Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 737: Chapter 463: Management

As time frittered away, years passed by like the swift release of a bowstring, and in the blink of an eye, thirty years had gone by.

Thirty years later, in the Western District of the Federation, Atlan City.

“Welcome to the Cultivators’ Guild. How may I assist you?”

In the splendid and majestic hall, people bustled to and fro, forming a dense crowd, yet they tacitly upheld public order, with scarcely any noise or commotion.

Fang Yuan approached a service window and saw a staff member with an Eastern visage, which alleviated the alienation he felt in a foreign land. He said gravely, “I’m here to sell some pills.”

“Very well!”

The female clerk nodded and inquired, “May I ask what quality rank the pills are?”

Feeling a slight warmth on his face, Fang Yuan replied, “They are mostly First Rank, with a few unranked ordinary pills.”

The clerk smiled and said, “For pills below the second quality rank, we can count and appraise them here at the counter. How many would you like to sell?”

“Just these.”

Fang Yuan opened his backpack, took out several bottles of pills, and placed them on the counter.

The clerk counted them and then said, “Twelve Yellow Bud Pills, nine Muhuan Pills, five Xuanqi Pills, and thirty-one Qi Supplement Pills, all of quality standard. The purchase price will be one thousand five hundred and sixty-two lower-tier Spirit Stones, with the option to convert half into Guild Points. Would you prefer Spirit Stones or…”

“Points, convert all that can be converted to points!”

Fang Yuan took over the conversation, “Additionally, I’d like to purchase some seeds and Spiritual Fertilizer, as well as a Magic Artifact-level Pill Furnace and the accompanying Alchemy Equipment. Preferably in stock. Do you have any recommendations?”

“Indeed!”

The clerk nodded, pulled out a tablet, and opened the shopping interface: “Our Cultivators’ Guild offers high-quality Spirit Seeds and Potent Spiritual Fertilizer supplied by Wandao Academy with a guarantee of quality and a favorable price.”

“As for the Pill Furnace Magic Artifact, we recently received a batch of Greenwood Cauldrons, also directly supplied by Wandao Academy as fine Magic Artifacts. There is an ongoing promotion with free complementary equipment. Here are the detailed introductions; you can have a look.”

“…”

Fang Yuan took the tablet and, after perusing the detailed descriptions of the Greenwood Cauldron and assessing his financial situation, his expression turned somewhat sheepish: “This… I would like to apply for installment payments.”

“Certainly!” @@novelbin@@

The clerk smiled, unconcerned: “Mr. Fang, you are a member of our guild and hold the qualifications of a First Rank Alchemy Master, fully meeting the conditions for installment payments. Moreover, if you can repay the full amount within three months, we will waive the interest.”

“That would be wonderful!”

Fang Yuan sighed in relief: “I’ll take the Greenwood Cauldron, these First Rank Spirit Seeds, and a batch of Spiritual Fertilizer.”

“Very well. Would you like us to deliver the Spiritual Fertilizer to your home?”

“No need, I drove here.”

“…”

After a round of shopping, Fang Yuan left the Cultivator’s Guild, backpack on his back and Pill Furnace in hand, thoroughly satisfied.

Thirty years had flown by, bringing another wave of change to the world.

Martial Arts, Taoism, Cultivation, Qi Refinement – these transcendent powers were no longer the hidden secrets accessible only to the few. Instead, they had officially been laid before the public.

This was especially true in the Eastern District, where under the robust advocacy of “Chairman Qian,” numerous academies sprang up, driving societal development and ushering in an era of transcendence.

To this day, the academies of the Eastern District no longer operate solely under the name of Martial Path. They have been rebranded as Ten Thousand Dao, teaching not only physical endurance through martial arts but also the Taoism practices of Cultivation and Qi Refinement, along with a multitude of skills in Pills, Talismans, Tools, Formations.

The transcendent developments in the Eastern District influenced the entire Federation and the world, heralding a new era.

Despite various reasons that prevented the Eastern District from expanding the Wandao Academy to other regions, they established the functionally similar Cultivators’ Guild, which blossomed throughout the Federation, facilitating exchanges and sharing resources.

Fang Yuan, a graduate of the academy, is a native Easterner who, two years prior, decisively left his hometown and came to the unfamiliar Western District.

The reason for his move could be summarized in one word – opportunity!

Since the era of the great broadcasters began thirty years ago, the world had entered a mode of fierce competition.

The Cave Heaven Successors, Immortal Sect Descendants, family magnates, Great Clan Patriarchs, as well as Federation agencies, Wandao Academy, various civil groups, and the masses who learned through watching broadcasts and embarked on the path of cultivation…

Everyone was striving, everyone was scrabbling, not willing to fall behind or miss out on this unprecedented tidal wave of an era.

The competition was too intense; to seek more opportunities, Fang Yuan had no choice but to leave the Eastern District for development in the Western District.

As paradoxical as it may seem, this decision is quite understandable.

Although the Eastern District is now the world’s core, site of the Wandao Academy, and the main battlefield for the “broadcasters,” it doesn’t mean that employment opportunities there are superior to other major districts.

The distribution of Spiritual Energy is even; following the dissolution of blessed lands and Ancient Sects, the concentration of Spiritual Energy worldwide has surged. While the Eastern District has many Spirit Mountains, other regions have also benefited.

With such fierce competition in the Eastern District—where not just the Spirit Mountains, but even common places became exorbitantly expensive to develop—business operations, though not unprofitable, only garnered modest earnings.

For loose cultivators like Fang Yuan, who lack the support of any power, development can be challenging.

The Western District is different due to the language and cultural differences, the Eastern cultivation techniques present a significant challenge, leading to its relatively slower growth and less efficient utilization of Spiritual Energy resources.

As an Eastern cultivator, Fang Yuan had a considerable advantage in developing in this region. Not to mention anything else, just his language proficiency could earn him a substantial income.