[Inquiry Topic: Fortune]
[Deduction complete. As the Fellow Daoist is affiliated with Red Flame Peak and often works in the Quenching and Forging Rooms, several possibilities are presented...]
Jiang Yi woke up and summoned the Celestial Book. His eyes reflected the dense, tadpole-like script.
He spent the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn to scan and digest the information, his thoughts churning:
'As expected, being in the Demon Dao means I have to be careful at the end of every month.
If it weren't for the Celestial Book's warning, how would I have known an Inner Sect Director was coming to Red Flame Peak for an inspection today? I might have faced a calamity.'
In response to Jiang Yi's question, the Celestial Book had provided an answer. After various deductions, a sign of danger had appeared on the golden paper.
"Inner Sect Disciple Xu Yan is in a foul mood. Be cautious and do not provoke him."
Jiang Yi silently committed this to memory. He got up, pushed the door open, left his room, and found He the Venerable, who was preparing to go to work.
"Brother He, do you know any Mortal Servants willing to work as a substitute? I've had some insights in my cultivation recently and want to take a day off to consolidate them."
He the Venerable was an old hand at this sort of thing. He was well-connected and knew people in every workhouse.
He said at once:
"Brother Yi, made some progress again? Tsk, looks like all that nourishment wasn't for nothing! Alright, leave it to me. But the price for a substitute..."
Jiang Yi smiled.
"I'll pay the going rate, no haggling."
It was a funny situation. Work on the Outer Sect's Four Peaks was grueling, and the Mortal Servants were worked like Cattle and Horses. Some of them tried every trick in the book to rest a little more and catch their breath.
But there were others who felt their own work wasn't enough. They were willing to take on extra jobs to earn more talisman-money.
This gave rise to the practice of "paying for a substitute worker."
A normal Mortal Servant, working a full four two-hour periods, would earn about fifty talisman-money a day. If they worked the entire month without a day off, they could receive a bit more.
But hiring a substitute, regardless of the workroom, cost at least eighty talisman-money. If the job was particularly strenuous, the price would rise to one hundred.
It was a truly money-losing deal.
Unless one's body really couldn't take it anymore and the Servant in charge wouldn't approve leave, it was rare to see anyone willing to spend money to have someone else work their shift.
"See? I was right. It's so much better to keep the talisman-money and spend it on yourself."
He the Venerable still thought Jiang Yi's recent comfortable life was because Luo Qian'er was out of the picture.
"I'll front the talisman-money for now, you can pay me back after work. Keep it up, Brother Yi! I'm still waiting for you to reach the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer."
He the Venerable meant it as a joke, but Jiang Yi nodded seriously.
"I certainly won't disappoint Brother He's expectations."
'I was just kidding, why are you taking it so seriously?'
'Someone at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer could become a Servant in charge of a workroom!'
'It's not that easy to achieve!'
He the Venerable was stunned for a moment. 'Brother Yi really is a bit dense,' he thought, 'with no sense of humor. No wonder he couldn't win Luo Qian'er's affection.'
He shook his head and went straight to work.
'Brother Yi's spending big this month. Next month is probably going to be tough for him.'
'Today he's hiring a substitute, but maybe soon he'll be working as a substitute for others.'
Seeing his fellow workers from the Big Mixed Courtyard all heading out, Jiang Yi finished his breakfast, wrapped himself in his dusty Daoist Robe, and hurried toward the villa at the foot of the mountain that belonged to Yang Xun's son.
The Qianji Sect was under the Demon Dao's rule, but it strictly followed the order of the Dharma Lineage and did not permit indiscriminate slaughter.
According to the so-called statutes of the Daoist Lineage, no matter the sect, any Cultivator who had entered a Dharma Lineage was forbidden from wantonly slaughtering cities, destroying nations, treating lives as worthless, or damaging leylines. Even if they did, they were required to provide compensation afterward.
Jiang Yi had once heard that a Demon Dao Sect Leader from the Beimang Ridge was engaged in Magical Combat. At a critical moment, he extracted the souls of an entire town's populace for a Refining Technique. After barely winning against his opponent, he had to forfeit his entire family fortune to pay the "fine."
"Daoist Lineage and Method..."
He mulled over those four words, feeling more and more that they held an extraordinary meaning.
The area around the Qianji Sect was densely populated. Many Mortal Servants, after completing their term of service, descended the mountain with enough talisman-money to fill their pockets. They would simply settle down locally, starting businesses catering to the Cultivators on the mountain, and gradually formed towns and villages.
'Having a father who's a Servant doesn't guarantee entry into the Inner Sect, but it at least ensures a comfortable life on the Outer Peak, free from bullying.
Too bad Young Master Yang is the passionate type. Of all the people to fall for, he had to fall for his own father's young concubine.'
Jiang Yi complained inwardly.
Yang Zhi had fallen for that young concubine, who was his father's consort—colloquially known as his "stepmother."
He had learned of this secret between the Yang Family father and son through the Celestial Book's guidance.
Yang Xun hadn't let outsiders know, not wanting to air the family's dirty laundry.
The affair had created an awkward situation between father and son, so Yang Zhi had simply moved out to live alone at the foot of the mountain.
'This works out perfectly for me. If I were on Red Flame Peak, I wouldn't be able to get that Ninth Grade Qi Cultivation Technique even if I knew where it was.'
Jiang Yi moved with great speed and reached the foot of the mountain smoothly, without any trouble along the way.
The villa was near the marketplace. Its main gate was locked tight, and it was silent inside, clearly having been uninhabited for a long time.
At the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, with his strong muscles and sturdy bones, hopping over a wall was a simple matter.
As if he were returning to his own home, Jiang Yi, familiar with the layout, pushed open the door to the study.
A moment later, he retrieved the Ninth Grade Qi Cultivation Technique he had been yearning for from a hidden compartment in the bookshelf.
The *Little Refining Yuan Fire Control Technique*.
'If only this were a Jade Scroll.'
Jiang Yi had heard a tidbit of information from He the Venerable's idle chatter.
When Inner Sect Disciples cultivated High Grade techniques, they could just press a Jade Scroll to their forehead to brand the information into their minds, making it impossible to forget.
There was no need to memorize, recite, or mull over the profound meanings themselves.
After obtaining the cultivation technique, Jiang Yi didn't immediately return to Red Flame Peak. Instead, he rented a high-class room at an inn in the marketplace.
'The *Little Refining Yuan Fire Control Technique* is basically 'stolen goods.' I can't explain where I got it, so it can't see the light of day.
I should just memorize it, cultivate it, and then destroy the book.'
Jiang Yi thought to himself.
He had always abided by the principle of "steadiness." Being in the Demon Dao, he tried his best to avoid any missteps.
'The *True Meridian Qi Flowing Technique* is ungraded, the most basic, unranked kind of cultivation technique.
I wonder what the real difference is between an unranked technique and a Ninth Grade one.'
Jiang Yi closed the door to his room, instructed the waiter not to disturb him, and immediately settled his mind to look through the *Little Refining Yuan Fire Control Technique*.