Chapter 134: Shopping Around

"I once regretted it."

"But as I drove my beast-drawn carriage through the capital of Leizhou, observing the myriad states of human life, I suddenly felt that this wasn't so bad after all."

"Come to think of it, in the twelve years I've been driving this carriage in the Leizhou capital, you are the first distinguished guest I've encountered heading to the Leizhou Treasury." The young man's voice was calm, devoid of any intense fluctuations.

"I have some business there."

Afterward, the young man chatted with Xu Chen about interesting happenings in the Leizhou capital while he steered the carriage.

Half an hour later, the beast-drawn carriage stopped at the entrance of the Leizhou Treasury. Under the curious gazes of the guards stationed there, Xu Chen stepped down and waved goodbye to the young man.

As Xu Chen walked toward the Leizhou Treasury, the expressions of the many guards at the entrance shifted. Though no auspicious light shone upon Xu Chen, in their eyes, he seemed to glow with golden radiance. Thanks to the treasury’s boundary formation, these guards possessed unique spirit-vision techniques, allowing them to roughly estimate a person's human contribution points based on the spiritual light they emitted.

"Quick, notify Yun Tou! A distinguished guest has arrived!" the guards exchanged via divine sense. Being well-informed, it took them only a moment to deduce the identity of the person before them.

Xu Chen offered a friendly smile to the guards. These were the elite of the Leizhou army, having stepped onto the path of immortality, each one tempered by the mountains of corpses and seas of blood from the front lines against alien races. The guards returned his smile warmly. Since the treasuries of each province were independent of the central Human Treasury, they were always eager to see individuals with vast amounts of contribution points coming to trade. As long as they could exchange the items in their treasury for human contribution points, it was always a profitable deal for them.

Just then, the space before Xu Chen tore open. A man in green robes stepped through the rift and grasped Xu Chen's hand.

"A distinguished guest has arrived. Forgive my lack of a proper welcome."

"Please, come inside!"

Before Xu Chen could react, he was whisked away into an elegant small world.

"This is your first time visiting the Leizhou Treasury Realm, isn't it, young friend?"

"For our own people in Leizhou, we always gift a few items based on their current cultivation level upon their first visit."

"Since you are here, young friend, I cannot let you leave empty-handed, even if you choose not to make an exchange."

Watching the enthusiastic man, Xu Chen felt as though he were lying naked on a chopping block. Several streaks of light appeared in the sky of the small world and flew toward him. Soon, several dharma treasures wrapped in light floated in the air.

"These are standard-issue treasures from our Leizhou capital: a storage ring, a treasure boat with a spirit vessel, a communication device, and a Leizhou Token."

"These are all usable at the Blood-Qi Realm, so you may use them with peace of mind, young friend."

Before Xu Chen could speak, the other three treasures were deposited into the storage ring, which then automatically fastened itself onto his finger.

"Er..."

"Many thanks, Senior."

What else could he say? He couldn't say anything at all.

The man’s smile grew even more fervent.

"I have yet to ask your name, Senior."

"Yun Yue. Just call me Uncle Yun."

"Young friend, what would you like to exchange for?"

Yun Yue pointed, and several light screens appeared before Xu Chen, containing everything one could possibly imagine.

"I am looking for pills to improve my aptitude."

Xu Chen glanced at the list; even the most exquisite treasures here cost only about 0.1 human contribution points.

"We have them!"

The light screens shifted, and two final displays appeared before Xu Chen. On the left were spirit treasures—treasures naturally formed over tens of thousands of years, all capable of enhancing one's aptitude. On the right were various spirit pills and immortal elixirs, designed to modify aptitude based on different conditions.

"Young friend, you should test your aptitude first."

"Whether it is natural spirit treasures or elixirs, one must apply the right remedy to improve one's aptitude."

A formation plate appeared before Xu Chen.

"Very well."

Xu Chen pricked his finger with his inner strength, and a drop of blood fell onto the plate. As the blood touched it, the plate began to hum. A dim yellow pillar of light slowly rose, instantly evoking memories of Xu Chen's childhood. It was this very yellow pillar of light that had left his father depressed for half a month.

"Common grade aptitude, seventh stage."

"Spiritual meridians are tangled and chaotic, the five elements are impure, yin and yang are in chaos, the meridians are fragile, the soul is faint, and divine wisdom is unclear..."

"This..."

Beyond that yellow pillar of light, many other complex spiritual flickers appeared on the plate. Yun Yue interpreted them one by one, his expression becoming somewhat complicated.

"To reach this level of cultivation with such Blood-Qi power, you truly possess great perseverance."

Yun Yue looked at Xu Chen with admiration, then changed the subject.

"Have you ever visited the Temple of the Human Emperor, young friend?"

Xu Chen didn't know the intent behind the question, but replied, "As a child, I used to go with my parents in Cloud-Beast City every year to pay respects to the Human Emperor."

"During festivals and holidays, I would play around there as well."

"That is good. For someone in your situation, to change your aptitude, you may truly need a bit of the Human Emperor's protection."

"Fortunately, you have practiced a few decent Blood-Qi foundation-building methods, which have slightly altered your aptitude."

"The rest must be adjusted using heaven-and-earth spirit items and immortal pills."

Yun Yue lightly swiped across the light screen, and both displays changed simultaneously.

"Ten drops of Bodhi Dew—5 points per drop. One bottle of Five-Element Root Spirit Pills—20 points."

"The Bodhi Dew will cultivate your divine wisdom, and the Five-Element Root Spirit Pills will straighten out the five-element spiritual meridians in your body."

Seventy contribution points. Xu Chen thought that wasn't too bad.

"This is only the first step. It will require about three courses of treatment, over the span of a year."

The light screens began to rotate again.

"Three bottles of Soul-Spirit Pills, 40 points per bottle. Two bottles each of Yang-Brightening Pills and Yin-Essence Pills, 60 points per bottle."

And then... seeing the screens continue to rotate, Xu Chen suddenly felt that perhaps his aptitude didn't need to be improved after all.

"Does the expenditure of human contribution points seem a bit high to you, young friend?"

"Our Leizhou capital is famous for its alchemy, and as a border province, we are not lacking in heaven-and-earth spirit items."

"The price for every item and pill is already very reasonable."

"Furthermore, I guarantee that after this full course of treatment, your aptitude will reach at least the fifth stage of the Spirit grade, ensuring no further obstacles on your path to immortality."

"It is best to change your aptitude during the Blood-Qi and Treasure-Body Realms."

"Once your cultivation is higher and your spiritual meridians and Dao-bones are set, the cost to change your aptitude will be far greater than it is now," Yun Yue advised.

Xu Chen calculated and realized with horror that to completely change his aptitude, he would need to spend at least 1,100 human contribution points. This was hard for him to accept; by his initial estimation, he thought he could improve his aptitude with only three or four hundred points.

"Uncle Yun, is the cost of changing one's aptitude really this high?" Xu Chen couldn't help but ask.

"To be honest, for an average common-grade aptitude, what I just mentioned might account for only one or two issues."

"Young friend, you are covering almost all of them."

"With so many innate obstacles, the fact that you have reached this point is not just due to your great perseverance; the destiny of humanity itself must be protecting you."

"Don't be in a rush to decide, young friend. You can also go to the Human Treasury region within the Human Dao Realm to take a look."

"The people there will also give you recommendations. If you compare them, you will know I am not lying to you," Yun Yue said.

"Uncle Yun, I never doubted you."

"I was just shocked by the state of my own aptitude."

After chatting for a while longer, Xu Chen did not make any exchanges and returned to the Great Creek Sect via a teleportation array.

***

On Sky-Cloud Island, Xu Chen followed the directions on his disciple token and found his cultivation cave dwelling. The interior and exterior spanned over a thousand acres, luxuriously decorated with spirit flowers, spirit plants, various spirit arrays, spirit springs, living puppets, sparring puppets, and even Human Dao Realm illusion arrays.

"Greetings, Master."

Four beautiful living puppets knelt on the ground to welcome Xu Chen.

"Rise."

Before Xu Chen could finish touring the entire dwelling, Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou arrived. The three of them drank tea and chatted in the large hall specifically designed for receiving guests.

"Did Brother Li make it home?" Xu Chen asked Li Chengfu with a smile.

"He wouldn't dare go home now."

"His brothers, his father, his uncles—they are all eyeing little Fu-zi like starving wolves," Zong Changshou laughed from the side.

"What do you plan to do?" Xu Chen asked.

"With so many contribution points, I definitely can't keep them all."

"I'll give eighty percent of the human contribution points to my grandfather. If it weren't for him holding things down all these years, I wouldn't have been able to live such a life of luxury; I would have been lucky to just be comfortably off. As for the rest, I'll give a little to my father, but they won't get a single point more from me." Li Chengfu wore an expression of 'you ignored me when I was down, now you can't reach me.'

"It’s simpler for me," Zong Changshou said. "Eighty percent exchanged for various resources, and I'll keep twenty percent for future contingencies. These resources are enough to carry me through the path of immortality."

"Junior Brother, how are things going with changing your aptitude?" Li Chengfu asked.

"I'll go to the Human Treasury in the Human Dao Realm in a while. I'll use whichever side offers the better deal." Xu Chen didn't want to mention that changing his aptitude would cost over 1,000 points.

"That's good! Once you fill this gap, Junior Brother, you will surely make a name for yourself among the entire human race." Li Chengfu smiled sincerely. If he hitched his wagon to a rising star, he would ascend too.

"There's still a long way to go. The Blood-Qi Realm is only the starting point; the road ahead is long."

After discussing their current situations, the two left. Xu Chen then entered the illusion array of the Human Dao Realm within his cave dwelling.

Clouds billowed, and floating islands appeared in a fairyland. Xu Chen arrived on one of these floating islands.

"Eh? Why didn't I appear in the teleportation hall?" Xu Chen looked at the magnificent floating island fairyland, momentarily confused about his location.

"Master, this is your cave dwelling in the Human Dao Realm from now on." A three-inch-tall white puffball appeared before Xu Chen.

"Because of my human contribution points?"

"Yes. Once human contribution points exceed 2,000, a floating island fairyland dwelling is allocated in the Human Dao Realm."

"In the future, Master can teleport directly through this floating island fairyland," the white puffball said, circling Xu Chen.

"Then send me to the Human Treasury first."

"As you wish, Master~"

A spatial gate appeared before Xu Chen. After walking through, he returned to the floating island fairyland in less than an hour.

"Changing my aptitude will cost 1,400 contribution points..."

"The items look high-end, but the effect is the same as the Leizhou Treasury."

The receptionists at the Human Treasury were even more enthusiastic, their service more attentive, and their recommendations sounded more prestigious, but the actual effect on his aptitude was identical to that offered by the Leizhou Treasury.