The same night that Jingxuan began refining his Mingji, Wenjing and Wenbin, the twin pair, had gone home. Their purpose was to obtain Genesis Stones from their parents. Refining and feeding a Mingji required a lot of Genesis Stones. If they were poor, they could only put in effort for days or weeks before refining; after all, the Genesis Stones given by the academy were not enough. But Wenjing and Wenbin had Mingji-wielder parents as backing, so it was obvious they would ask for help.
They were dining in the dining room. It was a square table with a lamp fixed in the middle. The head seat was occupied by Wenjing's father. But if they sat at the table for a few minutes, the atmosphere would clearly reveal who the real head was—it was Jingxuan's aunt, Jingyi, seated to the right of Wenjing's father.
Wenbin politely asked, "Father, I want to request some Genesis Stones for refining the Mingji."
His father replied with a smile, "No problem, no problem. Here."
As he said that, he threw a pouch toward the twin pair. Both twins grabbed their respective pouches, stood up, and politely bowed.
Wenbin added before sitting, his eyes shining with confidence, "Father, Mother, I'll surely beat Jingxuan in refining the Mingji and not disappoint you. That brat just had good luck when he was forming the first ring."
Wenbin and Wenjing had several things in common, like jealousy. They both felt envious when they heard that Jingxuan was the first to form a ring. But contrary to his sister, Wenbin was a foolish kid who had neither talent nor brains.
Hearing the name Jingxuan, Jingyi's ears perked up, and she said, "You and your sister have been keeping an eye on him, right? Why haven't I heard any news from either of you? It's been months since the academy started."
Wenjing, who had already taken a seat and was eating, paused and spoke calmly, "Mother, I have been keeping an eye on him, but he hasn't revealed any abnormal behavior. Other than becoming a bully and extorting Genesis Stones, there's nothing noteworthy."
"What? Why didn't you tell me about this earlier, Wenjing? Have you forgotten the clan rules or what?" she screamed furiously.
She added, "That brat is still the true heir of the Zhou Jing family. Once he reaches Rank Two, the clan will force us to return the property if he makes an appeal."
Her palm crashed onto the table, and her voice dropped to a hard, fierce whisper. "If my brother hadn't hidden the key assets, I would have dealt with this long ago. Find any leads at once. If we fail, it won't be only the hidden assets we lose—we'll lose everything we've been protecting."
As mentioned, this town's rules—no, more precisely, this world—followed a general law: Wielders were given first preference. There were enormous amounts of danger roaming the world, so towns needed wielders to protect them. Naturally, clans placed great importance on wielders.
Jingxuan had been just a mortal a few months ago. If he had been Rank One, they would have neglected him; until the upper stage of Rank One, there wasn't a significant difference between a wielder and a mortal. But as soon as he reached Rank Two, they would take him seriously.
If he wanted to reclaim the assets after achieving Rank Two, then according to clan rules, Wenjing's family could lose their house, property, and all other assets. This was a serious situation for them.
Jingyi, the aunt of Jingxuan, was no fool. She had always thought about how to deal with Jingxuan, but her cunning brother, who did not trust her with the child, was very cautious. He had hidden some of the Mingji, which were generational assets of the Zhou Jing family.
This was a world where Mingji cultivation reigned supreme. Naturally, the value of Mingji exceeded that of any property. Especially Mingji above Rank Two were a major matter in a town like Si Fanghu.
That's why Jingyi, although she mistreated him, had always made her daughter get close to him—so that he would eventually reveal all the secrets once he discovered his father's inheritance.
But Wenjing calmly replied, "Mother, there's no need to be so angry. I have turned Hao Yu into his enemy. Jingxuan even beat him up; he surely won't let it go."
"Jingxuan could only beat him because Hao Yu hadn't refined a Mingji yet."
"Not to mention, I've made sure that Chao Yang is also involved in this matter."
"How much could Jingxuan extort from Bowen? At most, what the academy gave him—or two to three Genesis Stones, which was his pocket money."
Since she hadn't seen the scene up close, she didn't know how much he had actually extorted. She didn't even know that Jingxuan had not only extorted Bowen but also Hao Yu and Chao Yang. When Jingxuan started beating Hao Yu and Chao Yang, she had fled. Obviously, the two heroes didn't tell her—they had already been extorted by him as well.
Wenjing had been keeping an eye on Jingxuan from the very start. Jingxuan had long known that she had already discovered him extorting the stones. Even the last time he did it, she had remained hidden. She had kept a safe distance, unable to see or hear exactly how many stones he had taken.
Jingxuan was even aware that she was the one who turned Chao Yang and Hao Yu into his enemies. But he couldn't care less—he was an old demon; how could he be afraid of mere kids?
Hearing her daughter's plan, Jingyi calmed down. "Then keep an eye on him. Don't leave him unattended."
From Jingyi's perspective, Hao Yu—talented and well-backed—would surely be able to handle Jingxuan. She muttered, "It would be good if he got injured when Hao Yu enacts revenge, or else…"
As she spoke, a Rank Two peak-stage aura burst forth, filling the room with oppressive force. Wenjing and Wenbin swallowed hard, their faces pale as they felt their mother's killing intent. The room fell into an uneasy silence.
While this family was plotting against Jingxuan, he was busy with his own matters of refining.
Jingxuan took out a pouch from his pocket and checked its contents. There were thirty-seven Genesis Stones in total. Why did he only have this much? Of course, he had spent most of it on cultivation, as well as on wine and food.
Not to mention, he had been feeding his space-ring Mingji. This Mingji ate a lot—its food was Genesis Stones themselves, consuming one stone per day. It had already finished seven Genesis Stones in just a week.
He enjoyed drinking wine very much, but he wasn't foolish enough to spend large sums on it. Food was a basic necessity, and the meals provided by the school were terrible. He had to maintain a healthy body, after all.
Seeing the stones, he muttered, "Still not enough."
He had plans for the future—plans that required a vast number of Genesis Stones. Now, he had to feed these two Mingji by himself. Fortunately, the clan had already fed the Iron Nail Mingji today, so he could start feeding it from tomorrow. The food for the Iron Nail Mingji was also costly. From his estimates, he would need at least one and a half to two Genesis Stones just to feed the two Mingji. Not to mention cultivation—as a third-grade talent, he needed a large amount of Genesis Stones for cultivation. It was noteworthy that he was the only student to reach the middle stage among third-grade talents. This was the price to pay for a lack of talent. He sighed, "No matter how many Genesis Stones or how much money one possesses, it's never enough."
He recalled Ye Mengdie and her words: the magical world she had experienced through her inheritance also revolved around money—mana stones. Aside from using them for cultivation, mana stones were treated as currency, just like in the Mingji world. Every world revolved around money—be it the magical world, the Mingji world, or Earth. Especially Earth, which had no mystical abilities; money reigned supreme there. In that world, money held even greater value than in the Mingji world or the magical world.
He suddenly remembered a saying from that world called Earth, where the rich used to say: "Money doesn't buy happiness." What kind of logic was that? Money wasn't made to buy happiness in the first place. The poor were deceived by such phrases.
Later, some people tried to argue against it, but Jingxuan observed that even they didn't truly understand the meaning of money. The purpose of money was to stabilize the economy and define the value of goods—not to buy happiness. It was that simple.
Happiness comes from obtaining the things one desires. It doesn't matter by what means they are gained—whether through trade or otherwise. After all, some things cannot be traded for money. Linking happiness solely with wealth was nothing short of foolishness.
Shaking off his thoughts, he refocused on the task at hand. Only a second had passed—he had been lost in his own musings, a brief moment of nostalgia.
He then drew a Genesis Stone and began absorbing it to replenish his aperture. Muttering under his breath, he said, "Luckily, I acquired the Space Ring Mingji at just the right time. Otherwise, refining this Mingji would have demanded far more effort."
The Space Ring Mingji could increase the number of threads a cultivator possessed. But how did having more threads help in refining a Mingji?
If a cultivator had more threads than required, he could connect those additional threads to aid in refining the Mingji. After the process was complete, he could simply withdraw them without any harm. There was no drawback to using this technique.
Although Jingxuan's cultivation wasn't high, thanks to the Space Ring Mingji, he possessed twelve threads—equivalent to the peak of Rank One.
It was already midnight, and Jingxuan felt sleepy, yet he was determined to refine the Iron Nail Mingji. He carefully linked all twelve of his threads to the Mingji, which hovered in his hand. Then he withdrew his hand, assumed a meditative pose, and began channeling his will and Primordial Essence through every thread. This time, the Mingji radiated an even brighter red glow.
Obviously, he couldn't refine it in a single go, as he was limited by Primordial Essence. He refined until his aperture was empty, then paused briefly to refill it by absorbing Genesis Stones, and continued refining. Even though using twelve threads could speed up the refining process, the difference it made in Primordial Essence consumption was not significant. He continued refining: seven percent… ten percent… twenty-five percent… and so on.
Meanwhile, his Genesis Stones were steadily decreasing: thirty-six stones… thirty-three stones… thirty stones… and so on.
Soon, six to eight hours had passed. The dawn sunlight had long pierced his window and fell upon his young face. His face was extremely tired, and his eyes showed small black spots from exhaustion and lack of sleep. After completely refining the Mingji, he opened his eyes. They were blood-red, but a victorious joy shone through his exhausted gaze as he muttered, "Finally succeeded."
He was about to fall asleep, his head dizzy from staying awake all night. Yet he forced himself to stay awake. It wasn't because of school—it had given all students a break until they successfully refined their Mingji. The leave lasted around a month, to be precise.
Why did he force himself to stay awake if it wasn't for school? The answer was simple—he still had to feed his two Mingji. He summoned the Space Ring Mingji, noting its glow had dimmed from hunger as it hovered in the air. Checking his pouch, he saw only fourteen Genesis Stones remained. It was the price for refining the Mingji so quickly, but the result made it worthwhile.
He drew a stone from the pouch and signaled the Space Ring Mingji. It floated into his palms, and he placed the stone at the center of the flower. The petals closed like a carnivorous plant. Though the petals were merely rings and semi-transparent, the stone vanished completely once enveloped. When the petals reopened, the stone had disappeared.
He kept the Space Ring Mingji inside after it ate. Then he looked toward the Iron Nail Mingji, which hovered in the air. He closed his eyes and withdrew any extra threads, so now the Iron Nail Mingji had only four threads connected—or could be said to occupy four spaces. He still had eight spaces left.
He opened his eyes as the Mingji flew toward his palm according to his command. Then he took out a long vine, brown like tree bark but shaped like human nails, with the length of a forearm. This was the food of the Iron Nail Mingji—a vine from a tree called the Nail Vine Tree. He had bought it from a store on the way home.
As he signaled the Mingji to eat, the Iron Nail Mingji hovered and attached its nail-like tip to the edge of the vine. It looked as if a finger had grown a brown nail a foot long. Soon, the vine began to shrink at a visible rate, while the Iron Nail Mingji grew more lively.
As soon as he saw that the Mingji had finished eating, he placed it back inside the aperture and dozed off.