Tian Yi and Meng Xiang walked around the Soaring Sun City after entering.
For Meng Xiang who has never been to any other city besides the one she was born in, it was a weird and exciting feeling.
She looked up into the firmament, and the clouds seemed much closer than usual, so much so that she could imagine herself touching it with the reach of her short arms.
"Big Brother, where are we going now?" she asked Tian Yi who was looking around as though he was looking for something.
"I am looking for a place to earn some money…" he said to her.
Not wanting to experience the situation of having no money ever again, he decided to earn some money.
"But how?" he pondered.
There was no need for money for his family who owned every inch of the Universe. Even if they have the need for money, they wouldn't be using the same currency used by mortals anyway.
"Does Big Brother need to earn money? I know how to earn money!" she said to him with an enthusiastic expression.
"Oh, really? Go ahead, I will be watching you to learn!" Tian Yi nodded at her with approval.
"Okay!" Meng Xiang nodded before running off to randomly pick a stranger to stop.
Meng Xiang stood in front an old man, blocking his path. "Excuse me..." she said in a low voice.
"Can I have your spare change?" she asked him with her hands extended into a cup, her body bent as though she was bowing.
She was begging for money!
"..." The old man looked at her with a weird expression.
Meng Xiang looked too clean and pretty to be a beggar…
The old man then looked around, and when he saw the candy store that was right in front of them, he understood her reason for asking for money.
The old man reached for his robes and took out a leather pouch before taking out a copper coin, and he dropped the coin into Meng Xiang's cupped hands.
"Here you go, little lady. Enjoy your candy," he said to her with a warm smile.
Meng Xiang reminded him of his granddaughter at home and he couldn't resist spoiling her, after all.
"Thank you, grandpa!" Meng Xiang smiled brightly before turning to run back to where Tian Yi had been watching the whole thing with wide eyes.
"Here you go, Big Brother!" Meng Xiang handed him the copper coin the old man had given her.
Tian Yi accepted the copper coin with a rigid smile.
Although he couldn't pinpoint the problem, there was something that didn't feel right to him.
She earned money just like she said she'd, but the way it was executed just felt weird. Is that how people in the outside world really earn money? By asking another?
Trying not to think too much about it, Tian Yi decided to try it himself.
He walked up to some random stranger and bowed with cupped hands. "Excuse me, senior. Can I have your spare change?" he asked the middle-aged man who frowned, clearly displeased with his approach.
Tian Yi felt embarrassed to be in such a position for some reason, but he couldn't pinpoint why. He was just bowing with cupped hands, but the blood in his body was reacting weirdly to it.
It was as if his blood disdained such a position— his actions!
The son of the Celestial Emperor was begging for money like a homeless beggar? How absurd and ludicrous of an action this was!
Tian Yi waited for the middle-aged man to give him money like how the old man gave Meng Xiang money, but to his surprise, the middle-aged man ignored him and walked away, not even sparing him another gaze.
"..." Tian Yi looked at the middle-aged man with a weird expression on his face, feeling disrespected.
"This is not a good way to earn money…" he mumbled to himself.
To be ignored so directly— even if it was just once— left a bad taste in his mouth; he didn't like it and probably won't ever try it again.
"Meng Xiang, do you know of another way to earn money?" he asked her, his face still slightly red.
Meng Xiang thought about it for a moment before nodding. "We can earn money by selling things to people," she suggested.
"Selling, huh…" he thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I will try selling things."
He decided to sell things for money, but he did not know what he should be selling. Everything on him was valuable things to him, hence why he brought it from his home for this journey— they were not things he would be willing to part.
Suddenly, his expression enlightened, as though he just realized something.
'If I have nothing to sell, I can just make something to sell!' he thought.
Tian Yi, now knowing what he wanted to sell, started walking around the city once again.
Although he didn't know where he wanted to go to sell things, after an hour walk, his attention was attracted by a commotion occurring in front of a large, red building.
He stopped walking to watch the dozens of people gathered outside of the red building, listening to their conversation.
"Are you also here for that Rank 5 pill, the Burning Spirit Pill?"
"Of course! That is why everybody is here today!"
"The effects of a Burning Spirit Pill increases the consumer's affinity with Yang Qi, allowing them to gain twice the benefit than others when cultivating in places with Yang Qi!"
"It has been ten years since the last Burning Spirit Pill appeared in the Jade Phoenix's Auction House!"
'Jade Phoenix's Auction House, huh.' Tian Yi, who has been listening to their conversation, thought to himself.