The waiter understood that he could do nothing more than approve Xue Wei’s request. Although he still looked down upon the other, he could not go against a core student.
If this core student were to tell his superiors about his behavior, it was clear that he would lose his job faster than he was able to explain the situation.
Understanding this, he accepted the card in Xue Wei"s hand and swiped it over the scorecard. Seeing that he had ten thousand and six hundred seventy-nine merit points, he felt like biting his own tongue.
This amount of merit points was not little at all. It was definitely enough to allow the entire group of four to eat in a room if they pleased, and as a result, his face turned from a shade of red to purple and then to green.
"Follow me," the waiter said and was not excessively polite, but considering that he was willing to help them to the room, Xue Wei did not cause problems anymore.
Although he was annoyed with the waiter, this man was simply not worth paying attention to. The waiter was someone who was doomed to be beneath him, both in strength and in status. To deal with such a person would only cause him to feel disgusted.
Together they walked upstairs to the upper floor where there were rooms, each beautifully decorated and containing a table and some cus.h.i.+ons to sit on.
They arrived in front of one of the rooms, not one of the best rooms on the floor but a decent room nonetheless.
Here they were led inside, and there was a waitress waiting for them inside. Seeing that the group contained four people with two eyes each, surprise flashed in her eyes, but she said nothing and smiled sweetly instead.
The waiter who had led them over quickly left without as much as a word, and returned to the front of the restaurant, his face filled with unwillingness.
Although he was unwilling to accept that these two-eyed experts were core students, he was not silly enough to think that Xue Wei had falsified the core student medal, and thus he was forced to treat them at least somewhat respectfully.
Xue Wei ignored the waiter and sat down on one of the cus.h.i.+ons. The others followed suit and soon they were looking at the menu, wondering which dishes they should eat.
There was a chef in their house, but that chef did not make food that increased their strength, and although it was edible, it was not as delicious as the food here.
Xue Wei ordered a few random dishes from the menu and some fruit wine. These menus were then handed to the waitress in the room, and she quickly bowed before leaving the room to quickly pick up the things they had ordered.
"That waiter was quite rude," Lin Xiao said and sighed as he shook his head. "What was his problem?"
"It is clear that he, as a three eyed expert, looks down upon us because we only have two eyes, and when he then realizes that we are way above him, he will become even more unwilling to admit it." Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders. It really did not matter how the waiter behaved. In Xue Wei"s eyes, he was just a clown jumping around.
Sensing the carelessness from Xue Wei, the others were rather surprised, but none of them said anything. They understood that it was not because Xue Wei was benevolent, but because he simply could not be bothered to take a shot at someone so far beneath his focus.
Although it was clear that Xue Wei would not take a shot at the man, it did not mean that Hei Gou and the others were willing to swallow their anger. They were all contemplating how to make life difficult for this waiter.
Although Xue Wei knew about it, he did not care. Everyone had their own principles and should follow them. Xue Wei was in no position to tell his friends how they should act.
Although Hei Gou, Lin Xiao and Bai Tianyi were playing with the thoughts of how to punish the waiter, they quickly forgot about him when the dishes arrived.
These dishes were specialized half in essence of the heavens and the earth and half in soul power, so when consumed they would instantly make the body refine the energies and make it into Qi and spiritual energy.
The density of energy from the food was as potent as that provided by the consumption of pills, but the absorption was much more gentle and it was clear that it did not require one to sit down and meditate to refine the energies; it slowly transformed itself while being digested.
All four of them were greatly surprised when they noticed this. They had come here to experience something a bit different and also experience the benefits one could get from spiritual food, but when eating it they found that it was truly magnificent.
The food filled with the essence of the heavens and the earth was many times cheaper than the dishes that contained soul power, and Xue Wei had purchased a surplus of those dishes because three of them could benefit from them while only two could benefit from the soul power dishes.
While eating, the group made small talk about their current experiences in Yan Dalu. They had experienced many things since arriving here, and it seems they had been trapped in a web of mysteries, making it very hard for them to escape unless they solved the problem.
"These people are all very friendly, but I do not know if they are friendly because of them needing us," Bai Tianyi said and sighed after a bit of time. "We are being treated extremely well, and it seems that everyone within the entire continent are happy people, but it is almost a utopia and I cannot believe that it is as wonderful as it seems."
"I agree," Lin Xiao nodded his head. "I might be a monk and I might have learned that friendliness and benevolence is the way to go, but human nature, even if you have multiple eyes, is not kind."
"I do not think they would be this friendly were it not because they would benefit from it."
Hei Gou contemplated for some time, before he nodded his head, showing his agreement. "I think that we are quite fortunate to be needed by them," he said after hesitating a bit of time. "Although it is troublesome having to solve this problem for them, we are not in any danger."
"It feels great not having to flee for our lives all the time, and although many look at us with curiosity and interest, with some looking at us with disdain and disgust, no one has caused problems for us. Even that waiter was easily subdued."
When hearing Hei Gou"s words, Lin Xiao and Bai Tianyi both nodded their heads. It was indeed good to be free from the worry of constant chases, but Xue Wei just sighed.
"It is true that we are lucky to be without pursuers," he agreed, "but our cultivation was progressing by leaps and bounds while being under pressure."
"Fortunately, we have been forced to try and solve a mystery here in Yan Dalu, not allowing us to rest on our laurels. If we did, I fear our cultivation base would progress at a much slower rate."
"Although all of us are motivated to cultivate, we have to remember that pressure brings forth another aspect in cultivation. This is indeed something we need."
After talking, they continued to eat their meals and drink their wine. From time to time they would joke with one another or talk about their previous experiences, even experiences from before they met each other was subjects of their conversation.
Although they did not speak much about the mystery they were tasked with solving, it was still something that was present within their minds. They could not completely put down the subject.
Their future depended on them solving this mystery and now they finally had a plan on what to do and a lead towards their masked objective.
They finished the meal in a carefree manner, paid the bill, and returned to the courtyard only to find that Mo Yi and Mo Er were waiting for them with great grins on their faces, looking like two mischievous children who had thought up some plans that would produce chaos.
"We heard that the young masters had returned from the Soul Tower and have taken the time to prepare warm water for all of you. Take a relaxing bath with a herbal concoction local to Yan Dalu and calm your muscles before working hard with cultivation again," Mo Yi said with a friendly smile on his face and Xue Wei gave him a glance before he nodded his head. "Thank you," he said before he and the others entered their rooms and saw a big tub in front of them with steaming hot water within.
They all enjoyed their baths; the slightly bitter scent of herbs could be smelled in the entire courtyard and Xue Wei felt how it relaxed his soul and calmed his muscles. The herbal concoction was indeed special, and he could not help but wonder why they were given the privilege of this herbal bath.
Mo Yi and Mo Er should not be capable of providing the herbs needed for the bath, and Xue Wei had not given them any currency to buy them with.
After finis.h.i.+ng the bath, Xue Wei cultivated his Qi for one night, and the morning afterward he and Bai Tianyi once again set out to the Soul Tower. This time they would stay there for quite a long time, so they had spent a whole day and night beforehand to fully unwind and prepare their mind.
Spiritual power was closely related to the mind. If one was to overdo the cultivation, it could inflict severe damage to one"s mind and even turn one into a fool, but at the same time, if one had talent for spiritual energy, then they needed to cultivate it or they equally could turn into fools. It was about finding the golden middle way.
While Xue Wei and Bai Tianyi went to the Soul Tower, Lin Xiao and Hei Gou exited the courtyard and headed towards the Academy’s training field.
The training field was where most of the students that were not in the Soul Tower gathered. Here people could practice their skills, either alone or together, and there were also instructors walking around, helping out those students who had questions or difficulties with their training.
Since Hei Gou and Lin Xiao were supposed to get information, they obviously went to the most crowded place of the entire academy—with the exception of the Soul Tower as they could not enter there.
As they reached the training field, they saw that there was a large amount of students. They saw students with three eyes almost everywhere, and from time to time they also encountered students with four eyes and even a few with two.
The ones with two eyes appeared to mainly cultivate Qi, and both Lin Xiao and Hei Gou could see that they were almost all Primordial Beasts.
Lin Xiao and Hei Gou looked at one another before they were unsure of what exactly they should do. How to speak with these people? How to get into contact with them?
"First, let us try and challenge a few people in the combat arena," Lin Xiao looked around as he said. "Maybe we can become friends after exchanging blows."
Hei Gou was not able to think of any other way, and thus he just nodded his head. "Okay," he replied, and together the two of them walked deeper into the crowded training field towards some stages that were placed at the far end where people were constantly challenging one another to test their skills.