The Cultivation World Is Different... (1)

Kai had been prepared for a bloody fight, so the old man's sudden change in personality threw him way off. The old man continued to speak as if he and Kai were already close acquaintances.

"My name is Qin Zhong, First Elder of Huang City's Qin family. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kai"

"..."

The two other elders were quick to pick up on what the First Elder was implying. His change attitude meant that the boy's power was not to be underestimated. The Qin family would have to treat him with respect and give in to whatever demands he had.

The two elders abandoned their chess game and quickly ran to the first Elder's sides then introduced themselves with broad smiles.

"Greetings Mr. Kai, I am the Second Elder of the family, Qin Hong"

" I am the Third Elder, Qin Wuying, it is a pleasure to meet you, young sir"

The young Qin Patriarch was astonished by this scene. In his 40 years on this world, this was the first time he had ever seen these three elders act so humbly within these halls. Most times they would be apathetic to any situation and wouldn't so much as look at the guests. Their presence in these halls was to ensure that anyone who walked in would be thoroughly intimidated by their power and status, so this situation was a first.

"Just how powerful is he for the elders to behave this way after just one move?...". The Qin Patriarch was too curious but quickly got pulled out of his thoughts. Their message was clear, so he also had to do his best to appease this young man for the sake of their family. He quickly got up and introduced himself as well.

"Mr. Kai, you can call me Qin Yang, I am the current Patriarch of the Qin family. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier..."

Kai, who was the recipient of all the sudden respect was at a loss for words. He was terrible with names so he had already forgotten their introductions. All he remembered were their titles which would probably be good enough.

"...Don't worry about it, I'm not too big on formalities anyway. Now that you all seem to be in a talking mood, maybe we can get back to the issue at hand?...". Kai said this while pointing towards Qin Weiwei who was still on the floor shivering in fear.

She had never been that close to cultivators fighting so felt like her soul had left her body already.

The first elder looked down at the girl with a face full of disgust. She had single-handedly brought this unfavorable situation to their family. Now they were on bad terms with a young genius cultivator whose background was a complete mystery. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind but held back the urge as it would be unbecoming of an Elder of the family.

"I must again apologize for the...misunderstanding. Fair compensation is indeed due..."

The First Elder waved his hand and a small green crystal the size of a fingernail appeared on his palm. The other elders gasped loudly when they saw what the First Elder had just pulled out.

Kai curiously inspected the object while wondering how the old man had made it appear out of thin air.

[Heart-Crystal of [Grade-3] Wind-Elemental ][ 3456 Qi]

"This is the Heart-Crystal of a wind elemental that I received back in my youth. It has high Wind Qi-attunement and could likely be crafted into a master class weapon if you can find a Smith with enough talent. However, I believe it is more valuable as a cultivation aide. I hope this will be enough to compensate for your losses today..."

Kai was astonished. This crystal had the most Qi that Kai had ever seen in any object thus far. He remembered that items with between 1000 and 10,000 Qi would guarantee him a [D-Rank] manual. He would also have a small chance of getting a [C-Rank] manual which was extremely tempting to Kai.

His only [D-Rank] Martial Arts Manual was the fused [Primordial-Dragon Scale Armament]. Kai felt those scales were already god-tier but it was still only just [D-Rank]. However, because of that one [D-Rank] skill, Kai felt confident enough to walk into the Qin residence all by himself. That was a testament to how powerful the system's [D-Rank] manuals were.

The First Elder extended his arm and handed the crystal over. Kai didn't stand on ceremony and quickly pocketed the crystal. He had originally hoped to get a bag of gold for his troubles, but something told him that this wasn't an item that he could buy using gold, so he had to take it while it was being offered.

The Qin elders were surprised at how Kai didn't even try to reject the crystal once. They all knew how precious the crystal was to the First Elder. The only reason the First Elder even had such an item was that he had gotten lucky and found it a few decades ago during one of his travels. The crystal had greatly helped him in his cultivation so he felt a pang in his hearts when they saw it get taken away.

"This should be enough to make up for the earlier attack. Thank you for your kindness, First Elder..." Kai said as he cupped his hands and smiled at the Elder.

"Just for the earlier attack?..." The Qin Elder felt his knees wobble slightly when he heard this. Was the boy implying that this wouldn't be enough to fully compensate for everything?.

The Qin Elder sighed as he waved his hand again. This time, five colorless crystals appeared in his hand which Kai happily inspected as well.

[F-Rank] [Grade-1] Qi-Crystal ][ 98 Qi ]

[F-Rank] [Grade-1] Qi-Crystal ][ 82 Qi ]

[F-Rank] [Grade-1] Qi-Crystal ][ 89 Qi ]

[F-Rank] [Grade-1] Qi-Crystal ][ 73 Qi ]

[F-Rank] [Grade-1] Qi-Crystal ][ 70 Qi ]

...

Kai was extremely underwhelmed by these crystals. None of the five crystals were even at [100 Qi], so compared to the one green crystal he had just received, these might as well be trash.

The Elder saw Kai's disappointed look and felt insulted. He had just given one of his most prized possession and was told that it wasn't enough. Now he presented five whole Qi crystals on top of that and the boy still looked disappointed. Either he was from an extremely rich and powerful cultivation family where five crystals meant nothing, or he was trying to cheat him. Either way, the Qin Elder felt defeated.

Kai wanted to know what the value of these crystals was, but also didn't want to seem ignorant by asking the Qins, so he secretly sent a message to Mina using [Dragon's Whispers]. He described the crystal to her then asked her to relay the information to Old Lao. The old man had worked for merchants at the South of the continent where cultivation was a lot more widespread, so he would probably know something about these crystals despite being a mortal.

Old Lao's answer was quickly relayed and Kai could hear the excitement in Mina's voice as she spoke.

"Master!, Old Lao says that the crystals you've described are most likely [Qi-Crystals]. They are the common currency in the cultivation world and can also assist in cultivation. Usually one can't even buy them with gold coins, but there are some circles where crystals are sometimes put on auction for gold. At such auctions, one crystal can go for upwards of 500 gold!"

"F...Five hundred?!...",

Kai lost the ability to speak and just stood there with a dumb look on his face.