Dao of Money

Hearing his request, the maid immediately opened her mouth. Her eyes narrowed sharply, anger flashing across her face before she scoffed.

“Why should I leave?”

Chen Ren remained calm.

“What I’m about to tell Young Miss Long Niao will give her a path,” he said evenly. “But the method I use to reveal it is something personal to me. It’s my secret.”

He folded his hands calmly in front of him.

“Moreover, I cannot reveal it to anyone but her. Where I come from, discovering one’s Dao is a very personal ceremony. I would like to do it that way.”

He glanced briefly toward the door.

“So we don’t need you here.”

The maid frowned deeply.

“Young Miss Niao needs me.”

Chen Ren tilted his head slightly. “For what?”

The maid hesitated before muttering, “I can’t leave her alone. That’s my duty.”

Chen Ren simply pointed toward the door of the library. “You can stand outside. It’s not like I’m going to harm Young Miss Niao.”

The maid’s eyes narrowed even further.

“You’re a climber,” she said coldly. “Climbers can’t be trusted.”

“The head of the house trusts me enough to let me stand beside her daughter.” Chen Ren said and paused, looking at Niao, “And I’m not here to harm her. I’m here to help her.”

The maid shook her head stubbornly. “You still can’t be trusted.”

Chen Ren sighed faintly.

“If I so much as touch her, I’m sure I’ll be given one of the worst deaths imaginable.”

The maid nodded without hesitation. “That’s correct.”

Chen Ren gestured slightly with his hand. “Then why would I try anything when I already know that?”

The maid opened her mouth to argue again. But before she could say another word, Long Niao suddenly spoke.

“It’s okay.”

Both of them turned toward her.

She looked at the maid calmly and continued, “I think I would like to talk to Chen Ren alone.”

The maid immediately began to stutter. “Young Miss Niao, that’s too dangerous. You need to believe—”

Long Niao cut her off calmly. “It’s okay. I can handle myself.”

The maid froze for a moment.

“If anything dangerous happens, you know the arrays around the library will activate.”

As she said that, she looked directly at Chen Ren who returned the gaze with a small smile.

The young miss was not as naïve as he had initially thought.

She was still a child, yes—but one who clearly understood how to deliver a threat without making it sound like one. The message was obvious: if Chen Ren tried anything foolish, the defensive arrays protecting the library would react instantly.

Even the maid seemed unable to argue against that. Though she took time to think about it. For a few seconds, no one spoke. But in the end, the maid let out a heavy sigh.

“Young Miss… I will be right outside.”

She turned toward the door but not before shooting Chen Ren a sharp glare. Then she left the library hall. Once the door closed and they were finally alone, Long Niao’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“So… what did you find about my dao?” she leaned forward eagerly.

Chen Ren shook his head slightly. “I didn’t find your Dao exactly,” he said calmly. “But I believe I know what it might be.”

Her curiosity only grew stronger.

“Tell me, what is it?”

Chen Ren gestured toward the books scattered across the table.

“I think it has something to do with beasts.”

Long Niao raised an eyebrow. “Beasts?”

Chen Ren nodded. “Yes. Think about every story you showed me. In each one, beasts play a major role. Sometimes they’re companions. Sometimes they’re great obstacles. Sometimes they even become teachers or guardians to the main character.”

He leaned slightly closer.

“You love beasts, don’t you?”

That question made her ponder. Her eyes fell upon the books spread across the table, clearly thinking about it carefully.

After a moment, she slowly nodded. “Yes… I do.” Then she added thoughtfully, “But not all beasts. Some of them are scary.”

She tapped one of the books.

“I like the ones that are nice… the ones that seem like they want to be friends.”

“How about wanting to tame them?” Chen Ren tilted his head slightly. “Or perhaps… understand them better?”

Her eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

“That would be nice,” she said eagerly. “I used to have a pet mouse that I fed secretly, but my brothers found out about it and threw it away.”

Her face visibly fell for a moment before she continued.

“It was very cute. I’ve been trying to find another pet like it ever since, but the whole castle is cleaned of mice and cats. My mother doesn’t like them,” she pouted and looked up.

Chen Ren smiled gently. “But you do.”

Long Niao nodded immediately.

“Yes! In the books I’ve read there are all sorts of beasts. Some can fly, some breathe fire, and some are stronger than entire armies.”

Her voice became more animated as she spoke.

“I always wanted one that could shoot flames,” she said excitedly. “And another one I could ride while flying through the sky.”

For the next several minutes, Long Niao spoke nonstop about the beasts she had read about in her stories. She described their appearances, their abilities, and why she liked each of them so much.

Chen Ren listened quietly.

Even though she was not yet walking the Dao of Taming, it was obvious that the interest already existed within her. Whether her family would ever allow her to pursue such a path was another matter entirely, but Chen Ren had at least accomplished what he promised.

He had helped her find a direction.

Still, aside from gathering a few scattered hints about the higher floors from the books, Chen Ren had not yet obtained the information he truly wanted. So when Long Niao finally paused after her long explanation of different beasts, he spoke again.

“You know,” he said casually, “I’m fairly certain you could find beast eggs in Goldspire City. I remember seeing some when I was there.”

Long Niao blinked in surprise. “Goldspire City on the fifth floor?”

Chen Ren nodded and asked, “Have you ever been there?”

“No. Not yet. But my brothers go there sometimes. They say it’s a good place to relax.” Then her eyes brightened again. “Are there really beast eggs there?”

“Yes. All kinds of eggs. I’m pretty sure you could buy one and raise your own beast.”

Chen Ren clearly remembered seeing those eggs in Goldspire City.

In fact, he had already instructed Anji to purchase several of them before returning to the real world. Since they would not be entering the pagoda again anytime soon, Chen Ren had told her to spend every coin they had earned buying anything useful.

And if the funds were still not enough, he had even given her permission to sell their shop back to Du Rensheng.

But that was a matter for later.

Right now, his attention remained on Long Niao.

He gently steered the conversation toward the information he wanted.

“But if you go there right now,” Chen Ren added casually, “even the lift would be full of climbers. Many of them are trying to ascend to the sixth floor. If you visit, you should probably bring dozens of guards with you.”

Long Niao shook her head immediately. “That won’t be necessary.”

Chen Ren tilted his head slightly. “Oh?”

“My house doesn’t use the common lift,” she said.

Chen Ren pretended to be surprised. “I didn’t know that.” He raised an eyebrow curiously. “So how does the Great House of Long travel between floors?”

Long Niao smiled proudly, clearly pleased to share something impressive.

“We have our own lift,” she said. “My mother calls it the master lift. It can travel through all the floors of the pagoda without any problems.”

Chen Ren forced himself not to smile.

He had already suspected the existence of such a lift, but hearing it confirmed directly meant he was moving in the right direction.

He nodded thoughtfully. “Can anyone use it?”

Long Niao thought about the question for a moment before answering.

“Yes… but Mother’s best knights guard it. Because of that, no one outside our family can reach it.” She tapped her finger on the table as she continued. “They also built arrays around it. But if there were a master lift without guards or security… then yes, even you could ride it.”

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Chen Ren nodded slowly, and asked carefully, “Can you tell me more about these Master Lifts? I don’t think there are any books about them.”

Long Niao paused.

For a brief moment, Chen Ren wondered if he had pushed the conversation too far. But soon, she simply nodded. And then she began explaining exactly what he wanted to know.

***

Chen Ren ended up spending far longer in the library with Young Miss Niao than he had expected.

So long, in fact, that when they finally allowed the maid to enter again, she burst through the doors holding a large scythe in both hands, clearly prepared to cut him in half the moment she suspected something was wrong.

Only after seeing Young Miss Niao safe—and, more importantly, smiling—did the maid slowly lower the weapon.

Chen Ren simply smiled back at her. He was quite satisfied. His decision to serve the little girl had worked far better than he had anticipated.

During the hours they had spent alone in the library, Chen Ren had not only confirmed the existence and mechanics of the master lift, but he had also managed to learn far more about the upper floors of the pagoda.

Long Niao herself had not traveled much. However, her brothers had.

And whenever they returned from their journeys, they often spoke about their experiences in front of her. Over time she had absorbed many of those stories, casually repeating them while speaking with Chen Ren.

To someone like her, they were simply interesting tales.

To Chen Ren, they were priceless pieces of information.

If he had chosen to serve anyone else on this floor, he doubted he would have learned even a fraction of what he had gathered today. Most climbers were likely being sent out to hunt beasts or perform dangerous tasks just to earn the approval of some knight or general.

Perhaps he would have impressed a few of those NPCs eventually. But it would never have been as efficient as working with Long Niao.

Once the maid had confirmed that Chen Ren had fulfilled his promise and that Young Miss Niao had granted him permission to use the lift, she immediately summoned a guard to escort him there.

She did it so quickly that Chen Ren could not help but wonder if she simply wanted him gone which was probably true.

But Chen Ren did not leave immediately.

Long Niao looked unexpectedly emotional when she realized he was about to go, as if she had just realized that the brief companionship they shared was coming to an end.

She probably thought she was losing a friend.

Even though Chen Ren knew she was not truly alive, he still crouched down to her level and spoke gently.

“I’ll come visit you again.”

Long Niao looked at him skeptically at first, clearly not believing his words.

So Chen Ren added, “I promise.”

Only then did her expression soften.

With that, Chen Ren finally stood up and left the library, following the guard who would lead him toward the master lift.

Honestly, Long Niao was probably right not to believe his words.

Chen Ren doubted he would ever return.

The seventh floor did not seem particularly useful to him. Unlike the earlier floors, he could not freely collect resources or treasures here. Everything belonged to the Great House of Long, and even the smallest item was under their control.

Still, an empty promise was kinder than simply breaking a child’s heart.

So Chen Ren let the words stand.

After that, he quietly followed the guard through the castle once more.

They moved through the same vast hallways and spiraling staircases he had passed earlier, though this time their path led steadily downward instead of up. The journey was long enough that Chen Ren began to feel thirsty.

As it turned out, the common lift used by climbers was located underground.

Reaching it required descending through several layers of the structure.

But the long walk also gave Chen Ren an opportunity to observe what the other climbers were doing.

Through the tall windows and balconies overlooking the castle grounds, he saw numerous familiar figures moving about. Many disciples from the Thunderblade Sect and the Soaring Sword Sect were gathered outside, training under the supervision of armored knights.

When Chen Ren casually asked about them, the guard replied, “They will soon be hunting a creature called a cyclops. Whoever survives that battle will be allowed to advance to the next floor.”

Chen Ren nodded silently. A combat trial sounded like something those cultivators could actually do well in, but he was sure not a lot of them would be alive by the end of it.

As they continued walking along a balcony overlooking another section of the grounds, Chen Ren spotted a familiar figure.

Zi Wen.

The young cultivator was standing inside what looked like a large shed filled with various beasts. Several stables lined the area, each holding different creatures that appeared to have been domesticated.

Little Yuze and Whiskey were there as well.

From what Chen Ren could see, Zi Wen had been assigned the task of taking care of the tamed mounts used by the household.

It was a surprisingly suitable assignment for him.

More importantly, it was relatively safe compared to hunting monsters like the cyclops. With a position like that, Zi Wen would likely survive long enough to climb further.

Chen Ren had not yet seen the twins and the princess.

Still, he hoped they had been assigned one of the easier tasks.

According to the guard, climbers could also be sent to gather materials from forests, maintain supply routes, or assist with minor duties within the household. Some were even assigned to spend time accompanying members of the Great House.

However, the guard snorted slightly when mentioning that last task.

“That one isn’t always good,” he said. “Some house members are… eccentric.” He glanced toward Chen Ren briefly. “And difficult to please.”

Chen Ren had very little idea what the guard meant by that, but when he tried to ask further, the man simply shook his head and refused to elaborate.

Their conversation ended there, especially once they entered sections of the castle where more servants, guards, and armored knights were moving about. The guard’s demeanor grew noticeably stricter, as if he did not wish to speak freely in front of others.

Soon they reached a massive spiraling staircase that descended deep into the lower levels of the castle.

The air grew cooler as they went down.

Eventually, the staircase ended in a stone corridor that led to a smaller lift platform. The guard stepped onto it without hesitation, and Chen Ren followed.

The lift began moving almost immediately.

It descended smoothly through the structure, the faint hum of arrays echoing through the enclosed shaft. The journey lasted for nearly two minutes before the platform finally came to a stop.

When the doors opened, Chen Ren found himself standing in a long underground hallway. At the far end stood a single reinforced door. The guard pointed toward it.

“You’ll wait there,” he said. “Two other climbers will be ascending with you. One of them hasn’t arrived yet.”

Chen Ren was slightly surprised to hear that but simply nodded.

He walked down the hallway and pushed open the door.

Inside was a waiting chamber.

It was modest but clearly meant to accommodate climbers preparing to ascend. On the opposite side of the room stood the lift itself, its platform surrounded by three heavily armored knights standing guard.

Chen Ren only glanced at them briefly. Someone else had already captured his attention.

Princess Yanyue was seated on one of the chairs in the room.

The moment she saw him, her eyes widened in surprise before a knowing smile appeared on her face. She stood up immediately.

“I should have expected you to be one of the other climbers who managed to earn access to the next floor so quickly.”

Chen Ren nodded. “I just had it a little easier.” Then he tilted his head slightly. “What about you?”

Yanyue brushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she replied. “I was assigned to serve under the fourth son of the house. My task was to teach him about politics.” She paused briefly. “It’s a bit complicated to explain. He and his older brother were fighting over an item they found during a hunt. I helped him win the dispute, and that earned me permission to ascend.”

Chen Ren nodded slowly. “That sounds like something you’d be good at.”

She smiled faintly. “Yes, it is.” Then she added, lowering her voice slightly, “I also managed to retrieve the books and artifacts Han Qingshi and the Frostpeak Sect stole from the Zombie Queen earlier.”

Her eyes gleamed slightly.

“I think you’ll like what’s inside them.”

***

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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