Chapter 7
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Chapter 7: Enlightenment
As night fell, after completing his daily cultivation, Wang Chen found himself wide awake.
He climbed onto the roof to gaze at the stars.
The nightlife in the cultivation world could indeed be quite vibrant.
Fifty miles away in Yunshan City, there were numerous tea houses, wine shops, brothels, and gambling houses, with the night market bustling late into the night.
Unfortunately, Wang Chen couldn’t afford to indulge in any of it at the moment.
Lying on the tiles with his hands cushioning his head, a dazzling yet unfamiliar starry sky stretched out before him.
It stirred memories of his past.
Or rather, his previous life.
Wang Chen had graduated from a prestigious domestic science and engineering university and was subsequently recruited into a large state-owned enterprise.
He worked there for two years.
However, unable to adapt to the rigid corporate structure and the constant scheming within his department,
he chose to resign.
After traveling extensively, Wang Chen returned home and became a recluse.
He created self-media videos about technology, gaming, delicious food, and crafts.
To his surprise, he amassed millions of followers online.
He made a comfortable living from ad revenue.
In the eyes of others, Wang Chen was warm-hearted, open-minded, with a decent attractiveness level and high emotional intelligence.
He seemed to have a bright future ahead.
But then…
As drowsiness began to set in, Wang Chen remembered he still had fifteen years left on his mortgage.
…
“Doggie!”
The sound of howling from outside the small courtyard jolted Wang Chen awake from his pleasant dreams.
Damn it!
Reluctantly, Wang Chen got up and jumped down from the roof.
“Doggie” was the nickname given to him by his parents.
His father, Wang Shaoyuan, hailed from the mundane world.
His wife was also an ordinary person.
Shortly after Little Wang Chen was born, his mother succumbed to a terminal illness.
Following the customs of the mundane world, Wang Shaoyuan gave him a humble nickname, hoping he would grow up safely.
Doggie, you can survive even by eating filth.
Because of Wang Shaoyuan’s friendship, all the neighbors, including Old Sun, knew his nickname.
No one called him by his real name.
"I’m coming, I’m coming."
Wang Chen opened the courtyard gate and was suddenly startled!
In just one day, Old Sun seemed to have aged over ten years; his hair had turned completely white, and he looked haggard.
He appeared as if he had been deeply drained!
"Old Sun, are you alright?"
Wang Chen was indignant; "These female cultivators from the Harmony Sect are going too far!"
Recently, the biggest gossip in Yunshan City was undoubtedly about a group of female cultivators from the Harmony Sect who had started working at the Fragrant Pavilion.
They had completely taken over the business from established brothels like Spring Moon Tower and Orchid Studio.
Every female cultivator from the Harmony Sect was beautiful and skilled in the art of Dual Cultivation.
They were the renowned juice courtesans of the world of cultivation.
With their involvement, it was no surprise that not only did business drop at Spring Moon Tower and Orchid Studio, but even the gamblers at the Ru Yi Gambling House were far fewer.
Old Sun, a wealthy landowner without children, did not engage in weapon refining or pill refining.
He had long since set aside his cultivation.
Most of the spirit stones he had painstakingly saved had ended up in a few brothels in Yunshan City.
How could Old Sun, living in the present, possibly resist going to the Fragrant Pavilion to see for himself?
Thus, Wang Chen’s reasoning was entirely sound and without flaw!
"What female cultivators from the Harmony Sect?"
Old Sun was momentarily confused but soon came to his senses.
The old man, feeling embarrassed and angry, said, "Doggie, you’ve turned bad too! I came to ask you if you found any land rhinoceroses in your spirit fields yesterday?"
"I did."
When it came to serious matters, Wang Chen dared not joke anymore: "I killed ten of them and planned to go look for more in the morning."
He then asked, "Old Sun, didn’t you invite Zhang A-Da to exterminate the bugs? Wasn’t everything cleared out?"
"Cleared out? Not at all!"
Old Sun looked frustrated: "The problem is much bigger!"
Zhang A-Da was a well-known exterminator, reputed to have mastered the Metal Finger Technique.
That’s why Old Sun had invited him to deal with the land rhinoceroses.
At first, everything was going smoothly.
However, after slaying three land rhinoceroses, the remaining ones hiding in the spirit fields seemed to have grown cunning.
As soon as Zhang A-Da approached, they immediately burrowed into the ground, vanishing without a trace.
This left Zhang A-Da frustrated and empty-handed, forcing him to leave in disappointment.
No sooner had Zhang A-Da departed than Old Sun’s spirit fields suffered—many of the spirit rice plants were gnawed to shreds.
The land rhinoceroses were fiercely vengeful creatures.
Old Sun was so worried about this that he spent an entire night without sleep, his hair turning white from the stress.
"I plan to go back to the city and find someone to help," he sighed mournfully. "This year’s harvest is uncertain; if I can’t pay the rent for the fields, Doggie, you’ll have to help your old man!"
So that was the crux of the matter!
Wang Chen secretly scoffed: If you skipped a few trips to the brothels, the spirit stones you saved would be enough to cover the rent!
According to the rules of the outer sect’s Spirit Plant Hall in the Yunyang Sect, the shortfall in the field rent could be made up with spirit stones at market price.
If it were the original owner, he would probably naively agree without hesitation.
But having traveled through time, Wang Chen would never indulge the other party’s bad habits!
He smiled without saying whether he agreed or not.
Then he took out the land rhinoceros he suspected was a boss from his storage bag: "Old Sun, I killed a big one yesterday. Can you see if you can sell it for more spirit fragments?"
"So big?"
Old Sun’s eyes widened like copper bells, staring intently at the land rhinoceros in Wang Chen’s hand.
"This land rhinoceros has become a monster!"
His face showed disbelief: "Doggie, you actually killed a monsterized land rhinoceros?"
In the cultivation world, monsters and demons are not just a general term; they describe four distinct states of existence.
The first being the "monster," which refers to non-human entities that gain extraordinary powers through the nourishment of spiritual energy.
This includes pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, wolves, tigers, leopards, and even flowers, plants, and insects!
A monsterized land rhinoceros is far stronger than an ordinary one.
Having spent most of his life farming spirit fields, Old Sun had seen very few monsterized land rhinoceroses.
He noticed a hole in the head of the monsterized land rhinoceros.
His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Doggie, your Metal Finger Technique is impressive!"
Though Old Sun was greedy and lustful, he had consumed spiritual rice for decades and had undoubtedly accumulated rich experience.
Wang Chen’s skill with the Metal Finger Technique had clearly advanced, making it reasonable for him to kill a monsterized land rhinoceros.
Wang Chen chuckled, "I got lucky and broke through."
"You finally opened your eyes, huh?"
Old Sun felt both envy and jealousy, his eyes darting: "Doggie, since you’re so capable, please help your old man clean out the land rhinoceroses in my spirit fields."
He squeezed out a look of pleading.
"I don’t have the time," Wang Chen replied, shaking his head vigorously. "Old Sun, your thirty acres of spirit fields need tending; I still have to manage my own fields."
This old man was quite cunning, trying to make him work for free.
What a joke!
Old Sun twitched at the corners of his eyes, pained as he opened his palm: "Five fragments, I’ll give you five spirit fragments!"
In fact, he had invited Zhang A-Da to clean out the land rhinoceroses for a reward of fifteen spirit fragments.
That equals fifty spirit fragments per acre.
Since Zhang A-Da had not completed the task, he naturally also had no face to take the reward.
In Old Sun’s view, even if Wang Chen had grown powerful, his fees couldn’t compare to Zhang A-Da’s.
Five spirit fragments was already quite generous.
However, Wang Chen’s response nearly made him choke on his own blood: "One fragment per acre, I’m in!"
One fragment per acre means thirty fragments for thirty acres!
Old Sun felt like he wanted to bang his head against the doorframe of Wang Chen’s house right then and there.
He simply couldn’t understand where the naive and honest Doggie had gone.
This awakening was just too intense!
