Xitu returned home earlier than usual. With some extra time on his hands, he decided to practice spells.
He had been working on mastering the Qi Bullet Spell for a while. Even though he didn't venture out much, learning an offensive spell had always been a childhood dream.
After a short chant, Qi gathered at his fingertips, glowing with a faint blue hue. He aimed at the red 'X' mark on the wall and fired the spell. The Qi shot out like a bullet with a sharp 'Whoosh!' Sadly, it veered off course and hit the wall beside the mark.
"Urgh... It's too hard to control and aim with all this condensed Qi!"
Just as he was about to try again, a knock came from the door.
With a sigh, Xitu paused his training and went to answer it. Seeing an unfamiliar face, he raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Hmm... Are you looking for me?"
A muscular man with a shaved head stood outside. Upon seeing Xitu, the man smiled and pulled out a small cloth pouch.
"Yes, Daoist. My name is Wu Shen. I just moved into the house across today and wanted to greet my new neighbors. Please accept this small welcome gift."
Surprised, Xitu quickly waved his hands. "No need, no need! A greeting is enough—you don't have to give me anything."
"It's alright. A new meeting is always worth celebrating. It's nothing much, just a token of gratitude in case I need help in the future."
Xitu reluctantly nodded. "Okay... If you say so."
After saying goodbye, he went back and opened the pouch. Inside were 2 Body Protection Talismans.
'Low-level protective talisman… pretty pricey for a first-time gift. Judging by the blade on his waist and that fierce aura, he must be a hunter. Those guys are loaded. Well, I'll gladly take it.'
Over the years, Xitu had welcomed many new neighbors. But they were gone after a few years at most. Some gave up the pursuit of glory and went home, while some perished trying. A few rare ones found their fortuitous encounter and moved to the inner district. By now, he was the longest-standing resident in the area.
He headed into the kitchen and opened the underground storage. From within, he took out a clay rice jar. After dumping the rice into another container, he reached the bottom, where a cloth bag lay hidden. It was his 'secret stash.'
It held all his savings from the past 15 years: Spirit Stones, Cultivation Pills, Talismans, and even 1 low-level Spirit Artifact.
'The sect was generous in the past, but now that they're gone, I can't make much anymore. Finally, my stash will welcome 2 more new members today.'
He carefully untied the cloth bag and added the talismans inside. As his eyes passed over the glistening Spirit Stones, he couldn't help but take a few out to enjoy the feeling of wealth. These small, cube-shaped azure stones were the true currency of this world.
They were mainly used for cultivation or as a power source for Spirit Artifacts and Formations. But the Spiritual Energy inside was so dense that only cultivators at the Qi Foundation Realm and above could use them safely for cultivation.
As he was feeling their gentle pulses of energy, another knock came.
'Again? I haven't had this many visitors in 1 day for years.'
Annoyed, he dropped the stones into a nearby bowl and went to open the door.
Outside stood a familiar face, Matchmaker Vu. As usual, she was covered in thick layers of powder and reeked of cheap perfume.
"Oh please... Not you again. I already told you—I'm not planning to marry anytime soon."
Matchmaker Vu, holding a fan in 1 hand with a confident smile, strode closer.
"Daoist Xitu, don't be so hasty. We cultivators live long lives. How can one endure centuries of loneliness? With a partner, you can enjoy the Great Way of Yin-Yang together, uncover intriguing mysteries of the human body, achieve spiritual transcendence, and much more! It is the true path of cultivation, passed down by countless seniors before us!"
'What gibberish is she sprouting?'
To Xitu, she sounded like a pyramid scheme associate, eagerly trying to rope in the next victim.
"Alright, alright! I get the philosophy. But I'm just a poor cultivator scraping by. Nobody would want to be my partner. I can barely support myself, let alone someone else."
"It's okay! Many girls like a content man. I have someone perfect for you—young and lovely, only 15 years old. Her father gambled away everything, so she ended up as collateral. She doesn't ask for much, just a good man willing to teach her the way of cultivation. How about it, want to see her?"
A vein twitched on Xitu's forehead. His voice turned cold.
"I have no interest right now. If I change my mind, I'll find you later. Stop bothering me."
And with that, he slammed the door shut.
'What a joke! If I brought someone like that home, I wouldn't be gaining a partner—I would be getting a child to raise. A kid from a background like that probably doesn't know a thing, and she expects me to teach her cultivation. What am I, her mentor?'
Still, someone like Xitu was the perfect candidate for these kinds of 'services'—a struggling cultivator with little to show for his efforts, seemingly ready to pass the torch on to the next generation. After all, cultivators only created a family when they had either given up or achieved something worth bragging about.
As Xitu was ready to bask in the feeling of wealth again, his eyes suddenly grew wide with surprise.
"Huh? Where are my Spirit Stones? I swear I just put them here!"
He lifted the bowl, peeked under the table, circled around the entrance... but no matter where he looked, he couldn't find them. Like a puff of smoke, they vanished without a trace. In a panic, he dug out his secret stash and began counting.
"1, 2... 42, 43! I lost 5 stones! I'm not imagining this. I definitely put them in the bowl 5 minutes ago!"
With no other suspects around, Xitu's gaze naturally fell on the bowl.
'Didn't I get tricked by that vendor 3 years ago into buying this thing? He said he found it in an old ruin.'
The bowl was as large as a washbasin, black and rusty, with strange markings etched at the bottom.
The first time he saw it, the word 'ancient treasure' immediately came to mind. After asking the vendor about it, he became even more sure. The bowl was crafted from unknown materials—delicate and fragile to the touch, yet surprisingly durable. Even with all his strength, he couldn't leave a scratch on it with a low-level Spirit Dagger.
The vendor claimed it held some grand secret. He hadn't discovered it himself, so he was 'unwillingly' passing it on to a 'fated person.'
Convinced, Xitu handed over 10 Spirit Stones without a second thought.
He had since tried every method to 'unlock' its secrets. Chants from dusty scripts, ancient rituals he knew about, prayers to mighty figures like Gods, Devils, Dragons, Phoenixes, etc. He even dripped his blood onto it the classic way. But nothing worked. Eventually, he gave up and just used it to wash his face.
'Don't tell me... the key was Spirit Stones all along?! Is this it? Is this my chance to rise above the masses?!'
His breath quickened. For the first time in years, hope flickered in his eyes.