Chapter 5: The First Default - A Lesson in Compound Interest
The air in the Celestial Vault was cool and still, a stark contrast to the storm of anxiety brewing in Li Wei's gut. The system interface glowed calmly before him, displaying a single, ominous line of text that had been ticking down for the past twenty-four hours.
[ Active Rental: Nova Sword - Timer: 00:00:03... ] Renter: Wang Jian Penalty Threshold: Active
Two days had passed since Wang Jian had stormed into the shop, his pride wounded from the confrontation with the Iron Sentinel. He'd pointed a dismissive finger at the most expensive item on display—a brilliant longsword whose blade seemed to hold captured sunlight.
Item: Nova Sword (Earth Grade - Low) Rental Fee: 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones / 24 hrs Description: Channels solar energy. Can unleash a single, devastating blast of concentrated sunlight.
"I'll take that one," Wang Jian had declared, tossing a pouch of spirit stones onto the counter without counting them. "A noble son does not engage in petty haggling." He'd scrawled his name on the soul-bound contract without reading a single word of the penalty clause.
Now, the timer hit zero.
[ Rental Period Ended. Item Not Returned. ] [ Contract Defaulted. ] [ Calculating Penalty: 100 x 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones = 10,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. ] [ Deploying Enforcer for Asset Repossession and Penalty Collection. ]
Across the sect, in the heart of the Wang family compound, Wang Jian was celebrating. He held the Nova Sword aloft, showing it off to a group of fawning friends and cousins.
"—and the fool just rented it to me!" he bragged, swiping the sword through the air. It left a faint trail of light. "My father's guards are posted everywhere. Let that shopkeeper's metal puppet try to take it back. We'll melt it down for scrap!"
He laughed, the sound loud and confident. He felt the sword's immense power thrumming in his hand. It was a feeling worth any price. What could a mere shopkeeper do?
The air in the center of the room shimmered.
The laughter died instantly.
The temperature dropped. The Iron Sentinel stood there, materialized from nothingness. Its runes glowed with a fierce, angry blue light. It paid no mind to the other cultivators, its blank helmet focused solely on Wang Jian.
Wang Jian yelped and stumbled back, raising the Nova Sword in a defensive stance. "Kill it!" he screamed at the two family guards stationed by the door.
The guards, seasoned Qi Gathering cultivators, drew their weapons and charged.
The Sentinel didn't turn. It didn't need to. As the first guard swung his axe, the Sentinel's free hand shot out, moving faster than the eye could follow. It didn't block the axe; it caught the blade between its iron fingers and crushed it to metal dust. With a casual backhand, it swatted the guard, sending him flying into a wall where he slumped, unconscious.
The second guard froze mid-lunge, his face a mask of terror.
The Sentinel took a step toward Wang Jian.
"Stay back!" Wang Jian shrieked, channeling his qi into the Nova Sword. The blade flared like a miniature sun. "I'll use it! I'll burn you to slag!"
The Sentinel stopped. It tilted its head. Then, it did something unexpected. It lowered its halberd and simply extended its open palm, waiting.
It was giving him a chance to comply.
Trembling with a mixture of rage and fear, Wang Jian made his choice. "NO!" he roared, and unleashed the Nova Sword's stored power.
A blinding beam of concentrated solar energy lanced across the room, hot enough to vaporize steel. It struck the Iron Sentinel square in the chest.
The room flared white. Wang Jian's friends shielded their eyes. When the light faded, they expected to see a molten pile of metal.
The Sentinel stood unmoved. A wisp of smoke curled from a faint, blackened scorch mark on its chest plate. The runes around the mark glowed brighter, pulsing once, and the scorch mark vanished, the armor repairing itself instantly.
It had taken the full force of an Earth-Grade artifact's power and been mildly annoyed.
The Sentinel's open palm snapped shut. The message was clear: the chance to surrender peacefully was over.
It took one thunderous step forward. Wang Jian tried to swing the now-dormant sword, but the Sentinel's hand closed around his wrist. There was a sickening crack. Wang Jian screamed as the bones ground together, and the Nova Sword clattered to the floor.
The Sentinel bent down, picked up the sword, and willed it away into whatever pocket dimension the system used.
Then, it focused on Wang Jian. A new system-generated scroll, glowing with oppressive golden light, appeared in the air between them.
[ Debt Owed: 10,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. ] [ Initiate Cultivation Drain? Y/N ]
"My father will pay! I swear it!" Wang Jian begged, tears of pain and terror streaming down his face. "Just let me go!"
The Sentinel's head tilted again, as if consulting a higher authority. After a moment, it reached out and its plated finger touched Wang Jian's forehead.
Wang Jian screamed. Not a scream of pain, but of profound, existential loss. A visible stream of golden light—his cultivated qi—poured from his dantian into the Sentinel's finger. His cultivation base, painstakingly built over years, crumbled.
From the peak of Qi Gathering, he plummeted. Mid… Early… and then below even a newly awakened disciple, into the realm of a mere mortal. The process took only ten seconds.
When it was done, the Sentinel released him. Wang Jian collapsed to the floor, sobbing, his body trembling with weakness. He was hollowed out.
The Sentinel looked around the room at the terrified, frozen cultivators. A final message flashed in the air before it vanished as silently as it had arrived.
[ The Celestial Vault thanks you for your business. ] [ Please settle all future debts promptly. ]
Back in the shop, Li Wei watched the entire event through the system's feed. He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the vault's temperature. It was one thing to read the penalty clause. It was another to see it enacted with such cold, brutal efficiency.
A new notification appeared, pulling him from his thoughts.
[ Penalty Collected: Equivalent value of 10,000 Spirit Stones acquired via cultivation drain. ] [ Shop Experience Significantly Increased. ] [ Shop Level Up! ] [ Celestial Vault is now Level 2! ] [ New Inventory Unlocked. ] [ New Bodyguard Unlocked: Jade Tiger Monk. ]
In the corner of the vault, where there had been empty space, a new display case glowed to life. And beside the silent Iron Sentinel, the air shimmered once more.
A new figure appeared. It was leaner than the Sentinel, resembling a humanoid jade statue of a disciplined monk. Its "skin" was carved green jade, and it held a long, ornate staff. It bowed slightly to Li Wei, its eyes glowing with a soft, wise light, before straightening and falling still.
[ Jade Tiger Monk - Combat Strength: Core Formation ]
The lesson had been delivered. The reputation was sealed. The business had just gotten a serious upgrade.
The price of default was now known to all.