Farewell

White Cloud Sect, canyon basin.

Cheng Buzheng walked up to Nan Ye's house. Seeing that the wooden sign on the door was placed to one side rather than hung up, he stepped forward and knocked rhythmically on the wooden door a few times with his right hand.

"Knock... knock..."

Before long, the door opened. Cheng Buzheng saw that besides Nan Ye, there was also a young girl inside. This girl was none other than Wang Min, the only female cultivator in their team. This surprised him quite a bit; during their previous team gatherings, he had never noticed anything unusual about their relationship.

Although he was somewhat surprised, he did not show any abnormality on the surface.

He looked at Wang Min with a calm expression and said:

"Sister Xiaomin, you're here too! That's perfect; I was just about to head out to carry out a mission, so this saves me an extra trip!"

"Buzheng, what mission are you going to do now? The one-year deadline hasn't even arrived yet!"

Wang Min asked hurriedly, looking anxious.

Nan Ye quickly chimed in:

"That's right! Buzheng, there's no need to rush the mission!"

Cheng Buzheng knew that their way of thinking had not yet fully shifted.

He then put on a helpless expression and said:

"Sigh... without Alchemical Pills to improve my cultivation, my training speed is just too slow!

Besides, I've spent all my Spirit Stones! I have no choice... whether I do the mission early or late, it has to be done sooner or later!"

Nan Ye sighed softly:

"That's true! Buzheng... you are decisive as always!

...What kind of mission are you planning to take?"

Cheng Buzheng spoke slowly: "I'm going to the Spirit Stone Mine... to mine Spirit Stones!"

"That sounds interesting! I want to go too!"

Wang Min looked at him with great interest.

Nan Ye quickly tried to dissuade her, while not forgetting to stir up her competitive spirit.

"Xiaomin, your most important task is to advance to Qi Refining Level 1 as soon as possible. You don't need to worry about other things!

Look at Xu Shi and Gao Li; they both have Four Spiritual Roots. Just two days ago, Xu Shi already advanced to Qi Refining Level 1, and Gao Li has been in Closed-door Meditation for some time now—he should be close to breaking through as well."

Wang Min cast a defiant glance at Nan Ye. "I will definitely step into Qi Refining Level 1 before Gao Li. Within three days, I will certainly promote to Qi Refining Level 1."

She continued:

"Buzheng, little brother... when are you going to carry out your mission?

...Before you leave, let's have a team gathering!"

Cheng Buzheng waved his hand.

"Senior Sister, there is no need for the trouble. I plan to set off tomorrow!"

Wang Min frowned and spoke slowly.

"Is that so... Nan Ye, go to Fengyun Tower and buy some Spirit Food and Spirit Wine. I will go call Xu Shi and Gao Li!"

Hearing this, Cheng Buzheng frowned, his expression turning solemn.

"Senior Sister, there is no need for this. Every Spirit Stone is precious to us right now. It won't be too late to dine at Fengyun Tower once our cultivation levels are higher and we have more Spirit Stones to spare!"

"That's right! Xiaomin... Buzheng is right. Once you promote to Qi Refining Level 1, there will be plenty of places where you'll need to spend Spirit Stones!"

Nan Ye, quite in agreement with Cheng Buzheng's point of view, hurriedly tried to persuade her.

Wang Min glared at Nan Ye and cut him off.

"Enough... a couple of Spirit Stones more or less is nothing to me but a little extra time spent cultivating!

...Hurry up and get back!"

Nan Ye said helplessly:

"Alright! ...I'm going now!"

Two quarters of an hour later.

Laughter and chatter drifted from Nan Ye's room, the atmosphere quite lively.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the five of them began to chat idly.

Cheng Buzheng chimed in from time to time. He discovered something rather interesting: Xu Shi still maintained his honest and simple appearance, but the density of his Spirit Pressure indicated that he had stepped into Qi Refining Level 1 some time ago.

It was not as Nan Ye had claimed, that it had only been a few days. This was quite interesting.

As for Gao Li, compared to when he had first entered the sect, the arrogance on his face had faded significantly. It was evident that after more than half a year, he had matured quite a bit.

During the gathering, he also told the four team members how to communicate with the two senior brothers guarding the Sutra Repository Tower, and how to spend the fewest Spirit Stones to enter the first floor of the tower to read the free books.

Otherwise, with the few Spirit Stones his teammates had, they wouldn't be able to go many times before their meager savings were sucked dry by Senior Brother Niu and Senior Brother Dai.

Additionally, he shared some information regarding the Martial Uncle who presided over the second floor of the Sutra Repository Tower.

During this gathering, the others also shared some news. Although this information lacked real value, it was at least a first step.

Cheng Buzheng knew that the information shared was only basic; anything truly valuable would certainly be kept close to the chest and not brought out to be shared.

It wasn't until late in the evening that everyone bid farewell to Nan Ye and went their separate ways.

Returning to his room, Cheng Buzheng sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes slightly closed, and began another night of cultivation.

The surrounding Spirit Energy slowly gathered toward him. Wisps of Spirit Energy, like swimming fish, vied to drift toward him, forming a thin layer of energy around his body.

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

Outside the entrance to the White Cloud Sect's grand formation.

Cheng Buzheng looked out to see lush, verdant trees. From time to time, the hissing and howling of various demonic beasts could be heard. These were all First-order Low-grade Demonic Beasts; those of First-order Mid-grade and above had already been cleared out by the sect.

Every few years, the sect would conduct a sweep to prevent demonic beasts from harming disciples with low cultivation levels. These First-order Low-grade beasts were used by the sect to train disciples who had just stepped into the Early Qi Refining Stage.

Cheng Buzheng did not hesitate. With a thought, his Earth Escape Technique, which had reached the Realm of Perfection, instantly emitted a yellow glow that enveloped him, sinking him directly six zhang into the ground.

At this depth, he could basically guarantee that a Qi Refining Stage cultivator would not be able to detect him unless they were intentionally searching. The deeper one explored with Divine Sense, the more difficult it became.

A normal Level 1 Qi Refining cultivator usually had a Divine Sense warning range of about one zhang.

Within this one-zhang range, everything would appear clearly within their Sea of Consciousness, but at a depth of only half a zhang underground, it would remain unnoticed unless they specifically checked with their Divine Sense.

According to the records he had studied, a peak Level 2 Qi Refining cultivator's Divine Sense typically maintained a range of about two zhang, with a depth of one zhang. The higher the cultivation, the broader the corresponding Divine Sense warning range.

By the time a cultivator reached Level 9 Qi Refining, their warning range reached nine zhang above ground and about five zhang underground.

This was the habit of most cultivators; after all, the further one extended their Divine Sense, the greater the consumption.

To maintain peak combat capability, the Divine Sense detection range had to remain within the limits of what their cultivation could bear.

At this moment, Cheng Buzheng, situated six zhang underground, was like a blind man walking and could not determine his path.

He had no choice but to release a sliver of Divine Sense to probe toward the surface, determine his direction, and then continue his escape.

Before long, he would reach the place he had just seen with his Divine Sense, then probe again to check his direction, repeating the process.

This was because his Divine Sense detection range was limited, which in turn restricted the speed of his Earth Escape Technique.