Although Shen Xiang looked somewhat decent, he was dressed very plainly and didn't wear any jewelry that could showcase his wealth, making him appear rather shabby.
"Do you know how much the fee for Taiwu Sect is? Just one year would scare you off," Zhu Rong remarked with a sneer. However, he suddenly heard a "crunching" sound, as if someone was chewing on fruit.
Zhu Rong, being a glutton, immediately turned around to see Shen Xiang munching on a purple fruit, taking big bites while casually spitting out the skin.
Zhu Rong was stunned and shouted, "You idiot! Is the Ziling Fruit meant to be eaten like that? Stop it right now! Those skins are worth a lot, and you're just throwing them away…"
The Ziling Fruit was a main ingredient for refining True Qi Pills, and eating it as if it were just a regular snack was pure waste. Zhu Rong felt a strong urge to slap Shen Xiang for what he perceived as sacrilege.
Unfazed, Shen Xiang replied, "This Ziling Fruit tastes quite nice, sweet and all, and it even produces a lot of True Qi after eating."
Zhu Rong's face flushed with anger. Although the Ziling Fruit wasn't his, he felt the pain of watching it go to waste.
"Stop eating it! I'll buy it from you," Zhu Rong yelled urgently. As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Xiang quickly swallowed the remaining bits, leaving Zhu Rong feeling furious enough to want to knock Shen Xiang's jaw off!
"How much is the fee to enter Taiwu Sect for a year?" Shen Xiang asked, smiling.
Zhu Rong stomped his foot in frustration and huffed, "Someone like you will never get into Taiwu Sect." Though he didn't know Shen Xiang's background, he was sure Shen Xiang must be wealthy; otherwise, he wouldn't be eating Ziling Fruit so casually.
"Then I'll just ask around myself," Shen Xiang said, pulling out another Ziling Fruit and preparing to eat it.
"The fee for outer disciples is three thousand middle-grade crystal stones," Zhu Rong quickly revealed. He took out a few blue stones, about the size of a thumb, and handed them to Shen Xiang. "Ten middle-grade crystal stones for your Ziling Fruit."
Crystal stones, like spirit money, are a type of mineral containing spirit energy. However, crystal stones contain far more compressed pure spirit energy, making them more valuable than spirit money.
Shen Xiang had learned from Su Meiyao that middle-grade crystal stones were primarily used as currency in this world, where one middle-grade crystal stone equaled one thousand large spirit stones, meaning ten of them equated to ten thousand large spirit money.
Spending ten thousand large spirit money on a Ziling Fruit? Zhu Rong clearly intended to swindle Shen Xiang.
"Zhu brother, do you think I'm a fool? This is a main ingredient for refining True Qi Pills; it's worth much more than that! I'd rather eat it myself," Shen Xiang scoffed.
"Thirty!" Zhu Rong said, keeping a straight face.
Shen Xiang shook his head and continued walking, prompting Zhu Rong to hurry after him, shouting, "Fifty!"
Shen Xiang ignored him.
"Sixty!"
"A hundred!"
"One hundred fifty!"
"…"
"Two hundred!"
Shen Xiang turned around with a smile, "Just a moment ago, you wanted to buy it for ten crystal stones, and now you're offering so much more? You really are a shrewd businessman." He handed over the Ziling Fruit and received the pile of crystal stones in return.
"You wouldn't know it, but my Zhu family is a famous business family in Taiwu Prefecture. We've been raised in a money-centric environment since we were young," Zhu Rong said with a hint of pride. "The price of Ziling Fruit is artificially inflated by those merchants."
Shen Xiang suddenly felt he might have been swindled, but twenty thousand large spirit money was still within his acceptable range.
While Zhu Rong may have been a small-time swindler, Shen Xiang found their conversation enjoyable and learned more about the region. He discovered he was now in "Taiwu Prefecture," a vast area under the jurisdiction of Taiwu Sect. All powers within this territory had to pay homage to Taiwu Sect, which in turn maintained the security of the land.
"Brother Shen, you should never do something as foolish as eating Ziling Fruit. If those alchemists see you, you'll definitely get beaten up," Zhu Rong warned, still feeling a pang in his heart from seeing Shen Xiang consume one earlier.
Shen Xiang didn't mind; he had the Dragon Saliva Skill, so if he ran out of Ziling Fruits, he could quickly produce more.
"Old Zhu, do you think I still have a chance of entering Taiwu Sect?" Shen Xiang asked with a grin.
Zhu Rong smirked, "If you sell me another ten or so Ziling Fruits, then you might stand a chance. But you'll have to pass Taiwu Sect's assessment to truly become a member; that's the case with every sect."
Following Zhu Rong, Shen Xiang arrived in a city called Tianmen City. This was the closest city to Taiwu Sect and a common stop for many aspiring disciples.
As soon as they arrived, Zhu Rong bid Shen Xiang farewell, explaining that other unauthorized individuals weren't allowed to enter Taiwu Sect casually.
"Tianmen, is this the entrance to Taiwu Sect?" Shen Xiang stood beneath the city gate, gazing at the imposing characters engraved above.
Once he passed through this city, he would find a straight main road leading to an enormous and luxurious complex resembling a city at the end; that was Taiwu Sect!
"Hey, kid! This is a six-section mortal weapon, on sale for just nine hundred and ninety-nine crystal stones!" A burly man at a shop entrance called out to Shen Xiang, clearly trying to entice someone like him—who was looking around like a country bumpkin—into making a purchase.
Weapons and defensive gear can be divided into mortal, spirit, and treasure grade, each with nine sections, with mortal weapons being the lowest tier. However, a six-section mortal weapon was decent, nearing the highest nine-section quality.
"Hey, kid! Want to buy some pills? An upper-grade Great Yuan Pill goes for fifty-five crystal stones; two for just a hundred!" Another shopkeeper, an old man at a pill shop, shouted.
Seeing the abundance of pill shops in Taiwu Prefecture astonished Shen Xiang. He approached one and asked, "Do you sell Ziling Fruits?"
"Of course! Three hundred crystal stones!" the old man replied.
Shen Xiang's mouth twitched. He realized he had indeed been cheated by that fat guy earlier. The prices for pills here were considerably higher than in South Wu Kingdom.
This turned out to be good news for him since he was an alchemist! He could already envision piles of gleaming crystal stones. At that moment, he learned that a single True Qi Pill was priced at five hundred crystal stones and was limited in quantity for purchase.
After strolling through Tianmen City, Shen Xiang quickly sold a few True Qi Pills and soon accumulated three thousand crystal stones, which was the fee for entering Taiwu Sect. Even though he had Su Meiyao and Bai Youyou's heritage, joining a sect would allow him to learn more, study various skills, and participate in competitions as a sect disciple to earn rewards.
Shen Xiang walked toward the large gate in the distance. The gate was wide open, with many people coming and going. The sect was currently welcoming new disciples, so many hopefuls were around, though most were just trying their luck.
As he passed through the gate, he walked along a straight and wide stone road. In the distance stood Taiwu Sect, surrounded by towering walls over twenty feet high. Shen Xiang had previously imagined Taiwu Sect was built atop mountains.
Standing before the enormous entrance, he gazed at the three majestic characters spelling "Taiwu Sect" and felt a rush of pride swell within him. The gate was closed, but a small door was open.
In front of the small door stood long lines of people, all there to test their spiritual veins. Only those with qualified veins could enter the outer sect. Of course, having enough crystal stones was also essential.
The method for testing spiritual veins involved standing on a round platform equipped with a formation that could sense the spiritual veins within the human body, illuminating with different colors and displaying corresponding values.