The morning was neither bright nor gloomy, transitioning between both while maintaining a sense of serenity. A young man around the age of seventeen walked down from the black sheep mountain with a calm expression. He wore a robe that was a few sizes too big for him, and his eyes constantly moved around, taking in as many information as possible.

"According to the rulebook, first of all, I'll have to pay 2 spirit stones for the book to the treasury which is situated at the golden shark mountain peak. The name of that place is enough to give anyone an idea of how they operate. So I'll have to be careful about this..."

Xuhan strode across the mountainside pathways from one peak to another and managed to find his way to the golden shark peak by following another group of disciples with the same destination in mind.

"Whoa! That building is the treasury?! Those pillars...if I'm not mistaken, those pillars are made of black jade! And those domes on the roof, those are made of high grade gold!"

A disciple from the group ahead of him suddenly exclaimed from the foot of the mountain, making Xuhan stumble in shock. Jade pillars and golden domes! No wonder the fees were so high! This sect is such a spendthrift!

On their way, they saw many more signs of the luxurious ways of life of the Crimson Snow sect, all of which pissed many of the disciples.

At the door of the extravagant treasury sat an older disciple with a stony face.

"I assume you are here to pay the fees for the rulebook and perhaps loans. Form a line and start one by one. Don't waste my time. "

The disciple's frosty glare made their excitement wither as they soon followed each other in a long line.

Xuhan was rather puzzled by the loan part, so he turned around to ask the guy behind him.

"Hey, martial brother, what did he mean by loan?"

The guy, towering above Xuhan with his giant like height , smiled warmly.

"Are you a mortal whose results in the test was exceptional? Otherwise you wouldn't have been selected."

"...Uh...Yeah, my results were quite exceptional. Even my wildest dreams never conjured anything like that," Xuhan answered meekly.

"Oh? I'm Xiao Wu from the black sheep mountain peak! What about you?"

"Really? Me too! Han Xuhan from the same mountain peak! What a wonderful coincidence!"

"...I thought you said your results were exceptional."

"Of course!"

"Then why the hell are you in the black sheep mountain peak? It's the worst mountain peak that hosts the worst disciples!"

"Ah, you see, the word exceptional has many meanings-"

"...Say no more brother!"

"So, about the loan thing-"

"Oh yeah, that. Well, the way to becoming a powerful cultivator is a very unpredictable path. One needs to focus on many things while cultivating, and it's nigh impossible for a single elder or a master to reach
so many things to their disciple without sacrificing their own precious time for cultivation. So the sects usually divide the lessons between all the elders so that each can teach for a short time and use the rest to cultivate. This also gives rise to a great many issues, for example- most elders are not exactly inclined to teaching the disciples of other elders for free. So the sect allows them to collect a small amount of fees for their lessons and us disciples must pay that few if we want to attend their lessons.

If I'm not wrong, you received 25 spirit stones yesterday. If we're talking about the minimal amount of lessons that we MUST attend, then the total fee amounts up to 20 spirit stones per month.
Then there are the higher tier curriculums where you can attend more lessons with longer time duration, which also requires higher fees, such as fifty spirit stones, eighty spirit stones and the legendary 120 spirit stones per month.

Now tell me, martial brother, how do you expect yourself to pay for even the lowest tier curriculum without a loan when you are a mortal who has only 25 spirit stones with himself?"

Xuhan went into a long daze. His resolve to become a powerful cultivator seemed to have been cracked before even he could start acting upon it.

"How-how are the others going to pay? Wouldn't a lot of people have to take loans?"

"Not really. Almost ninety percent disciples here have an influential family and a minimum cultivation base. It's not very easy to get the sect's invitations unless you are exceptional in some way. So most of us have a way or two to earn spirit stones steadily or receive the necessary amount from our family in case of emergencies."

Xuhan felt aggrieved to the extreme. Why doesn't this sect follow the standard xianxia procedure where everything is free? Why did he have such dogshit luck? Why....

No no, I must not become disheartened. I'll surely find a way to earn spirit stones. I don't believe it's impossible!

Xuhan consoled himself and prepared to ask for a loan when his turn came.

Soon, he was facing the stony faced older disciple.

"Name?"

"Han Xuhan."

The disciple looked for his name in the registry and quickly gave him another calculative look upon seeing the insignia of the black sheep mountain beside his name.

Without further ado, Xuhan handed him the spirit stones and requested for the loan.

"Senior, what are the procedures for taking a loan?"

The disciple didn't seem surprised. He pulled out a new register from a bag.

"Reason for the loan?"

"To pay for the lessons, senior."

"Here, take these forms and fill them carefully. They pledges cannot be retracted once registered, so don't make a mistake. "

Standing at one side of the building, Xuhan slowly filled it with some relevant information, including signing the clause of twenty years of unpaid labor in case he failed to pay up in time.

Xuhan's breath hitched when he saw the interest rate of twenty percent...

The sect's mental image filled Xuhan's mind into the form of a bloodsucking monster...

Underneath was the clause including how much money he was willing to borrow based on the curriculum he would choose.

According to the rules, he would have to pay at least 5 percent of the total amount per month, excluding the interest. Each loan would be enough for him to pay for a whole year of tuition.

There were four tiers, each dotted by a number of stars according to their worth. Xuhan immediately chose the one star tier curriculum since he wouldn't be able to afford anything higher even if he were to sell himself.

After finishing up, he handed the papers to the older disciple and waited for a response. The disciple looked at the information carefully before he suddenly snickered for some reason . Then he threw up the papers in the air and waved his hands at them.

Han Xuhan stared, wide-eyed, as the papers assembled themselves and a fire lit up the corners of the papers and dissolved the stack into a pile of ashes which was blown away by a gust of wind.

"Oh, don't be so surprised. It's just a technique to transfer paper documents far away. This is just the treasury. I'll need one of the authoritative elder's sign before I can hand you the money.

Gasping slightly, Xuhan nodded with an amazed expression.

What a cool looking technique!

A few minutes later, the air surrounding the disciple suddenly twisted and a pile of ashes appeared out of nowhere to assemble into a stack of familiar papers and fell in the table neatly.

 

So awesome!

"See? The signing is done. Now wait a second while I retrieve the money. It's a big amount after all..."

Xuhan's brows furrowed suddenly. A big amount, was it?

"Here you go, all of it is in there. Count it beforehand if you want to re-examine."

Xuhan dubiously opened up the two large pouches that was handed to him a moment later, only to be dazzled by what was inside...

"Senior, I remember applying for the lowest tier loan, the one star curriculum. Why does this pouch seem to contain more than five hundred spirit stones?"
Xuhan, who had just finished a rough counting of the amount in one of the pouches, asked in a trembling voice.

"What are you talking about, junior brother? The one star tier is the highest level of curriculum plans, with the amount of 120 spirit stones per month as a fee. It also includes a certain amount of money for a better lifestyle on the sect, making up a total amount of 2000 spirit stones. The four star tier is the lowest one totaling upto only 350 spirit stones!"

The senior's delighted reply was akin to the sound of thunder beside Xuhan's ears.

"Wha-how can that be? Shouldn't four stars be the highest?"

"Whatever gave you that idea, junior brother?"

"...This-this is a mistake! Please reconsider and let me correct this! I don't want-The contract was so vague..."

"Junior brother, all of the procedures have already been recorded. I told you to be careful, remember? You just could've asked for my help if you are so ignorant. Moreover, even if I sympathise with you, the elder who signed the papers would never break the rules for a mere mortal..."

Xuhan stared in a daze at the two heavy pouches as the name of the the golden shark pavilion resurfaced in his thoughts. Golden sharks...loan sharks...

His senior rattled on beside him about how Xuhan would have to pay 100 spirit stones per month from today on.

Xuhan however, was barely listening. He was sure that this was absolutely intentional on their part. His habits of rating games and novels back in his previous life was also to be blamed. He hadn't been careful enough...He suddenly felt that the whole world was operating against him.