"Tuition fees?"
Hearing Jiang Yan's words, Lin Yuan could not help but be stunned.
It took him a good while to react, after which he nodded and said, "Only right."
Having used the alchemy furnace for free and even earned an extra ten spirit stones on top of that, Jiang Yan was in a suddenly wonderful mood.
He gave a hearty laugh, patted Lin Yuan on the shoulder, and left the mountaintop without looking back.
Soon, back at Ru Peak.
Jiang Yan took out all the spirit stones he had on him. With a mere sweep of his palm, he instantly absorbed every single spirit stone directly into his body.
Yet, compared to his current cultivation level, these three thousand-odd spirit stones were still just a drop in the bucket; the boost they provided was far too negligible.
"If I want to reach Dao Severing, I need to earn even more spirit stones. Aside from the Qi-Nourishing Pill, I need to figure out other ways to fleece a bit more out of Junior Sister."
"Since she is a disciple of Sword Peak, naturally she practices swordsmanship. Over the years, I've actually created a few sword techniques myself—how about I just take them out and sell them to her?"
"But wouldn't that be a bit too blatant? And how am I supposed to explain where these sword techniques came from?"
Jiang Yan stroked his chin, pondering over the matter in deep seriousness, nodding at times and shaking his head at others.
"Nephew Jiang Yan, are you in?"
Right at that moment, someone arrived at the mountaintop.
By the moonlight, Jiang Yan could make out a middle-aged man dressed in Daoist robes, looking imposing and naturally commanding without even a trace of anger.
"You are..."
Jiang Yan eyed the visitor up and down. It wasn't until the middle-aged man drew closer that he finally made out his features, causing him to be taken aback. "So it's Uncle-Master Xu Hua. Why did you suddenly come over, and at such a late hour?"
Xu Hua, the master of Array Peak, one of the five peaks of the Dao Sect.
Before his seclusion back then, Xu Hua had frequently come looking for Jiang Yan, running over to Ru Peak almost every other day.
The reason for this was actually quite simple: Xu Hua was one of the very few people within the Dao Sect who knew Jiang Yan's true situation.
Not only in alchemy and swordsmanship, but even in the way of arrays, Xu Hua was well aware that Jiang Yan's mastery far surpassed his own. Therefore, whenever he encountered array problems he could not understand, he would always come to consult Jiang Yan.
"Nephew, you've finally come out of seclusion."
Xu Hua appeared somewhat excited. Ever since Jiang Yan went into seclusion, whenever he ran into trouble, there was simply no one who could provide him with answers and help.
Learning today that Jiang Yan had emerged from seclusion, he had rushed over at sunset, but at that exact moment Jiang Yan happened to be at Dan Peak, causing him to make a wasted trip.
Late into the night, Xu Hua came here once again and finally managed to find Jiang Yan.
"Nephew, there is a problem that has been plaguing me for a full six years now, often leaving me unable to sleep peacefully at night. No matter what, you must clear up my confusion this time."
He pulled Jiang Yan down to sit on a patch of grass and laid out the problem he had never been able to figure out.
Jiang Yan spent about an hour explaining it to him, finally letting Xu Hua's mind suddenly clear up.
"Thanks to your pointers, Nephew, this old man has finally resolved years of puzzlement and can finally get a good night's sleep tonight." He stood up, fully satisfied, intending to leave.
Seeing this, Jiang Yan hurriedly called out to stop him.
"Uncle-Master, wait a moment."
"What is it?" Xu Hua paused in surprise.
Jiang Yan simply rubbed his index finger and thumb together, making his implication crystal clear.
Xu Hua understood in an instant. Knowing full well that this fellow was a money lover, he laughed generously, "I almost forgot about this. Tuition fees, I understand."
"Hum!"
With that, he flipped his palm over and produced a storage bag from his robes. "I was in a bit of a rush coming over and didn't bring too many spirit stones, but there are exactly five thousand spirit stones in here. Take these first, Nephew, and I'll have someone send another five thousand over to you tomorrow."
"Splendid!"
Joy blossomed on Jiang Yan's face. How could he possibly turn down spirit stones delivered right to his doorstep?
He happily accepted the five thousand spirit stones, and then personally escorted Xu Hua all the way to the foot of the mountain.
"By the way, Nephew, before you went into seclusion back then, you were already well-versed in alchemy, array formations, and swordsmanship. Right now, I'm afraid there is no one left in the entire Dao Sect who can compare to you. You should be well aware of the sect's current state—everything is waiting to be rebuilt. Not just your Ru Peak, but all the peaks are facing a shortage of successors. Two years ago, the Sect Master and I discussed this very issue. Senior Brother Zhang is traveling abroad, and there is no telling when he will return. The Sect Master hopes that you can step forward and help train a few disciples so they can grow rapidly."
Before leaving, Xu Hua brought up this matter.
Within the Dao Sect, only these peak masters knew that Zhang Yuanshu of Ru Peak was an absolute worldly master, having entered the sect much earlier than any of them, including the Sect Master.
Back in the day, every single one of these peak masters had been personally trained and brought up by Zhang Yuanshu.
Now that Zhang Yuanshu was gone, everyone hoped his disciple could take over this job.
"This matter... is not entirely out of the question." Jiang Yan stroked his chin.
"Really?"
Hearing this, Xu Hua's face instantly lit up with delight.
He knew that as Zhang Yuanshu's disciple, even if Jiang Yan refused, the entire upper echelon of the sect, including himself and the Sect Master, wouldn't dare to force him.
Yet to his surprise, Jiang Yan didn't seem to have any intention of refusing.
"As long as there's money, it's fine." Jiang Yan stated earnestly.
"Ugh..."
Xu Hua was taken aback and instinctively asked, "How much does Nephew want?"
"Let's put it this way: Dan Peak, Sword Peak, Wu Peak, and Array Peak—have each of the four peaks pick one disciple to come over to my place for cultivation every day. If they don't understand something, they can just ask me, and I will guide them one by one. But as for the tuition fees... one thousand spirit stones per day from each peak, which makes four thousand for all four peaks. That's not unreasonable, right?"
"Four thousand spirit stones a day..."
Xu Hua frowned. Calculated this way, ten days would be forty thousand spirit stones, and a month would be one hundred and twenty thousand...
One hundred and twenty thousand spirit stones a month was already a rather hefty expense for the sect.
However, the Dao Sect was, after all, one of the six major sects within Xuan Province. Although it had declined quite a bit recently, its ancestors had once been wealthy and left behind a considerable foundation, so it wasn't as if they couldn't afford it.
"Nephew, please allow me to go back and discuss this with Senior Brother Sect Master. If nothing unexpected happens, there should be no problem."
"Very well."
Jiang Yan nodded, then continued, "If there are no issues by then, have them come over to my place to cultivate tomorrow."
...
Soon, after sending Xu Hua off, Jiang Yan returned to his room and fell straight into bed, sleeping soundly.
He didn't wake up until noon. After simply washing his face and stepping out of his room, Jiang Yan found that Liu Ruyan was already waiting outside his courtyard.
"Junior Sister has arrived. Come on in and take a seat."
Jiang Yan said with a grin, welcoming her into the courtyard.
"Could it be that Senior Brother didn't get up until this hour? Have the Qi-Nourishing Pills been refined?" Liu Ruyan furrowed her brows slightly, though inwardly she let out a long sigh, thinking that this senior-brother of hers was truly somewhat unreliable. It seemed the spirit stones she had handed over to him yesterday had most likely gone down the drain.
"Naturally."
To Liu Ruyan's utter astonishment, however, Jiang Yan merely smiled slightly, flipped his palm, and produced a crystal-jade bottle, which was impeccably filled with the eight Qi-Nourishing Pills he had refined at Dan Peak yesterday.