Chapter 51: The Aristocratic Class

“Starbucks? You mean an actual Starbucks coffee shop?” The Young Lord Supreme pondered for a moment. “Come to think of it, I’ve never actually visited a mortal coffee shop!”

“That’s the place!”

“But isn’t it just a place that sells coffee? At most they’d have coffee machines, how could there possibly be an alchemy furnace?”

“I know of a Starbucks that has a bronze cauldron. To be precise, it’s a massive bronze urn, eight meters tall and weighing four tons!”

“A bronze urn that can withstand high temperatures?”

“Exactly!” Huasheng quickly muttered a spell, conjuring a pile of silk cloth. The silks unfurled as if sprouting eyes, neatly sorting and packaging the herbs on the table. He rolled up the large fabric, stuffed it into his satchel, then looked up at the Young Lord Supreme. “Let’s go! To Starbucks, to find the alchemy furnace we need!”

The Young Lord Supreme followed, his face full of doubt.

Starbucks Coffee is currently the world’s largest coffee chain, founded in 1971 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA.

The particular Starbucks Huasheng led the Young Lord Supreme to was located in the heart of Shanghai. This was no ordinary Starbucks, but a place the company itself called a Roastery. The Roastery was housed in a freestanding, circular, light-brown building, its entire shape reminiscent of a giant coffee canister. Covering 2,700 square meters, it was far larger than any typical café.

As they stepped inside, an intense aroma of coffee immediately caught the Young Lord Supreme’s nose. The shop offered not just coffee, but freshly baked, fluffy breads as well. The air was a lively hum of conversation, groups of young people chatting over coffee, laughter echoing from every corner. Being near the bustling Nanjing Road, many fashionable young people chose to meet friends or while away the hours here; others came to find a spare table to complete their work or class assignments.

No matter the day of the week, it was always difficult to find an empty seat at a Starbucks in central Shanghai. In fact, sitting here, one might get the illusion that no one in the city ever has to work, and everyone has endless hours to lounge in a coffee shop.

At the center of this two-story circular building was a massive, two-story-high sealed bronze urn. It shone with a bright copper luster, its surface densely engraved with Chinese characters in clerical, regular, and seal script styles—like a collection of countless character-imprinted seals.

Entering the Roastery, the Young Lord Supreme immediately spotted what, for the two of them, was the most important object in the room: the “alchemy furnace” in the center.

“How’s this giant urn?” Huasheng asked.

“Huasheng, you’re a genius!” The Young Lord Supreme’s eyes sparkled as he beheld the massive bronze urn at the center. “Boundless Virtue Heavenly Lord! You actually thought of using a coffee roasting cauldron as an alchemy furnace!”

“As long as you’re satisfied!” Huasheng breathed a sigh of relief. “Go find us a seat, I’ll get the coffee. It’s almost closing time. We’ll sit for a bit, wait for the staff to finish work, then make our move.”

“All right, get me a black coffee, no milk or sugar!”

“Got it!” Huasheng suddenly remembered something and turned back to the Young Lord Supreme. “But I don’t have any cash on me.”

“You think I don’t know? Don’t mortals all pay with their phones now? Who needs cash?”

“But I don’t even have a phone.”

“Ah, I’ve never even seen what mortal money looks like, but haven’t you used it before? Just conjure some up, isn’t that easy?” Before Huasheng could reply, the Young Lord Supreme had already ascended the stairs to the second floor.

It wouldn’t be hard for Huasheng to conjure up two cups of coffee. But since they were taking up seats in an actual shop, he felt awkward not making a purchase. So he decided he had to come up with some money anyway.

Now that he thought about it, it was odd he’d only just remembered to conjure cash, since he could use magic. In Saint Pingning, the currency was encrypted and couldn’t be magically altered, but in the mortal world, things were different. Besides, for someone skilled in the immortal arts, money—especially cash—was rarely needed.

Huasheng ordered two coffees and two sandwiches, then carried the tray upstairs. The Young Lord Supreme was seated by the window, flipping through a magazine.

“Quite a crowd,” Huasheng remarked.

“People in Shanghai’s coffee shops are packed together like the cars on the streets—always squeezing past one another.”

“That’s big city life. To hide among the masses, to live in Shanghai single-mindedly—that’s true cultivation.”

“We’ll have to wait until after closing, once the crowds disperse. And haven’t you noticed our ‘alchemy furnace’ is still busy roasting coffee beans? It’s not off duty yet, either.”

“Let’s eat something and wait patiently.”

The Young Lord Supreme was leafing through the magazine when he suddenly said, “Look at the male models in these ads—they’re all wearing luxury watches!”

Huasheng replied, “Oh? Watches? You’re into those?”

“I’ve just changed into a new outfit; of course I need a watch to match.” The Young Lord Supreme quickly scanned the magazine. “This one’s quite nice—the starry sky.” He pointed to a blue-dialed watch on a glossy page.

Huasheng glanced at it. His cultivation at the Academy of Arts and Dao had granted him the ability to take in every detail in a single glance.

It was a luxurious silver watch with a crocodile leather strap, the bezel encrusted with a ring of dazzling diamonds, each one sizable. At the two and four o’clock positions were two crowns, and in the center of the dial was a blue astronomical map. About a third of the way down, there was a round aperture, beneath which was a golden moon phase.

As the watch ran, the upper astronomical map would slowly rotate, while the second layer beneath it would display the shifting phases of the moon—waxing and waning, crescent or full—showing the changing faces of the night sky. Three white hands swept the dial; aside from the usual hour and minute hands, the third long hand was not a conventional second hand, but indicated the date, the tip designed as a red crescent, pointing to thirty-one dates arrayed around the edge. The craftsmanship was exquisite; it was obvious the watch cost a fortune.

“It is beautiful, with all those diamonds. Oh wow, it’s a Patek Philippe! Three million!” Huasheng stuck out his tongue at the price listed in the corner of the page.

The Young Lord Supreme blinked, muttered an incantation, and pressed his hand to the illustration of the watch. Then, with a firm push, something extraordinary happened.

The Patek Philippe on the page began to move, rising slowly along the edge of his palm, as if his hand could reach right into the magazine’s glossy spread. In no time, the watch had slid up to the edge of the page.

Soon, part of the watch poked out from the edge of the magazine, as if it had always been tucked inside—though clearly, such a slim magazine could never conceal a real watch.

In less than half a minute, the illustrious timepiece was in the Young Lord Supreme’s hand. He inspected it closely.

“No wonder it’s one of the world’s top ten watches—the detail, the clarity of this sapphire crystal, it’s hard to believe ordinary mortals could craft it by hand.” He turned it over. Open-caseback designs were not rare in watches, but this one’s pearl automatic rotor gleamed gold, perfectly matching the diamonds on the clasp—every detail was stunning.

The Young Lord Supreme was utterly taken with it. Gazing at the automatic rotor, he murmured, “A system of overlapping discs rotating at different speeds. The backdrop is a sapphire crystal disc with two hundred and seventy-nine teeth, tracking the lunar orbit. Through a planetary gear system, a small disc in a tiny aperture shows the moon phase. Even the astronomical depiction of the celestial canopy is impressively accurate.”

“As an immortal, you know quite a lot about watches—almost like an expert,” Huasheng said.

“Not at all. I just got the real thing now.”

“Then how do you know so much about it?”

“Once you hold it in your hands, you can tell how many parts there are at a glance.” The Young Lord Supreme countered, “Didn’t you notice?”

He held the watch in both hands and, with a simple gesture, the watch floated in midair—instantly disassembling itself into hundreds of tiny components.

Huasheng’s eyes widened.

To avoid drawing attention, the Young Lord Supreme quickly brought his hands together again, and the floating parts reassembled into a fully functioning watch.

Huasheng was momentarily speechless. “My astronomy class wasn’t great.”

“In our immortal clan, children study astronomy from an early age, observing the heavens every night. So we’re a bit more keen in our observations.”

A bit more keen? Huasheng thought privately. So, his own glance-at-a-glance skill wasn’t even in the same league.

The Young Lord Supreme turned another page in the magazine. On the back of the glossy spread was a white-dialed Rolex Daytona with a black ceramic bezel. His eyes flashed. “You always rely on a Rolex when you’re on the run!”

“What?”

“Aren’t we fugitives right now? When you’re on the run, you have to have a Rolex—it’s the ultimate hard currency, it sets the tone!”

“You’ve watched those Hong Kong movies from the nineties, haven’t you?”

“Got a few tough battles ahead, so it’s gotta be the Rolex!” The Young Lord Supreme, using the same trick, plucked the Daytona from the magazine and slipped off the Patek Philippe he’d worn for less than a minute. He flipped back to the previous page, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed the Patek Philippe back onto its empty photo. The watch tumbled across the image and was once more illustrated in the magazine.

Huasheng said, “The photo looks a bit different now—the watch is a little off-kilter.”

“No big deal. Who even looks at magazines these days? Most of the publishers have gone under, so the occasional slip-up by a photographer or editor is perfectly normal.” The Young Lord Supreme admired the Daytona. “White dial and black ceramic bezel—now that’s my style.”

The steel bracelet was a bit loose on his wrist. The Young Lord Supreme pinched the band and, with a flick, two links popped out. He put it back on his left wrist. “Now it fits perfectly, ha ha!”

He then struck a pose, imitating the look of a gangster on the run.

“Why not grab one of those gaudy gold Rolexes while you’re at it? Money means nothing to you.”

“That’s not the same. You know why young people look odd draped in bling?” The Young Lord Supreme suddenly grew serious. “Because when you’re young, you shine from within. Ever used a camera? When you’re already glowing, adding a gold reflector blows out the exposure. When you’re older and your aura fades, that’s when you need gold and silver.”

“Still, that watch you took from the magazine—isn’t that a fake?”

“What? Wasn’t the photo taken of a genuine article?”

“A real one should be bought in a boutique, with a box and warranty card.”

The Young Lord Supreme coughed and went on flipping through the magazine. “So much hassle, just to get a watch.”

Huasheng suddenly thought of something. From the moment people become aware of the world, they notice an interesting truth: since ancient times, there have been too many people—countless, really—who are born into families of emperors, tycoons, or high officials. So many that you couldn’t possibly count them all.

And yet, somehow, that chance never falls to you.

Huasheng took the magazine from the Young Lord Supreme, closed it, and said, “Young Lord Supreme, do you know what people find most infuriating about you?”

The Young Lord Supreme shrugged. “Heh, you know, it’s not my fault I was born handsome! Blame my genes.”

Huasheng sighed. “Do you know what sets you apart from ordinary people? Choice. That Patek Philippe, worth millions—if someone can’t afford it at birth, odds are they’ll never be able to in their lifetime. You get to choose not to wear it and go with a Rolex, or wear nothing at all. You can pay for it in a shop, or just conjure one up. But the choice is always yours. That’s what sets you, the inheritors, apart—the inequality that’s hardest to swallow.”

“So, are you blaming me?”

“I’m not blaming you. But you shouldn’t take pride in it, or think it makes you special.”

“You mean, humility brings benefit, arrogance invites loss? But have I been arrogant?”

“It’s that you don’t seem to care. What’s ordinary to you is out of reach for the vast majority. Your indifference feels like you’re dismissing everyone else, like saying: you’ve worked all your life and you’ll never touch my heel.”

“But isn’t that reality? What’s wrong with facing reality?” The Young Lord Supreme raised his hand, and the magazine floated back from Huasheng’s grasp. He opened it again, flipping the pages lazily as he spoke. “Isn’t the reason so many of you work tirelessly that you hope you or your children can become that person no one else can reach? I get it: what you’re really saying is that the things you’re born with aren’t worth boasting about. No matter where you start, it’s breaking your own limits and doing what you couldn’t before that deserves respect and praise.”

He glanced up at Huasheng. “But don’t you think some people are just too sensitive? When they see someone flaunt an advantage, they take it as a personal insult, as if it’s rubbing salt in their wounds. But you have to understand—our eyes face forward; people are born to look at those ahead of them, not at those behind.”

“If you’re saying you never have to care about others’ opinions, you really deserve a punch.” Huasheng seemed dissatisfied with the answer.

“That’s why I say, don’t be so sensitive. I get it, I get it.” The Young Lord Supreme stifled a yawn. “As a descendant of the immortals, one should be humble and kind, take on social responsibility, show reverence. After all, everything you’re born with is granted by society.”

“You understand these things better than I do.”

“You think all the inheritors are fools? When you’re born with good resources, you have a broader view, a better education—how could you know less than others? It’s just that there’s so much to consider, it gets exhausting. So you pretend not to care, let it be. But just because someone has what others don’t, doesn’t mean they’ll become useless wastrels or spoiled brats. They might have dreams of their own.”

“You mean, how could the sparrows understand the swan’s ambition?”

“I didn’t say that—you did. All I’m saying is, in this world, there’s no such thing as absolute equality. There’s only inequality, and another form of inequality.” The Young Lord Supreme picked up his coffee and took a sip, wrinkling his nose. “Didn’t I say, no sugar or milk?”

“I thought the privileged couldn’t handle bitterness.”