Five hundred taels of gold: four hundred taels in gold ingots, plus one hundred taels in gold banknotes.
Thirty-seven thousand taels in silver banknotes, largely courtesy of generous "contributions" from Wu Di and the Cold-Blooded Twin Fiends, alongside two thousand taels from Old Yang.
Gold and silver held a steady exchange rate of one to ten.
Tallying his assets, Zhou Wuji found he possessed an equivalent of forty-two thousand taels of silver.
In terms of purchasing power, that was roughly forty-two million in his previous life.
Depending on the region, purchasing power fluctuated slightly.
Forty-two thousand taels in liquid silver made him a wealthy man even in Yunyang Prefecture.
Though Zhou Wuji was not deeply familiar with the specifics of Yunyang Prefecture, he could make a rough estimate based on its population.
For instance, the wealth of a prominent clan like the Zhang family, when converted to silver, would easily be measured in millions of taels.
Even in a family as enormously wealthy as the Zhangs, however, very few individuals could personally produce forty thousand taels in hard cash.
The funds of noble and prominent clans were inevitably tied up in buying farmland, investing in merchant firms, erecting estates, establishing academies, and the like.
Wealth had to flow like water to keep a clan's enterprises vital and thriving.
Noble clans had plenty of wastrels, but they also possessed many exceptionally sharp minds who surely understood this simple truth.
Only rustic squires would bury jars of gold and silver deep underground.
It was not that the squires were completely devoid of sense; rather, constrained by their environment, they had nowhere to put their wealth to use.
With the wisdom of two lifetimes, Zhou Wuji naturally understood this.
Yet his money had arrived too quickly, Canglong Temple was too small, and there had been nowhere to spend it.
Now that he had reached the Branch Abbey, he needed to plan carefully how to put it to work.
According to the abbey's customs, those with spare capital lent it out, letting money spawn more money while kicking back to reap effortless gains.
Zhou Wuji was thoroughly uninterested in that route. Lending tens of thousands of taels would yield a handsome return, but he was at an age to strive and venture. Sinking massive capital just to collect interest was for retirement; it served him little purpose.
Spending this money on himself offered the best return on investment!
In this world, the ceiling of individual strength was sky-high. Furthermore, he possessed a peerless divine artifact; investing in himself was by far the wisest choice.
Still, he could not think of what to buy at the moment. He had pills, he had magic implements, and at most he would only need money to buy herbs for alchemy.
At this thought, an idea struck him. He drew the Seven Stars Sword and examined it closely.
The Seven Stars Sword was a fine seventh-rank magical sword. Because of his master Yiyuan's peerless swordsmanship, the weapon itself was extraordinarily sharp.
Over the past few months, the sword had accompanied him through numerous fierce battles.
Brilliant though his swordplay was, the weapon had inevitably suffered wear and tear.
There were several tiny notches along the edge, and even the internal structure of the blade had been compromised.
It looked intact on the surface, but it might snap abruptly under a heavy impact.
Zhou Wuji still had the Tiger Wing Saber, but as a Daoist, carrying a saber everywhere seemed out of place.
The Five Yin Pouch had many uses; keeping the Tiger Wing Saber stored inside all the time also constrained its utility.
Swordsmanship remained his greatest strength. If he could acquire a high-grade sword, his power would multiply.
Buying a good sword with tens of thousands of taels of silver should not be too difficult, right?
Zhou Wuji decided to ask Martial Uncle Yiping shortly. If that led nowhere, he could ask Wuming, or failing that, Yizhen or Zhiyuan.
As Martial Uncle Yiping had noted, Zhiyuan and Yizhen clearly wished to make use of him and valued him highly.
Zhou Wuji did not mind being used. Aside from blood ties, any relationship developed in life was fundamentally bound by mutual benefit.
Benefit was not merely money, but anything advantageous to oneself.
Take Boya and Zhong Ziqi: their connection was purely musical. Yet at its core, this soulmate bond was a spiritual exchange that fulfilled both emotionally.
In the parlance of his past life, they provided emotional value.
Friends, lovers—all were essentially the same. It was simply that unlike monetary worth, they could not be directly quantified; it was a more complex web of interest.
Put simply, one had to be of value to others to be valued by them.
By the same token, others had to be useful to you to be worth valuing.
It was a two-way street.
Yizhen and Zhiyuan were immensely useful to him, and he was willing to offer his own utility in return. That was a healthy relationship.
Yizhen had also offered to preside over his transmission and ordination. Given Yizhen's character, he naturally would not accept Zhou Wuji's money.
Even if Yizhen was a Hall Master and did not have to pay for many ritual items, completing a seventh-rank transmission and ordination still required over a hundred taels of gold.
Now that Zhou Wuji had funds, he naturally could not take advantage of others for free.
He could not simply hand over silver, but he still had the Sunlight Beads obtained from Zhang Xinhu, which made for ideal gifts.
Sunlight Beads were gorgeous, practical, and highly valuable—superb presents.
Add two jars of red blossom honey, and that would be more than enough.
Zhou Wuji had two Sunlight Beads. Taking one, he first went to see Martial Uncle Yiping.
Martial Uncle Yiping was very warm toward him, and giving the bead to the old man for lighting would be wonderful.
As for the red blossom honey, he had previously sent someone to deliver two jars to Martial Uncle Yiping, so there was no need to give more now.
Yiping was reading in a side hall. When Zhou Wuji walked in cradling a luminous pearl, the entire room was instantly bathed in bright light.
The old man narrowed his eyes slightly. "A Sunlight Bead?"
"Martial Uncle has a sharp eye."
Setting the Sunlight Bead on a candle stand, Zhou Wuji smiled and said, "I acquired this pearl by chance and brought it for Martial Uncle to use for light."
Daoist Yiping sat up and waved a chubby hand. "Keep such a fine thing for Yizhen. He's opening an altar and ordaining you; you can't let him labor for nothing."
"I set one aside for Hall Master Yizhen," Zhou Wuji replied.
Daoist Yiping could not help but smile. In gratification, he said, "To think of this shows you already understand how to conduct yourself and handle affairs. Very good."
Daoist Yiping had quite a few disciples, but their aptitudes were mediocre. He valued this disciple left behind by Senior Martial Brother Yiyuan most of all, and Zhou Wuji's aptitude and talent were indeed remarkable.
What was more, Zhou Wuji was thoroughly adept at handling worldly affairs, which pleased Daoist Yiping even further.
Seeing Zhou Wuji achieve success made him genuinely happy—and happy on behalf of his late senior martial brother.
Being an emotional man, Yiping felt his eyes grow slightly red at the thought of his martial brother.
Zhou Wuji knew Yiping was thinking of his master. He missed the old man too...
Yiping dabbed at the corner of his eye and gave a dry laugh. "The older I get, the more sentimental I become."
Changing the subject, he said, "It's not hard if you want to learn the Green Pouch Scripture. Go to Taixuan Hall and apply with your Tianshu Token. You only have to pay a small fee."
The Green Pouch Scripture was a monumental medical work spanning millions of words.
It mainly compiled a vast number of cases and prescriptions, expounding various medical principles in great depth and complexity.
Ordinary Daoists already spent massive amounts of time practicing martial arts and spells; how could they have the energy to pore over the Green Pouch Scripture?
Only those Daoists who had attained a certain level of achievement and wished to develop their medical skills would study it.
Any Daoist of the eighth rank or above in the Branch Abbey could borrow and study it if they had an interest.
Daoist Yiping also felt learning medicine and alchemy was a fine choice. While swordsmanship and spells were important, they were, after all, only meant for combat.
Medicine and alchemy could benefit many.
Even emperors fell sick and suffered injuries, longing for longevity and eternal youth.
If one truly achieved something in medicine and alchemy, even if one didn't save the world, one could at least sit as equals and converse with monarchs and nobles.
No matter how formidable one's swordsmanship and martial arts were, one would only ever be viewed as a weapon, an instrument of slaughter. However much others valued you, they only thought of using you to fight and kill.
"As for high-grade swords, I truly know nothing about them..."
Yiping stayed in Feixuan Hall year-round; he was not skilled with the sword nor fond of them, so naturally he had no information.
Zhou Wuji was in no hurry about the sword. Guided by Yiping, he decided to first pay his respects to Hall Master Yizhen and study the Green Pouch Scripture.
Taixuan Hall was where the Branch Abbey housed secret techniques and classic tomes, and it also fell under Hall Master Yizhen's jurisdiction.
Zhou Wuji presented the Sunlight Bead and the red blossom honey, plainly explaining that it was a modest gift of gratitude for Martial Uncle opening the altar and conducting his ordination.
Yizhen did not refuse. This was standard social etiquette; had Zhou Wuji offered nothing, that would have been lacking in tact.
He did not care about the value of the gift, but about the other's attitude.
Giving a gift showed Zhou Wuji recognized the favor and understood reciprocity.
Only someone like that was worth cultivating!
If Zhou Wuji saw only himself, then no matter how powerful he became, he would bring only harm and no benefit to Yizhen and the Branch Abbey.
Zhou Wuji took the chance to mention his desire to study the Green Pouch Scripture. Yizhen nodded and said, "Opening the altar and ordaining you still requires approval from the Main Abbey, which will take some days. Chen Dalu, the chief of the Five Dragons Gang, hates you to the bone. Don't leave the Branch Abbey anytime soon. Going to read some books in the meantime is a good idea..."
On the spot, Yizhen wrote a note for Zhou Wuji and stamped it with his Tianshu Token.
Leaving Yizhen's Tianshu Hall, Zhou Wuji felt a touch of regret at not bumping into Wuming. She surely knew he had arrived yet had not sought him out; he wondered if Yizhen had forbidden it...
Taixuan Hall was situated on the shady slope of Yunlong Peak, very close to Heart Inquest Hall.
The hall featured a flush gable roof and walls of massive blue stone; its beams, windows, and doors were said to be crafted from aged bogwood, and open flames were strictly forbidden inside.
Entering the hall, Zhou Wuji saw two Sunlight Beads embedded on either side, lighting the hall brilliantly.
Enshrined directly ahead was the Tianquan Star God, wearing a black crown and black robes, holding a sky-measuring jade ruler, with a dignified face and a solemn countenance.
The Tianquan Star God closely resembled the star god visualized in the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture.
Taixuan Hall enshrined the Tianquan Star God because he was also the Wenqu Star Lord, who governed the world's literary pulse and oversaw all classic texts and writings.
Upon entering, Zhou Wuji first bowed and offered incense to the Wenqu Star Lord before speaking with a middle-aged Daoist nearby.
Seeing Yizhen's note and inspecting Zhou Wuji's Tianshu Token, the middle-aged Daoist led him to a quiet chamber in an adjoining side hall.
"The texts may only be read here; they cannot be removed or copied," the middle-aged Daoist said. "Borrowing each volume of the Green Pouch Scripture costs twenty taels of silver. Pay first."
Zhou Wuji produced a hundred-tael banknote on the spot. The middle-aged Daoist summoned a companion to verify the note, wrote out two receipts, and stamped them, filing one away and handing the other to Zhou Wuji.
Once the formalities were complete, the other Daoist delivered the first volume of the Green Pouch Scripture into Zhou Wuji's hands.
The paper of the Green Pouch Scripture was even and dense, the calligraphy beautiful, and the diagrams clear; it was likely a freshly transcribed copy from recent years.
To Zhou Wuji, old or new made no difference as long as there were no copying errors.
The first volume was titled "Treatise on Atmospheric Phenomena," opening with an exposition on man and heaven-and-earth as an integrated whole.
The entire volume spanned three booklets, totaling over two hundred thousand words, accompanied by numerous diagrams.
Zhou Wuji spent a full day reading through the first and second volumes.
Back at Feixuan Hall, he used a cheapest destiny pattern to re-comprehend these two volumes of the Green Pouch Scripture.
From then on, he came to Taixuan Hall every day to read two volumes.
As for Yang Tieying, he was left under Martial Uncle Yiping's guidance to learn foundational cultivation methods of the Arctic Sect.
By the third month, Zhou Wuji had read through all thirty volumes of the Green Pouch Scripture.
Expending ten of his lowest-grade destiny patterns, he brought his mastery of the Green Pouch Scripture to the Proficient realm.
Leaving aside his practical medical skill, he had at least memorized every single word of the Green Pouch Scripture.
To Zhou Wuji, the scripture's greatest value lay not in its prescriptions and case histories, but in how it mapped and analyzed the human body against the Great Dao of heaven and earth, establishing a complete and rigorous system.
The Green Pouch Scripture posited that the Great Dao was the supreme truth of heaven and earth, and the human body was a microcosm; skin, flesh, bones, and viscera were all embodiments of the supreme Dao.
Heavenly Kings and Divine Emperors were wise beings who had mastered the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, imparting the Great Dao to all living things. Thus, mortals worshipped Heavenly Kings and Divine Emperors, accepting their guidance and enlightenment.
Through the Green Pouch Scripture, Zhou Wuji gained a deeper comprehension of his primary technique, the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture, and understood the inner principle of how acupoints corresponded to star gods in drawing and expelling spiritual qi.
In the phrasing of his past life, through studying the Green Pouch Scripture, he truly grasped the relationship between humanity and heaven-and-earth, comprehending the underlying logical connection between his Daoist arts, spells, and martial skills.
Even the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment was harmonized into this single logical framework.
Regardless of whether his understanding was entirely correct, he had at least unified the knowledge of two lifetimes and achieved internal logical coherence, leaving him without lingering doubts about cultivating the Dao, Divine Kings, divine artifacts, ascension, and the like.
Zhou Wuji felt that only now was he truly cultivating the Dao; before this, he had merely been cultivating techniques and arts.
Having attained logical coherence and established a stable worldview of cultivation, he felt as though he had achieved enlightenment. His state during practice became completely natural and serene.
Without his realizing it, his Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture advanced a rank, progressing from Great Accomplishment to the Consummate stage, leaving him just one step away from Perfection.
The Consummate stage meant his mastery of the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture was refined to the utmost, reaching a realm of divine craftsmanship.
When it came to understanding and executing the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture, let alone the Branch Abbey, probably few even in the entire Arctic Sect could rival him.
However, the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture he practiced was limited to the sixth rank and was not the full, complete text.
According to Martial Uncle Yiping, the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture was divided into elementary, intermediate, and advanced tiers: ninth to sixth rank was elementary, sixth to third rank was intermediate, and third to first rank was advanced.
It was said that upon reaching the third rank, one had to cross-train in the techniques of the other six branches to stand a better chance of advancing to the first rank.
The true complete secret text resided at the Main Abbey. Only by achieving the corresponding cultivation and earning the Main Abbey's recognition could one obtain higher-tier cultivation methods.
The advancement of the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture to the Consummate stage had not unblocked his Baihui acupoint; he could clearly sense that he was still quite a distance away from the sixth rank.
As for third rank or first rank, that was far too distant to even ponder.
Zhou Wuji was quite proud of this accomplishment; it proved he possessed genuine wisdom, able to push his cultivation substantially forward through his own efforts!
His past sluggish progress had likely been due to physical limitations, not a lack of brains!
The most immediate result of advancing the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture was that his Tianshu true qi grew increasingly pure.
The refined true qi circulated far more smoothly and swiftly, capable of subtler transformations, dramatically boosting the efficiency of circulating and releasing equivalent amounts of true qi.
This immense progress was reflected directly in the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment: his total true qi reached one thousand.
This meant that although he was still of the seventh rank, in terms of true qi he had experienced a forty-percent increase—an enormous leap!
Staying in Feixuan Hall to cultivate each day, Zhou Wuji lived a life that was quiet, fulfilling, comfortable, and carefree.
Ever since obtaining the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, one thing after another had kept him perpetually on guard.
These days had been the most pleasant and peaceful time he had experienced.
In this state, Zhou Wuji truly tasted the joy of cultivating the Dao.
On the third day of the third month, Yizhen sent someone to summon him to Tianshu Hall.
When Zhou Wuji arrived, the typically stern Yizhen wore a relaxed smile. "The Main Abbey has granted its approval; an altar can be raised for your ordination," he said.
"Prepare yourself over the next two days. Fast, bathe, abstain from grains and meat, and keep both body and spirit in a state of absolute purity.
"At the midnight hour of the fifth day of the third month, the altar will be raised for your ordination..."
Ordination for the eighth rank could be decided by the Branch Abbey, but transmission and ordination for the seventh rank required the Main Abbey's sanction.
In truth, there was an annual quota for seventh-rank ordinations—not mandated by sect regulations, but restricted by the imperial court.
After all, a seventh-rank ordination came with an imperial ordination certificate, entitled to a stipend from the court.
Once a slot was granted, the court had to support the bearer indefinitely. Calculated carefully, it was no small expense.
Moreover, with so many Daoists, it had already become a heavy financial burden on the state, making the imperial court ever more cautious.
The Main Abbey had to weigh these factors as well. Securing a slot smoothly this time was largely thanks to Zhou Wuji's exceptional performance, bolstered by Abbot Zhiyuan's letter vouching for him.
Even so, given the vast distance between the two abbeys, a round trip had taken more than twenty days.
Yizhen felt things had gone exceptionally well, and was in high spirits.
Zhou Wuji was also overjoyed. He had been waiting precisely for this seventh-rank transmission and ordination.
Even if he could not get the imperial ordination certificate right away, he could at least learn powerful arts of the sect, like the Yin Thunder technique and the Arctic Heavenly Tiangang Divine Incantation...
"As for the trial in the Myriad Ghosts Cavern, that has been waived. This was instructed personally by the Abbot. Even the seventh-rank slot was wrested from the Main Abbey by the Abbot himself. He values you greatly!"
Yizhen formally reminded Zhou Wuji not to forget the Abbot's favor.
Zhou Wuji was taken aback. He had already planned to slay several ghost soldiers in the Myriad Ghosts Cavern to harvest primordial profound qi.
Yet now he was excused from going!
Still, he could not object. This was Abbot Zhiyuan's kindness; if he vehemently insisted on entering the Myriad Ghosts Cavern for the trial, it would look abnormal and arouse suspicion.
Cupping his hands, Zhou Wuji bowed and said with heartfelt sincerity, "The care and favor shown by Martial Uncle and the Abbot are etched into my heart; your disciple will never forget them..."
Chapter 86