"Please enlighten me, Senior Brother Jiang!"
Chu Xiaolian's eyes brightened. He had already decided to cultivate with the Forgotten Love Blade Sword Technique.
In other words, he might have to remain in the brothel for a very long time to temper his Sword Intent.
However, since ancient times, such places have been classified as money squandering establishments.
Chu Xiaolian may be the third son of Hong City's Chu family, but in the end, he was not the family's patriarch and the money he had with him was limited.
If he could truly avoid spending it, that would naturally be great!
Jiang Shengxie gave Chu Xiaolian a glance with an enigmatic smile on his face. "You're one of our own, so it is fine to tell you."
Chu Xiaolian straightened his body.
The ways of patronizing a hustler had always been very popular since ancient times!
Jiang Shengxie drank a sip of tea and smiled. "Junior Brother Chu, I wonder if you've noticed that among cultivators of the righteous sects in this world, there are seldom people who are ugly?"
Chu Xiaoliao pondered for a while. "I never paid attention to that, but it seems to be the case."
Jiang Shengxie nodded. "That is because cultivators of our generation draw upon Spiritual Energy from Heaven and Earth to strengthen and cleanse our bodies, thus bringing about a complete remolding of our bodies.
"As a result, the higher one's cultivation base, the more handsome or beautiful one's face will become, and the more transcendent one's temperament will be.
"Of course, this excludes cultivators of the Demonic Path who draws upon the energies of toxicity, rage, and that of vile spirits. The energy they absorb is often multifarious which results in most of them being extremely ugly."
As a result of that, those who were exceptionally ugly were generally people that were up to no good!
Yue Tai'a added, "Of course, some of the more advanced cultivators of the Demonic Path can draw upon pure energy to look very beautiful as well."
Chu Xiaolian said hesitantly, "What does this have to do with what Senior Brother has bestowed upon you?"
Jiang Shengxie smiled. "Don't be anxious, Junior Brother. Listen to me carefully. As we all know, a cultivator's uttermost priority is their Spiritual Root.
"For people who possess high-grade or top-grade Spiritual Roots like us, even if we do not cultivate, the Spiritual Energy our bodies absorb spontaneously will still be many times stronger than that of ordinary people.
"So, people like us often have looks and temperaments far beyond that of ordinary people, making it such that we are able to stand out among the crowd."
Chu Xiaolian looked at Jiang Shengxie and Yue Tai'a thoughtfully.
Senior Brother Jiang may seem very weak, but his facial features were actually kind of handsome.
As for Senior Brother Yue, if he lost some weight, it's almost certain that he'd be a remarkably fine-looking man.
...
Jiang Shengxie continued, "Hence, I came up with a conjecture—there may be Budding Immortals in brothels."
There may be Budding Immortals in brothels?
Chu Xiaolian was stunned. "What does that mean, Senior Brother?"
Jiang Shengxie said, "According to the above inference, the more talented a person is, the more handsome and beautiful they will be."
Chu Xiaolian nodded. "You're right."
Jiang Shengxie continued, "But that case, Junior Brother, where in the mortal world do you think will have the most belles?"
Chu Xiaolian was enlightened. "Is it the brothels?"
Jiang Shengxie revealed delight on his face. "That why I feel that Budding Immortals might be present at this place.
"Three years ago, Senior Brother took me to the Embracing Moon Brothel to test the Spiritual Roots of more than a hundred ladies free of charge with the 'Spiritual Energy Assessment Stone' that he borrowed from the sect to assess a person's aptitude.
"And guess what? We got eight with low-grade Water Spiritual Roots, four with low-grade Wood Spiritual Roots, and one with a mid-grade Metal Spiritual Root."
Chu Xiaolian was startled. "Why are there so many with a Water Spiritual Root?"
Jiang Shengxie nodded. "Women born with a Water Spiritual Root can innately absorb Spiritual Energy of the water element that hovers between Heaven and Earth. They often have a radiant appearance and a relatively gentle personalities.
"It is normal for girls in a brothel to have a higher chance of having a Water Spiritual Root."
Chu Xiaolian thought about it and figured that it was about right.
Women with a hot temper and a terrible temperament were not accepted here.
However, the chances of having 12 low-grade Spiritual Roots out of 100 ladies was already pretty rare.
After all, according to the normal probability in the mortal world, if a person's ancestors were not cultivators, the chances of a normal person having a Spiritual Root were less than one percent.
Sometimes, there would not even be one low-grade Spiritual Root among a few hundred mortals.
Let alone a mid-grade Metal Spiritual Root.
...
"What a brilliant mind Senior Brother Li has!
"However, our sect doesn't care about low-grade Spiritual Roots, right?"
Chu Xiaolian knew very well that the requirements for the Unyielding Sword Celestial Sect's disciple recruitment were not low at all. A True Disciple must at least be in possession of a high-grade Spiritual Root.
To become an Inner Disciple, one must at least have a Spiritual Root that was mid-grade and above. Those with a low-grade Spiritual Root could at most become the lowliest of Outer Disciples, and even they would have to pay a respectable amount of Filial Piety.
Uncovering more than ten low-grade Spiritual Roots was of no use to the Unyielding Sword Celestial Sect.
Besides, the 'Spiritual Energy Assessment Stone' used to test one's Spiritual Root would consume a large amount of Spiritual Energy every time it was used. If the number of assessments conducted was excessive, it would result in a considerable expense.
Therefore, since ancient times, all the top Celestial Sects would ask the mortals to bring money and take the test at their own expense during the disciple recruitment.
After all, as long as a Celestial Sect was reputable enough, they would not have to worry about their source of geniuses.
Going to a brothel in search of talents? Completely unnecessary!
Jiang Shengxie smiled enigmatically. "It is true that the Unyielding Sword Celestial Sect doesn't care about ladies with a low-grade Spiritual Root, but the Thousand Miles Trade Association does!"
Thousand Miles Trade Association?
Chu Xiaolian's eyes narrowed slightly. "One of Taicang Residence's four Chambers of Commerce?"
Jiang Shengxie nodded. "I'll be honest with you. My father is responsible for the training and transfer of staff in various ministries of the Thousand Miles Trade Association.
"The technique inheritance of the Trade Association are worlds apart from the Celestial Sects, and so is their degree of freedom.
"Therefore, they often have to expend costs that are several times or even ten times higher to hire factionless cultivators to carry out their tasks.
"Ultimately, however, the sense of loyalty these cultivators have towards the Trade Association is not high."
Everything came to the light for Chu Xiaolian. "These girls can be trained to become the Trade Association's own members?"
"Correct!"
Chu Xiaolian said seriously, "For the Trade Association, the value of female cultivators that are pretty, gentle, big-hearted, and open-minded will be much higher than that of male cultivators.
"There are many things which female cultivators who come from the top Celestial Sects are unwilling to do."
Chu Xiaolian looked at the bevy of gorgeous young girls in the Embracing Moon Hotel. "But they are willing?"
Jiang Shengxie smiled. "Junior Brother, at last, you're enlightened."
...
Jiang Shengxie said, "At this place if you're lucky, you'll get to pound…I mean, encounter, a decent Budding Immortal with just a dozen silver pieces.
"By then, you should be able to test the length of their Spiritual Root and the depth of their Qi cultivation.
"If their natural endowments are excellent, redeem them and introduce them to the Thousand Miles Trade Association.
"Not only can you get full reimbursement from the Trade Association down the mountain, but you can also earn a high amount of performance bonus."
Chu Xiaolian felt a little sour in his heart.
Free prostitution plus a performance bonus.
That was way too cool!
Jiang Shengxie was all fired up as he said with a smile, "More importantly, those girls who joined the Trade Association because of me will see me as their savior.
"Should I return to them when I'm free, do you think I'll need to spend money?"
That was for certain.
Played with by men every day at the Embracing Moon Brothel, they were like goods with no dignity.
But after they joined the Thousand Miles Trade Association and start cultivating, their value would immediately rise up hundreds of times. Their status would become higher both in terms of treatment and the right to speak.
If they were lucky enough to succeed up to the Foundation Establishment stage, they could greatly increase their lifespan and become an upper-class citizen in an instant.
After all, could a whitewashed goddess still be called a prostitute?
Jiang Shengxie said calmly, "Over the years, many Junior Sisters who joined the Trade Associate wanted to pay me Filial Piety as hush money, but I've never once accepted them."
He sighed. "In the end, war is endless in the mortal realm.
"Most of these girls are miserable people. With their families gone, they fell into this state.
"But it is a fact that they spent some time in a brothel. If word were to spread, how will they find a Cultivation Partner in the future?
"One night of courtesy is worth a hundred of friendship, so we should always help them if we're capable of doing so!
"You may consider this an act of benevolence by giving these girls a better future."
...
Looking at Jiang Shengxie whose face was full of sympathy, Chu Xiaolian suddenly felt a slight ball-ache.
Give these girls a better future?
Senior Brother, I thank you on behalf of their future Cultivation Partners!