Chapter 06 – Florida Man Scammed While Attempting to Scam Local Cultivator
One day had passed since Gao Yan had advanced to the second stage.
Gao Yan no longer shared a room with other outer disciples. The internal affair elder assigned him a new resident in the Alchemy Department, where only alchemist elders could stay. Although he was still an outer disciple, the treatment toward him was drastically improved as he could potentially become an alchemist in the future.
As soon as the alchemist elder discovered Gao Yan's wood Qi, he immediately took him in as a core disciple. When the words spread, Gao Yan became famous throughout the outer disciple division.
Alchemists were important to the Life Sword Sect. They were the only group of cultivators who could refine spirit grass and other plants into useful medicinal pills. In short, these specialists were always in demand, and their status was higher than regular swordsmen and cultivators.
Meanwhile, Gao Yan's dorm became the gathering point of outer disciples. As Gao Yan couldn't bring out the black grasses with him, they still sat at the bottom of the cauldron in front of his barrack.
A dozen disciples sat around the cauldron, filling the water with ice cubes and trying to cultivate the green gas by inhaling them. They believed that the gas could awaken their hidden potential. Many deacons watched them from afar, maintaining order.
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Contribution Pavilion
A group of outer disciples worked part-time here, carrying books from the audit shelves toward the internal management department building behind the pavilion in exchange for contribution points.
In the building with a high roof, scholar-like middle-aged elders in white robes sat behind small tables, surrounding the empty hall of the building in the horseshoe formation. Next to them, books from the contribution pavilion were stacked up into towers. However, they were unfazed while they read the records of inner disciples and outer disciples. Some of them added comments in the books while most of them used their wooden stamps to validate the deed.
At the corner of the room, the scholar elder waved his finger, sending his Qi to pick up the book from the top of the stack. He put it on the table and glanced at the name.
Gao Yan – Outer Disciple
"Ah, Gao Yan. Is he the rumored Wood Qi boy? Talk about the story of a diamond in a rough. I heard he had been mistreated for years before his breakthrough. Let's see what our future alchemist did when he was still in the mud."
He flipped the cover page and another page. As soon as he noticed that Gao Yan only had two records in his name, the elder frowned.
"A lazy one. Well, at least, he tried. How old is he? 16? There's even a record that he has no aptitude in cultivation. Hahaha! The evaluation elder needs to be reevaluated instead!"
The scholar giggled and was about to pick a stamp to clear this book. However, as he was a disciplined worker, he put the wooden stamp down and read the recent deed of Gao Yan.
"69.5 Points at once from spirit grass? Interesting?"
He continued to read the comments of the inspecting deacon.
[Gao Yan claimed he received spirit grass from a rogue cultivator in the Sword Saint Boulder Forest. Need someone to validate this testimony.]
"Ho? Does that mean he had a fortuitous encounter, and he got Wood Qi after that? Indeed, we need to check that person's background. If he's not an unorthodox cultivator, we can invite him to join our sect as a guest elder or a permanent elder."
The scholar deeply exhaled and wrote a few words under the record to give comments. Then, he picked up a handheld bronze bell. He rang it to get the others' attention.
DING
When everybody in the room looked at him, he uttered in a clear voice.
"Urgent request here. Send this record to the disciplinary hall and let them investigate this disciple and the mysterious cultivator behind him. The detail is in the book."
Ringing the bell was a tradition there. Whenever an elder needed something investigated, they always rang the bells on their tables.
It only took 10 seconds before an inner disciple rushed into the building. The young man received the book from the scholar and strode out of the building, heading to another place.
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The 20-story pagoda of the Life Sword Sect was a restricted area of the disciplinary department, and only authorized inner disciples or core disciples could enter. It was located at the center of the sect, next to the 100-story pagoda of the grand elders and the sect master.
The record of Gao Yan arrived at the basket in front of the building. The inner disciple put in there and left.
WHOOSH
The book floated to the top floor of the 20-story pagoda. On the rooftop, an elderly man with a curvy black mustache stood still, controlling the 100 hovering swords in front of him and practicing his skills.
The disciplinary elder Han Meng was 6 feet tall and muscular. His body-builder-like muscles couldn't be contained in regular Daoist robes, so he only wore a white tank top and pants.
Han Meng was one of many elders in charge of internal investigation and punishment. Whenever someone put a letter or a book in the basket in front of the pagoda, he and his colleagues always took up the task of investigating the issues.
Han Meng grabbed the floating book and opened it. He read through everything that Gao Yan did and focused on the comments of the deacon and the audit elder.
"A disciple awakens Wood Qi after meeting with a mysterious cultivator in a forest? Mysterious source of spirit grass? Obviously, the cases are connected. But since an outsider is involved, I doubt any inner disciples can complete the task safely. I should take a look at this man myself."
Han Meng jumped off the rooftop of the pagoda and flew toward the east, heading toward the famous Sword Saint Boulder to inspect the area.
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WARRA WARRA WARRA
While pulling weeds, a dire wolf jumped out of a bush and bit Leo's nape.
Leo ignored the animal and collected black grasses in a large bamboo basket, which he had purchased from the online shopping menu. He looked at the basket. The grasses were filled to the brim, but there was no mandrake. Moreover, he finished cleaning all grass in the square kilometer domain.
Leo sighed and sulked. He was tired of black grasses.
"This is gonna be a grind. How many days do I have to eat grasses? I'm going to devolve into a cow at this rate… Moo."
He turned his attention to the dead wolf. As usual, it slowly mutated and swelled. Seeing the dead dog, Leo grinned.
After standing up, Leo turned around and carried the basket back to his campsite. As for the dire wolf, it was already on the ground, having a stroke and foaming its mouth. Its arms, legs, and body swelled as the evolved cells of Leo's body mutated the beast. It soon turned black and died.
A few minutes later, Leo returned with a plastic bin. He tied the bulky leg of the swollen dire wolf to the nearby black tree, hanging it upside down. Then, he cut open its stomach with a skinning knife and removed the internal organs, then tossed everything inedible to the bin. After that, he put the container underneath the carcass and cut the wolf's throat, draining its blood.
"I hate to say this, but I get to eat dog meat at last! I ain't a Chinese, but I'm gonna feast on you, stupid doggy!"
Leo hummed and rotated the skinning knife in a good mood. When Leo was about to peel the wolf's skin, the corner of his eyes noticed something in the sky. He looked up and stared at it.
"Is that a bird? Is that a plane? No… it's a flying dude?"
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Initially, Han Meng believed that the mysterious cultivator was just a rogue cultivator that accidentally or purposely gave spirit grasses to Gao Yan. Thus, he flew toward the Sword Saint Boulder, intending to fight or interrogate the unknown cultivator.
As soon as Han Meng arrived, he saw traces of digging and tampering around the boulder. Moreover, the grey rock was now green, and the surrounding plants and trees had blue leaves.
Han Meng deeply frowned. He recognized the plants and trees. They should have been regular plants, but they evolved into spirit trees. Moreover, some of the plants were new species that could have driven botanists or alchemists crazy.
That was not all. The blue plants grew in small groups. Upon further inspection, they surrounded black plants in the middle, and they leaked powerful miasma into the air.
"Immortal plants?"
Han Meng rubbed his eyes. He thought that he hallucinated.
While Han Meng was looking around from the sky, the corner of his eyes spotted movements. He noticed a strange campsite with a weird tent and a pile of black grasses near the stream.
When Han Meng turned his attention toward the camp, he noticed a white-haired elderly man in strange bulky yellow clothes. The elder also looked up, and their eyes met.
Han Meng suddenly sensed a chill running down his spine. He saw the rainbow aura and the colorful aurora around him.
He recognized this type of aura well. The master of the Life Sword Sect also had this presence.
"S-Sixth stage cultivator, the soul formation stage?!"
Afraid of offending the mysterious elder, Han Meng descended. He landed in front of the white-haired old man and cupped his fist.
"I'm sorry for the sudden visit, senior. My name is Han Meng, and my Daoist name is Flying Swordsman. I've received a report from my sect that one of our disciples has received your guidance. Could I know your name and where you're from, senior?"
Although Han Meng slightly bowed, he kept looking at Leo's face. He gulped and cursed at himself.
'Dammit. I spoke too fast! I should have only extended my greetings and not questioned him. I was rude!'
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Meanwhile, Leo blankly stared at Han Meng. He raised his eyebrows.
'Well, damn. I read about them when the internet was still up, but these guys do exist, eh? What were the terms? Farmer? No, cultural-something? That's not it. Cultivation… cultivator! Yes, cultivator! Those superpower Daoists and their 9th-grade syndrome cringe are their main attraction!'
Leo had enlightenment. Although he wasn't an expert in the cultivation world genre, he knew how to act like one.
Without thinking much, Leo enabled the shop domain feature.
DING
Suddenly, the lifespan status of Han Meng appeared.
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Name: Han Meng
Age: 54
Remaining Lifespan: 726 Years, 1 Month, 24 Days, 10 Hours, and 49 Minutes.
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Han Meng and Leo widened their eyes in astonishment for a different reason.
Leo was shocked that a local cultivator had 726 years to live. On the other hand, Han Meng was flabbergasted to see his own lifespan status floating in front of him.
"S-Senior, what is this?!" Han Meng asked.
Leo snapped back to his senses and coughed, "You see, junior. I'm a wandering vendor from another continent. I'm wondering if you're interested in my weed."
Leo turned around and pointed at the mountain of black grasses that he had been collecting.
Han Meng gulped. His eyes were so round that they almost came out from the eye sockets.
As Han Meng didn't reply, Leo pitched the sale.
"I'm selling them for cheap. One blade of weed for 10 years of your lifespan. How about it? Wanna smoke?"
Leo jacked the price because of his greed. As Gao Yan only purchased one, Leo expected Han Meng to buy only one grass as well.
However, Leo underestimated the standard and the common sense of this world.
"Ten years of my lifespan for one blade of grass?! ARE YOU SURE?"
"Err, yes."
Leo inwardly questioned Han Meng in his mind. He wondered why the muscle man exclaimed so loud.
"I'd like to exchange 500 years of my lifespan for 50 of those, please!"
"Huh?"
