Chapter 36: Returning to the Fold
Chapter 36: Returning to the Fold
With a storage bag in hand, Chu Ning returned to his humble abode.
While the events of the day had taken him by surprise, upon careful consideration, he realized they might not be such a bad turn of fate after all.
Initially, Chu Ning had planned to turn in a portion of his talismans to the sect for recycling and sell the rest at the market square. Now, it seemed he wouldn't have to go through all that trouble; he could simply sell them directly to Mu Ling at regular intervals.
Not only was this safer, but it also promised higher earnings.
However, Chu Ning was determined to play his part well. Before approaching Mu Ling, he decided it would be best to make a trip to the market square and purchase some talismans, just to maintain the appearance of a regular cultivator. After all, the sect kept meticulous records of everyone's comings and goings.
With this in mind, Chu Ning began packing his belongings into the storage bag. Finally, he had a place to store all the items he had been hiding away.
First, he took out the 30 spirit stones from his pocket and added them to the 22 already in his storage bag. Technically, 20 of those spirit stones still belonged to Mu Ling, but for all intents and purposes, they were now his. He could compensate her with talismans later.
Next, he stored the remaining talismans. Out of the 10,800 talismans he had crafted, he had submitted 3,500 to the sect and sold 2,050 to Mu Ling, leaving him with 5,250.
"This should be enough to supply Mu Ling for five months. And by the sixth month, the new batch of Ink Spirit Bamboo will be ready, ensuring a seamless transition," Chu Ning mused, a smile spreading across his face.
He had to admit, the idea of having a regular client didn't seem so bad. At least he didn't have to worry about finding buyers.
Finally, Chu Ning placed the rest of his belongings into the storage bag—the cultivation manuals for the Evergreen Longevity Art, the Nine Transformations Body Refining Technique, and the Golden Sword Art. He also stored away the three talismans and the bulky wooden sword he had purchased from the old man, Sun.
As he held the sword, intending to put it away, Chu Ning paused. With a wave of his hand, he activated the Drive Object Technique, and the wooden sword transformed into a black streak of light, shooting straight out. Just as it was about to crash into the window, he recalled it with another wave of his hand.
"I should probably learn a sword-riding technique," he mused, feeling the weight of the wooden sword in his hand. He had become increasingly adept at using the Drive Object Technique.
Previously, he had tested the sword's power by sending it flying toward a tree, and it had easily smashed through the trunk. However, without knowledge of sword-riding techniques, he could only control the sword in a straightforward manner, and there was no way to increase its speed. As a result, its destructive power was rather ordinary.
"I haven't heard of any lowly disciples learning sword-riding techniques. But talisman crafting and inscription techniques are closely related. When the next batch of talismans is due, I'll ask if I can learn inscription techniques," Chu Ning pondered, a thoughtful look on his face.
His thoughts then turned to his cultivation progress. He wondered if he should reveal his progress to the third layer of Qi Refining. If his cultivation base was too low, there might be restrictions on learning inscription techniques.
"It's been almost half a year since I entered the sect, and I've cultivated to the third layer of Qi Refining. I don't think that's too fast, is it?" he thought to himself.
After some deliberation, he decided it would be best not to act rashly. He would wait a couple of days and gather more information before making any decisions. He wanted to find out about the cultivation progress of the other new disciples. If any of them had already broken through, he could choose an opportune moment to reveal his own progress, and it wouldn't seem out of the ordinary.
As for whom to approach for information, the choice was clear—Qi Shun Yi.
Over the next few days, Chu Ning took the opportunity to inspect Qi Shun Yi's new crop and successfully gathered a lot of useful information.
From Qi Shun Yi, he learned that several people from their batch of menial disciples had already reached the third layer of Qi Refining.
Among them was Yuan Guang from the Spirit Plant House, who had successfully broken through the second layer of Qi Refining and entered the third layer just two days ago.
While the number wasn't particularly large, it hadn't caused much of a stir within the sect.
After all, the third layer of Qi Refining was the easiest to break through, and most outer and inner disciples accomplished it within a few months.
The real challenge lay in advancing from the third to the fourth layer.
Thus, over the next few days, Chu Ning also found an opportune moment to "break through" the second layer of Qi Refining and officially announced that he had reached the third layer.
As Chu Ning had previously displayed a similar cultivation pace as Yuan Guang and the others, his progress didn't come as a surprise.
Even Zhuang Yun De believed that Chu Ning's level was on par with the others, and he merely excelled in his spellcasting skills.
During this time, Chu Ning hadn't been idle either. He continued with his planting.
The region where the Qingxi Sect was located wasn't too cold, so even in winter, the spirit fields remained in use, with appropriate spirit plants being cultivated.
For Chu Ning, the cultivation of Moling Bamboo could continue year-round, and with the enhancement of the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art, it was largely unaffected by the weather.
However, with the drop in temperature, ordinary spirit fields in the Ding District could no longer grow spirit rice, so Chu Ning switched to planting purple water caltrops.
This was excellent fodder for spirit fish, and it was one of the spirit plants that the sect encouraged everyone to cultivate, as they would buy it all back.
Over the next twenty days or so, Chu Ning not only finished planting both types of spirit plants, but he also cultivated them using the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art.
Everything went smoothly, and all that was left for Chu Ning to do was the routine weeding, pest control, and application of the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art.
With the one-month deadline he'd set with Mu Ling approaching, Chu Ning decided it was time to leave the sect and pay a visit to the market square.
On the one hand, if people found out that he hadn't left the sect but still managed to produce over a thousand talismans, they would know that he had been hoarding resources.
On the other hand, Chu Ning also needed to go to the market square to buy some jade boxes.
The Seven Star Spirit Fruits that he had been cultivating nonstop would be ripe soon.
After a hundred days of growth, followed by these two months of cultivation, the fruits were now plumper and more vibrant with spiritual energy.
They wouldn't need another month to ripen, so Chu Ning had to prepare the jade boxes in advance to store the fruits once they were harvested.
Speaking of which, it had been several months since Chu Ning last visited the market square after encountering that rogue cultivator.
This time, Chu Ning decided that he would stick with his companions and avoid separating.
Especially on the way back, they should travel in a group to prevent any unexpected incidents.
So Chu Ning sought out Qi Shun Yi and arranged to go to the market square together the next day.
He even suggested that Qi Shun Yi invite a few more people to join them, as a larger group would be more lively.
When Chu Ning arrived at the mountain gate square the next day, he was taken aback by the crowd.
Wow, that's a lot of people! Are the new disciples organizing some sort of group activity?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
