Yang Qing also noticed the sudden change in Wen Yingjie. He could sense that the young man's spiritual essence had become purer, calmer, and denser than before. It would serve as a solid foundation for finding his own Dao.
"Good. Yang Qing, may I?" Yi Jie asked from the side.
"It's your show to see through to the end. I'll go by your judgment on this—it's more your wheelhouse than mine, and the case is basically wrapped up anyway," Yang Qing said lazily, clearly relieved to throw the whole matter onto Yi Jie's shoulders.
"Cultivator Wen, I don't know if you have any soul-binding techniques of your own. If you do, they'll need to be at least Orange-grade or higher for better success," Yi Jie said.
"Umm… I don't have any. My family might, but with my current situation, it's difficult to get access to them," Wen Yingjie replied with an embarrassed smile.
"The Order can lend you one if you'd like. Full disclosure though—it's an incomplete technique, but even in that state, it's a solid top-tier Blue-grade method," said Yi Jie.
"Blue grade? And a top one at that? I don't think I can afford that—and I don't want to impose on the Order more than I already have. I'm already deeply indebted for the clarification and advice you gave me regarding the saber. That alone is more than I could ever repay," Wen Yingjie said bitterly.
Since becoming a rogue cultivator, resources had been scarce, nothing like when he was the youngest scion of the Wen family, drowning in more cultivation materials than he knew what to do with.
Back then, he could get whatever he set his eyes on. But now, every decision required prioritization. Most of his reserves had gone into crafting the saber and digging up information to track down the Grey Weasel, the Black Jade Syndicate executive. In fact, he'd spent more on the latter than the former—the Grey Weasel was notoriously cautious, and his whereabouts were almost impossible to pin down. It had taken Wen Yingjie decades of false leads and astronomical expenses just to catch a sliver of his trail—and even then, all he managed was a brief window in a heavily fortified location.
Given all that, Wen Yingjie had no idea how he could possibly afford a blue-grade technique. He had a general idea of how astronomical their value was. Even his family, which has been around for over 10,000 years, had no more than four blue-grade techniques in their treasure vault. Each was treated as a prized possession, protected by countless defensive arrays and hidden in a location so secret that only the family head and the supreme elders knew of it.
His current cultivation mantra, the Golden Soaring Dragon, was one of those four.
"Let me finish first, then you can decide whether you want it or not.
You'll have four months at most to master the soul-binding technique. After that, you'll forget everything related to it. All insights, memories, and comprehension gained from it will be wiped clean—but the physical harvests will remain. Since we're only lending the technique, there's a mechanism in place that erases itself from the user after the set period.
As for the price, we'll charge you a third of its original value. A top-tier blue-grade art typically goes for around 18,000 high-grade spirit stones, so you'd only need to pay 6,000. If you can't afford that, you can pay it back through installments or other means, such as lending your services via undertaking commissions.
We have countless jobs and all the corresponding information such as their requirements, difficulty levels, and the corresponding remuneration. You can choose whichever suits you, not just from here, but from any of our branches across the continent. We'll deduct the amount from the jobs you complete. Alternatively, we also accept treasures or materials. Should you go that route, an independent appraiser will evaluate them and assign their worth.
That's it in terms of the payment plan. Should you agree to the terms, we offer a cultivation abode for rent during your training. It's equipped with arrays and treasures to ease concentration and increase your odds of success. It's also secure, which is crucial, given you'll be in a weakened state. The rental fee is 50 high-grade spirit stones per month.
That's all. Now all that's left is for you to decide," Yi Jie said calmly as he placed the saber back on Yang Qing's podium.
Wen Yingjie's jaw dropped once he heard those astronomical figures. Six thousand high-grade spirit stones!
The closest he had ever come to that amount was a mere one hundred, and that had taken him three years to save up through grueling excursions that left him half-dead on a daily basis. Now he was being asked to pay sixty times that. He couldn't help but wonder how long it would take him to clear such a debt, or if he'd even live long enough to do so.
"We may not pay as much as the big merchant organizations," Yang Qing said gently, seeming to read Wen Yingjie's thoughts, "but our pay is decent. We never run out of jobs, and their range is as deep as an abyss, so you'll never lack options.
"At your current skill level, you could take jobs that pay as much as fifty thousand middle-grade spirit stones for a single task. And they're not that rare either, though naturally, they come with a matching level of risk."
Wen Yingjie's furrowed brow eased slightly at those words. The heavy weight of his earlier apprehension seemed to lift a bit.
"Do I have a deadline for clearing the debt?" he asked.
"Ideally, no, you don't," Yang Qing replied. "However, an annual one percent interest will be charged on whatever balance remains. It's just to keep you honest and diligent about paying it off.
"Other than that, you get to decide which jobs you take and how much you want to repay each month, or even each year."
Yang Qing paused, then added, "Oh, additionally, in terms of repayment, after each job, you can choose to have either your full payment deducted toward your debt, or just a portion of it. The minimum contribution is thirty percent. Other than that, there's nothing else."
Wen Yingjie went silent for a moment before letting out a deep exhale. Then, he forced a carefree smile onto his face.
It's just six thousand high-grade spirit stones for the chance to learn a top-tier blue-grade cultivation art. Most people can only dream of such an opportunity, he told himself, trying to lift his spirits under the crushing weight of that potential debt.
"I agree to the conditions. I accept the blue-grade cultivation art and also the rental services of the cultivation abode."
He decided to go with the latter because his own cultivation abode had only the barest of essentials. He had skimped on installing proper arrays, believing his cultivation realm was enough—and more importantly, he simply didn't have the surplus spirit stones to power high-grade formations, let alone hire a skilled formation master to set them up.
Given the state of his abode and the warning about being in a weakened state, Wen Yingjie thought it better not to risk it by being cheap. For all he knew, he could end up with the worst luck imaginable, with some scavengers breaking in and catching him off guard while he was in said weakened state.
That sort of thing was far from uncommon in the cultivation world, especially among rogue cultivators. Their abodes were often poorly protected, making them easy targets. Scavenging groups would track down injured rogues, storm their abodes, and loot everything, sometimes even killing the cultivator afterward.
That was why many seasoned rogue cultivators who didn't want to spend too much on their abodes often maintained privileged memberships with powerful inns or pavilions. These establishments guaranteed their guests' safety, so long as they remained within their grounds.
"Okay then. I'm happy to declare the case of Wen Yingjie vs. the Fallen Meteor Blacksmith Shop closed. Yi Jie, you'll handle settling Wen Yingjie in and making sure he has everything he needs," Yang Qing said as he brought his gavel down, signaling the official end of the case.
The sharp bang finally managed to snap Tan Delun out of his celebration with the spectres of the other Tan generational masters.
"Huh, is it over?" Tan Delun asked, laughing sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. In his reverie and jubilation, he had completely forgotten himself.
Yang Qing smiled. "Yes, it is. You can go home now. Everything has been settled."
Tan Delun nodded, his eyes lingering longingly on the saber being handed back to Wen Yingjie by Luo Meili. In his heart, this saber wasn't just a weapon—it was a treasure that held as much value to them as it did to Wen Yingjie. After all that saber was the culmination of the dream of seventeen generations of the Tan family. And now that dream was a reality.
He couldn't help but grow emotional at the sight. More than anything, he wanted to rush back and share the news with his father.
"I'll make sure to stop by the shop later, after I've dealt with everything, and let your dad see it." Seeing that Tan Delun's fervent look, it wasn't that hard to guess as to the young blacksmith's thoughts/
"Thank you," Tan Delun said, laughing sheepishly as he tried his best not to tear up.
The duo made their way out, with Yi Jie following behind, giving Wen Yingjie a few instructions on where to meet after his shift.