Xu Qing groaned dramatically before standing up. "Fine, fine! But if I have to listen to one more farr's kid claim, he's 'destined for greatness' while barely able to lift a sword, I swear—"
"Xu Qing."
"...Right. I'm going."
As she stomped off, the old man chuckled to himself for a mont, but then his expression grew somber.
'This should be of so help to her,' the old man thought as he took out a bracelet.
The bracelet was thin, barely a finger wide, but the deep red jewel on its top was even larger, being twice as wide. It had the shape of an eight-pointed star and sparkled dazzlingly with its many facets. The old man gazed at it for several minutes, lost in thought. He didn't even realize how much ti had passed when Xu Qing returned.
"You're still here, Master?" Xu Qing was a bit surprised.
She had assud he would have already returned to his own room by now. From what she knew, her master was practically married to cultivation and didn't waste even a minute. In fact, it was rare for her to et with him for longer than ten minutes at a ti.
And yet, here he was, personally instructing her today.
SIGH
Seeing her, the old man let out a long sigh and held up the bracelet.
"Take this."
"What's this?" Xu Qing asked, her eyes imdiately locking onto the dazzling gem atop the bracelet. "Wait... A High-Grade Spirit Tool!?" As soon as she touched it, she could feel its imnse power.
"It's the Eight-Pointed Yearning Bracelet," the old man stated. "It will help tilt luck in your favor."
"Wait... This is the Eight-Pointed Yearning Bracelet?!" Xu Qing was stunned. "But aren't there only a handful in the entire sect?"
"Indeed... and I borrowed this for you," the old man replied. "I know that finding suitable disciples is a matter of luck, but this should help you earn enough rit to get what you want."
Xu Qing stared at the bracelet, realization dawning on her.
"This... This is a treasure-seeking tool!" she whispered in disbelief.
Even though it was only classified as a High-Grade Spirit Tool, its ability to seek out other valuable treasures made it comparable to Peak-Grade Spirit Tools. With this, she could potentially get filthy rich!
But as her mind raced with visions of swimming in mountains of spirit stones, she suddenly snapped back to reality.
"Wait, but I can't even use this at my cultivation base," Xu Qing pointed out. "And how exactly will this help find talented disciples?"
"You're right. At the Core Condensation realm, using the Eight-Pointed Yearning Bracelet would be impossible for you, but I've charged it with my own spirit Qi. It should last you a month, with the specific conditions I've set in it," the old man explained.
"Wait, you can modify the functions of the bracelet? That's a thing?!" Xu Qing found it unbelievable.
"Only for sothing of a 'lower' value," the old man stated. "And people with talent can still be considered 'treasures,' so it was possible to adjust its paraters."
Xu Qing's eyes widened in realization. "If I find even one individual using this, their talent should be enough to net thousands of rit points, right?" Her eyes glead with renewed ambition.
'And here I was worried even ten disciples wouldn't be enough,' she thought.
"Yes. If soone is good enough to trigger a reaction from the bracelet, then they will certainly be worth it," the old man nodded. "This is the last thing I can do for you as your master."
"Thank you, Master! I won't forget your help!" Xu Qing said, bowing deeply.
"Also, take this," the old man said, pulling out a sheet of paper.
"A list of places?" Xu Qing skimd through the sheet.
"I've listed the locations you should prioritize. These cities have had recent reports of talented individuals. If you move quickly, you might be able to claim one before soone else does," the old man instructed. "Rember, even though the bracelet can confirm soone's talent, it cannot track them from long distances with its limited Qi supply. It will work at most within a kiloter's range."
"I'll keep that in mind, Master," Xu Qing nodded. "I refuse to lose out to my fellow disciples this ti!" she declared with determination.
"Hopefully, you won't repeat the disaster that was your last recruitnt attempt," the old man sighed.
Xu Qing's face twisted in indignation. "I definitely won't! Besides, I wouldn't have lost if Senior Brother Bu hadn't stolen that recruit from !" she said, still bitter about it.
"That was simply fate at work," the old man replied wisely. "That recruit was not destined to follow you. Besides, even if you had brought him in, he could have chosen another elder's division, and you would have lost out regardless." He shook his head. "Better to lose wealth now than to suffer a loss of face later."
Xu Qing gritted her teeth but forced herself to accept his words. "I'll be as fast as possible this ti."
She carefully studied the list of locations. Nearly fifty places were written down, most of them being cities. However, the last three caught her eye.
"Wait... why are towns included in this list?" Xu Qing asked, confused.
Cities made sense—they had large populations and a higher chance of producing talented individuals. But small towns?
That was practically gambling on finding a genius in the middle of nowhere! They usually lacked the resources to nurture talent in the first place.
The old man rely stroked his beard, his expression cryptic.
"Sotis, the greatest gems are hidden in the roughest of places," he said mysteriously.
Xu Qing blinked. "Or... it's just a typo and you ant to write 'City of Southern Jade' instead of 'Southern Jade Hamlet'?"
The old man cleared his throat loudly and promptly changed the subject. "You should get going if you want to secure a good disciple!"
Xu Qing deadpanned.
'Yeah, this is definitely a typo.'
User Comments
0 comments from readers