Chapter 3: One Less Finger to Count Your Blessings
Warning: Maybe a tiny bit gory?
“No need to worry too much, my shixiong is quite strong.” He JiYang giggled, before going to inspect the bodies. “A’Jin, don’t kill them next time. They’re too weak to have a worthwhile core, it’s a waste.”
Mob monsters ranked high as a group, but individually were not as strong. Therefore, these larks commonly had a rank 1 core, and often none. Rank 1 was worthless to He JiYang and Mo Jin. She’d rather let them live.
“Wait, wait. You can kill them and give it to us!” Yun HaoMen said. He was excited thinking about this unexpected treasure; anyway, it wasn’t difficult for those two. They had to disable them anyway, it wasn’t more work to kill them.
However, He JiYang’s expression cooled. Cultivation was a path where the strong was god, and yet he wanted Mo Jin to hunt cores for him?
“You are welcome to separate from our group to hunt on your own.” He JiYang said politely with a smile, but her undertone was laced with ice. ‘If you’re strong enough’ were the implied words she didn’t say. She may have said otherwise to Mo Jin, but they both knew that right now these disciples were just useless baggage they had to carry around. She didn’t mind rewarding kindness but had no intentions of catering to selfishness.
Even as dull as he may have been, Yun HaoMen still understood her meaning. He flushed heavily. He JiYang didn’t want to embarrass him any further, so she turned away and continued with her work. She didn’t pay any more attention to Yun HaoMen behind her, who gritted his teeth and glared viciously where he thought no one could see.
Mo Jin across from him just chuckled softly under his breath. Anyway, if he caused problems, Mo Jin would just kill him away from He JiYang’s eyes. It wasn’t a big deal.
They continued their way, taking a rest later in the afternoon for a meal. Mo Jin did not need to eat, so he spent his time cultivating quietly. The Cloud Running disciples took out some hard bread and dried meat. Looking at He JiYang as she pulled a small mat from her storage bracelet, Yun HaoMen’s mind quickly turned. Before she was able to take out any food, he offered a share of theirs to her with a flattering face.
“Lady Feng, would you like some of our food? As travelling companions, we’d be happy to share.” Inwardly, He JiYang rolled her eyes. How could she not see he was eyeing whatever good food she may pull out next? His friends beside him were also embarrassed seeing the antics, but they remained silent with some anticipation.
“No need, thank you. I am content with my lot.” Small tricks didn’t bother her, but he was too obvious. He wouldn’t get anywhere on cultivation like this, so she decided to kindly warn him. Whether he would take her words to heart was his own business. At least her conscience was clear.
She pulled out one of her spiritual fruits. Because they were much more nutritious and beneficial to the body, it was also more filling than regular fruits. The one she picked resembled a green pear. Each bite was crispy and overflowed with juice, sweet and just a bit tart. They were delicious and rich, without any impurities. Even for spiritual fruits they were not cheap; each meal would cost her 4 level 1 spiritual stones, and she ate twice a day.
Unfortunately, He JiYang couldn’t handle the slightest impurities with her current condition. Looking at her seemingly wasteful behaviour, the Cloud Running disciples drooled. However, even they were not shameless enough to ask for one.
After the brief rest, they continued as before, searching for the Green Lantern Fruit. When a group of larks was spotted, Mo Jin would knock them out in the blink of an eye by spiritual pressure alone, and everyone else would inspect their bodies to judge their direction. Once, Yun HaoMen tried to quietly kill and extract the core of a particularly strong Darling. When she saw this, He JiYang was flabbergasted. Had she not made herself clear? Did he take her for a pushover?
Were they truly ignorant of how strong a cultivator’s senses were, to think her and Mo Jin wouldn’t notice their little actions? A rank 1 beast core could be sold for 3 level 2 spiritual stones. That may be more money than they’d ever seen, but an angered cultivator could directly take their life.
Immediately, she sent a wave of spiritual pressure over Yun HaoMen and Yun ZhuLi, who was helping him block his actions from behind. She didn’t press too hard, just enough to let them know they were spotted, and didn’t even look at them as she did. Fortunately, they immediately stopped their actions.
The region was large, and He JiYang was worried the task would take days. Luckily, they found it before the sun set. It was a small green plant with round orange fruits, closely guarded by several larks. Mo Jin made short work of them and He JiYang took out a special jade storage box used to keep the essence of spiritual herbs. It was high quality, space-enlarging, and had different compartments so an assortment could be stored inside without affecting the properties of one another.
This Green Lantern plant had 4 ripe fruits hanging on it, as well as some buds. Mo Jin only needed one, but it could be very useful in the future. He JiYang harvested them all, leaving the plant undamaged, and did not pay attention to the looks the Cloud Running disciples gave to each other behind her.
Mo Jin wanted to leave them to fly back on their own while he and He JiYang continued their way. By now the spiritual energy of the Yun surnamed disciples had fully recovered. However, He JiYang was worried if they may be ambushed on the way, so in the end the entire group flew back.
When they reached a clearing outside town, Mo Jin ran off to handle some other business, leaving just the four of them. Seeing this, Yun HaoMen and Yun ZhuLi were delighted.
He JiYang gave them another small bottle of foundation building pills before turning to leave. These were very useful to foundation building disciples and were of a very good quality. The Foundation Building stage was one of the most important ones. At this stage, a cultivator would begin on their chosen path, and build their bodies to suit the style they decided to cultivate. Different cultivation paths required different types of spiritual energy; for example, the spiritual energy the healing path required was different from the sword path.
Therefore, one would need to carefully cultivate the spiritual veins and meridians in their body to be suitable. It needed to be strong and wide so spiritual energy can quickly circulate the body and minimize internal injuries. This becomes the foundation upon which their future relied on. If it is done improperly or inadequately, after the cultivator entered the Mind Refining stage, it cannot be reversed. Not only would this weaken them, it would also pose threats of qi deviations. For a righteous cultivator, stability in progression was much more important than speed. The situation was different for demonic cultivators.
However, too often cultivators would rush this step, especially those lacking in support or resources. Passing through it would extend their lifetime, from the mortal limit of 100 years to 200 years, thus giving more opportunities. If they could not make it through quickly enough, they would die. These pills helped one temper their spiritual veins and meridians faster, while expanding them to pave way for the future. Therefore, these pills, though not rare to most sects, were very valuable. Today alone, the Cloud Running disciples earned more than they had seen throughout their lifetimes.
However, it wasn’t enough.
Before He JiYang could fully turn around, Yun HaoMen stopped her.
“Miss, the fruits that we found today, aren’t they rare and valuable? You even found four.” He said with a sly smile. Behind him, Yun ZhuLi rapidly nodded his head, while Yun Sen looked panicked.
“I suppose so?” He JiYang was disappointed. In the end, they could only amount to this much. No wonder Mo Jin rushed off so eagerly; he was expecting them to do this type of thing and wanted to give them an opportunity to show their filth. He was probably watching from nearby. Since they were looking to court death, she would let Mo Jin play.
“If you sold them, you could certainly earn a lot of money. Don’t you think you could be a bit more generous? After all, I’m sure it wouldn’t be too good if news of this spread.” Sure enough, he was trying to threaten her. She had purposely hidden identifying information about the fruit to prevent this sort of situation, but alas. He likely thought spreading information about the riches they acquired would be putting a target on their backs, and they would want to avoid that. In fact, he was semi-correct; unfortunately, he failed to realize the easiest way to silence them was through death.
“Lady, this is really none of my business! I didn’t agree to this! I absolutely would not do anything to compromise you or your shixiong!” Yun Sen couldn’t hold it anymore and said. He was a coward and feared for his own life. However, this cautiousness is what allows the weak to survive.
“Mo Jin, don’t hurt them too badly.” Yun HaoMen’s expression changed into wariness, turning to check behind him. However, it was pointless. He didn’t see anyone but heard a plitter-platter as something fell onto the ground. Looking down, he saw his fingers.
“AHHHHHHHH!” He cried in disbelief. The man standing in front of him indifferently stepped on the appendages, not looking at the Yun ZhuLi and Yun Sen who turned white behind them.
“Perhaps we should silence you.” He said coldly, and with a gleam of his blade Mo Jin cut off Yun HaoMen’s tongue. Dripping with blood, he fell to the floor screaming. As his body hit the dirt with a heavy thud, the scene changed.
It was still painful, but he could feel his tongue and see most of his fingers. It was an illusion spell.
However, each hand was truly missing the little finger, and Mo Jin still stood in front of him, his face as cold as ever.
Yun Sen hurled. Beside him, Yun ZhuLi fell to the ground trembling, his face white and sweating nervously. Upon meeting Mo Jin’s gaze, he shook his head hard. He JiYang was a little worried what shaking like a rattle drum may do to his brain.
“Not me, not me, it doesn’t have anything to do with me! Let me go!” Yun ZhuLi cried. Yun HaoMen didn’t have the energy to glare at him for selling him out alone, but there was no need. Mo Jin had already sliced off one finger on each hand for him too.
“Let me tell you something. In front of a strong cultivator, private voice transmissions aren’t actually that private.” Mo Jin gave a glance at Yun Sen as well but turned to leave without approaching him. He JiYang followed behind him.
“You should be grateful for your blessings.” Leaving this last dose of chicken soup for the soul, she flew away towards the east. After a short gust of wind, not even their backs could be seen. There was only the shaking trio left in the clearing.
Author's Note: Don't ask me why berry plants keep their fruit all year round, growing well even in autumn. Spiritual plants don't obey evolutionary laws, it's all novel magic. Hehe, gimme a like~
