The extermination mission was far easier than expected.
The demon beasts lingering on the outer perimeter of Secluded Valley were weak in cultivation, merely roaming beasts at early Foundation Establishment, incapable of stirring up even the slightest ripple of trouble.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Jiang Yinglan mostly just stood by and watched, idling on the sidelines and barely lifting a finger to use any techniques.
Gu Yanqing bore the brunt of every frontal attack.
An iron-spined porcupine charged headlong with brute force, its tusks slamming into him with raw, hardened beastial might.
Having tempered his body through medicinal baths, his physical foundation was rock-solid. He withstood the fierce blow head-on; the impact left only a few faint white marks on his flesh, leaving him completely unharmed.
With a deft twist of his wrist, his sword tip struck with pinpoint precision, cleanly ending the demon beast’s struggles.
On the other side, Lin Zhixue firmly held the flank.
A cunning, agile wind wolf attempted to flank them from behind under the cover of the foliage. The moment it leaped out from the underbrush, she intercepted it in the nick of time.
The Guilan Sword rippled with a faint aqua-blue sword light. With an effortless slash, she struck the wind wolf directly across its forelegs.
Yelping in pain, the beast rolled onto the ground. Just as it struggled to get back to its feet, Jiang Yinglan focused her spiritual energy at her fingertips, and a sharp, piercing gust of finger wind tore through the air, pinning it firmly to the ground so it couldn’t budge.
Having witnessed their companions defeated in an instant, the remaining demon beasts lost all courage. With no desire left to fight, they fled in sheer panic in all directions, vanishing deep into the forest.
The three had no intention of pursuing the scattered remnants. After a quick headcount of the beasts and tallying the beast cores and tokens required for the mission, they turned around and retraced their steps.
...
When submitting the mission, the deacon disciple counted the demon beast tusks they brought back and recorded fifteen points for each of them in the roster.
Jiang Yinglan took the mission slip, gave it a glance, and said, “Not bad.”
She turned her head toward them. “Do you two want to take on another one?”
Gu Yanqing shook his head slightly.
Jiang Yinglan didn’t press the matter further. Folding the slip, she tucked it into her sleeve and took the lead in walking out.
Once they stepped out through the doors of the Mission Hall, Gu Yanqing spoke up: “I still need to find a few materials for my cultivation.”
“I’m going to the Pill Hall,” Lin Zhixue said. “The Dewdrop Grass I reserved should have arrived.”
Facing the fork in the road, the two parted ways.
...
In front of the counter at the Pill Hall, a deacon disciple rummaged through the drawers twice before shaking his head, explaining that the reserved Dewdrop Grass hadn’t arrived yet and telling her to come back in a couple of days.
Lin Zhixue wasn’t particularly disappointed. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she caught sight of a familiar figure standing at the adjacent counter out of the corner of her eye.
Xu Muhe was tucking a deflated money pouch back into her sleeve, with two bottles of the cheapest low-grade Qi Gathering Pills sitting on the counter.
She picked up the pill bottles and held them against the light to check the sediment at the bottom, stowing them into her storage bag only after confirming nothing was wrong.
Turning around, she happened to meet Lin Zhixue’s gaze. She froze for a moment before her almond-shaped eyes curved into a smile. “Miss Lin?”
“What a coincidence, you’re here too?”
“I came to pick up herbs, but the shipment hasn’t arrived yet.”
“That’s too bad, then.”
Tightening the drawstring of her storage bag, Xu Muhe naturally fell into step beside Lin Zhixue.
She was still wearing that dark blue inner disciple robe; the cuffs were slightly faded, and the collar bore a few subtle mending stitches that would go unnoticed without a close look.
“By the way, you mentioned last time that you were reading a book on sword intent. How is it coming along?”
The two chatted as they walked outside.
Stepping out of the Pill Hall, the sunlit stone steps were dazzlingly bright.
Lin Zhixue answered, “I mostly understood what was written in the book. For a few parts I couldn’t grasp, I consulted Senior Sister Jiang.”
Xu Muhe’s footsteps faltered slightly, but she resumed walking as usual an instant later, her tone calm and unruffled.
“Senior Sister Jiang has profound mastery in the sword path. It’s truly a rare opportunity to receive her guidance.”
Xu Muhe paused for a moment before asking as if offhandedly:
“Is she usually... easy to get along with?”
Lin Zhixue thought about it. “She’s alright.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Xu Muhe smiled and didn’t press the subject.
Then she deftly steered the topic away, bringing up something else: “Right, didn’t I tell you to visit me more often? Yet all this time has passed, and I haven’t seen you come by much at all.”
“You’re not feeling shy, are you?”
Lin Zhixue deliberated for a moment. “Then next time I head to the Scripture Pavilion, I’ll find you and we can go together.”
Xu Muhe stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Lin Zhixue.
Warm sunlight washed over her face, softening her gentle gaze as she said in a brisk, cheerful tone, “It’s a deal, then.”
With that, she turned in a different direction and walked toward her own residence.
...
Gu Yanqing stood before the counter of a spirit material shop in the market, tracing his finger down an open list of materials to check off each item.
Red Gold Sand, Black Marrow Stone, and Black Iron Marrow Powder.
These were the core spirit ore powders required to cultivate 《Black Iron Body》. The shop had all of them in stock, and the prices were fairly reasonable.
He crossed off the items on the list one by one, then bought two extra portions of Red Gold Sand to stock up, saving himself another trip next time.
The shopkeeper wrapped the purchased goods in oiled paper, tied them securely with hemp twine, and handed them over.
Taking the parcel and stowing it into his storage bag, his fingers brushed against the pouch containing quite a few spirit stones.
Between the three hundred spirit stones Liu Ruolan had insisted on stuffing into his hands before he left Canglan City and the sect stipends he had received since joining, he hadn’t spent much, so saving bit by bit had yielded a fairly substantial sum.
His thoughts turned to Lin Zhixue.
She was still laying her foundation every day—practicing her sword, refining her qi, and consolidating her cultivation. Each step was taken solidly, though not particularly fast.
Moreover, her cultivation was far too “clean.”
Unlike him, who had to soak in medicinal baths, endure whippings, and smear spirit ore powder all over his body.
From start to finish, her cultivation was purely sword techniques and mental methods, without any external aids whatsoever.
It certainly suited her style, though.
However, once inside the secret realm, things would be completely different.
The secret realm held abundant resources, but just as many perils; a cultivation base of early Foundation Establishment would barely suffice for self-preservation in there.
If she could consume a spirit material that could be directly refined and absorbed right after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, advancing her cultivation by another notch in a short period of time, she would have a much better chance in the secret realm.
Leaning against the counter of the spirit material shop, he closed his eyes and searched through his memories of the original novel.
There were plenty of spirit materials suitable for water spirit roots that could be directly refined, absorbed, and take effect immediately upon consumption.
Thousand-Year Cold Marrow Liquid, Profound Water True Dew, Nine Bends Nether Fruit... but those were treasures only cultivators at or above the Golden Core realm dared touch. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator took them, their meridians would rupture on the spot, dying faster than taking a sword through the chest.
He also recalled a few that were suitable for Foundation Establishment, one of which happened to be of the water attribute, known as Origin-Condensing Azure Glaze.
Shaped like azure jade marrow, it dissolved instantly in water. Once consumed, it fused directly into one’s meridians without needing to be refined, making it ideal for cultivators who had just broken through to Foundation Establishment to stabilize their foundation.
It had appeared once in the original novel; it was apparently produced near the sect and auctioned at a mid-to-small-scale auction in the market at the foot of the mountain.
He made a mental note to keep an eye out for upcoming auction dates.
Rate on N.U.
