Dao of Money

Finding someone’s Dao was never easy.

And it was especially difficult when the person in question was a ten-year-old girl who, as Chen Ren quickly realized, had lived a life far too sheltered for her own good.

Long Niao’s experiences were painfully limited.

Her world consisted almost entirely of books, lessons, and the occasional martial practice. Even those training sessions were usually done alone, under distant supervision rather than direct guidance.

That made Chen Ren’s task far more complicated than he had expected.

A Dao was not something that could simply be handed to someone. It was a path—a way of living and one only acquired it by understanding what resonated deeply with their nature and experiences.

But if someone had barely experienced anything at all…Then there were hardly any paths to discover.

The more questions Chen Ren asked Long Niao, the clearer that reality became.

The culture of the Great House of Long revolved almost entirely around combat. Strength, martial skill, and battlefield glory were valued above everything else. As a result, other Daos were treated with dismissal.

When Chen Ren asked if she had ever considered alchemy, Long Niao wrinkled her nose and shook her head immediately.

“Alchemists always smell strange,” she said. “And I don’t want to be surrounded by herbs all day.”

When he asked about becoming a blacksmith, she responded just as quickly.

“That means hammering metal every day,” she said. “Mother would never allow me to stand sweating in front of an anvil.”

Chen Ren tried a different direction. “What about farming?”

Before Long Niao could even respond, the maid behind them spoke up with a sharp tone.

“That suggestion is far beneath the dignity of the Great House of Long. If other members of the family heard you say such a thing, you might be killed for it.”

Chen Ren did not respond to the threat, but internally he sighed. Every direction he tried seemed to close immediately.

Long Niao had neither the experiences nor the interest in exploring most paths. She had grown up inside the walls of the house, shielded from the wider world and taught that nearly everything outside martial cultivation was beneath her status.

It left Chen Ren in a strange predicament.

For the first time since agreeing to help her, he found himself running out of ideas. And as he thought about it, a realization slowly formed in his mind.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Daos outside the martial paths had never become truly popular in the wider world.

After all, the majority of cultivators were born into clans or wealthy families.

It did not matter whether the clan was large or small.

Their children were almost always raised the same way.

And just like Young Miss Niao, many of them probably never received the chance to explore anything else. Anything outside the martial path would have been considered beneath their status, so they were pushed into combat cultivation from the beginning. By the time they might have wanted to try something different, they would already be far too deep into that path to change.

If that was the case, then what could he even do?

Chen Ren studied Long Niao quietly.

Perhaps she had also begun to realize she was being difficult, because her expression fell slightly, as if she thought she had disappointed him. But Chen Ren was not someone who gave up easily.

If he wanted to reach the lift, he had to help her discover a Dao. That was the deal.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, “You said you mostly spend your time cultivating or reading books, right?”

Long Niao nodded. “Yes. Those are the only two things I really do… other than exploring the castle sometimes.”

Chen Ren leaned forward slightly.

“What kind of books do you read besides martial manuals and techniques?”

Her eyes immediately brightened.

“A lot of things,” she said excitedly. “But mostly stories about cultivators. The library has many of them.”

Chen Ren narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Can I read them?”

Long Niao was about to nod right away, but then she hesitated and glanced toward her maid.

“I don’t mind,” she said slowly, “but those books are in the library. Outsiders normally aren’t allowed there.”

The maid immediately nodded in agreement. “That is correct.”

Chen Ren turned toward the maid calmly. “I only want to look at the books Young Miss Long Niao reads.”

The maid replied coolly, “You can ask her to bring them.”

Chen Ren shook his head slightly. “It would be easier if I could see them myself.” Then he added in a reassuring tone, “Don’t worry. I won’t touch anything else. I only want to look at a few story books. I doubt anyone in the Great House of Long would care if I read a few of those.”

Before the maid could respond, Long Niao spoke up quickly. “Yes! I don’t think even my brothers would care.”

Both she and Chen Ren turned to look at the maid.

The woman frowned slightly, still uncertain. After a moment, she looked at Chen Ren and asked, “Why do you want to read them?”

Chen Ren answered without hesitation. “To understand what Young Miss Long Niao truly likes.”

He folded his hands calmly as he continued.

“Finding someone’s Dao means discovering a path that resonates with their very being. To do that, I need to understand her interests properly.”

The maid raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you simply ask her?”

“No, it’s better if I see it for myself. People often don’t realize what they truly enjoy until someone else observes it.” Then he added, glancing toward Long Niao with a faint smile, “And wouldn’t Young Miss Long Niao rather spend time in the library than sit here answering my endless questions?”

Long Niao immediately nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! I would like to visit the library.”

The maid looked conflicted for a few seconds, her gaze moving between the two of them. Finally, she sighed.

“Fine,” she said reluctantly. “But you are not allowed to go beyond the first floor of the library. No one in the house would tolerate that.” She pointed slightly toward Long Niao. “And this is only because Young Miss Long Niao asked.”

Chen Ren nodded respectfully. “I have no intention of going against your rules. I only want to help Young Miss Long Niao.”

The maid exhaled quietly but said nothing further. With that, the decision was made.

The three of them soon left the room and began making their way toward the library, which was located on an even higher level of the enormous castle.

As they walked through the endless corridors and stairways, Chen Ren once again found himself wondering just how large the Great House of Long truly was. The structure seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction.

At the same time, he kept glancing outside through the tall windows lining the hallway.

In the castle grounds below, he spotted several familiar figures.

A group of cultivators were running across the wide courtyard with massive boulders strapped to their backs. Even from this distance, Chen Ren could recognize them.

Li Kuangdao and Li Shijun from the Soaring Sword Sect were among them, along with several other disciples. Strangely enough, a few royal guards were also participating in the same activity.

Seeing Chen Ren’s attention drift outside, the maid spoke calmly.

“Every climber on this floor is assigned different tasks,” she explained. “They are placed under the command of various knights and generals.”

The maid paused for a moment, her gaze drifting toward the courtyard below before she continued.

“If they can prove their worth,” she said calmly, “they will be allowed to move to the next floor.”

Then she turned her eyes back to Chen Ren and added firmly, “But you are not allowed to meet them.”

“None of those people are my friends,” Chen Ren said at once and shrugged. “In fact, I would even hope that a few of them don’t make it past this floor.”

His eyes drew down to look at Long Niao who looked at him in wonder. “Do you hate them, Chen Ren?”

He paused for a moment, clearly considering his answer. He did not want to use harsh words in front of a child.

After a few seconds, he simply said, “No. They’re just… like wild animals. If they come across me, they will probably try to fight me.”

He gave a small shrug.

“But I would rather not fight them.”

Long Niao nodded slowly, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

After one last glance at the training grounds below, the three of them continued walking through the castle corridors. Eventually, they stopped in front of a pair of massive double doors made of dark polished wood.

Two armored guards stood silently on either side of the entrance.

The moment they saw Long Niao, they straightened and immediately pulled the doors open without a word.

What lay beyond them made Chen Ren pause.

The library was enormous.

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It occupied almost the entire floor of the castle, stretching far wider than Chen Ren had expected. Towering shelves filled with countless books rose from the polished stone floor, forming neat rows that extended deep into the hall. Wide wooden tables were scattered between the shelves, each surrounded by sturdy chairs where readers could sit and study for hours.

Sunlight poured in through tall windows along the outer walls. Along the far walls, Chen Ren noticed several closed doors spaced evenly apart. Each one likely led to different sections of the library.

At the center of the massive hall stood a wide spiral staircase made of dark wood and iron. It wound upward toward the higher levels of the library, disappearing into the shadows above.

Chen Ren slowly turned his head, taking in the sight with quiet fascination.

This place alone probably held more books than many entire sects possessed.

Behind him, the maid spoke again.

“You may only remain on this floor,” she said firmly. “Do not go upstairs or enter any of the rooms.”

Chen Ren glanced at her curiously. “What’s inside the rooms?”

The maid frowned slightly but answered anyway.

“Some contain books that only members of the Great House of Long are permitted to read.” She gestured faintly toward the other doors. “And others are special cultivation chambers.” She looked at him meaningfully. “I don’t think I need to explain what those are.”

Chen Ren smiled wryly. “I know what they do.”

Such chambers existed in nearly every Established sect, especially within the four Guardian sects. They were designed to gather and condense spiritual energy, allowing cultivators to accelerate their progress far beyond what normal meditation could achieve.

But Chen Ren had little interest in them.

He simply followed Young Miss Niao deeper into the library.

The girl moved quickly between the shelves, clearly familiar with the place. One after another, she began pulling out books and stacking them on a nearby table. Within minutes, a small pile had already formed.

Chen Ren sat down in one of the chairs and glanced around the vast room.

The library was almost completely empty and he liked it that way. With nothing else to do, Chen Ren began picking up the books Long Niao had gathered.

He opened the first one and flipped through it slowly. Then another.

None of the titles were familiar to him.

A few were martial manuals, but they did not seem related to each other in any meaningful way. Their techniques came from different schools and styles, none of them forming a clear system or progression.

The rest of the books were something entirely different.

Stories.

Some told tales of famous cultivators and their legendary adventures. Others were more like fairy tales—stories of ordinary people overcoming impossible odds and achieving feats that seemed beyond their abilities.

Chen Ren skimmed through the pages of each book, trying to find some pattern or connection between them.

At first glance, there was none.

It felt as if Young Miss Niao simply read anything that looked exciting.

Even the martial techniques she had chosen reflected the same mindset. Many of them contained flashy movements and impressive-looking attacks that would appear spectacular during demonstrations, but they were not necessarily practical or suitable for someone at her level.

Chen Ren leaned back slightly as he thought about it. Perhaps that was the result of her upbringing.

Her family seemed to take a surprisingly hands-off approach when it came to her development. The resources were all here—books, manuals, techniques, and knowledge—but it was entirely up to her to decide how to use them.

Whether she succeeded or failed depended solely on her own choices.

Chen Ren continued flipping through the books one by one, occasionally pausing to reread a page or two. Meanwhile, Long Niao kept returning from the shelves with even more books, the pile on the table growing steadily larger.

Quietly, Chen Ren began trying to piece together what kind of path might resonate with her.

But aside from the fact that every story was interesting in its own way, Chen Ren could not find any deeper pattern.

Still, he refused to give up.

So he leaned back slightly and focused his mind, trying to imagine what kind of Dao might suit Long Niao best.

As he did so, he suddenly felt a sharp, piercing glare directed at him.

When he glanced up, he saw the maid standing a short distance away, her eyes fixed firmly on him. She did not even try to hide it, watching him as if she expected him to suddenly grab the books and run out of the library.

Chen Ren suppressed a sigh.

Even the butler earlier had seemed to observe him with that same cold scrutiny. For a moment, Chen Ren wondered whether this behavior was simply how the servants of this floor were programmed to behave.

Perhaps vigilance toward climbers was part of their nature. In any case, he decided it was best to ignore it.

He lowered his gaze back to the book and continued reading.

After some time, Long Niao also stopped retrieving books from the shelves. Instead, she returned to the table, picked up one of the books she had already stacked, and began reading quietly.

Watching her, Chen Ren slowly realized something.

It did not seem like she truly cared that much about discovering her Dao right now.

What she seemed to want was simply someone sitting beside her while she read. Someone who would not dismiss her curiosity or rush her away from the things she enjoyed. For a ten-year-old girl raised inside the walls of an enormous castle, this was probably rare.

But Chen Ren had promised to help her, and he was not the kind of person who backed away from his promises. So he continued reading.

Page after page, book after book, he skimmed through the stories as quickly as he could, absorbing as much as possible.

Even though he had not yet discovered any new information about the pagoda itself, the books were still proving surprisingly useful. Many of the stories were set within the pagoda’s floors.

One tale described an event in the arena on the second floor, where a slave had broken free from his chains and fought a giant lion to win his freedom. Another story took place on the fourth floor and told of a traveler who had befriended a massive snow wolf that guarded the frozen wilderness.

Chen Ren doubted these were merely simple fairy tales.

No one would create books like this only to leave them buried in a library where only NPCs would read them.

There had to be a reason they existed. They were clearly meant to help climbers in one way or another.

From everything Chen Ren had observed so far, nothing inside the pagoda existed without purpose. Every floor, every trial, every item—even seemingly trivial things—contained some hidden value for those paying attention.

You simply had to keep your eyes open. So Chen Ren continued reading.

Most of the stories about the first six floors did not reveal anything new to him. Either he had already experienced those places himself, or the information was too vague to be useful.

But things changed when he picked up a book describing the eighth and even the ninth floor.

The story followed a young boy on a journey to become an explorer, accompanied by his loyal eagle. The narrative was simple, almost childlike, but Chen Ren paid close attention to every detail.

He had no way of knowing whether the information inside the stories could be trusted. Still, these books were the only source of knowledge he had beyond the fragments City Lord Xiangrui had shared with him.

And in the pagoda, even the smallest advantage could mean survival.

So he read carefully, trying to extract every useful detail he could.

Unfortunately, most of the book focused on the boy’s personal journey rather than describing the structure or environment of the floors themselves. Still, Chen Ren managed to gather a few scattered hints—small pieces of information that he quietly stored away for later.

As he continued reading through more books, something slowly began to emerge. A pattern.

At first, Chen Ren was not even sure he was interpreting it correctly. But the more he thought back to the stories he had read, the clearer the pattern became.

And finally, he smiled.

It felt like he had found what he had been searching for.

But just as that realization settled in his mind, another idea surfaced as well. Chen Ren suddenly spoke, breaking the quiet silence of the library.

“I believe I’ve found it.”

Long Niao looked up immediately. He closed the book in his hands and continued calmly, “I think I know what your Dao is… or at least the path you want to walk toward.”

Long Niao’s eyes widened instantly. She quickly set her own book down and leaned forward.

“What is it?” she asked eagerly.

But Chen Ren did not answer right away. Instead, he slowly looked between her and the maid standing nearby.

Then he said calmly, “I’ll tell you. But before that…” His gaze shifted toward the maid. “I would need your maid to leave the room.”

***

A/N - You can read 30 chapters (15 Magus Reborn and 15 Dao of money) on my patreon. Annual subscription is now on too. Also this is Volume 2 last chapter.

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