After living for such a long time had realized some things that he wants to follow diligently in this life. The first thing was that one should not stand out too much nor one should stay low-key too much.
People might think that staying low-key would be a good thing. But that was not true at all. After living for so long Solaris realized that it was a far better option to always be an average guy. For example, if you ask a cultivator about his sect's mates then he/ she would be able to give you details about the names of all the super-powerful people as well as all the weaklings of their sect. The people that he/she would not be able to name would be the people that were too average during the time they lived in the sect. This is simply because a person always comes across the name of powerful and weaklings one way or the another. It is the average people that are more forgettable.
Because of this observation lead Solaris to make this rule. He would always dress in such a way that he would not seem too poor or too rich. This way he was able to blend in with the envoirment very easily.
…
Silver needle is used for acupuncture. It was a normal tool that was used in the cultivation world. And one could find silver needles in every large town and city. Solaris had very little hope that this place would have a silver needle. It was a very far-fetched assumption. But this was a risk that Solaris had to take. Because without a silver needle, he would not be able to start his cultivation.
So Solaris started towards the giant building. As Solaris reached the building he saw that there was a long queue at the building's main gate. Especially children were lining up in a very big line whose end was at the gate while whose front could not be seen by him. He then walked forward to understand what was going on here?
As Solaris got inside he saw that the line originated from the gate and went towards the 1st-floor stairs and to the 1st floor. Solaris then looked that the children that were in line. They were all wearing better-quality clothes. They all looked well-fed too. That meant that they all belonged to good families, unlike himself. He also noticed that these guys were holding what looked like a very small piece of parchment in their hands.
Solaris then tried walking by several children to see what was in the parchment. He saw that the parchment had some sort of stamp on it. And all the children had similar stamps on their parchment. Solaris presumed that this piece of parchment must be a token of some sort. But what?
Then Solaris tried to approach one of the kids to find out why were they in line…
"Excuse me, could you please tell me why are guys standing in line?" Solaris asked a boy with a similar height to him.
"I don't think a poor boy like you would have a brain to comprehend why we are standing here." That boy replied in an arrogant tone.
"I am poor that is true… But my dear friend as a rich kid you must be very intelligent. So why not enlighten your poor friend a little bit…" Solaris said as he tried to control his annoyance.
"*Hmph*…. We are all standing here to get tested to check whether we have the potential to become an awakened one. And a poor boy like you could not even comprehend what that means. So fuck off." That boy said arrogantly then started staring glaring at Solaris.
Solaris then backed off and moved away from the line of sight of that boy. As he backed off, Solaris started going through the memories of the boy that he possessed. He wanted to find what was awakened one?
While searching for the information, Solaris was only able to find out from Solaris's memory that the awakened ones are very strong people. They are the ruler of countries, cities, and whatnot. As for what were their abilities or such he didn't know about it.
Solaris couldn't blame the boy for his lack of knowledge as he lived in a slum. The people who visited his bar were all the menial workers of the society. So there was an active source of information for the boy there in that dump.
Logically thinking, then this 'awakened one' should be a name referred to as cultivators of this world. It was only natural that people with supernatural strength would take control of important things like countries and such. So Solaris now faced a dilemma. What should he do now?
The Goddess specifically mentioned that she would give Solaris a suitable body to transmigrate to. So if he assumes that she did what she said then this body must have the potential to become an awakened one. It was a logical argument. Based on the assignment that the Goddess gave him personally showed that she wants to save this world. So Solaris became 80% sure that she must have given him a good body.
Solaris then started looking around. And soon enough he found the place that was handing out tokens to the children for having them tested. Solaris had some money at hand, so he thought that it would be better if he buys a ticket for himself. But Solaris stopped on his tracks when he saw that the people taking the token were giving a silver coin as a fee to have the token.
From what he understood by this world standard, 100 bronze coins meant 1 silver coin. But he didn't have that much money at hand…
…
A few minutes later Solaris joined the big line for testing. He had a token in his hand. A few minutes earlier Solariswas considering bashing the skull of one of the children to take a token from them. But then he decided that he should not do that. If someone finds out what he did then could get in trouble. Plus there was no good place to hide the body here. So he thought that rather than brute force he should use his speaking skills.
Solaris then walked towards the counter that was giving out tokens. At the counter, an old man in black robes was sitting. He had a bored look on his face. No one was buying tokens there at the moment so he was free. Solaris thought that this might be a moment…
"Hey, old man how is your day going on?" Solaris said while walking up to the old man.
"Get lost brat. I am not in a good mood." The old man said angrily.
"Woah Woah… I am here to buy a token." Solaris said.
"1 silver coin." The old man said.
"And yeah about that… I am a little low on coins… so could you give me some discount?" Solaris said with a big smile.
"Discount? What do you think this is? Get lost before I smack your head brat." The old man grumbled.
"Hey don't be like that… I know what we could do…. So why not pay the amount the rest of the amount that I can pay. In return, in the future, I would pay you back." Solaris said.
"And why would I do that?" the old man asked.
"Hmm… Ok, so we can do one thing. You looked like you are quite an intelligent man. I also think I am an intelligent boy. So let's test our knowledge. If you win then I would go away. While If I win you would have to pay the rest of the amount. What do you think?" Solaris said.
"No… Go away." The old man said.
"Oh come one… Give me a chance. And I saw you. You are getting bored while sitting here. At least you would be entertained by my questions. Plus you looked like you are a rich man. It would be nothing for you to give the rest of the amount." Solaris said pleadingly. The old man looked at the boy in front of him one more time. Then he thought that it would not be that bad to accept his proposal. He was getting bored anyway so…
"Fine." The old man said while agreeing to the boy.
"Ok. The game is very simple. First, you would ask me a question. if I am not able to answer it, I would give you 10 bronze coins. And after that, I would ask you a question. And you are not able to answer the question you would give me 50 bronze coins. Deal?" Solaris said.
"Deal." The old man said.
"Go on then," Solaris said.
"What is the capital of Faction?" the old man started with one simple question. But strangely the boy gave him 10 bronze coins.
"My turn then… What goes up the hill with four legs and comes down with five legs?" Solaris asked…