Following his departure from the Xiao estate, Fang headed directly to Guan Jing City, one of the three largest cities in the central plains.
The journey here would have been long if not for the fact that the Xiao clan had teleporters that connected with all major cities of the central continent.
Then Fang heard the system's voice, "So, host, what are your plans for the future?"
Fang, while walking the streets, said, "Now that I have money, the best course of action for me would be to go to the Yue Lu Academy."
"Not only can I use the academy to build solid connections with people from all around the continent, but I can also use the academy's name as backing."
Then Fang started telling the system about Yue Lu Academy.
Yue Lu Academy, the most prestigious and mysterious academy on the Pang Du continent. Every year, students from across the continent gather for the entrance ceremony, hoping to be admitted, but only 1000 out of hundreds of thousands are selected from each border.
Nobody knows where the academy was built outside of the people attending it, and even then, there was never an incident in the academy's long history when its location was exposed.
5 teleporters were built on the continent. Each year, when it was time for the ceremony, these portals would be activated by the academy, and examiners would come to check the aptitude of students.
Everyone is born with spiritual roots that develop after birth. These roots fall into four categories: Mortal, Earth, Sky, and Heaven. There are also various types of roots, including Yin, Thunder, and Earth roots, among others. Each type is classified into one of the four main ranks mentioned earlier. These ranks are further divided into three sub-ranks: Low, Middle, and High.
To attend the academy, a person needed at least a high-level Sky root, which in itself was quite a harsh condition. Only 1 out of 100 million people were born with this level of root, and most of them, if they didn't have any strong backing, would be refined as children by demonic cultivators.
Fang, on the other hand, wasn't worried at all and kept explaining all this to the system.
The system then asked Fang, " Host, what level of spiritual roots do you possess?"
Fang didn't answer and told the system to just wait for the reveal at the entrance ceremony. He then thought to himself, "Hah! Taking admission in the academy would be easy, after all, I have heaven-ranked high-level roots.
The system also didn't push the matter further and asked Fang, "So, Host, what are you searching for right now? Some hidden treasure from your past life?"
Fang just nodded in disagreement and said, "Right now, I am going to the biggest auction house of the Guan Jing".
The auction house was the reason Fang had decided to come to this city in the first place. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this auction house the biggest of the three cities.
Fang stooped in front of a big building shaped like a pagoda. On the outside, 'Longteng Auction House' was written in big letters.
The system asked, "So what exactly are you looking for, host?"
Fang said, "Seriously, system, you need to cultivate some patience before you help me with my Xiao Chen problem, just wait and see."
....
Hearing this, the system went quiet.
Seeing Fang staring at the auction house gate for so long, an attendant named Shen Mo approached him and asked, "Can I help you in any way, Sir?"
Hearing his voice, Fang realized that he was standing in the middle of the road and staring at the gates of the auction house. Thinking about this, Fang got second-hand embarrassment.
This is one of the many things Fang had learned from Xiao Chen's memories. He was impressed by how 'Earth' had progressed without any spiritual qi.
Fang hurriedly replied, with a hint of embarrassment, "Actually, I am here to buy some things."
Hearing this, Mo subtly stared Fang from head to toe, and without saying anything, just nodded his head and gestured for Fang to follow him.
Fang had realized that Mo was judging him by his clothes, but he couldn't care less. It wasn't that Fang was wearing some old-ragged clothes; they were quite fancy, but just not fancy enough for this place.
Seeing Mo attending to a guest, another attendant using voice transmission technique asked him, "Hey, Mo, you are just a newbie, don't take it too hard and just try to do your best if a problem arises, just call me with voice transmission."
This was Shen Chong, Mo's senior, and the one showing him the ropes for his job as an attendant.
Mo replied with a sad voice, "Senior, I think I might have picked the wrong guy, just see his clothes, he doesn't seem like the person who can afford even the cheapest thing here."
Senior Ching just chuckled and replied, "This is where you are wrong, Mo. We get a monthly salary, not commissions, even if he seems like someone who can't afford anything. Why would that matter to you? Just do your job and show him everything he asks for, remember you are just an attendant, before you judge others."
Mo agreed with this and then asked in a passionate and polite voice, "Sir, is there anything in particular you are looking for?"
"I would like a simple mask that can 'mask' my presence, and a ring just as a piece of jewelry, nothing more," Fang said with a chuckle.
Hearing his joke, even Mo chuckled a little and said, "Right this way, Sir."
Then he showed Fang three different masks, all of which had the same power of 'masking' his presence from anything or anyone under the 4th sequence, which impressed Fang.
Originally, Fang had thought that the maximum he would find would be a mask that would help him hide from a 2nd sequence.
Now all that remained was selecting the design.
The first was a Fox mask.
The second was just a plain mask, with eye holes and a hole for breathing.
The third was an opera mask with red and white stripes.
Seeing them, Fang asked the system, "Hey, system, what do you say which of these masks should I buy?"
...
"System?"
...
Fang was a little dumbfounded by this sudden silence.
"System..."
Then it suddenly hit Fang, and he realized that the system was angry from his 'Cultivate some patience' remark.
"Are you angry, system?"
...
Seeing no response, Fang said, "Oh man! There are so many masks, if only I had someone, someone who was an expert in fashion, with good opinions, but alas, I am but a dumb teenager, if only my one and only friend 'The Great system' could find it in his/her heart to help me and forgive this lowly one.
Suddenly, a voice came into his mind, "Apology accepted."
"So what do you want the mask for, host? You can just buy a ring with the same effects, but you want a mask; that means there is another purpose to this mask. Tell me about it and I might help you."
Fang, in an impressed voice, said, "System, you know how I was seeing Chen's memories. In one of those memories, I saw three people, one was called 'The knight of night', the other went by the name 'The man of iron', the third and most impressive out of them all went by the name 'Arachnid man'."
"It was my dream to be a kind person, but it was just a dream because I didn't have someone to show me the way, yet the more I saw these mortals in Chen's memories, their ideals, their motives, and the show of unbreakable human spirit, the more it inspired me ."
"I want to be like them. I want the kids to see me and imagine themselves behind the mask. I want the people to believe it could be anyone behind the mask. I don't want to be kind, I want to become the hope of the people."
Just as Fang and System were taking, Mo was just standing there, dumbfounded.
As soon as he asked Fang which mask he wanted to buy, Fang just stood there in silence. Initially, he thought Fang was simply looking over the masks and deciding which one to pick, but now, with Fang still motionless and staring for the past 10 minutes, he started to worry about him.
Then Mo said, "Young-master, are you alright? Do you need some water?"
Hearing this, Fang said, "I would like the opera mask."
Mo just nodded and packed it, and then asked Fang, "Young-master, now that you have chosen a mask, can you tell me if there is something specific you are looking for when you said you want a ring?"
Fang nodded, "I want you to show me an engagement ring, nothing flashy, something simple and elegant."
Mo just nodded and took him to the jewelry section. There were many types of jewels and items on display, but they were relatively cheap, the reason being that these were just simple pieces of jewelry that offered no buffs or effects like Fang's mask.
After looking for a while, Fang settled on a gold ring with a beautiful emerald stone.
Mo happily packed it.
Mo then politely asked Fang, "Sir, your ring comes out to 1 billion gold coins and 1 trillion gold coins for the mask."
Fang just nodded and paid.
Mo was both surprised and happy by this, because not only did he sell something, but he did it quite easily too. "Maybe I have a knack for selling things, I should change my contract from salary to commission." He thought to himself proudly. He went broke later, but that's a story for another time.
Coming out of the auction house, Fang was really happy.
Then he heard the system's voice, "So, host, who is the lucky lady? Why didn't you mention anything about her to me?"
Fang, in a calm voice, said, "There is no woman system; this ring is for me."
"Host, I can assure you self-love is important, but aren't you being a little extreme here, and what's with these prices? You just started your journey and lost 10% of your wealth on a single equipment."
Fang said, "The reason is simple while population is in trillions, only few thousand people are hogging all the resources, this is also the reason why many kids despite being born with high innate talent get refined into pills by demonic sects before becoming cultivators."
"Only the strong have the right to live, while the weak commit the biggest crime just by trying to survive."
"For the weak, there are laws, but for the powerful, these are just penalties for being caught."
"I will change it, and to do it, I have to become strong."
...
"Host, how about we calm down a little and pretend I never asked the question? Why don't you tell me about that ring?"
Fang just shrugged, then with a smile said, "The ring only serves one purpose, I will use this to make sure all the girls at the academy stay away from me?"
"Just know, host, I will support you either way. I am not just your system, I am your friend, you can tell me anything."
Ignoring the system's comments, Fang continued, "I already know I will be selected, so what I need to do right now is to maximize my efficiency and become strong as fast as possible."
"But if I become strong too fast, it will attract unwanted attention, so I will just use this ring to make a fake story of having a lover."
System, in an astonished voice, said, "I didn't expect you to think that far, host. I must say, I am impressed." Then thought, 'I am impressed by how delusional someone can be.'
Fang just chuckled and continued walking, and then he saw something that amazed him.