FVN Chapter 7 Becoming an Apprentice
Chapter 7 Becoming an Apprentice
"Become an apprentice?"
The tall young man looked Zhou Qiuyuan up and down, then led him into the courtyard and to the middle-aged man lying on a rattan chair.
"Ahem, how old are you? What rank of Thunder Spirit?"
Wei Jin coughed and sat up.
He was about fifty years old, with snow-white temples, and wore a gray short shirt that revealed two muscular, dark arms. His piercing, tiger-like eyes scrutinized the young man who had crossed the threshold, wanting to become his disciple.
Zhou Qiuyuan honestly replied, "I just turned sixteen and haven't activated my spirit yet."
The synesthetic jade tablet obtained through the Spirit Awakening is proof of his aptitude. Since he has not yet participated in the Spirit Awakening, he cannot prove his lightning-type aptitude.
"Want to become an apprentice without any spiritual awakening?"
"You didn't obtain the Spirit Awakening Pill through the black market, and already know that you possess the aptitude for Thunder Spirit?"
Wei Jin traveled extensively throughout the country and was well-informed. He vaguely guessed that Zhou Qiuyuan was taking an unorthodox path.
The process was completely wrong, but the result was correct.
Wei Jin didn't press further, saying, "Fine, since you wish to become my disciple, I'll give you a chance. Do you understand the rules?"
What rules?
Zhou Qiuyuan didn't know much about the Wei and Jin dynasties. He had come in a hurry and hadn't inquired around, so he didn't know the customs.
"Please enlighten me, Master Wei."
Wei Jin lay back in his rattan chair and said lazily, "The tuition fee is 20,000 coins per year."
Twenty thousand coins?
Zhou Qiuyuan had some understanding of apprenticeship. Apprenticeship required paying tuition, which was about five thousand to ten thousand coins per year. Why was the price of the Thunderclap Blade so high during the Wei and Jin Dynasties?
Is it because they think their goods are rare and can just raise prices on the spot?
Since those skilled in using the Thunder Spirit are rare, there are not many people who come to become its disciples. Wei Jin patiently explained, "There is a reason why something is valuable."
"Are you aware of the connection between spiritual roots and spiritual tools?"
Zhou Qiuyuan shook his head, his face full of thirst for knowledge.
People in the alleys and alleys can't even come into contact with body cultivators, so naturally they have no way of knowing the secrets of immortal cultivation.
"Spiritual roots are divided into innate and acquired ones. Innate spiritual roots are difficult to take away, while acquired spiritual roots are things that are refined after birth. After a cultivator dies, they can be used again."
"A spiritual root that has been used by someone is contaminated. Even if one cultivates the techniques the deceased used in life, one can only achieve half the effect of an acquired spiritual root at most, and there is also a risk of going into qi deviation. If one cultivates a different technique than the deceased, one can only achieve one or two tenths of the effect at most, which is quite useless."
"Contaminated acquired spiritual roots have poor market demand. After being refined into spiritual tools by weapon refiners, body cultivators can use these spiritual tools to unleash power comparable to that of immortal cultivators."
"The spiritual artifact I'm referring to is called a True Spiritual Artifact. It's a treasure that can only be purchased with spirit stones, and there are very few of them in the outer city."
"Acquired spiritual roots are extremely valuable. Many cultivators who face life-or-death crises think of destroying their acquired spiritual roots before they die, not wanting to benefit their enemies."
"However, acquired spiritual roots are made from rare and precious materials. Damaged acquired spiritual roots cannot be wasted. After being refined into spiritual tools by a weapon refiner, they can still exert a portion of the power of a true spiritual tool."
"These spiritual tools are divided into five grades: lower, middle, upper, and highest. The higher the quality, the higher the cultivation efficiency."
"Most body cultivators can only afford inferior spiritual tools, how can they compare to my superior spiritual tool: the Thunder Blade."
Zhou Qiuyuan hadn't expected that there were different grades of spiritual tools, and couldn't help but ask, "How big is the difference between a first-grade spiritual tool and a fourth-grade spiritual tool?"
"Hmph, inferior spiritual tools are made from scraps of acquired spiritual root fragments. How can they be compared to fourth-grade spiritual tools? The cultivation efficiency of the two differs by at least four times, and their power is incomparable."
On the path of cultivation, if you take one step slowly, you'll be slow at every step. If you want to grow quickly, the effect of high-quality spiritual tools is self-evident.
Although the annual tuition fee of 20,000 coins is far higher than the market price, it is definitely worth the money.
"I'll go back and raise the money right away."
Zhou Qiuyuan hurriedly returned home and saw Zhou Chengwu had set up a simple chicken coop by the kang (a heated brick bed) using wooden planks to partition off a space.
After the chicken coop was built, Zhou Chengwu brought back a clucking old hen.
As the weather gets colder, it's not easy to keep eggs at the incubation temperature for a long time. Using a hen to incubate eggs is the simplest and most convenient method.
Eggs typically take about twenty days to incubate. The incubation time for mutated eggs is uncertain, so they must be properly handled to ensure that the matter remains undisclosed.
Zhou Qiuyuan looked at his father and said, "Father, I saved someone today. He gave me a Spirit Awakening Pill from the black market. Now, I know that I possess the Thunder Spirit."
If the dream of the future, which he believed was a golden finger, were to be leaked, the consequences would be endless. He didn't want to invite trouble for himself, so he had to find another excuse.
"Really?"
"Thunder Spirit? What rank?"
"Ninth rank?!"
The son saved someone and obtained a black market Spirit Awakening Pill, which awakened a ninth-grade Thunder Spirit.
This story is so fantastical that it's hard to believe.
"The ninth-grade Thunder Spirit has extremely high talent, and some families are willing to recruit geniuses..." Zhou Chengwu had only spoken halfway when he remembered that his son had used the Black Market Spirit Awakening Pill and did not have a Sense-Connecting Jade Token to prove his talent.
To prove one's talent, one must spend 30,000 coins to reawaken one's spiritual power.
"Father, there is a lightning-type body refiner in the North City. You can become his apprentice for a fee of ten thousand coins."
Zhou Qiuyuan was well aware of his family's situation. They had a total of 16,000 coins, and even with the combined efforts of the whole family, they couldn't raise 20,000 coins for tuition.
Should I borrow four thousand coins from Chen's General Store?
He hadn't forgotten the time his sister was beaten for lending him three thousand coins, and he didn't want that to happen again.
With the father unemployed and the mother's meager income insufficient to cover household expenses, they couldn't afford to empty their savings and leave the family without the ability to withstand risks.
He needs 10,000 coins as start-up capital; he'll have to figure out the rest himself.
"If I don't sign a contract with a wealthy family, I won't have any cultivation resources, and my path as a body cultivator will be extremely difficult..."
"Sigh, since you have your own ideas, go ahead and do them!"
Zhou Chengwu knocked on a brick of the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) and took out a string of copper coins hidden inside. "This is ten thousand coins. The rest of the journey is up to you."
After emptying most of his savings, Zhou Chengwu focused his energy on hatching the mutated chicken. If the mutated chicken hatched successfully, his son's path to becoming a body cultivator would be secured.
Zhou Qiuyuan took the money and nodded emphatically, saying, "Father, wait for my good news."
He got the money and rushed back to Benlei Dao Wei Jin's residence.
"Have you raised the money?"
Wei Jin lay on the chair, looking sickly, making one wonder if he could fulfill the responsibilities of a teacher.
Unfortunately, there are too few lightning-type body refiners, so Zhou Qiuyuan had no other choice.
"I only have ten thousand coins. Do you think it would be more appropriate for me to pay ten thousand coins as tuition for the first six months, or to pay you twenty-one thousand coins tomorrow once I have raised the money?"
Zhou Qiuyuan had considered using his future dreams to make money and then returning to become an apprentice the next day.
This would raise suspicions of breaking a promise, leaving a very bad impression on the cheap master and hindering future developments.
That's why Zhou Qiuyuan came to become a disciple, offering him the choice between paying six months' tuition or paying an extra thousand coins the next day.
This seems like a choice; anyone who isn't a fool wouldn't mind waiting an extra day and getting an extra thousand coins.
make money?
Zhou Qiuyuan now has start-up capital and can go to the gambling den to withdraw money tomorrow.
Gambling is when you don't know the outcome; investing is when you know the outcome.
For Zhou Qiuyuan, who controls the dreams of the future, the gambling dens that devour people without spitting out the bones are his ATMs.