Chapter 141: The Wis.h.i.+ng Tower
The Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was located on the west side of the Skylaurel Kingdom. This side had always been one of the most bustling areas of the capital.
The Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was indeed a tower, and was also one of the sacred places of the Skylaurel Kingdom.
The Wis.h.i.+ng Tower would always be quite lively every year during holidays, especially during the Mid Autumn Festival. The Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was thronged with people then. In the Skylaurel Kingdom, the laurel tree was the national tree and it had much to do with the Mid Autumn Festival.
Laurel trees had been planted in abundance around the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower, and the laurel flowers had already bloomed and were exuding a faint fragrance that wafted through the air for ten li.
The Mid Autumn Festival was almost here, and the half month before and after this time was the most happening, most interesting, part of the year for the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower.
Jiang Chen finally understood what the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was all about, after asking around.
It turned out that the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was a ceremony that had been pa.s.sed down in the Skylaurel Kingdom for a thousand years. Anyone from the royal family, to the most impoverished citizens, could place their unresolvable wishes in the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower.
A reward would be promised for every wish.
Whomever helps to materialize the wish would receive that reward. Of course, every wish placed into the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower would be strictly reviewed to ensure that it deserved the corresponding reward.
The Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was open once a month.
But during the Mid Autumn Festival, it would be continuously opened for half a month, and the levels which were open would be very high.
There were sixteen levels in total for the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower.
On an ordinary day, dependent on the month, the Tower would be opened up to the sixth level, with the eighth level being open at the highest.
During the new year, the Tower would normally be opened to the tenth level, or even the twelfth level.
The Tower would be opened everyday during the month of Mid Autumn, with the highest level being the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and even higher levels being opened.
Even the sixteenth level would be opened on Mid Autumn’s day.
Of course, no one had ever been up to the sixteenth level. No one was even sure if there were any wis.h.i.+ng scrolls on the sixteenth level.
Even if there were, that would be a wish that stretched up to the heavens, with basically no one able to resolve it. It was all abstract representation at that level.
If you handed in a wish scroll to the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower, you needed to pay a fee. However, the fee wasn’t high, and wishes could be handed in everyday with no restrictions.
If you wished to select a wish scroll, you’d have to wait until the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was open for business.
Today for instance, was an opening day with the advent of Mid Autumn’s day, and the scene was quite animated and stirred up.
Of course, it wasn’t just anyone who could select a wish scroll. Fees had to be handed in for selecting a scroll, and were much higher than those for handing in a wish scroll.
Ten silver had to be forked over for entering the first level.
Twenty silver for the second.
Fifty silver for the third.
A hundred for the fourth.
The fifth…
Ten thousand silver for the tenth level, with it becoming even more expensive as the level increased.
One had to say, the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was very interesting, but also very pricey.
“Who thought of the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower? This is a furious acc.u.mulation of wealth by unfair means!” Qiao Bais.h.i.+ sighed in appreciation.
A sea and mountain of those who wanted to go in and select scrolls had formed in front of the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower. It was apparent to see that the revenue from just one day of being open was astounding.
Qiao Bais.h.i.+ had always thought that the Hall of Healing made good money, but this Wis.h.i.+ng Tower made even more, and made it quite easily to boot.
When the doors opened, the crowd surged forward with cries and yells, eager to send their money inside.
“Young master, let’s go have a gander?” Qiao Bais.h.i.+ thought that with the honored master’s temperament, he would be rather interested in this.
“Let’s go and take a look.”
Since Jiang Chen wanted to play, he naturally wouldn’t consider anything below the tenth level. He took the direct path up, and arrived at the tenth level.
Ten thousand silver would allow you to select one wish scroll at the tenth level.
If you were unable to complete the scroll you selected, the ten thousand silver wouldn’t be refunded.
Of course, if you were able to complete the wish, then the rate of return would be at least a hundred or a thousand times greater than this fee, or possibly even greater.
One had to say, there really were plenty of people with money in the Skylaurel Kingdom. There were still quite a few people at the tenth level.
Banknotes worth tens of thousands of silver were continuously handed over.
Some even threw their lot in with one cast of the die, and handed over several tens of thousands of silver, buying a heap of scrolls, and then looking them over one by one in a corner.
These people were normally merchants and the big fish in the business world.
These kinds of people had money but low status in society. They were unable to receive any recognition, and couldn’t make it into the upper cla.s.s circles — they were completely unable to make it into the circle of n.o.bility.
They were trying their luck in coming to the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower, trying to see if any prominent character had handed in a wish here that they could help fulfill.
Of course, this possibility was quite low. Normally speaking, the higher level a wish was, the harder it was to fulfill it. If it was a mission that even high officials and n.o.ble lords couldn’t fulfill, then these big fish in the business world likely had no hope of materializing them either.
Jiang Chen observed for a moment at the door to the tenth level and lifted his head to look up, “What’s the highest level that’s been opened today?”
“Greetings, the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower is opened up to the twelfth level today.”
Jiang Chen nodded, “Let’s go to the twelfth level.”
Jiang Chen wasn’t short on money. Although he’d cooperated with the Hall of Healing for a short period of time, it had also helped him acc.u.mulate a lot of wealth.
The price of selecting a scroll in the twelfth level was already as high as fifty thousand silver.
“Honored guest, would you like to try your luck?” The administrator of the twelfth level greeted them quite courteously.
Jiang Chen took out a banknote for a hundred thousand silver. “Let’s play for a round or two.”
There were large banks within the alliance of the sixteen kingdoms and thus banknotes could be circulated between kingdoms. A note for a hundred thousand silver was enough for two scrolls on a twelfth level.
A s.e.xy hostess led Jiang Chen and the others into the inner lobby.
The interior of the Wis.h.i.+ng Tower was sumptuously furnished, with each level possessing its own unique character. The twelfth level of the Tower was simple and unsophisticated, boasting of an antique flavor that was permeated with a stately bearing.
Many racks were set up in the lobby. Different areas and different racks represented different wish origins.
There were scrolls from the government, the military, the four great sites, and all sorts of major agencies and organizations.
The wishes that were placed on the twelfth level were all of a very high level. Basically, any that could be fulfilled would bring astonis.h.i.+ng rewards.
Jiang Chen had listened conscientiously along the way. He’d heard that someone had selected a wish and had received the status of a fifth rank n.o.ble from the ident.i.ty of a commoner.
It wasn’t that Jiang Chen valued the ident.i.ty of a n.o.ble, but that within the Skylaurel Kingdom, particularly the capital, it was difficult to take even a single step without the status of a n.o.ble.
He didn’t even have the right to purchase a manor, to speak of nothing else.
Take Tang Long for instance. He’d joined the military already and had become one of the border patrol Wyvern Knights. But he lacked the status of a n.o.ble, and thus could only stay within the slums.
This was the reality of the Skylaurel Kingdom.
Even if Jiang Chen viewed fortune and riches as dung and dirt, he was still unable to avoid this reality.
How should he obtain a n.o.ble’s position in a short amount time? He was wholly uninterested in the status of a n.o.ble of the ninth or eighth rank.
He should at least obtain one of the fifth rank, if not third or fourth, right? Even if the fifth rank posed a bit of difficulty, then one of the sixth rank was his bottom line. He would have no interest in anything lower.
Jiang Chen would absolutely not select a scroll from the military. He was completely uninterested in matters of war. He’d already become weary of mobilizing the million strong Swordbird Army to fight the Darkmoon Army just once or twice. At the end of the day, the circ.u.mstances had called for such action.
He temporarily didn’t want to have anything to do with the government.
Jiang Chen had gotten tired of matters of politics in the Eastern Kingdom. He knew that that was a minefield — that a slight move on one part might affect the whole.
If he intervened brashly, he would very possibly draw the fire onto himself. Although he wasn’t afraid, he’d come to the Skylaurel Kingdom to develop himself, not to raise trouble.
What remained would be the four great sites, the great agencies, and the organization.
Although these powers didn’t seem as impressive as the government or military, they actually secretly held the life of the kingdom in their hands.
Jiang Chen paced back and forth for a bit. These scrolls weren’t divided up carefully, and thus it was impossible to know who had handed in which scrolls.
Jiang Chen selected two at random.
The contents of the first one made him laugh involuntarily.
It was obviously from a woman. Her wish was to always appear young, and hope to maintain the looks of a twenty to thirty year old for the next thirty years.
The origins of this scroll was an a Ning surnamed elder in the Azure Heaven Southern Palace.
The rewards of this scroll were indeed quite eye popping. If this wish could be fulfilled, he would directly become the elder’s follower and receive the status of a sixth rank n.o.ble.
Jiang Chen sighed in resignation. This fifty thousand silver had been a fruitless endeavor. It wasn’t impossible to appear young forever, and there were indeed many pills to retain youthful looks.
However, Jiang Chen had no desire to spend so much time and effort on a silly woman. He was about to throw the scroll back when he suddenly flicked a glance at Qiao Bais.h.i.+ at his side.
His hand pausing slightly, and he threw the scroll at Qiao Bais.h.i.+. “Bais.h.i.+, this may be suitable for you.”
Jiang Chen had no time to concoct some pills for retaining looks, but Qiao Bais.h.i.+ had the time to.
Qiao Bais.h.i.+ took the scroll and also laughed wryly. “Young master, I know nothing of the art of looking young. Besides, being a follower for this elder, I can already imagine that she must be an excessively narcissistic bitter woman in the throes of early menopause. I think I’ll pa.s.s?”
“Haha, you can avoid being a follower, but being a n.o.ble of the sixth rank is not bad.”
Just as Jiang Chen had said, there was no benefit in being the follower of an elder. This kind of narcissistic female elder would also be very difficult to serve.
However, the status of a sixth rank n.o.ble had quite an allure. Quite a few number of people had come with Jiang Chen to the Skylaurel Kingdom this time.
They had to be settled somewhere.
The more n.o.ble ident.i.ties they obtained, naturally the better. Approaching this from many venues, if this method didn’t work, then perhaps another would.
The most important thing was to temporarily a.s.sure themselves of a n.o.ble’s status so that they could establish a foothold within the capital.
They couldn’t very well continue to live in hotels everyday.