Chapter 68: Farewell

Chapter 68: Reunion

Hou Kaishan indeed wanted to blow up the mine.

He had initially thought this was just a low-grade spirit stone mine, but unexpectedly there were medium-grade spirit stones. If there were medium-grade ones, that changed everything.

He leaped directly into the mine pit Pei Jie had blasted open, tapped the rock wall, and laughed, "There really are medium-grade ones. That kid's not bad—he knows to respect a senior and knows when to quit."

Pei Jie had only taken what he had blasted out, leaving the rest for them to mine.

With that, he raised his hand to dig.

Changyanzi, who followed closely, quickly said, "Wait!"

Hou Kaishan was impatient. "What are we waiting for? Don't tell me you're expecting those mortal miners over there to do it. They can't even dig into it."

Changyanzi said, "Of course I know they can't. I wanted to examine the vein's direction."

Hou Kaishan raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? You know how to do that?"

Changyanzi was silent.

He did know a little, but he wasn't proficient.

For cultivators at their level, finding a spirit vein wasn't too hard, but it was still very difficult to survey the underground vein's course through the mountain and determine where the highest-grade spirit stones were.

Even for a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, it was hard to peer through the intricate layers of spirit stones to the depths and edges of a spirit vein mine. Many had misjudged, thinking a mine was large, only to expend great effort and find no medium-grade spirit stones at all.

They had been here for over two days. He had walked through every mine tunnel inside and out but could only roughly pinpoint the location. He had set up array flags in advance to test the waters.

As for accurately locating the core of a vein by just looking at the mountain's surface and the terrain's flow, as far as he knew, only the survey teams specially trained by certain large sects could do that. Such people were rarely allowed to leave their sects—they were living treasures.

Pei Jie's success could either be blind luck, the mine being naturally rich in medium-grade spirit stones, his spirit beast having special abilities, or the least likely possibility: that a Qi Refining stage cultivator could master a skill that normally required at least the Golden Core stage.

He wanted to tell Hou Kaishan, but considering Hou Kaishan's temperament, he might just capture Pei Jie to scout veins for them. However, Pei Jie's appearance troubled him too much, and with such skill, it was hard not to suspect the boy came from a powerful background, possibly from a large sect that even they couldn't afford to offend.

And how could such a disciple not have tracking prohibitions on him?

After mulling it over, he decided to drop it.

At their level, what they urgently needed was rarely something money alone could buy. Medium-grade spirit stones were nice, but if they encountered enemies in battle, they wouldn't use them. They'd have to go to the trouble of exchanging them for high-grade spirit stones.

Hou Kaishan saw him hesitating for a long time without saying anything, and was exasperated. "What exactly do you want to say? One word: dig or not?"

Changyanzi: "Dig."

"Then that's settled." Hou Kaishan punched out with his fist, its power no less than Pei Jie's Explosive Fire Talisman, nearly collapsing the temporary mine tunnel that had already been blasted open and wasn't stable.

Changyanzi brushed aside the stones falling toward him and said, exasperated, "Can't you at least wait for me to get out before you start digging?!"

Hou Kaishan: "Why are you getting out? Don't think you're getting out of working alone."

The hillside shook again. Chen Zhi and Tian Xiang, who had been enthusiastically picking up spirit stones, both fell over. Shang Yunduo, inside the carriage, swayed with the motion. "What's happening? Did they really blow it up? It doesn't sound like an explosion."

Pei Jie: "That tall one is a Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator. What he can do now is what you'll be able to do in the future. A punch of that magnitude is about this powerful."

Shang Yunduo was awed. "...Nascent Soul Stage?"

Pei Jie: "Of course not. He's only at the Golden Core stage. And he wasn't using his full strength. This mountain couldn't withstand a full-force strike from a Nascent Soul body cultivator."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Pei Jie: "Aren't you looking forward to it?"

Shang Yunduo hurriedly said, "Wow! Yes, I am. I'm looking forward to it."

Pei Jie sighed.

Shang Yunduo: "Really, really. I want to become stronger. After this experience, I really want to get stronger. One time like this is enough. I never want to be helpless and only able to run when chased again... It's just that it's so far away. I was just surprised for a moment. I've gotten over it now."

Pei Jie: "..."

The mountain shook again. Shang Yunduo inevitably remembered that day, when he had nearly died and would never see Pei Jie again.

"Senior," Shang Yunduo stared straight at Pei Jie, "If... if I really had died that day, would you have avenged me?"

Pei Jie thought for a moment. "Yes."

Shang Yunduo's eyes widened. "Really?"

Pei Jie nodded. "But only after I reach Foundation Establishment."

"Huh? Mm-hmm!" Shang Yunduo understood. After all, each family in the Four Directions City had a Golden Core cultivator, and that demon cultivator was also at the Golden Core stage. If he had died, Pei Jie would have suffered backlash and would have needed to find a place to heal first...

The fact that Pei Jie was willing to avenge him already made him very happy.

Pei Jie said seriously, "If I had Foundation Establishment cultivation now, or if you had reached the Golden Core stage, a mere Four Directions City wouldn't just involve taking a few spirit stones. We would have smashed their Landfire Tower and then left..."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Why smash the Landfire Tower? Hearing that Pei Jie would avenge him had already made him put the matter behind him.

He moved closer to Pei Jie, his eyes sparkling. "Senior, could I hug you?"

Pei Jie: "?"

Shang Yunduo scooted next to him, pressing close, and hugged him tightly before Pei Jie could refuse.

Pei Jie didn't move. Shang Yunduo rested his head on Pei Jie's shoulder. Pei Jie raised a hand to touch his neck, then his forehead, and asked, "Didn't you take your medicine today?"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

"Brother!" Chen Zhi rushed in first, saw the scene, and paused. "Huh? What's wrong? Did your condition get worse? How can you not even sit up after just a moment?"

Tian Xiang, arriving right after, also looked worried. "Senior, you should lie down."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Shang Yunduo lay down obediently. He was in quite a bit of pain right now—headache.

Also dizzy—dizzy from being jostled around.

The ground shook violently again. Chen Zhi stumbled. "Fellow cultivator, we should get going quickly. I think this mountain is about to collapse!"

On the way back, for the first half of the trip, Chen Zhi was uncontrollably excited. He started chipping stones in the carriage, keeping the spirit stones and tossing the rubble out. Seeing that Pei Jie didn't mind, Tian Xiang also crouched by the door and started chipping. They used a Cleansing Spell to clear the stone debris around them.

The joy of striking it rich overrode their fear of Pei Jie. It was only after the initial excitement had worn off that Chen Zhi said sheepishly, "Sorry about that, fellow cultivator. It's just that I want to process these stones so I can buy more things. I probably won't come back to Four Directions City after this..."

Shang Yunduo sat up, shocked. "You're still going to buy fakes?"

Chen Zhi: "Buy the real thing! I'm getting quality artifacts for my own use!"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Chen Zhi patted Tian Xiang on the shoulder: "Keep these well hidden, kid. If this city ever becomes uninhabitable, use these spirit stones to find a reliable caravan to travel east and settle down in a larger human town."

Tian Xiang nodded. He planned to hide these spirit stones at home and save them for emergencies.

As they chatted, the mood suddenly turned somber in the latter half of the trip.

They hadn't known each other long, but they were already friends through life-and-death. Especially Tian Xiang, who knew few cultivators to begin with, and Shang Yunduo and Chen Zhi had genuinely taken care of him. The sight of Sifang City made him break down in tears.

Chen Zhi and Shang Yunduo were at a loss on how to handle his crying.

Tian Xiang sobbed, hiccupping: "If it weren't for me, Senior Shang might not have gone, and wouldn't have ended up this injured..."

Chen Zhi awkwardly said: "I already apologized for that part—I was the one who insisted on dragging him along..."

Tian Xiang kept crying: "Your Cultivation levels are so high, and I've been holding everyone back. I can't even conceal my aura properly. Maybe that's how that demon cultivator discovered us..."

Shang Yunduo: "If it weren't for you, I'd have fallen long ago. You grabbed me just in time."

Tian Xiang: "Ahhh, I don't want to separate from you two, waaaaah..."

The uncertainty of the road ahead, the collapse of everything he knew, the coming separation, and a nameless loneliness all hit him at once. Tian Xiang couldn't stop crying, eyes shut, mouth wide open, bawling his eyes out.

"..."

Shang Yunduo and Chen Zhi scrambled to hand him a handkerchief. Even Pei Jie paused his meditation, a bit shocked at the sight.

Before long, the carriage landed a little ways outside the city gates. Tian Xiang, still clutching the technique and artifact Shang Yunduo and Chen Zhi had given him, sniffled: "Will you two never come back to Sifang City?"

"If we're fated to, we'll meet again." Chen Zhi patted him. "Train hard. If one day you reach Foundation Establishment or Core Formation, you might be able to come find us."

Tian Xiang nodded: "Mm!"

Chen Zhi patted him again: "Keep these safe. Don't go giving them away to just anybody, you softie."

Tian Xiang nodded.

Shang Yunduo quickly added: "Really, don't be polite. I couldn't use those anyway."

Tian Xiang nodded.

Chen Zhi nodded too. After the whole trip, he'd figured out Shang Yunduo must have a Fire-type Heavenly Spirit Root, so non-fire attribute items were indeed useless to him. Even fire-attribute ones were too low-level for his cultivation.

He looked at Shang Yunduo with both envy and admiration. A Heavenly Spirit Root—Shang Yunduo was the first one he'd ever met, and such a powerful one too.

He had a feeling Shang Yunduo was no ordinary Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator; he would definitely become extraordinary.

"Senior," he suddenly called out to Shang Yunduo.

Shang Yunduo and Tian Xiang both looked at him, surprised.

Chen Zhi lightly bumped his fist against Shang Yunduo's chest. "Make sure you become an awesome senior!"

Shang Yunduo paused. "I will."

Chen Zhi: "Then I'll wait for the day I hear your name and can brag about it!"

All three burst out laughing.

Watching them enter the city, Shang Yunduo saw a mortal in his fifties come rushing out of the city gate, all anxious. He hurried over to Chen Zhi, practically hopping with worry. "Where've you been now? Can't you lie low for a couple days? How am I supposed to explain this to your father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother?"

Chen Zhi: "Don't worry. I've survived a great calamity, so good fortune is ahead. I'll deliver you back to your wife in one piece."

Shang Yunduo chuckled. "His boss is pretty decent."

No wonder Chen Zhi, shrewd as he is, sticks with a mortal boss.

Pei Jie: "For small merchant teams like theirs, it's really hard to find trustworthy patrons and guards."

Shang Yunduo nodded.

True. It'd be way too easy for a cultivator to rob a mortal boss.

Mortals bold enough to hire cultivators for dangerous runs are almost all tough customers themselves.

Mutual trust is really rare.

Pei Jie: "Let's go."

Shang Yunduo: "Mm."

He waved back at Chen Zhi and Tian Xiang, who were still looking back.

Both were caught off guard for a second, then waved back hard.

The mortal boss saw the flying carriage and couldn't help but go "Whoa!" "Those your friends?"

Chen Zhi: "You bet! They're awesome!"

He gazed at the departing carriage and sighed, "Maybe one day I'll brag to people that that Foundation Establishment guy, that Golden Core guy, that Nascent Soul guy—they're my friends."

Tian Xiang was taken aback, then nodded with mock seriousness.

The mortal boss, who'd only been jealous of the carriage, was stunned. "That impressive!"

Author's note:

One journey ends, friends +1+1 [fireworks]

Pei Jie: If you could be a bit stronger, we could...

Yunduo: Senior, hug~