Cultivate By Losing Money

Chen Ren stared into the eyes of the man, a cold realisation sinking in. Had his luck gone this bad this soon? He had just entered this world and was already thrown into an inferno of trouble.

Trouble in the face of a not-so-friendly man. His gaze had turned cold, the pleasant smile that adorned his face when he entered the room was no longer there.

A chill ran down his spine under the gaze.

Feng Ming's previous demeanour was probably a ruse, simply to know his condition and now, he was revealing his true motive for coming here. It was a clever ploy and one that he hadn't expected.

His mind had been too preoccupied with things to prepare for debtors.

He sifted through some of the memories related to this man, Feng Ming. In those, he witnessed how they would often go drinking together and it was also Feng Ming who had told him to take a debt from him when Chen Ren's money had run out. Originally, the debt was small, just for drinks and food but over time, it has accumulated to a good amount.

It was almost as if he was trying to get Chen Ren in debt. A little more probing in his mind and he realised why it was so.

Feng Ming's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to back out of this, are you?" The menacing undertone brought him back to reality.

Chen Ren met his gaze, his expression unchanged. In his mind, he was still calculating how to act with him with all the memories he had. He didn't want to act out of character or make himself sound more suspicious than he already had.

He cleared his throat after a while.

"Of course not, Brother Ming," he replied, his tone laced with feigned nonchalance. "I wouldn't dream of it. I was never going to hold back the money from you"

The man's eyes flickered with doubt. "And how exactly do you plan to repay me? You have no job, no prospects, and you've failed the sect entrance exams. Don't you think you're just fooling me… Or yourself, at this point?"

"I would never dream of breaking my promise," Chen Ren said, his voice firm. "Even if I'm down on my luck, my honour is intact." He paused, his eyes glinting with defiance as he thought on the right words to say. "Besides, I still have my connections. I'm a member of the Chen Clan of Red Peak City. I've already sent a message requesting financial assistance to repay my debt."

The man's expression shifted. His eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Although Chen Ren had been exiled, most people in Cloud Mist City had no idea about it. Even the merchant family he was staying in was tight lipped on this matter and others only knew that he had a great background. They had no idea about the specifics.

The original Chen Ren hardly spoke about his family, so this was probably something unexpected for Feng Ming.

"You haven't asked them for money in months," he said, his voice laced with doubt. "Why now?"

Chen Ren shrugged, affecting a nonchalant air. "I've been trying to make it on my own," he explained. "As you know, a cultivator needs to be brave enough to explore and challenge the world without the help of his family. But circumstances have forced my hand. The Chen Clan is an ancient and powerful family. I'm sure they will come through for me."

As soon as the words left his lips, a new fear crawled through his skin. Will his bluff even work? From how the black eyes bore into him, and how the man's lips had formed to a tight, thin line… he couldn't say what was going through Feng Ming's mind.

He was fully prepared for a punch to fly and could only rely on his ability to shout to call for help from Tang Xiulan. Hopefully, she would be able to come to his aid with guards.

At the same time, he faked a confident smile to Feng Ming who still looked at him with scepticism. Finally, the man spoke. "Even if you get the money, when will it arrive? I can't wait indefinitely."

"It won't take long."

"I don't know how long it might take. I don't even know where Red Peak City is. Just tell me how much I would have to wait."

The question worsened his worries. Chen Ren knew he had to come up with a solution quickly. He couldn't afford a physical confrontation as cultivators loved to talk with their fist, especially young ones like Feng Ming.

The debt was around five hundred silver wen, and even if it was a fraction of the total debt he owed to various people, he knew it wasn't a small amount.

It was safe to say, Chen Ren's body wouldn't handle another bloody punch. But he wasn't going to just die after finding himself in this world.

That would be too short of a life.

As he looked around for a solution, an idea formed in his mind. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the medallion that he had been looking at before Feng Ming had arrived.

If this works, it'll buy me time. I don't even know what use it is for.

"If you're so worried about your money," he said, his voice steady. "You can keep this as collateral until I repay you. But I want a promise from you that you won't sell it. It's an heirloom, and it holds significant sentimental value… It's also ancient, so I don't want to lose it."

The medallion had been a gift to Chen Ren from his late father who had gotten it from his own father, meaning it was fairly old.

The former body owner obviously didn't care for it— no emotions were attached to it and it was nothing that would keep him awake at night even if it went missing. However, he didn't want it to be sold, especially to this man. For all he knew, it was ancient enough to go for a few thousand silver wen, but it could also be worthless.

Ordinary looking ancient treasures were one of the staples of Xianxia after all. Chen Ren didn't even have the idea of the metal the medallion was made up of.

Feng Ming's eyes lit up with greed as he took the medallion, examining it with a keen eye. "Very well. I'll come for the money in a month," he said, his voice dripping with condescension.

"Two months," Chen Ren quickly retorted. "The city my clan lives in is far away."

The man paused, then nodded. "Fine. Two months. Don't disappoint me."

With that, he gave a final, menacing glance, turned and left, leaving Chen Ren to ponder his next move.

Chen Ren slumped onto the bed, his body aching with exhaustion. Everything that happened since morning came to him in waves. The transmigration, his current identity and most importantly, the big, bad news— the debt. The ordeal had drained him physically and mentally.

Although he wanted to think of an immediate solution, he knew he couldn't. Not at this state. Therefore he did something he should've done right when he woke up in this body, and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to claim him.

There was a lot to do and a part of him wondered if this was all a dream and he would wake up in his original body on Earth, going back to sending resumes to every company on LinkedIn, but for now, he just wanted to rest.

***

It wasn't a dream.

It had been two days since he woke up in this world, and no one else came to see him, partly because he instructed Tang Xiulan to spread the rumours that he had gone back to being unconscious after waking up once.

His memories had assimilated by now and even his injuries seemed to have been healing at a considerable pace. He had no idea if it was because of his cultivation, the transmigration or because of the potency of the medicines of this world.

Still, the speed of healing was miraculous and it wouldn't be possible on earth. Even Tang Xiulan was shocked when she came to check on him.

It made him more curious to learn about this world and the secrets it held. At the same time, he realised that he was highly inadequate to do so.

Chen Ren hadn't been much of a cultivating genius nor was he hard working enough to fill the gaps between him and others.

The way to identify a cultivator's talent was by the number of spirit roots their dantian held and he had merely 21 of them, meaning his talent was on the far lower end of the spectrum. He did have lightning aspected roots which was considered rare, but with his abysmal number of spirit roots, it was of no use.

If he had even a semblance of talent or hard working nature, his clan wouldn't have kicked him out.

But maybe, he might be able to do something about it.

On his third day in this world, Chen Ren was finally trying out something that he should have done on the first day itself.

He was going to see if he had a system inside of him.

It felt a little silly, but transmigration itself was the strangest thing that could happen to someone.

If two days ago someone had poked him and said he would transmigrate to a world where his body wouldn't be his own and his memory would be of learning magical kung fu in a land full of magical beasts, he'd slap that man and walk away without looking back.

But now transmigration had happened, there was a chance that he'd get a system to guide him through the ups and downs of this world.

He had to try.

Similar to the countless books he'd read, he focused on his mind— on the memories of Chen Ren. The solution he had in mind was simple; if he could control the memories, he should be able to control the status screen.

"Open status screen!" Chen's voice came loud enough in the empty room and he hoped that the maid wasn't standing outside.

He opened his eyes, expecting a see-through screen with information.

Huh? Nothing… Maybe if I use different words.

"System start!" Chen Ren commanded again.

He squinted his eyes in focus and tried once more.

Essence Display. Ascendant Tracker. Chi Monitor. Celestial Dashboard. Divine Panel. Mystical Overview. Harem Giver. Milf monitor. Young master system. Pathway Gauge. Enlightenment Screen. Aura Interface. Qi Status. Destiny Grid. Heaven's Ledger. Immortal Ledger. Soul Metrics. Fate Indicator. Dao Interface. Sage Summary. Warrior's Console. Sect System.

… And nothing.

No holographic menus, no character stats, and no inventory. Just the cold, hard reality of his new world. He couldn't count the amount of alternative words he used, but in the end, he gave up on that.

If there was any status prompt to pop up — it would have already.

He didn't necessarily expect a system, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that it would help him find his lefts-and-rights in this world.

Without it, he needed to find new ways to gain strength, but before that, he needed money. Over five thousand silver wen of debt loomed over him and one look at his memories was enough for him to realise that most people he had taken money from weren't simple folks.

They would surely come for him and he wasn't strong enough to deal with them. Running away wasn't an option either and he didn't want to contend with the wild lands until he had a semblance of ability and money to hire guards.

Chen Ren preferred plans that left room for adaptation and there were only so many things that could make money in this world. It was fairly easy for a cultivator to make money, but most of that required him to move to dangerous places and fight monstrous beasts.

So, he decided on a different way. One which employed his memories from Earth, the knowledge he had gained. He didn't remember everything, but he had a good memory and it would come in handy here.