The Cultivation World Is Different... (2)

Kai now understood why cultivators were considered nobles in this world. Their currency was so precious that one Qi-Crystal went for over 500 gold!.

He figured that no sane Internal Cultivator would actually sell their crystals for gold unless they had an abundant surplus or were somehow in dire need of gold, with the latter being highly unlikely. Based on what Old Lao had said, there was always a large demand for Qi-Crystals in the cultivation world. So cultivators would just trade their crystals for treasures from other cultivators.

Anything that they can buy from other cultivators would be more useful than the stuff they could get in the mortal world, so there wasn't any incentive to exchange their crystals for gold. Mortals also had no use for the Qi-Crystals so they also had no reason to even want to spend gold on them.

Kai felt his understanding of the cultivation world deepen the more he thought about it.

"Mr. Kai?..."

The Elder's voice brought Kai back to reality. He closed his mouth and cleared his throat.

"Ah yes, these five crystals will be enough compensation". Kai quickly took the crystals and got ready to leave. He wanted to get out of here before the old man changed his mind.

The First Elder felt relieved when he saw Kai accepting the crystals. Honestly speaking, five Qi-Crystals was not a small sum for him. Only the large sects were able to get Qi-Crystals regularly and they mostly distributed them to their Elders and disciples. Very few would ever leave the sects.

The few Qi- Crystals he had were those he had collected in his youth from doing public contract jobs for sects. These jobs usually involved either killing powerful beasts or collecting rare herbs and materials in extremely dangerous locations. However, one thing that all these jobs had in common was that they always paid in Qi- Crystals. This had been his main source of cultivation income since he was not talented enough to join any of the large sects. However, he was now too old to keep doing that kind of work so his remaining Qi-Crystals were limited.

"Mr. Kai, please wait...If you have nowhere to stay, I hope you will stay here as our guest of honor. We have not had the chance to show you any proper hospitality..."

Kai could almost feel their eager eyes at his back, but he didn't want to stay here any longer. "Thank you for the invitation, but I need to get back to my companions. Maybe next time...Now then, if you will excuse me..."

Kai left the hall with hurried steps. He found Dong Hai, the Qin family's head steward waiting outside. Besides him was the tall body cultivator who had fought with Mina. When he saw Kai, he bowed respectfully.

"Sir, I would like to apologize for the way I treated you. Even if I was under orders, I still should have..." Kai interrupted the man before he could keep speaking.

"Don't sweat it, now if you'll excuse me..." Kai quickly walked past the shocked man. He had already been paid so he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. He felt like he just robbed a bank and wanted to leave before they started asking for their money back.

Kai found the exit then left the Qin family estate. Only when he couldn't see the massive buildings anymore did he feel relaxed.

"Phew!, another successful extortion. This is my biggest score yet!".

Kai had five Qi crystals which were valued at over 500 gold each. If he sold them, that would be 2500 gold!. This was a massive change when compared to a few weeks ago when he was struggling to even put together 1 silver coin.

"Now that I'm rich, I can't keep living at Inn's all the time...I need to put down some roots!". Kai thought as a bunch of different ideas started forming in his head.

At the same time, back at the Qin residence, all the three Elders as well as the Qin Patriarch were seated by a table. The hall was completely sealed and serious-looking guards patrolled the outside to ensure that nobody came close.

"What do think, First Elder?", Asked the Qin Patriarch carefully. The First Elder seemed calm right now, but he knew that the man must be fuming on the inside for having lost such a fortune. He would likely ask for the family to compensate his losses somehow...

"We will have to observe him for now. His strength isn't something you'll encounter often in this region so I'm sure even those lofty 10 families will have to be wary of him..." The First Elder responded.

"Are you saying he could go against those monsters at the Foundational Establishment Realm?!", asked the Third Elder in shock. If this was the case, then their Qin family had just narrowly avoided a severe crisis.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I think he can survive a few attacks from those at the Foundational Establishment Realm..."

"..."

The First Elder saw their looks of doubt and continued; "I felt the hardness of his Qi-enhancement myself so I'm confident in saying that nobody at the Qi-Condensation Realm will be able to penetrate his defenses..."

The hall became silent after these words.

"But I believe this could also become an opportunity for our Qin family. If we can bring him, as well as whoever is backing him to our side, then we could finally have a chance at competing with those 10 families!". When the first elder said this, everyone else's eyes shone with excitement at the thought.

"Qin Yang, I'll leave this up to you. We will have to do whatever it takes to build a strong relationship with him from here on out. Do whatever it takes, understood?"

"Yes First Elder", The Qin Patriarch nodded his head solemnly. Their relationship had started rocky but it was now his job to ensure that he built a strong connection with Kai for the sake of their family. He then thought of Qin Weiwei who was currently in her quarters awaiting punishment and had an interesting idea.

Back at Huang City, Kai had just arrived at the city gate. The Qin family residence was right outside of the city so it didn't take him long to get here. He paid the entry fee then went off to the Inn where they had agreed to meet.

Kai felt a lot better after entering Huang City. The streets were clean and there was order, unlike Beifong Town which felt lawless and unsafe.

Kai walked up the street towards the Inn and saw his companion's waiting for him by the Inn's entrance. Qiulong was quietly sleeping on the large sidewalk with the wagon behind her. The streets in Huang City were massive for that exact reason. Large beast-drawn carriages needed to move and stop on the roads so the roads were extremely wide.

Mina was rubbing Qiulong's neck when she noticed Kai coming up the street. She started waving at him excitedly with both hands. Old Lao stood next to her holding his cane with a smile.

"Welcome back, My Lord", Old Lao said with a slight nod. He already knew that his lord didn't like formalities so he had adapted to be a lot more casual than before.

"Looks like you guys got here in one piece, but where's Ryu?", Kai asked when he noticed him missing.

"He's inside...investigating'..." Mina said while shaking her head slightly. "After you told him that you wanted him to be our intelligence specialist, he's been going out of his way to gather information, but he seems to be going a little overboard. That idiot even went as far as to find out the Inn receptionist's underwear color..."

Kai didn't know if he should be impressed or appalled by Ryu's dedication, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't want to know that information..." For now any information is good information, as long as he doesn't get caught. Mina, go call him back. There has been a slight change in my plans".

"Yes, Master", Mina said as she went into the Inn to fetch Ryu. Kai stayed outside and continued to speak to Lao Ren.

"Old Lao, I've recently come into a bit of wealth so I want to try my hands at buying a property in the city, what do you think?..."

Lao Ren gave a nod while stroking his beard. "That is indeed a wonderful idea My Lord. We can go over to the deeds office since it's still quite early so we'll have a lot of time to look at different places".

"Haha, as expected, you catch on fast Old Lao," Kai said as Mina and Ryu exited the Inn.

"Master, welcome back!, I've gathered a lot of important information while you were gone!" Ryu with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I've heard...but for now, let's go look for our first base of operations in Huang City!"

The group got onto the wagon and Kai rode Qiulong towards the administrative section of Huang City.