39: Ways to make money

"Boss, five more pancakes!"

The freshly made lamb soup was steaming, emitting white vapor. The aroma of lamb mixed with the spicy scent of pepper stimulated Han Yi's taste buds, making his appetite soar!

Just now, his stomach burning with hunger, he had left his home and was forced to go out to find food.

Having eaten his fill, Han Yi leisurely left the stall.

However, Han Yi looked at his shriveled coin pouch and couldn't help but sigh.

The rich don't study literature, the poor don't practice martial arts; the ancients truly didn't deceive me!

Before Han Yi came to An Yan City, he originally only had a little over twenty taels of silver. After buying some medicinal herbs and spending money over the past few days, he was now left with just over ten taels.

Now that he had become a Lianxue Stage Martial Artist, his strength had greatly increased, and his appetite had also become increasingly terrifying.

For that meal just now, he had eaten the equivalent of five people's portions. Han Yi was now a veritable glutton!

"If this continues, I'll run out of money sooner or later..." Han Yi thought with a worried expression. He was currently neither a Crimson Flame Sect Outer Sect Disciple nor an Inner Sect Disciple.

Although the past month had been like a holiday with no tasks, which was enviable, there was also no pay!

"I need to find a way to make money. This little bit of money probably isn't even enough for food for a month!" Han Yi frowned tightly.

The Bureau of Unusual Matters' tasks offered generous rewards, even though most Bureau of Unusual Matters tasks had to be performed outside the city.

But Han Yi was now a Lianxue Stage quasi-Martial Master, and he had gained some confidence in his strength. He believed that even if he went out of the city alone, or even into the Black Rock Mountains, he could at least protect himself.

After all, among Martial Masters above the Lianxue Stage quasi-Martial Master level, Han Yi had only seen two in the Sect for such a long time: Elder Li and Elder Luo. And the Lianxue Stage was already a rare expert in An Yan City!

However, if he were to take on a Bureau of Unusual Matters task, he wasn't sure if his current strength would be sufficient to handle it.

After all, who can say for sure when dealing with matters related to You!

Furthermore, even if he could handle it, he would likely have to use his full strength to cope, and might even need to expose the existence of the System.

In that case, if anything unexpected happened... it would truly be a mess!

Of course, if he had full strength and could solve the problem by only showing seventy percent or even fifty percent of it, then he would consider going to the Bureau of Unusual Matters to gain some experience!

It's better to gather more information first, or perhaps increase his strength further before considering taking on tasks from the Bureau of Unusual Matters.

For now, I should go find those few people!

Deciding to act immediately, Han Yi prepared to go to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to find Pan Sheng.

Based on Pan Sheng's habits, he should have stayed overnight at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion last night.

Although it wasn't ideal to disturb someone in their 'tender haven' right now, the only two people he was familiar with in An Yan City were Pan Sheng and Li Feng.

Li Feng was said to be preparing for secluded cultivation, so it wasn't convenient for him to find Li Feng either.

Moreover, the most important thing was that he didn't have a good feeling about Elder Li; he always felt as if Elder Li harbored malicious intentions towards him.

"Could he be smitten with my face?" Han Yi touched his handsome face, feeling a chill in his heart.

He shook his head, pushing that thought out of his mind.

Ignoring the few girls who were tugging at his sleeve, Han Yi walked straight towards the private room on the second floor where they had been last night.

Thump, thump, thump.

"Who is it? Didn't I, your grandpa, already pay!" Pan Sheng put on his clothes and opened the door, grumbling.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Pan." Han Yi smiled warmly.

"What, are you very short on money?" Pan Sheng blew on his teacup, took a sip of hot tea, and eased the headache brought on by his hangover.

"You should rest well this month."

"In a few days, once you become an Inner Sect Disciple, you won't have this much free time!"

"My Aptitude isn't great, so I want to save more money to prevent any future accidents, and also to be able to retire early and go home," Han Yi said with a smile. "Besides, I'm just idle here anyway, I might as well go out and find something to do to pass the time."

"That's true, no one ever dislikes having more money." Pan Sheng nodded in agreement, clearly approving of the first part of Han Yi's statement.

After all, he had spent quite a bit at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion these past few days.

"Generally speaking, we Inner Sect Disciples of the Crimson Flame Sect don't lack money."

"Inner Sect Disciples whose cultivation reaches the Mid Bone Refinement Stage receive a monthly stipend of twenty taels of silver, plus rewards for completing tasks. Generally speaking, this is more than enough to maintain daily cultivation."

"Beyond that, if you want to earn more money, killing demonic beasts in the Black Rock Mountains outside the city is a good way to make money."

Pan Sheng mused for a moment before speaking.

Han Yi's expression was normal: "Besides going to the Black Rock Mountains?"

He remembered seeing a few tasks near the Black Rock Mountains at the Bureau of Unusual Matters last night!

It's better to be cautious about matters involving You!

"If you put it that way..." Pan Sheng thought for a moment.

He glanced at Han Yi a few times, and his tone suddenly turned sour: "Junior Brother Han, I know a few young ladies from prominent families in the inner city. If I were you, I'd go directly to the inner city and marry into a rich Family. If you find a wealthy Miss Tantai, you won't have to struggle for the rest of your life!"

Young and ignorant of the benefits of a sugar mommy, mistakenly treating young girls as treasures...

Sugar mommy, hungry, food...

In his previous life, countless classic sayings flashed through Han Yi's mind.

"Senior Brother Pan, you want to be a kept man, don't you?" Han Yi wore a strange expression, revealing a look that all men understood.

"How could I!" Pan Sheng's old face actually turned red for once. "This brother has had a weak stomach since childhood, is that not allowed?"

He never expected that Pan Sheng, who usually prided himself on being a romantic talent and wanting to live a life of pleasure, would have such thoughts!

Han Yi immediately looked at Pan Sheng in a new light.

"Senior Brother Pan, appearance is something one is born with. My appearance is naturally like this, and I cannot decide it," Han Yi said with a serious expression. "But if possible, I want to live by my own efforts!"

Han Yi's words were forceful, stirring, and inspiring!

Besides, according to Han Yi's experience watching novels and TV shows in his previous life, the fate of a live-in son-in-law was usually not good. He had the System with him, so why bother looking for trouble?

Seeing this, Pan Sheng also put away his joking words and said seriously: "Besides going to the Black Rock Mountains to kill demonic beasts, there are a few other options."

"For example, you could choose to join some prominent families or large merchant houses and become a so-called retainer."

"However, the minimum requirement for a retainer is the Lianxue Stage, and although it's profitable, retainers are usually long-term positions. Sometimes they can conflict with Sect tasks, and your freedom will be restricted."

"I remember Junior Brother Han, you seem to be only at the Refining Bone Stage. It seems you haven't met the minimum requirement for a retainer yet."

After Han Yi's cultivation Breakthrough, he hadn't told Pan Sheng. After all, in just a few days, going from the Mid Bone Refinement Stage and consecutively crossing two major Realms to become a Lianxue Stage Martial Artist was truly too terrifying.

If others found out, Han Yi might very well be taken away and used as a lab rat.

Pan Sheng paused, then continued: "Furthermore, there's another method, which is to be a nominal member of some small forces."

"Nominal member?"

"In the buffer zones between these major powers, there are also some small Gangs or businesses. These places also want the protection of major powers like the Crimson Flame Sect, so the practice of inviting Disciples from major powers to be nominal members was born."

Han Yi understood instantly. Being a nominal member meant these weaker forces would pay Disciples from major powers to 'borrow the tiger's might' and wear a tiger skin.

"Being a nominal member is quite flexible in terms of time. You just need to occasionally drop by, or take action once or twice within your capabilities. Of course, the pay for this is relatively low, only a dozen or so taels of silver a month."

"There are also tasks like being a guard, training partner, or instructor, but I'm not too clear about these. If you're interested, you can go check out the Martial Alliance."

"Martial Alliance?"