Chapter 524: Becoming a Beggar~
Beginning to wander around the Flame Mountain City, Chu Yang tried thinking if he had any interesting information like the old man at the Core Formation Realm that he could use to attract a group of people to pay him a few spirit stonesâ¦
Glancing around at the street filled with people, Chu Yang spotted a few beggars asking for money from travellers passing by.
"Thanks kind stranger!"
Along with a small bow and a word of thanks from one of the beggars who just received a spirit stone, Chu Yang realized that the beggars around him not only managed to get a few mortal coins, but some of them had also been given a few spirit stones!
Not only that, but the beggar was relatively clean compared to the ones he had seen during his escape from the Black Rose Sect and his clothes only had a few tears in them.
Was being a beggar always such a lucrative profession?
Not knowing what to say when he watched just how much the beggars of Flame Mountain City were earning. The reason why they could earn this much, was most likely due to the fact that there were so many new people constantly streaming in and out of the Flame Mountain City. Not to mention, most of the people inside the Flame Mountain City were cultivators.
For cultivators, a few mortal coins were worth close to nothing and to most Core Formation Realm Experts, a single low-quality spirit stone was not really worth to much either.
Seeing more and more spirit stones enter the hands of the beggars on the street, Chu Yang felt a bit shocked realizing that it might be a good idea to act as a beggar for a few hours.
He could always steal the spirit stones from the beggars, but⦠Stealing from a bunch of beggars did not really feel like the right way to go about things.
In the first place, Chu Yang already had some experience acting as a beggar, as he had tried to hide among a group of beggars during his escape from the Black Rose Sect. Even if he was unsuccessful in hiding away from his pursuers at that time, he still learned a few things about beggars.
Among which was the fact that there should be someone in control of the beggars on such a busy street!
However, Chu Yang did not really care too much about this unknown beggar leader. After all, he was still someone in the Core Formation Realm! How could he be scared of some random beggar leader�
Rip~
Finding an empty back alley, Chu Yang destroyed parts of the robe he was currently wearing before dirtying himself and his now torn robe up a bit. Hiding his spear away under a trash container also located in the back alley.
"Great. Now to find a good place to beg for spirit stones."
Not feeling the slightest bit uncomfortable at his current beggar appearance, Chu Yang made his way back onto the busy street before finding a good spot just beside the back alley with no other beggars close by before sitting down.
"Hello kind sir, could you spare a small spirit stone?"
Making sure his cultivation was hidden, Chu Yang joined the other beggars asking for a few coins from the passing crowd of people.
However, different from the other beggars, Chu Yang directly asked for spirit stones!
Even if this might cause most of the people passing by to avoid him, it drew quite a bit of interest from a few stronger cultivators passing by.
"Young lad, why are you begging for spirit stones- Well, to be honest, it feels more like you are asking for spirit stonesâ¦"
After only five minutes of asking the people walking past him for spirit stones, an old man at the Foundation Establishment Realm finally came over as he asked this with a curious expression on his face.
Clearly, the fact that Chu Yang had been asking for spirit stones instead of coins like the other beggars had caught his attention.
Given that the old man's cultivation realm was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm, the old man did not realize that Chu Yang was hiding his cultivation. In his eyes, Chu Yang was just a normal mortal without any cultivation!
"Ah! I heard that I could enter the Explorer Union as long as I can pay the spirit stones required to become an external member. Even if I don't have any cultivation to speak of, I should be able to take a few odd jobs from the Explorer Union to be able to earn a living!"
Saying this with a pitiful expression on his face, Chu Yang waited for the old man's reaction. Wondering whether the old man would buy his story and give him a few spirit stones...
"Hah⦠I understand, I was just like you when I was young⦠In the end I joined the Explorer Union after gathering enough spirit stones together and even managed to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm! Guess this can be considered a form of fate! Here you go young lad, hopefully you will be able to go farther than I did in the future."
"â¦"
Not saying anything as the old man suddenly got emotional before handing him a small pouch filled with just enough spirit stones for becoming an external member of the Explorer Union, Chu Yang felt bad taking advantage of the old man's kindness.
However, he really needed the spirit stones!
In the end, Chu Yang could only thank the old man as he watched him walk away with a kind smile on his face. Looking closer, Chu Yang even had a feeling that the old man's cultivation experienced some sort of breakthrough after giving him the spirit stones.
Don't tell me⦠That old man is going to breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm�
Shaking his head at this thought, Chu Yang felt it was a little unrealistic for the old man to breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm just after giving him a few spirit stones!
"I should go and get registered at the Explorer Union for now."
Muttering this to himself as the old man disappeared into the crowd of people on the street, Chu Yang stood back up before finding an empty back alley to clean himself up before trying to find his way back to the Explorer Union.
"Hm?"
 About to use a simple qi technique to clean himself up and repair his torn robe, Chu Yang suddenly realized that a group of people had appeared at the entrance to the back alley. Blocking his path back out onto the large street filled with people.
"Hehe, so you are the new one that just showed up. How about I teach you how things are run around here?"
What the⦠I've only been acting as a beggar for five minutes. How did the beggar boss appear so quickly!?
Understanding his current situation, the moment he turned around and saw three thugs smiling menacingly in his direction, Chu Yang could not help feeling amazed over just how fast they had showed up.
Looking more closely, Chu Yang was a bit surprised upon realizing that all of them had actually managed to enter the Qi Condensation Realm. The leader among the three had even managed to reach the Fourth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!
It was no wonder that he could take control over a bunch of beggars with no cultivation with such strength, as he most likely learned a low-level qi technique and had used it to scare the beggars into submissionâ¦
"Hey! Listen when the boss is talking to you brat!"
Angrily stomping towards Chu Yang after not getting any response, one of the three thugs soon raised a large wooden club that he had been carrying before swinging it down towards Chu Yang's head. Infusing a tiny amount of qi into the club in the process.
Whoosh~
"Haha, try not to make too much of a mess!"
Seeing the club heading towards Chu Yang's head, the two other thugs already imagined how Chu Yang would end up after being hit by the club, as the boss even laughed while telling the thug with the club not to make too much of a mess.
Thump!
However, the scene that they had imagined did not happen, as Chu Yang casually raised his hand and stopped the wooden club heading towards his head. Directly dispersing the tiny amount of qi inside the wooden club in the process.
"How annoying, I only wanted to get a few spirit stonesâ¦"
Crack~
Finally turning to look towards the group of now shivering thugs as he said this, Chu Yang tightened his grip on the wooden club of the thug directly in front of him. Directly destroying it.
""â¦""
Freezing up the moment they saw this, the three thugs all seemed to realize that something bad was about to happen to themâ¦