Meanwhile, in Green Leaf City, Cha Ming was oblivious to the dangers befalling his friend Feng Ming. He continued to train hard. During the day, he crafted talismans, kept Huxian company, and cultivated. At night, he alternated between sparring with the red-bearded man in the Clear Sky Brush and carving out his qi pathways. After a whole month had passed, he finally completed the full qi pathway, which fully connected his limbs, organs, and dantian.

Once this was completed, he redoubled his efforts in sparring to master the final two techniques: Shearing Staff and Seven Cloud Steps. Eventually, they were integrated into his fighting style as much as humanly possible—that is, without going through life-and-death battles. Only an epiphany would enable him to further comprehend these techniques.

"Tsk. Huxian, it seems like we'll have to go on another adventure soon. Are you getting bored yet?" Cha Ming asked the fox that was currently resting on the sunlit grass in his courtyard.

These long breaks are unbearable, Elder Brother. Plus, all of this restaurant meat is getting really boring. I want to eat spirit beasts. High-level spirit beasts!

Huxian got up lazily and stretched before running up to his brother's leg. A hand gently reached down to scratch around his ears.

Cha Ming's cultivation had once again reached a bottleneck. And if previous experience was any indicator, he would require a full month to push through the bottleneck this time. The young man's head ached as he struggled to determine exactly how he would find an adventure, a proper weapon, and medicinal pills.

Two of these three things required a large amounts of spirit stones. Therefore, he began to fully pursue talisman crafting, churning out one sixth-grade talisman after another. This trend continued for a full month, until he was left with a full 206 talismans after trading for materials. Their face value was 105 mid-grade spirit stones and change. He wasn't sure if this was enough, but it was a start, at least. With Huxian in tow, he walked across many courtyards on his way to Wang Jun's new abode.

What he needed now was advice.

***

Wang Jun was currently seated at his desk, reviewing pile after pile of documents. Unfortunately, his work hadn't progressed as quickly as he would have liked. He was distracted, and he knew the reason. The cause of his confusion was the pretty girl named Hong Xin. In just a few short weeks, the new couple had grown much closer. He enjoyed spending time with her, and he enjoyed making her happy. But was there any way this blissful situation would last?

Every time he asked himself this question, the clear image of a bloody-faced little girl appeared in his mind. His sister had been very beautiful but very na?ve. Talent without wisdom eventually led her to an early grave.

He had never envied her talent. Quite the opposite—he had always encouraged her and played with her. He had fought for her interests in the family countless times. This caused his older brother to feel insecure with his position in the family. To further his own ambitions, his brother had schemed and arranged an "accident." While Wang Jun knew the cause of his sister's death, his elder brother had meticulously planned everything, leaving not a single shred of evidence behind.

Thus his dilemma. Hong Xin tugged at his heart strings. She was beautiful, kind, and passionate. And she reminded him of his little sister, the one he hadn't been able to protect. He wanted to spend time with her and take care of her. Was it for love or for atonement? Wang Xia had been his only ray of hope in a dark, cruel world.

He knew that his indulgence with Hong Xin was extremely irresponsible. The ongoing dispute with the Zhou family was bound to be violent and treacherous. Hong Xin was one of his weaknesses, a weakness that grew greater with each passing day. Ignoring the damage this might cause him, it would place Hong Xin in a great deal of danger.

Even without external enemies, the Wang family's internal politics were cruel and unforgiving. Hong Xin herself was not a major threat to family interests, but their relationship would prevent potential marriage alliances. His family had often utilized marriages to secure new allies and to appease existing ones. In theory, his influence in the family was considerable. But there was always room for treachery, either through threats, coercion, or outright elimination.

Wang Jun sighed. He put down his pen and walked over to his small cultivation room. He sat down cross-legged on a large and brilliant array formation. Several light-blue stones littered the floor beside the formation. A few of them had crumbled into piles of gray dust—their power had been completely sapped by the large array and converted to qi for his cultivation.

As he cultivated, he regained his calm and focus. His determination was best expressed by the maxim shared by countless cultivators: Fate blesses the strong.

***

Cha Ming and Huxian's journey to Wang Jun's courtyard took much longer than expected. On the way, Cha Ming was stopped and greeted by every cultivator he met on the streets. His status as a talisman artist had cemented his position in the community, as his goods were welcomed by all. Even the pretentious junior alchemists treated him politely. They were not afraid of his status, but the goods talismans artists produced were always in high demand and commanded an exaggerated premium. A high price for service was the telltale sign of a prestigious occupation.

While Cha Ming proceeded at a snail's pace, Huxian entertained himself by running around and chasing birds. His reputation was less than stellar, and his current actions provoked many glares from the nearby cultivators. Although they wouldn't assault Huxian in front of his master, all options were on the table if they happened to encounter each other in a dark alley. Which, to Huxian, was just fine.

Two hours passed by quickly and they soon found themselves in front of another student's courtyard. On the surface, it looked identical to any other courtyard in the neighborhood. Only Cha Ming and a few others were aware of the truth. He braced himself as he and Huxian forced their way through an invisible defensive barrier. They were greeted at the door by Wang Jun's assistant, who led them to a cozy living room much larger than the external appearance of the courtyard. Wang Jun's cinnamon-scented fireplace had been brought to this new residence.

They did not wait long. After an incense time , Wang Jun walked out from a small door looking refreshed. Cha Ming's eyes narrowed as he was overwhelmed with a dense cloud of qi, which wafted over from Wang Jun's cultivation room.

"I see that you have quite an energy-gathering formation in there. What grade?" Cha Ming was very curious—his portable energy-gathering formation was only a second-grade formation plate, a mortal-grade treasure.

Wang Jun laughed. "Nothing too fancy. It's only a mid-grade magic treasure."

Once again, Wang Jun's wealth and connections never ceased to amaze Cha Ming. Magic treasures were goods created by professionals in the Foundation Establishment realm. Even a low-grade magic sword was many times more expensive than a ninth-grade sword—that is, if you could find someone to make it for you.

According to what Cha Ming had read, mortal-grade treasures were classified by grades one through nine, while magic treasures were ranked as low grade, mid grade, high grade, and top grade. Most magic treasures could not be activated without the use of foundation qi. It was likely the case that this mid-grade magic formation—which was useable in the Qi Condensation realm—was worth as much as a top-grade magic treasure.

"Then how about your current cultivation? I refuse to believe it's only at the sixth rank, despite your identity medallion." After all, Wang Jun had nearly unlimited wealth at his disposal.

"Oh, I'm not doing too badly. I'm at the eighth level of qi condensation. If everything goes properly, I'll be able to break through to foundation establishment within the year."

Wang Jun carefully sat down and started pouring tea for the three of them, ignoring the duo's shocked expression. He only noticed their slack-jawed expression once he finished serving them.

"Don't look at me that way. It's not like this medallion means anything." He removed his bronze identity medallion and flicked it through his fingers. "I worked hard to mask my talent, you know. It's often best to remain unnoticed until an opportune moment. Besides, as a fifth-grade talent from a rich family, this level of growth is rather mediocre."

This information caused Cha Ming to question his will to live. The difference was too extreme, and he needed to work extra hard for every breakthrough. Huxian, on the other hand, simply expressed his sympathy. As a god-beast, his talent far eclipsed these so-called geniuses.

Seeing his friend's dour expression, Wang Jun cleared his throat and spoke first. "To what do I owe the pleasure today, Brother Cha Ming?"

Hearing his name, Cha Ming snapped back to reality and scolded himself for moping.

"Brother Jun, I've come to a bottleneck in my training, and I've realized there are a few things I need to do. After all, I can't just stay cooped up in my cottage and train all the time. I've decided I need to do three things. First, I need to purchase some medicinal pills to aid me in breaking through bottlenecks in my cultivation. This latest breakthrough has made me realize that it takes me four times as long to break through each cultivation level than it takes to fill my qi lakes!"

"Right," confirmed Wang Jun. "This is normal. While you require increasing amounts of energy to break through, your cultivation speed can be increased using an energy-gathering formation and qi supplements. However, the amount of time required for you to break through will increase exponentially with each level of qi condensation.

"Fortunately, your talent grade is at the third grade. For every talent grade increase, the time to break through typically doubles. You're still not doing too bad on average.

"There are two main ways to remedy the problem: the first way is to take medicinal pills that weaken the barrier in your qi lakes, making it much easier to charge through. The second way is to take medicines that increase your natural talent. Medicines that increase natural talent are extremely rare, to the point that they can't be purchased. The only way our Wang family can even obtain a few of these medicines is by finding them ourselves or through our subsidiary families.

"Therefore, only the first option remains. You must hire an alchemist to concoct pills for you."

Cha Ming nodded. He had managed to gather this much information by rummaging through the library, but it was helpful to have this knowledge confirmed by a trusted and well-informed source.

"Yes, I gathered as much. The second issue I need to resolve is the issue of my weapon. I have all the necessary materials to construct a spirit alloy weapon, however, I don't have any way of forging it myself. Lastly, I'll need to go around and adventure. I have been training my staff and movement arts, and the only way I can make any progress is to experience some hardships," Cha Ming concluded.

"So you're asking if I have any advice on where you should go next?" Wang Jun smiled as he poured them another round of tea. He then took out two objects from his bag of holding. He rolled out one of these items onto a small side table. It was an aged leather map of the surrounding area. He then withdrew a couple dozen oddly shaped coins from a used leather pouch. They were irregularly shaped but resembled rectangles more than anything else.

Wang Jun swept all two dozen coins into the air above the map, where they floated as though unaffected by gravity. Each individual coin spun around in a haphazard manner.

"All right," Wang Jun exclaimed. "Wishful Coins, what are the best places for Cha Ming to forge a soul-alloy staff?" He quickly followed up by forming over a hundred hand seals. These movements were completed in less than thirty breaths.

As soon as he completed the last hand seal, the coins stopped twirling and fell onto the map. They tumbled around in a random fashion, but to Cha Ming's surprise, they were all oriented toward three separate points. Wang Jun quickly touched each of these points, leaving behind a glowing yellow light.

After marking each point, Wang Jun swept the coins up once more. He formed another hundred or so hand seals, instructing the coins to find locations where Cha Ming could obtain medicinal pills. The coins fell, and he marked five cities with glowing red marks.

Finally, Wang Jun swept up the two dozen coins and added another seven dozen. These coins were not plain like the original ones but were covered in strange runic characters. Some were colored, and others were marked in white. Many seemed plain, but Cha Ming could vaguely make out obsidian marks that slightly contrasted the other shade of black.

Wang Jun inhaled deeply and formed another set of hand seals. He continued forming them until he completed a total of 1,080 hand seals. This time, the coins fell down on the map violently. The results left the three of them deeply shocked. Instead of spreading all over the map like the last two times, the coins had somehow bounced around and piled up just north of Fairweather City, near a small mountain range. Every single one of the 108 coins had landed deeply in that pile. Many obscure characters could be seen on the mountain of Wishful Coins.

Wang Jun frowned. "My friend, this is something they call fate. While we don't know the reason, destiny requires you in Fairweather City. The runes on the outside of the mountain reveal a few clues. For one, this adventure is extremely dangerous. Further, it involves the fate of many suffering innocents. I also see an old acquaintance.. and a bloody moon.

"Destiny?" Cha Ming wasn't convinced. Previously, Wang Jun had told him that he was unable to foretell his destiny. Why had this changed suddenly? He voiced his concern to his friend, who laughed.

"Cha Ming, there is a big difference between reading your personal story and performing minor divinations. I'll give you an example to explain. Let's say that I ask an information agency two questions. The first question is: Can you please give me a book compiling Cha Ming's past, present, and future actions in exact detail? The agency would answer no, we cannot. Not for any price. It is because either your future or your past is too difficult to decipher. The same thing would happen with me—such a book would be impossible to compile as my fate is obscured.

"Now say you ask them another question: Where was Du Cha Ming, a student of Green Leaf Academy, last spotted? The intelligence agency could likely be able to find this information in a few hours. The information has a timeframe, and it is definite and specific.

"The same applies to divinations. I simply ask which direction you should go in immediately, and for a definite purpose. Granted, your result is a little unusual. A typical result would indicate many choices. In this case, the stones are dictating that you don't have a choice in the matter. Simply put, if you don't go, destiny will find a way to make it happen. Perhaps you could be framed for a crime, for which you need to go to Fairweather City for trial. Or you could get kidnapped and sent there as a slave. Worse yet, a close friend could die a tragic death there, forcing you to travel there for vengeance. This kind of result... I hate to say it, but you can't fight it."

This greatly displeased Cha Ming. Since coming to Green Leaf City, he felt that his ability to chose had become restricted. Every time, it seemed like his decisions were made for him. Wasn't he supposed to have free will? One thing was certain, however: whatever hand was guiding him, he would work his hardest to stop it. He didn't want to be controlled by destiny, even if it was for his own benefit.

Unfortunately, Cha Ming was extremely weak. The weak didn't get to make choices.

"The good news is that you can procure a staff and medicinal pills in this town. Give me a second to grab some information," Wang Jun said.

In a matter of minutes, he had his assistant bring a pile of documents labeled "Fairweather County." After flicking through a few pages, he withdrew two documents.

"For weapon crafting, I recommend seeking the services of Han Jinlong. He is one of the top three spiritual blacksmiths in the Song Kingdom. The only reason he stays in Fairweather County is because this city is the closest to his family. They currently live in a town called Crystal Meadows, which is famous for its crystal glass artisans. When you see him, make sure that he observes you sparring and unleashing your techniques. He will be able to implement what he observes in customizing your weapon. This is common practice, but people often forget.

"For medicinal pills, I recommend Zhang Yifeng. Coincidentally, he is also one of the top three alchemists in the Song Kingdom, and he also has family in Crystal Meadows. I recommend commissioning Zhang Yifeng to specially concoct pills using your blood and spiritual imprint as a medium. This will allow him to perfectly tailor the pills to your constitution. Alchemists are typically very proud and unapproachable, however, so your chances of meeting him are very low. You may have to settle for a lesser alchemist.

"Additionally, you should be aware of a famous custom for alchemists. They normally require the one requesting their services to supply medicinal ingredients, in addition to a fee. At least three sets of ingredients are required, depending on the difficulty of producing the pill in question. The fee is payable upon successful completion of a batch of pills, but the ingredients are non-refundable. This provides additional incentive for the alchemists to succeed, but it is often viewed as an avaricious custom by the masses as the alchemist is rarely responsible for failed ingredients.

"Therefore, the reputation of an alchemist is very important when commissioning pills. Alternatively, you can save yourself time and money by buying completed pills, but in this case, there is no ability to customize the pills to your constitution. Tailor-made pills are important because generic pills have reduced effectiveness and leave a greater amount of pill toxins in the user's body. These toxins greatly diminish the effectiveness of taking medicinal pills in the future and increase the difficulty in making breakthroughs." Wang Jun stopped, done with his impromptu lesson.

"Your information gathering ability is impeccable as always, Brother Jun. Would you happen to be free for this upcoming adventure?" Cha Ming had noticed large stacks of papers piled up on his desk. He had only asked to be polite.

"Alas, I can't separate myself from my work. Things will be very busy in the near future. Although I can't come, you might want to wait a while before leaving." Wang Jun picked up one of the black coins from the small mountain on Fairweather City. The black coin had a blood-red rune on it.

"A mutual friend of ours will be arriving soon. My divination indicates that her presence will be very beneficial on this adventure."