Farewell

White Cloud Sect, Canyon basin.

Cheng Buzheng walked up to Nan Ye's house. The wooden plaque that belonged on the door had been set aside, and the door was hanging open. He took two steps forward and gently knocked on the wooden door several times in a steady rhythm.

"Knock... knock..."

A short while later.

The door opened. Besides Nan Ye, Cheng Buzheng saw a young woman inside. She was Wang Min, the only female cultivator in their team. He was quite surprised; at their several team gatherings, he had never noticed anything unusual about their relationship.

Though surprised, he showed nothing out of the ordinary on the surface.

He glanced at Wang Min calmly, then said:

"Big Sis Xiaomin, you're here too! Just as well—I'm about to head out on a mission, so I won't have to make another trip!"

"Buzheng, what mission are you going to do? The one-year period isn't up yet!"

Wang Min hurriedly asked, sounding worried.

Nan Ye quickly chimed in:

"That's right, Buzheng. There's no need to rush into a mission!"

Cheng Buzheng knew they still hadn't completely changed the way they thought about things.

Then, with a helpless look, he said:

"Alas... Without pills to improve my cultivation, my progress is just too slow!

Besides, I've spent all my Spirit Stones! I have no choice... Whether sooner or later, I'll have to do a mission eventually!"

Nan Ye let out a wistful sigh.

"Indeed, Buzheng... You're still the decisive one!

...What mission are you planning to do?"

Cheng Buzheng replied slowly, "I'm going to the Spirit Stone Mine... to dig for Spirit Stones!"

"Wouldn't that be fun? Then I want to go too!"

Wang Min looked at him eagerly.

Nan Ye hurriedly tried to persuade her, while also taking care to stir up her competitive spirit.

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

Look at Xu Shi and Gao Li. They both have Four Spiritual Roots. Xu Shi reached Qi Refining Level 1 a couple of days ago, and Gao Li has been in seclusion lately. He'll probably make it soon too."

Wang Min shot Nan Ye a defiant look. "I'll reach Qi Refining Level 1 before Gao Li. I'm certain I can do it within three days."

Then she said:

"Little Brother Buzheng... When are you leaving for your mission?

...Before you go, let's have a get-together as a team!"

Cheng Buzheng waved a hand.

"No need to go to any trouble, Senior Sister. I'm planning to leave tomorrow!"

Wang Min frowned and said slowly:

"I see... Nan Ye, go to Fengyun Tower and buy some Spirit Food and Spirit Wine. I'll go call Xu Shi and Gao Li!"

At that, Cheng Buzheng's brow furrowed, and his expression turned serious.

"Senior Sister, there's no need. Every Spirit Stone is precious to us right now. Once our cultivation is higher and we have more Spirit Stones to spare, we can have a meal together at Fengyun Tower."

"That's right, Xiaomin... Buzheng is right. Once you reach Qi Refining Level 1, there'll be plenty of things you'll need Spirit Stones for!"

Nan Ye strongly agreed with Cheng Buzheng and hurriedly tried to persuade her.

Wang Min glared at Nan Ye, cutting him off.

"Enough... A couple more Spirit Stones or a couple fewer won't make much difference to me. It'll just mean cultivating for a little longer!

...Hurry back!"

Nan Ye replied helplessly:

"All right... I'll go now!"

Two quarters of an hour later.

Laughter and conversation rang out from inside Nan Ye's house, and the atmosphere was lively.

After they'd eaten and drunk their fill, the five of them sat around chatting.

Cheng Buzheng chimed in from time to time and noticed something rather interesting. Xu Shi still looked as honest and simple as ever, but his Spirit Pressure was already so condensed that he must have reached Qi Refining Level 1 some time ago.

That was not what Nan Ye had said—that Xu Shi had reached it just a few days ago. How interesting.

As for Gao Li, compared with when he had first hoped to join the sect, much of the arrogance had faded from his face. It seemed that after more than half a year, he had grown quite a bit.

During the gathering, Cheng Buzheng also told the other four how to speak with the two Senior Brothers guarding the Sutra Repository Tower, and how to spend the least number of Spirit Stones to enter the first floor and read the books there for free.

Otherwise, with only a handful of Spirit Stones between them, they wouldn't get many visits in before Senior Brother Niu and Senior Brother Dai drained what little they had.

He also shared some information about the Martial Uncle stationed on the second floor of the Sutra Repository Tower.

The others shared a few things during the gathering too. None of the information was particularly valuable, but at least they'd taken the first step.

Cheng Buzheng knew that what they shared was only basic information. They would certainly keep anything truly valuable to themselves instead of sharing it.

By the time it grew late, everyone said goodbye to Nan Ye and left one by one.

Back in his room, Cheng Buzheng sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed and began another night of cultivation.

The surrounding Spirit Energy slowly gathered around him. Strands of it swam toward him like fish, jostling to get there first, forming a thin Spirit Energy Layer around his body.

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

Outside the entrance to the Great Array, White Cloud Sect.

Cheng Buzheng looked out at a sea of lush trees. Now and then, the roars and howls of Demonic Beasts rang out. They were all First-order Low-grade Demonic Beasts; the sect had already cleared away those at First-order Mid-grade and above.

Every few years, the sect carried out a purge to keep Demonic Beasts from endangering its low-cultivation disciples. The First-order Low-grade Demonic Beasts were left for the sect to use in training disciples who had just entered the Early Qi Refining Stage.

Without hesitation, Cheng Buzheng focused his thoughts. His Earth Escape Technique, which had reached the Perfection Realm, instantly gave off a flash of Yellow Spirit Light that enveloped him. He sank straight down, six zhang underground.

At that depth, Qi Refining Stage cultivators would generally be unable to detect him unless they searched deliberately. The farther their Divine Sense probed underground, the harder it became.

An ordinary Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator could usually sense about one zhang around them.

Within that one-zhang radius, everything appeared in the Sea of Consciousness in perfect detail. Since they could only sense half a zhang underground, they had to deliberately use their Divine Sense to look below the surface.

According to the records he had read, a cultivator at Peak of Qi Refining Level 2 could normally maintain a Divine Sense range of around two zhang, reaching about one zhang underground. The higher one's cultivation, the wider one's corresponding Divine Sense warning range.

By Qi Refining Level 9, a cultivator's warning range reached nine zhang aboveground and about five zhang underground.

That was how most cultivators behaved. After all, the farther they spread their Divine Sense, the more of it they used up.

To maintain peak combat strength, they had to keep their Divine Sense within the limits their cultivation could bear.

Now, six zhang underground, Cheng Buzheng was like a blind man feeling his way along. He couldn't tell where he was going.

He had no choice but to extend a wisp of Divine Sense toward the surface. After confirming his direction, he continued forward underground.

Before long, he reached the place he had just sensed. He extended his Divine Sense again to check his direction, and repeated the process.

His Divine Sense had a limited range, which restricted how fast he could travel with the Earth Escape Technique.