Dao of Money

The meeting with Xiangrui left Chen Ren with far too much to think about, but he knew the questions swirling in his mind wouldn’t solve themselves by mere contemplation.

Due to that, after a long discussion with Princess Yanyue, the two of them decided it was time to move on to the sixth floor, with a clear objective in mind—head straight for the grand library on the upper floors as fast as they could.

Before leaving, however, Chen Ren chose to do a bit of preparation.

After all, the entire point of gathering information was to make sure he and his people could plan ahead rather than stumble blindly into danger. With that in mind, he went on a brief shopping spree through Goldspire City. Any item that looked even remotely useful against zombies found its way into his spatial ring—fire-based artifacts, disposable weapons, armour and anything that could deal with hordes rather than single enemies.

More importantly, he bought return tickets.

A lot of them.

They weren’t selling particularly well at the moment, so their prices hadn’t gone up. Most cultivators were eager to climb upward, not retreat, but Chen Ren knew better. Once the reality of the sixth floor set in, demand would skyrocket. He wanted at least a hundred tickets secured before that happened.

By the time he was done, it had cost him thousands of tokens.

His ranking dropped almost immediately, sliding from the very top down to thirties.

That was okay with him.

Once the shopping was finished, he didn’t linger for even a moment longer on the fifth floor. Together with Princess Yanyue, he headed straight for the lift. As always, she was accompanied by her royal guards, though she had left a few behind to continue overseeing artifact production and helping out at the shop.

He, on the other hand, was noticeably short-handed.

Anji had chosen to remain on the fifth floor, staying behind to manage the shop alongside Du Rensheng. She had no interest in facing endless zombie hordes, and in truth, her gun and soul-based attacks weren’t well suited for that kind of battlefield anyway.

Tau Liu and the rest of the Jadefire Hall disciples had also refused to accompany him.

When he had asked them to come along, Tau Liu had gone visibly pale, muttering that he was far better off making pills in the cradle of civilization than walking into a land overrun by the undead. The rest of Jadefire Hall had nodded along without hesitation, and Chen Ren hadn’t pressed the issue. In truth, it was better this way. Someone needed to remain behind to maintain stability, and the fifth floor was still the safest place they had access to.

In the end, only Zi Wen came with him—along with little Yuze and Whiskey—followed by Yalan and the twins. With Goldspire City being completely secure, the twins had no reason to stay behind to protect Anji, and they were eager to climb higher in search of resources. Wang Jun, of course, was with him as well, silent as ever, resting against his hip as they made their way toward the lift.

The lift was located at the very edge of the city.

As they approached, Chen Ren noticed the number of guards steadily increase. Patrols were everywhere, far more concentrated than in the inner districts. A few cultivators lingered nearby as well, hovering around the area with conflicted expressions, but none of them looked like they possessed the tokens needed to move on. Only Guardian sects and major clans could afford such costs, and even then, they couldn’t send everyone. Only the strongest, or the most valued, were going to venture forward.

When the lift finally came into view, a solid wall of guards stood before it.

Chen Ren didn’t recognize any of them, which told him everything he needed to know. These weren’t regular city guards—they were stationed here exclusively to protect the lift.

As their group stopped, the largest of the guards stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over them before he spoke.

“Do you have the tokens?”

Princess Yanyue stepped ahead without hesitation. “Yes.”

“Transfer them to me.”

She complied immediately. The moment the tokens transferred, the guard stiffened, his posture straightening as his expression shifted. After a brief pause, he stepped aside and gestured toward the platform.

“You may board the lift.”

One by one, the rest of the royal guards followed suit, giving them the tokens and moving forward.

One by one, they stepped onto the lift with Chen Ren boarding last. Fortunately, none of the guards reacted to Wang Jun at his side. The old man seemed to go completely still, as if deliberately suppressing its presence, until the platform finally shuddered and began to rise.

As the lift ascended, Chen Ren moved to the side and sat down, resting his back against the cold railing. Yalan soon joined him, while the others gathered toward the center.

“There’s a good chance we get attacked by a zombie horde the moment we reach the sixth floor,” Chen Ren muttered.

Yalan snorted softly in his mind. “From what you learned, I’m sure there’ll be hordes everywhere we go.”

“Exactly,” Chen Ren replied. “Which is why I’m trying to figure out the easiest way to kill a lot of them.”

“I’d just burn them all,” Yalan said without hesitation.

“That’s one way,” Chen Ren admitted, “but if the entire floor is flooded with undead, there’s only so much we can burn. And I don’t think every undead will be the same. Xiangrui mentioned some of them gained sentience.”

Yalan tilted her head, studying him. “Then what are you planning to do? You must have something in mind.”

Chen Ren went quiet.

Truthfully, he’d spent far more time thinking about how to deal with the Zombie Queen and reach the lift than about handling endless hordes of zombies. When no answer came, he finally shook his head.

“Honestly? I don’t have one,” he said. “I guess we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

Yalan purred, accepting that without comment. At his side, Wang Jun let out a low grunt, muttering under his breath.

Ahead of them, the portal began to come into view, its light growing brighter with every second.

Chen Ren closed his eyes, bracing himself against the glare and once it passed and they were through, a sharp chill brushed past him, crawling over his skin like icy fingers.

He sucked in a breath.

When he opened his eyes, a vast desert stretched out in every direction.

But it wasn’t a normal desert.

The sand beneath their feet was black, as if burned and ground down into ash, stretching for hundreds of miles under a dim, lifeless sky. Worse than that, the moment Chen Ren breathed in, his brows furrowed. There was no trace of qi in the air—only demonic qi, thick and oppressive, clinging to his lungs.

It was even worse than the Corpse Lands.

The demonic qi here was denser, heavier, to the point that Chen Ren could already imagine his dantian screaming in protest after a few weeks of exposure. Purifying qi under such conditions wouldn’t be easy at all. If anything, it would be a constant drain. Another problem to add to the growing list.

As he scanned the horizon, Princess Yanyue’s voice cut through the silence.

“Sect Leader Chen.”

He turned immediately, walking back toward the group. “Looks like we’re in for a far rougher time than what Xiangrui described,” he said grimly. “The demonic qi is far worse than I expected.”

Zi Wen nodded in agreement. “Yes. Even Little Yuze is on edge.”

Chen Ren glanced toward the massive wolf. Little Yuze was already tense, eyes locked on the distant horizon, muscles coiled as if expecting an attack at any moment. In contrast, Whiskey, perched on his back, looked almost relaxed, head tilted, eyes wide with curiosity, as though the bleak landscape fascinated him.

“I don’t see anything nearby,” Princess Yanyue said, scanning the empty wasteland. “We should start moving and cover distance. According to City Lord Xiangrui, the sentient undead reside in a ruined city. If we can find that, we’ll be close to the lift.”

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Chen Ren nodded. It was a solid plan.

He was about to voice his agreement when something in the distance caught his eye.

He immediately pointed past Princess Yanyue and said calmly, “I believe some guests have come to welcome us.”

At once, everyone turned.

In the far distance, a massive dust cloud was rising into the air, rolling across the black sands like an approaching storm. And right in front of it was—

A horde.

A vast, shambling mass of zombies surged forward, their shadows were jagged and uneven against the horizon. Even from this distance, Chen Ren could tell there were at least several hundred of them. Possibly a thousand.

The scene sent shivers down his spine.

City Lord Xiangrui had warned them they would be greeted like this the moment they arrived, but Chen Ren hadn’t expected this many.

Everyone reacted instantly.

The royal guards snapped into formation around Princess Yanyue, weapons drawn in smooth motions.

The twins moved closer to Chen Ren without a word, while Zi Wen shifted his stance, already ready to mount Little Yuze.

Chen Ren, however, remained relaxed. He turned his head slightly toward Princess Yanyue and said, “Your guards should take the front with Zi Wen and Little Yuze. We’ll assist from the back.”

She nodded without hesitation. “That will be good.”

All but two of her guards immediately moved toward the edge of the lift, forming a tight forward line, blades gleaming faintly with qi.

Within seconds, the first row of zombies reached them.

With a shout, the royal guards surged forward, meeting the horde head-on. At the same time, Little Yuze let out a thunderous howl as Zi Wen leapt onto his back.

The massive wolf bounded forward, crashing down onto the front ranks of the undead and crushing several beneath his weight.

Chen Ren watched calmly from the rear.

He had to admit—the royal guards were terrifying. Their coordination rivaled that of the Guardian sects. Spears, blades, and halberds moved with them in formations, cutting down zombies in synchronized waves. It was a sight he would never forget.

What followed were heads, bodies and loud screeches of the horde. They tried to claw and tear at exposed flesh, only to be met with clean, merciless strikes.

In moments, the black sand in front of them was already littered with broken, twitching corpses.

Those that managed to slip past the front line and crawl up toward the lift were dealt with swiftly by the twins.

Li Qingxue’s bowstring sang again and again, each arrow punching cleanly through rotting skulls and pinning corpses to the black sand. Any zombie she missed was immediately finished by Li Qingfeng, who moved like a shadow at her side, blades flashing as he cut them down before they could take another step.

Chen Ren didn’t need to move.

Neither did Princess Yanyue.

She too, stood calmly at the center of the lift, gazing down at the carnage with a composed expression, as if she had already known how this would end the moment the horde appeared. It was clear she had absolute confidence in her guards. And the zombies themselves were nothing more than mindless mobs—screeching, clawing, and flailing, desperately trying to land even a single hit before being cut apart.

Still, Chen Ren found himself a little disappointed.

He would have liked to see Princess Yanyue fight. Even now, he had no real idea of her abilities. All he knew was that she was somewhere in the middle of the foundation establishment realm, which, honestly, told him very little.

Realizing he likely wouldn’t need to interfere, Chen Ren shifted his focus. His gaze swept across the horde as it was steadily massacred, his mind already turning.

He didn’t plan to stay glued to Princess Yanyue for the entirety of the sixth floor. And despite City Lord Xiangrui claiming there was nothing of value here, Chen Ren wasn’t convinced.

He also wanted to see if Wang Jun remembered anything, but with Princess Yanyue and her guards present, he couldn’t openly speak to him.

As the horde thinned, Yalan’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

“What are you thinking?”

Chen Ren replied calmly, “Just about the horde. You know, the sixth floor might actually be the best place to farm tokens.”

There was a brief pause before Yalan responded, “How so?”

Chen Ren’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Let me see how much a zombie is worth first.”

As he finished speaking, he raised a finger and pointed toward a zombie that had managed to crawl onto the left edge of the lift. A small arc of lightning snapped from his fingertip, streaking through the air and slamming into the undead creature.

The lightning bolt pierced straight through the monster’s chest. The zombie shuddered once before collapsing onto the edge of the lift, its body tumbling down moments later.

It didn’t even get the chance to rise again—Little Yuze sprawled forward, spewing flames from his mouth and reducing it to ash along with more than a dozen nearby zombies.

Chen Ren immediately checked his token count.

Ten, he noted, then looked at Yalan and said in his mind,

“Ten tokens per zombie.”

“That’s not much,” Yalan replied without hesitation.

“It isn’t,” Chen Ren agreed, “but look at the horde. There are thousands of them. Multiply it out and that’s a massive amount of tokens. It just doesn’t look like much because the kills are being split between so many people.”

Yalan paused before answering. “Maybe. But taking on a horde alone would be hard for any cultivator in the pagoda. It’s too risky, especially on the sixth floor.”

Chen Ren went silent.

He knew she was right. Jumping straight into the middle of a horde was suicide. Even so, the thought wouldn’t leave him alone. This was simply too many tokens to ignore.

As the horde continued to thin, zombies falling one after another, Chen Ren kept thinking. Over and over. He knew brute force wouldn’t work. But there had to be a way—something more efficient, something smarter.

His mind went over multiple ways to deal with it, when an idea struck.

He recalled how the horde had charged mindlessly toward them, driven by nothing but instinct. His gaze shifted to Wang Jun, who remained silent at his hip. The idea formed slowly at first, but the more he turned it over in his mind, the more viable it seemed.

Chen Ren turned toward Yalan. She lifted a paw slightly, as if asking what?

He smiled faintly.

“I think I’ve got something to test.”

***

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