10: veteran

Chapter 10: The Old Soldier

Chatting and greeting Zhao He and the others along the way, Wu Xian gradually became familiar with them.

Zhao He and the others also sold their existing “junk” to Wu Xian, each smiling from ear to ear.

“Little Boss, could you tell us which Great Master created your scroll?” Zhao He and the others were also very curious about Wu Xian’s God of Wealth scroll.

“What, you want one?” Wu Xian raised an eyebrow, his gaze playful.

“Who wouldn’t want such a powerful character scroll?” Yellow Hair didn't hide the envy in his eyes. “If I had a scroll like that, I would have joined the army and made a name for myself long ago. Why would I still be picking up junk here?”

Scarface Zhao He hesitated, then said, “To be honest, I’ve been saving up for a main scroll. I wonder if Little Boss could introduce me?”

“Don’t even think about it. You can’t afford it.”

Wu Xian shook his head, feigning mystery.

“You’re right,” Zhao He sighed sadly. “Even a copy of such a high-Rank exclusive scroll isn’t something ordinary people can afford.”

An exclusive scroll refers to an original scroll like the God of Wealth, which is “copyrighted.”

It’s one of a kind, with no other branches.

Most scrolls on the market today are “public domain” scrolls, which are cultural Legacies left by Scroll Masters throughout history.

Of course, among the cultural Legacies left by Scroll Masters through the ages, there are naturally many powerful scrolls, but those powerful “cultural Legacies” are mostly controlled by various Families and forces, making them inaccessible to ordinary Scroll Masters.

There are ways for ordinary Spirit Masters to obtain exclusive scrolls.

The first way is, of course, to spend money; as long as the price is high enough, one can buy it.

Unfortunately, even if a low-level Spirit Master saved money their entire life, it might not be enough for those top-tier exclusive scrolls.

The second way is to join the army.

The military also has a portion of excellent scroll Legacies and exclusive scrolls, which can be accessed after joining the army and accumulating enough military merits.

Finally, there is a more special path: becoming a follower of a Scroll Master or joining a scroll Club.

But this path depends heavily on fate and luck.

Moreover, Scroll Masters are not foolish; not everyone is qualified to be their follower.

Generally speaking, it is easiest to bet on a Scroll Master before he becomes famous; once a Scroll Master becomes famous and establishes a Club, it is not so easy.

A scroll Club is a very special group.

Followers and Scroll Masters benefit each other and are interdependent.

The Scroll Master provides powerful scrolls to his followers to enhance their strength, while the followers take the Scroll Master’s works to compete in matches, challenge high-difficulty copies, and so on, helping the Scroll Master accumulate fame and reputation, similar to advertising and product promotion.

Additionally, when the copy scrolls in the hands of the followers are upgraded, they can in turn feed back into the original scrolls held by the Scroll Master.

This is also the main reason why Scroll Masters establish Clubs after becoming famous.

And when a Club develops to its final form, it becomes a Dojo.

The powerful Dojos in today’s world originally evolved from Clubs, and those followers in the Clubs back then were the founders of today’s prominent families.

Wu Xian naturally has no plans to establish a Club at this stage, and he doesn't even have the qualifications, as he doesn't even have a Scroll Master certificate.

But in the future, he will definitely create his own Club.

By the time he returned to the Shantytown, it was already noon.

Grandpa Wu Mingchang, who was preparing lunch, was beaming. Since his grandson could support himself, the old man was noticeably more relaxed and cheerful all day long.

“Lunch will be ready soon. Oh, and you just got a package.”

The old man pointed to the package on the table.

“That fast?”

Wu Xian was both surprised and delighted. He had only placed the order in the morning, and it was delivered by noon?

One could only say that valuable items were different; the delivery efficiency was impressive.

“Grandpa, please stop for a moment.”

Wu Xian excitedly pulled the old man over, then, under the old man's bewildered gaze, he opened the package.

It was a carefully and securely packaged spiritual potion, with a golden-yellow viscous liquid inside the test tube. “Come on, Grandpa, drink this, and you’ll be able to walk with ease.”

Indeed, this was an expensive potion that could heal Grandpa's leg injury and various old internal injuries throughout his body.

Since Wu Xian could remember, he had been eyeing this potion called “Spiritual Recovery Fluid.” As soon as the two million yuan arrived in his account that morning, he immediately purchased it.

...The old man finally understood, and after a moment of silence and emotion, he said, “No, no, it’s too expensive... And Grandpa is already this old.”

“No matter how expensive, it’s worth it.”

With those simple five words, Wu Xian's eyes inexplicably reddened.

It was only four hundred eighty thousand; in his opinion, nothing was more worthwhile than this.

The old man’s eyes were red, sparkling with tears. A thousand words turned into a sigh, “My Xian’er has grown up.”

“Come, I’ll feed it to you.”

Wu Xian smiled brightly and personally fed the potion to his grandpa.

The powerful spiritual medicine instantly began to take effect. The old man was enveloped in a golden spiritual glow, with golden mist continuously rising from all over his body.

His crippled right leg, which had been bitten by an otherworldly monster, visibly shed its skin and was Reborn, returning to its original state.

Scars all over his body, as well as internal injuries, were continuously healing.

His complexion visibly improved, transforming in an instant from a withered old man to a healthy old man with a rosy complexion and vigorous spirit, looking at least ten years younger.

Or rather, this was the state a seventy-year-old man should be in.

That four hundred eighty thousand was incredibly worth it.

“How do you feel? Get up and take a few steps.” Wu Xian had never been as happy as he was today.

The old man got up nimbly and walked a few steps back and forth, feeling a comfort he had never experienced before. However, behind his excited expression was a hint of daze, and then he frowned, his gaze and demeanor suddenly becoming sharp.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the medicine?” Wu Xian couldn't help but feel nervous.

But he saw the old man remain silent for a long time, the sharpness in his eyes gradually receding. He raised his palm in a daze, and spiritual energy slowly gathered in his palm.

“?!” Wu Xian was stunned. “This is... spiritual energy Cultivation? You have the Aptitude for spiritual energy Cultivation?!”

All this time, he had thought his grandpa was just an ordinary person from the lower class, never expecting that his grandpa actually had the Aptitude for spiritual energy Cultivation.

Moreover, judging from the spiritual energy fluctuations his grandpa was emitting at this moment, he wasn't just Awakening; he was recovering his former Cultivation.

“I seemed to recall something just now,” the old man frowned. “I used to be a soldier, and I was severely wounded and lost consciousness in a fierce battle. I can’t remember many things clearly…”

“A soldier?” Wu Xian was both surprised and doubtful. “And what else?”

“Nothing more for now,” the old man seemed to be recalling something with difficulty. “The brain trauma is severe, and even the Spiritual Recovery Potion can’t completely heal it. I can only try to remember slowly.”

Saying that, the old man smiled contentedly, “My old bones are finally of some use, aren’t they?”

“No, no, you just rest easy and enjoy your retirement. I’ll handle everything else.”

Although his grandpa's sudden recovery of some memories was unexpected, for him, the greatest happiness was for his grandpa to live one more year.

The old man's eyes were full of relief, and he went back to the kitchen, full of vigor, to continue cooking.

At lunch, the grandfather and grandson were full of joy.

“By the way, Grandpa, what was your Cultivation Rank before?” Wu Xian couldn’t help but be curious.

“I can’t remember. I’ll just Cultivate slowly and see,” the old man shook his head bitterly.

“It’s okay, take your time,” Wu Xian said indifferently. “I’ll arrange a scroll for you later, so you can recall your youthful glory.”

Hearing this, the old man seemed to recall something else and mused, “Xian’er’s scroll seems to be an Ancient Scroll. This kind of scroll… is not simple.”

“Ah? You even know about Ancient Scrolls.”

“I suddenly remembered some fragmented information,” the old man entered a state of difficult recollection again. “I seem to have seen this kind of Ancient Scroll somewhere.”

Seeing this, Wu Xian didn't press further.

After the meal, the old man returned to his room to rest and recover.

Wu Xian also began his great endeavor of self-study, holding his phone with basic knowledge of mechanical scrolls, his eyes full of thirst for knowledge.

But before that, there was an even more important matter: upgrading the God of Wealth.

He took out the purchased lightning-attribute Materials, extracted the spiritual essence from each, and had the God of Wealth absorb the necessary spiritual substances.

After absorbing all the Materials in one go, the God of Wealth’s improvement was quite significant, especially the power and effect of “Controlling Thunder and Lightning.”

[Xuantan Zhenjun - Zhao Gongming]

Type: original (Golden Embroidered Edge)

Grade: Blood-colored Destiny Axis

painting spirit: ★ ★ ☆

Spirituality: 43

Innate Abilities: Attract Wealth and Treasure, Wealth Qi Protection, Control Thunder and Lightning

Not only did his Spirituality soar to 43 points, but faint dark red patterns also vaguely appeared within the Blood-colored Destiny Axis, which was very peculiar.

It was clear that the Rank of the Blood-colored Destiny Axis had also increased, though the specific ranking system for the Blood-colored Destiny Axis was still unclear.

Then, he contentedly began to study the information Sister Tiao had sent.

Indeed, the mechanical principles constructed at the spiritual level were quite special. Various mechanical spiritual substances could be combined and pieced together to produce different functions and effects, and the combination methods were ever-changing.

However, at its core, it was still a spiritual characteristic construction, which provided considerable inspiration for other spiritual characteristic constructions.

For two consecutive days, Wu Xian was immersed in learning, occasionally practicing with “junk” scraps, and his understanding of pigment deployment gradually got on track.