Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Asking Around for Information

Because the Bao Hua Mountain Range was the second largest mountain range in the western region of the Vast Cosmos Realm, countless cultivators came here to train every year, so the major sects all had outposts here.

First, it let them lend a hand when their own disciples ran into danger. Second, when disciples left the Bao Hua Mountain Range after training, they could hand in their gains to the sect right away.

Of course, the sects didn’t take those gains for free. They either paid spirit stones or counted it as sect points. It was also a kind of protection, since killing people to steal their treasures was common in the Cultivation World.

Since Yun Xi had accepted the task to search for missing fellow disciples, she planned to first check in at the Hao Ran Sect outpost, then decide whether to enter with other sect disciples or go in alone.

To be honest, this was Yun Xi’s first time training somewhere so far from the sect, and she didn’t feel confident.

She knew she had too many secrets and would be best off entering the Bao Hua Mountain Range alone, but when it came time to actually do it, she felt a little scared. After thinking it over, she still wanted to visit the outpost first.

The Hao Ran Sect outpost was a shop. It sold pills, talismans, artifacts, and formation tools. Any Hao Ran Sect disciple could restock their gear here, and they could also sell what they gained from training. Most importantly, with an identity jade token, they could buy on credit once, which was a huge help for disciples who were short on funds.

“Martial Uncle, this disciple is Wei Yun Xi. I accepted a sect task and came here to meet up with the other disciples.”

After introducing herself, Yun Xi handed her disciple jade token to the Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator took the token, checked it, then returned it to Yun Xi and asked in a flat tone, “What task did you accept?”

“This junior accepted a task to enter the Bao Hua Mountain Range and search for missing fellow disciples.”

The Foundation Establishment cultivator took out a jade slip from his storage bag, glanced at it, and said, “You’re only at the ninth level of Qi Refining. You can’t take this task.”

Yun Xi said in surprise, “Huh? There was no cultivation restriction when I accepted it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to take it at all, and I wouldn’t have rushed here day and night.”

Only after confirming it did the Foundation Establishment cultivator explain, “The difficulty of your task was increased. It has already been moved from the Outer Sect to the inner sect. The ones taking it are all Foundation Establishment cultivators. You must have accepted it before the difficulty increased, so you didn’t know.”

Yun Xi asked blankly, “Martial Uncle, then what do I do now? Did I accept this task for nothing?”

The Foundation Establishment cultivator could tell Yun Xi was doing an outside task for the first time. He waved his hand like it didn’t matter and said, “It’s not your fault you can’t complete it. Just go back to the sect and explain it clearly.

“Since you’re out training anyway, you can take some tasks from me to look for spirit plants or hunt demon beasts and enter the mountains. That won’t affect anything, but I suggest you go into the Bao Hua Mountain Range with fellow disciples.”

Yun Xi scratched her head. “Then I’ll listen to you, Senior. I’ll prepare today and see if there are any fellow disciples entering the range tomorrow, so I can travel with them.”

The Foundation Establishment cultivator tossed Yun Xi a jade key and told her to find an empty room in the back courtyard to rest. Then he went back to sorting the spirit plants in his hands.

When Yun Xi entered the back courtyard, she saw fellow disciples wearing Hao Ran Sect robes. Some hurried off with quick steps, some gathered in small groups and spoke in low voices, and some rushed into rooms to rest. The smell of blood on them told Yun Xi they were probably injured.

After looking around, Yun Xi walked toward a few disciples who were chatting together, because the topic of their conversation was exactly what she wanted to ask about. They noticed what she was trying to do, stopped talking, and turned to look at her.

“Martial Uncles, I’m an Outer Sect disciple. I want to ask about the missing disciples in the Bao Hua Mountain Range.”

A Foundation Establishment woman cultivator swept her eyes over Yun Xi and asked, “What do you want to know?”

“I accepted the task to search for missing fellow disciples, but because the difficulty increased, my cultivation isn’t enough, so I can’t complete the task anymore. But one of the missing disciples is my friend, and I’m really worried about her.” Yun Xi probed carefully.

“Which missing disciple is your friend?”

“Qin Tong Shuang.”

When the woman cultivator heard the name, her expression softened a little. “So you’re Xiao Shuang’s friend. No wonder you accepted that task.

“She entered the Bao Hua Mountain Range with a team of fellow disciples to train, but they disappeared on the outer edge of the range. Before they went missing, this outpost received their distress talisman. After that, the Martial Uncles here sent messages to sect disciples who were training in the mountains to go look for them.

“In the end, when fellow disciples arrived, they didn’t find any trace of Qin Tong Shuang’s group. Instead, two more fellow disciples went missing. After that, more and more disciples who went to help also disappeared, so the task difficulty was upgraded.

“The few of us plan to enter the Bao Hua Mountain Range and investigate after Senior Brother Sheng arrives.”

She paused, then continued, “With your cultivation, I advise you not to go join the excitement. Otherwise, we’ll have to rescue one more person.”

Yun Xi could only nod. After thanking them, she found an empty room and rested.

She still planned to enter the Bao Hua Mountain Range with these people. And the “Senior Brother Sheng” the woman cultivator mentioned made a bad suspicion suddenly rise in her heart. She couldn’t prove it yet, so she decided to wait and see. She would wait until the Senior Brother Sheng mentioned by the woman cultivator arrived.

Before that, she needed to draw talismans every second she could. Now that she had successfully reached Foundation Establishment, she could draw second-grade talismans. This was her support. Only when she had enough prepared would she feel safe.

Luckily, she knew all the second-grade talismans by heart. Before, she could only draw low-grade talismans. Now, with abundant spiritual energy, she could try challenging high-grade talismans.

Fortunately, blank talisman paper and beast blood were both sold in the sect outpost’s shop. Since she was a sect disciple, she even got a discount. She took the chance to stock up on blank talisman paper and the blood of second-rank demon beasts, then closed her door and began drawing talismans, all while keeping an eye on the movements of those Foundation Establishment disciples.

Five more days passed before that group finally got their Senior Brother Sheng. It was the male lead, looking even younger than the Sheng Yu Hong Yun Xi had seen in the Illusion Realm. His cultivation was late Foundation Establishment, making him a heaven’s favored genius within the Hao Ran Sect. The moment he arrived, the sect disciples temporarily staying here surrounded him.

Yun Xi, wanting to know her enemy and know herself, also squeezed over. She put on a worshipful face as she stared at Sheng Yu Hong and strained her ears to listen to the discussions around her.

“Senior Brother Sheng, was your journey here smooth?”

Sheng Yu Hong replied with restraint, “It was fairly smooth. I dealt with an evil cultivator on the road, so I was delayed a bit. Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”

“Senior Brother is amazing. Even while traveling, you still don’t forget to eliminate evil cultivators. You’re truly a role model for our generation.”

“Junior Brother flatters me. Eliminating evil and defending the righteous path is the Hao Ran Sect’s creed.”

Sheng Yu Hong spoke modestly, but the slight curve of his lips betrayed his good mood.

Yun Xi looked at his youthful face and overlapped it with the ruthless male cultivator from the Illusion Realm. Right now, she was no match for this male lead. It was best to keep lying low.

At the same time, Sheng Yu Hong also sensed a gaze that felt strongly aggressive. He turned his head and looked toward where the stare came from.