Chapter 6: The Broken Knife Coin

Chapter 6: The Incomplete dao coin

“This is probably the most impulsive thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Li Yi was panting, his heart still pounding, and his body felt an inexplicable exhaustion, with all his muscles aching intensely.

He slipped away very quickly.

In just half an hour, Li Yi left the Waste District and returned to his home in the Old City, temporarily safe.

Recalling what had just happened, he found it incredible himself.

He had only wanted to earn tens of thousands of dao coins to take care of his parents, who were Silent Ones, but at the crucial moment, he, like those gamblers, risked his life for an unknown qi object.

Fortunately, he came back alive.

If he had failed, he probably would have regretted it deeply before he died.

“Zhang Kaiwen, who died, was right about one thing: ‘One life is ten thousand lives.’ To change all this, I have to take a gamble, otherwise, I can only live like a rat in this old, dilapidated city, like everyone else, eventually rotting and becoming maggots one night, leaving no trace behind.”

“The moment I made that decision in the underground parking lot, I could feel my ambition swelling within me. It turns out I’m not the kind of person who is content with their lot. I also yearn to step into cultivation, to stir up trouble, and become a big shot.”

Li Yi closed his eyes, taking deep breaths repeatedly.

He recalled his life over the years, feeling only suppressed and suffocated.

Endless work, endless nutrient solutions. Despite working so hard, his family went from having some savings to being utterly destitute, and finally heavily indebted. Now, they don’t even have the money to repair the medical pod, and Li Yi’s parents are about to be unable to sustain their lives.

He was only twenty years old; his life had just begun, so why did it feel like it was already over?

It shouldn’t be like this.

Li Yi opened his eyes again. This time, his gaze no longer held the previous exhaustion and confusion, only determination.

“But whether I can change all this depends on my luck this time, whether I got anything valuable.”

Then he looked at the pile of dirty, old, and tattered clothes he had been holding.

These clothes were worn by the owner of the ancient tomb during his lifetime. Their style and material were completely different from what was common in society today, carrying a sense of ancient charm, yet unlike traditional ancient costumes. However, through the details, it was still evident that these clothes were very luxurious when complete.

Li Yi slowly peeled back these clothes one by one, trying to find something special.

The reason he chose to take away this large pile of old clothes from the coffin was that he believed if there were any precious qi objects in the ancient tomb, they would certainly be kept close to the body.

However, the ancient tomb had been plundered before, so it was unknown if anything was left behind.

“This piece of clothing has nothing, neither does this…”

As each piece of clothing was peeled back, Li Yi carefully searched for anything that might be valuable.

Until the last piece of clothing was shaken out, a crisp sound of something falling to the ground echoed.

A broken artifact dropped onto the living room floor tiles.

Li Yi immediately picked it up. He examined it carefully, finally feeling somewhat uncertain: “Could this be a qi object? It doesn’t look like it. I can’t see anything miraculous about it.”

The object in his hand looked like a small bronze knife, but now only half of it remained, with a twisted inscription on it.

Moreover, he tried it and found that the small bronze knife was not sharp.

After looking up some information on his phone, Li Yi could barely conclude: “This isn’t a small knife, but a type of coin. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, this kind of coin was called a dao coin.”

Besides this half of a dao coin, he searched through the pile of old clothes several more times but couldn’t find anything else.

This was the only gain Li Yi brought back at the risk of his life.

“I’m not a cultivator, and I don’t know if this half of a dao coin has any value. I need to find someone knowledgeable to inquire about qi objects, but this person must be trustworthy, with no risk of exposure.”

He started thinking again, and a person immediately came to mind.

Uncle Biao.

Uncle Biao was his father’s friend. Six years ago, he cultivated with Li Yi’s father. However, Li Yi’s father had a higher talent and made rapid progress in cultivation, while Uncle Biao’s cultivation talent was poor. Eventually, Li Yi’s father had an accident and became a Silent One, his fate unknown, while Uncle Biao gave up continuing to cultivate and instead opened a meditation room in Tianchang City to teach new cultivators.

Thinking of this, Li Yi immediately tidied up the pile of old clothes and then carefully put away the half of the dao coin close to his body.

However, he did not set off immediately because he still had one more thing to do.

Picking up his phone, Li Yi dialed the after-sales service number for the medical pod.

Soon, in less than half an hour, the medical pod’s after-sales engineer arrived at the door.

“Li Xiansheng, I told you last time that a chip in your other medical pod was burned out due to long-term operation, and the medical pod has passed its six-year warranty period. Although the company can provide free repairs, you need to purchase the damaged parts yourself, and the price is 49,999,” Engineer Hu Bing said.

Li Yi said, “I’ve gathered the money these past few days. I’ll pay you now. You won’t have made a wasted trip.”

“That’s good,” Engineer Hu Bing nodded.

Li Yi opened the bedroom door.

The bedroom was brightly lit, but the air was filled with the smell of alcohol and disinfectant.

There was no bed in the room; instead, two medical pods, flashing various indicator lights, were placed on the floor. Compared to the cramped, oppressive housing in the Old City, these two high-tech medical pods seemed so out of place.

Two people lay in each medical pod.

The man had a resolute and handsome appearance, quite dashing, and the woman had a beautiful face. However, due to being in a coma for many years, both of them had poor complexions and looked slightly pale.

Originally, Li Yi’s parents were a perfect couple, a talented man and a beautiful woman, but now they could only lie there like vegetative people.

And this situation had lasted for a full six years.

“Dad, Mom.”

Even though he knew there would be no response, Li Yi still habitually called out twice.

Engineer Hu Bing skillfully opened the panel of one medical pod and began repairs.

As the damaged part was replaced, soon, the medical pod representing Li Yi’s mother started functioning normally again.

Seeing the situation improve, Li Yi’s hanging heart finally relaxed.

Engineer Hu Bing said, “Li Xiansheng, the nutrient solutions for both medical pods will run out in one day. Remember to purchase and add them in time. I suggest, if Li Xiansheng has the means, to stock up on more nutrient solutions in advance, because recently, more and more people are cultivating, and the demand for nutrient solutions has increased. The nutrient solutions on the market have all gone up in price, and I estimate they will rise even further after a while.”

“The price increased?” Li Yi was startled and asked, “How much is one now?”

“The most basic nutrient solution has now risen to one thousand,” Engineer Hu Bing said.

“It’s risen that much? I understand, thank you.” Li Yi immediately fell silent.

“You’re welcome.” Engineer Hu Bing left after finishing his after-sales repair work.

“The fifty thousand dao coins I earned risking my life were spent in a blink of an eye. It seems I can’t stop. This incident made me realize that trying to diligently work and earn money to change all this is simply impossible. The only way is to change my way of living.”

Li Yi touched the half of a dao coin in his pocket and thought to himself.

These two medical pods were bought by Li Yi’s parents using most of their savings before they fell into a coma. Although they didn’t require much maintenance normally, to ensure the normal sustenance of the Silent Ones’ lives, nutrient solution had to be added every month, otherwise, the Silent Ones’ bodies would starve to death.

One medical pod consumes at least three nutrient solutions per month.

However, Li Yi’s family had two medical pods, so six would be consumed.

This meant that Li Yi had to earn at least four thousand eight hundred dao coins a month to ensure his parents’ survival.

Now that the nutrient solution had increased in price, he would have to earn at least six thousand dao coins a month.

Initially, the family still had some savings, but after six years, the savings were exhausted, the car was sold, and the house was also sold. Fortunately, the house in the Old City remained after his grandparents passed away, otherwise, they would have to rent a house.

“Dad, Mom, I have something to do today and can’t stay here with you, but don’t worry, I won’t abandon you, and I will definitely take good care of you, ensuring no problems or accidents occur. Wait for me to come back.”

Li Yi knew he couldn’t waste any more time.

Crow’s people could come looking for him at any moment.

Before that, he had to quickly determine the value of the item in his hand.

Immediately.

Li Yi found a backpack, packed the pile of old clothes from the ancient tomb into it, then put on the backpack and left with the half of a dao coin.

Looking at the small remaining balance on his phone, to save time, he splurged and took a taxi to Uncle Biao’s meditation room.