"... My words"
As Jun Soryu finished explaining 'Flowing Shadow Scripture (流影經)', all Old Bai could react with was to grasp in a daze.
"It's a beautiful technique indeed." Jun Soryu himself nodded, even though in a way he was the creator of this technique too. "I allow the Bai family to use the Flowing Shadow Scripture (流影經), and now shall we discuss my rewards too?"
"Absolutely! Whatever you want, say the word!" Old Bai, who initially thought of all this as amusing entertainment in the park, did a complete 180. Unlike earlier, when he treated Jun Soryu as a mere child, now his tone was more like a child worshipping his ancestor.
"Actually, my conditions aren't that harsh, given the standing of your family. My first reward is a monthly supply of 1000 Spirit Crystals, and in the future it might increase too; my second reward is some cash, and lastly, run some errands for me from time to time; my time is precious, after all."
'I have to catch up on all the cartoons and superhero movies I haven't seen in my life till now.' Jun Soryu had his own agenda, but unaware, Old Bai just kept growing his own misunderstandings.
"These conditions are nothing to worry about, sir—"
"White Fox Child". Jun Soryu smirked, and finally with an empty glass containing ice cream, he stood up, prepared to leave.
"Sir White Fox Child, please take this along." Old Bai took out two things; the first item was 'Void Gourd', and from its appearance, it looked like a brown gourd with a long red silk thread wrapped around its mouth. The second item was a smooth, simple black ring which looked like black jade.
"The Void Gourd has 10,000 Spirit Crystals."
'10,000 what?'
"And the other one is 'Spirit Credit Ring'; it's much more advanced compared to ordinary credit cards, and it currently has some little credits. I will make sure to credit the appropriate balance by today." Old Bai explained, standing straight as Jun Soryu nodded, picking the items, "Have a safe journey."
"You too, Bai Patriarch."
With that, Jun Soryu simply walked away, barely holding on to his composure. Jun Soryu didn't stop, at least not until he returned back to his home, where he finally got enough peace to remove his mask.
"Hehehe." The child finally couldn't hold it anymore, and turning the gourd upside down, he started pouring out all the spirit crystals, but no matter how long he did that, there simply didn't seem to be an end to pouring crystals.
"I'm rich!!!" Jun Soryu grinned, jumping up and down in joy, "I, Jun Soryu, am rich!!!"
Finally, when he was fully exhausted, his eyes fell over the black jade ring in his fingers, which had adjusted to fit his fingers, and focusing just a little was enough to pop a holographic panel over the ring.
"Advanced, very advanced!" Jun Soryu remarked and clicked on the 'check balance' option over the ring.
(Current Balance - 45,788,855.865 Credits)
"One... Two... Three... 45? 45 million?!" Jun Soryu was once again left in shock; the second stroke of joy almost stopped his heart for good for a few seconds as he fell flat on the ground in the middle of the crystals with an uncontrollable grin and joyous shaking across his body.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
...
"Enough playing around!" Jun Soryu remarked as he jumped back up, sitting in a lotus position as he had learnt and surrounded by an insane amount of resources around him, he finally focused consciousness into absorbing them.
'I couldn't do it properly in front of the teacher previously, but since no one is staring at me now. I can let loose, huh...?' Jun Soryu took in a deep breath and followed by an insane suction force, which seemed to be devouring every shred of Qi floating around the house, went directly inside him.
The previous instance just felt like some hands coming out of his consciousness to grab the shards of Qi, but now it felt like Jun Soryu was a black hole, an enormous one at that, absorbing everything and all things around him.
[You have reached the 2nd Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
While previously it took him a good half hour to reach the 1st stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, it didn't even take him 15 minutes to break through to the 2nd stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, but there were still no signs of him stopping anytime soon.
[You have reached the 3rd Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
[You have reached the 4th Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
[You have reached the 5th stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
[You have reached the 6th stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
[You have reached the 7th stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
[You have reached the 8th stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
[You have reached the 9th stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
'9th Stage, huh... I don't think it's even a proper afternoon right now.' Jun Soryu didn't even open his eyes. ' Teacher Zhao taught us the initial cultivation realms are Qi Condensation, Foundation Building, Core Formation, Golden Core Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, and Immortal Ascension.
The Qi Condensation Realm has 9 stages, its realm of Awakening where practitioners begin to sense, absorb, and manipulate spiritual energy. It's like learning to breathe with your soul. It should have just 9 stages, so... Why can I feel this empty space still here between the 9th stage of the Qi Condensation Realm and the 1st stage of the Foundation Building Realm?'
Jun Soryu's eyes seem to twitch as if he had found something precious yet fearsome, like the experience of finding a coin on the road, guarded by a bad black dog in his even younger days.
Last time he didn't dare take that coin, but who is going to stop this boy this time?
No one.
Jun Soryu grinned and started to focus the absorbed energy to create another stage hidden to all eyes, and as expected, not even a dozen minutes later.
[You have reached the 10th stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
'As expected! There it was!!!!' Jun Soryu's grin filled every corner of the face, but at the same time, it was the first time cultivating for such a long time; the sweat which had drenched all his face and fairs was proof of that; his body was almost like lava.
But Jun Soryu didn't stop here; he knew he hadn't reached his limits yet. The 1000 spirit crystals started to shake violently as an even greater suction force emerged from Jun Soryu, absorbing the energy from the very core of those crystals.
Several dozen minutes passed by, and the crystals finally couldn't take it anymore; they were already all transparent compared to the glowing bluish lights from before, and almost all at once, they turned into transparent dust as, in an instant, something like a ring of pure energy suddenly flashed out of Jun Soryu's body, surrounding a 10-metre radius, and the next instant, like a scythe, the ring grabbed every shred of Qi in the rage and absorbed it all inside Jun Soryu, and not even a second later, a straight blue pillar of pure negative energy and impurities burst out of Jun Soryu's head.
[You have reached the 1st Stage of the Foundation Building Realm!]
"Hao..." Jun Soryu's pupils finally cracked open; the brilliance in his eyes seemed to have grown beyond mortal shine, and now he could finally sense it.
"Was the world always this interesting?" Jun Soryu mumbled as his gaze moved towards the scenery outside his window, from the little cicada crawling over the tree to every fibre of the birds flying in the skies. He could see it all as clear as day.
"Amazing..." Jun Soryu stood up, walking out of his house, feeling the flow of wind from the tips of his fingers and observing the shades of colours in nature he never perceived once in all his life before.
'So this is how practitioners see the world...' Jun Soryu couldn't help but smile like a fool while observing everything.
...
[Name: Jun Soryu]
Age: 10 years old
Title: Bai Family's Benefactor
Alias: White Fox Child
Cultivation Technique: One Thought Scripture (一念經) - Originless Grade
Spells:
Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual (清流天脉心法) – Low Earth Grade Illusion Technique
Flowing Shadow Scripture (流影經) – Heaven Grade Illusion Technique]
A panel floated inside Jun Soryu's mind showing details drawn from the system.
"You call it 'Status Window', right?" Jun Soryu mumbled, "Quite amusing, I must say..."
Jun Soryu nodded and closed the panel. 'And to think I will gain the Bai Family benefactor title just like that too.' He smiled, and now at noon, the child finally stepped out.
'Now it's time to start making more preparations for the future too. I have too much wealth and too little strength to protect it; if anyone found out the amount of money and resources I have, I would be looted in broad daylight by the next-door old lady,' Jun Soryu sighed.
'Unfortunately my neighbourhood isn't one to be known for hospitality either; most people living here are not very good people, and human greed is always dangerous. I need to move out to a better locality.' Jun Soryu nodded, and with a grin, his glance fell over his latest addition to skills.
[Flowing Shadow Scripture (流影經)]
"It's time to finish some adult business."