On The Path Again - Another Carriage

Once again Shu He was foot down the mud trail making his way to the next village, it had been 3 days since he left so he was about halfway there, the trees around him were of a different type than before and he was seeing different types of flora, but the journey was the same as ever.

That isn't to say he was bored, he was spending time practicing with his different techniques, and every now and then he'd come across a flower or plant he had interest in so he'd stop off to inspect it and take clippings for later, he truly enjoyed the freedom of being on the road with little to hold him down, if he didn't have a mission to take care of he'd be walking even slower and taking detours constantly.

Now that the 'Important' part of his mission was over and done with he felt no pressure, he was certainly interested in the Spirit Beast that had just undergone ascension, but he wasn't rushed because of the other cultivators there.

A newly ascended spirit beast shouldn't be much of a threat to your average cultivator, they'll be undeveloped and won't have gotten used to their changes, plus they still need to consume a lot of Qi filled resources to fully develop their new abilities.

At most it would just be a bit stronger than its normal counterpart.

'I wonder what it should be called, it's a Greyback Mountain Wolf so… we'll have to see how it changed I guess…' He pondered as he casually strode through the dirt.

"Hm?" Suddenly, he picked up on rattling from a distance away and activated his territory to take a look, a couple hundred meters back on the road was a carriage that was simply adorned, the bare minimum.

Shu He swayed to the outer part of the road to let them pass, yet it stopped, skidding in the mud slightly as the single horse driving it was bumped by the cheap carriage.

The driver then called out "Hey! You there! Are you heading over to Pure-Pond?"

'Didn't something like this happen not too long ago?' Shu He thought, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

"May I ask, who is asking?" He said, turning to the stopped carriage. The driver stood up and bowed politely to him, he wore a daoist robe much like Shu He except it was dark blue in colour with cyan trimmings and was clearly made of normal mortal materials unlike his.

"I'm Tao Yan from the Crystal Coral sect, It's a surprise to see a fellow daoist like yourself walking along the dusty road alone like this, could you be a solitary cultivator?"

Shu He merely shrugged while smiling before asking "I haven't heard of your sect before, could it be you're not from around here?".

The young man scratched the back of his short head of hair "Ah, you caught me? We're actually visiting from the Water region, we're a small sect with few members".

"What brings you all the way out here?" Shu He asked, "Could you be here for the beast up in Pure-Pond?".

"Ah! So you're heading there for that too then? I thought so, we've seen quite a few others heading there so far".

"Really? I haven't seen many at all".

"That's because most of them are on foot so they're taking a direct route, that's why I said it was a surprise to see a fellow cultivator on the dirt path! We're only here because we have a carriage."

'Oh, that explains it' Shu He nodded to himself, he had taken a rather indirect route going through Silvernode, Bluemill, Redaloy and Sunnyside, he had only heard rumours of more people but never saw any cultivators.

"Say, why not join us? We're only a group of three so I feel we'd be hard pressed to get anything by ourselves" He put his hand out as he smiled politely.

'He doesn't seem to be hostile…' But Shu He was confused "What do you mean 'get anything'?"

Tao Yan frowned and tilted his head with confusion before he asked, "Little brother, if I could ask, what are you going to Pure-Pond for?".

"… I accepted a subjugation quest for a Greyback Mountain Wolf, why?" Shu He spoke honestly, it didn't matter to him whether someone got rid of it for him anyway, it just needed to be defeated.

A look of surprise became plastered on the young man's face "Oh! To think you haven't even heard the rumours!" he exclaimed, looking towards Shu He to see his reaction.

Shu He only raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue; he wasn't playing into it.

"Ahahaha… you see, it was a few weeks back now a solitary cultivator like yourself found an odd stone in the region near Pure-Pond Village, at first he wasn't sure what it was but felt it was unique, so he took it to a marketplace that delt in spirit items where it was appraised…!" The excitement in his face was palpable as he waited for Shu He to ask the question.

Shu He, sighed and asked it "And what was it?"

"It was a super condensed version of a Crystalised Qi Stone! The likes of which had never been seen before! Just that stone alone would sell for 3 middle grade spirit coins! Yet that wasn't the end of it, as soon as he sold it the rumours got out about where he found it and curious cultivators went ahead and scoured the area, and what do you know, more were found!"

Now, Shu He was interested, a single one was the equivalent of half the metal used to forge his old knife? That was valuable! His eyes began to gleam "That's not all, right?"

Tao Yan smiled "Hehe, I knew someone like you would be interested! Turns out these things weren't just valuable to sell, but a daring cultivator consumed one and it turns out they are like natural Pills! The Qi in them is incredibly powerful but also gentle, it allowed them to break through to Meridian Awakening with ease! And they didn't even consume 10% of the Qi inside! It's like a dream item for us smaller sects and solitary cultivators!".

"Interesting…" Shu He rubbed his chin in thought.

He had been using Qi Puddle pills from the start, but it sounds like these 'Stones' might be as good as Qi Pond pills, the upgrade, or even better! Not just that, as a newly born Alchemist he was curious about their composition.

"So, would you like to join us?" Tao Yan asked once more.

"Before I do, how would we split the stones if we find them?"

"We'll split them evenly, leftover ones go to whoever found them!"

"Sounds good, I'm in! A ride is more comfortable as well anyway!" Shu He walked up to the carriage.

"Just hop on in; Hey you two! We've got an extra for our group, be nice!" Tao Yan spoke through the small window carriage before a deep voice replied, "Got it".

The door opened before Shu He as he saw a large man while tanned skin and short black hair welcoming him in "There's plenty of room! Just us two in here." The beefy man said as he went to sit back down.

"Then, excuse me" Shu He stepped inside and happily took a seat after placing his backpack on the seat opposite.

Inside was the large man he just saw, and a young woman with a slight frown on her face, she had long hair tied at the back the colour of seaweed and blue eyes as she frowned and stared at him "I told him before we didn't need any help…" she muttered.

"Ahaha, don't mind my Junior Sister, she's just a little grumpy after being away from the Sect for so long" Tao Yan spoke from the front.

"Like hell I am!" She yelled back before huffing, with crossed arms she reluctantly looked over to Shu He and asked, "What's your name?".

"Shu He, may I ask yours?"

"Gong Jie…" She answered before looking away like her job was done.

"Mines Wan Kang, It's nice to meet you Shu He!" The larger man held his hand out, so Shu He shook it feeling the strength in the latter's palms.

'This guy reminds me of Gang Bo…'

"Yeah, nice to meet you; It's my first time meeting people from the Water region".

"Really? We see travellers from other regions quite often!"

"That's because our sect is near a trade hub Wan Kang…" Gong Jie added like she was reluctant to speak.

Despite that, when they began talking about their sect and their experiences she joined in more than often. Just like this, the newly formed group of three plus Shu He travelled towards Pure-Pond while engaging in a lively discussion.

'Well, this isn't so bad'

Shu He wasn't worried about the 'deal' he had with the three of them, he fully understood not to take anyone's words at face value, it was entirely possible they were going to run off with everything after ditching him.

But again, he wasn't worried.

He naturally compresses his Qi now, so normally it was harder to gage his actual cultivation level, at most they likely assumed he was at Blood Enhancement, the 2nd stage, being a 'Solitary Cultivator' is hard after all.

But with his <<Divine Territory>> he could easily read their true cultivation levels, Tao Yan was at Balance Attainment like him, while the other two were at Meridian Awakening, he didn't feel pressured by them at all, if needed he could easily escape or supress them.

The thing he was thinking about most were the odd stones, he still remembered his actual objective which was the suppression of the beast.

'I wonder if those stones have anything to do with the fast ascension…'.