10. Working

In the yard, Su Mo swung his sword, creating sharp whistling sounds.

Swish! Swish!

Amidst constant practice, Su Mo achieved total proficiency in [Last Sword].

He immersed himself in practice for a week. This session was unexpectedly very fruitful. He became totally proficient in [Punishment Ruler] and [Frenzy Fight].

He could cut a 5-inch thick log of wood in one stroke without chipping the regular sword. He could pulverise stones filled in pigskin dummies and strike around five different locations mid-air.

After a long time, he stopped, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and sat down in the yard.

Su Mo had made rapid progress in cultivation. He had already achieved Lv 4 Qi Cultivation Realm. However, he was unsure of how should he categorise his Martial Soul. Its abilities had surpassed the Rank 3 Human Class after merging with the Yin-Yang Symbol.

With his strength and skills nowadays, Su Mo was not afraid of martial artists at Lv 5 Qi Cultivation Realm.

He did not rush to cultivate further because it was more urgent to know his Martial Soul's condition. The rapid increase in cultivation had also burdened the [Refined Qi Art 1.0].

"I have to find a way to improve my skills." Su Mo murmured to himself.

He had succeeded in formulating the [Refined Qi Art 1.0] albeit the danger in his last attempt. He also got the [Clouds Skill] from the Book Collection Pavillion for the same.

With his experience, He speculated that deducing any skill required similar energy to the one required for ranking up his Martial Soul. He referred to that energy as the Soul Essence.

The only way to gain soul essence was to devour Beast Souls and other Martial Souls.

Devouring Martial Souls was not practical since he could not kill people in the city, so his Martial Soul had to swallow Beast Souls.

Besides hunting for Beast Souls, he could also buy them with gold from any big shop in Sunnywood City.

However, they were not cheap. The higher the rank of demonic beast, the pricier its Beast Soul was.

As far as Su Mo knew, the Beast Soul of a demonic beast with Lv 3 or 4 Qi Cultivation Realm usually cost over a thousand taels of gold each.

After pondering for a while, he sighed.

"Looks like I still would have to work."

He walked to the Master Mansion.

"Haha! Mo'er, you came just in time. I would have called you soon."

In the Master Mansion, Su Hong smiled at his son and asked, "Is it true that you beat Su Heng the other day?"

"Yes." Su Mo nodded.

"Haha! Good, good. Well done."

After hearing his son confirm it personally, Su Hong was delighted. He knew that Su Mo might have encountered some miracles. Still, he did not inquire about them and just said encouragingly, "Mo'er, just keep trying. Even though your Martial Soul doesn't have a high rank, you may still reach the Spiritual Martial Realm one day."

"Yes, Father."

"Alright. Since you are here, why don't you take a look at the books?"

Su Mo was flabbergasted seeing the expectant look in his father's eyes. He had proposed a banking system for keeping a check on different clan members' financial status. But this idea came to bite him back a year ago when his father came running to him after seeing the total sum of money deposited. The system had also established his father's authority in the clan.

"Ok. But have you not hired a few people for it. I already trained them for six months. Fire them if they don't do their job properly." Su Mo answered as he picked a stack of scrolls from the cabinet.

Su Hong was a little bit surprised by Su Mo's seriousness and said, "Mo'er, They work fine, but you are obviously better than them. After all, it is our money."

"Sure. I will take a million taels of gold. Don't bargain over it." Su Mo opened the scrolls on the table and began to review the financial conditions of the clan.

Su Mo did not like to handle these matters but also did not shy away from them. Though strength reign supreme in this world, money was still the most significant mode of exchange.

Su Hong quietly stood beside his son. For a long time, he knew Su Mo had grand plans for his future. The small Sunnywood City was not enough to house a dragon.

Su Hong knew that the clan would be of very minimal help to Su Mo later on. Hence, he wished that Su Mo could form a team of trustworthy people to take care of his various plans.

Money was good. Knowing your enemy was brilliant, but one still needed strength to overcome the challenges of this world.

A million taels of gold may have been an enormous sum some time ago. But now, through the banking system, Su Hong could appropriate more than 10 million taels of gold for Su Mo to use.

Even if Su Mo were a genius, the clan would never fork out more than 50 thousand taels of gold without the banking system.

However, with his Martial Soul, he was regarded as a piece of trash. Su Hong might have managed to get him the money. But, he would have to face a lot of pressure from the family.

Su Mo had asked for such a large quantity of gold because he wanted to buy a lot of Beast Souls. He, too, knew that only his strength would allow him to be free in this world.

After reviewing the accounts, Su Mo chatted a bit about the family condition and movements from the Grand Elder's faction.

Su Hong assured Su Mo that he need not worry about the rebellion. Su Mo also shared his experience in the mountains, omitting the details about his Martial Soul's abilities. He credited his cultivation completely to the Herbs he encountered in the caves.

"Dad, I have also experienced a certain change in my Martial Soul. Look!" Su Mo released his Martial Soul. He was not sure that he was able to hide the changes it had undergone.

A black vortex with a bright yellow halo came into being. Su Mo could also see a Yin-Yang Symbol with three yellow halos rotating slowly at the centre of the vortex.

Su Hong was surprised. He stared at his son's Martial Soul.

"A Rank 1 Human Class Martial Soul with such strong suction of Spiritual Energy. One can very well compare it to a Rank 4. It's amazing."

"Dad, don't you see the Yin-Yang Symbol at its centre."

"What are you talking about? I don't see anything. Wait, I'll be back in a minute."

Then, Su Hong rushed out to his library. He brought back a very thin and tattered booklet. It looked pretty worn-out and old.

"This booklet was found by me in an underground river cave in the Breezewind Mountain. It says about how some things could augment the growth of certain Martial Soul abilities." Su Hong explained.

"Since you swallowed a Herb from a fish-bowl in an underground river cave, it may be related to the things mentioned in the booklet. Maybe the booklet floated down the river to another cave." Su Hong was happy that he had kept this book safe till now.

"The world sure works in miraculous ways. Father finds the book while the son benefits. Haha!"

Su Mo was happy too. He did not think that he would gain something from asking his father. However, he did not understand why his father could not see the Yin-Yang Symbol inside the Martial Soul.

He did not ask Su Hong. He read the booklet while his father went to the Bank Hall to get the money.

The book described how a Martial Soul was not very versatile. It possessed only a minimal ability to help its bearer before reaching a substantial level of cultivation.

Many wonders of the world were very beneficial for the Martial Souls but could only be used under certain circumstances. The booklet mentioned a few. On the final page, it also noted that some wonders could even act as substitutes for Martial Soul. The Yin-Yang Fish-bowl was one such wonder.

The booklet ended on that note. Though, It did not provide Su Mo with any valuable information regarding the changes in his martial soul, it confirmed that it was not harmful.

Soon, Su Hong returned.

"Here are the gold tickets for a million taels. Take this storage pouch along as well. Cultivate well!" Su Hong expressed his care for Su Mo with a few words of encouragement.

The storage pouch had a volume of around ten cubic metres. It was more than enough for Su Mo.

Placing the tickets in the storage pouch, Su Mo took a deep breath and said, "Father, just wait for my performance in the clan meeting."

---

Su Mo felt relaxed. He was not in trouble with his Martial Soul, so he headed towards the marketplace. He had a few things to buy.

After an hour, he arrived at the door of a big store. It had a gilded tablet with a bold script that read: Purple Gold Pavilion.

Purple Gold Pavilion was a three-storey tower covering over 100 acres. It was the biggest store in the entire city. As long as you had enough money, you could get any cultivation skill, elixir, weapon, or anything else related to cultivation.

Purple Gold Pavilion was said to have powerful connections. It belonged to a major chamber of commerce and had branches in many cities of the Skymoon Country.

It held so much power in Sunnywood City that even the Su and the Wei dared not to get in trouble with it. They even had many trade relations with them.

"How can I help you?" asked a young and beautiful maid as Su Mo entered the pavilion.

"I want to buy some Beast Souls," Su Mo answered.

"You want to buy Beast Souls? Come with me!"

Su Mo soon followed her to a counter that specialised in Beast Souls, where stood an older man in grey. He smiled and asked, "Could you tell me what rank of Beast Souls you want to buy?"

"How much Beast Souls of Middle Lv 1 cost?" Su Mo asked.

A Beast Soul of Middle Lv 1 was of Class 4 Lv 1, Class 5 Lv 1, or Class 6 Lv 1.

"Class 4 Lv 1 Beast Souls cost 1500 each, Class 5 Lv 1 Beast Souls for around 2500 and Class 6 Lv 1 Beast Souls for 5000 taels of gold." the old man answered.

"I'll take 100 Class 5 and 50 Class 6 Lv 1 Beast Souls." Su Mo said after some quick consideration.

He had devoured many Beast Souls in Breezewind Mountain, so he knew that Beast Souls of higher rank were his requirement.

The old man was so astonished, that he checked again: "Are you sure you are taking 100 Class 5 and 50 Class 6 Lv 1 Beast Souls?"

"Yes, is there a problem?" Su Mo asked.

"I can't call the shots for such a big deal. I need to inform the Pavilion Leader. Please wait a moment!" the old man answered and rushed into the backyard of Purple Gold Pavilion.

Su Mo waited.

Soon, the old man rushed back and told Su Mo, "The Pavilion leader would like to meet you."

"Show me the way," said Su Mo.

The backyard of Purple Gold Pavilion housed a small villa. Su Mo followed the older man into its side hall.

He was amazed when he got inside.

There was an extraordinarily stunning woman sitting in the hall.

She looked like she was in her late 20s. With delicate facial features, a charming face, and snow-white skin. She wore a tight dress that fit her curvy body perfectly.

She was an enchanting beauty with peerless charm!

She was the Pavilion Leader, Luo Huan.