9 Coffins of the Immortals Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Bad Little Temper

“Show me your token!” A chilling voice demanded.

It was the young Shixiong who took Fang-Xing to Elder Gao for questioning. With a sweep of his sleeve, Fang-Xing’s wooden block flew into the Shixiong’s hand.

“A [Ding] rank? It’s another useless one,” flipping over the block, the young Shixiong looked at Fang-Xing with contempt. The Shixiong pointed in a direction before leaving, “I’m busy right now so just go to [Qing-Yun Hall] by yourself.”

“I’ll remember you. You just wait!” Fang-Xing murmured under his breath. It was clear to Fang-Xing that the young Shixiong’s rude attitude was due to Fang-Xing’s low grade.

As Fang-Xing walked towards the direction the young Shixiong pointed, he cursed under his breath, ‘How the hell do I know where this [Qing-Yun Hall] is? Everything here looks the same!”

“Uhh… Is that you, Shidi Fang-Xing?” A familiar voice could be heard. Soon, a fat figure could be seen until he was only inches away from Fang-Xing. It was Disciple Yu that Fang-Xing had been drinking with the night before. Yu had promised that he would be waiting for Fang-Xing at the [Samsara Bell] in the morning, but who would have thought that he would oversleep and didn’t wake up until the bell had rung. Realizing that he was late, he had rushed towards the [Samsara Bell] when he bumped into the cursing Fang-Xing.

“Isn’t that Shixiong Zhu? I’ve been waiting for you. Where. Have. You. Been?” Fang-Xing smiled welcomingly as he immediately understood what Yu was thinking.

“Ummm. Ummmm. My name is really Yu, not Zhu–” upon seeing that Fang-Xing was quite happy, Yu finally relaxed and smiled, “sorry about keeping you waiting, Shidi Fang-Xing!”

“Well, there was this young Shixiong who was supposed to, but he suddenly had diarrhea and ran to the toilet. And since I couldn’t wait any longer, I decided to go on my own.”

“Cultivators can get diarrhea..?”

“Beats me. Maybe his intestines rotted or something” Fang-Xing cursed the young Shixiong one more time as he hooked his arm around Yu’s fat neck. In actuality, Fang-Xing was few inches shorter than Yu so hooking his arm around Yu’s neck took some effort. Yu also bent down a little bit to help Fang-Xing.

“What rank did you get?”

“What’s yours?” Fang-Xing dodged the question

“Unfortunately, I’m in the lowest rank, ‘Ding’.”

“Haha! In that case, we’re the same rank!”

Two contrasting figure: one tall while the other short; one fat while the other skinny, walked merrily towards [Qing-Yun Hall] together.

Yu did not think twice about Fang-Xing’s placement being same as him as more than half of the Outer Sect Disciples belonged to ‘Ding’ or the lowest rank in [Qing-Yun Sect]. Yu told Fang-Xing the different rankings where ‘Bing’, which was only one rank higher held the second largest majority of the Outer Sect Disciples. There was also ‘Yi’ rank which was higher than ‘Bing’ and therefore only an eighth of the Outer Sects Disciples was in it. And finally, [Qing-Yun Sect]’s best rank, the ‘Jia, had only a handful of Disciples and they were all born with good Zi’Zhi. The ‘Jia’ members were the cream of the crop, the pieces the resistance, the cherry on top, the shit, and viewed most likely to succeed in cultivation.

‘On the bright side,’ Fang-Xing thought, ‘at least I’m not THE worst.’

————————————–

After a while, the pair arrived at the [Qing-Yun Hall]. The hall was three stories tall with a wood exterior. At a first glance, it looked no more than ordinary, however upon a closer inspection, the intricate details of the hall started to emerge. Simple, yet impressively solemn.

As Fang-Xing and Yu approached the doorway, an old man greeted them. Yu hurriedly informed Fang-Xing that the old man was known as ‘Shixiong Qiao’. Fang-Xing used the [Book of Revelation] and figured out that Shixiong Qiao, albeit looking as ancient as Elder Gao, had only achieved Tier Four of the [Spirit Stage], same as the young man. Nevertheless, Fang-Xing did not look down on him as he was lower than ShixiongQiao.

After Shixiong Qiao confirmed Fang-Xing’s new token, he assigned Fang-Xing to his new room within the Outer Sect living quarters without any further questions. He also gifted Fang-Xing with new robes that only the Outside Disciples wore, the remaining chapters of the [Qing-Yun Sect’s Qi Formation] manual, and a red, pebble-sized rock — which was a low-grade Spirit Stone. Afterwards, Fang-Xing was sent off to the [Pavilion of Magical Tools].

“Don’t underestimate a single low-grade Spirit Stone. On top of being able to use this to exchange items, our cultivation almost entirely relies on it as well,” Yu eagerly explained as he saw Fang-Xing’s unimpressed face, “even though we get only 1 of these every 3 months, a single pebble size Spirit Stone is worth over 100 Taels of GOLD!”

“Only one every three months? Why is the sect so cheap?” Complained Fang-Xing.

“Once in every three months is plenty good already. At least we get something. And also, if you want to blame someone, blame your Zi’Zhi. The ‘Bing’ rank gets one stone per two months while ‘Yi’ rank gets one in every month. As for those top ranked, the ‘Jia’s, they get TWO every month!”

“You say two every month? Maybe… I should rob a couple of them or the whole lot…”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS? The ‘Jia’s are not to be trifled with! If there is any dispute, even if they provoked us first, the elders will still put the entire blame on us. If you really need some extra stones, I’ll introduce you to some departmental duties. It’ll be another one of these Spirit Stones every three months as wage!”

“Hah, that doesn’t seem like it’s for me, but let me think about it.”

When the pair arrived in front of the [Pavilion of Magical Tools], Yu said something in a low voice, “by the way, once you’re in the [Pavilion of Magical Tools], give the guard Shixiong the stone. He’ll help you choose a better Magic Tool.”

“Are you kidding me?” Fang-Xing was stumped for a second, rolled his eyes and continued, “we get only one every three months! ONE! Why the hell should I hand it over to someone else?”

Fang-Xing’s question left Yu between cracking up a roaring laughter and tears. He explained, “Fang-Xing Shidi, this is no time to be stingy. We only get one chance to choose a Magic Tool. Now, if you give them a Spirit Stone, they will help you to find a better one. But.. if you didn’t,” Yu nervously swallowed as he took a talisman out of his pocket, “this is what I got for not giving them a Spirit Stone when I first entered the sect. They told me this sword talisman can release a Jian Qi1equivalent to that of a Tier Four, but who would have thought that this talisman was a one-time use only. The worst part: I used it when I tested it in the pavilion.”

“No wonder you strut around with Daotongs, you useless person,” thinking about Yu’s cowardice, Fang-Xing still thanked Yu politely, “thank you Shixiong for pointing that out for me.”

————————————–

“How outrageous! Do you know where this is? This is the [Pavilion of Magical Tools]! Who do you think you are!” A loud voice suddenly shouted as Fang-Xing walked through the entrance of the pavilion.

Three men jumped in front of Fang-Xing and blocked his way. The person in the lead appeared to be in his thirties: thin, a small mustache and had shifty eyes that were more mouse-like than Mousy from the [Herb Field].

Without much effort, Fang-Xing was able to understand their cultivation stage. The leader was in Tier Three, while the other two were in Tier Two. Fang-Xing knew what they wanted yet still responded politely, “My name is Fang-Xing, the newest Outer Sect Disciple. Please take a look at my token from Elder Gao.”

The leader being satisfied with Fang-Xing’s manner grabbed the token and smiled, “I see. So you’re the one who rang the [Samsara Bell] earlier today, huh? I’ll forgive you this time because you’re new. But, did you come here empty-handed?” The leader’s eyes sparkled as he hinted Fang-Xing about the stone.

Fang-Xing pretended to miss the leader’s signal, just like any regular 11 year-old child. There was no way that Fang-Xing would be willing to give up his Spirit Stone without a good reason.

‘It’s an entire Spirit Stone!’

Others may need guidance while choosing Magic Tools, but Fang-Xing? The [Book of Revelation] had no competitors in the art of appraisals.

“What a disgrace, you are. Don’t pretend that you don’t know the rules. Hurry up and hand over your Spirit Stone, or get the fuck out of here!” The leader yelled impatiently. He decided to completely throw away his Mianzi2, asking directly for the Spirit Stones.

Fang-Xing’s expression also changed as the leader started to yell at him. Originally, Fang-Xing had previously decided that he would hand the leader the Spirit Stone even though he really didn’t want to — but just so that he wouldn’t stand out too much.

But, Fang-Xing was only opened to persuasion, not coercion. So as soon as the leader yelled at Fang-Xing, Fang-Xing decided that there will be no way that he would give up his precious Spirit Stone.

Then, in a voice even louder than the leader:

“I only get ONE stone every THREE months! Why the fuck should I give it to YOU bastards?”

Chapter end