9 Encounter in the Woods

The first thing Hong Wu did after returning from the grotto was channel the spiritual qi inside her dantian into her sect token, binding it to her. This drained almost all the spiritual qi from her body. Luckily, once one's cultivation base was stabilized, regaining lost spiritual qi would only be a matter of using the Coldmist Breathing Technique for a brief period of time. 'Regaining one's spiritual qi is just like refilling a cup of water. Breaking through to a new level is trying to make your cup bigger. Both are accomplished the same way, but the latter is much more difficult.'

By binding the token, it was fully activated and usable only by Hong Wu. With it, she could now begin taking jobs from the sect and accumulate merit points. Eager to cash in her Lush Meadow Grass, Hong Wu grabbed her makeshift sack and headed off to the Black Rock Pavilion. Quickly finding the same job posting, she touched her sect token to the parchment, and a white light briefly lit up before just as quickly dimming. "So ya' finally broke through hey shovel-face? Took you long enough."

Sitting in the exact spot as last time was the same drunk inner sect disciple. It was still early in the morning, but he seemed to be unable to sit up properly. This was the second time this man had been rude to Hong Wu. Swallowing her anger, Hong Wu ignored the man and continued browsing the wall of jobs, looking for any more plants that she recognized from her treks into the forest. Hong Wu's apathy towards the man seemed to not deter him, "Oh~ so you think you're special now that you have a little bit of spiritual qi do you? Think you can ignore Old Sun?"

Old Sun suddenly began circulating his spiritual qi releasing a pressure targeted directly at Hong Wu. Just rotating his cultivation base throughout his meridians was enough to make it hard for her to breath. Hong Wu was terrified. She tried to rotate her own spiritual qi, only to find that her cultivation base was locked down by the pressure the old man gave off. Gritting her teeth, she tried to resist Old Sun's attack, but was soon blown back into the dirt by the dense aura radiating from the man. Old Sun smugly grinned at his work, "Humph, banned! Come back when you learn some manners."

Not daring to look back at Old Sun, Hong Wu collected her wounded pride and went to the Cloud District Exchange to trade in her Lush Meadow Grass. Reaching her destination, Hong Wu once again found Hu Huan and approached. "Sister Hong," Hu Huan said, quickly examining her, "congratulations on your breakthrough."

"You could tell?"

"But of course, the higher your cultivation base becomes, the more sensitive you become to others' cultivation levels. If you ever become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you can even extend your divine sense far beyond your body and directly see through others' cultivation levels as if they were your own."

This news was shocking to Hong Wu, but she did not dwell upon it. "It is all thanks to Brother Hu's advice that I was able to break through. How did you know about the stone's effectiveness?"

"A merchant must always be informed Sister Hong. Sometimes information is more valuable than any material possession."

"In that case I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about the drunk that always hangs around the Black Rock Pavilion Old Sun?"

"A rather crotchety old man to be sure, but not one to be crossed. Sun Dong, or Old Sun as everyone calls him, is a tenth layer Qi Condensation cultivator. He spent much of his younger years on wine and women, wasting his potential. If he had been more diligent in his cultivation he might of been able to break through to Foundation Establishment and become an elder. If you do not capitalize on your youth, breaking through to the next level becomes harder and harder. The chances of Old Sun ever reaching Foundation Establishment at this point are almost none, but he is still at the peak of power when it comes to Qi Condensation. For this reason, the sect elders have left him in charge the Black Stone Pavilion. Anyone who wishes to post a job to the wall must first gain approval from Old Sun. On top of that, Old Sun has the right to ban any cultivator from obtaining any jobs, effectively ruining any chance they have of accumulating spirit points."

Hong Wu's face turned very ugly when she heard this. "Is there a way for someone to remove their ban from Black Rock Pavilion once Old Sun has handed it down?"

"Don't tell me, Sister Hong-?"

Seeing Hong Wu's expression, Hu Huan quickly collected himself. "Old Sun does have one weakness, spirit wine. Offer him an apology with a jar of spirit wine, and said person might be able to make peace with him"

"How much?"

Hu Huan smiled wryly, "It is rather expensive; one hundred merit points. Spirit wine is a special type of cultivation resource. Each drop contains enough spirit energy to allow a first layer Qi Condensation cultivator rise immediately to the third layer."

Hong Wu balked at Hu Huan's words. Even if Hong Wu cashed in all of her Lush Meadow Grass, she would still only have half the amount needed to pay for the wine.

A trace of sympathy shone through Hu Huan, "I would like to help you Sister Hong, but I cannot haggle on this price."

Forced to accept the harsh reality of the situation, Hong Wu handed in her current stockpile of Lush Meadow Grass, collected her merit points, bade farewell to Hu Huan, and headed back to the Drifting Clouds Quarter.

***

While the first layer of Qi Condensation was an important line in the sand separating mortals from cultivators, there was no large difference between the two. Other than making it easier to continue cultivation, slightly heightening the senses, and obtaining divine sense, there was little else that could be said of the first layer. The paltry amount of spiritual qi a first layer Qi Condensation cultivator had was not even enough to begin learning spells.

When a cultivator was able to obtain a minimum of three strands of spiritual qi they would be considered a second layer Qi Condensation cultivator, and only then would they be able to practice casting the most rudimentary of spells.

The way Hong Wu slowly made progress against the odds, only to have barrier after barrier erected in her way, frustrated her to know end. She knew that to make any real progress in becoming more powerful and independent she would need to at least reach the second layer of Qi Condensation and begin mastering a few spells. As of right now, she couldn't even handle a chicken.

On her way back from the Cloud District Exchange, she ran into a few of the girls from Heishan city. Hong Wu approached them intending to share her recent experiences with cultivation, when she overheard their conversation.

"Did you hear? Lady Lan has already reached the second layer of Qi Condensation and even mastered her first spell!"

"Really!? Lady Lan is a genius."

"Right? So elegant and humble too."

"We are all lucky to have Lady Lan's guidance, otherwise we would be lost."

Hong Wu was shocked, it seemed that her efforts to catch up with Lan Cixi were lacking. Dejected, but still happy for Lan Cixi, Hong Wu went to Lan Cixi's house to congratulate her. After knocking on the door, Lan Cixi's silvery voice traveled out, "Come in."

Entering the courtyard, Hong Wu found Lan Cixi in the center, sitting on her rock. 'So she did know.'

"I wanted to personally congratulate you on your break through Lady Lan."

"You are too kind Sister Hong. How has your cultivation progressed?"

"I recently was able to establish a cultivation base, but I am still a far cry from Lady Lan's talent."

"That is wonderful news. The rising strength of one of us is greater strength for us all. Congratulations on your breakthrough Sister Hong."

The two exchanged more pleasantries before Hong Wu found an excuse to remove herself from the conversation. After leaving Hong Wu made straight for the forest to continue her foraging.

'I need two hundred and fifty more Lush Meadow Grass stalks before I can afford the wine for that drunk. Not to mention the fact that my Fasting pill will only remain effective for the next week. I should use this time to stock up as quickly as possible. The faster I can save enough for the wine, the more jobs I can take, and the more chances I will have at collecting merit points.'

Hong Wu continued to make her way throughout the forest. Making her way through the dense mist, she entered a clearing where she accidentally came face to face with a mountain boar. Before Hong Wu had time to react, the boar was already charging her.

Hong Wu hurled herself to the right in an attempt to dodge, but the boars tusk still ripped through the flesh of her left leg. Hong Wu screamed in pain. As the boar turned to make for another attack, Hong Wu tried to move out of the way again, but the wound on her leg was deep. As she made to jump to the side her left leg fell out from under her, and she tumbled to the ground.

Helpless and afraid Hong Wu had lost all hope, 'I am going to die. No! This can't be happening. I only just stepped out from the thumb of Madam Ji. My life cannot end this way!'

Before the boar had a chance to charge, a gray shadow leapt from the fog and lunged at the beast. With a pathetic squeal, the boar fell to the ground. Jutting out of the boars profusely bleeding neck was a roughly-shaped dagger made of bone. Standing over the dying animal was the mysterious girl, Yan!