'Yue, if I wanted to use Flowing Divine Script to find Mo Huai, how would I do it?'
'Simple, take your brush and while writing inject mental energy. We can trace the resonance of a specific law, in Mo Huai's case, the miasma laws. Try this... I'm not sure but it should work.'
Yue transmitted a set of characters in Flowing Divine Script to Hou. Hou looked at the symbol in his mind and memorised it, then he opened his book and started to write with his brush.
The brush seemed to be another treasure, it could write without ink to dip it in, it was full with ink laws and would last a long time without needing a refill.
Hou wrote the script out onto the book, injecting his mental energy into the ink. The ink seemed to resonate with other laws nearby and it then moved. Hou could see the ink was moving in a certain direction,
'That must be Mo Huai's direction!'
Hou pushed through the crowd and followed the ink on the book, with that he found Mo Huai waiting in the edge of the crowd.
"Sir Zhao, don't run off!"
Hou caught up to Mo Huai and assumed his identity as his scholar, speaking to him not as a disciple to a master but as a childhood friend turned scholar.
"It's fine Daizi, let's go to the inn for now!"
Mo Huai was enjoying his new attitude, he was too used to the formality of an Elder, he liked him being just another person.
The two walked side by side through the streets, after a while of looking around they stopped a bigger to ask for directions.
Mo Huai stopped in front of a beggar and looked into his side satchel. He found a few different denominations of coins. He threw a few of the lowest value coins down and asked,
"Where is the closest inn, not something too high end or low end?"
The beggar grabbed the coins from the floor and bit them. He activated a body cultivation technique using a technique based on copper and investigative laws, his teeth hummed and turned copper for a split moment, and verified the coinage. He then put on a smile and looked up,
"Yes young master, thank you for your donation! I could tell you...or for a few silver I have a backstreets map pill."
Mo Huai thought for a second before answering,
"Let's have the pill, two of them. If they aren't real, I'll make sure you get what you deserve for scamming though!"
"Hush, we don't want the guards to hear...of course, I would never think to scam young master hehe"
The beggar reached into his ragged clothes and pulled out two black pills with words surrounding them. He held them in one hand, and put out his other empty,
"The money first"
"You would think I would scam you, a lowly beggar!?" Mo Huai feigned shock.
"No I was just.... Ah take the pill first and determine their authenticity. Keep your voice down."
Mo Huai snatched the pills then covered them in his hand. In his hidden palm, he let out a miasma technique which authenticated the pill.
He then reached into his satchel and dropped a few silver coins. He then gave one of the pills to Hou, and the other he ate.
Hou received the pill and swallowed it, absorbing it instantly with his Celestial Law Amplifying Physique. Instantly, in his mind, Hou gained a intuitive map of the district of Freedom Haven they were in. With the effect of his physique, the map was fully integrated into his mind, usually one needed to reference it regularly but Hou knew it by heart. He noted a few different lodgings and other establishments.
Mo Huai then spat on the floor and walked away. Hou was looking at the map then realised Mo Huai had left and ran after him.Mo Huai flicked his wrist, like an arrogant young master dismissing the beggar, and the air around Hou thickened slightly, the noise of the crowd seemed to dull.
"Mo Hu- no Zhao Ritian, what are those coins? Does the sect not use contribution points?"
"They do, but for the poor or free cultivators who live in Nine Clouds Sovereign Sect they do not always have a token to pay for. Instead they use coins which have contribution point values instilled."
"So how do they convert? And what are the denominations?"
"The basics start from copper, then silver, gold, platinum, Jade. Each silver is ten copper. Each gold is a hundred silver. Each platinum is a thousand gold and so on. And a copper coin is worth one contribution point."
'So, one jade coin equals... a million contribution points?' Hou did the maths in his head.
"What does that equate to, in real world value?"
"One point is enough for a small meal. One silver is enough for a night stay at a lodging. Pills are made only by real cultivators or specialists, which is why those two pills cost a few silver."
"Real cultivators? Was he not a 'real' cultivator?"
"No but yes. Anyone can use laws to cultivate but only real cultivators have a Spirit Stone Soul and store large amounts of laws safely, and increase mental energy."
"Safely... So there's a risk to 'fake' cultivation?"
"Yes, without a Spirit Stone Soul the laws are not stable. They can cause reaction without meaning to. This can cause things like mutations or spontaneous human combustion. It is possible but highly dangerous, this is partly why you can't use external cultivation yet."
"It is? How does that relate to me?"
"You do not yet have a Spirit Stone Soul, you rely on real physical spirit stones. If you use external cultivation with these, the stones weaken. And if they weaken enough, they break and the laws are let out to cause havoc."
"So that's why.... Then should I not form the Spirit Stone Soul as soon as I can?"
"Yes really you should have done it earlier but your past as a traditional cultivator caused your body and soul to not be united. Although this is seemingly fixed with the Celestial Law Amplifying Physique I want to have sect master check it, then we can form it."
"That all makes sense thanks mast- Sir Zhao."
"No need to say that, but good caution. From the start of the conversation I set up a privacy bubble, if I don't I wouldn't talk about the Celestial Law Amplifying Physique"