Ashes Of Heaven Book 1 : Solar Calamity

The morning was neither bright nor gloomy, constantly transitioning between both while maintaining a serene aura.

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 were ceaselessly jerking around his surroundings, trying to absorb as much information as possible on his way.

The structure of the sect was simple. Dozens of mountains were clustered together here, and on top of each mountain, a pavilion or the residence of an elder had been constructed. Surrounding the residences of the elders lay a series of huts, sheltering the disciples of the elders. As for the pavilions, these mountain peaks were more like the organs of the sect, running business, tasks, partnerships, contracts, administration, discipline maintenance, and countless other miscellaneous jobs in order to keep the sect operating without a hitch.

Counting the entire body of outer court disciples, elders and servants, a population exceeding 700 resided in this sect. And this was just the population within the sect's main territory. The Crimson Snow sect was an authoritative figure in the Fifth region, exerting its influence across an area of fifty square miles.

It was hardly a simple task to run it smoothly.

"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. Among the few special mountain peaks that do not take in disciples, this one handles the administrative tasks for the sect."

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.

"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. But few of the luxuries were available to the disciples, especially the junior generation. Some of them were delighted to see the majesty of their sect, while the rest of them only felt their chests tightening in sorrow.

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

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

The senior disciple's frosty glare made their excitement wither as they soon followed one another in a long line.

Han Xuhan was rather puzzled by what the senior said about applying for loans. 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 height, width, and circumference, smiled warmly.

"You must be a mortal with exceptional results in the tests. Almost everyone with a bit of background knows this."

"...Uh...Yeah, my results were quite exceptional. Even my wildest dreams never conjured up 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 can be used for various purposes-"

"...Say no more brother! I get it." Xiao Wu flashed him a knowing grin.

"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 teach

so many things to their disciples without sacrificing their own precious time for cultivation. So the sects usually divide the lessons among 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 teach the disciples of other elders for free. So the sect allows them to collect a small number of fees for their lessons and we disciples must pay that fee 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 require higher fees, such as fifty spirit stones, eighty spirit stones and the legendary tier costing 120 spirit stones per month!

"Now tell me, martial brother, how do you expect yourself to pay for even the lowest tier of the curriculums 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 working for it.

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

"Not really. Almost ninety percent of disciples here have an influential family and a minimum cultivation base. It's not very easy to get this 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. We can also perform the tasks which give out remunerations."

Han Xuhan felt aggrieved to the extreme. Why doesn't this sect follow the standard xianxia procedure where everything is free? He would have been happy enough with a bog-standard sect as long as things were affordable.

Why did he get recruited into this ivy league hodgepodge?

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 himself to ask for a loan when his turn came.

Soon, he was facing the stone-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. The 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 assigning five years of unpaid labor in case he failed to pay up in time.

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

The sect's image in Han Xuhan's mind began to morph 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 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 into a neat stack and a fire lit up the corners of the papers, dissolving the stack into a pile of ashes which was blown away by a gust of heavy 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 elder's signs before I can hand you the money.

Gasping slightly, Xuhan nodded with an amazed expression.

What a cool-looking technique!

Half a minute later, the air surrounding the disciple suddenly twisted and a pile of ashes appeared out of nowhere. The ashes began to morph speedily and assembled themselves into a stack of familiar papers and fell on the table neatly.

So awesome!

"See? The signing is done. Now, wait for 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 were 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 an amount of 120 spirit stones per month as a fee. It also includes a certain amount of money for a better lifestyle in the sect, making up a total loan of 2000 spirit stones. The four-star tier is the lowest one totaling up to 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 sympathize 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 '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 were also to be blamed. He hadn't been careful enough...He suddenly felt that the whole world was operating against him.