Next Steps

Returning after weeks of wandering the forest without a place to return to comforted Hong Wu in a way she never thought a bare bones cave would before moving to the Black Mountain Sect. Exhausted from the days events, as well as the stress she bore for the past few weeks, Hong Wu immediately passed out cold. Yan covered Hong Wu with a blanket before heading to the large spirit stone to cultivate.

The next morning Hong Wu awoke feeling rejuvenated. The nightmare was over and Hong Wu was finally freed from Du Hu's yoke. Now that she had regained her freedom, Hong Wu started thinking of what her next steps would be. Both Hong Wu and Yan were still in the fourth layer of qi condensation. Hong Wu had barely made any progress with only twenty-two strands of qi formed in her dantian, where as Yan was already at thirty-seven, just a few strands shy of the fifth layer of qi condensation.

The requirements for advancing were exponential in nature. One only needed eighteen for reaching the fourth layer, but breaking through that wall to eighteen was far harder than any of the first three layers. That being said, once you broke through that barrier, your cultivation speed gained an exponential growth comparable to your needs. The more talented at cultivating you are, the easier it would be for natural cultivation to suffice without supplements such as pills and incense.

Take Lan Cixi for instance. With nothing more than the resources provided by the sect, she was able to reach the peak of the fourth level of qi condensation, only waiting to solidify her foundation before breaking through to the next layer. Even taking into account the extra resources provided to the girls of the Drifting Cloud Quarters, to reach this level of cultivation in just six months was unprecedented. A few of the higher ups started taking an interest in her in the hopes that she was destined for even greater accomplishments.

To cultivators, their cultivation base was everything. Without constant advancement, young cultivators' potential would soon dry up and their prospects for advancement would be limited. A perfect example of this would be Old Sun. Not able to break through to Foundation Establishment while he was young, the chances of him doing so now were almost zero.

Mulling over the predicament Hong Wu found herself in everything boiled down to one thing. 'We need more resources if we are ever going to be ready for the Young Dragons Competition.'

Bringing up the need for resources with Yan was met with aggravation. "Ya nearly got yerself killed last time ya wanted to go foragin fer flowers; besides, it's winter now, nuthin is growing at this time of the year."

"That's where you're wrong though, there are plenty of spiritual herbs that specialize in growing in the cold season. Matter of fact, I was going to suggest that we do a second sweep of the Drifting Cloud Quarter's section of the forest to see if we can find any."

"That's all fine n dandy, but when we've swept clean our little corner of the forest, what then? Are ya planning on going back out there to Du Hu's stomping grounds? He may be all fucked up now, but those burns ain't gonna put him outta commishin forever."

Hong Wu's brow wrinkled at the thought of another encounter with Du Hu. He was not likely to show any mercy the next time he saw her. Shuddering at the thought of encountering him again she was reminded of her spoils of war. "Maybe...maybe we don't have to leave the Drifting Cloud Quarter's anymore."

Hong Wu's attention turned to the bag of holding tied to the belt of her robe. Giving the bag a gentle tap, a handful of sect tokens appeared in Hong Wu's hand. Seeing Hong Wu's action, Yan was quickly able to deduce Hong Wu's train of thought. "Never figured ya'd be the one to grow such a ruthless side" Yan cautioned.

Hong Wu ignored Yan's statement. "Hey I'm just trying to find solutions here, I don't hear you offering any good ideas. Besides, I'd be a way better boss than Du Hu ever was."

Using Du Hu's minions for her own benefit indeed seemed like a cold thing to do. Hong Wu surprised even herself when she came up with the idea, but the merits of using Du Hu's people were unquestionable. If she could take even half the resources that Du Hu had his followers gather it would be more than enough for both Yan and Hong Wu to continue in their cultivation. Du Hu was a wastrel who would spend frivolously on consumable talismans, expensive magical tools, delicacies, and other things outside of his own cultivation.

On the other hand, Hong Wu's only focus was on raising her own personal power. In addition, provided she could get her cauldron back from Hu Huan and continue her practices in alchemy, she was capable of taking spirit grasses and plants of middling value and turn them into something of far greater value than the sum of its parts. Knowing these two things, Hong Wu believed she could make great use of Du Hu's little gang.

Yan seemed a little uneasy with Hong Wu's new line of thinking, but more so because Hong Wu was becoming less innocent than the actual act of exploiting others. "Well if it helps, it helps. So how we doin this?"

"You can leave the how to me, all you need to do is have my back and look scary."

"Sounds easy enough."

Hong Wu giggled and Yan's laissez-faire attitude as she fiddled with the sect tokens in her hand before finding the one she was looking for. Sending her divine sense into the token she told the owner to meet her at the edge of the Drifting Cloud Quarters and Du Hu's territory.