Chapter 60: Absence
It was still the same familiar place. Gu Mo, Chu Feifei, Hu Hai, and Wu Jinfeng sat together, chatting about the past year. It had already been three years since they joined their respective peaks, and they had mostly moved past their novice phase. Each of them had gradually accumulated some resources.
At this moment, Wu Jinfeng was proudly showing off a non-ranked magical sword he had forged himself using materials he had collected over the years.
Though it was just a non-ranked magical weapon, Wu Jinfeng was quite satisfied. He believed that in the near future, he would be able to forge a true magical artifact.
"When the time comes, we'll have to commission you to craft some artifacts. You better give us a discount," Chu Feifei said with a smile.
"Of course!"
Wu Jinfeng pounded his chest confidently.
"By the way, why hasn't Yao Laoda arrived yet?" Hu Hai couldn't help but ask. They had been waiting for quite some time, but Yao Shifeng was still nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe something held him up?" Wu Jinfeng speculated. He had been too busy showing off earlier to even notice. If Yao Shifeng had been present, Wu Jinfeng wouldn't have had a chance to flaunt. Yao Shifeng's presence always overshadowed him completely.
Of course, Wu Jinfeng was unaware of Gu Mo and Chu Feifei's true capabilities. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have dared to show off at all.
"Let's wait a bit longer," Gu Mo suggested.
Unlike before, they no longer had urgent tasks to complete, so waiting a little while wasn't an issue. However, as time passed and Yao Shifeng still didn't show up, they began to feel uneasy.
Knock, knock, knock!
Just then, someone knocked on the private room's door. But the visitor was not Yao Shifeng—it was a miscellaneous disciple from the Talisman Peak.
"Are you Yao Senior Brother's friends?" the Talisman Peak disciple inquired.
After confirming their identities, he handed over a letter. The handwriting was unmistakably Yao Shifeng's—they had received letters from him before and were familiar with his script.
The letter was brief. Yao Shifeng explained that he had reached a critical moment in his cultivation and could not attend. He had asked a junior brother from Talisman Peak to deliver the message on his behalf.
"A critical moment in cultivation!" Wu Jinfeng's heart stirred when he saw those words. What kind of situation qualified as a critical moment? At the very least, it meant his cultivation had advanced.
This suggested that Yao Shifeng had become even stronger than he was a year ago. Realizing this, Wu Jinfeng proposed sending this year's investment to Yao Shifeng through the Talisman Peak disciple.
The stronger Yao Shifeng became, the more they needed to continue their investment. If not for the fact that Wu Jinfeng had spent most of his resources forging his non-ranked magical weapon, leaving him somewhat short on funds, he would have even suggested increasing their investment.
No one objected to his proposal. They had already prepared the investment in advance.
They placed 100 spirit stones into a box, and Chu Feifei engraved a basic anti-theft array on it before handing it to the Talisman Peak disciple.
With Yao Shifeng absent, the gathering naturally came to an early end. However, as usual, Chu Feifei was the last to leave.
"Here, this is your payment."
Gu Mo handed a pouch to Chu Feifei. Inside was thirty pounds of Water Spirit Rice, a reward that clearly exceeded the cost of repairing an array disk.
Beyond just payment, this was also part of Gu Mo's investment. From watching Chu Feifei effortlessly engrave an array on the box, Gu Mo could tell that her proficiency in formations had improved significantly. Her cultivation had also not fallen behind much.
Thirty pounds of Water Spirit Rice would give her another strong push forward. Gu Mo didn't need the rice for cultivation himself—he only kept twenty pounds for its taste. Besides, a new batch would be ready for harvest in just six months.
"This much?!"
Chu Feifei was visibly surprised as she looked at the pouch. She hadn't expected Gu Mo to be so generous.
To put it in perspective, the amount of Water Spirit Rice an average inner disciple could receive wasn't much more than this. Of course, inner disciples also had access to other resources, but Water Spirit Rice was scarce and highly sought after. Even they only received a limited amount.
Now, Gu Mo had effectively given Chu Feifei an inner disciple's level of treatment. How could she not be astonished?
"It's not much. I harvest three hundred pounds a year," Gu Mo said, waving his hand dismissively.
His casual remark made Chu Feifei swallow her words. This kind of blatant wealth flexing was simply infuriating!
Since he was so rich, she had no reason to be polite. She accepted the rice without hesitation. At most, in the future, if Gu Mo asked her to set up an array, she wouldn't charge him a labor fee.
"Oh, by the way, Gu Mo, I've reached the second level of Qi Refinement!" Chu Feifei suddenly declared. She wasn't about to let Gu Mo's wealth flexing slide without retaliation. So, she decided to showcase her cultivation level, proving that his investment wasn't wasted.
"Not bad. I'm also at the second level of Qi Refinement."
Since Gu Mo already knew about her cultivation progress, he remained perfectly calm and even revealed his official cultivation level.
Both Yao Shifeng and Chu Feifei had reached the second level of Qi Refinement a year ago. With the added advantage of cultivating Water Spirit Rice, it was perfectly reasonable for Gu Mo to show the same progress.
"I'll be breaking through to the third level soon!" Chu Feifei quickly added. The second level had been her cultivation a year ago. With her special constitution, her progress wasn't slow. Breaking through within two to three years was entirely possible. If she could improve her Purification Technique, it would happen even sooner.
Seeing how determined she was to win this competition, Gu Mo played along and put on a "shocked" expression.
He couldn't exactly tell her that he was already in the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, could he?
Satisfied with one-upping Gu Mo, Chu Feifei left in high spirits.
Talisman Peak
Yao Shifeng sat slumped on his bed, his face weary. To the outside world, he had claimed he was in seclusion. But in reality, he was injured.
For a long time, he had been recklessly consuming potent pills, pushing his cultivation forward at an unsustainable rate. As a result, his meridians had been in a precarious state. Yet, in his desire to gain an edge, he had never stopped.
A few days ago, during one such reckless cultivation session, his meridians completely ruptured, overwhelmed by the violent medicinal power. In an instant, his spiritual energy spiraled out of control, dealing him severe internal injuries.
For the past few days, he had been desperately trying to stabilize his rampaging spiritual energy, barely pulling himself back from the brink. But ruptured meridians meant his cultivation path was crippled—unless he could obtain a miraculous elixir to repair them.
However, such pills were incredibly expensive, far beyond what he could afford. At that moment, Yao Shifeng felt a profound sense of despair.
He had once dreamed of rising from a lowly outer disciple to an inner disciple and beyond. But now, it seemed like everything was over.
"No... It's not over yet!"
Clenching his teeth, Yao Shifeng refused to accept defeat. A faint hope emerged in his mind—his last chance.
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