Ding Hao was taken aback when he heard what the gentleman with dark-skin said.
He was being extra careful, but he was still being watched.
"Never underestimate the intelligence of the people of this world."
Ding Hao said ruefully, "Brother, what level are you?
The dark-skinned gentleman said, "Energy Forging level three."
"You're a celestial teacher!" Ding Hao smiled embarrassingly, "Senior, I'm just at Innate Stage level three. I dare not stay with a celestial teacher."
The dark-skinned gentleman said, "Are you afraid that I'm going to attack you? Don't you worry, I'm a student at Jiuzhou Academy, I will not attack my juniors." As he was speaking, he put forward a jade card. There was a faint five-colored glow under the 'Heaven's Will System' word, and there was an 'ascended' within the glowing light.
There was a Sky Ascending Building in Jiuzhou Academy, it meant breaking through the sky and achieving Celestial Cultivation.
Cards of Jiuzhou Academy were impossible to counterfeit.
His name was on the jade card, "Liu Yunkun".
The students of Jiuzhou Academy have a prestigious reputation. It was the best academy in the righteous world after all. Furthermore, Ding Hao received celestial blessings. He was under Heaven's Will protection in Heaven's Will territory, he didn't have to fear.
Ding Hao showed the gentleman his card, "Wuzhou, Ding Hao".
The first thing that you do when you meet someone new in this world was to show them your card. It was kind of like exchanging name cards.
Ding Hao was not a student of Jiuzhou Academy. His card didn't glow with different colors, but his name was clearly printed on the card.
Liu Yunkun said, "I rented a small courtyard. I was going to split the rental with my friends, but they didn't come. You can come with me and have a look. The environment is quite nice. It just costs a little more."
Ding Hao was shocked when he got there. There was a large courtyard with three smaller courtyards inside. The environment was very nice indeed!
"Senior Liu, how much is the rental?" Ding Hao asked in awe.
Liu Yunkun sighed, "The larger courtyard is one and a half Yuan Stone which means the five smaller courtyards are five thousand taels of silver each."
Ding Hao shook his head, "Senior Liu, five thousand taels a night? I'm just an Innate Stage level three cultivator, you can't be serious."
Actually Ding Hao could very well afford it, and he liked it there. However, he couldn't let others know that he had money. If not, they may pay extra attention to him. He dared not trust them completely even if they were from Jiuzhou Academy.
Liu Yunkun sighed, "I was only hoping to cover the cost. You don't need to pay all of it. Three thousand taels of silver for one night?"
Ding Hao shook his head, "I can't afford it."
Liu Yunkun clenched his teeth and said, "Two thousand five hundred! This is an individual courtyard! You have to pay one thousand taels of silver for sitting in the restaurant!"
Ding Hao said, "I'm a practitioner. I was going to meditate all night anyway. Even if you give me a thousand feet room, I am going to use it for meditation only."
Liu Yunkun was at his wit's end and said, " Two thousand. I can't go any lower!"
Ding Hao nodded, "Two thousand it is, but don't put other people in my courtyard."
Liu Yunkun added a request, "You have to move when my friends arrive!"
"Deal."
Liu Yunkun gave Ding Hao a card, and Ding Hao gave him two thousand taels of silver.
Liu Yunkun left to look for more tenants. Ding Hao was excited as he entered the smaller courtyard.
"Two thousand for this individual courtyard, and it is under the protection of Heaven's Will! This is worth every penny! I'd like to stay a few more days if possible!"
After Ding Hao settled himself in the courtyard, he transferred everything from the lower grade storage pouch to the moderate grade storage pouch. Then he threw away the lower grade storage pouch. There was no point in keeping rubbish that costs a hundred and ten taels of silver.
In the storage pouch, there was a dog, a willow-leaf saber, some Yuan Stones, and a bowl of spiritual rice.
Ding Hao sat cross-legged in the courtyard and thought, 'Enjoy wine and songs while we can. Life is short. Quiet the heart. Quiet the mind.'
He quickly entered into the perfect stage meditation state. It was a state between consciousness.
Meditating was different from sleeping. It was not that you can't think of things, but you entered into a state.
After Ding Hao was in the right state, his mind was working hard. "Nine Layers Blazing Palm!"
…
'What was the most important thing in the world? Inheritance!
'Passing tradition from one generation to another…Many people came into this world. Some went to the Celestial Cultivation Realm, some died. I wondered how many generations were born here and died here.
'These people watch their life pass by very quickly, and they can't bring anything with them when they leave.'
When things are passed on from one generation to another, they inherit thoughts, manuals, power, skills, treasures, and many more. The generations before left so much treasurable wealth. This is inheritance.
In his previous life on earth, books and knowledge are the most important inheritance. Knowledge was passed on from generation to generation. The new generation would then add new knowledge to the existing ones. Future generations would shine brightly because they inherited the knowledge that was being passed down to them.
Learning was something challenging, Ding Hao didn't like to learn.
In this world, the passing of knowledge was not as dull as his previous life!
For example, the cultivation of a martial art skill. It was a tiny little light of wisdom. When Ding Hao received the light of wisdom, all he had to do was to put it in his brain, and he received all the knowledge contained within. It would be impossible to forget the knowledge that had been installed even if he tried.
At this moment, the movements of Nine Layers Blazing Palm, the essential script, and even the precautions were all listed in front of Ding Hao's eyes.
"Nine Layers Blazing Palm, level nine palm strength. The cultivator can't expect to acquire the technique overnight. One must learn the layering of power on one hand first. Then learn the layering of power with both hands! Nine layers. The power of the palm is gathered but not executed. It can be executed at any time. The first palm may seem soft, but the after-effects…"
Ding Hao was learning all this while he was in the perfect stage meditation state which quickened the learning process. He opened his eyes after half an hour.
The sky had turned dark. Heaven's Will was glimmering in the faint light. There was a weeping willow in the courtyard, and Ding Hao was practicing palm technique under the weeping willow.
"The power of the palm is gathered but not executed. It can be executed at any time. It makes sense."
Ding Hao pushed his palm forward lightly. Halfway through the motion, he felt sluggish. His hand felt heavy and he had to use force to continue the forward motion. His palm was using spiritual energy from his dantian. That was when his palm felt sluggish and heavy.
Then he extended a double-layered palm and there were two cracking sounds in the air. A hint of the scent of something burning tinted the air.
"Achieved double layer!" Ding Hao was surprised.
Things became much easier after he achieved the first one. He started training his right palm after he was done training his left palm. It was explained in the manual that it was best if the cultivator was able to exercise power with both hands in order to defeat the opponent with the element of surprise!
As Ding Hao practised the technique, he realized that the puddle of spiritual energy in his dantain had diminished and had almost dried up.
"I have to stop now. Can't go on any further." Ding Hao stopped momentarily.
The drying of spiritual energy was only temporary. Because he was a cultivator, his body recognized the amount of spiritual energy that he possessed, and it would be recovered slowly. The recovery would take time, and some even required medicine. Sometimes they would absorb energy from the Yuan Stone.
Usually, they only absorb energy from Yuan Stone during battle. It was too costly.
He wanted to get spiritual rice and absorb its energy. He still has some spiritual rice.
But as he put his hand into the storage pouch, all he could sense was the dog's head and no spiritual rice could be found.
'What happened?'
Ding Hao was confused. He opened the pouch and poured everything out.
Everything was there except for the spiritual rice.
"What happened?" Ding Hao investigated carefully and noticed a grain of spiritual rice on Minion's nose.
"You bastard, you ate me spiritual rice!"
Ding Hao almost fainted. The spiritual rice cost five Yuan Stone a bowl, that was fifty thousand taels of silver! And the dog ate them all!
Minion barked twice to express his dissatisfaction, as though trying to say that he was hungry! And the spiritual rice wasn't nice to eat but it was better than staying hungry!
"You better be careful!" Ding Hao wanted to open the dog's stomach so badly. But he wouldn't want it if he was able to take them out. Ding Hao said fiercely, "If you dare to eat it again, I'll beat you to death! You better be loyal to me in the future, do you hear me?"
"Bow-wow." It was like Minion really understood what Ding Hao said.
"Forget it, it is getting late. What's done is done." He brought Minion out of the small courtyard.
As he came out he saw Liu Yunkun accompanying another middle-aged man into the third courtyard.
"I'm Di Hu, Innate Stage higher level. I'm a businessman." The middle-aged man showed his card to Ding Hao.
"Ding Hao." Ding Hao showed his card too.
Di Hu wanted to befriend Liu Yunkun, who was a celestial teacher at Jiuzhou Academy. He smiled and said, "Since fate brought us together tonight, why don't we go and have something to eat and drink at the eatery nearby, my treat."
Di Hu had no interest in getting to know Ding Hao. He couldn't just ask Liu Yunkun, as it would seem snobbish. He was afraid that Liu Yunkun may not like it.
Liu Yunkun smiled and said, "Sure."
All three went to the eatery nearby.
Ding Hao realized that the meat of woolly monsters in White Wuzhou was much cheaper than the ones in the border village as he sat down.
"Of course. That is outside the territory, things are generally more expensive there. People wouldn't go there to eat or drink if they were not searching for prohibited medicine. Gentleman Ding you must have gone there to get some prohibited medicine, right?" The middle-aged man, Di Hu asked.
Again Ding Hao experienced the wits of people in this world. He went straight to the point in one sentence.
Liu Yunkun was a student from Jiuzhou Academy. He frowned and said, "Gentleman Ding, it is not advisable to consume prohibited medicine. This shortcut can lead to dire consequences. It is like drinking poison to quench your thirst! If you consume them for a long period of time, it will be the end of your cultivation journey! Be careful!"
Ding Hao chuckled, "No, I don't take prohibited medicine. I went there to eat spiritual rice."
"Is that so." Liu Yunkun nodded, "Spiritual rice is good. We, the students of Jiuzhou, have it once a month. The students elsewhere can enjoy it once a year. It is delicious."
One bowl of spiritual rice costs tens of thousands of taels of silver. Di Hu looked at Ding Hao in shock. He asked, "Gentleman Ding must be from a rich family."
Ding Hao threw a piece of woolly monster meat to Minion and said, "I'm nobody. Nothing worth mentioning."
Di Hu noticed that he didn't want to talk further about this. He said, "Gentleman Ding, with your level of cultivation, you must be extra careful in the outside territory."
Ding Hao nodded, "You are right. Thank you brother Di Hu for reminding me. "
As they were chatting, a troop of patrol officers walked past the door, Zhou Genwei was the head of the troop.
Zhou Genwei saw Ding Hao and he grinned as he walked over.