Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 408 The Banquet

“Junior Brother Sun, you don’t need to worry about your senior brothers and sisters. Their family background is much more substantial than ours.”

At this moment, Zhan Xiuying shook her head and smiled bitterly, pointing at Shen Qiuling and saying, "Senior Sister Shen said she went home to guard the gate, but do you know why she went home to guard the gate? Isn't it because there are too many demonic beasts, the Phoenix Crown Turkeys, at home, several thousand, and she can't manage them all, so she went home to inherit the family business?"

Phoenix Crown Turkey, like Giant Blue Ox, is a type of cheap monster meat found in the market.

This kind of monster can weigh up to 40 to 50 kilograms, has an extremely high meat yield, and its meat is firm and chewy. Most importantly, it is cheap, mild in nature, and plentiful, making it very popular among independent martial arts practitioners.

With several thousand crested turkeys, Shen Qiuling's family was considered one of the wealthiest in the neighborhood. "And then there's Senior Brother Guo An..." Zhan Xiuying scoffed, "Going back home to farm... everyone knows your family has dozens of acres of land planted with rare and highly nutritious medicinal herbs like white jade ginseng... a single ounce of white jade ginseng costs a fortune in gold notes..."

Sun Zheng was instantly dumbfounded. Just now, he had heard Shen Qiuling and Guo An complaining. One said she wanted to go home to guard the house, and the other said she wanted to go home to farm.

So, it seems like they were just trying to fool him?!

"Cough cough..." Shen Qiuling's pretty face flushed red, and she quickly took a sip of wine to cover it up. "Xiuying, doesn't your family also run a caravan business and take on apprentices to earn tuition fees? In the future, won't you have to go home and help your father manage your family business?"

Sun Zheng stared blankly at Zhan Xiuying.

So, I'm the only poor person here?!

Zhan Xiuying quickly protested, "Senior Sister Shen, how can our family's small security escort agency compare to your family's business? They're worlds apart!"

"Alright, alright, don't you know how my family's business was made?" Shen Qiuling rolled her eyes. "It was all accumulated bit by bit by me in the Nine-Bend Academy."

"What Senior Sister means..." Sun Zheng listened to their long explanation and began to understand.

“Hey, Junior Brother Sun, think about it. Actually, the benefits that Jingtian Manor provides to its inner court martial artists aren’t that generous. They’re much worse than the three great families of Huayang.”

But despite this, why do so many people still choose to stay inside the compound?

Shen Qiuling's words were pointed.

"Please speak, senior sister." Sun Zheng realized the key point; Shen Qiuling probably wanted to give him some pointers before she left.

"Sometimes, staying in the courtyard, besides some fixed benefits, can also have unimaginable potential advantages. After all, our Jingtian Manor is one of the five major powers in Yunzhou. With the help of this large platform, we have a lot of connections and resources, giving us an innate advantage."

Therefore, many people risked their lives to cultivate to the fourth level of true skill, choosing to stay in the inner courtyard. Afterwards, they would use this opportunity to develop their own businesses. "Your senior brother Guo and I both built our families up little by little in this way."

Shen Qiuling didn't hold back and explained it carefully.

"What I'm trying to say is that, Junior Brother Sun and Junior Brother Han, once you reach the fourth level of True Skill, if you don't have a good place to go, it's best to stay in the courtyard first."

She looked at Sun Zheng: "Especially you, Junior Brother Sun, your talent is not as good as Junior Brother Han's, so you should actively go out to participate in missions, accumulate wealth, and prepare for the future."

This is for your own good. If you can leave with a stable asset, you'll be able to make decisions easily, whether you stay or leave, or if you have other plans.

Her words were indeed a genuine expression of her feelings, spoken with sincerity.

“Accumulating assets…” Sun Zheng pondered for a moment, then asked in a low voice, “Senior Sister, but we don’t have any connections, so where should we start?”

He thought about it carefully, and indeed, he was well aware of his own talents and aptitude.

It's not bad, but there's not much hope of reaching the seventh level of true skill.

We really need to consider our options.

“It’s very simple.” Shen Qiuling smiled with narrowed eyes. “After you reach the fourth level of True Skill, the academy will usually assign you a position, either internal or external, depending on your choice. But in any case, by then, you will have a lot more free time.”

Many of our senior brothers and sisters in the Nine-Bend Academy own businesses in Huayang City, such as martial arts academies, rice shops, and clothing stores. You can certainly make friends with some of them while performing your duties, or even invest, cooperate, or become shareholders.”

“That’s right, Senior Sister Shen is right,” Guo An added. “Besides these, you can also communicate more with other disciples from other courtyards. Our Jingtian Manor is full of hidden talents, and there might be some disciples from wealthy families. If you build good relationships in advance, it will naturally be beneficial in the future.”

Back then, if you had been able to gain the favor of the head of the department and secure a long-term position such as a manager or supervisor, that would have been a very good path.

The group chatted enthusiastically about retirement and life in their old age.

Perhaps, in their view, staying at the Nine-Bend Academy is not for the purpose of cultivating real skills, but rather to make their future old age more comfortable.

Han Yi sat to the side, listening without saying a word, and silently ate his rice and vegetables.

He found it meaningless, or rather, not very useful to him.

His goal was simple, and there was only one: to cultivate the Nine-Bend Cold Yin Palm to the ninth level and obtain the opportunity to break through to the Grandmaster level.

Suddenly, as he was engrossed in eating, he felt someone watching him.

He frowned slightly and looked up. "Senior Sister Zhong, is something the matter?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Huh?" Zhong Han's face flushed slightly, and she quickly realized, "Han Yi, I remember you came from Pingzhou. Do you still have family with you?"

“Family…” Han Yi closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, and said with a wry smile, “If it were possible, I would like to have family…”

His expression was somewhat distressed, as if he was feeling unwell.

In fact, Zhong Han's question reminded him of things from the past.

If we're talking about family, Bai Sanren, Bai Qianxue... are undoubtedly his most cherished memories from the past.

Unfortunately, Pingzhou is currently in chaos due to the demonic calamity, transportation is inconvenient, and the exchange of tokens has been completely blocked.

He wasn't sure if he would ever see the two of them again in his lifetime.

After all, when they last received the letter, it seemed they were both in Pingzhou Prefecture…

"Ah, I'm sorry." Zhong Han realized at this moment that she seemed to have touched on someone's sadness and hurt.

However, she had only glanced at Han Yi a couple of times because she found it amusing to see him eating so intently, but who knew... she had said something without thinking...

Thinking of this, her cheeks turned even redder, though she wasn't sure if it was from the alcohol.