"Haaa…"
A long sigh escaped Yuan's lips as he sat on his bed, his gaze unfocused, lost in his thoughts. His mind drifted back to everything that had happened in the past week since he left the Thirty Plants Forest.
First, after reporting to the Mission Hall that he had found no traces of the demonic beast and could not finish the mission, he was immediately met with sneers and ridicule. Some disciples outright laughed in his face, while others whispered mockingly behind his back.
And that wasn't all.
A few disciples even tried to beat him up , seeing him as an easy target.
But before things could escalate too far, Li Yun came,already out of seclusion.
With a single statement,saying that he and Yuan were good brothers,the beatings ended just as quickly as they had begun.
Not even a full day had passed before the harassment stopped entirely.
But the damage had already been done.
The most painful part wasn't the scorn or the failed mission itself…
It was the merit points he had to pay as compensation.
That loss stung more than anything.
But it didn't end there.
Aqua, the disciple who had first introduced him to Li Yun, along with several other inner disciples, began distancing themselves from him.
They still exchanged small talk, still gave him some face, but it was clear that it was only out of respect for Li Yun.
Yuan wasn't surprised.
For inner disciples, the first mission was a crucial event,one that determined their initial social standing within the sect.
Failing that mission meant starting at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
And unless one advanced in cultivation or found a powerful backer, that ranking rarely changed.
Normally, even Li Yun would have distanced himself after such an incident.
But he didn't.
That alone made Yuan see him as a bit more trustworthy than most.
Still, beyond the damage to his social status, nothing else truly affected him.
And so…
He went into secluded cultivation.
he began consuming all the pills he had earned from his battle against Wu Shen.
Thanks to the eight Spiritual Essence Attraction Pills, Yuan could now absorb three times faster spiritual essence from his surroundings, allowing him to fuse it with his blood at an accelerated rate.
And now… 10% of his blood was fused with spiritual essence.
With this current amount of spiritual blood, Yuan estimated that he could probably survive against Wu Shen for a few seconds longer without relying on the Azure Basilisk Flame.
Simply put, he could now infuse more of his spiritual blood into his techniques, giving him a slight edge compared to before.
However, cultivation alone wasn't enough.
Yuan also attempted to train in his other technique, one he hadn't even begun to learn properly the Thunderclap Gale Strike.
But even with 10% spiritual blood, it was still far from enough even to practice it.
He estimated that he would only be able to attempt to train it after reaching 20% of spiritual blood.
That should just be the bare minimum to train it.
To actually use it in real combat, he would likely need 30% or 35% of spiritual blood.
And to execute it perfectly, without much flaws?
Maybe 70%.
And even his other two techniques were barely at the level where he could really use them. To fully master them, he would need at least 20% spiritual blood.
Thinking about all of this… Yuan realized how foolish he had been.
Ever since he entered the Howling Wind Sect, he had grown too arrogant.
He had ignored the importance of cultivation stages, assuming that he could simply use techniques without fully understanding their requirements.
And because of that arrogance…
He had overestimated himself.
The fight against Wu Shen had been nothing short of reckless.
Everything that had happened,every risk, every injury,could have been avoided if he hadn't looked down on everything around him.
His thinking at that time had been utterly foolish.
But now, he had learned his lesson.
And he would not repeat the same mistake again.
Yuan could only feel frustration every time he thought about himself.
Did he really believe that someone who was practically a mortal could kill an opponent 100 times stronger than him so easily?
How foolish.
"Haaa…"
Yuan sighed, pushing aside these thoughts.
Before anything else, he could check the amount of his merit points.
With a deep breath, he reached into his bag of holding, bracing himself for the result before counting his merit points.
47.
Yuan counted again.
And again.
The number remained the same.
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Yuan scowled at his own poverty.
With a sigh, he then turned his attention to the various herbs stored inside his bag of holding.
Carefully, he began sorting them into two categories
Herbs that could be sold for merit points and Herbs that would be planted in his cultivation cave.
In the end, Yuan decided to plant three of the herbs in his cave.
None of them were particularly valuable.
However, after a decade or more of growth, they could save him resources and reduce the cost for the future breakthroughs.
It was a small investment.
With that, he officially ended his one week secluded cultivation and stepped outside his cave.
The moment he did, the warm rays of the sun greeted him.
Taking in a deep breath, Yuan stretched his limbs before turning in a particular direction.
With steady steps, he began walking toward Li Yun's cave.
Taking the staircase to the third floor of the mountain Peak, Yuan finally arrived at the area where Li Yun's cave was located.
Walking past countless identical cave entrances, he soon reached a familiar one,Cave 424.
Standing before the wooden door, Yuan knocked firmly.
"Brother Yun, it's Yuan!"
A moment later, the door swung open.
Standing there was Li Yun, dressed in the usual inner disciple green robe. His long black hair flowed down his shoulders, and his black eyes shone with calmess.
"Ah, Brother Yuan! Come in, come in!" Li Yun greeted him warmly, stepping aside. "What brings you to my humble abode?"
Without hesitation, Yuan stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
A small smile formed on his lips as he spoke.
"Haha, Brother Yun, as you know, I was in the Thirty Plants Forest."
Hearing this, Li Yun gave a small nod while preparing a pot of spiritual tea.
Yuan chuckled, settling down before a small tea table.
"So, Brother Yun, do you think I vanished for nearly a month… for nothing?"
Li Yun, initially calm, suddenly froze.
His black eyes widened, his gaze flashing with excitement.
He leaned forward, his voice hasty with anticipation.
"Brother Yuan, don't tell me… Did you find a spiritual item? Or perhaps an inheritance from a powerful cultivator?!"
His hands clenched into tight fists, his breathing growing slightly erratic.
"Brother Yuan, I didn't know you trusted me this much! Don't worry about merit points or spiritual essence stones,this brother of yours will cover all the costs! Whatever plan you have, your brother supports you fully!"
Yuan fell silent.
His expression stiffened, his smile faltering slightly.
He hadn't expected such a strong reaction.
Now, he couldn't help but feel a little… guilty.
Maybe he should have downplayed his words a bit.
"Cough, cough… Brother Yun, now you truly overpraise me." Yuan let out an awkward chuckle, waving his hand dismissively. "What inheritance? What spiritual item? I was merely wanted to ask where I could sell some spiritual herbs for merit points that i found. Forgive me, Brother Yun, for making it sound like something greater than it was."
Silence.
For a moment, Li Yun said nothing.
Then, he cleared his throat, coughed a few times, and without a word, retrieved two cups, placing them before Yuan.
Pouring the freshly brewed tea into the cups, Li Yun took a slow sip, a smile returning to his face.
"Brother Yuan, you don't have to worry about selling herbs somewhere." His voice carried a casual confidence. "After all, my Li family has more than enough merit points, and as a young master, I naturally have plenty to spare! Wait a moment,I'll call someone from my family to appraise them."
With that, Li Yun retrieved a communication talisman, dropping a drop of his blood,the communication talisman began to shine a bit with an green light.He then instructed one of his subordinates to send an appraiser to his cave to inspect the herbs.
The subordinate obeyed without hesitation.
And so, while they waited for the appraiser, the two began to chat.
During the month Yuan had been away, several events had taken place within the Howling Wind Sect.
At first, Li Yun boasted a little, proudly declaring that he had already made all necessary preparations for his next breakthrough.
Then, the conversation shifted toward the latest happenings among the inner disciples.
First, there was an inner disciple who had successfully advanced to core disciple status after completing an advancement mission.
But that wasn't the only news.
There had also been several fights among the inner disciples, and the reason for that is Alex which caught Yuan's attention.
And that wasn't all.
It was officially announced that Third Grand Elder Wu had accepted Alex as his personal disciple, immediately granting him inner disciple status.
Because of this, many inner disciples had challenged Alex to duels.
After fighting many fights against inner disciples, he then once won a fight against one of the subordinates of a core disciple, earning himself some fame.
But that victory came at a price.
Since then, Alex had earned the core disciples wrath and so he had been suppressed within both the inner and outer regions of the sect.
Thanks to the influence of the Third Grand Elder it allowed him to continue moving freely.
However, there were limits to what even a Grand Elder could do.
And so, Alex remained suppressed, unable to do much other than endure.
After finishing their discussion about Alex's situation,as Yuan always asked for more details, but then after they finished talking about Alex the appraiser arrived.
Li Yun immediately stood up and opened the door, allowing the appraiser to enter.
It was an elderly man with white hair and a long white beard, dressed in a dark green robe,like a normal outer sect disciple. In his right hand, he carried a wooden walking cane,His grip on the wooden cane was firm, but his movements were steady, showing that despite his age, he was still a cultivator with strong vitality
Upon entering, the old man gave a respectful bow to both of them.
"Greetings, Fourth Young Master Li and Senior." His voice was calm and steady. "This old man is called Ruben, but you may simply call me Old Ruben, Fourth Young Master, and Senior."
Li Yun smiled and nodded in greeting.
"Haha, hello, Old Ruben. Let me introduce you to my brother here." He gestured toward Yuan. "Old Ruben, this is Inner Sect Disciple Yuan."
Yuan returned the gesture with a polite nod.
Without wasting time, he reached into his bag and carefully retrieved each herb, placing them neatly before the appraiser.
Old Ruben's eyes narrowed slightly as he examined the collection.
Then, without hesitation, he began the appraisal process.
One by one, he inspected each herb with careful precision, occasionally glancing at Yuan with a hint of surprise.
With each herb appraised, he reported the price to Li Yun.
A few times, his eyebrows lifted, clearly impressed by the rarity of certain herbs.
And so, after nearly half an hour of careful evaluation and price calculations, Old Ruben finally reached his conclusion.
"These herbs are worth a total of 650 merit points."
He looked at Li Yun, awaiting his decision.