Chapter 16: A Courtyard - 16
It wasn't long before Zhou Fan made it to the front of the line.
"Hello, my name is Fui Rong, how can i help you?" The lady said.
"Hello Ms.Fui, I'd like to rent a house." Since Zhou Fan didn't have much money, he decided to rent a house instead of buying one.
"What is your monthly budget?" Fui Rong said while pulling out a 3 inch notebook.
"Are there any nice houses under 10 silver a month?"
"There are plenty of houses for that price. Do you have any preferences?"
"Are there any courtyards for that amount?" Zhou Fan wanted a courtyard because it would not only be more private, but it would also have a walled yard.
Hearing Zhou Fans question, Fui Rong had a troubled look on her face. "There aren't any courtyards for that price, sir. In fact, there are very few courtyards in the entire city."
Although Zhou Fan knew that courtyards weren't very popular in the wishan kingdom, he was quite surprised to hear that there were very few in the entire city.
"Can I ask why?"
"Of course. Two years ago, the crown prince of the boundless empire declared that courtyards were old and unfit for an advancing empire. Ever since then, many courtyards were demolished and manors rebuilt on them."
Zhou Fan was awed that the words of the crown prince were so influential. Of course, his influence was limited to the boundless empire. In other empires, courtyards were still very popular. Especially in the number 1 empire, the empire of mortaniel.
There, courtyards were seen as the sign of a scholar. In fact, every other empire still used courtyards. The crown princes statement had no reasoning behind it and could be considered the cries of a child for attention.
"Actually, there is one courtyard for sale." Fui Rong suddenly said. "However, it has been abandoned for the last 30 years. A rumor has spread around that all the previous owners have been murdered in the house."
Zhou Fan was shocked hearing Fui Rongs words. "How much is it?"
"Are you interested? Actually, I wouldn't recommend it. Many people have investigated the rumors and it has turned out to be true. All the previous owners were killed in their sleep."
Hearing this, Zhou Fan was even more shocked. What are the odds that every single owner died in the house.
Even so, Zhou Fan was confident that no single thing in this world could harm him. Although it would be a different story if an entire army were to besiege him, it was very unlikely that it would ever happen.
"I'm still interested. How much is the house?" Zhou Fan asked.
"Well, there isn't a price on it since no one has dared to buy it. I can ask my manager, however."
"Please do."
After that, Fui Rong walked into the back of the shop for a while. When she came out, a fat middle aged man was following.
"Hello sir, I am the manager of this store. I heard you're interested in renting the abandoned courtyard?"
"Indeed. Do you have a price for me?"
"I think that 3 silver a month will do due to its current circumstances. However, we'll need 3 months down payment."
Pulling out 9 silver, Zhou Fan handed it to the manager. 9 silver was basically the rest of Zhou Fans money. It seemed that he would have to use the rest of his time at the inn to eat.
The manager went to the back and grabbed a key before handing it to Zhou Fan.
"Keep in mind, you will likely die in the courtyard. Are you sure you wish to rent it?"
Thanking the manager for his last attempt at persuading him, Zhou Fan grabbed the key and walked to the courtyard. Before he had left, he had asked the manager the location of the courtyard. It was on the edge of the city and was 5 miles away from the library that stood in the center of the city.
To other people, that was more than an hour of walking. To Zhou Fan however, it was a minute jog. If he ran, he could make it in 30 seconds. That's 1 mile in 6 seconds!
The only concerns that Zhou Fan had were that he could run into other people, or even buildings. Although his perception and reaction time are just as incredible as his speed, he wasn't absolutely confident in stopping before he hit someone.
If he were to run into someone at full speed, they wouldn't even know how they died. If he were to run into a building at his full speed, the building might instantly collapse. Even if it was made of steel. In fact, even if he ran into a 5 foot tall cube of pure steel, he was confident that the cube would receive more damage than him.
Zhou Fan soon made it to the courtyard. Looking from afar, he could see that the red paint on the walls was peeling away. The double door made from wood looked soggy and old. Zhou Fan ,however, had expected this much after hearing how long it had been abandoned.
Putting the key into the lock and turning, Zhou Fan opened the old doors. When he looked inside, he saw that the grass was taller than him. Luckily, he had brought his sword with him. Pulling the sword out , Zhou Fan bended his knees and added a miniscule amount of Qi to his blade. He then swiped out with his sword and a gray crescent appeared.
Quickly, the grass was cut to 2 inches tall. Zhou Fan had ,however, underestimated how much power that little amount of Qi held. After cutting the grass, the Qi continued until it hit some slightly higher dirt. The dirt exploded and the Qi dissipated.
Now that the grass had been cut, Zhou Fan could see the house part of the courtyard. The house section took up half of the courtyard while the yard took up the other half. Although neither the yard nor the house could be called large, Zhou Fan felt that it was enough for him.
Chapter 17: Breakthrough - 17
Zhou Fan walked over to the inside section and pulled the doors open. Looking inside, he saw a bed, a table, a broom, and a chair. Everything was covered with dust.
After briefly considering using Qi to blow the dust away, Zhou Fan shook his head. Although it may be faster, there was a chance of destroying the few items in the courtyard, and even the courtyard itself. Instead, Zhou Fan went to the corner and grabbed the broom. He swept the broom with the strength of the average man. While sweeping, Zhou Fan thought about the current state of the courtyard.
It was literally falling apart. It needed repairs and maybe even an expansion later on. He also needed to fix up the yard more. The concrete walls were covered with vines and the outside of the courtyard was like a jungle.
While lost in his thoughts, Zhou Fan finished sweeping the house. He had also swiped the dust off of the furniture. Surprisingly, the bed was quite nice. Although he would need to wash the sheets, the wood it was built out of was holding up well. It wasn't moldy or rotting. Zhou Fan grabbed the sheets before leaving the courtyard.
He headed straight to the inn and reached it in 2 minutes. Zhou Fan walked up to the lady who ran it and asked if they could wash the sheets.
"Yes. It will cost 2 copper, however."
Nodding at the price, Zhou Fan pulled out 2 copper before handing it and the sheets to the lady. Zhou Fan then walked upstairs and grabbed his few belongings before walking back to the courtyard. Although he still had a week at the inn, he prefered to live in the courtyard.
He quickly made it back to the courtyard and sat his things down. Once again, Zhou Fan left the courtyard and walked around the city. Before long, he had purchased a lamp, a shovel, a paint brush, and a bucket of red paint. He had also gone back to the inn and grabbed his newly clean sheets.
When Zhou Fan made it back to the courtyard, it was already getting dark. He reckoned it was around 8 pm. He put the sheets on the bed and lit the lantern with one of the matches it came with. Now that there was light in the courtyard, Zhou Fan opened the paint can and started to paint the walls. He painted the entire outside of the house, and by the time he was done, it was 10 pm.
Calling it a night, Zhou Fan went inside and sat on his bed. He decided to spend most of his time cultivating for the next few days. At least until he broke through to the next realm.
Since he had nothing else to do, Zhou Fan spent the next 3 days cultivating. The only times he wasn't cultivating was when he was eating at the inn.
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On the third day of cultivating, Zhou Fan was heavily paying attention to his inside space. The sphere that has been forming was nearly finished. It was at 99.9% completion and could be finished at any moment. The next minute , it completely formed.
The moment it formed, all the Qi in the surrounding area poured towards it. The strands of Qi were laying onto it and making it glow. After around 5 minutes, the grey glow had reached a blinding intensity. All of a sudden, the last Qi laid onto the sphere.
The bright glow instantly receded and it looked as if the sphere only had a light glow of grey light covering it.
When Zhou Fan opened his eyes, he was floating above the bed! Zhou Fan quickly panicked and fell face first onto the ground. When he stood up, excitement was visible on his face. He could fly! Who wouldn't be excited.
Zhou Fan ran outside and tried to fly once again. However, even after 20 minutes, he was unsuccessful. After giving up for now, Zhou Fan focused on the sphere. It was gray in color and currently had no glow. When Zhou Fan focused his mind on it, he felt a load of information pass through his brain.
After it passed, Zhou Fan understood what the use of this sphere was. In fact, it was more accurate to call it a core. Zhou Fan had learned that the core was a condensation of all his previous Qi. Although it didn't hold control over his Qi, it had many uses. Firstly, he could ignore some of the laws of physics with it. The best part was, it barely needed any Qi. Secondly, his Qi was now completely condensed and even the Qi he absorbed from the surroundings would be denser.
Finally, he could change the attributes of his Qi! This finding astonished Zhou Fan more than the other two. Deciding to test it, he held out his hand and tried to form a flame. Soon after, a flame formed on his hand! Zhou Fan shaped it into a ball and threw it into the sky. It zoomed up at an incredible speed before it exploded in the sky, sending a shockwave out. The loud boom caused the city to fall into a panic. Of course, Zhou Fan wouldn't realize that until later.
Zhou Fan then tried with everything he could think of. Earth, water, air, metal, and even wood. Then Zhou Fan had an idea that even scared himself. Pushing his palm out, Zhou Fan tried to imagine a lightning bolt shooting out of his hand.
BOOOM!!
The lightning bolt shot out at a speed that even Zhou Fan couldn't react to and collided with his walls. The bolt penetrated through the wall and continued on. It didn't stop until it ran into a couple of trees and sent them exploding into the air.
While Zhou Fan was astonished, he inwardly compared the strength of the lightning to the strength of the fireball. While the lightning bolt was clearly much stronger than the fireball, it was nearly impossible to control. It also took up much more of Zhou Fans energy. Luckily, Zhou Fan had been holding back quite a lot. Otherwise, who knew how much damage it would cause.
Zhou Fan then flew into the air which was much easier after he realized how it worked. Zhou Fan soared into the air, instantly breaking the sound barrier and sending another boom throughout the city.
Zhou Fan played around in the air for an hour before an idea suddenly struck him. Since he could turn his Qi into other elements by removing other parts, what if he shot out the attribute of his pure Qi. Zhou Fan had a nagging feeling that his core wasn't only able to shoot out elements.
While in the air, Zhou Fan put his hand out and aimed it at the random forest below. He had long flew out of the city into and unknown direction. Instead of manipulating his Qi to turn into something else, Zhou Fan urged out the pure grey energy contained in his body. Zhou Fan quickly succeeded and a formless gray energy appeared on his palm. He had used the same amount of energy in this as he had used while trying out the other elements.
When Zhou Fan urged it to shoot into the forest below, it instantly disappeared from his palm. Zhou Fan couldn't even react before an explosion sent him flying into the ground. He hit the ground at such a high speed that he spit out blood!
Zhou Fan body after breaking into this realm was 1000 times harder than steel. Even then, he was injured by his own attack.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
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