Prince of Wealth in a Cultivation World

"What are you looking at?" Her eyes met Noir's, but unlike other people who immediately looked away, Noir held her gaze.

"Don't look her in the eyes," the man beside him whispered, tugging Noir's hand to stop him. Noir shifted his gaze to the man with a questioning look.

As the woman stopped glaring, the man whispered, "These beauties are outsiders. Rumour has it they killed bandits along the way and arrived unharmed. That little one especially—she killed a man just for glaring at her."

Pouring another glass of wine into his jug, the man grinned. "But when will we ever get a chance to see beauties like these in our lifetime? Just look at their clothes; you can tell they're not commoners."

"What are they doing here?" Noir interrupted.

"Who…" The man burped. "Who knows? Like us, you can just look at them from afar, but never try to get close. Or you'll end up like that other man."

Noir glanced at the two women. He could tell they weren't commoners like the inn's other patrons. He sensed there must be a reason for their visit to this village, but… "Who cares?" He shrugged and headed toward the inn owner, who was busy talking to the women.

"Lady, please understand," the inn owner pleaded with beads of sweat on his forehead. "That man was the son of an official from the next village. They won't let this go easily."

"Mr., you don't have to worry," the calm woman replied. "We'll handle it ourselves. We won't implicate you." Her calm voice reached Noir's ears, and he unwillingly looked at her.

"But… those people are not easy to deal with," the inn owner fretted. "They have connections in the capital."

Just then, the calm woman's eyes met Noir's as he approached. The crowd, seeing this, began to gossip.

"Here comes another fool."

"Isn't he too young to die?"

"Who cares? I just want to watch the show."

This alerted the other woman, who also looked at Noir. She was about to warn him, but before she could, Noir spoke, tugging at the inn owner's sleeve. "Are there any rooms available?" he asked, showing a silver coin.

The inn owner, already frustrated by the two women, was about to snap at Noir. But when he saw the silver coin, his demeanour changed. "We have...we have. Come, let me take you to your room." Taking the coin, he glanced back at the women. "Lady, just be careful of those people. They're not good people," he warned them about the authorities, then led Noir upstairs.

The crowd, anticipating a commotion or at least Noir losing a limb, was left disappointed when nothing happened.

Noir didn't even glance properly at the two women. The calm woman noticed this with intrigue. She was surprised that, for the first time since their arrival, Noir was the first man to ignore them with just a single glance.

The short woman, who had been ready to confront Noir, was even more bewildered. She had instinctively reached for the hilt of her sword, ready to threaten him, but Noir hadn't even looked her way.

"Ying'er," the calm woman said, placing her hand on Yue Ying's hand, which was still resting on her sword hilt, as she watched the inn owner lead Noir upstairs.

"You were talking about authorities," Noir said to the inn owner as he followed him upstairs. "Why do those in power misuse their authority instead of helping the villagers?"

The inn owner was surprised by Noir's question. "When the people in the capital don't care about us," the old man replied, opening the door to a room, "Then why would those so-called authorities will care about us, The people of this deserted lands?"

"That's what I'm asking," Noir pressed. "Why are they like this? Aren't they authorities appointed by the people in the capital?"

The inn owner laughed. "Seems a young man like you doesn't know anything. Look around. All you'll see are poor mortals. Why would the people in the capital care about these wastelands when they can focus on places where they can actually gain something?"

"Cultivation," Noir said.

The inn owner nodded. "Well, seems you're not entirely ignorant. Yes, the people in the capital stopped looking our way long ago because this land can't produce cultivators. To them, we're just wastelands and nothing more."

Noir nodded, slowly grasping why these lands were considered the backwater of the backwater world of the Lower Heaven. The inn owner continued, "This will be your room. Food is included, but I warn you to stay away from those two women. They're likely from the capital, and just being near them will get you into trouble. So, be careful."

The inn owner left, leaving Noir to his own thoughts. He stood by the window, gazing at the half-moon, the cool night air brushing against his skin.

"To simply ignore these people because they don't live in a place with dense Qi, because they can't produce cultivators... It doesn't matter if it's this world or any other. Human greed will never be satisfied," Noir thought, watching the people in the streets. As night fell, the crowds thinned, but it was still more bustling than the village he came from.

"I wonder where they are now," he mused. "The people from the capital, they must know about the Divine Mammoth Sect and the Dragon-Phoenix Sect." Turning back to the bed, he began to cultivate.

"Although it's not much better, this place has more Qi than the previous one," he observed. "It seems the closer I am to the capital, the better the Qi in the atmosphere." He began to absorb the ambient Qi, and this time, the process was quicker than his previous attempts.

For most people, becoming a cultivator requires memorizing Qi cultivation manuals and then cultivating for a long time before even sensing Qi. And even then, success isn't guaranteed.

Only those who can sense the Qi around them can create a dantian to store it and become a cultivator. But Noir's case was different. If he were to follow the traditional path, it might take him decades, or he might never sense Qi in his lifetime, especially starting in these backwater places. Luckily, he had consumed the Seed of Cultivation, a mysterious seed that helped Noir open his dantian even without needing a dense Qi atmosphere.

[Author's Note]

There will be a mass release on Monday for the first week. After that, releases will depend on Powerstone votes. So, vote for the novel now so we can continue mass releases every Monday!