The awkwardness melted away in a few minutes. Tiger Flower was the cause, her talkative and buoyant mood propelled everyone forward. “...and then we started freaking out because you were bleeding out so much. I thought you were dead, if Dragon hadn’t checked you we would’ve just run away.”

Musnuf laughed at that, “I’m lucky that you didn’t.”

Dragon Flower nudged her sister and placed a pouch on the bedside. “Here. The spirit stones are all in there.”

Musnuf grabbed the pouch and started counting them out. There were easily more than a hundred stones and three beast cores. “This is more than my share and what are these?”

“No, no! You did way more than us! You deserve it.” Tiger Flower pushed his hands back.

Dragon Flower replied to his question. “That large one is from the giant ape and the other two are from the smaller ones. You can sell them to the sect and get a decent amount of stones. It’ll give you an edge in the examination.”

He rolled the stones around in his hands. He didn’t dare draw their essence. It would be tantamount to suicide. These had other uses but direct conversion to essence was not easy or even worth it. Unless you have that item…

“How prepared are you guys for the examination?”

“We’re gunning for top 2!” Tiger Flower declared with confidence.

Dragon Flower was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear. Only Snow Gem was here at the moment but her sister’s enthusiastic outbursts in public scared the soul out of her. “No…Being in the top 10 would be gre-”

“Nope. We swing for the fences or we go home!” Snow Gem was amused by her enthusiasm. He didn’t know her chances or the general level of this sect but with that attitude she would be a formidable force. He’d seen her take on and hold back three of those beasts at the same time while protecting her sister. One plus one in a fight is not equal to two, it was the one lesson he’d learned from that debacle.

“Well, that’s a good attitude to have. What are the rewards?” Since he didn’t have enough time to go get that healing art he would have to focus on the examination.

“First Place gets three thousand spirit stones, a talisman, three potions of essence and a mount!” Musnuf was impressed by the fact that she’d remembered the rewards, no doubt she’d been giving them a lot of thought. The talisman seemed to be the least desirable out of them all. “Not to mention that they might be promoted to an inner disciple!”

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He rubbed his throat at that. They were tempting but he needed to be realistic about his own chances. He’d seen the scroll of points for the previous month’s exercise. That Enduring Wave would be a strong contender. It felt…unsatisfying, this feeling of giving up before he’d begun. He clenched his fist. This wasn’t who he was.

He grabbed his forehead. “Guys, I think I’m getting a headache. I’ll see yo-”

“Oh, yeah! We must be disturbing you. You should rest!” Dragon Flower grabbed her sister’s arm and they bowed before leaving. “We’ll see you in the examination.”

He wasn’t feeling any pain, he just wanted to prepare. Three days to hone and sharpen his skills. It was a shame that he couldn’t get his hands on that healing art but it had to be abandoned for now.

He could barely deal with those beasts. Things like that were innumerable in the outer world. Most sects provided a giant cradle for the disciple, shielding them from the wider horrors.

What about that gourd…? He flicked open his webnovel and started going through it, it was something one of the side characters had encountered. A plant-like creature that was nourished by beast cores and purified their essence to fill a gourd. It was a very valuable piece of merchandise. He got its general location and it was located on the other side of these mountain ranges. He would have to go through the Morning-Rivian Valley. He groaned at the name. Why can’t any of this be easy…?

He started cultivating. It was very hard for him to concentrate with so much on his mind but he persevered. More than 250 spirit stones later, he felt the latest gate opening. The floodgates opened and his essence rushed up to a higher level. It felt similar to an expanding cone with each level separate but somehow interconnected.

It’d taken him much more than his estimation of a hundred stones but such is the way of life. He’d trained up his Green Dragon mantra upto stage 4 of Green Dragon Mantra. He was much more comfortable with the pathways and the flow of essence. The Blue Tiger Mantra was upto Stage 3.

It was good progress for him but…it’s not enough. He felt a stomach-churning tightness in his gut. He needed to do more. It was early in the morning. Disciples should be waking up now. He decided to forego sleep, since it would be impossible for him right now.

He walked out to the ‘market’ section of the abode, he was a little lost due to his new location but it was smack dab in the middle so, it wasn’t hard to navigate. Stalls were being set up, the sleep being rubbed out of bleary-eyed people. Most of them were the servants with a few disciples here and there.

Most disciples didn’t have the time to run stalls like these. They were too busy trying to compete, raise their ranks and keep their head above the next examination or excursion.

He walked around, browsing things in half-constructed stalls. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular. He just wanted something that gave him an edge over the other competitors.

He spotted a manual and picked it up. It had a very interesting(scammy) title. [Basic Illusions for Anyone.]

The subscript was, [Even a mortal can create these!]