Chapter 45 - Meeting a Personal Disciple
The choice was hard to make. The things inside were all useful, but Hei couldn't buy them all. He had to choose what would be most beneficial for them in the near future. A wrong choice could also prove to be harmful as it would take another couple of months to earn further contribution points.
Among the items, artifacts were undoubtedly the most interesting because of the various uses they had. However, they were mostly disposable or with a short durability. Among them, weapons were what interested Hei most.
There were all kinds of weapons with different formations engraved on the metal. Etching a formation would give new value to the weapon that would acquire unique characteristics. Although one would have to consume spirit power, to activate such formations, their utility was undeniable. The price, however, would have risen steeply due to the cost of engraving the formation.
As for plants and seeds, these were cheaper than artifacts, especially the seeds whose cost per unit was affordable. However, to have a chance of success, he had to buy large quantities of seeds, and the price at that point wouldn’t have been an insignificant amount. Moreover, in his mother's dimensional pocket, he still had many seeds, including some rare plants’, which he had yet to sow. Therefore, they weren’t a priority.
The pills remained at the end. Indeed, the most logical choice would have been to buy resources to increase their cultivation speed. The pills for the first stage they had bought were long over, and in any case, they wouldn’t have helped much in advancing through the second stage towards the third one. Therefore, he had to buy those specially prepared for the second stage of spirit apprentice.
Since he hadn’t exaggerated with the use of pills, and had left the body enough time to dispose of the toxins, he could safely implement the use of pills again in his training.
Fortunately, being still in the second stage, the price of the pills he needed wasn’t too high for him. He had just the necessary points to buy a couple of 10-unit packs for him and Lian.
Typically, the quantities of pills bought by individual martial artists would have been higher, given that a package, even when leaving days of rest from one assumption to another, would last about a month, less also depending on the individual use. So two packs for two people was really little.
But Hei did not tend to rely totally on these medicines and had, in any case, his cultivation method. He just needed a small number of pills to get the same results as other martial artists who ingested much more.
Finally resolving himself about what to buy, Hei looked around to see how he should proceed. He certainly couldn't break the glass containing the pills. It would have ended up looking like a desperate attempt to steal.
As he was trying to figure out what to do, a girl with long black hair carefully combed approached him. She was dressed in a simple green tunic, which, instead of reducing her beauty, gave her a feeling of freshness and youth. Her steps, on the other hand, were as light and adage as if she had no weight, but at the same time very rapid.
"Do you need something, you're Hei, right?" The young woman asked as she looked at Hei curiously. Her brown eyes were carefully examining every part of the boy's body in front of her.
"Yes, my name is Hei. Can I ask you how you know my name?” He asked as he took up a guarded position. He didn’t like to be examined in such detail.
On hearing his question, the girl laughed. Her laughter was bright and refreshing and contained no trace of scorn.
“Simple, yesterday, I also attended the trial to select the new inner members. It's normal to know your name. I also know the girl behind you, Lian."
Hearing even Lian’s name, Hei could not help but frown his eyebrows. Not many people knew her name since she had always kept herself apart during various occasions with strangers.
If she knew both of their names, it meant that the girl in front had something to do with one of the elders, since he couldn't think of anyone else who could have known that information. And in fact, his deductions turned out to be right at the end.
"My name is Ying Yue, but you can call me Yue if you want. I am the granddaughter of the seventh elder and his personal disciple. Nice to meet you, Hei."
Grandaughter of the seventh elder? Personal disciple?
Hearing these words, Hei was amazed. Examining her more carefully, he could see how the girl's body, apparently so fragile and delicate, hid an incredible force. It gave the same feeling as when he first saw the seventh elder as he walked. They weren't a granddaughter and grandfather for nothing.
But what was she doing here in a place like this? Even though the supply division managed the exchange point, was it just a case that she was here?
His mother and sisters meanwhile confirmed the identity of the girl. Even though they didn't know she had a family relationship with one of the elders, they knew she was a personal disciple of the old man. She was sitting behind him in the VIP seats reserved for the most important members of the sect while Hei was fighting.
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As if she had felt his doubts, Ying Yue laughed again and prepared to explain.
"No, it isn’t a simple coincidence that I am here today. My grandfather told me that you hadn’t yet used your contribution points and, having heard today you would be taken to the inner sect, I stopped here waiting for you I knew you would come first."
"How? I could have gone to train or go home. How could you be so sure I'd come to the exchange point? Also, why were you waiting for me?"
Hei's tone had grown from a curious to wary. What did a girl that he had never seen or interacted with before, want from him. Was it because of his performance yesterday?
"As Grandpa said, you are the wary type."
Ying Yue laughed again and continued to explain,
"Feminine intuition, you can call it. Don't worry, anyway. I was just curious to take a look at you. There are many expectations for your potential. I hope for the sake of the sect that you will be able to meet them.
But don't think that you are the only one to whom the sect has entrusted its future. Besides me, there are others you need to pay attention to. Even if you have been accepted as an inner member, don’t think that it will be easy to become the strongest. Each of us carries a heavy burden and must meet the expectations of those who support us."
That said, she reached for the glass containing the packs of pills that Hei was interested in. After taking them, she handed them to Hei with a smile.
"But unlike some of them, I don't mind the competition. I'm curious to see how you do in the future. Of course, it also applies to Lian, as a female martial artist, I am more interested in her than in you."
Ying Yue then turned her gaze to Lian, who turned her away with a dull look as if she hadn’t been touched in the slightest by the girl's statement. Seeing this, the seventh elder's grandaughter laughed again and waved to say goodbye to Hei and Lian.
"Until next time, don't worry about the contribution points. I'll take care of communicating your purchase and scaling the right amount. If you want, you can also come with me to check."
Since her grandfather always told her to check things personally before making a judgment, she had orchestrated this meeting so she could examine the two newcomers. And as her grandfather had said, things would become eventful in the future. Therefore, it was necessary that she learned to know these two new members and prepared for every future possibility.
"No, it's okay. I will trust you then. I thank you for your help. "
Although it was common practice to verify the correct deduction of contribution points, the amount Hei had was about the same price as those two packs of pills. Even if more points had been taken away, it wouldn’t have been a problem as they would have been very few. He would then leave Ying Yue the task of getting through with those formalities and take the opportunity to do something else.
When he came out of the exchange point with Lian and the others, it was still morning. Considering that he had been seen by some inner members, it was likely that the others knew about his arrival. Therefore, it was probable that he wouldn’t be left in peace if he went to the training grounds.
So he decided to go home for the moment. Even if he would waste time between going home and going back to the inner sect in the afternoon, it was still better than staying there without doing anything at all. He would take advantage of this time to start building a greenhouse for his rare flowers.
The construction material was nothing but Bao Bei’s silk. Based on Hei's experience, there wasn’t a material that was equally resistant but, at the same time, easy to implement. Once back home, it didn't take them long to build the greenhouse.
Once the walls and ceiling were created, Hei then proceeded to divide the space inside. With everyone's help, he began to dig the soil by hand; since the greenhouse was decidedly smaller than the field, it wasn’t necessary to take the plow and fix it to the buffaloes.
For lunchtime, they were able to complete the work without encountering problems, even placing a layer of fertilizer on top. Now all Hei had to do was plant the seeds, but he would leave it for later. It was time to eat, and then he would have to prepare to return to the inner sect.
‘Son, have you decided then what to follow as a secondary activity?’ Bao Bei asked at one point during their meal.
"I honestly don't know, what do you advise me about?" Hei asked in turn.
Indeed, all three activities appeared to be profitable. But, as he wasn't knowledgeable about them, he didn’t know how to distinguish their advantages and disadvantages. So he was a little at a loss about what to choose.
‘Why don't you choose alchemy? It is mainly about treating plants and other materials. Given your knowledge about plants, it is the one that suits you best. Furthermore, you could learn to create the materials for your cultivation yourself, reducing the costs of contribution points.’
Hearing this, it didn't seem like a bad idea at all. With his knowledge of growing plants, if Hei had learned how to make pills and other medicines, he could reduce his expenses considerably. But then another question arose.
"And what about Lian? Will she also learn alchemy?"
He asked this question not because he didn't trust in Lian's learning skills, but because he wanted her to choose something really suitable for her.
But his mother had already thought about everything,
‘Don't worry. I plan to have her study formations. Sending both to study alchemy would be a waste. By splitting you instead, you could complement each other. Furthermore, studying formations is perfectly suited to the lotus style that she is learning. However, it won’t be just you two who will be separated.’
At that point, Bao Bei turned to her two daughters committed to devouring the flesh of some bird that the bees had killed during their pollen harvest and given to the family in the spiderweb house.
‘You two, my little ones, you will have to be divided. Ye will go with Hei while Xing with Lian.’
Feeling that they had to be separated, the little spider and the little snake began to throw tantrums because they didn't understand the need. Their mother, however, patiently waited for them to calm down before explaining the reasons to them.
‘Xing, you have a calmer and more reflective character, suitable for controlling multiple external formations. Ye, on the other hand, you have a more fiery character, but at the same time, more sensitive to the changes of things close to you, so you are more apt to study alchemy. Then, will you be good and follow your lessons with commitment? Will you do it for your mother?’
Knowing the character of her two daughters, Bao Bei had played an infallible card - their love for her. With the possibility of making their mother happy, the two little spirit beasts nodded vigorously and accepted.
In the end, it wasn’t a definitive separation but only a few hours. They would meet again at the end of the classes and return home together where their dinner would be.