Kong Jiao naturally exchanged a round of compliments with Shangguan Yuzhou.
Now that the formation had been broken and the threat was gone, the two chatted and laughed as they walked.
They made their way deeper into the cave.
Gurgle, gurgle!
The spring water sang sweetly.
At the end of the cave was a small chamber.
A stone bed stood inside, with bottles and jars scattered all over the floor.
In the very center of the chamber, a spring welled up from underground.
As Kong Jiao and Shangguan Yuzhou stepped into the chamber, he could clearly feel the pores all over his body opening up.
A refreshing aura spread through him.
"What abundant spiritual energy!"
Kong Jiao and Shangguan Yuzhou's eyes lit up at the same time.
Then they both fixed their gazes on the spring.
"A Spirit Spring!" they exclaimed in unison.
Everyone knew that Cangwu Sect had been founded atop a Spirit Spring, which provided an endless supply of spiritual energy for its disciples to cultivate.
The sect controlled the flow of every Spirit Spring, distributing its benefits to disciples who had contributed to the sect.
They were almost exclusively reserved for inner-sect disciples.
Who would have thought that even the outer sect had a branch of a Spirit Spring?
It wasn't very large, though—about five feet across, just enough room for an adult to bathe in.
"Though this Spirit Spring is small, the spiritual energy it gives off is more than enough for the two of us to cultivate." Kong Jiao bent down and grinned at the springhead before him, which was about the size of a fist and bubbling with water.
What he needed most right now was to improve his cultivation speed.
With this Spirit Spring, he could undoubtedly cut down on his cultivation time by a great deal.
"The Spirit Spring is an unexpected bonus, but it isn't the true opportunity we came here for." Shangguan Yuzhou spoke with a hint of meaning, then turned his head slightly to look at the cave wall.
Someone had carved several niches into it to hold objects.
Following Shangguan Yuzhou's gaze, Kong Jiao examined the wall.
Each niche held an item. There were four in all.
"Four items, just enough for two each." Shangguan Yuzhou raised a finger and smiled smugly.
"Then you should pick first, Senior Brother Shangguan!" Kong Jiao wasn't just being polite. Shangguan Yuzhou had carried them through the formation, and in this world, the stronger one got first pick of the spoils.
Besides, Shangguan Yuzhou had brought him here in the first place, so Kong Jiao said this out of gratitude.
"Junior Brother Kong, you really are..." Shangguan Yuzhou smiled and gave Kong Jiao an amused look. "Do you know whose turf this cave is? Aren't you afraid of missing out on the opportunity?"
Kong Jiao spread his hands. How could he possibly know?
"Have you ever heard the name Chu Jianghe?" Shangguan Yuzhou deliberately lowered his voice, putting on a mysterious air.
"Chu Jianghe, the Drifting Rain Sword! This is Chu Jianghe's cave!" Kong Jiao's mouth fell open. His face stiffened as he stared at Shangguan Yuzhou, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Chu Jianghe was a fairly famous outer-sect disciple.
Cangwu Sect had tens of thousands of outer-sect disciples. Chu Jianghe had made a name for himself with his Drifting Rain Sword Art, which showed just how far ahead of the rest of the outer sect his strength was.
He was at least at the sixth stage of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm.
"Senior Brother Shangguan, how dare you?" Kong Jiao's face had gone a little green.
Shangguan Yuzhou had decent talent, but he was only at the fourth stage of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm. He still needed time to establish himself before he could stand out among the outer-sect disciples.
Chu Jianghe wouldn't care that Shangguan Yuzhou was a genius. If anyone dared to raid his cave, he'd come after them with a sword the very next day.
Shangguan Yuzhou would be no match for him.
As for Kong Jiao, he was even less of a match.
"Don't panic." Shangguan Yuzhou remained completely at ease and explained slowly, "If I didn't have a good reason, why would I dare to raid his den? Actually, that guy's been missing for half a year. He hasn't even shown up for the sect's once-every-three-months distribution of cultivation resources."
"Half a year?" Kong Jiao furrowed his brow. That news calmed him a little.
As an outer-sect disciple, he had the chance to collect cultivation pills once every three months.
Almost no disciple would pass up such hard-won cultivation resources.
Chu Jianghe was strong, but he was only a minor expert in the second tier of the outer sect. He was still a ways off from the top disciples.
He wouldn't miss out on those cultivation resources.
And since he'd been gone for half a year, Kong Jiao guessed that Chu Jianghe had probably died somewhere outside the sect. Even within Cangwu Sect, violent incidents occurred. If things were so perilous inside the sect, the outside world was even more governed by the law of the jungle. Murder and dumping a body were hardly uncommon.
"I'd noticed him half a year ago. He was acting suspicious every day, going out alone. I had no idea what he was up to. Then, one day, he suddenly disappeared." Shangguan Yuzhou licked his lips and said with some sympathy, "He never showed up again."
After hearing that, Kong Jiao finally relaxed. He let out a long breath.
Chu Jianghe's disappearance was certainly suspicious, but it had nothing to do with them. Investigating it was the Enforcement Hall's job.
No wonder Shangguan Yuzhou had set his sights on Chu Jianghe's cave.
If Kong Jiao had been in his shoes, he wouldn't have passed up the opportunity either.
"All right, I've told you all this because I want you to understand the value of the opportunity we've found. What you see here is everything Chu Jianghe owned." As he spoke, Shangguan Yuzhou walked over to the niches in the wall, took out all four items, and set them in front of Kong Jiao.
"I'm only interested in the Drifting Rain Sword Art. Junior Brother Kong, you can pick two of the others first." Shangguan Yuzhou took a deep blue jade slip from among the four items.
Shangguan Yuzhou loved swords more than life itself. He had probably come here specifically for the Drifting Rain Sword Art, which didn't surprise Kong Jiao in the least.
Since Shangguan Yuzhou had put it that way, Kong Jiao didn't stand on ceremony. He turned his attention to the three remaining items.
One was a bottle of pills. He had no idea what they did.
He'd leave those aside for now.
Another was a jade slip containing the Scarlet Radiance Formation. It required formation flags to set up.
The Scarlet Radiance Formation was one of the basic formations, and its power was nothing special. Chu Jianghe had tampered with how the flags were arranged, though, so anyone attempting to break the formation without noticing would suffer for it.
Even Shangguan Yuzhou had nearly lost his life in the formation.
"The formation is decent. I'll keep it in mind." After casting a glance at the jade slip, Kong Jiao turned his attention to the last item.
The final item was a magic artifact: a longbow.
It was black all over, made from some unknown material.
Kong Jiao had no idea where Chu Jianghe had gotten it. But since he used a sword rather than a bow, he'd left it unused in his cave.
If a minor expert like Chu Jianghe had kept the bow, it couldn't be poor quality.
Kong Jiao's eyes brightened.
This longbow was far more useful to him than the other two items.
He had spent two years in the Miscellaneous Books Pavilion, and half of his monthly Spirit Crystal allowance had been withheld.
Magic artifacts were expensive, and he had never been willing to buy one.
The longbow would make up for the fact that Kong Jiao still didn't own a single magic artifact.
"This one!" Kong Jiao reached out and picked up the longbow.
Shangguan Yuzhou used a sword, after all, so a longbow would be useless to him.
As for the remaining item, after careful consideration, Kong Jiao decided against choosing the formation.
The Scarlet Radiance Formation was fairly powerful, but he thought about how he didn't have anything of value on him. What was the point of setting up a formation just to bluff his way through an empty stronghold?
Was he going to use a decent formation to protect his lousy bed?
Besides, fights between experts were decided in an instant. Who would let him set up a formation beforehand?
The pills were a better choice.
At least pills were always in high demand at Cangwu Sect. Even if he couldn't use them himself, he could trade them for Spirit Crystals.
With that, he settled on his two items.
The remaining formation flags naturally went to Shangguan Yuzhou.
Each got what they wanted, and both were pleased.
"That trip was well worth it!" Kong Jiao was in high spirits as he put away his spoils.
Not only had he obtained a magic artifact and pills, but he'd also found a Spirit Spring that could speed up his cultivation.
Of course, neither the magic artifact, the pills, nor the Spirit Spring was Kong Jiao's greatest reward.
What delighted him most was the change on the White Jade Stele.
'Accepted Shangguan Yuzhou's invitation to break the Outer Sect Earth Cave Formation. Fortune value +5.'
'The Earth Cave Formation has been broken. Fortune value +5.'
The five-point boost to his fortune had finally begun to turn the gloomy gray haze above Kong Jiao's head white.
The pure white spread fast enough to see with the naked eye, driving out the gray and occupying one-fifth of his fortune.
Most people were gray. With one-fifth of his fortune now white, Kong Jiao's fortune was better than that of over half the disciples in Cangwu Sect.
Of course, I can't compare with Shangguan Yuzhou. Setting talent aside, that guy's fortune alone must rank among the top three in the outer sect. As he pondered, Kong Jiao's gaze settled on the snow-white fortune above Shangguan Yuzhou's head. He couldn't help feeling envious.
Fortunately, he could keep improving his fortune with the Cloud-Pattern Stele. Sooner or later, he'd reach Shangguan Yuzhou's level. That was enough to offer Kong Jiao a little comfort.
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