Dao of Money

Chen Ren breathed in, looking around his star space, and felt happiness spread through his chest. After months of worrying—hoping the cracks wouldn’t get worse—he had finally managed to heal it. For the first time since the dragon had warned him, his star space didn’t have a single crack. Not one.

Reaching the second step of body cultivation had fixed the balance in a way he hadn’t expected. He hadn’t even realised it at the time because Princess Yanyue had stepped into the sect right after his breakthrough, interrupting practically everything. But now, standing here, he could feel it clearly. His body felt like it had changed entirely. The next morning after the first round of negotiations with the princess, he had woken up feeling… new. Rejuvenated. Every breath made him feel lighter, stronger, and filled his limbs with more energy than he had ever felt in his life.

He had even wanted to try breaking into the foundation establishment realm immediately. His body felt ready for it. Unfortunately, that idea had died the moment the negotiations stretched far longer than he expected.

Princess Yanyue, for all her politeness, argued like someone who had spent her whole life getting her way. What he thought would take a few hours ended up dragging across three entire days. Every time Chen Ren pushed for something concrete, she insisted that the treasures in the Pagoda of Eternity should be “reward enough.” But Chen Ren had no intention of relying on luck or fate. If he was stepping foot into a deadly ancient pagoda, he wanted benefits guaranteed.

So he pushed back. Hard.

The first thing he demanded was the status of an Established sect. With that title, everything would change—tax benefits, formal recognition, recruitment, access to better resources. It would open doors to places normally closed to newly formed sects like his.

With Established-sect status, he could finally attend major auctions, buy materials from official government sources, and even send disciples to inter-sect tournaments that only Established and Guardian sects participated in. All of that meant a lot of growth and power.

And Chen Ren wasn’t about to settle for anything less.

From what Qing He had told him, those benefits would be huge for the Divine Coin Sect. Yes, it looked like a massive leap—too fast, too ambitious—but Chen Ren knew the truth: they were already earning at the level of an Established sect. Their income, their influence, even the number of people wanting to join them… all of it was rising every month. And with time, it would only grow.

Besides, having the label of an “Established sect” would make business far easier. Deals, purchases, partnerships—everything would become smoother. Of course, it also meant more scrutiny from the other sects, and possibly jealousy. But since Chen Ren had already decided to go into the Pagoda of Eternity, he wasn’t too worried. If he performed well inside, the prestige alone would be enough to protect both his sect and Meadow Village.

Still, he hadn’t stopped at that. He pushed for more—access to the royal library, any information Princess Yanyue had regarding the Dao of Money, and anything else that could benefit his sect members. But she refused to promise any of that. Even after three days of back-and-forth negotiations, she didn’t budge an inch.

In the end, they agreed she would only consider giving him access and information after he retrieved the book she wanted from the pagoda.

That was fine by Chen Ren. He had gone into the negotiations wanting just one thing which was the Established sect promotion. Everything else he demanded afterwards was simply him trying to squeeze every advantage he could out of the chance.

Princess Yanyue clearly understood that as well, which was why she added her condition in return.

City Lord Li Baolong had left the moment the negotiations wrapped up, giving Chen Ren a few final pieces of advice, wishing him luck, and asking him to keep an eye on Li Xuan inside the pagoda. The young man would be representing the Soaring Sword Sect among the disciples entering it.

But even after Li Baolong returned to Cloud Most City, the princess did not give Chen Ren a moment of rest. She stayed, and she used the next two days to explain everything she knew about the Pagoda of Eternity—its structure, its dangers, its rules, and all the information she had gathered from the cultivator’s journal.

It turned out that Princess Yanyue’s knowledge only covered the first few floors of the pagoda, but even that was more information than Chen Ren had expected. And the more he listened, the more confident he became. His dao would be incredibly useful inside. That alone gave him a boost of confidence he didn’t know he needed.

But it also made something else very clear: the pagoda wouldn’t be easy.

Princess Yanyue had explained, in detail, that all four Guardian sects would be sending their strongest young disciples. Several Established sects would join as well. On top of that, rogue cultivators—unpredictable and ambitious—would definitely try their luck inside. According to her, Chen Ren shouldn’t trust anyone except the people under her. Established sects might not openly bow to the Guardian sects, but they always wanted to impress them. And rogue cultivators… he already knew they were unreliable at best.

So the Divine Coin Sect would mostly be on its own.

After hearing everything she had to offer, Chen Ren finally told her his plans about going into closed-door cultivation to break into the foundation establishment realm. He expected her to leave the village or return to the capital. Instead, she surprised him again. She insisted on staying until they left for the pagoda, saying she wanted to spend time with Qing He.

What relationship they had, Chen Ren still had no idea. And knowing Qing He, she would never give him a straight answer.

Thinking about all of that, Chen Ren let out a long sigh. Part of him wondered if he was getting dragged into a world of politics far above his level. But he had made an agreement, and there was no backing out now.

So he focused on what mattered. He steadied his breathing, gathered himself, and turned his full attention toward the stars within his star space.

It was time to take the next step in his cultivation.

With a single mental command, all the qi stored inside his stars began to stream toward him. Like rivers breaking past a dam, they surged down into his body. He started cautiously, pulling only from the noodle business star first. If there were any hidden side effects, he wanted to see them early.

Nothing happened.

He breathed in, guiding the qi around his dantian. The quality wasn’t the strongest, but it filled him with steady energy. He made sure it didn’t rush directly into his core. Foundation establishment wasn’t about flooding one place. It was about grounding the entire body until it was solid as bedrock. Balance mattered more than quantity.

So he pushed the qi everywhere—through his meridians, muscles, bones, organs—letting it circulate evenly.

When the qi from the food stall star dimmed, he reached for the next. The perfume business. Then the cloth one. One after another, he absorbed them all. As each star dimmed, another stream poured into him. And as the qi grew heavier and denser, Chen Ren noticed something important: he could handle more. Far more than before.

He inhaled sharply, drawing it all in.

Halfway through, a sharp pain pierced through his abdomen—his dantian stretching, straining, trying to grow to match the sudden surge of energy. Yet he didn’t slow down. Pain had always been part of breaking through. It only meant he was progressing.

Sweat dripped down his skin. A thin, dark layer of impurities seeped out from his meridians. His body was purging everything useless, burning it away to make room for something stronger.

When the stars tied to his mortal businesses finally dimmed completely, he moved on to the alcohol business star. The qi there was richer, more potent, and it slammed into him like a wave. His meridians trembled under the pressure, impurities surging out faster.

It reminded him of the beast bath except there was no cold this time. Only warmth. A deep, comforting warmth that wrapped around him from the inside as his body slowly reshaped itself.

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The pain intensified. Each cycle of qi pushed him closer, and closer, and closer to the edge of the breakthrough.

And Chen Ren didn’t stop.

He kept drawing more qi in, letting it crash through him, letting it temper every inch of his being as the moment of foundation establishment approached.

But Chen Ren held himself together and shifted to absorb the qi from his alchemy business, and the moment it entered him, it hit like a boulder. It wasn’t just potent; it was overwhelming, the strongest qi he had ever pulled into his body. He could only imagine how many cultivators had bought his pills for it to gather in such density. For a moment, he genuinely wondered if he could handle it. The qi didn’t just rush into his dantian—it tore through every corner of his body, filling his limbs, bones, and meridians until they screamed under the strain.

His dantian felt as if it might explode.

But at the same time… he felt close. Incredibly close. One step away from foundation establishment. If he stopped now, if he hesitated even for a breath, the backlash would crush him. Qi deviation was certain. So Chen Ren clenched down on the pain, grounding himself with pure will, and guided the qi carefully.

He took it in chunks, forcing each portion to settle before drawing in the next. Every time he adjusted, his body trembled yet he endured. When he felt himself stabilize, he pushed another chunk in. And then another.

The astral space of his dantian expanded, stretching wider with every cycle. His meridians widened too, no longer thin channels but thickened pathways capable of holding far more qi than before. Pain struck like needles with each expansion, and sweat soaked his back and chest.

But Chen Ren loved it.

Even through the discomfort, he savored the feeling. There was something profoundly satisfying about knowing that everything he’d built—his businesses, his sect, the risks he’d taken—had all led him to this moment. A breakthrough he had earned with every step.

He’d doubted himself at times. Any sane person would have. Starting a sect as a low realmed cultivator in the middle of a village, standing up to cultivators far above his realm—all of it was ridiculous in hindsight. But he had endured every challenge, and now he was enduring this one.

His body changed with every breath. Far more than when he had stepped into the second step of body cultivation. This was deeper and more structural. His foundation was reforming, reforging itself from the inside out.

And Chen Ren welcomed every second of it.

All the qi in the star space was slowly absorbed into him, drawn in strand by strand until nothing was left coating the stars above. He inhaled deeply, guiding every drop of qi through his body, letting it expand his dantian and stretch his meridians all at once. The pressure built, rising higher and higher until something finally cracked inside his mind.

It felt like he had been punching a wall for hours. But now, at last, he felt a hairline fracture appear. He didn’t stop. Chen Ren struck again, and again, and again. More cracks raced across the unseen wall, splintering outward… and then, with a final push, the entire thing shattered.

A roar of energy erupted out of him.

It blasted through his room, rolled across the sect grounds, and even swept through the entire village like a pulse of invisible thunder.

Foundation establishment realm. He had reached it.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was his star space collapsing around him—not breaking, but fading. He had burned through all his mental strength forcing the breakthrough, and now the space dissolved gently like mist. He tried to scan it for any cracks or damage, but saw none. The balance still held.

He blinked once, and the next second he was back in his room.

He wasn’t even sure when he had fallen over, but he was sprawled across the wooden floor, staring up at the ceiling. Sweat dripped down the side of his face, and the bitter taste of it touched his lips. He looked down at himself and grimaced. His clothes were completely ruined, soaked with impurities he’d expelled during the breakthrough.

And that was after everything he’d already purged during his body cultivation advancement. Just how many impurities did he still have?

Chen Ren pushed an arm under himself, trying to sit up when a face suddenly appeared inches from his own.

He almost swung on instinct.

But then he recognised her. Whiskers. Fur. Amber eyes.

Yalan.

She looked down at him, her expression unreadable, before finally speaking. “So you finally broke into the foundation establishment realm.”

Chen Ren pushed himself up on an elbow. “I did. Were you… waiting here for me to do that?”

“No. You released a wave of qi when you broke through. Anyone in the sect who can sense qi already knows. The mortals probably just felt an unfamiliar pressure and got scared.”

Chen Ren nodded slowly, finally managing to sit upright. He forced himself away from the pile of expelled impurities on the floor and stumbled toward a chair. Yalan hopped lightly onto the bed and watched him.

“So you came to see my new strength?” he asked, brushing dried sweat from his brow.

“No,” Yalan said flatly. “I have no interest in your strength.”

He blinked. “Then why are you here?”

“Because,” she said, tilting her head, “you have a problem on your hands.”

Chen Ren frowned. “What happened now? I thought things were going well. We don’t have any enemies hovering over our heads, do we?”

“No,” Yalan said. “We don’t. But there is the matter of who you’re taking to the Pagoda of Eternity. If you don’t know, you have been cultivating for two days now and that left the princess alone to do whatever she wanted.”

A bad feeling crawled up Chen Ren’s spine.

He’d assumed—foolishly—that Princess Yanyue would simply stay in her room until they were ready to depart for the Corpse Lands. He should have known better.

His voice came out dry. “What… Did she do?”

Yalan sighed. “Nothing much. Just wandered around, talked to every cultivator in the sect, and in the process met Anji.”

Chen Ren froze.

“And somehow,” Yalan continued, “she learned Anji is a soul cultivator… and managed to convince her to join her to enter the pagoda.” She looked directly at him, eyes narrowing.

“I wonder,” she said, “what you are going to do about that.”

***

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