering from hearing loss? I said 56 not 26 ]

He heard what the system said, he just doesn't believe it. Did the system even properly look at the guy's face? He looked like he could've been the part of an idol group!

[ He's a cultivator.. I thought the player said that he knew the basics about cultivation worlds ]

Oh yeah, you stop growing when you attain a certain level of cultivation, correct? It's not that he doesn't know such things, it's more like they are just too bizarre for him to apply them to the real world just like that.

[ Advice from a friend~ you better get used to this world as soon as possible. Acting suspiciously can cost you your neck in a society that follow the law of the jungle ]

"Yeah.. friendly advice indeed" it sounded more like a threat.

Shen Mingze took a turn and entered the alleyway, he'd arrived a bit early then he was supposed to, but little Ten was still a step ahead of him.

There he was sitting in his usual ball position, in his usual spot.

"I am here"

Little Ten looked up and to see him, he didn't immediately run in his direction this time, instead he got up from where he was sitting, rathered his blanket and folded it, placing it on the mat he usually sits on before slowly walking in his direction.

Seeing him learn from his past mistakes, Shen Mingze's chest swells up for some reason.

But it's all for nothing, since little Ten ends up falling down anyway.

How this kid does this is beyond his knowledge. Aren't street children supposed to be really smart and aware of their surroundings? How did this child survive like this until now?

Again they collectively ate five buns together, Shen Mingze decided to give the rest of them to little Ten in case he got hungry at night.

"Anyway, who taught you to fold the blanket?"

Did this kid have parents after all?

"Old Li did.."

"Oh"

The kid left and Shen Mingze didn't question who Old Li was until the end, he could guess the man's identity to some extent on his own.

Probably an older beggar taking care of young children and teaching them the ways to survive on the streets or something like that.

come to think of it this was the first time he heard little Ten speak.

[ You have done a good deed. Little Ten can sleep with a full stomach tonight. You have received 4 karma points ]

The system announced once little Ten could no longer be seen, Shen Mingze like always left after sometime as well.

He once again found himself in front of the shabby inn from earlier, he requested for a room and since the room he used earlier was still available he paid the staff and walked back to the room on his own.

When he reached his destination, he shut the door behind him and took off his outer robe and then plopped down on the bed.

" Okay teach me how to use the points I got today "

He was able to get 84 karma points including the ones he got from Little Ten and 32 beauty points. He still wasn't familiar with his cultivation method and honestly had no idea what he was gonna do next.

Sure he felt all the things the protagonist in a cultivation novel is supposed to feel during his path to understanding dao and now he has a ball like thing in his stomach, cool. But what now?

Like he knows he's going the right way but when can he fight using Qi and stuff?

[ Beauty points are used to obtain cultivation specific item and Karma points can be used to purchase all the other things in the store, you can also use Karma points to ask for the system's guidance ]

"..."

And this meanie did not tell him such important information till he asked, does this mean he wouldn't have known this if he didn't ask?

Why wasn't he surprised at all?

Well at least he knows now, better now then never.

"Well what are you waiting for teach me how to cultivate, Oh, great lord System"

[ 10 Karma points for an hour ]

that seemed expensive but Shen Mingze just noded his head, it was probably way cheaper than getting a master.

[ There are seven points in our body that can accumulate Qi. according to your memory you seem to be familiar with the term 'dantian' in this world's terminology they are called Chakra ]

okay, dantian was cool, chakras, that sounds cool as well.

[ there are 7 levels to cross before you advance a chakra, each level is divided into 4 sublevel, each sub level has 10 stages ]

a normal leveling system, it seems like he will go quite far learning from this big meanie.

[ people who have not crossed the first 3 chakras are considered mortal, those who have crossed the 3rd chakra are know to step into the immortal realm and once someone crosses the 5th chakra they can be classified as a God. ]