Chương 86: A Familiar Face

The good news was that despite Azure's ominous prediction about encountering life-or-death situations on our journey back to the sect, the first few days were surprisingly peaceful. The weather was good. The roads were clear. There were no ambitious cultivators targeting our Elemental friend. And best of all, we hadn't encountered a single arrogant young master looking to cause trouble. It was actually almost suspicious how smoothly everything was going. And then, it happened. Rocky started behaving strangely.

The stone guardian usually walked around with heavy yet steady footsteps. But all of a sudden, his movements became increasingly erratic. The stone giant would take a few steps, then pause as if confused, then stumble forward again. The jerky movements made it difficult for Liu Chen to stay on his best friend's shoulder. He was in real danger of falling off.

"Rocky, you okay?" he whispered into what looked like ears. The stone creature responded with a low, gravelly rumble. I didn't know what that meant, but it couldn't be anything good because his massive form swayed.

"Something's wrong," Lin Mei said, walking over to the pair.

"He looks like he's going to fall over." I reached out with my spiritual sense to figure out what was causing Rocky to be so unstable.

"Master, his qi is surging wildly," Azure called out.

"The pattern is similar to..."

"A breakthrough?" I finished mentally.

"Yes. It probably has something to do with all the spirit stones the Wei Family fed him." That explained what was going on pretty well. What we were watching was basically a stone giant that was drunk on cultivation resources. I quickly explained what I had discovered to the others.

"A breakthrough?" Liu Chen exclaimed, "Really? Rocky is going to get stronger?"

"That makes sense," Wei Lin nodded.

"Those stones my family gave him, they're not regular stones, they're mining waste from spiritual veins. They contain much more energy than stones mined from normal deposits."

"Do you think it's a problem?" Lin Mei asked, concerned. I didn't blame her. The way Rocky swayed, it looked like he would crush a tree any second now.

"Not exactly," I said, continuing to monitor Rocky's qi fluctuations.

"But maybe we should find a safe place for him to process all of this energy before he crushes something or someone by accident." What happened next threw my plan out of the window. Rocky rumbled something then slowly curled inward into himself. His previously defined facial features began to soften and blend together. I didn't see that coming…

"It's okay!" Liu Chen called out to us, patting what was rapidly turning into a more boulder-like shape.

"He does this sometimes when he wants to rest. When he wakes up, he'll be more powerful!" It was pretty awesome to see a massive humanoid rock collapse into itself and turn into what looked like a normal, if slightly large, boulder. Liu Chen hopped down and patted his friend's new form lovingly.

"Well," Wei Lin said after a moment, "that answers the question of where to leave him. No one will look twice at another boulder on the side of the road."

"But will he be okay by himself?" Liu Chen asked, frowning.

"Actually, an elemental guardian's breakthrough is safest when he is alone," Lin Mei explained gently.

"Less distractions, less chance of external energies interfering with the process. And Rocky is smart; he'll find us at the way station once he's finished." I could only hope she was right. I had read my fair share of novels where boulders were used for body cultivation practices. But it wasn't like we could carry the boulder with us. We would have to have some dog-shit luck to return to something like that happening to Rocky. Liu Chen still looked uncertain but nodded.

Once we had carefully positioned the boulder that was Rocky in a defensible spot and marked it with a simple detection formation (thanks to Wei Lin) to alert us if anyone came near, we headed towards the nearby way station. Upon arriving at the entrance of the way station, I couldn't help but recall my previous visit: the young master's cruel indifference, the mock duel that resulted in murder, and how everyone else seemed to see it as just business as usual. The memory left a sour taste in my mouth.

"That look on your face," Wei Lin said softly as we walked.

"You're thinking about what happened last time, aren't you?" I nodded without denying it. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The memory of Li Yuan's broken body burning to death from spiritual flames was still vivid in my mind.

"We'll be fine," he assured me.

"We're Azure Peak disciples. No one is going to give us trouble unless they're from another major sect. And even then, they would have to be very foolish to start a fight with us so close to our sect's territory."

"Also," Lin Mei added smiling, "you're stronger now. And we learned last time not to get mixed up in the drama of young masters." They did have a point. But I still couldn't shake the feeling of unease. The guards at the entrance barely glanced at our Azure Peak sect tokens before letting us in.

"Since we're here," Wei Lin grinned, "let's go check out this place for real this time since you're not broke anymore..." I touched the storage ring on my finger where the eleven thousand spirit stones lay hidden. The marketplace was a wonderland for cultivation resources. There were many different types of spirit herbs on display at one stall, each of their leaves still glistening with morning dew despite being sealed in special jade containers. At another stall, there were formation flags and talismans.

At a third stall, there were various cultivation manuals and technique scrolls available, but I noticed that most were relatively basic. Obviously, the top-level items would never be sold so publicly. As I wandered between the stalls, I couldn't help but notice how quickly my mental calculations of prices put things into perspective. Apparently, I was still considered poor by the standards of the cultivation world even with eleven thousand spirit stones.

A single high-grade spirit herb could cost thousands of spirit stones. Any decent quality weapon could cost tens of thousands of spirit stones, at a bare minimum. And don't even get me started on resources needed for the inner world.

"You're thinking about money," Azure pointed out.

"Is it that obvious?"

"You have that same look that you did when evaluating the prices for cultivation techniques at the sect," Azure replied.

"It's the look you get when you're cursing your luck for being transmigrated into a villager's body." He wasn't wrong. Things would be so much easier if I was in the body of a rich clan disciple, though they came with their own share of problems. Anyways, as a lower-realm cultivator, there were only a few reliable ways to generate serious wealth in this world. Alchemy was the most common method - creating pills and elixirs was generally a profitable endeavor.

However, the resource requirements necessary to create elixirs and pills would burn through my spirit stones very quickly, and there was no guarantee of success. Also, if I messed up during the actual process, the results could be literally explosive. Formations were a second option, though less flashy than alchemy. There was a market for formations, and the required investment was typically lower (mainly tools and materials for drawing and anchoring the formations).

However, formations required a great deal of knowledge regarding spiritual geometry and energy flow patterns.

"The runes from the Two Suns world," Azure pointed out, "are essentially a type of formation. You already have experience with complex energy patterns." That... was actually a valid point, I looked down at the silvery tree pattern hidden beneath my robes. The Two Suns' rune system was extremely complex, yet it had always seemed intuitive to me. Maybe that wasn't luck.

"I wonder..." I mused, "How would formations in this world react to being energized by the suns' energy rather than traditional spiritual energy?"

"Only one way to find out," Azure replied.

"But I'd recommend becoming proficient with formations before trying to use alternative power sources. Formations can be... unpredictable when improperly managed." I nodded and decided that I would pursue both paths, alchemy and formations, and see which one I was naturally more inclined towards. Formations seemed like the more reasonable place to begin with, given my current experience with energy patterns.

"You're interested in crafting formations?" Wei Lin asked when he caught me staring at a stall that sold formation tools for several minutes.

"Thinking about it," I admitted.

"Would it be better to get the basic formation tools from the sect?" Wei Lin made a face.

"The sect's starter kits are... functional. But they buy them in bulk for outer disciples, so the quality is pretty basic. If you're serious about learning formations, I'd suggest investing in better tools now. It'll save you from headaches later." The formation tool stall was operated by an older gentleman whose fingers were stained with ink which probably meant he spent a great deal of time working with formations.

His display contained a variety of tools, including formation scribing tools, array anchors and other formation-related supplies.

"Anything specific?" the old man asked, looking at us sharply, despite his relaxed demeanor.

"A beginner's kit," I replied.

"But quality tools that will last."

"Here are my basic beginner kits." He produced several cases.

"Each kit includes a primary scribing brush with an adjustable qi flow, a set of measuring calipers calibrated for spiritual geometric measurements, basic array anchors in copper and jade, and a formation testing stone." I studied the tools closely while Azure pointed out subtle details about their craftsmanship. The brushes were well-made and would channel qi cleanly. The calipers had precise markings for the most common angle measurements in formations.

Even the testing stones were properly cut to show their crystalline structures.

"The jade in these array anchors," Azure noted, "is from a secondary spiritual vein. Good enough for learning, but they will need to be replaced for any serious formation work." I used that as leverage in negotiating with the old man, along with pointing out a slight misalignment in one of the calipers' joints. The old man's eyes lit up as we discussed the technical details.

Eventually, we agreed on 800 spirit stones for a modified kit - slightly better scribing brush, better calipers, and an extra testing stone in exchange for accepting the less expensive array anchors.

"Not bad at all!" Wei Lin slapped me on the back as we left the stall.

"We'll make a proper merchant of you yet. Consider yourself an honorary Wei at this point." My eyebrows raised at that. An honorary Wei member? That was a huge compliment coming from Wei Lin who was very proud of his merchant background. As we continued walking through the stalls, my eyes landed on one selling training swords. That reminded me of something. Liu Chen. The boy had been admiring a particular practice sword earlier, trying to be subtle about his desire for the sword.

It was pretty clear that Liu Chen had a solid foundation in some aspect of martial arts - probably from his mysterious past that he refused to discuss. It would make sense to get him a proper training sword to practice with instead of the stick he had been using. The sword that I found was pretty simple but nicely crafted. It had a dull blade that was blunt for training purposes, and the sword had a good weight to it. It was perfect for a young practitioner.

Unfortunately, the price tag said it cost 50 spirit stones. That was overpriced for a training sword, but... I decided to buy it. And I was glad I did because the boy's reaction when I presented him with the wrapped sword was pure joy. He first tried to decline saying that it was too much, but I could see how protectively he held the sword.

"Consider it a thank you for all the entertainment you gave us," I told him.

"Besides, someone has to keep Rocky in line when he becomes stronger." The boy's eyes filled with tears before he quickly blinked them back.

"Thanks, Big Brother Ke Yin!" Something pleasant and warm developed in my chest as I heard the boy refer to me as his "Big Brother". Was this how it felt to have a younger sibling? In my previous life, I had been an only child, and the original Ke Yin had been as well. It felt... nice. An excited squeal almost made me jump. I turned around to see Lin Mei handing Wei Lin what looked to be a matched pair of jade pendants.

"They're linked," she explained, her cheeks slightly pink.

"So, we can still talk even when we're in different parts of the sect..." I couldn't help but smile at that. It was…cute. As Wei Lin accepted the pendant, his touched expression quickly turned into an interesting shade of red when he noticed my amused smile.

"Oh shut up," he muttered, giving me a shove.

"You'd understand if you weren't always training and actually talked to girls." The push caught me off guard. I took a step back to steady myself. Unfortunately, I moved directly into the path of a cloaked figure I hadn't sensed approaching. The figure bumped into me. The force was enough to make the person's hood fall back slightly. Time seemed to slow as I caught a glimpse of the face beneath the hood. My blood ran cold at what I saw. That face. It couldn't be.

But the angular features, the proud set of the jaw, the familiar righteous bearing – it was impossible, yet I was staring right at him. It was Li Yuan. The same Li Yuan I had watched die at the way station, his body and soul burned to ash by spiritual flame.