Chapter 106: Audit Qualification

When Wenqing first descended to the mortal realm, it was solely because of his master. After all, his teacher had been missing for over ten thousand years. Finally meeting him again, Wenqing hoped that by visiting often, he might persuade his master to return to the Upper Realm.

But unexpectedly, not only did his master refuse to go back—he himself wanted to stay.

To stay and attend class.

Seriously.

At first, after reading the Detailed Analysis of the Mystic Heart Sutra, Wenqing had already been stunned beyond words. But later, out of curiosity, he listened in on one of Bai Yu’s lectures—and from that moment on, his resolve was unshakable.

No one could stop him.

He was staying to study!

Because this was no ordinary lecture—this was a divine academy!

He had never imagined that cultivation techniques could be explained like this.

Every step of training was described in detail—the progression of stages, possible bottlenecks, unexpected side effects, even the exact direction and intensity of spiritual energy flow. Everything was clearly laid out.

And most incredible of all—there was psychological counseling.

Yes, that was the term his little martial-niece used. At first, he didn’t understand, but soon he realized—it was essentially cultivation of the mind.

Every cultivator knew that beyond talent and comprehension, the most crucial element was mental state. Without a steady heart, even centuries of hard work were wasted. But controlling one’s mind was always the hardest thing of all.

Yet somehow, Yun Jiao and Bai Yu could.

He didn’t even know how, but after listening to a few of their stories, he found himself naturally following their thought process. Everything suddenly seemed reasonable and right.

And then… his cultivation level rose.

Wenqing was utterly shocked. It felt like if he kept listening, anyone could become as powerful as their Seventh Brother!

And they didn’t just teach the Mystic Heart Sutra—there were other techniques too.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

He had to stay! Absolutely, definitely, without question!

But unfortunately—

“Eh, Venerable Wenqing,” Bai Yu said kindly, sipping his tea. “Seniority aside, rules are rules. Even though we’re all family, tuition still needs to be paid.” His tone was solemn, like an honest old administrator. “Our Qingyang Sect has always treated everyone equally. If we let people skip fees through connections, the whole system collapses. Old Zhou’s been my friend for decades, and he still paid full price! You, as a heavenly venerable, should set a good example for your juniors, right, girl?”

Yun Jiao nodded seriously, wearing the same grave expression. “Venerable Wenqing, I’m sure you understand. We’re a private institution, not a charity. If we don’t collect tuition, we can’t even afford meals—and you’ve seen how big the Patriarch’s appetite is. We really wouldn’t want to upset him.”

Translation: Pay up.

The corner of Wenqing’s mouth twitched. Looking at the two standing by the door, he suddenly felt less like a visiting scholar and more like someone trying to dine and dash.

“Ah, that’s all? Just some silver?” He waved his hand dismissively, full of immortal dignity. “No problem. Tell me—how much?”

The two exchanged a look, then whipped out a calculator—well, an abacus—and began tallying seriously.

“Let’s see… you’ll be attending in-person lessons, so that’s a special training surcharge—one hundred taels. Since we’re family, we’ll give a discount on tuition, say, three hundred taels. Add in registration and miscellaneous fees—five hundred. To make it easy, we’ll round it up—one thousand taels total. Sound fair?”

“Fine!” Wenqing agreed instantly. He looked around, then strode to the ornamental rockery in the courtyard. With a flick of his fingers, he formed a seal and pressed his hand to the stone.

A flash of white light—

And the dull gray stone began to gleam gold. The golden hue spread like molten sunlight, until within seconds, the entire rockery had transformed into a glittering mountain of gold.

“Turn stone to gold!” Bai Yu gasped, eyes bulging. “Truly the means of an immortal—an actual gold mountain!”

(⊙ o ⊙)

Wenqing stroked his beard and smiled serenely. “My dear juniors, will this gold mountain cover my tuition?”

Bai Yu was about to nod when Yun Jiao’s expression turned stern. She shook her head. “No.”

“Why not?” Wenqing blinked. A mountain of solid gold—wasn’t that worth far more than a mere thousand taels?

Yun Jiao sighed and asked solemnly, “Venerable Wenqing, have you ever heard of inflation?”

“…Infl-what?” Was that some kind of magical artifact?

Bai Yu looked equally confused.

Yun Jiao rubbed her temples, feeling the weight of an intellectual abyss between her and this world. Taking a deep breath, she patiently explained, “Alright, listen. The amount of currency in circulation should be limited. If too much is produced, it causes devaluation and general price inflation. In other words, by casually creating gold like that, you’ve disrupted the economic balance. It looks valuable, but in reality, it’s not. That’s what we call inflation. Understand?”

Bai Yu: “…”

Wenqing: “…”

They didn’t understand a word—but it sounded very impressive.

Yun Jiao’s face hardened. “In short, I don’t accept counterfeit gold. Thank you.”

“No, wait! It’s real gold!” Wenqing protested in panic. “My spell is genuine!”

“If it’s conjured, I don’t take it,” she said flatly. “If I could use conjured gold, I’d have asked the Patriarch to make some ages ago. As disciples of the righteous path, we must firmly oppose acts that destabilize the economy! You want to pay tuition? Earn it yourself. No shortcuts!”

This was principle.

Wenqing: “…”

Why did it feel like his integrity was being judged?

Still, he slowly realized what she meant. She wanted mortal-earned money, not conjured gold.

But how was a centuries-old immortal supposed to make money in the mortal world?!

For the first time in his long immortal life, Wenqing tasted the sorrow of being broke.

——————

In the end, Wenqing still managed to secure audit status—thanks to Yun Jiao’s upcoming alchemy studies.

The temple didn’t have a furnace, and it just so happened that his main cultivation specialty was forging. Crafting a furnace was easy for him.

So he offered to make one in exchange for temporary class access.

Well… “temporary” with conditions.

He still had to pay tuition later—after all, he’d signed a promissory note.

Wenqing looked at his name on the IOU and felt a swirl of emotions. How had his dignified immortal self fallen so far? But for the sake of attending class, he handed it over.

Yun Jiao glanced at it, nodded, and tucked it away. “Good. You can start sitting in tomorrow. Oh, and—how long will the furnace take?”

“One night will suffice.” A simple mortal-grade alchemy furnace was nothing to him.

He paused, then frowned curiously. “By the way, Little Martial-niece, since you’re studying alchemy, why not ask Master for a furnace? He clearly values you deeply—surely he’d provide one.”

“The Patriarch?” Yun Jiao blinked, answering matter-of-factly, “He’s busy.”

“Busy?” Wenqing repeated blankly. He hadn’t seen his master all day. Could it be that he was in seclusion, studying some transcendent divine art?

“Not really,” Yun Jiao replied solemnly. “He’s kneading dough. The biscuits he baked last time ran out, and I’m busy grading papers, so I told him to make them himself. He’s been at it all morning—it should be about done by now. Oh, right—remind the old man to go fetch them later.”

Wenqing: “…”

You’ve got to be kidding me!!!

(￣△￣；)

(End of Chapter)