Chapter 211: The Ascension Order (Please Subscribe, Please Support)

Old Ban raised his mechanical hand, clenched it twice with a clicking sound, and snorted coldly, "No way!"

"Let me play with it, please! Let me play with it!" Tianming lunged at Old Ban's leg, nearly rolling on the ground.

"Let go of me!" Old Ban shook his thigh vigorously, trying to shake Tianming off.

"No! If you don’t give it to me, I won’t deliver it," Tianming clung stubbornly to Old Ban’s leg, throwing a tantrum.

"Do you think throwing a tantrum will work? I’m not falling for that."

While Old Ban and Tianming struggled, a bird-like call came from above. The same mechanical bird from before circled back in the sky. Tianming’s face lit up with joy.

"Hey! Thanks!" Tianming shouted happily, waving his hand repeatedly as if welcoming the bird’s return. Old Ban looked on speechlessly.

“Bang!” Due to Tianming’s mischief, Master Ban failed to control the mechanical bird properly, and it crashed straight into Duanmu Rong’s wooden cabin, punching a large hole in the door.

“Hmm!” The door suddenly swung open, and Duanmu Rong appeared with a cold expression, glaring sharply at Tianming.

Under Duanmu Rong’s glare, Tianming felt as if he’d fallen into an ice pit, his whole body shivering.

“I’m treating your uncle’s wounds with Yue’er. His injuries are severe. If I hear even the slightest noise disturbing his mind, you can prepare for his funeral. Understand?” Duanmu Rong said coldly.

“Y-yes! Yes!” Tianming nodded quickly, showing he understood.

Duanmu Rong cast another cold glance at Old Ban and Tianming, warned them silently, and then closed the door.

“You brat, you’ve caused a mess. Come with me!” Old Ban complained as he dragged Tianming off to find Xiao Xie and the others. Duanmu Rong was always cold, but when angry, even Old Ban felt a bit intimidated.

…

The next morning at the breakfast table, except for Xiao Xie who had prepared ahead, everyone else looked on in shock as Tianming devoured his meal voraciously. Only after stacking ten empty bowls beside him did Tianming pause, finally somewhat satisfied.

“It's been a long time since I tasted rice this delicious,” Tianming said contentedly, rubbing his heavy belly.

“You have good taste. This rice was personally cultivated by the great patriarch of the Mo family,” Yue’er said.

“Oh, wonderful! I’ll bring a bowl to Uncle too,” Tianming said, getting ready to leave.

“Wait,” Miss Rong said.

“What’s up?” Tianming turned around and asked.

“He’s being cared for by Yue’er. No need to worry. You should go work!” Rong said.

“Work?” Tianming asked in surprise.

“Kid, what do you think this place is? A restaurant? An inn? Want to eat rice for free?” Master Ban’s eyebrows twitched as he spoke to Tianming.

“Uh…” Tianming was momentarily speechless.

“This is the rule left by the Mo family’s founder. No work, no meal. You eat as much as you work. Everyone must abide by it,” Yue’er explained.

“Ah?” Tianming looked at the pile of bowls in front of him and broke out in a cold sweat.

“You eat so well; you must be a good worker!” Master Ban praised Tianming, then changed his tone with a smile, “Don’t be dazed. That big pile of firewood in the yard is definitely yours. No one can snatch it from you!”

“Ah…” When Tianming saw the woodpile in the yard, four or five stories high, and then glanced at his dull axe, he felt utterly despairing.

“Do we need to do anything too?” Xiao Xie asked with a smile after finishing his meal, looking at Duanmu Rong and the others.

Old Ban shook his head and said with a smile, “Young Master Xiao, you are guests. You don’t have to follow the Mo family’s rules.”

Xiao Xie’s expression shifted slightly, thinking to himself, “Old Ban means Tianming is part of the Mo family. Makes sense—they must have already known Tianming is Jing Ke’s son. So treating him as family isn’t surprising.”

“Is that so?” Xiao Xie nodded with a smile, then took a token from his pocket and handed it to Duanmu Rong. “This is the Ascension Token.”

Duanmu Rong took the token and examined it carefully. It was a palm-sized rectangular piece, entirely green, resembling jade but unlike ordinary jade.

“Is this the Ascension Token made from special glass as strong as steel?” Old Ban asked in surprise.

“Exactly,” Xiao Xie nodded. The Ascension Token is made from tempered glass, which is hard to damage and impossible to counterfeit, as only Xiao Xie can produce this glass.

“Master Ban, what is the Ascension Token?” Yue’er asked with curiosity.

Old Ban glanced at Xiao Xie, then explained to Yue’er, “Three months ago in Qingyun City, a nine-story building called the Ascension Tower suddenly rose. It’s said that inside are rare treasures, and each floor holds items more valuable than the one below it. To enter the Ascension Tower, you need the proper status. Even the city lord of Qingyun City can only enter the third floor, and it’s said that even Ying Zheng could only reach the seventh floor.”

“Ah?” Hearing that Ying Zheng could only enter the seventh floor, Yue’er’s mouth dropped open in surprise, and a hint of curiosity flashed across Duanmu Rong’s face.

“Old man, how can one enter the eighth and ninth floors of the Ascension Tower?” Tianming ran in at some point, full of interest.

Old Ban stroked his beard and smiled, “Don’t rush. Besides having the required status, there’s another way: obtaining the nine Ascension Tokens. The tower’s owner made nine tokens in red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, and white, corresponding to floors one through nine. Whoever holds these tokens can take one treasure from the corresponding floor each year without restriction.”

“So this green token in your hand is the one for the fourth floor,” Tianming said, eyes wide with curiosity as he looked at the token in Duanmu Rong’s hand. Then he asked Old Ban, “Old man, how much is a treasure from the fourth floor worth?”

“Did you just call me old man?” Old Ban knocked Tianming’s head sharply, then glanced at the equally curious Yue’er. “It’s said that treasures on the first floor are worth at least one tael of gold each, second floor ten taels, third floor a hundred taels, fourth floor a thousand taels, and fifth floor ten thousand taels.”

“So the sixth floor treasures must be worth a hundred thousand taels?” Yue’er asked.

Old Ban shook his head and laughed, “Above the sixth floor, gold can’t measure their value. Each is a world-class rare treasure, priceless.”

“That woman’s got a point. Holding the fourth-floor token means you can get a treasure worth a thousand taels of gold! One tael can buy three hundred roast chickens, so a thousand taels is three hundred thousand roast chickens—that’s a lot of roast chicken!” Tianming’s mouth watered as his eyes turned into roast chickens.

Murong Feng and Murong Huang couldn’t help but shake their heads and smile at Tianming’s way of measuring everything in roast chickens.

Duanmu Rong looked at the token in her hand, somewhat surprised. A thousand taels of gold might sound modest but is actually a fortune—enough to sustain an army of a thousand soldiers for a year. Since she had just met Xiao Xie, receiving such a precious item made her doubt his motives.

“No reward without merit. I cannot accept this,” Duanmu Rong said, handing the token back to Xiao Xie.

“Miss Rong, don’t be so quick to refuse. If you accept this Ascension Token, it won’t change much. Besides being able to claim one treasure each year from the corresponding floor, you’ll also enjoy privileges and protection from my Ascension Tower branches,” Xiao Xie said, not taking back the token.