Chapter 15: Tuition Fees

Sects open outer gates to recruit disciples, imparting cultivation knowledge and skills. Once a disciple joins a sect to cultivate and learn, they must pay tuition.

The tuition varies depending on the grade of the sect; the higher the grade, the more expensive the tuition.

The Tongxian Sect is merely a first-grade sect in the cultivation world, but in Tongxian City, where first-grade sects are the only kind, it is the largest. The annual tuition is one hundred spirit stones, and that does not even include various other miscellaneous fees.

One hundred spirit stones was not excessively expensive, but it was certainly not cheap. It was roughly equivalent to the annual income of an ordinary rogue cultivator in the Qi Refinement stage, provided they suffered no injuries or other major expenses requiring large amounts of spirit stones.

Once illness or disaster struck, or if they encountered difficulties that required spirit stones to resolve, it was entirely possible to go an entire year without any savings.

The New Year was a happy time, but once it passed, the heavy burden of cultivation life seemed to press down once again.

Mo Shan placed a storage bag on the table and said somewhat guiltily, "I borrowed some spirit stones from a few brothers. Combined with what I had saved before, it's eighty-something in total..."

Liu Ruhua comforted him, "I'll go to the restaurant manager tomorrow and ask for an advance on some spirit stones..."

Just as Mo Shan was about to say something, he discovered Mo Hua eavesdropping at the crack in the door.

"Hua'er!"

Having been discovered, Mo Hua could only give a sheepish smile and run over to sit beside his mother.

Liu Ruhua affectionately pinched Mo Hua's ear and scolded playfully, "At such a young age, you already know how to eavesdrop!"

"Dad, Mom, is the family still short on spirit stones?"

Mo Shan said, "We are a bit short, but your Uncle Ji said yesterday that he would lend us some. He also repeatedly urged me to make sure you study hard at the sect."

"Uncle Ji?"

"That's right. Your Uncle Ji said you are clever and kept praising you," Liu Ruhua said, stroking Mo Hua's head.

"But Uncle Ji's family probably doesn't have many spare spirit stones either," Mo Hua said.

Mo Shan sighed softly. "I'll pay him back early after the New Year. These days, who actually has spare spirit stones on hand?"

"I do!" Mo Hua said with a giggle.

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua were stunned for a moment.

Mo Hua ran back into the room with his short legs, pitter-pattering, and then ran back out, clutching a storage bag in his hand.

Mo Hua opened the storage bag. Inside, fifty spirit stones shimmered with intersecting lights, casting a colorful glow that was quite beautiful. However, the expected scene of his parents weeping with emotion and praising his maturity did not occur.

Mo Shan's expression was solemn, and Liu Ruhua's brow furrowed slightly.

Mo Hua asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

Mo Shan tried his best to use a calm tone and asked, "Hua'er, who gave you these spirit stones?"

"No one gave them to me; I earned them myself!"

Mo Shan froze. "Earned... yourself?"

Liu Ruhua's brow relaxed slightly as she gently pulled Mo Hua into her arms. "Then tell Mother, how did you earn them?"

"I draw formations for the Youyuan Pavilion, but only the simplest kind. I earn one spirit stone for every formation I finish."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua looked at each other. They recalled that for most of the time around the New Year, their son had stayed in his room and hadn't played much; when he did go out, he returned quickly. It turned out he had been drawing formations to earn spirit stones.

The two looked again at the spirit stones in the bag. One spirit stone per formation, and there were nearly fifty in the bag, meaning he had to have drawn at least fifty...

Liu Ruhua could not help but hug Mo Hua even tighter.

Mo Shan wanted to speak several times but didn't know what to say. In the end, he simply reached out and gently patted Mo Hua's head.

"These spirit stones were earned through your hard work; keep them for yourself. Save them for your cultivation or to buy something delicious. I will find a way to handle the Tongxian Sect tuition."

Mo Hua knew his father was reluctant to use these stones. His eyes darted around, and he said, "Then Mom and Dad should keep these spirit stones for me. I'm just a child and can't use this much, and it would be easy for someone to steal or rob them."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua looked at each other, speechless, unable to find a way to refuse.

Finally, Liu Ruhua said, "Alright, Mom and Dad will keep them for you for now."

"Mm-hmm!" Mo Hua nodded vigorously.

"Alright, it's getting late. You start school tomorrow, so go to sleep early."

"Okay, goodnight Mom and Dad!"

Mo Hua stood up to go back to his room, but after a thought, he turned back and said, "Mom, Dad, you should use them when you need to. Don't save them for my sake."

The Mo Shan couple didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Watching Mo Hua return to his room and close the door, Mo Shan finally let out a sigh and said with a bitter smile, "As a father, I'm not even as good as my child."

Liu Ruhua comforted him, "Don't say that. It's a good thing that Hua'er knows how to consider his parents. We should be happy that he can earn spirit stones through his own abilities. It's just..."

Liu Ruhua looked down at the spirit stones before her, then looked up at her husband, asking doubtfully, "He is so young; can he really draw formations for others to earn spirit stones? And earn this much... I'm afraid someone might see how young he is and try to..."

"I'll go check tomorrow," Mo Shan said, his gaze gradually becoming sharp.

The next day, Mo Hua woke up on time. After cultivating for a while, he went to the outer gate of the Tongxian Sect with his mother, Liu Ruhua, to pay the tuition and register for school.

Mo Shan had already left early. According to Liu Ruhua, Mo Shan was heading into the inner mountains with several demon hunters today and had to go early to prepare.

Upon arriving at the Tongxian Sect's outer gate, Liu Ruhua paid the tuition and completed the enrollment, but she couldn't help looking at Mo Hua several more times.

Once he entered the Tongxian Sect to cultivate, she wouldn't see her son on ordinary days, except during holidays when the sect gave breaks.

Liu Ruhua gave Mo Hua a few more instructions—to cultivate well, get along with fellow disciples, eat well, drink well, dress well, and not to bully others—before she left reluctantly.

Mo Hua stood outside the mountain gate waving until Liu Ruhua's figure disappeared at the intersection, and only then did he turn around.

He did not enter the sect immediately. Instead, he first went to the Youyuan Pavilion on North Street to find the fat manager and collect materials for twenty Bright Fire Formations, agreeing to hand them in within half a month at the latest.

The sect had a break once every ten days (at the beginning, middle, and end of the month), lasting only one day each time. Mo Hua planned to slip out during these breaks to conduct his business with the fat manager.

For the twenty sets of materials, the fat manager only charged a deposit of ten spirit stones. Given that his previous cooperation with Mo Hua's... older brother had been very pleasant and the quality of the submitted formations had been steadily improving, the manager was very satisfied. Out of respect for Mo Hua, the deposit remained unchanged.

Having settled the arrangements with the manager, Mo Hua left the Youyuan Pavilion satisfied.

After Mo Hua left, he did not notice a burly man silently watching him from outside the Youyuan Pavilion.

Once Mo Hua was gone, the man walked through the entrance of the Youyuan Pavilion.

As the bell chimed, the fat manager looked up and saw a man who was dressed simply but was handsome and upright, with sharp, bright eyes. The man was looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze that carried an intimidating edge.

The fat manager could tell at a glance that this man was a demon hunter—a true hunter who had seen blood! Furthermore, his attitude was not particularly pleasant; the way he looked at the manager was like looking at a demon beast waiting to be slaughtered.

In terms of cultivation, the fat manager believed he was not inferior to this man, but if they actually fought, it was hard to say. After all, demon hunters lived on the edge of a blade year-round, constantly risking their lives against demon beasts.

As for himself, he had sat behind a counter for so long that he couldn't remember the last time he had touched a sword, and his combat skills had long since grown rusty.

The fat manager weighed the situation, straightened his posture, and asked cautiously, "Fellow Daoist, what kind of formation do you require?"

The burly man was indeed Mo Shan. He spread out a crumpled piece of paper; on it was a copied formation, with several errors that had been smudged out.

"What kind of formation is this?"

The fat manager took a glance and said, "It is a Bright Fire Formation."

"Do you accept this kind of formation?"

The man's tone made the fat manager quite uncomfortable. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have bothered, but today he felt that since the man had entered as a guest, he should be polite and attentive.

"Of course we do. This is a common formation used by ordinary cultivator households, so the demand is quite high."

Mo Shan said, "The child who just left—was he also drawing formations for you?"

The manager replied, "Such matters cannot be discussed publicly. Youyuan Pavilion must protect the privacy of its customers; this is our business principle."

Mo Shan's gaze instantly became as piercing as a blade. Feeling a chill down his spine, the fat manager thought for a moment and decided that cultivators shouldn't be too rigid; principles could be applied flexibly.

"It wasn't that child; it was his older brother."

Mo Shan frowned. "Older brother?"

The manager said, "That's right. How old is this child? What formations could he possibly know how to draw? He is merely running errands for his brother; the formations are all drawn by his brother."

"Did he say that himself?"

"Of course," the manager replied, "otherwise, why would we do business with a child?"

After saying this, the manager stared at Mo Shan warily

"As for the child's name and where he lives, it is impossible for me to tell you."

Mo Shan rolled his eyes at the fat manager. *As for the child's name and where he lives, as his father, don't I know better than you? Do I really need you to tell me?*

However, knowing that Mo Hua was not being used by others, Mo Shan's attitude softened. He cupped his hands toward the manager and said, "I have disturbed you. I shall take my leave."

The fat manager breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with a hint of arrogance.

Mo Shan turned and left. Only after his silhouette disappeared behind the door did the fat manager let out a long breath and mutter discontentedly, "He didn't even buy anything..."