The heavy leather curtain swung open, and a large, red-faced man covered in soot and grease stormed out, brandishing a massive iron ladle. The owner and head cook of the inn glared furiously at the woman.

"Stop giving away my damn profits to every worthless beggar that crawls through that door!" he screamed, his voice drawing chuckles from several nearby patrons. "You’re running my business into the ground! If you want to play the saint, pay for his meal out of your own wages, because I’m not running a charity house for the broken!"

Ethan lowered his head, staring at the floor to hide the glint that momentarily flashed across his amethyst eyes. He needed to play the part of the helpless victim perfectly, but inside, his core was already logging every face in the room.

"Shut your damn mouth, old man!" the young woman snapped back, her eyes flashing with a fierce, stubborn light as she slammed a heavy wooden ladle onto the counter. "When we balance the ledger at the end of every week, has there ever been a single Spirit Stone missing? No! So stop your damn whining and get back to your stove before you burn the stew!"

The cook let out a string of muffled curses, waving his iron ladle in defeat before retreating behind the grease-stained leather curtain. The kitchen doors rattled shut, leaving a few mercenaries laughing at the old man’s expense.

The woman turned back to Ethan, her expression softening instantly into a warm, reassuring smile. "Eat up, little brother. Don’t worry about him; his bark is louder than his bite."

She pushed a steaming wooden bowl toward him, filled to the brim with thick broth and chunks of coarse root vegetables.

"Thank you, big sister," Ethan muttered, lowering his head in a well-practiced display of meek gratitude.

He took a wooden spoon and began to eat. The food was rough and heavily salted—a far cry from the refined, spiritually active delicacies he had grown accustomed to in Princess Isabella’s secluded manor—but the moment the warm liquid hit his stomach, a comforting wave of heat radiated through his core. His depleted spiritual channels eagerly drank in the crude, raw nutrients. It wasn’t elegant, but it was exactly what his battered body needed to fuel his recovery.

Once the bowl was scraped completely clean, Ethan set the spoon down. He knew better than to push his luck. She had already risked her employer’s wrath to give him a free meal; asking for a room on credit would be an insult to her kindness. He needed a place to sleep, but more importantly, he needed a logical, unsuspected path to integrate himself into the local scene.

"Big sister," Ethan asked softly, leaning over the counter and keeping his voice low. "I need to earn my keep. Is there any work around here? A labor camp, or perhaps an adventurers’ guild where someone can pick up a few odd jobs?"

The woman wiped down the adjacent counter, her eyes darting toward the street outside before she answered. "There’s no adventurers’ guild here, little brother. This entire sector of the Azure Mist Province is strictly controlled by the Heavenly Sword Pavilion. Around these parts, the sect is the law, the government, and the economy."

She paused, pointing a finger toward the crowded town square visible through the grimy front window.

"However, if you’re looking to earn some quick coin and you have a bit of strength in your bones, the Pavilion maintains a public mission board right in the center of the plaza. They post low-level tasks for rogue cultivators and laborers—mostly clearing out minor mountain beasts, gathering low-grade herbs, or hauling supplies to the outer disciples. If you’re careful, you can earn enough for a decent bed and a proper meal by nightfall."

Ethan nodded, a quiet expression settling behind his eyes. The Heavenly Sword Pavilion. Perfect. They’re giving me an invitation to walk right up to their doorstep.

He stood up from the stool, adjusting the cheap twine strap of the blackened, rusted piece of scrap metal slung across his back. He bowed slightly to the woman. "I won’t forget your kindness, big sister. I’ll bring back your stones as soon as I can."

"Just stay alive, kid," she said with a small wave. "The mountain roads aren’t kind to the desperate."

Ethan turned his back to the counter and walked out.

Ethan followed the dusty thoroughfare until he reached the center of the town plaza. The area was a chaotic swarm of activity, with people from all walks of life—scruffy rogue cultivators, hardened mercenaries, and muscular laborers—rushing back and forth like ants in a disturbed nest.

Dominating the center of the square was a massive wooden bulletin board, its surface completely plastered with hundreds of fluttering parchment sheets. Each paper was stamped with the sharp, elegant emblem of a crossing blade: the seal of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion.

Immediately to the right of the board stood a heavily reinforced stone outpost with a long, orderly queue snaking out of its double doors. Ethan watched silently as people entered the building lugging heavy crates of mountain herbs, sacks of raw iron ore, or the bloody pelts of low-grade spiritual beasts.

A few minutes later, those same individuals would walk out the exit door, counting glittering bags of Spirit Stones with wide, satisfied grins. This outpost was clearly the local exchange hub run directly by the sect’s outer disciples—the economic heartbeat of the frontier.

Ethan didn’t rush toward the line or the board. Instead, he pulled himself into the shadow of a nearby collapsed stone archway, leaning heavily against the masonry as if he were simply a weary vagrant catching his breath.

He closed his eyes halfway, but beneath his tangled hair, his gaze was razor-sharp, carefully observing the exact process of how the missions were verified, submitted, and paid out.

-------------------

From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.

Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.

Body Refinement Realm

Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement

Spiritual Gathering Realm

Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation

Spiritual Core Realm

Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)

Spiritual Soul Realm

Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion

Golden Core Realm

Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction

Spiritual Sea Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Dao Manifestation Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Spiritual Transcendence

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??