Chapter 104: Moving House

Chapter 104: Moving

After marking off the area where he could hide, Shang Yunduo asked Pei Jie to count to a hundred while he hid.

Pei Jie: "..."

"Then I'll count myself."

Shang Yunduo counted silently to himself, afraid of miscounting, so he only counted to eighty before finding a hiding spot. The moment he was hidden, he eagerly used his spiritual sense to peek into the cave.

He was also curious what Pei Jie would do – still counting? Or was he already ready to catch him?

Shang Yunduo stealthily peeked. Huh? Pei Jie wasn't counting or looking for him. He was still sitting in the same spot, meditating, not moving at all.

Pei Jie didn't move, so Shang Yunduo didn't either. His feet were getting numb from squatting when Pei Jie finally stirred. Shang Yunduo focused intently, watching Pei Jie stand up and take out paper and brush. Hmm?

What was he going to do?

Write something?

Shang Yunduo quietly followed with his Spiritual Sense and "saw" Pei Jie's brush gliding swiftly, quickly writing several large characters: "Caught you."

"?" Shang Yunduo hastily tried to withdraw his Spiritual Sense, but Pei Jie's Spiritual Sense had already chased after it. He let out an "Ouch" and clutched his head, a needle-like pain stabbing his head.

Shang Yunduo rubbed his head as he went back. "Did you find me a while ago?"

Pei Jie: "When you can detect the moment I discovered you, we'll change the game."

Now it was Pei Jie's turn to hide, and Shang Yunduo stayed in the cave. He counted while replaying the previous round in his mind, but even after finishing all one hundred counts, he still didn't know when Pei Jie had found him.

In that case... Shang Yunduo concentrated.

The cave was much smaller; he didn't believe he could fail to find Pei Jie by keeping an eye on such a small space.

He waited and waited, until he suspected Pei Jie had been watching him the whole time, yet he still felt no trace of any probing.

Shang Yunduo paced around the cave, then sat down to play with pebbles, glancing around and scanning with his Spiritual Sense now and then—still nothing.

Time was almost up. He thought Pei Jie's Spiritual Sense was just too well-hidden and he had lost, so he picked up the brush to write "I concede." Before he even finished writing the first character, a Spiritual Sense suddenly attacked him, another needle-like pain. Shang Yunduo yelped and clutched his head, hastily tracing back along that spiritual sense. Pei Jie was actually sitting right on the mountaintop!

Directly above him!

Shang Yunduo: "..."

As if sensing his Spiritual Sense, Pei Jie unhurriedly pulled a note from his sleeve: "You lose."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

So frustrating!

Second round, he learned his lesson—go on the offensive! Once he finished counting, he started scanning the surroundings, trying to find Pei Jie first.

But as he swept the mountain, searching round after round, he couldn't find him anywhere. This time, Pei Jie didn't wait until the last moment to appear suddenly; instead, he withdrew while Shang Yunduo was distracted and doubting himself.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He never knew when Pei Jie had arrived, but when he left, he did it with a swagger!

Having been toyed with all day, Shang Yunduo was completely deflated by night.

For once, he didn't take the initiative to suggest Dual Cultivation.

Pei Jie taught him techniques for using Spiritual Sense through the night. The next day, Shang Yunduo finally began to get a sense of when Pei Jie's Spiritual Sense appeared. On the third day, they changed the game: both hid, and whoever caught the other first won.

Shang Yunduo steeled himself, deciding to make good use of the experience from the previous two days. It was hard for him to directly go find Pei Jie, so he would instead play defense: first conceal himself using the Breath Concealment technique and the Mirage Lizard Gauze, then wait for Pei Jie to search for him and trace back along Pei Jie's Spiritual Sense.

Hard work paid off. Even for Pei Jie, if he didn't know where Shang Yunduo was, he had to first use Spiritual Sense to probe. Shang Yunduo cheated with the Mirage Lizard Gauze, hiding well enough. When he felt a very faint probing sensation, he didn't move, then confirmed it was Pei Jie's Spiritual Sense sweeping over his head, and immediately charged straight into it, meeting Pei Jie in a Spiritual Sense version of "eye to eye." "I caught you too!"

The game instantly became more fun.

Shang Yunduo felt the same thrill as when he used to play sniper games with his old classmates. While running and hiding across the mountain, he began actively guessing where Pei Jie was hiding.

He dared not unleash his Spiritual Sense to sweep the whole mountain—otherwise, Pei Jie would definitely catch him—so he had to rely on guessing.

Pei Jie wouldn't hide in some obscure corner like he did; he didn't even bother to hide well. Sure enough, Shang Yunduo guessed right: Pei Jie just found a relatively clean spot and sat down to catch him.

Shang Yunduo excitedly controlled his Spiritual Sense, carefully approaching, and just before Pei Jie caught him, he touched Pei Jie's spiritual sense and ran.

This round, he won again!

They played happily for several days, and every night before sleep, they would discuss the day's game. Shang Yunduo felt that even during Dual Cultivation, there seemed to be a greater merging of their spiritual senses.

A few days later, after the hide-and-seek area had expanded by two more circles, Shang Yunduo was still thinking about where to hide so Pei Jie wouldn't find him, but Pei Jie told him to pack up—they were moving.

"Where to?"

"To a place with richer spiritual energy."

Shang Yunduo had no objections. As long as he was with Pei Jie, he didn't care where they went.

A few days later, the flying ship came to a stop.

Pei Jie chose a spot deeper into the Boundary Mountain interior. It was so far that even Shang Yunduo was a bit lost, but he could feel that the spiritual energy nearby had increased by a level, and there were many more demon beasts than at their previous location.

Their neighbors were either third-order demon beasts or fourth-order demon beasts; farther away, there were even fifth- and sixth-order demon beasts—truly fierce neighbors.

The upside was that there were plenty of Spiritual Plants and Spirit Insects around, making cultivation resources much better than before.

"There are many demon beasts around here. Be careful in your daily life."

"Mm."

Shang Yunduo even wondered if Pei Jie had chosen this place specifically to train him in using his Spiritual Sense, since it required constant vigilance.

Moreover, there were no high mountains here; anything in the sky, on the ground, or in the water could easily approach their dwelling unnoticed. Pei Jie also asked him to set up arrays around the perimeter, making Shang Yunduo nervous.

"Me set them up?"

"Mm."

"Then... can you check them after I'm done?"

Pei Jie smiled. "Sure."

That's good! Shang Yunduo calmed himself again.

He did the work while Pei Jie cultivated.

After all, his cultivation speed was much faster than Pei Jie's, so it made sense for him to spend more time on chores.

Before the formation was set up, they would have to stay on the ship for now. Their ship had its own array, safe enough to eliminate any worries, so Shang Yunduo began to survey the environment and observe the terrain. After much deliberation, he chose a small platform between mountains rich in spiritual energy.

This small platform was like a flat-headed nail wedged between two peaks—easy to defend and hard to attack. Among the available options, it barely counted as a favorable position.

The platform wasn’t large, but it was flat, with stable spiritual energy all around, dense vegetation, and ample materials. He could directly cut down trees to build a house. The view was good, and it was convenient for setting up formations, more than enough for the two of them to cultivate.

Pei Jie looked it over and agreed that the spot was well-chosen.

The only issue was that this small hill belonged to the territory of a third-order beast.

He’d have to go greet the new neighbor.

After he explained, Pei Jie asked, “Going alone?”

Shang Yunduo replied, “Mm. If I can’t beat it, I’ll call you.”

Pei Jie said, “Alright.”

Choosing this place, he had intended to use the beast to train Shang Yunduo.

A third-order beast was equivalent to a human cultivator in the early to middle Foundation Establishment stage—roughly the same rank.

Shang Yunduo had no real combat experience against beasts, so he didn’t dare be overconfident. After finding its cave, he first hid nearby and quietly probed with his spiritual sense, observing its habits before planning his “negotiation.”

But before he could observe for long, he nearly got caught.

Shang Yunduo quickly withdrew his spiritual sense, thinking to himself, *That was close*—it was actually a Double Pupil Beast with keen spiritual perception.

Judging by its reaction, its sharp perception came from its innate double pupils.

Its spiritual root attributes were Wood and Metal. Inside its cave were many neatly cut pieces of wood covered in moss, suggesting it habitually slept on them.

Interestingly, that matched his own spiritual root attributes.

It also had wings. Since it had wings, it could certainly fly.

He didn’t know how fast it was.

Shang Yunduo recalled its body shape.

Compared to animals, its limbs looked more like those of an insect—armored limbs with visibly sturdy muscles beneath. Based on its build, it was likely very fast.

If so, it would be best to keep it inside the cave and trap it there, which would work to his advantage.

Shang Yunduo used his spiritual sense to check the surroundings again, confirmed the cave had no other exit, then pulled out an array flag and sealed the entrance.

Before the Double Pupil Beast could react, he stood before the formation and threw a string of fire bombs into the cave.

The whole cave burst into flames. The beast instinctively closed its eyes at the flash of light. Seizing the opening, Shang Yunduo tossed in the Wood Fire Pearl, sending flames straight toward its softest-looking belly.

But the beast wasn’t easy prey. It flapped its wings to dodge, kicked the Wood Fire Pearl away, and charged at Shang Yunduo at the cave mouth. Shang Yunduo hastily stepped back, but the beast was stopped by the spirit wall formed by the formation. *It works!* Shang Yunduo rejoiced. The Seven Baleful Fire rained down into the cave like falling rain, turning the entire cavern into a blazing furnace.

The Double Pupil Beast roared in fury, ramming the wall even more violently. Shang Yunduo immediately intensified the flames.

Because his meridians had been injured for so long, he hadn’t been able to use the full power of the Wood Fire Pearl. Now, ten pearls gathered together, instantly burning through the beast’s thin wings. It let out a mournful cry, stopped wasting time at the cave mouth, turned around, and fled deeper into the cave where the fire was weaker.

Shang Yunduo advanced a few steps, continuing to control the Wood Fire Pearl to set fires everywhere. Sensing that the beast was about to break through the wall and escape, he left the pearl to keep burning and circled around ahead of it. Just as the beast’s claw—like metal or stone—dug through the cave wall, he threw a punch.

The arm guard clashed with the sharp claw, producing a piercing metallic screech. Gritting his teeth, Shang Yunduo let fire burst from his fist, spreading from the arm guard to cover his entire arm. A faint smell of burnt meat wafted through the air, mixed with a hint of singed dry grass.

The beast leaped back into the cave. Shang Yunduo smashed open the cave entrance and continued stoking the flames.

The beast launched a sudden ambush. Shang Yunduo quickly tilted his head to dodge and blocked again with his arm guard, forcing the beast back into the cave.

Unable to do anything to him, the beast didn’t linger after the failed attack. It turned and fled, digging stones to break through the cave elsewhere.

After half a day, no matter where the beast dug, Shang Yunduo was always there in time. Completely enraged, the beast stopped fleeing—dragging its burned wings, it charged through the flames, sending Shang Yunduo flying. After breaking out of the cave, instead of running, it assumed a stance for a life-or-death battle.

Shang Yunduo quickly took two Qi Recovery Pills and engaged it in close combat.

Taking advantage of his spiritual root attribute advantage, every punch brought fire. Though inexperienced, once he adapted to the beast’s speed, his attacks grew faster and stronger. When the beast realized that it was inferior in close combat and that Shang Yunduo’s attacks were so dense it couldn’t escape, fear overtook rage. It began whimpering at Shang Yunduo. He deliberately left an opening and let it escape.

This time, the beast didn’t fight to the death—it fled immediately.

Shang Yunduo shouted after it, “Hey, the boss here has changed hands! If you come back, I’ll kill you!”

Whether it understood or not, the beast, with its tattered wings, limped away as fast as it could, leaving behind a trail of dusty footprints.

After it disappeared, Shang Yunduo withdrew his spiritual sense and walked into the cave.

The cave, once covered in moss, was now completely empty—even the ceiling was scorched black. He touched it. The stone was still warm, and some spots seemed almost vitrified.

But it wasn’t uniform.

Not all flames could reach that temperature.

His Seven Baleful Fire wasn’t powerful enough yet. He would need to reach the second level or above to match the Wood Fire Pearl’s heat.

He retrieved the still-burning Wood Fire Pearl and looked closely. Huh? It seemed like one of them had cracked!

His heart ached. He didn’t know if it could be repaired.

Forgetting about the cave full of ash, he turned to head home, but his foot hit something—hot.

Something seemed to still be burning.

He picked it up. It was a wood core, charred all around except for a small bit that seemed particularly hard to burn.

Shang Yunduo examined it but couldn’t tell what it was. Since the Seven Baleful Fire hadn’t burned it to ash, it might be something valuable. He pocketed it for now.

He walked back and searched around, hoping to find something else to make up for his loss.

Finding nothing else in the cave, he still wasn’t satisfied. After coming out, he began searching for spiritual herbs nearby.

Rare Spiritual Plants had guardian beasts. The Double Pupil Beast had raised a whole cave of moss, so it must have lived there for a long time. Surely there would be some spiritual herbs around its den, right?

Author’s Note:

Yunduo: Ah, time, environment... back in the day, I wouldn’t have dared to provoke a beast.