On this point, both Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie could understand. It was natural for the rich to rapidly improve their cultivation, but if the poor did so, they would definitely be seen as suspicious. Even though everything in this Little Cloud Realm had been found by these poor folk through their own abilities, even though those rich people who fabricated the rules were plundering their gains.
Those with the strength to exploit and rob were guiltless, while those without the strength to enjoy were guilty.
Poverty was the greatest sin. The same groans of pain and illness drew warm concern for the rich, but disgust for the poor.
By the lakeside, at the place where Yun Xi had fallen, the three parties were almost continuously busy in rotation. Personnel kept diving into the lake water, and people kept coming ashore.
Those who came ashore constantly sent various salvaged items back to their respective camps.
There was indeed a lair belonging to Yun Xi here, and some artifacts had indeed been discovered within it.
The giant skeletons retrieved from the lake were piled up like a mountain.
The doors and windows of the iron house were all wide open. Inside were several tables and chairs. Meng Po, Xiang Lanxuan, and Tian Yu each guarded a position, effectively keeping personal watch on the situation outside.
Someone entered and handed a slip of paper to Xiang Lanxuan.
After reading it, Xiang Lanxuan smiled slightly and said, “That Tanhua scholar is quite something. He has actually broken through to the High Martial realm. It seems his cultivation talent is decent too. Don’t let him one day make a fuss about coming first in both civil and martial cultivation. That would be quite the spectacle.”
Tian Yu and Meng Po looked at her, knowing she had received the latest news from Peach Orchard.
Meng Po said, “Just over twenty years old, being able to break through to the High Martial realm is indeed decent.”
Though he said this, and though the cultivation progress was indeed decent, to them it was not particularly impressive, and they did not think much of it.
What the three truly cared about was whether Yu Qing and the other two had shown any abnormal behaviour over at Peach Orchard. They even hoped to discover some abnormal behaviour.
However, judging from the constant reports, those three fellows did nothing but cultivate. They basically did not even leave Peach Orchard. One could truly say they were diligently training.
Of course, those three were no longer the main focus of their attention. They were merely an extra contingency, like digging a trap in advance and hoping prey would fall in.
The real focus remained on what was before their eyes.
Regardless of the current gains, Meng Po and the others knew that the search of the entire Little Cloud Realm would be an extremely lengthy process. The former Mirage City had been searched for decades before they gave up.
At night in Peach Orchard, the sparring and fighting between the three fellow disciples continued.
Whenever this happened, the people secretly keeping watch actually had an easier time. The three fighting back and forth in the peach grove proved they were all present and had not left.
After more than two months of such days, the result Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie had been hoping for appeared. Both broke through to the High Martial realm one after another.
Having advanced to High Martial in just over two months, their mood was easy to imagine. They were excited beyond measure.
The two had previously struggled bitterly, with almost no cultivation resources. Most of the time they basically relied on absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy themselves. The two could clearly sense that the total spiritual energy they had absorbed over twenty years could not compare to a single month here. What kind of concept was this?
This was the benefit of possessing an immortal peach orchard and being able to eat immortal peaches to one’s heart’s content.
Apart from the known immortal pill level Guang Ling Dan, there was probably currently no cultivation resource more powerful than these immortal peaches. Yet these three could enjoy such a powerful resource to their fill. Truly, this was exclusively enjoyed by only the three of them in the entire world.
If their cultivation could not rapidly rise under these conditions, then they would truly be letting down the words “immortal peach.”
“What about Second Senior Brother?”
Mu Aotie, who was receiving congratulations from his two fellow disciples, suddenly blurted this out.
Yu Qing and Nan Zhu exchanged glances. They understood Old Ninth’s meaning. While their cultivation was soaring wildly here, all three of them had broken through to the High Martial realm, yet Second Senior Brother Gao Yunjie’s cultivation was still at the Upper Martial realm.
Yu Qing shrugged indifferently. “Doesn’t he like to put on airs? Let him continue putting them on.”
Nan Zhu coughed dryly. “Well, you cannot really say it like that. Although Old Second likes to put on a virtuous appearance, after all he is still our ‘Eldest Senior Brother.’ Later, when we are all at the High Martial realm and only he is left slowly climbing at the Upper Martial realm, he will probably feel a bit bitter, and we will be embarrassed too, will we not?”
Yu Qing found this strange. “Hard-earned gains, won by risking our lives. We did not ask Old Second to contribute even half an effort. What do I have to be embarrassed about?”
Nan Zhu sighed. “It was not that Old Second did not want to contribute. Back then, Old Second actually wanted to come too.”
Yu Qing said, “His own luck was bad. He did not draw the lot. That is fate. Who can he blame? Besides, do you think it would have been a good thing if he had come? It would be strange if he did not oppose me at every turn.”
On this point, Mu Aotie did not deny it, and Nan Zhu also could not help but let out a dry laugh.
Both were very clear that it was still because of the Linglong Sect leader position. Old Second naturally believed he should occupy that seat. Who would have thought that their master would actually pass the sect leader position to Old Fifteenth? Not to mention Second Senior Brother, even the two of them were unconvinced.
Of course, their dissatisfaction was one thing. In any case, the sect leader position would not fall to them. But Old Second had dragged the two of them along to target Old Fifteenth, trying to force Old Fifteenth to abdicate. The result was that the sect leader was reduced to a powerless figurehead.
And Old Fifteenth was no better. When they formed cliques, he would bare his fists and use force, repeatedly fighting with them.
After Old Fifteenth succeeded, no one in the sect did the work. The vegetable plots went wild, and grass grew on the roofs and walls with no one tending to them.
Given this situation, if Old Second had really come instead, who knows what trouble would have arisen. Fighting would probably be the least of it. They likely would have fallen out completely long ago.
“Alright, why think so much? Let’s survive and get out first.”
Yu Qing dropped the subject. Nan Zhu thought about it and agreed, so he let it go. If the immortal peaches could not be taken out, even if he wanted to help Old Second, there was nothing he could do. When the time came, he could only let Old Second be full of bitterness.
Afterwards, the three fellow disciples began to seize the time to cultivate, going all out to touch the threshold of the Xuan level.
For this purpose, Yu Qing gave up cultivating the Dust-Sealing Sword Technique. If the immortal peaches could not be taken out, he could still practise the sword technique later. But this opportunity to rapidly improve cultivation would be hard to come by again.
However, after all three entered the High Martial realm, they discovered that the spiritual energy required for this realm far exceeded the combined amount needed for the Initial Martial and Upper Martial realms. Even though the three had increased their speed of refining spiritual energy due to their improved cultivation, filling that massive amount was still slow progress.
After personal experience, Yu Qing realised he had overestimated himself. At this rate, entering the Xuan level before leaving the Little Cloud Realm was basically impossible. He was probably going to lose to Zhong Ruochen.
Devoted to secluded cultivation, unaware of the passage of time, in the blink of an eye a year was nearly over.
When only ten days remained until the next new moon, Yu Qing early one morning carried over several large boxes he had personally crafted from outside, threw them on the ground, and shouted toward the cave entrance above, “Old Seventh, Old Ninth, stop cultivating and come out.”
Before long, Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie leaped out from the cave and landed beside him. Nan Zhu was puzzled. “What are the boxes for?”
Yu Qing said, “Only ten days left. From now on, stop all cultivation. You two, follow the design of my boxes and make large quantities of boxes for me with all your strength.”
The two were shocked and suspicious. Mu Aotie asked, “What for?”
Yu Qing lifted the lid, revealing rows of compartments. The boxes could also be opened layer by layer like steamer baskets.
Seeing the compartments inside, Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie subconsciously looked up at the immortal peaches on the trees. They already had their suspicions.
Sure enough, Yu Qing continued, “For storing immortal peaches. Without proper transport boxes, they will not be easy to move out. One compartment for one peach. Later we can add some padding inside to prevent them from getting damaged during transport.”
He raised his hand and pointed to the immortal peaches drying on the cliff face. “See? The ones I pierced dried up within days, and all the spiritual energy inside dispersed. But those with unbroken skin, even though nearly a year has passed, only look slightly less fresh on the surface. I broke one open and looked. The spiritual energy inside was still very well preserved. Of course, being able to stay fresh this long is related to the spiritual energy nourishing it from within. In short, we must not break the skin. So we need compartments to place them one by one for easy transport. I do not need you to make them beautifully. As long as they are sturdy enough to stack. What kind of looks are those? With your current cultivation, splitting planks with your swords is an easy matter. You two make the boxes, I’ll pick the peaches.”
Nan Zhu bared his gums as if he had a toothache. “I said, what got into you three months ago? Running up the mountain to practise sword techniques and chopping down all the big trees around the basin. So you were already preparing for this three months ago.”
Yu Qing sighed. “No choice. Wet planks are no good for making boxes. They will not be sturdy. They need to dry for enough time to be suitable as timber. We all came from the mountains. You do understand this principle, right?”
Nan Zhu asked suspiciously, “Did those three factions agree to give you the immortal peaches, or agree to let you take them away?”
Yu Qing said, “No. Stop nagging and hurry up with the work.”
“No.” Nan Zhu grabbed his wrist, puzzled. “Have you taken the wrong medicine? They did not agree. What are you blindly busy for? If after all this busy work they do not let you take them out, would it not be a waste of effort? In my view, they could not possibly give you so many immortal peaches. Instead of wasting time on this blind busywork, you might as well cultivate. Do you know how important it is to seize these last ten days? These ten days can equal several years outside.”
Yu Qing shook off his hand and lowered his voice. “Old Seventh, I think you are the one who took the wrong medicine. How many immortal peaches can you eat in ten days? If we can take them out, that would be tens of thousands of immortal peaches. How many tens of days would that earn you back? With such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you will not gamble. Has fat grown in your brain, leaking what kind of slickness?”
Nan Zhu sighed. “I have been talking for ages. How do you still not understand? How could they possibly give you tens of thousands of immortal peaches?”
Mu Aotie shook his head and added, “Even if they are tainted by evil energy, they still will not give them.”
Yu Qing rolled his eyes, lifted his sleeves with both hands, pointed at their noses, and said with a look of frustration at their foolishness, “I am telling you two idiots, use your brains, alright? If the peaches remain hanging on the trees, they definitely will not give them. They would rather let them continue hanging than give them to small fry like us. Only if we pick them all is there a possibility they might give them to us. Do you understand?”
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie were stunned. They seemed to somewhat understand his meaning.
Yu Qing continued to explain, “Once the peaches are picked, what do they want with so many inedible peaches? Let them rot? If we do not pick them, we completely lose any chance of getting them. Only if we pick them all will they consider whether to give them to us. At that time, if we reason with them and appeal to their emotions, there will be the greatest chance of success. Do you two fools understand now?”
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie exchanged glances. They were in no mood to resent being called “fools.” They both realised that what Old Fifteen said seemed to make some sense. It really did seem worth spending ten days to gamble on this.