Dao of Money 191. Ancient sect

Chen Ren opened his eyes inside the star-space.

The ground beneath him felt soft and calm. And above him, the sky stretched endlessly—a sea of black velvet studded with thousands of stars. He lay there for a mont, breathing in the quiet, letting the silence settle into his bones.

Then, his gaze rose toward the brightest cluster in the sky. Those weren’t just stars. They denoted his businesses.

The first star his eyes fell on was his noodle business. The first business he ever built. What was once a small stall in Cloud Mist City was now stretching its branches through the rest of the empire. They already had two branches opened, and there were plans for more.

Then there was the one star that shone brighter than the first one—the star for his perfu and clothing business.

What had started as a perfu business had expanded into a mall, and their clothing sections were now selling as much as the perfus now. It was pulling steady profit and expanding, buying land for new branches in different cities. Mortal won across the empire were crazy for it, and even so female cultivators had taken interest, if Tang Yuqui's last report had to be believed.

Beside it glowed another star: his moonshine business. They had turned it into sothing every low-realm cultivator wanted a taste of, along with any rich mortal curious enough to try. It wasn’t spirit alcohol, but it was still spreading fast. They were already getting offers to supply clans in different regions, thanks to its success in Ashen City.

Chen Ren planned to turn it into true spirit alcohol one day. The problem was the recipe. Not even Qing He knew how to make it, and just pouring qi into wine wouldn’t work. According to what he had learned, the Erald Sun Sect—the Guardian sect that was famous for alchemy kept the thod locked down and only produced spirit alcohol for nobles and other sects.

Even Emperor Xian was a huge fan of it, apparently. Making sothing like that would push him into becoming one of the major alcohol businessn in the empire, even if it drew flak from the Guardian Sect. But he wasn’t going to try making it right away. It was one of his future business plans.

He let his mind shake off those plans to focus on the business that was making him tons and tons of spirit stones: his pill business. He had thought about it for a long ti before starting, and there were more than a few obstacles—he needed to create a completely different thod of alchemy, hire more alchemists, had to deflect spies, and he even had to win an alchemy competition. He proved himself in each of these with tricks and sches, and it was paying off big ti. Not only did he have more than enough spirit stones to fund Jadefire Hall to create more unique pills, he also had enough for the rest of the sect to make progress at a fast pace.

And he knew that this was only going to increase as they moved into other cities with a strong rogue cultivator population. His ti in Red Peak City had already proved that the pills he had were in high demand everywhere in the empire. He simply had to make use of it.

Other than those major businesses, there were more stars in the space—smaller and far dimr. These were businesses that had been temporary but had still gathered a good amount of qi like his wolf fur and pelt business, which was now coming to an end, and the deals he had made in Red Peak City.

They had made him good money, but they weren’t solid businesses with a model that kept paying out on their own all year. Even so, with all the qi gathered in the stars, Chen Ren felt sure he could reach the foundation establishnt realm soon.

And this is only the beginning.

There were more cities that waited for him, more rogue cultivators to make custors. More clans and sects to deal with.

Chen Ren smirked. His thoughts drifted towards how if he hadn’t spent so much qi calling the golden dragon, he would have even more in reserve. Though, rather than qi, the real issue was his star space.

He let his gaze trace each gleaming star in his star-space one more ti, then turned away from them. Money, plans, influence—none of it mattered if his body cracked before his ambition reached its peak.

His eyes swept the ground. The fractures were still there, pale lines cutting through the space like thin frost on stone. But they no longer crawled or spread. They held and he hoped they were healing.

He exhaled slowly.

The dragon had said that his mind was strong, and he had already reached the second step of soul cultivation. What remained unfinished was his body that was still not truly aligned with the power he carried.

Once his body caught up, once all three pieces sat in harmony… he would be able to jump to the next realm.

He wondered what it would feel like.

Qi refinent was the starting point of what cultivation could offer; foundation establishnt was the point right before the next set of middle realms. If he balanced his body with his mind and soul, he was sure he could blaze through quickly, especially with how much qi his businesses were generating right now. But that would co later.

He checked the cracks one last ti, feeling the space breathe under his feet. It was steady and slowly improving.

Ti to take the next step.

The next second, his form dissolved from the star-space. The stars dimd, the ground fell away, and the weight of his physical body settled back around him.

Chen Ren blinked awake in his room in the Divine Coin Sect and stretched, joints popping one by one.

He cracked his neck at last. The imdiate relief washed through his body to his toes.

His body still felt stiff from the long ride back from Red Peak City; being lazy and sleeping in the carriage the whole way had co with consequences. Once he returned, he hadn't gotten a mont of rest.

The first thing he had done on returning was hand the ivory slasher’s corpse to Qing He so she could prepare the beast bath. After that ca reports—Xiulan’s updates on sect affairs, which had thankfully been stable—and he’d also used the opportunity to check up with her, truly ask how she’d been doing and what had been going on.

And then, he had also talked to Anji who had finally returned to the sect. She was now shut in her room, learning under Wang Jun’s strict guidance. He'd almost pitied her for that; then again, a little suffering now ant strength later.

And if anyone could bear with that head, it would be Anji, he was certain of it.

Only once those tasks were done did Chen Ren allow himself a little ti. There were two things he needed to do.

First was to check his star space that he already did. And the second was to find the location of the hologram projected by the new dallion he had received from the Chen clan.

He reached into his robes and drew the second dallion out, rubbing his thumb over the cool tal. Honestly, it looked just like the first ti. There was almost little to no difference between them.

He’d already bonded to it on the ride ho like the way he had done the first ti and as he pushed qi into it again, light blood.

A ghostly image rose before him, but unlike the first dallion, it was not mountains and wild landscape. Instead, a quiet hall took shape. Slanted rooftops with pale tiles. Carved eaves that caught wind. Statues of different beasts flanking stone steps.

It was the hologram of a sect building.

And not just any sect building.

The image floating above the dallion stretched upward like a mountain carved by gods—layer upon layer of soaring halls and terraces stacked toward the clouds. Even as a hologram, it felt imnse. A sprawling spine of stone and jade rising so high the peak vanished into mist, like heaven itself had lent its stairs to it.

Roads wound around the structure in perfect order, wide enough to let entire armies march side-by-side. Bridges crossed between suspended courtyards. Outer rings of buildings leaned in perfect symtry—training fields, pill pavilions, libraries, gardens glowing with faint qi. Towers arched like spears stabbing skyward, their roofs curved in sweeping traditional lines… yet the angles of so structures were sleek, straight, impossibly modern, as if soone mixed ancient cultivation architecture with the clean geotry of a modern city.

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It shouldn’t have made sense. But it did. And the whole image scread importance.

Even the projection made his skin tingle. That place could house thousands, maybe tens of thousands. It could hold entire cities within its walls. Cloud Mist City could surely fit inside it with room to spare.

A sect wealthy beyond asure. Grand beyond reason.

Which only made the problem worse.

According to Yalan, this sect building did not belong to any of the four Guardian sects. She had seen all of them in her long life, and none looked like this.

So if it wasn't one of them…

It might belong to one of the Established sects then, but Chen Ren didn't think that there was such an Established sect in the empire that was so wealthy.

His feelings and logic both told him that it was not an Established sect.

Then where in the heavens was the sect located?

Suddenly, he heard a sigh right behind him. “You’re staring at it again,” Yalan’s voice ca, dry as ever. “I told you. This place isn’t in the empire.”

He blinked and half-turned. “Since when were you standing there?”

She padded forward from behind him, tail swaying casually, as if she hadn’t just snuck up on him like a silent shadow. “Just now,” she said. Her gaze rose to the projection, eyes narrowing in faint awe. “If a sect like this existed inside the empire, I would surely know of it.”

Chen Ren kept his eyes on the soaring halls. “We don’t even know what lies beyond the empire. Are there strong countries out there?”

“Not that I know,” Yalan said. “Small clans. Scattered tribes. Long stretches ruled by whoever can hold a spear without dying. Beasts are worse outside our borders. So lands belong to… other races like the incestoids that love wide, stretching plains of land.”

“But this,” Chen Ren said, lifting the dallion a little, “is clearly human work. I can’t see any other race building sothing like this.”

“The dallion is old,” Yalan replied. “It could be showing a sect that no longer exists.”

He shook his head. “The first dallion showed the current terrain around Red Peak City. Why would this one show a historical sect that no longer exists?”

Yalan’s whiskers twitched. “Then it’s a mystery only the dragon in your star space can explain.”

Chen Ren snorted. “If he wakes up from his nap, that is. He sleeps more than cats.”

Yalan leveled a glare at him. “Do not compare cats to dragons. We are far better.”

“Oh?” Chen Ren raised a brow. “How so?”

“If we weren’t better, we’d be nearly extinct like the big scaled lizards,” she said, tail flicking. “We know how to stay low, pick our fights, and grow slowly. Patience is power. Dragons have no idea how to do that.”

He laughed, the sound slipping out before he could stop it. A picture flashed in his mind—cat spiritual beasts hiding in every city, quietly running the world from rafters and rooftops.

Yalan’s eyes narrowed into slits.

Chen Ren coughed, schooling his face.

That… was amusing. But his eyes went back to the dallion for one last ti.

The phantom image of that towering sect shimred… then faded as he cut off the qi. There were no answers, just more questions. But it was not like he could spend days wondering where it would be, and how to reach.

He had better things to do.

He slid the dallion back into his spatial ring and stood, stretching until his spine gave a soft crack.

Yalan tilted her head. “Where are you going?”

“To see Qing He.” He rolled his shoulders again. He could already imagine the pain creeping in. “She should’ve prepared the beast-blood bath by now. I want to break through bone refinent and get it over with. Then I can finally focus on other things.”

Yalan’s eyes glead with too much excitent for his comfort. “I’ll co. I believe I will enjoy it.”

He stared at her. “You sound suspicious.”

“I’m a cat,” she said, voice smooth. “Suspicious is natural.”

He decided that was not an argunt worth entering and pushed open his door. The sect’s hallway buzzed with noise—disciples walking, talking, training in small clusters. The village had gifted them two extra buildings after the rising, and the sound of construction was everywhere as they were renovating those buildings to better suit the sect’s needs.

A few younger mortal disciples rushed past, but paused when they noticed him. They bowed, faces bright, before moving through the hallway.

The more he walked, the more people he saw, and so of them even paused to ask him questions on certain topics.

Chen Ren offered patient answers before he started walking again. It slowed him down—by the ti he reached the rear courtyard, nearly half an hour had passed—but only a smile stretched on his lips. With the sect taking more and more people, mostly mortals, it felt more and more like a real sect.

That thought vanished the mont he stepped foot in the courtyard as the sll hit him.

The stench rolled across the courtyard like a swamp had married rotten herbs and died twice. A massive iron tub sat in the center, filled to the brim with thick, green liquid that bubbled like it wanted to escape. The fus alone made Chen Ren’s stomach revolt.

“What the fuck is that?”

Yalan snickered beside him, tail swaying. “Oh yes. I will enjoy this.”

He shot her a flat look.

Qing He stood in front of the tub and she turned, hearing footsteps, sleeves rolled up, her expression far too proud for soone who had just brewed sothing that slled like a mixture of lted corpses and week-old soup.

“Oh! You’re here,” she said brightly. “I was about to send soone to drag you over. The beast-blood bath is ready. Go on—dip in.”

Chen Ren stared at the cauldron of green agony.

Then at Qing He’s eager smile.

Then at Yalan’s barely-contained glee.

He felt his knees weaken at the thought of entering such an abomination. And he wondered just for a second if his star space was better off cracked.

***

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