Chapter 43 – Local Laborers Idolize Florida Man as Savior
Zhong cultivated Earth Qi, which was commonly known as an unpopular element. Cultivators commonly pursued offensive power and techniques so that they could have a strong signature skill or legacy, boosting their reputation and obtaining a cool Daoist Title.
Fire and Metal Elements were every cultivator's favorite as fire symbolized destruction while metal was versatile in offense and defense. Water Element came third as it prioritized support techniques, but it could still be useful in combat. Wood was also popular among alchemists and botanists, making it on the same tier as Water.
On the other hand, Earth seemed lackluster compared to Water or other elements. Mostly, Earth-based techniques focused on defensive abilities and craftsmanship. A few martial arts focused on Earth Elements, but they were far weaker than other elements in fights. As a result, alchemists avoided making earth element cultivation pills as they weren't marketable.
Without cultivation resources in the market, Zhong couldn't cultivate. Moreover, Zhong was old and weaker than his peers, so he couldn't enter any mystic realm.
However, in front of Zhong, there were so many earth grain pills. Although they weren't proper cultivation resources, they were enough to strengthen his dantian and foundation.
He saw hope!
"F-Five years of lifespan per pill?" Zhong trembled in excitement.
"Yes. Oh, those are old pills. If you want new ones with better quality, they are on the shelves. The price is 10 years per pill, though."
"Better quality?!"
Zhong ran toward the shelves and looked at the pills in the Tupperware boxes. As Leo said - they looked bigger and glossier. He began counting the pills in the box.
'20… 22… 25… there aren't many. I need to get all of these.'
Zhong reached out for the pills, planning to buy everything.
TOK-TOK
KLUK-KLUK
"Ah."
The sound of a marble hitting the wood floor and rolling distracted Zhong. He looked at Leo and noticed that the latter accidentally dropped two black marble balls. He helped the elder pick them up.
Leo wryly smiled, "Ah, thanks. Oh, you can put them anyway on the shelf. I can't touch you. If you touch me even the slightest, you will die."
"…"
Zhong gulped, thinking that Leo was threatening him. He obediently put the black stones on a shelf. Before Zhong let go of the stone, he noticed something.
The stones contained a thick amount of Earth Essence!
Not Qi, but Essence!
Furthermore, Zhong sensed other elements in there!
"S-Senior!" Zhong picked the two black balls and showed them to Leo, "Can I buy these?"
"Oh, that?"
Leo deeply sighed. They were once the blue stones that Ouyang Long dropped. Leo touched these stones with his bare hands, and they all mutated into essence stones.
.
[Essence Stone]
Can be found underground in any mystic realm. Unlike spirit stones, it contains a great amount of Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth Element Qi.
[Traits]
Increase Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth Element Essence by 10 years' worth of cultivation. (Consumption)
[Alchemy Recipe – Soul Stone]
1,000 Essence Stones
Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth Catalyst
Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth Essence
.
As Leo still remembered the detail, he came up with a price on the spot.
"Those are essence stones. One of them can give you about 10 years' worth of fire, water, metal, wood, and earth element essence. I'll sell you for 100 years of lifespan per stone. Oh, wait. That's the full price. How about 50 per stone after the discount?"
Leo learned from his past mistake. He used the amount of obtainable Qi as a base and add zero behind it to name the price. As Leo was in a good mood, he gave the captain a special discount.
Zhong almost fell to his knees while he held the two black stones in his hands. He repeatedly nodded, "E-Essence?! I-I'll buy them, senior! I'll also take all Earth grain pills!"
"Hoh?"
Leo rechecked Zhong's lifespan, worrying that he might not have enough to pay the bill. Fortunately, he had enough.
"That will cost 350 years of your life. Do you want the inferior earth grain pill, too?"
"Y-Yes, please."
"Good. There are five left, so… 375 years."
Leo walked picked up an empty Tupperware box and gathered the pills into one container. After closing the box, he put on rubber gloves to prevent accidents and passed the box to Zhong. He deducted the lifespan afterward.
Zhong received the container and put it in his spatial ring. Then, he bowed 90 degrees.
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH, SENIOR!"
"You're welcome. Alright. You can call the others to come in."
"Yes, senior!"
With this many pills and the two essence cores, he could finally break through the bottleneck and reached the nascent soul stage, becoming a true expert. Moreover, he might awaken new elements after consuming the essence stone.
Unbeknownst to both parties, Leo underpriced his items once again.
One year's worth of Qi in cultivator's terms meant 100 strands of Qi. However, when it came to essence, it translated as one drop of essence. Because cultivators needed 1,000 strands of Qi to condense one drop of essence, the value differed.
In summary, one year's worth of essence translated into 1,000 strands of Qi, which was equivalent to 10 years' worth of Qi!
As such, Zhong would gain a total of 100 years' worth of five elements Qi per essence stone, and he only needed to pay 50 years of lifespan!
That was a bargain!
Zhong was grateful. He shed a tear of gratitude, and he swore in his heart that he would never forget this kindness.
Meanwhile, Leo had no idea that he miscalculated once again. He thought that he got smarter as he managed to scam 375 years of life from a random dude.
Leo returned to his bedroom and collected more earth grain pills to refill the stock. While he was at it, he put a new box and filled it with the essence stones. Then, he placed the box on a shelf and waited for the next customer.
"NEXT, PLEASE!"
.
200 servants of Ouyang Long were skeptical at first as they didn't want to waste their lifespan buying useless pills or unknown objects. However, Zhong came out happy and showed them the two essence cores that he got. He also praised Leo.
"The elder is very kind! Don't be afraid and exchange your lifespan for the pills or items in there. You won't regret it."
The crowd didn't have as many years to live as Zhong as they were all foundation establishment cultivators - Their average lifespan was 280-350 years, which was not a lot.
Still, five of Zhong's colleagues braced for danger and entered the store.
Five minutes later, the five men came out with a wide smile on their faces. They rushed toward Zhong to thank him.
"Brother Zhong! You're right. The elder is generous!"
"Look at the pills and the essence stones! With these, we might even catch up to you!"
The five men all bought two essence stones and a dozen grain pills of their choice. Zhong looked at their items and was happy for them.
Noticing their reactions, the other servants stopped hesitating. They queued and entered the store, five people at a time. Wu Buyi acted as a bouncer, managing the number of people inside the store so they wouldn't be crowded.
.
Hours later, the sun rose. All servants got their items, and nobody could stop smiling.
After the last customer left the store, Leo came out to see the crowd. As soon as he came out, everybody saluted.
"THANK YOU, SENIOR!"
"WE ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL!"
Seeing the crowd's reactions, Leo was confused. He raised his brow and looked at Wu Buyi, but the latter shook his head.
Leo sighed and shrugged. He got so much from the transactions, so he didn't care what they thought. He parted them with a few words.
"Come back when you're stronger. This place will always open the door for you, regardless of your past or background."
"!!!"
Leo wanted them to come back as customers. However, his wording and the auto-translation system made it vague, and the crowd interpreted it differently.
"W-We can come back?"
"He will accept us?"
"H-He doesn't care about our backgrounds?"
The crowd thought that Leo would hire or take them in as his servants. They were astonished.
Leo coughed and waited for them to leave so that he could finalize his share with Wu Buyi. However, the crowd lingered as if they were confused about something.
Since they continued staying, Leo came up with a plan to make them leave. He gave them a random sermon.
"Listen. Indeed, everybody wasn't born equal. Some lucky bastards were born with a silver spoon in their mouths and got everything handed to them. On the other hand, people like us fought for clean water and competed for scraps to live for another day. We struggled our hardest to survive."
Listening to Leo's speech, half of the grown men shed manly tears, thinking of their bitter past struggles. His words resonated with their lives.
Leo coughed and borrowed some philosophies from his old world. "What do you think the difference between you and your former master is?"
Zhong swiped his tear. He answered, "Wealth and status?"
"Wrong."
"Eh?"
Wu Buyi also raised his brow. He asked, "S-Senior. What is it, then?"
Leo brightly smiled, "Opportunity."
"???"
Wu Buyi and the crowd still doubted Leo's word, but the latter continued asking them.
"What do you think you and your former master have in common?"
"…"
The crowd murmured. They weren't prepared for a sudden quiz, but Wu Buyi tried answering, "Two arms and legs?"
"Physically, that's correct, but that's not entirely right either."
"Then… what's the answer, senior?"
Leo giggled and looked at the crowd, "Opportunity."
"Huh?!"
The crowd and Wu Buyi were even more confused. Leo just said that Ouyang Long's opportunity and their opportunity were different. But a minute later, Leo flipped his words and said that they had the same opportunity.
After capturing the crowd's full attention, Leo got to his point.
"My point is – You and your master have the same opportunity, but his opportunity is different from yours since his parents and his family spoon-fed him everything. But for you, you actually have an equal opportunity, but nobody teaches you that you have. They're right in front of you, but you never realized it."
"!!?"
Leo pointed at the pills and essence stones they bought, "Those are your opportunity."
"!!!"
The crowd widened their eyes as everyone started to get the general idea of what opportunity Leo was talking about. As long as they could digest the element essence in the stones, their cultivation base would rise, which enabled their future opportunity.
Before they started imagining or interpreting his words the other way, Leo turned around and pointed at the store, "That is also your opportunity."
"T-This… I SEE!!"
Everybody finally understood what Leo tried to say. Had they cowered in fear and never taken a step in, they wouldn't have had the pills in their hands.
Leo pointed at Wu Buyi with his thumb, "That guy is also your opportunity."
"EH?!"
Again, the crowd was enlightened. Without Wu Buyi, nobody could have come down and gotten their pills and essence stones.
Leo clapped and laughed, "You see. Opportunities are around you. You see it, but you never seized it. In general, you lack information, but your ex-master has it. While you're in the dark, he seized almost every opportunity around him. You and your ex-master have equal opportunity, but you can't seize it because you don't know. That makes your opportunities different."
"W-Wow."
After sidetracking enough, Leo connected the point and made use of the teaching.
"Therefore, I want you to remember me, my store, and our encounter when you go home. Right now, you are still in trouble. Your master is dead, and you have no place to go. You might be lost, but you're not hopeless anymore. Opportunities are around you. Let me give you a push, aka another opportunity. This is a new page of your life. Go start anew with the pills and stones in your hands. Get stronger. Become someone successful. Once you overcome the hurdles or become successful, you can come back to my store with your heads held high. If you fail and encounter a roadblock, you can still come back to gain another opportunity from me. Got it?"
"…"
Zhong and his colleagues all knelt and cupped their fists. They lowered their head in unison while their tears covered their faces.
"I SWEAR WITH MY DAO OATH! I WILL NEVER FORGET YOUR TEACHINGS!"
"I'LL BECOME SOMEONE WORTHY TO BE YOUR SERVANT, SENIOR!"
"WE'LL BE STRONGER, AND WE WILL COME BACK TO REPAY YOU, SIR!"
Leo blankly gazed at the crowd, confused about what they were doing.
'Err… What the hell is wrong with you? I just want you peeps to get stronger and get more lifespan to spend in my store.'
Leo had no idea what they were thinking. He looked at Wu Buyi, asking him with his expression.
Meanwhile, Wu Buyi was still crying. He wiped his tear with his handkerchief and muttered, "Senior, your wisdom is profound and boundless. I'm so glad I'm following you."
"…"
