Aimless Ascension

"I'm cut off from family allowances," Sun Ziang said, biting his lips. "Well, even if I weren't, it will take me a couple of years to afford a longread which can easily cost over a hundred thousand gold marks. Our family remunerates allowances according to the member's capabilities, not their family standing."

"That seemed like a good way to nurture children," Gale remarked. "Unfortunately for you, parts of a longread cost quite a lot. Well, you can always pay in instalments with no extra charge."

"Is that alright?"

"Sure," Gale said easily. "Since you asked for the best healer of your clan to check on my disciple, I can at least do that."

"Oh that," Sun Ziang was evidently embarrassed. "I'll see when my aunt has time."

"No worries. I'll make you a list of items before you go. You can commission the parts from the guild. It will be some time before they can manage the parts, though. Anyway, I'll leave with your privacy."

Sun Ziang watched him leave and brought out a small crystal orb from his dimension storage device. It was the access key that connects to his aunt's longread. He put the access key into the device and waited for it to connect.

Sun Ziang only remained in contact with his aunt Min for the last few months and that too not excessively. He barely talked for a few minutes once or twice a month. Most of the time, his aunt barely has time to receive the connection.

However, it seemed today she had time to receive his call.

Sun Ziang proceeded to type first, only to find the keys weren't in chronological order, but shuffled all around the space. He frowned and memorised the new key tabs. There was no point in complaining, considering this was probably something they had to do to make the device smaller.

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[Aunt Min, it's me, Ziang,] Sun Ziang typed. He waited until a reply came.

[Prove it.] The device typed in.

Sun Ziang thought for a moment and typed: [You're barely a couple of decades away from reaching a hundred years in age, but you're still a v--]

[Alright, you don't need to prove anymore,] the device typed in on its own, reflecting what his aunt typed in on the other end of her device.

Sun Ziang snickered. [Anyway, when are you coming?]

[I don't have a date.]

[That probably because this isn't your priority,] Sun Ziang typed.

[Yes.]

Sun Ziang snorted at the blunt admission. [That will probably change if you listen to what I found this time around,] he typed.

[Do tell.]

[I came across silver and gold ranked herbs even though the highest energy density in the mountains is just around iron rank. This shouldn't be possible, right?]

[Normally, yes. However, this might not be a normal case. What else did you find?]

[A pack of silver ranked Berserk Monkey,] Sun Ziang typed. [They were Reaper wolves too, mostly iron ranks, but there were some silver ranks too. I think I might even find some rare gold rank beasts if I go deeper. But it isn't a feasible option to venture only by myself, considering what I came across.]

[Interesting. . .]

Of course, it was interesting. Both the Berserk Monkey and Reaper Wolves were rare beasts whose ancestry reached the extinct god beasts. Sun Ziang hadn't expected to come across them here.

[What is this mission really about?] Sun Ziang asked, knowing his aunt wasn't telling him the whole story.

There were only a few people in their clan who were let on to the secrets. Aunt Min was one of them.

Sun Ziang wasn't among them, even though he was the son of the matriarch. Well, he was one among many and of the lowest rank. He had done nothing to prove himself yet.

[That's something I'm not fully aware of,] his aunt typed in. [All I can say is that Grandma had a purpose for sending you here, not just for punishment, although that was one of her concerns.]

Sun Ziang snorted and didn't reply to that.

[Try to get into the centre of all this if you can,] his aunt continued. [I'm still concerned with other businesses, but I'll join if you have something to show for as a result.]

[Aunt, I can't move further alone.]

For several seconds, there was no reply. [I can send you one of my disciples to assist you if you can, but this is as far I can do for you now.]

[If it's Qing'er, then yes,] Sun Ziang replied.

[I'll see to that. Also, you are on the silver rank for a while now. It's about time you should consider advancing to gold.]

[I'm already considering that,] Sun Ziang said. He didn't have access to the clan's resources anymore, and that would probably stay that way for some time. Sun Ziang had to prepare for his advancement on its own, and he was alright with that.

[The mountain range will provide some challenges. I think this will be good enough for my advancement.]

[Anyway, how's your life in Wayshire.]

[It's mostly peaceful and boring.] Sun Ziang typed. I cannot fathom, our ancestors came to some place like this.]

[That was a different time when divinity was among us. We were hardly a second class clan at that time and Wayshire was different too.]

Sun Ziang heard too many theories from his aunt about divinity, so he didn't think too much about that.

[Do you have anything more to say? It's almost midnight here, and I need to sleep.]

[Remember the girl with a peculiar constitution I talked to you about?]

[Yes. You asked for her at the request of the Wang family.]

[Well, she has a master now, and apparently I owe that master somewhat. So it would be really great if you can make some time to check on her.]

[Didn't you say her constitution didn't let her accumulate Qi for a longer period of time? Why did someone take her under their wings then? Wait, is it someone who only took her as a disciple just because they are interested in the peculiarity of her physique? Is there even a single true master in Wayshire?]

[Probably not for your first question,] Sun Ziang replied. [As for the matter of being a true master, apparently he is a Master Artisan.]