Ashes Of Heaven Book 1 : Solar Calamity

"Boss! How have you- wait, you broke through again? What the-"

"Sigh...underling, shouldn't you be used to my breakthroughs by now? I mean, they're so slow! I should have reached the ninth layer of physique transformation by this time rather than the sixth layer. Tch... simply hiding in a hut and cultivating cannot be the way of overlords! I must go out on a mission again!"

Upon hearing Mu Ran's woeful declaration, Xuhan's eyes lit up.

"Again? Where do we go this time?" He asked enthusiastically.

"I'm not sure yet. I'll just go to the task administration pavilion and pick the hardest one. I wonder if that pretty senior disciple is still working there. If she is, I can get us any mission at the speed of a kiss, no matter how difficult. I must train myself at the edge of life and death-"

"Really, boss? Awesome! I'll pack my bags right now..."

Leaving a stunned Zhanxian behind, Han Xuhan rushed into his hut, pulled out a tiny package from one of his bags and put it inside his mouth. Then he randomly hauled some bags up on his shoulder and ran back out.

"Let's go, boss-Ugh-ack!!!"

A spray of blood gushed out of Xuhan's mouth and painted his porch red. Grabbing onto his chest, Xuhan stumbled and fell to the ground like a log.

"Master!" In concern, Zhanxian rushed forward to support Xuhan, which broke Mu Ran's stunned reverie.

"Underling! What happened? How do you feel?"

Kneeling down to check Xuhan's pulse, Mu Ran's expression darkened.

"What has happened to my master?" Zhanxian enquired tearfully. Han Xuhan couldn't help but get angry about the fact that Zhanxian's mock emotions of concern for him right now surpassed the highest breadth of respect the wretched minion had ever given him.

"A qi deviation. All the signs match. Weak pulse, erratic heartbeat, jammed blood circulation...this is bad," Mu Ran muttered.

"My unstable breakthrough must have caused this..." Xuhan croaked. "Looks like I won't be able to accompany you this time, boss."

As he finished this sentence, he coughed up another stream of blood, spraying it on Mu Ran's clothes.

"Zhanxian, carry me back inside the hut. I've got the pills that can remedy this from the medicine pavilion. I saw this coming, after all," Xuhan said weakly. Zhanxian didn't waste another second, complying with his commands with incredible enthusiasm. Xuhan knew exactly why though. Not going on an adventure with Mu Ran meant the skeleton wouldn't have to do risky stuff anymore. Of course Zhanxian would be perfectly obedient in that little drama.

Lying on his bed, Han Xuhan consumed a legitimate pill for qi deviation treatment with much heartache, just in case Mu Ran was secretly a legendary pill god with heavenly pill-discerning eyes and whatnot. Dozens of spirit stones were wasted just like that, but at least he wouldn't be forced to accompany Mu Ran anytime soon.

"Boss, there is something we must discuss. If you're going to leave soon, it'd be for the best if we have the discussion right now," Xuhan finally broke his 'too-weak-to-speak' act and said.

"Sure underling. Speak up." Mu Ran nodded solemnly.

"What do you think the benefits would be...if we started teaching our fellow disciples the language of laws for free?"

Mu Ran's eyes widened in shock.

"For free? Why the hell would we do something so ridiculous? I know you're soft-hearted Xuhan, but there are limits to chivalry. This world of cultivation is a harsh place. Only by assimilating your own personality with this world can you succeed!"

Xuhan nodded, expecting the exact reaction from the guy.

"Of course, boss. I understand this perfectly. And that's why I came up with this idea."

"...I'm afraid I don't quite get it, underling."

"The benefit we can get through the plan is actually quite vast. Think about it, boss. Our sect has always been pretty expensive to survive in. There are few disciples in the outer court who can afford expensive cultivation manuals. Although everybody has a decent family backing them up, the techniques in the sect are bound to be superior by a large margin.

Now, we own one of those techniques sitting inside the archives. So, if we suddenly start handing out free lessons on that exact technique without outright selling it, how many disciples would be tempted to buy the complete manual once they've mastered the basics?

"Cultivation has always been about constantly chasing after more power. It's a vicious race against time. So any technique that can save our time due to our past knowledge of it...shouldn't it be a priority to us the moment we earn enough money to buy a technique?"

By the time Xuhan stopped explaining, Mu Ran's eyes were wide open with excitement. Even protagonists needed money for cultivation. Recently, Mu Ran's pockets had been full due to Xuhan's generosity, and his cultivation speed definitely saw an upward spike. It was an addictive feeling!

"But that's not all boss!" Xuhan added as an afterthought, noticing the excitement burning within Mu Ran's eyes. He had this prey right where he wanted.

"Once our technique becomes popular among the grassroots of the sect, our business would see another boom! We are obviously not the last generation of disciples to be recruited here. Once the new disciples enter the sect, they'll not have the inhibitions toward the language of laws that the current generation possesses due to their knowledge of its background. By then, our technique would be widely known and practiced! We only need to indirectly nudge the new disciples toward the technique and it'd sell like that 'Harem-Maker' book that got real popular a couple of months ago. Think about the profit, boss!"

"Hahahah, you're a genius, underling! An absolute genius!"

"Hehehe, your brilliance still overshadows mine by a large margin, boss!"

"You jest, underling. The margin I surpass you by isn't that large..."

From Han Xuhan's hut, the sound of demonic laughter rang out for a very long time, followed by some sounds of harsh coughing and a shout exclaiming, ''Oh, I think my deviation is acting up again, urrk-"

* * * * * * * * * * *

Half an hour later, Xuhan's condition 'stabilized', and Mu Ran left after being assured that Xuhan's condition wouldn't deteriorate. Before leaving, he took that aura-enhancing trinket they had confiscated from old man Di Qian on their first mission, much to Xuhan's sorrow.

That gadget was so useful...dammit!

Regardless, it wasn't his own to begin with, so Xuhan didn't brood over it much. His only disappointment was that he wouldn't be able to prank his fellow disciples by suddenly 'breaking through' in the middle of a conversation, repeatedly.

A man can only dream...sigh.

"Yo, is he gone?" He finally asked the skeleton in a low voice, who was on the lookout at the door of the hut.

"Yeah, seems like it," Zhanxian turned around and flashed him a thumbs up.

Just to make things sure, he kept up the act for a while more, lying weakly on his bed.

In this one month, Xuhan had prepared for many future scenarios. Escaping his duty as the follower of a trouble magnet like Mu Ran was naturally one of them. He wasn't strong enough yet to accompany that guy on those horrifying adventures.

Spitting out the blood storage packet from his mouth, Xuhan sat up and contemplated his next move.

Last week, he had received the official felicitation from the sect, along with Yuen Zhou and Mu Ran. They had stood in front of the student body, and a particularly loquacious elder had lavished them with enough praise to make even Mu Ran blush. They had received a small reward of three hundred spirit stones each (yes, three hundred spirit stones was a small amount in his eyes now), two years of free access to the archives and its library, and their bi-monthly fees had been waived for the year.

It was enough to make even the most well-off disciples jealous. But thankfully, nobody went out of their way to express their envy, unlike those arrogant young masters in xianxia stories. Sure, there were many snide remarks and doubtful questions slithering among the disciples, but none among the trio really gave a fuck or tried to fight the skeptics over it. So the commotion slowly died down soon.

But still, the possibility of jealous peers taking up the role of arrogant young masters wasn't something he could ignore. So Xuhan had come up with a plan... and today he could finally execute it, now that he had broken through to the third layer. The scheme he had fed Mu Ran was but a small part of it.

"Pack the bags, Zhanxian. We're about to pull some ridiculous shit today, and we'll need every type of contingency devices we have amassed, to be on the safe side."

Han Xuhan leaped out of his bed and rolled his shoulders, his head full of plans for the day.

Walking outside, Xuhan headed toward Yuen Zhou's hut with Zhanxian in tow carrying multiple large bags. After becoming a legitimate undead cultivator, Zhanxian was slightly stronger than before, the perfect coolie material, something Xuhan was determined to use to his advantage whenever possible.

"Martial sister Zhou, are you in there?"

His shout from outside her yard brought Yuen Zhou out of her hut. Judging by her appearance, she was probably in the middle of a cultivation session. Wearing neat, unruffled, yet dusty clothing, somewhat stiff posture, and puffy eyes...yep, definitely signs of lengthy cultivation sessions.

"Did you need something, martial broth-Oh! You broke through! Congratulations!" She said in a hoarse voice.

Han Xuhan flashed her an unabashed smile and got to the point without beating around the bush.

"Ah, thank you! To be honest, I do need your help with something. Can I interest you in a financially beneficial partnership, martial sister?"

* * * * * * * * *

That day, a rumor spread like wildfire across the numerous mountain peaks of Crimson Snow sect. The recently lauded disciples of the new generation, Han Xuhan, Mu Ran, and Yuen Zhou, were about to start a free course for any disciple interested in a technique they had salvaged from the super mysterious Holy Land of Laws.

How did it spread, you ask?

The well-known senior brother Lin, who had been managing the archives since their recruitment spoke of this study course in great detail, adding his tremendously positive opinions to it.

The ever-helpful, yet usually reclusive seniors from the Black Sheep mountain peak came out of their abodes simultaneously today for reasons unknown (the share of profits they were promised is unknown). These famous trashes visited their closest friends in other peaks, and spoke at great lengths about the importance of friendships and mutually beneficial progress.

Obviously , Han Xuhan wasn't going to hand out the original technique for free. The agreement deal with the sect was quite strict about that particular clause. Those who wanted it could buy the manual from the sect's archives easily for a pretty cheap price. But since it was a new addition to the archives, few elders in the sect knew about it, and almost none could claim to be skillful enough at it to teach newly initiated disciples...None except Han Xuhan, Mu Ran, and Yuen Zhou, all three of whom had been forced to cultivate the technique during their mission.

Han Xuhan, Mu Ran, and Yuen Zhou used every bit of their newly acquired to fame to sensationalize the rumor, and the result wasn't half bad. Xuhan even went out of his way to convince Xiao Wu and several other outgoing disciples nearby to help him. The memories of being at the receiving end of shameless marketing techniques from his previous life all finally came in handy!

That evening, a handful of disciples whose pockets tended to stay on the lighter side appeared at the foot of the Black Sheep Mountain peak, looking somewhat embarrassed and unsure of their decision.

But as the saying goes, a lone man advances in shame where the mob marches fearlessly. Although this saying was invented on the premise of a brothel, it fits the circumstances here as well.

Once the few of them saw that they weren't the only ones desperate enough to go for cheap techniques, they grew less inhibited.

As the crowd settled down in the designated meeting area, Yuen Zhou appeared at the edge of their vision, walking down the slope of the mountain with steady steps. Han Xuhan trailed behind her, appearing as dashing as a starved young man can hope to, with a sword scabbard on his waist, a wine flask in his hand, his short, jet-black hair not really fluttering in the gentle wind, his face so colored by the radiant sunlight of dusk that his features looked blurry...

Had he been a jade beauty, more descriptions would be required to keep up the tradition but thankfully, this wasn't the case.

Yuen Zhou would take the lead today as planned beforehand. Xuhan gave her a grateful nod once they reached the small crowd at the foot of the mountain and summoned Zhanxian to help him with the props.

While Yuen Zhou stood in front of the crowd and met their expectant gaze with her own steady, unflinching one and became the center of attention, Xuhan set up a blackboard behind them and Zhanxian spread a humongous bamboo mattress on the ground.

"Alrighty, then. The class begins...now! Take your seats and pay attention to the lessons!" He shouted after they were done.

Today, a seed would be planted. In the future, with proper care, it would grow into a giant tree. Then that tree would bear fruit, or more accurately, spirit stones.

And that would only be the start of his schemes.