Chapter 641: Senior Sister Is Crazy
Shu Yi was about to step to the side to take a look at that spirit field but caught sight of a man dressed in green meditating in a pile of weed not far out. It was Zuo Shuming who she'd seen previously in the hall. Her eyes dimmed instantly.
The person meditating on the other side seemed to have sensed people approaching and sobered up directly, then turned to look towards the two people at the entrance. Seeming to have recognized Steward He who was at the front, he walked over with a frown and greeted with cupped fists, "Greetings Senior Brother He, and… Senior Sister."
Shu Yi immediately drew in her killing intent at heart and gave him a calming smile. "You are the disciple farming this land right?"
"I am!" Zuo Shuming answered, then turned towards Steward He. "Is Senior Brother He here to collect the 50 stems of spirit herbs?"
"… Sort of?" Steward He then turned his head over and looked at Zuo Shuming in shock, his breathing slightly rapid as he asked loudly, "This… this spirit field, was farmed by you!"
Zuo Shuming nodded. "I farmed it together with Junior Brother Lonemoon."
"How could this be!" Steward He's voice was even louder now.
Shu Yi's gaze dimmed as a hint of a smile flashed across his eyes, as if confident that he would make things difficult for him, she immediately stepped forward with a sympathetic expression and said, "Senior Brother He, you cannot blame this Junior Brother for this, we all know this land is remote with thin Spirit Qi and still arranged for him to farm here. It was unfair in the first place, how could we expect good spirit herbs to be grown then!"
Steward He was stunned and subconsciously refuted, "No, Junior Sister Shu, I…"
"I know what you want to say!" Shu Yi cut him off with a pained look. "The rules of Gui Yi Sect has always been strict, but his circumstances are considered excusable. If you really want to press the case, I don't mind informing my father directly and have him be the judge!"
"…" Steward He fell in a momentary daze, not knowing what to say in those moments. No, what was going on?
But Shu Yi thought that he had been stunned and suppressed. Hmph! This sect was indeed full of people who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
A shred of coldness rushed past her heart while her expression remained as she continued to step forward with a worried look and looked at Zuo Shuming opposite her. "Junior Brother, I know you've tried your best, but Senior Brother is right too, Gui Yi Sect has its rules. Tell you what." She brought out a storage bag, "I happen to have a 100 stems of low-level spirit herbs here, how bout you just take it that I'm helping you to hand in the amount for this harvest?" With that said, she handed it over with a sincere expression.
Zuo Shuming: "…" Steward He: "…"
Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
The place went completely silent in an instant…
For some reason, Zuo Shuming was suddenly a little enlightened about what that word "idiot" that Brother Lonemoon often cursed during training meant.
He glanced at the bag in her hands and subconsciously took a step back, Brother Lonemoon said that idiocy was contagious.
"What's wrong?" Seeing that he wouldn't take it, Shu Yi's smile became even gentler and kinder. "Why don't we take it that I'm lending this to you?" Zuo Shuming then lifted his head to look at the female before him. His eyes filled with complexities, frowning, he struggled for moments before saying in all seriousness, "This lady… are… are you crazy?!"
"What!" Shu Yi's hand that was holding out the bag stiffened at once.
Before she could react, she saw him turn towards Steward He beside her and continued to speak with a serious expression. "Senior Brother He, I think this Junior Sister is ill… your cultivation level is high, why don't you help her take a look?"
He spoke very seriously, worry written all over his face, not one bit of ridicule in his words at all, instead he was truly worried about her health. "I think she has most likely injured her head."
"What did you say!" Shu Yi broke out of her pretense directly, the gentleness and kindness on her face vanished instantly and killing intent surfaced. Pui…
Lonemoon who had been watching the whole time finally could not hold back and laughed out loud.
"Brother Lonemoon!" Zuo Shuming was delighted and hurriedly gestured at him. "Steward He is here to collect the spirit herbs, let's harvest this field quickly." With that said, he turned and was about to walk into the field.
"Don't move!" Steward He suddenly cried out, his voice so loud that it was almost cracking. Seeming to have sobered up then being clear of what to do next, he gripped Zuo Shuming tightly and said nervously, "You can't move! I… I'll go report to Sect Master right away. Remember this, before I return, not one spirit herb… No! Not even half can be touched, clear?"
These were variant spirit herbs, he'd never seen them in his few hundred years of managing the spirit field. Though they were low-level ones, their effectiveness were comparable to high-level spirit herbs and they were so expensive that there was no market for it. He already had no time to consider why such a piece of land could grow variant spirit herbs. He only knew that if he spoiled even one leaf, he wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility.
With that said, he frantically summoned his flying sword and flew in the direction of the main peak, not forgetting to repeatedly instruct them!
"Don't touch them, don't ever touch them! Never ah~~~"
Zuo Shuming: "…"
Lonemoon: "…"
Did he have to? The weeds on the back mountain of their Invincible Sect were of higher level than these.
Whereas Shu Yi who was on the other side finally shifted her gaze to the spirit field before her and was completely stunned. She was dazed for a long time as she stared at the dense vegetation of spirit herbs. She did not know enough about spirit herbs and could not tell what these were, but judging by Steward He's attitude earlier, she understood that not only did Zuo Shuming manage to grow the spirit herbs, he even did an especially good job.
How could this be, this was a barren land, even the Spirit Qi here was pitifully little, why was he able to grow spirit herbs? If Zuo Shuming had already grown the spirits then earlier on, wasn't she…
Her expression darkened even more, a boundless anger surged in her heart. Zuo Shuming was indeed a despicable scum, he had already grown the spirit herbs but still watched as she would make a fool of herself. He was intentionally having a good laugh at her. In moments, the killing intent in her eyes grew deeper, as if daggers could be shot from them and stabbed right in Zuo Shuming's direction.
Yet a certain naive fool did not receive the death stare at all, he was clueless as he lifted his head to glance in the direction that Steward He flew off in and sighed. "Seems like we have to wait till Senior Brother He returns before we can harvest the land."
With that said, he was intending on returned to that pile of weeds to continue cultivating when something came to mind and he turned back to look at Shu Yi. "Senior Sister…"
Shu Yi did not expect that he would suddenly turn back and could not draw in her resentful expression in time. Frozen, her expression instantly looked slightly contorted and she managed to squeeze out her voice only moments later. "What's… the problem Junior Brother?"
"The spirit field is shabby and bare, why don't you take a rest on this pile of grass?" He glanced at the pile of weeds beside him.
Shu Yi was surprised, not expecting that he offer her that, she was about to reject but Zuo Shuming suddenly added solemnly, "After all, you look like you aren't too well." He even pointed to the head. "You ought to rest well."
Shu Yi: "…"
You are the one who's sick in the head, your whole family is sick! (╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻
Her expression instantly twisted, I want to kill him! Kill him!
Right now, immediately, right away!
[Host, calm down! He cannot die now, owner's mission has yet to be completed!]
Chapter 642: A Field Full Of Variant Plants
"You still dare mention the mission!" Shu Yi was infuriated and directly replied in her mind, "What's going on with this spirit field? Didn't they say this was the area with the weakest Spirit Qi? Why was he still able to grow spirit herbs. And they're not the ordinary spirit herbs!"
[I don't know either, but this is a high level immortal cultivating world, its Heavenly Dao is much stronger than other elementary worlds. Besides, he is someone who had once ascended in his previous life, those who are able to ascend must have the grace of the Heavenly Dao.]
"Senior Sister?" Seeing that she wasn't replying, Zuo Shuming asked again.
Shu Yi inhaled and exhaled deeply several times before replying with gritted teeth. "No, need!"
"Oh." Zuo Shuming was not bothered too, they weren't close anyway, he turned and sat back in the same spot to continue cultivating.
She then continued to question 001.
"What exactly are those spirit herbs in the ground? Why was that He guy so nervous just now?"
[All these seems to be variant spirit herbs and some are advance spirit herbs.]
"All of them?"
[That's right!]
"It seems that this Zuo Shuming must still have a trump card." Shu Yi's expression darkened. "He might have gotten other opportunities. 001 can you sense what he has on his body now?"
[No! If I scan directly, the Heavenly Dao will sense it.] Her long face grew more upset. "Hmph! Forget it, we will find out somehow."
Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
Say, could this invader's habit of turning on the public… no, the broadcast at every turn not be changed? They really didn't want to get spoilers on her upcoming schemes and plots!
Lonemoon sighed and turned to look at the spirit field before him. Others could only see rows of variant or advanced spirit herbs, but in his eyes, the entire spirit field was covered with a thick layer of authority overhead. It seemed like there were numerous soft voices nagging beside every stem of spirit herb.
"Grow quickly, grow quickly, grow quickly… grow to be prettier, grow to be more good-looking… quick quick quick!"
The corner of Lonemoon's mouth twitched and he immediately turned back to look at Chef who looked equally speechless and sent a voice transmission, "Chef."
"… Mm." Chef nodded before looking up at a certain spot in the sky. "That's enough."
Following that, a faintly soft voice sounded by their ears at the same time. "Alright Boss, no problem Boss!" Leave a good rating!
In the next second, the authority gathered above the spirit field completely dissipated.
——————
They'd thought once Steward He left, it would take a while before he returned. Unexpectedly, in less than 15 minutes, several figures came flying from the main peak.
The one right at the front looked slightly familiar, it was the Sect Master of Gui Yi Sect. Following behind were several Nascent Soul cultivators, seeming to be the Elders of each mountain. They were also present in the big hall the other day.
Once they landed, the few of them stared right at the spirit field before them, everyone had wide eyes, wearing looks of disbelief.
"It's rea… really variant spirit herbs!" The Sect Master looked wholly agitated.
"Not just that!" Another Nascent Soul cultivator said even more excitedly. "Look at that stem, seven colors on one leaf, that is an advanced spirit herb! And it is at least a second level one."
"This is my first time seeing so many variant spirit herbs." The Sect Master was so excited that his hands were trembling slightly as he quickly grabbed the steward who reported this. "He Fu, who did you say farmed this land?"
"Replying to Sect Master, it was an outer sect disciple named Zuo Shuming." Steward He didn't dare to hide anything and quickly answered with cupped fists. Everyone then recovered from their agitation and looked towards Lonemoon and Zuo Shuming who stood by the side.
"Greetings Sect Master, Elders!" Both of them could only step forward and bow.
The Sect Master surveyed the both of them and finally locked his eyes on Zuo Shuming who had perfected the Qi Refinement stage. "You farmed these spirit herbs?!"
"Replying to Sect Master, I did it together with Brother Lonemoon." Zuo Shuming answered.
"Mm." A hint of admiration flashed through the Sect Master's eyes, he doesn't rush to put all the credit on himself, good prospects. "Do you know that variant spirit herbs have not appeared in my Gui Yi Sect for several thousands of years. Though these are low level ones, their effectiveness are already comparable to high level spirit herbs. Are you willing to hand in all of these spirit herbs to the sect?" He asked in a low voice, then added after some thought. "Of course we will reward you for them." Zuo Shuming looked back at Lonemoon, seeing that he had no intention of objecting, he then replied. "These spirit herbs were arranged to be planted by the sect in the first place. They should naturally be handed in to the sect." Besides, he had yet to start learning about pill refinement, the spirit herbs were actually of no use to him.
"Good good good!" The sect master's gaze became even more pleased. "I will calculate everything and pay spirit stones to both of you according to the market price. Both of your dispositions are not bad, from today onwards, you are official disciples and part of my main peak."
Zuo Shuming was instantly delighted and was about to reply.
But Shu Yi from beside him panicked and cried out, "No!"
The Sect Master faltered, only noticing Shu Yi then. "Oh, Little Yi is here too! Why are you…"
He was about to ask when an urgent call sounded from above. "Where have the variant spirit herbs and advanced spirit herbs appeared!" In the next second, a figure carrying the Spirit Qi of the Soul Formation phase rushed over, instantly appearing beside everyone else.
"Greetings Uncle-Master Tian Yi!" The Nascent Souls all bowed. The person who came was the Soul Formation cultivator who almost took Zuo Shuming under his wing to the Dan Xia Mountain.
However Tian Yi ignored them all and instead turned to stare at the field of spirit herbs, murmuring with a look of disbelief. "It is extremely rare for variant spirit herbs to appear but so many has appeared here at once! And there are also advanced spirit herbs!"
He was wholly agitated, variant spirit herbs are precious not because of its effectiveness that was comparable to high-level spirit herbs but because they naturally came with a blending attribute and could blend other medicinal properties that could directly increase the success rate of refining pills by 10% whereas advanced spirit herbs could boost the effectiveness of elixirs and could be directly refined into supreme-grade elixirs.
"All these… who grew them?" As a Soul Formation Supremacy, even Tian Yi was finding it hard to conceal his inner agitation and quickly asked.
"It's these two disciples." The Sect Master pointed to Lonemoon and Zuo Shuming at the side.
Tian Yi turned and glanced at them both, his eyes fixed onto Zuo Shuming whose cultivation was of a slightly higher level as a hint of doubt flashed across his face. This disciple looked slightly familiar but he temporarily could not recall when he had seen him. He directly spoke up to snatch them up. "Good good good, from today onwards, you both can join my Dan Xia Mountain!" They grew variant spirit herbs once, who knows they might be able to do it again.
Once his words fell, the Sect Master did not say anything but Shu Yi panicked even more. "No way!" If Zuo Shuming went to Dan Xia Mountain, then everything that she had done previously would have been in vain.
"Little Yi is here too!" Tian Yi glanced at her. "Why not?" "Because…" Shu Yi paled, her eyes shifted around before she replied, "Because… because earlier on sect master already ordered them to join the main peak." Regardless, she absolutely could not allow Zuo Shuming to join Dan Xia Mountain.
"Oh! Really?" Tian Yi turned towards the Sect Master.
The Sect Master faltered for a moment, how would he dare to snatch with the Uncle-Master, but it had already come to this, he could only bite the bullet and nodded.
Chapter 643: Successful Foundation Establishment Cultivators
"Forget it then!" Tian Yi gave up on the idea of snatching them up with some slight unhappiness. He looked at Shu Yi, then glanced at Zuo Shuming again and suddenly recalled, wasn't this disciple the one he almost recruited into Dan Xia Mountain the other day? Seems like it was also because Shu Yi said something then that he changed his mind. His brows instantly knitted together as a doubt formed in his heart but Shu Yi was the daughter of a Nascent Soul Elder after all, he still did not voice anything out directly.
"Uncle-Master, how do you think these spirit herbs… should be harvested?" The Sect Master looked towards him inquiringly.
"The variant spirit herbs is of course different from other spirit herbs." He conjured seals in both hands and set up several array formations around the spirit field. "I'll use array formations to lock in the surrounding Spirit Qi to prevent it from dissipating, wait for me to go get the Spirit Locking Case."
With that said, his figure flashed as he hurriedly flew back, a short while later, he flew back hugging a case. He then addressed the nervous crowd. "We can begin harvesting now. Don't go too close, in case you affect the Spirit Qi of the spirit herbs."
He then carefully walked towards a level two stem of red variant spirit herb right at the edge.
Zuo Shuming watched on as so many mighty cultivators all looked so nervous and could not help but turn back to look at Lonemoon and said in enlightenment, "Brother Lonemoon, no wonder you wouldn't let me go close to these spirit herbs on usual days, turns out everything is so particular!"
Lonemoon: "…"
Um, I was just worried that the Heavenly Dao thought that you were the one who grew them.
About eight high-leveled cultivators surrounding the spirit field carefully dug for a long time before they finally dug out the entire root of the first stem of spirit herb. Lonemoon felt tired just watching them, it's just pulling out a spirit herb, was there a need to be so cautious? "Alright, it's done." Tian Yi then grabbed the spirit herb and pulled upwards with a small force, he then lifted it out and hurriedly place it into the Spirit Locking Case and was about to continue digging the next one.
Suddenly a strong wave of Spirit Qi burst out from the ground, the surrounding Spirit Qi that was initially pitifully thin instantly became tens of times richer, almost about to congeal into a substance, a white fog surrounded them, seeming like it was about to become immortal qi. A white light zoomed and leaped out of the ground, instantly disappearing.
"That was….a spirit vein!" The Sect Master instantly realized and exclaimed, "It's a living spirit vein!"
"Give chase!" Tian Yi's figure darted and he vanished in the direction of that white light.
The several Nascent Soul cultivators were one step behind as they gave chase too. In moments, only the Gui Yi Sect Master was left behind, he wanted to give chase too, but someone needed to watch over these spirit herbs. Intact living spirit veins have never emerged out of the earth's surface so it was extremely rare to see one, not to mention catching it. The so- called spirit veins that every sect has are actually broken veins, just a part of a spirit vein, but the one earlier was a real, living, entire spirit vein!
No wonder so many variant spirit herbs would suddenly appear here, turns out it's because there was an entire spirit vein hidden under the ground.
Lonemoon glanced at Chef from the corner of his eyes, what are you doing?
Yi Qing's expression darkened and directly looked up to the sky. "What's going on?" Told you to put it away properly!
Another voice filled with immense grievance sounded by their ears again.
" *sobs*…" It's because that spirit vein curled up in this little spirit field for too long and fell asleep?
Don't be angry Leader, I was wrong Leader! Lonemoon: "…"
Psh, the Heavenly Dao of this plane was as unreliable as its owner. Taught by Shen Ying indeed, wastrel disciple!
In a house far away.
Shen Ying was sprawled out on the bed drowsily like a big pancake. "Ah-choo!" She lifted a hand to touch her own forehead, what's going on? Had she caught a cold? Mm, it must be because she's been eating too little that her immunity had weakened.
Say, when was Chef coming back to cook?
*****
The Sect Master grew increasingly anxious the more he waited on, seeing that everyone else had yet to return, he immediately had the thought of wanting to chase after them and have a look. He was about to call out to the few disciples to come guard the spirit field when the surrounding Spirit Qi suddenly turned violent and started to gather towards the left, he looked over subconsciously and saw that all the Spirit Qi was surrounding Zuo Shuming.
"Two-Bucks Zuo!" Lonemoon shouted and pushed him. "Stop dreaming!"
"Ah?" Zuo Shuming faltered, completely spacing out.
"You're… about to enter the Foundation Establishment phase!" The Sect Master paused in his steps and glanced at him while reminding, "Quickly focus and sit down to meditate, enter Foundation Establishment in ease."
He then reacted, hurriedly sitting down, he started to focus on absorbing the Spirit Qi, the surrounding Spirit Qi grew thicker and continuously surged into his meridians. Perhaps because he'd gotten used to being beaten up by Lonemoon in the past three months, he did not look to be in much agony and his absorption of the Spirit Qi was very smooth-sailing too. The Gui Yi Sect Master nodded in satisfaction, though this disciple's spirit root was slightly poorer, but his disposition was really not bad, if he was able to successfully enter Foundation Establishment this time, he might be a promising young man, hence he helped him to set up an array formation.
On the other hand, Shu Yi wore a look of disbelief at the side, looking even more upset. How could this be? She'd stopped him from entering Dan Xia Mountain, without pointers from the Supremacy, why was he still entering Foundation Establishment and this was two years faster than before. He'd achieved this in a mere three months, how was that possible? Could it be that her ruining his chances of entering Dan Xia Mountain had ended up contributing to his success?
Shu Yi was more enraged the more she thought about it, while deep down she was even more certain of the thought that he definitely had another opportunity, that's right, he must have another artifact, otherwise it wouldn't be this quick, it is absolutely so.
In moments, the few people left behind all wore various looks as they looked slightly nervously at Zuo Shuming. Only Gui Yi's sect master was worried that his qualifications weren't high and might end up failing, whereas Shu Yi was nervous that he would succeed.
Instead, Lonemoon was the relaxed one, not to mention that he had successfully ascended in his previous life, just in the three months where he had been guiding him, he had been pushing more Spirit Qi than needed for Foundation Establishment into him in his usual beatings, this would happen whether sooner or later.
——————
Tian Yi and the few other Nascent Soul Elders ultimately did not catch up to that spirit vein that escaped. Spirit veins could only be obtained by chance, not by force, although they were slightly disappointed, they weren't too bothered. To have a spirit field full of variant spirit herbs were already delighting enough for them.
And Zuo Shuming had successfully entered Foundation Establishment, perhaps because he had a good foundation, he only meditated for a night and had already stabilized his cultivation. He gripped his own hands and excitedly conjured several spells, indeed after his cultivation advanced, the effect was completely different. He walked out of the room in surprise, wanting to go next door to find Brother Lonemoon but saw him walk out of his room, he went forward immediately.
"Brother Lonemoon, you…" He paused midway as his eyes widened and directly blurted out, "You… you've entered Foundation Establishment too!"
"Mm." Lonemoon nodded, not in the least bit bothered and said, "Yup!"
"…"
(⊙ o ⊙)
Chapter 644: Dividing the Loot Perfectly
"You're going out?"
"Ah, yes…" Zuo Shuming looked like he was totally still stunned. "When did Brother Lonemoon enter Foundation Establishment?" He was still at level six of Qi Refinement yesterday!
"Oh, just last night!"
"Just last night?" So fast!
"Yeah, is there a problem?"
Zuo Shuming who initially thought that he himself was already real fast became listless. "N… No." He was suddenly starting to wonder if he had any misunderstandings with regards to cultivation? For example, in the aspect of speed.
"Where are you heading to? Lonemoon asked directly. Zuo Shuming then gathered himself up and replied, "I was about to get Brother Lonemoon to report to the main peak together!"
"No hurry!" Lonemoon said in a low voice. "Follow me to the Outer Affairs Hall first."
"Outer Affairs Hall?" He faltered. "Yesterday Senior Brother He told me that we just have to report to the main peak, no need to inform them at the Outer Affairs Hall."
"Who said I was going there to inform them?" Lonemoon shot him a look from the corner of his eyes.
"Then…"
"Of course it's to go collect money?" Lonemoon answered boldly like it was natural and right. "Didn't Sect Master say yesterday that we would be paid according to the market price for those spirit herbs? If we don't know, what if they give us less after this matter passes?" It was still the safest to keep spirit stones in his own pocket, after all, he was someone who had children to feed.
"…"
"Stop dazing, come quickly!" Those spirit stones could only be collected with both of them present. "By the way, remember you still owe me a spirit stone? On the account that you're my friend, I'll take 10% from the division of those spirit stones as interest, you 40% and me 60% will do!"
"…" Do people calculate it this way?
Lonemoon and Zuo Shuming collected a total of eleven thousand two hundred and twenty two pieces of superior-grade spirit stones in total. Don't mention to a Foundation Establishment disciple, even to a Nascent Soul cultivator, this was quite a sum of money. Zuo Shuming felt his hands trembling slightly but Lonemoon looked at the bag in disdain, a line of words evidently printed on his face: Just this bit? Waste of my time!
Then he pulled out an abacus from somewhere and started to do the accounts. For some reason, he had listened very seriously but got more confused as he listened on. At the end, he unknowingly only received one thousand two hundred and twenty-two spirit stones.
"Brother Zuo, your memory is not good, these one thousand two hundred and twenty-two spirit stones are not safe with him. Tell you what, I'll make some losses to keep them for you. I'll just charge you one spirit stone per day, will that do?"
His mind was still ringing with the clattering sounds of the abacus and subconsciously handed them over. "Ah… sure, thank you!"
"You're welcome, we're friends. Take these two pieces of spirit stones, keep them as spare change!"
Hence he was left with two pieces of spirit stones in his hand.
"By the way! You paid the interest for the spirit stones, how about the capital sum of one spirit stone?" "Oh, here!"
Hence he was left with a piece of spirit stone in his hand.
Shen Ying: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
"By the way, where were you getting me to go to earlier on?" Lonemoon asked.
Zuo Shuming then snapped to his senses. "To report to the Disciple Hall at the Main peak."
"Oh, let's go then!"
"Alright." He then stood up and walked out of the yard quickly, his steps light and his expression an excited one, as if he encountered an immense blessing. Lonemoon's brows tightened as he turned and asked the invisible master and disciple pair for once, "Was I a little too much in butchering this time?"
The master and disciple: "…" A despising look for you, figure it out by yourself!
"Was I that overboard?" Lonemoon lifted a brow, then pulled out the bag of spirit stones from earlier. "Then I'll make it up to him with your food allowance for the next two months!"
Both of them were shocked and four paws instantly held his hand down.
"Not too much, not at all!"
"The accounts were clear, unquestionable!"
"Father Niu deals honestly, his conscience is wonderfully good!" "Father Niu is upright in business deals, money just rolls in!"
"Brother Lonemoon?" Seeing that he had not followed even after a long time, Zuo Shuming could not help but turned back and called out.
Lonemoon glanced at the other two before putting the bag of spirit stones away. "Coming!"
Good thing you two are sensible!
——————
Lonemoon and Zuo Shuming successfully joined the main peak and successful became official disciples of Gui Yi Sect. Compared to outer sect disciples, the treatment of official disciples was evidently much better. Though they could not compare to those personal disciples or recognized disciples of those Elders, the conditions were not bad, at least each of them had their own courtyard. The surrounding Spirit Qi was also obviously much richer. The main peak, also known as Dan Lin Mountain, was headed by the Sect Master, Yu Luan. Gui Yi Sect was divided into six mountains, Dan Lin, Dan Xia, Dan Chen, Dan Zhen, Dan Sheng, Dan Gu. From the names, one could tell that this was a sect with core cultivators all around.
They did not realize previously in the outer sect, but the main peak had the scent of various elixirs wafting everywhere. And there were Golden Core cultivators speaking about the Dao everyday at each mountain and Nascent Soul giving monthly lessons, all disciples of the six mountains could attend them. However, most of the content were about the techniques of pill refinement or mental cultivation methods of core cultivators. The sect did have cultivators of other specializations, but their level of cultivation weren't high, amongst the dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators, only three were not core cultivators.
And at the main peak, there was a library, storing all sorts of technique books and ancient records of spells, disciples of the six mountains could borrow books from there.
Zuo Shuming was very excited, disciples like them who'd never officially acknowledged a master naturally didn't have anyone to guide them, so on his first day at the main peak, he went to library. He wanted to pick several books suitable for his own skillset and spells. However, he searched in all seriousness for an entire day and ended up returning dejectedly, not a single book brought back with him.
"Brother Lonemoon…"
"What's wrong?" Lonemoon glanced at him and frowned in disdain. "Why do you look like you've gone bankrupt? Didn't you go to the library."
"I did, but… I didn't find any suitable technique books. For some reason, the more he searched, the more he found that those spells, seemed… less profound than those that Brother Lonemoon had taught to him. Just a closer look at most told him that they were far less powerful from those that Lonemoon had just casually taught to him verbally in the past.
Lonemoon leisurely took a sip of tea before glancing at him. "It's normal, in sects, for the sake of lineage, the higher level technique books are naturally kept by the higher level cultivators and not easily given to anyone." You're not their disciple. "Moreover, the entire Gui Yi Sect was full of core cultivators, the higher level techniques of core cultivators becomes more precious." "But… I do not wish to become a core cultivator." Zuo Shuming frowned and said.
"Don't wish to become a core cultivator?" Lonemoon glanced at him, if you don't want to be a core cultivator, what are you doing at Gui Yi Sect? "Then what do you want to specialize in?"
Zuo Shuming thought carefully, subconsciously feeling his empty storage bag before speaking up hesitantly. "Pills, talismans, arrays and weapons are relatively more…" A sudden thought struck him and his eyes lit up instantly. "Oh yes, I can practice the sword, I want to be a sword cultivator!"
Pui…
Lonemoon's mouthful of tea splattered out. He stood up at once with a hand slamming onto the table and hollered.
"Repeat yourself!" Was he hearing things?
(゚Д゚≡゚Д゚) "…"
Chapter 645: Direction of Cultivation
Zuo Shuming was startled, he drew back but still answered honestly, "I… I want to become a sword cultivator!"
"Really?" Lonemoon was even more agitated and grabbed his collar, questioning word by word. "You're sure it's a sword cultivator and not a body cultivator?"
"It's sword cultivator?" What the hell was a body cultivator? "Is there any problem?"
Lonemoon suddenly stiffened, an odd, inexplicable expression instantly appeared on his face, while it seemed like something was about to spill out of his eyes. He released his collar a while after and said solemnly, "No! No problem at all! Sword cultivator is the best, you're very suitable to be a sword cultivator, especially suitable!"
So many years had passed, finally… finally there was a disciple who wanted to practice the sword, he really felt like crying! "Re… Really?" Zuo Shuming was delighted but his expression changed a while after when he seemed to have thought of something. "But our sect does not have sword cultivators, there are also very little books regarding sword dharma in the library, but…"
"I have them!" Lonemoon cut him off, completely excited. "Sword dharma is it? What kind do you want? I have everything within the ranks of Heaven, Earth, Mystic and Yellow. Oh yes, you're a triple spirit root of elemental water, wood and fire, then learn the Mist Sword Technique first, you're most suitable, having just entered Foundation Establishment. Also, you're getting older, so your fitness must catch up quickly too, only then will you be able to maximize the potential of your sword dharma, of course you cannot overdo it too!" Too much and he'll end up like those steel barbies in Invincible Sect that became body cultivators. "Also, you can try finding an intrinsic dharmic artifact now, it will help you to master the sword qi…"
He babbled on and said a lot that left Zuo Shuming dumbfounded. He only wanted to practice the sword, why did Brother Lonemoon look even more excited than him.
"By the way, I recall I seemed to have gotten… um traded for a piece of red fiery mystic iron from Xun Shu back in the days. It happens that you have an elemental fire spirit root, after some forging it would be perfect for your intrinsic dharmic artifact." With that said, he brought out an entirely fiery red crystal as big as one's palm that resembled an azure stone. Then also took out a jade slip of the Misty sword technique and handed both over.
"This…" Zuo Shuming's eyes widened abruptly as he looked at the things in his hand. Although he had never seen them before, just by the rich and seemingly solid Spirit Qi around it, he could tell it wasn't something ordinary. He hurriedly shook his head and said, "No! Brother Lonemoon has already helped me a lot, how can I casually take your things. Moreover, this thing looks extremely precious, it must have taken you a lot of effort to obtain it."
"It's alright, we're all sword… all friends, it didn't take me a lot of effort too." Just conveniently put it in my bag.
But Zuo Shuming shook his head even more firmly. "Simply because we're friends, the more I should not take advantage of Brother Lonemoon."
Lonemoon surveyed him from top to bottom and grinned even wider. "Look at what you're saying, you call me Brother Lonemoon, then there's no need to calculate everything so clearly." He directly shoved the slip into his hands and patted his shoulder. "Come come take it, if there's anything you don't understand, ask me anytime."
"But…" He still looked hesitant.
"No buts!" Lonemoon cut him off and said earnestly, "Don't worry, on the account that we're friends, how could I put you in a difficult spot? I know your difficulties, these techniques and artifacts, I will… put them on credit first!"
His tune changed as he brought out a thick accounts book and started flipping through it. The words 'Fatty' could still be vaguely be seen repeatedly flashing out in the front.
Zuo Shuming: "…" Turns out all these had to be paid for?
"Oh yes, you've yet to learn casting, I don't think you can forge this red fiery mystic iron. I know a friend, his forging skills are not bad. Why don't I get him to forge it into a spirit sword for you first, then have you warm it into your intrinsic dharmic artifact!"
"Ah? Ah!" Zuo Shuming was dumbfounded, completely out of his senses.
"That's set then!" Lonemoon put that crystal away. "The forging cost, materials cost, techniques cost and middleman cost etc, I'll give you a one percent discount, rounded to a whole, it'll be 2.5 million supreme-grade spirit stones, we're all friends right! Don't worry my brother who does forging is very reliable!"
The bankrupt friend Zuo Shuming: "…"
The reliable forging friend Yi Qing: "…"
Zuo Shuming looked at the jade slip containing the technique in his hands and was stunned for a long time.
Hold on, what just happened? Why was he suddenly in a debt of 2.5million and it's even supreme-grade spirit stones? Things were developing too quickly, he totally couldn't react in time.
"The weather today is great!" On the other hand, Lonemoon's smile was as warm as spring beside him, it was rare that his eyes weren't filled with disdain but more of admiration. "There's no time like the present, let's start practicing your sword now!"
"Ah! Ah?" Zuo Shuming was still dazed and subconsciously replied, "But I don't have a spirit sword now, and…" He had yet to read the contents of the jade slip!
"It's fine I have it." Lonemoon pulled out a spirit sword with a whoosh and shoved it into his hands. "Take it, I'll rent it to you for now, not expensive, just one spirit stone a day! We're friends!"
"…" He was close to not knowing the word 'friend' already!
○ | ̄|_
"Junior Brother Zuo!" A clear and melodious voice came from the doorway, a pretty lady dressed in pink walked in and smiled gently at the two of them. "Congratulations Junior Brothers on entering the inner sect, how has it been at the main peak? Are there any difficulties?"
Zuo Shuming turned back for a look, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes and he turned and bowed. "Greetings Senior Sister Shu Yi!"
The visitor was that invader Shu Yi, no one knows what's wrong with her, but ever since that incident at the spirit field, she would come over from time to time and move around in front of Zuo Shuming, her attitude gentler with each time as she showed great concern. The way she looked at Zuo Shuming was all sorts of bashfulness, as if she as deeply in love with in, anyone could tell. Such acting was considered excellent already, pity Zuo Shuming seemed to be a little blind!
"No need to be so courteous Junior Brother Zuo." Shu Yi's smile became even softer. "You can just call me Shu Yi."
"Etiquette cannot be abandoned!" He replied in all seriousness. Shu Yi could only sigh, looking around, her gaze swept across Lonemoon before saying meaningfully, "Are you good staying here? There are many disciples in the main peak, that steward of the Disciples' Hall searched for a good while before he managed to put the both of you adjacent to each other."
"Turns out Senior Sister had helped to arrange our living quarters." Zuo Shuming's eyes brightened and he said gratefully, "Thank you Senior Sister for your help!" Being able to stay close to someone he knew had saved him a lot of trouble.
"Don't stand on ceremony, it's a small matter." Shu Yi beamed gently. "By the way, I came to inform you that the peak master of Dan Chen Mountain will be personally teaching a lesson tomorrow. My father hasn't done so in decades, don't miss it."
Chapter 646: Flirting By Force
Zuo Shuming faltered, of course it was rare for a peak master to teach a lesson personally, but they were merely disciples who had just joined the inner sect, if they just went to the lesson like that, don't mention not understanding anything, they might even be misled. Hence, for such lessons, usually it was mostly disciples at Golden Core and above that would attend.
What's more, the peak master of Dan Chen Mountain, Perfected Shu Yuan was a core cultivator too, his lesson would probably be all about core cultivators, he had already decided to specialize in sword cultivation, it was totally unnecessary to listen to a lesson about core cultivators.
Shu Yi so carelessly came to invite him, a disciple who had just entered Foundation Establishment to attend a lesson at Dan Chen Mountain, seems like there was indeed something wrong with her head?
He glanced at her complicatedly, but at the thought that she had done so out of good intentions, and he wasn't an ungrateful person, he still said politely with cupped fists. "Thank you, Senior Sister for your notice." Yet at further thought, he still could not hold back and added, "By the way, Senior Sister…" "Yes?"
He suddenly stepped forward and stared conflicted at her face for a while before asking in all seriousness, "Your illness… is it better? Have you seen a physician recently?"
"…" Shu Yi's perfect smile instantly stiffened.
"Oh yes, your father is a Nascent Soul Perfected One. Why don't you have him take a look?"
"…" Shu Yi's expression began to contort.
"I feel that we must seek treatment as early as possible if we're ill, though we're cultivators with bodies healthier and stronger than mortals, we must not hide our sickness for fear of treatment!"
"Shut up!" Shu Yi's gentle expression finally collapsed, her entire being seemed like an exploded wool ball as she pointed at him and cursed, "You're the one who's ill, your entire goddamn family is ill."
"Senior Sister…" Zuo Shuming was stunned for a moment, she was fine earlier, why was she suddenly cursing now.
[Host, calm down! He is the target of the mission, you must hold back!] The system's voice sounded promptly.
Shu Yi was blind with rage and directly retorted in her heart. "How do you expect me to calm down, this Zuo Shuming is an idiot. I've done so much, is he blind? Can't he tell that I'm seducing him? He even said I was sick, I think he's the one who's sick. If it wasn't because I'm afraid that he has other opportunities I wouldn't even bother with him."
[After Zuo Shuming successfully entered Foundation Establishment, the original owner's resentment level went up by another ten points. If his cultivation was to catch up to yours, the resentment level would increase again. Once it exceeds 100 points, the mission is failed.]
"Hmph! His cultivation hasn't increased by much these few days, he might not even have a new opportunity!"
[What do we do now Host? Still continue to create a good impression in front of him?]
"Create my ass! I only want to kill him now!" She inhaled deeply several times, as if she was fighting to suppress the anger deep down. "This isn't the only revenge method. Let's lower the resentment level before anything else, with that artifact, I can form a core immediately. I don't believe that without his artifact, his cultivation would still be able to surpass mine!"
[All the best host!]
"Senior Sister Shu Yi?" Seeing her suddenly remain rooted and dazed at the same spot and simply glaring at him, Zuo Shuming could not help but wave a hand before her eyes, was she having an attack of her illness?
"Scram!" Shu Yi then ended her conversation with the system and slapped his hand away. "You big jerk, just you wait!" With that said, she sneered coldly and stalked out angrily.
Zuo Shuming: "…"
This Senior Sister was indeed ill? It even seemed like her illness became graver.
But… why?
"Brother Lonemoon." He could no longer keep it to himself and turned back to Lonemoon, slightly troubled as he asked, "Earlier… did I say anything wrong? Why did Senior Sister curse at me?"
"…" Lonemoon turned back and glanced at him, here's a look for you, figure it out yourself. Say, did you accumulate all her resentment like this in your previous life?
"Brother Lonemoon?" He was even more confused. "You really couldn't tell that she's been making passes at you these few days?" Lonemoon rolled his eyes.
"Ah? Ah!" Zuo Shuming wore a look of disbelief. "You're saying… she likes me? How is that possible! I don't like her type?"
"Oh, why?" Lonemoon looked at him, slightly surprised.
Putting aside everything about the invader, just judging by Shu Yi's pretense these few days, it was indeed perfect. Gentle, kind, innocent, and her status was the pretty and rich girl of the cultivating world, to youths like Zuo Shuming, shouldn't she be their ideal type? Look at the few trips she'd made to their rooms, it'd attracted the eyes of so many disciples. Those people were excluding Zuo Shuming both overtly and covertly, only the naive fool couldn't tell.
He had to admit that Shu Yi had formed a very successful image of herself, in the entire Gui Yi Sect, there was not a single person who didn't like her. However, judging by Zuo Shuming's tone, not only did he not like her, there was even some disdain. "Because…" Zuo Shuming frowned. "I can't put it into words either, though she is quite pretty, has good cultivation, I somehow feel like… she's not that sincere towards others, as if she's hiding something? I don't want to be friends with her. Besides…" He suddenly shivered like something came to mind. "The way she looks at me, always makes me feel oddly chilly."
Lonemoon faltered and glanced at him in surprise, this fellow was a fool but his sixth sense was rather accurate.
"Since you don't want to be friends, then just avoid her in the future." Lonemoon said in a low voice.
He nodded in agreement. "I know, since I have no interest in her, I naturally wouldn't give her any pointless hope I'll be delaying her in vain." He blushed at the thought of something, "In the regard of finding Dao partners, it's better for both parties to be willing."
Lonemoon turned to pour a cup of tea and casually asked, "Oh, then what kind you do like?" He faltered for a moment and really thought solemnly. A while later, he replied, "I think… Miss Shen's kind is not bad!"
Pui…
Lonemoon spat out his mouthful of tea all over Zuo Shuming's face.
He was stunned, before he could react, he saw Lonemoon shoot to his feet and suddenly spun around, his hands gripping tightly onto the edge of the table, his body even swayed as if he was fighting to block something. A ringing sound even sounded by his ear, like something was being pulled out.
The surroundings instantly became slightly cold.
Zuo Shuming wiped the tea on his face, looking at the person who was still holding the table with a death grip and could not help but called out uncertainly, "Brother Lonemoon?"
"Stop talking!" Lonemoon turned back to give him a glare. "All was good, what nonsense are you spouting!"
Chef, calm down! Calm down! He just casually gave an example, he had no intention of making passes at Shen Ying. Put the sword on his neck down and retract the sword array too.
Yet Zuo Shuming was completely unaware that he already had a foot in hell and even continued to doom himself. "I wasn't spouting nonsense, I really think that Miss Shen… ah choo!" He suddenly sneezed, after wiping his arm, he continued, "Why do I suddenly feel so cold? Brother Lonemoon…"
Chapter 647: Best Dao Partner
"Shut up!" If you continue to go on, you will feel even colder, have you got any idea how hard I am working to hold him back? "Shen Ying already has a Dao partner, don't even think about it!"
"She already has a Dao partner!" Zuo Shuming was shocked, a hint of regret flashed across his face, but he'd only seen her a few times, so there wasn't too much disappointment. Sighing, he said, "Someone who is worthy of Miss Shen, I guess he must be extremely outstanding."
"…" Not only is he outstanding, he can even cut you down with a sword! The kind he holds against your neck.
Chef listen to me and put the sword away. Shen Ying was still sleeping in the room, if she was disturbed and woken up, Gui Yi Sect will be wiped out!
Yi Qing's expression turned colder. A while later, he then slowly lowered the sword in his hand, the invisible sword array in the air was also retracted as he glared at the little b*tch opposite again. Sneering coldly, he turned and walked deeper into the room, the icy air around him was blasting, even the door was slammed open and shocked Zuo Shuming.
"Huh? The wind is rising?"
Lonemoon: "…" No, someone is about to go crazy! Chef be gentler, Shen Ying might not be up yet!
Yet Yi Qing stomped angrily into the room, heading in the direction of the bed and suddenly bent down to hug a certain person who was sitting at the head of the bed, munching on a fruit. He buried his head into her hair, his entire being radiating an aura of grievance.
Shen Ying who was suddenly hugged: "…"
What's the matter? Lost to Father Niu in an argument?
How many months of food allowance was deducted that he looked so aggrieved? $_$
———————
Ever since being driven away by Zuo Shuming last time, Shu Yi never came again. She'd probably given up on the route of tormenting both his body and heart and turned to focus on just physical tormenting. Lonemoon released his divine perception for a sense and found that she'd indeed been in training in isolation all these time. In just a few days' time, she'd already perfected Foundation Establishment and was about to enter core formation.
He calculated carefully, her core formation would happen soon. On the contrary, there'd been no change Zuo Shuming's cultivation ever since he entered Foundation Establishment. Though he'd been working hard with the sword in recent days and was so very diligent in learning the sword dharma, his cultivation just wouldn't grow. Although his speed wasn't considered slow for a triple spirit root, he was slightly less now, compared to the invader.
"Could it be that that scale of Scoop's is really so special?" Lonemoon frowned, slightly confused. "No matter how weak Scoop is, he's still a Celestial Emperor!" Yi Qing said in a low voice. "A scale that fell off his true form is naturally special to the Lower realm." What's more, that was a heart-protecting scale.
"But no matter how special it was, it's just a piece of scale." Lonemoon still couldn't figure it out. "And it has fallen off for so many years, it would already be wonderful if it could be made into an immortal artifact, since when did it become beneficial to cultivation too?"
Yi Qing shook his head. "I'm not sure either."
"Why don't we get a piece from Scoop and study it." Lonemoon suggested.
Shen Ying: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
Are you a devil? "It's set then!" Each time he heard the broadcasting station of that invader boasting about how good and how great and how wonderful the effect of that scale was, it made him displeased! Wasn't it just Scoop's scale? Did she think they didn't have one too?
Hence he brought out the communicating jade token, at the thought that this was the lower realm, he added an array formation on it then sent a trace of immortal qi in. The next second, Scoop's image appeared before them.
"Young Lord Lonemoon!" Scoop's voice sounded, coupled with some excitement. "Have you found my heart-protecting scale!"
"Well, we did…"
"Really! I'm so thankful, especially thankful to Exalted Goddess! I finally…"
"But we cannot get it back for now." Lonemoon's tune changed. "Ah? Ah!" Scoop's smile froze, what did that mean?
"The situation is a little complicated, I cannot explain it fully to you in a few words. We need to know exactly what's special about your scale in the lower realm. So we decided…" Lonemoon coughed and said in all seriousness, "To get you to pull out another piece for us to study!"
"What did you say? Pull… pull out another piece?" Its eyes were round and wide as it shot to its feet.
"Yes, this is Shen Ying's idea!" Lonemoon suddenly reached out and pulled Shen Ying over to face Scoop's image.
Shen Ying: "…" Son of a b*tch!
"…" Scoop was instantly stumped, he instinctively shivered and instantly shrunk back, his entire face twisted into a miserable look, like he was about to break out in tears. "Su… sure Exalted Goddess; no… no problem Exalted Goddess!" "Oh yes!" Lonemoon then added, "It'll be best if it's a scale from your chest!"
"…" Are you a devil?
(; ́༎Д༎`)
Scoop's expression became even wretched, turning back into its true form, it stretched out a claw with tears pooling. Gritting its teeth, it pulled out a heart-shaped scale from its chest. "Will this do?"
"Hmm…" Lonemoon looked at the scale. "Is this piece smaller than the previous one, why don't you…"
"Young Lord Lonemoon, I really cannot pull out anymore!" Scoop said slowly, emphasizing each word, any more and it'll become a pink monster!
"Alright!" Lonemoon then nodded reluctantly. Turning, he nudged Chef. "Open a door and bring the scale over." Chef looked at him complicated before waving his hand and opening a small realm gate that led right to Scoop's hand.
In the next moment, a piece of scale that still had remnants of a bloody red on its edges appeared on the table.
"Young Lord Lonemoon, Exalted Goddess, remember to bring my scales back, a total of two pieces! Don't miss out any." Scoop repeatedly instructed with worry.
"Right, we got it! Rest assured Scoop, all's good!" Lonemoon replied.
Scoop: "…" That's what you said the previous time too!
But Lonemoon directly retracted the jade token and cut off the image. Then he went forth and examined the piece of scale in detail.
"There's… nothing different!" It just looks cleaner than average scales, evident that Scoop had been taking good care of it.
Yi Qing also went forward and pressed a hand on that scale, sensing carefully, his eyes suddenly widened. "Huh!"
"What's wrong?" Lonemoon asked, "What did you sense?"
Chef frowned before answering, "Immortal Qi!"
"Of course! Scoop is a Celestial Emperor in any case, this scale came from its true form, it would be odd if there weren't any Immortal Qi."
"It's normal for it to contain Immortal Qi!" Chef glanced at him and went on slowly, "But don't you think… there's a little too much Immortal Qi on this?"
"What do you mean?" Lonemoon frowned and directly picked up the scale on the table, sending a trace of spirit qi into it. He was shocked at once. "Wow! Indeed a little too much, but these immortal qi probably wouldn't last for long!" That heart- protecting scale in Shu Yi's hands had fallen off Scoop for more than 3000 years, not to mention the time difference between the immortal realm and mortal realm. "Unless the Immortal Qi has been stored in it the whole time!"
His words fell, struck with a sudden thought, he turned abruptly towards Chef. "Damn it, no way!"
Chapter 648: Golden Core Lightning Tribulation
Lonemoon directly conjured a spell and sent a shred of immortal qi into the scale, sure enough, in the next moment, a golden image suddenly surfaced out of the initially black scale, it was the pattern on the scale, but it's shape was extremely similar to a natural array formation— the Soul Gathering Array!
"It really is!" Lonemoon's eyes widened in disbelief. "Then Scoop's true form…"
"Concealed Spirit beast!" Chef finished.
"…"
F*ck! The so-called Concealed Spirit Qi were demon monsters that legends say are born from spirit veins, the population is extremely small, and they only appear near huge spirit veins, so not many have seen their actual appearance. It is said that they do not need to specially practice cultivation, their bodies naturally absorb Spirit Qi, when they are older, they can ascend directly. No one knows the exact reason. Now it seems, it's because every piece of scale on their bodies is a small Soul Gathering Array, absolutely nothing needed to be done for them to gather spirit qi in their bodies. Even if the scale fell off, the Spirit Qi in it is inexhaustible.
In addition, Scoop was already a Celestial Emperor, its scale would naturally turn the absorbed Spirit Qi into Immortal Qi. This also meant that, the longer this scale was left in the mortal realm, the more Spirit Qi is absorbed. As long as one keeps the scale, the Immortal Qi could be taken for one's use. With this, what was the difference from having a spirit vein… no, an immortal vein? No wonder Shu Yi's cultivation grew so quickly and it was now explainable that Zuo Shuming ascended so quickly in his previous life.
"What do we do with this scale?" Yi Qing pointed to the heart- shaped scale on his palm, everything had been figured out now, return it to Scoop?
Lonemoon looked at it, his eyes narrowed and he said solemnly, "He'd already pulled it out, we'd be letting Scoop down if we don't make use of it." As he spoke, he sent huge amounts of Immortal Qi into it, only stopping when he felt that he was about the same as the one in Shu Yi's hands. "Just nice, let's give it to Two-Bucks Zuo!" Wasn't it just a cheat! What's the big deal, he could make one for him anytime.
Mm, it's definitely not because he finds that his cultivation is growing too slowly!
Shen Ying: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
Scoop will cry, do you know that?
—————
Lonemoon gave the scale 2.0 to Two-Bucks Zuo, to avoid the invader realizing it, he hid the scale in his meridians, even Zuo Shuming wasn't aware himself. Then he started to seriously teach him to practice sword dharma. Though his qualifications weren't much, he excelled in the sense that he was diligent and studious. Lonemoon felt that after experiencing Fatty, the kind with no fate with sword cultivation, his patience towards all sword cultivators had grown immensely, especially towards Zuo Shuming's kind, the rare sword cultivation lover with initiative. Besides, to him, the most was just spending more time and giving more beatings.
Especially after making clear that the invader had snatched the golden finger, he became even calmer. Calculating the time, Shu Yi was about to go through core formation. As expected, five days later, above the Dan Chen Mountain on the right of Gui Yi Sect, the sky became overcast with rumbling thunder, a suppression aura of the heaven and earth peeped through the clouds.
"Someone is about to complete core formation!" Zuo Shuming was taken and drew back his sword, looking at the clouds in shock. "This is the Lightning Tribulation." He looked in the direction with some excitement and curiosity. Thinking on, he turned back inquiringly towards the person nibbling on melon seeds at the side. "Brother Lonemoon!"
"Mm, go ahead!" Lonemoon waved his hand nonchalantly. There were benefits in witnessing the tribulations of others to cultivators, after all, the lightning tribulation came with the suppression of heaven and earth and helped in understanding the Heavenly Dao. Especially when the Lightning Tribulation of Core Formation is the least powerful in all lightning tribulations, its destructive force isn't as great as any other. "Just remember to not go too close!" He reminded.
"What is Brother Lonemoon saying?" Instead, Zuo Shuming pulled him up. "We rarely get to see someone complete core formation, of course we must go together." As he spoke, he rose into the air on his sword and flew towards Dan Chen Mountain with him in tow.
Lonemoon: "…"
F*ck! He'd gotten used to teaching his disciple and forgot that he was in the Foundation Establishment phase himself too.
They'd just started flying and had yet to arrive at Dan Chen Mountain when they saw many disciples all rushing over from the various mountains, evidently going to watch the lightning tribulation. When they arrived, there were even more people, the entire public square was filled, the disciples of Dan Chen Mountain had the advantage of location and were already seated at the first row. Before the crowd also stood several Nascent Soul cultivators, especially the one right at the front, was grinning so widely that his eyes were a thin line. He looked slightly familiar, his features similar to Shu Yi, he was probably the peak master of Dan Chen Mountain, Shu Yi's father. He seemed to have sensed that the person going through the lightning tribulation was his own daughter and looked overjoyed. The few other Nascent Soul cultivators that stood beside him also congratulated him.
He responded to each of them, in the midst of his joy, some worry was also present in his slight frown, but he did not forget to turn around to instruct the disciples here to watch on. "The Lightning Tribulation is dangerous, disciples who want to understand the Heavenly Dao are to sit in meditation here. Do not ever carelessly leave the array."
Zuo Shuming looked around before realizing that a defense array formation had indeed been set up in the middle of the public square, protecting the audience in it. He was put at ease and turned to say, "Brother Lonemoon, let's sit in… huh? Brother Lonemoon? Brother Lonemoon!" He turned around but found that the person who was beside him earlier was gone, feeling anxious, he was about to search when a voice sounded by his ear. "I have found a place to settle down, you don't have to bother about me."
He then relaxed, they were probably pushed apart because there were too many people. Not too bothered, he followed the surrounding disciples to sit cross-legged on the ground and waiting for the lightning tribulation to begin.
Lonemoon sighed in relief after seeing him sit down. There were way too many people here, Shen Ying and Chef were invisible, it was fine when they followed him around usually but it was so crowded now, they would be exposed if there were suddenly two empty spaces behind him. Hence he also turned invisible and left the public square with Chef and Shen Ying. Turning around, they flew to an empty space outside of the array formation.
The Lightning Tribulation in the skies were more or less ready, finally a white lightning cut through the layers of dark clouds and landed firmly on the subject of the tribulation.
The first strike was the lightest, it was evident that Shu Yi took it easily, following that, the lightning tribulations became increasingly intensive and stronger. One after another came striking down with a whoosh.
Lonemoon took a casual glance, 60 strikes later, Shu Yi was beginning to pale, some wounds had also appeared on her body. Judging by her appearance, it was getting difficult.
Further on, her condition became even worse, especially after the 80th strike, she directly spat blood, even the golden core that had just formed showed the tendency of cracking.
"Would this invader not be able to take it and be directly struck to death?" Lonemoon could not help but comment, this was merely the golden core lightning tribulation, she was way too weak.
Chapter 649: Two Bucks Realizes
"I don't think so!" Yi Qing shook his head and frowned at the other party. "At least, the other invaders would not have allowed her to die!"
"Mm?" Lonemoon paused. The last bolt of lightning struck the woman on the ground. It was obvious that Shu Yi had no more energy left to fend for herself. Just before the bolt of lightning hit her, a strange layer of green light lip up all around her, blocking off the impact from the lightning bolt.
[Host, are you alright?]
A familiar voice said once again.
Lonemoon: "…"
"I'm alright. Thank you, 001!" Shu Yi responded. "I didn't expect the so-called lightning tribulation in this world to be that formidable. [The lightning tribulation is the clearest manifestation of the Heavenly Dao in this plane. It is of course going to be formidable! But… I'm only temporarily able to hold off the lightning for you by bluffing the Heavenly Dao. After this, the lightning will probably still strike you.]
Shu Yi's expression darkened. A moment later, she nodded. "I know! I'll find an excuse to dodge the next bolt of lightning."
[All the best, Host! Congratulations on your Core Formation.
Quick, use the surrounding spirit Qi to heal your wounds.]
"Mm!" Shu Yi climbed up from the ground and sat upright once more.
The three of them: "…"
So that was it. This 001 system was controlling the time dimension in order to delay the next lightning bolt for as long as possible. The Heavenly Dao had no control over time because to it, whether the plane went back in time, paused, or sped up, time was not running properly. Thus, it would just do its best to forcefully make time go back to normal. Invaders, on the other hand, did not belong to this plane. Therefore, they did not fall under the purview of the Heavenly Dao. As long as they did not cause too big of a change, the Heavenly Dao would not be able to detect them.
Lonemoon cast his gaze downward. It looked like this system had easily taken over the time dimension under the Heavenly Dao. He guessed that this was not the first or even the second time that this system was doing this.
Shu Yi had only just sat down when the surrounding spirit Qi seemed to gather toward her, healing her wounds. The lightning clouds in the sky dissipated and the entire place lit up once again. Faintly, they could see some colors in the sky, which seemed to be getting brighter and brighter. It was almost as if they were forming an image up there.
"Quick, look up!" A disciple shouted. "Could that be an image?!"
A moment later, everyone - including a few Nascent Soul cultivators - looked up at the sky excitedly. Only Shen Ying, Lonemoon and Yi Qing remained solemn.
Yi Qing, especially, was glaring at the sky. "What are you doing!"
All the colors in the sky suddenly began to scatter apart with the help of the nomological force. Faintly, they heard a small voice was saying pitifully, ""You… You don't want it, Leader?"
Chef's voice lowered. "Do what you have to do. Why are you causing trouble?"
"Wah… Wah… Wah…. Alright, Boss. No problem, Boss." The Heavenly Dao had noticed that Yi Qing had been particularly concerned with this woman's heavenly tribulation. In order to suck up to him, the Heavenly Dao thought that it would be good to form an image. Little did he know that was the opposite of what Yi Qing wanted.
The next moment, the colors turned dark, coloring the sky a dark grey. Rain began to descend, causing Shu Yi to be drenched right through. There was a strange sour stench. Shu Yi: "…"
Everyone: "…"
The three of them: "…"
Ah! It was way too difficult to be a Heavenly Dao these days! It was just impossible to decipher what the leader was thinking!
"Little Yi!" Shu Yuan, who had been observing the entire tribulation by the side, shouted nervously as he ran toward her. Seeing that she was being soaked through, he asked, "Little Yi, are you alright?" He himself could not guess what the Heavenly Dao was up to. It looked like it was about to form an image, yet it began to pour the very next second - with acid rain at that. After all, this woman was his daughter. Shu Yuan did not hesitate to conjure a seal to dry her up.
Shu Yi seemed to have been snapped back to reality by the acid rain. "Thank you, Father! I'm alright!" Shu Yuan nodded satisfactorily. "Go and greet a few of your Uncle-Masters. They were here to hold up a protective seal around you."
"Alright, Father!" She smiled obediently and followed Shu Yuan back to where the crowd was standing. In her heart, she called out to the system.
"001, what was up with that rain? Why was there rain even after the lightning tribulation?"
[I don't know either. Maybe it was because the Heavenly Dao sensed what I did earlier.]
"What should we do then?" Shu Yi paled.
[The Heavenly Dao is only suspicious. I think you'd better finish that last bolt of lightning tribulation.]
Shu Yi gritted her teeth. She was so close to exploding in anger. For some reason, she felt like everything had been going wrong ever since she arrived in this world.
"How's the grievous energy value?" She suddenly thought of something and added, "Has the original master's grievous energy values descended?"
[Let me check… The original master's grievous energy values have not moved. I think that it will only come down after we meet Zuo Shuming.]
Shu Yi frowned. "Where is he then? Is he here?"
[Target detected: 50 metres ahead of you.}
Shu Yi turned around and saw Zuo Shuming seated down amongst the crowd. Since the lightning tribulation was over, most of the disciples had gone back to where they came from. Only he remained, seated in the middle of the group. He looked up at the dark sky, deep in thought.
Shu Yi's heart jumped. Sh quickly went to greet the few Uncle-Masters whom her father introduced to her, as well as several other members of her sect whom she recognized. Then, she acted surprised as she said, "Eh? Junior Brother Zuo, you're here too!" She walked toward Zuo Shuming and got ready to cut off the grievous energy values.
She stopped in front of him and put on a fake smile. "Junior Brother Zuo… No, I should call you Disciple-Nephew Zuo now!"
Zuo Shuming stared blankly at Shu Yi. There was confusion on his face. "Disciple-Nephew? Senior Sister Shu Yi?"
Shu Yi's smile widened, but her eyes turned cold. Do you see, Original Boss? As long as you're powerful enough, even the person whom you yearned for but could not have in the past can only look at you with desire.
[Ding! Grievous energy cut down by 10!]
It works indeed! Shu Yi heaved a sigh of relief. Her body seemed to relax now that some of the grievous energy had been released. She added, "You should call me Uncle-Master Shu Yi now! The sect's rules are that those who are at least Golden Core cultivators should be referred to as Uncle-Master!"
"Shu… Uncle-Master Shu?" Zuo Shuming frowned, as if suddenly recalling something. His eyes widened. "I understand now!"
"It's good that you understand. Don't forget-"
Before she could finish her sentence, a huge burst of spirit Qi exploded around Zuo Shuming. All the spirit Qi in the surroundings began to gather toward him at a frightening speed. Shu Yi was not prepared for this and was thus pushed back from the impact.
"Little Yi!" Thankfully, Shu Yuan had been standing right next to her. He caught her before she fell to the ground.
Shu Yi looked at Zuo Shuming in confusion. "He… This is…"
"He's going through an epiphany!" Shu Yuan immediately explained. He was shocked as well. He quickly grabbed Shu Yi and pulled her backward, closer to where the crowd was. "Everyone, move back immediately! Don't affect this disciple's epiphany!"
"Holy shit!" Shu Yi paled, not believing her own eyes. How can this be? How can it be that he's suddenly having an epiphany?
There was no time for her to react. She heard a familiar system's voice in her ear.
[Ding! Original Owner's Grievous Energy Value +5!]
[Ding! Original Owner's Grievous Energy Value +10!]
[Ding! Original Owner's Grievous Energy Value +20!]
The three of them who were standing not far away "…" System: "…"
Shu Yi: "…"
What the hell?
(╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻
"Speaking of this…" Lonemoon pursed his lips, looking at the scene in front of him. He was at a loss for words. The spirit Qi was almost swallowing Zuo Shuming up. "Why do I get the feeling that only Zuo Shuming is required to deal with this invader?"
Zuo Shuming's antics were practically toxic - the kind of toxin that only worked on Shu Yi.
Why did they suddenly feel so much pity for this invader?
Chapter 650: Infecting the Intellect
Zuo Shuming's epiphany did not last long. He regained consciousness after just one afternoon. Instead of being at the first stage of Foundation Establishment, he was now at the ninth stage. Perhaps it was because they had very few disciples who experienced such epiphanies - Gui Yi Sect's Patriarch took note of Zuo Shuming despite the fact that he was still at a relatively low cultivation level. It was obvious from his gaze that he was satisfied with what he was seeing.
Zuo Shuming also turned to look for Lonemoon in his excitement. He was eager to share this joyful news. Yet… he could not find Lonemoon. Apart from people who had come to see what the commotion about, as well as the Nascent Soul seniors who were holding up the protective array for him, there seemed to be no one else on the field. All the disciples who had been watching the lightning tribulation earlier had disappeared as well, including Lonemoon. An epiphany was quite different from lightning tribulation. There was nothing anyone could gain from it. Thus, they lost interest very quickly.
Zuo Shuming: "…"
I thought we were friends? But he did not take this to heart. He turned to the elders who had been holding up the protective array for him and said his thanks. Then, he turned to run gleefully toward Lonemoon's apartment. From afar, he saw Lonemoon seated at the table. He was holding a bowl of rice in his hand and casually eating from it.
"Brother Lonemoon?" Zuo Shuming stared blankly at him. He looked suspiciously at the table. "You… haven't done grain liberation?"
"Why, do you have something to say about that?" Lonemoon glanced at him before adding more food to his bowl. Shit! He had looked away for just a second and there was no more meat left. Don't think that just because others can't see you, you're allowed to eat as much as you want. Zuo Shuming may not be able to see your figure, but he'll certainly notice the food disappearing on its own! He isn't blind!
"N-N-No!" Zuo Shuming hesitated. He was just shocked that Brother Lonemoon was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet he had not liberated from grain yet. Wait, was the food on the table disappearing way too quickly? "Go, let's talk outside!" Lonemoon quickly finished the meat in his bowl and led Zuo Shuming outside the door. He closed the door behind him. In the yard, he scanned Zuo Shuming from head to toe and frowned. His voice dripping with contempt, he said, "You're a Foundation Establishment cultivator now?" Didn't he just have an epiphany? Was it for naught?
"I'm already in the late stages of Foundation Establishment," Zuo Shuming announced proudly and excitedly. "I didn't think I would progress so quickly either!"
"Heh heh, you call this fast?" Lonemoon pursed his lips. Look at Chef - one epiphany helped him to skip one or two major cultivation levels. How are you still jumping within the same cultivation level? Is your own epiphany really only worth two bucks?
"Isn't it… fast?" Zuo Shuming stared blankly at Lonemoon. Even Sect Master said it was fast. How come Brother Lonemoon was still looking down on him?
"Forget it," Lonemoon sighed. "You're already in the late stages of Foundation Establishment. That means that you can move on to practising the second type of sword technique that I taught you."
"Yes, of course." Zuo Shuming nodded. A moment later, he seemed to have realized something. He frowned and stuttered, "But after this epiphany, I…" He suddenly was at a loss for words.
"What's the matter?" Lonemoon asked. "What trouble did you get into this time?"
Zuo Shuming looked around worriedly and gritted his teeth. "Let's talk inside the house!" He pulled Lonemoon back into the door and closed the door very cautiously. With a pained expression, he explained, "Brother Lonemoon, my epiphany this time… Eh? Why's all the food gone?" Not just the food, but even the plates were cleared. He recalled that Brother Lonemoon did not even pack the dishes before he walked out!
Lonemoon, who had been dragged into the house before he could say anything, glared at a certain foodie beside him, who was still waiting for Chef to serve the dessert. He immediately said, "You're still sitting here waiting to be served? Go in or we'll be exposed!" "So troublesome!" Shen Ying slumped on the table and refused to move.
"Troublesome my ass!" Lonemoon's face turned green. "Chef, quick, take her away!"
Yi Qing paused. He glanced at the pastries that he was still holding and decided not to lay it out yet. "Master, let me bring you in to eat." He bent down and carried the sloth off the table and into the back.
"I set up an array around the table!" Lonemoon quickly explained to Two Bucks. "It cleans itself."
"Brother Lonemoon, you really know so much about arrays!" Zuo Shuming stared at him in awe.
Nonsense! Is there anything that I don't know about? Lonemoon sat down at the table. "What did you want to tell me earlier?" Zuo Shuming's expression changed at once. He frowned and turned to sit on a chair next to Lonemoon. Then, he said, "Actually, I have no idea what's going on as well. I just feel like that epiphany was strange."
"Hmm?" Lonemoon stared blankly at him. "In what way?"
"I can't put my finger on it either." His expression became twisted as he tried to look for the right words to say. "When I saw Senior Sister Shu Yi… No, I mean Uncle-Master Shu go through the lightning tribulation, I had an inexplicable feeling that we knew each other. But I couldn't remember where."
Lonemoon started and turned to face him.
"Later, Uncle-Master Shu suddenly came up to me and said that she was now a Golden Core cultivator. My mind suddenly became filled with the technique to gather spirit Qi and form a core." Zuo Shuming was frowning even more deeply now. "Then… I found myself having an epiphany. I knew the technique to form a core because I've read it in some dharmic texts earlier, but what was floating in my mind was… different! It was like… it was like…" He seemed to have no idea how to explain what he felt anymore. His eyebrows sank deeper still. A moment later, he said, "It was like… I formed a core before?"
"You formed a core before?" Lonemoon's fan stopped moving all of a sudden. "Tell me properly. Why are you having such thoughts? What exactly did you see in your mind's eye?"
"I didn't really see anything!" Zuo Shuming shook his head. "It was just a feeling. I even felt like… I knew how to defend myself against lightning bolts."
"Did you tell anyone else about this?"
"Of course not!" Zuo Shuming said in a low voice. "This thing is so strange. How can I tell other people about this? You're the only one I've told. Brother Lonemoon… what do you think… is there some kind of problem with me?" Zuo Shuming looked absolutely confused. "I'm only a Foundation Establishment cultivator. How can I know these things about forming a core? It's almost as if I've experienced it before." "…" No, you really have experienced it before.
"Do you think I'm going to…" Zuo Shuming thought about something else and his eyes widened. He jumped to his feet.
"What!" Lonemoon exclaimed. Don't tell me that you've guessed it?
Zuo Shuming sat back down and scooted closer to Lonemoon. His breath was shaky as he whispered, "Do you think I'm… infected by Senior Sister Shu? Have I gone crazy as well?"
Lonemoon: "…"
Shen Ying: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
Infected my ass! (╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻
Will you freaking die if you just stop insulting Shu Yi for a moment? He had never seen a partner as co-operative as Zuo Shuming!
They were really redundant in this plane, weren't they? Two Bucks alone was sufficient to stir chaos in this place.
"Brother Lonemoon, you told me before that the brain can be infected, right?" Zuo Shuming began analyzing with a serious expression. "I think that Senior Sister Shu Yi- No, Uncle-Master Shu Yi has that brain disease that you seemed to be talking about. Hasn't she always been hanging out in our yard these days? I only got the epiphany after she talked to me as well. I think I'm definitely infected." The more he talked, the more convinced Zuo Shuming became. Awhile later, he added, "Brother Lonemoon, what do you think?!"