Chapter 9: Preparations

The last few days had been fruitful for me as I just passed the 100 soul force barrier, with this mile stone I can create 10 Bronze rank scrolls a day. I made 7 scrolls per day for a total 84 scrolls, I sold them for 3 500 demon spirit coins each for a grand total of 294 000 demon spirit coins.

With this much money saved up I leave the dorms and walk to the inner city back alley's. After awhile of navigating the mess of back alley's I arrive to a nondescript building I know to be a small gangs main headquarters. I approach the guards stationed in the house directly opposite to the building and they walk out seeing as I know they are there.

"Little Ye! It's been to long kid, where have you been?" asks the guard I know to be Zhang Fei.

"After the old man passed I was picked up by his older brother for training and recently I've joined the Holy Orchid Institute as a fighter but I'll let you in on a secret, I have 200 soul force and will soon transfer to the genius class as the school rules dictate other wise I would have went there directly. Nobles and their pride am I right?"

I continue to talk back and forth trading knowledge and using the school as a backer encase I and the gang have any misgivings about my proposal I have for the boss.

"You want to talk to the boss I imagine."

"Yes, has the boss changed or is old Ming still in charge?"

"No the boss hasn't changed and he still doesn't like you calling his name aloud."

"You know that if I don't I'll never get an audience while he's screwing his favourite whore unless I call out his name in 'public' and I have a proposal that's worth me cock blocking him. See that's my que, have a nice day Zhang."

I wave Zhang Fei off and walk into the building seeing the familiar closed shutters, lamps and the gang seated in and around the ground floor bar. Walking passed all this I arrive to a staircase leading up to a closed door.

"Go up the boss is expecting you."

I shrug at the attempt to scare me as this isn't the first time I've done what I did just a few moments ago. I climb the staircase and open the door to a corridor, walking down to the end, past many doors I know to have his most elite fighters and demon spiritualist within, I open the door to a middle-aged man with greying hair and he is seated in a dishevelled state.

"This had better be good Ye or I'll feed you to the beasts" he said, clearly upset at having been cock blocked by an old acquaintance.

"It's good to see you too Old Ming" I reply with no indication of feeling afraid at the threat.

"I'M NOT THAT OLD" Old Ming's voice booming through out the compound and startling those bellow because nobody dares to call him old to his face even if he is 51 years old.

"No need to be so riled up, Ok I'll cut to the case. I have a map of Ancient Orchid City with markers indicating hidden vaults full of gold and armour."

While speaking I use a 'cleanse' inscription to clean the bare desk having known what it was used for just moments ago. After that I spread a copy of the map my Grand Uncle gave me but with way fewer treasure markers on it.

"Why doesn't anybody else know about this map and the vaults?"

"Simple really. My Grand Uncle, a 5-Star Gold Rank if not a 1-star Black Gold rank, demon spiritualist found many vaults hidden dozens to hundreds of feet deep and couldn't excavate it all as he was alone and his inter-spatial rings soon filled up forcing him to come home and that coincided with the death of my grandfather so he had to raise me instead of grabbing all the gold."

"Where is he now?"

"Hunting the Dark Guild under orders by the City Lord himself and before you ask the reason nobody knows of him is because he spends most of the year outside the city along side Lord Ye Mo and therefore he's not widely know."

"Hmm."

My bullshit worked as the old man had paid off my grandfathers debt and Old Ming must still remember the suffocating feeling as I do. He spent a few moments to think about if he should invest in my expedition. We would spend the next 2 hours going back and forth on many of the topics such as manpower and loot distribution, finally we came to an agreement.

"Okay fine I will send 3 5-star Silver rank demon spiritualists and 12 5-star silver rank fighters but I want these 3 vaults as payment as I'm sure you have other vaults for yourself."

"Deal!"

...

After securing the necessary manpower I went to the Alchemist Association to buy pills and buy the books needed for becoming an alchemist as I have perfect memory so I was going to put it to use.

"Ahem!" I cough trying to get the receptionist attention.

"Ah! Sorry I was working until dawn. How may I help you today?" the twenty something year old receptionist replied covering her ass and trying to sound professional.

"I want to buy 300 soul recovering pills and 500 healing pills."

"That's quite the amount of pills for one so young."

"I'm buying for a young master who wishes to go on an expedition but doesn't want the other families to know that it's him. So do away with the 'Holier Than Thou' bullshit and get me what I want" I barely avoid going ape shit on her already having had enough of her face when I ask for the pills.

"You-

"Get it or I will go to your superior in the room over there" I point to a door on my left. I have been here before and knew what threats worked and what didn't, so for this apprentice I tugged on her supposed 'Achilles Heel', the manager.

She quickly gets what I ordered and I hand her the 245 000 demon spirit coins as payment.

"Oh one more thing I want all the books I need for the Apprentice, Journeyman, Senior and Master alchemist courses and I mean ALL the books."

"Right away sir!"

Having got what I wanted from the lady I go home to the dorms happy that I got 3 inter-spatial rings free of charge for my bulk order. Siting in my bed I take out the Apprentice Alchemy books and start studying, by morning I was half way through the Journeyman Books but went to the library to join the gang as I promised.