Arriving in front of the Sect's Pharmacy Building, Fu Yang put Shi Wen down and took hold of his little hands.
"Are we in the Heavenly Cosmic Sect?" Shi Wen asked Fu Yang with some nervousness as he looked around at the countless people coming and going inside the Cosmic Pharmacy.
"We are not yet in the Sect. Currently, we are in the Cosmic Pharmacy, the Pharmacy Building owned by the Sect. You need to change your clothes and freshen up before going to the Sect."
Fu Yang and Shi Wen entered the building. The first thing they saw was a lobby with three receptionists at the center of a wide hallway between shops.
This three-floor Cosmic Pharmacy Building was actually a multi-purpose building. The entire first floor was filled with shops selling potions, medicine, and pills made by the renting elders and disciples.
However, there were also some shops selling clothes, accessories, and even equipment. These shops were usually rented by merchants. It was rare for disciples or elders to open non-medicine related shops.
Despite bearing the name Cosmic Pharmacy Building, it was more or less like any other department store in the city. The only difference was the quality. Since the building belonged to the Sect, the shops were not easily rented out to anyone.
Before renting out the shop spaces, the products of the new shop had to go through a long process of verifying the quality and authenticity.
Meanwhile, the second and third floors served as hotels for disciples and elders who wanted to spend the night in the city or when it was too late to return to the sect.
Fu Yang guided Shi Wen to sit on a bench near the lobby and then approached a receptionist who had just finished speaking with someone to inquire about room availability upstairs.
"Excuse me, are there any elder's rooms available?"
Elder's rooms have their own bathroom. However, if none are available, he can book for a disciple's room, and then have Shi Wen wash up in the disciple's common shower area.
"Please tap your Elder ID here first to confirm your identity," the receptionist said, handing Fu Yang a wireless small box with 'Tap Here' written at the center.
After confirming Fu Yang's identity as an Outer Elder, the receptionist searched for room availability on her computer.
"Fortunately, there's an elder's room that was recently vacated, Elder Fu. The previous Elder who rented it checked out just 31 minutes ago," the receptionist informed him, gliding her office chair towards another receptionist to retrieve the Payment Terminal.
"Can I borrow yours for a moment? I haven't changed the Energy Stone in mine yet," she requested, and the other receptionist nodded, allowing her to proceed.
"Elder Fu, a night's stay at Cosmic Pharmacy is 150 Cosmic points in an elder's room. If you have a Cosmic Credit Score of 5000 or above, you can receive a 30% discount."
Fu Yang was shocked by the price. A disciple's room cost about 60 Cosmic Points, and if the credit score was above 1000, they could get a 20% discount.
"Sigh, it seems like the saying 'The stronger one gets, the more they spend' is true. I'll take it," Fu Yang sighed, looking for his wallet inside his spatial ring. When he finally found it, he took out his Sect Credit Card and slid it into the Payment Terminal, entering his pin number.
"Unfortunately, your Cosmic Credit Score is 4999. You are just 1 Credit Score away from availing the discount. However, in your case, you can avail a 10% discount. Would you like to buy some Impurity Cleansing Bath for the little child? With that, you will only need to pay 200 cosmic points with the discount."
The receptionist was skilled in sales, presenting the Impurity Cleansing Bath and persuading Fu Yang to spend more than he intended.
"Yes, please. I think that little guy really needs that bath."
Well, he was planning to buy one at the Cosmical Medicine shop. Buying from the receptionist saved him some trouble.
Although the building was owned by the Sect, they still needed to pay Sect Cosmic Points using their Sect Cosmic Credit Card, either in installments or in full, for availing any services or buying goods from the Sect.
The only downside of the Sect Cosmic Credit Card was that it couldn't be used outside the Heavenly Cosmic Sect's properties. They had to use the country's currency, Gold coins, or the universal currency, Energy Stones.
Each Small Energy Stone was equal to 1 Gold Coin, and 2 Sect Cosmic Points.
Usually, all the necessities of the disciples and elders were already available in the Sect or the Cosmic Pharmacy. They only needed to buy outside the sect when they were looking for rare materials. At that point, they clenched their teeth and used all their Cosmic Points to exchange for either Gold Coins or Small Energy Stones.
After obtaining the materials they were looking for, they spent all their time completing missions just to earn back what they had spent. The Cosmic Points they received after each mission went to their Cosmic Bank account immediately.
All disciples, inner and outer, were required to complete 5 missions a month, otherwise, their credit score would decrease by 5. When they accomplished exactly 5 missions, their credit score remained unchanged. However, if they completed more than 5, they received an additional 5 credit score for each extra mission.
Cosmic Credit Score and Cosmic Points were different. For example, if they needed to browse the Sect's library, they could rent a book from the first floor using their points. However, books on the upper floors had a certain credit score threshold in order to rent, except for the last and fifth floor. Only the Sect Master and Vice Sect Master were allowed to access that floor.
Generally, the books on the upper floors were too important for new disciples to read. That's why a high credit score was required, something that only older disciples could possess.
When the receptionist finished processing everything, she handed Fu Yang the key card. He retrieved Shi Wen and they headed upstairs using the Energy Powered Elevator. The little boy really needed to take a bath.
***
The bath Shi Wen took was no ordinary bath. It was a bath that helped cleanse the impurities inside his body.
After taking this bath, he would never smell bad again unless his body was corrupted with some sort of demonic energy.
With this new bath technology, it became easy to identify hidden Demonic Cultivators. As their cultivation was impure, they reeked of stench both inside and out, and not even the Impurity Cleansing Bath could cleanse them.
Although cultivators only needed to take the Impurity Cleansing Bath once in their lifetime, some believed that frequent use would result in a more pleasant smell. This type of bath was particularly popular, especially among girls.
The Impurity Cleansing Bath took 30 minutes to 1 hour to be effective, so while waiting for Shi Wen, Fu Yang decided to look for clothes for him. He couldn't possibly let Shi Wen wear his dirty, old, tattered clothes again. What was the point of making him smell good if his clothes smelled bad?
He disposed of Shi Wen's old clothes and went to the Cosmical children's wear shop. Upon entering, he immediately made his way to the boys' section.
"Let's see... I should definitely buy him casual clothes, formal clothes, and pajamas... Wait! He also needs some cultivation clothes.
If he becomes my disciple, he will need comfortable clothes. Hmm... What works for Shi Wen? Sports attire or a robe? Sports attire is better for summer, and robes for winter... Let's not overthink it, I'll buy them all!"
After contemplating for a few minutes, Fu Yang grabbed a big cart and began filling it with children's clothes.
"Sigh, so this is what it feels like for new fathers as they buy clothes for their baby. Every time I saw them, I would ask why they spend so much on their children. But now, even if I'm not a father, it excites me to buy new clothes for this potential future disciple."
Looking at the cart filled to the brim, Fu Yang decided it was time to pay for them. As his turn approached, he could already feel his money saying goodbye.
When it was his turn, every beep of the cashier's scanner felt like a hammer to his heart. As the final beep echoed, Fu Yang interrupted the cashier and promptly handed over his Cosmic Credit Card. He didn't want to hear the total amount he had to pay. Knowing it was a substantial sum was enough for him.
Confused, the cashier inserted the card into the Payment Terminal and waited for Fu Yang to enter his pin number.
Fu Yang left the Cosmical Children's Wear Shop with his hands full of shopping bags and headed to the elevator.