Chapter 48: So Poor
Luckily, it was Meng Guan he ran into. If it had been another cultivator, Wei Fan might have had yet another life on his hands.
Thinking back to Meng Guan's expression and the questions he blurted out at the time, Wei Fan couldn't help but chuckle.
Such a thing—Meng Guan really dared to ask.
But on further reflection, Wei Fan could understand.
The two of them were friends. Witnessing his friend cleaning up a corpse, it wasn't entirely out of line to ask what was going on.
If it had been someone else, the moment they saw such a scene, they'd probably have activated a cloaking spell and fled for their lives without a second thought. They certainly wouldn't have dared to come forward and inquire.
"At that moment, I had just left the Crimson Spirit Gold Mine and traveled less than a hundred miles when I saw someone who looked remarkably like Brother Wei killing a wandering cultivator with a single sword strike. It gave me such a fright that I immediately used my cloaking spell to hide and didn't dare approach."
As he spoke, Meng Guan's face flushed crimson with embarrassment. His beard twitched as he awkwardly added, "I stayed hidden in the dark and observed for a while. Only after confirming it was indeed Brother Wei did I step out to greet you. Later, I learned that wandering cultivator had wronged you. Such a person deserved to die!"
By the end, Meng Guan shook his head, his expression taking on a fierce edge.
From his look, it seemed as though he was the one who wanted to grind Chen Zhou's bones to dust, not Wei Fan.
Hearing their vivid recounting, He Song was left speechless.
Who would have thought that while Wei Fan was off helping him kill someone, he'd also conveniently bring Meng Guan back with him?
When He Song first saw the two of them at the courtyard gate, he had been utterly unprepared for this turn of events.
But the truth of the matter was indisputable.
It was just… such a coincidence.
"By the way, I brought some of Chen Zhou's ashes back. They're in his storage bag—here." After explaining the situation, Wei Fan promptly took out a storage bag and handed it to He Song.
Before leaving the small courtyard, Wei Fan had promised He Song he'd bring back some of the ashes.
Now that Chen Zhou was dead, his body burned, Wei Fan had indeed kept his word and brought back a portion of the ashes. Not much, but enough.
As for the storage bag, it was, of course, taken from Chen Zhou.
It was a small storage bag, with a cubic meter of internal space for holding items.
In the Artifact Pavilion, such bages typically sold for a hundred spirit stones.
Chen Zhou's storage bag was of this type.
For cultivators in the early and mid stages of Qi Refinement, a hundred spirit stones was a significant amount.
But for someone at the late stage of Qi Refinement like Wei Fan, the bag didn't hold much allure.
Taking the bag, He Song injected a wisp of spiritual energy into it.
Immediately, a pile of items materialized before him.
A small jar.
Several talismans.
A small pile of spirit stones.
A few sets of spare clothes.
A copy of the Thick Earth Technique.
And some other miscellaneous odds and ends.
Scanning through the items, He Song's gaze paused briefly on the small jar.
If he wasn't mistaken, Chen Zhou's ashes were likely inside this jar.
As for the rest of the items, He Song gave them a quick appraisal, estimating their value.
The talismans were all low-grade, worth around 20 to 30 spirit stones in total.
The small pile of spirit stones amounted to 54 in total, as He Song quickly counted.
The spare clothes, the Thick Earth Technique, and the other miscellaneous items had no real value.
All in all, He Song tallied everything up.
Chen Zhou's entire net worth: About 180 spirit stones
"So poor," He Song muttered to himself, shaking his head. He couldn't help but feel that Chen Zhou's meager belongings hardly matched the status of a wandering cultivator.
Aren't wandering cultivators supposed to be wealthier than those in the Immortal Markets?
Yet now, looking at this, it didn't seem like much after all.
But upon further thought, He Song came to understand.
Wandering cultivators live by licking the blade's edge, constantly risking their lives. Whatever resources they obtain likely go straight into their cultivation needs.
Had Chen Zhou not joined an Immortal Market as a Spirit Planter, gaining a steady income, his wealth might have been even less.
Thinking about his own situation, He Song chuckled bitterly.
Chen Zhou was actually quite well-off in comparison.
He himself had barely over a dozen spirit stones on hand and didn't even own a storage bag.
Truth be told, he was the poorest one here.
"Daoist Friend, you can keep all these spoils of battle. Just remember you owe me a favor in the future," Wei Fan said with a grin as he watched He Song pour out the contents of the storage bag.
In their little circle, He Song had the lowest cultivation and earned the least annual stipend.
Now, even though he'd broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, his increased stipend hadn't made him particularly wealthy yet.
Wei Fan, as a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, had abundant resources.
Meng Guan, at the sixth level of Qi Refinement, had served as a small overseer in the mines for three years, so his wealth was likely considerable too.
Only He Song, who had just reached mid-stage Qi Refinement and hadn't yet received his new stipend, remained strapped for resources.
Seeing He Song's struggles, Wei Fan naturally wanted to lend a helping hand.
In a few years, when He Song began receiving his mid-stage Qi Refinement stipend, he'd gradually become more financially stable.
By then, this small matter of 180 spirit stones wouldn't even be worth mentioning.
For Wei Fan, this amount was inconsequential now. He believed that in a few years, He Song wouldn't care about it either.
The talk of remembering a favor was merely a pretext to make He Song accept the help.
"Yes, you should accept it," Meng Guan chimed in after Wei Fan's persuasion. "Just remember the favor. Now that you've broken through to mid-stage Qi Refinement, your earnings will increase. In a few years, you'll realize that this amount of spirit stones is hardly worth mentioning."
As a former manager of the Spirit Herb Pavilion, Meng Guan wasn't as highly ranked or cultivated as Wei Fan, but he understood some of the ins and outs of Immortal Market life.
While the Market stipends might not seem like much, there were other avenues for income.
Take Zhao Lin, the talisman master, for example. Beyond his Market stipend, he earned spirit stones by crafting talismans.
A Market stipend alone might provide only a modest sum annually.
But combined with income from one of the many auxiliary cultivation skills, a cultivator's earnings could increase significantly.
This was why most mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators could accumulate spirit stones over time.
Purchasing pills, magical tools, talismans, and spells all required spirit stones. Without supplemental income, relying solely on the Market stipend was like trying to cover oneself with a threadbare cloak.
Learning a supplementary skill within a few years was the key to financial independence.
That was why both Wei Fan and Meng Guan believed He Song would no longer worry about this amount in due time.
"Well then, I'll humbly accept," He Song finally said after some thought. "This favor, I will always remember."
Since Wei Fan and Meng Guan were sincere in their offer, He Song saw no need to refuse.
As they'd said, in a few years, this 180 spirit stones' worth of items wouldn't matter.
Moreover, He Song truly would remember this favor.
That said, He Song couldn't help but harbor some doubts about their optimistic predictions.
After three years, he still hadn't mastered the basics of the Introduction to Formations Book.
Even if he did master it someday and learned to set up Spirit Gathering Formations, he couldn't imagine risking his life to help others set up formations just to earn spirit stones.
Thus, whether he'd truly view 180 spirit stones as a trivial amount in the future remained uncertain even to He Song himself.
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