CHAPTER

18

Making Preparations

I

“On our way to the valley, the disciples will be split into two groups,” Duo Lan said.

Tian Jin, Hao Zhen, and Duo Lan had their eyes closed. Just a few moments ago, Duo Lan copied the map of the Glistening Stone Valley into two of Hao Zhen’s blank jade slips, and all three of them were currently visualizing the map in their mind’s eye while Duo Lan explained how the Glistening Stone Hunt worked.

“The elders will be taking us on a magical cloud. The outer disciples will be dropped off first, near the entrance of the valley, whereas the inner and prime disciples will only descend in a location much deeper inside the valley. A forest—the Glistening Stone Forest—spans the entire valley, and it’s divided into the Outer Forest and the Inner Forest. We’ll be restricted to the Outer Forest, whereas the inner and prime disciples will be hunting in the Inner Forest. This means that we’re only competing against the other outer disciples and that we don’t need to concern ourselves with locations deeper inside the valley. There’s a line on the map about one-third into the valley—that’s the line that divides the outer and inner parts of the forest, so as outer disciples, it’s up to that line we’ll be allowed to explore.”

Tian Jin had already noticed that line, and he had already guessed it meant something like that. It wouldn’t make much sense if outer disciples and inner and prime disciples were supposed to explore the same area, considering the difference in levels between them. Although it limited them to only one-third of the valley, considering how massive the Glistening Stone Valley was, he didn’t think a lack of space would be an issue. Judging by the scale of the map, it’d take him about an entire day running to get from the entrance of the valley to that line—and as a second-level redsoul, he was multiple times faster than even the fastest of graysouls.

“There’ll be a group of inner elders as well as a prime elder overseeing us outer disciples, but they’ll remain out of sight, only making an appearance if we get in any trouble. That means that, for the most part, we’ll be given free rein.”

That was in line with what Tian Jin had seen of the Blazing Light Sect so far. As long as the disciples followed the rules—or, at least, weren’t caught breaking them—they were allowed to do as they pleased, with little to no supervision. Elders could usually only be found in the divisions and halls of the sect, only really interacting with disciples when sought by one of them.

“Now, killing different monsters and collecting different magical herbs, even if they’re of the same grade or level, will get you different quantities of contribution points.” Duo Lan tossed each of them a jade slip. “Here’s a list of what each monster is worth—including what part of them we have to collect to prove that we’ve killed them—as well as what each magical herb is worth.”

Tian Jin sent his spiritual power into the other jade slip and skimmed the list. The strongest monster on the list was only at the second level of the Red Spiritual Realm, so he reckoned that this list only had the monsters that could be found in the Outer Forest of the valley, with stronger monsters being found deeper inside the valley.

That was a good thing, though. A single second-level red-grade monster would prove enough of a challenge. As a rule of thumb, a monster at a certain level usually required a handful of cultivators at the same level to kill. Even as strong as he was compared to other cultivators at the same level, Tian Jin wasn’t confident he’d be able to handle a monster at his level on his own. If he were to act together with Duo Lan, however, he was sure they’d be able to pull it off. Hao Zhen would also be able to offer some help with Ethereal String Puppetry.

Duo Lan went on to point out, on the map, the locations monsters and magical herbs of each set could be found in, and they spent some time discussing which ones they’d be targeting, even coming up with a route of sorts they could take.

Much to Tian Jin’s confusion, Hao Zhen remained mostly quiet throughout the conversation, seldom offering any suggestions. He kept his eyes closed for the most part, his brow furrowed, seemingly deep in thought. It was only after he and Duo Lan were about to wrap up that Hao Zhen spoke up.

“Du Qing,” Hao Zhen said, opening his eyes. “I think he’s planning on doing something to us during the hunt.”

Right. Tian Jin narrowed his eyes. He had been so concentrated on the Glistening Stone Hunt itself that he had pushed it to the back of his mind. That gave Tian Jin a pause. Now that he thought about it, it was rather odd how he had forgotten about the situation with Du Qing just like that, considering how much he had been thinking about it these last few days.

“That’s a possibility,” Duo Lan said, nodding her head, her expression also darkening.

“As an inner disciple, he’ll be heading deeper inside the valley, right?” Hao Zhen asked. “I assume we’re prohibited from venturing into the Inner Forest, but are they allowed to cross into the Outer Forest?”

“No,” Duo Lan said, looking rather confident. “The elders supervising them will be keeping an eye to stop that from happening. Maybe… Maybe an inner disciple could manage to sneak into the Outer Forest, but the prime disciples will be very closely supervised. After all, it’s possible to lose your life during the hunt if the elders don’t react fast enough, considering we’ll be hunting monsters. Prime disciples, however, are too important, so there’ll be multiple eyes on them, and an elder will step in at the first sign of something going wrong.”

So Du Qing wouldn’t be able to do anything to them directly. That was good. Tian Jin knew that as he currently was, Du Qing would be able to easily take his life if he were to take action himself. He could put up a fight against a third-level redsoul, but Du Qing was at the fourth level, and that was a gap he wouldn’t be able to bridge.

Hao Zhen, however, didn’t look even remotely relieved. Instead, his frown only deepened. “So you’re saying an inner disciple could, possibly, venture into the Outer Forest?”

“I…” Duo Lan blinked, taken aback. Tian Jin was similarly surprised. “I mean, yes, I believe it’s possible…”

A possibility occurred to Tian Jin—probably the same one Hao Zhen was thinking of.

“Then since Du Qing already sent an inner disciple after us, he can send another. We’ll also have Du Jian we’ll need to watch out for.” He took in a deep breath. “Du Qing will definitely try something. If we’re lucky, we’ll only have to deal with Du Jian and his lackeys. If we’re unlucky, we’ll also have to deal with a third-level redsoul. And if we’re really unlucky, a fourth-level redsoul.”

The only difference between an inner disciple and a prime disciple was that a prime disciple was apprenticed to a prime elder, whether an inner disciple either didn’t have a master or was apprenticed to an inner elder. In terms of cultivation level, they could be anywhere between the first level of the Red Spiritual Realm to the fourth level—unless they were an unapprenticed inner disciple, in which case they had to be at least at the third level.

“How closely are outer disciples supervised?” Hao Zhen asked before either Tian Jin or Duo Lan could say anything.

“Not nearly as much as inner disciples, let alone prime disciples,” Duo Lan said, fidgeting slightly. “In fact, for the most part, we’ll be without supervision. The elders in charge of us will be flying above the forest, on magical clouds, and if we find ourselves in a dangerous situation, we’ll need to use a spiritual beacon to alert them.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Hao Zhen nodded his head, then asked, “Will you or Tian Jin be given any special supervision, considering your talent?”

Duo Lan shook her head. “No. We are, ultimately, still outer disciples. We might be more important than an inner disciple like Ke Li, but we’re still not at the level of prime disciples, and the sect will have to dedicate too many elders to watching over the prime and inner disciples to give us two any special attention.”

That made sense. Clans also had prime disciples, and he clearly remembered how the prime disciples in his clan were treated. The only members of a magical organization more privileged than them were the core disciples, but considering how they seldom left the Core Court, spending virtually all of their time cultivating in seclusion together with the protectors, the two couldn’t really be compared.

Hao Zhen’s gaze grew more intent as he stared hard at Duo Lan, and he kept at it long enough that Duo Lan started to fidget. The next moment, however, irritation took over, and she glared back at him.

“What are you staring at?” she snapped.

Blinking, Hao Zhen broke out of whatever trance he had been in. “I…” He looked away, shaking his head. “It’s nothing. I was just… thinking.” He sighed. “Anyway, there’s not much we can do right now to prepare for whatever Du Qing decides to throw at us, as we don’t know what exactly he’s planning. Since that’s the case, I think we should stick to the plan we have already made for the hunt, getting as many points as possible, while keeping an eye out for any attacks and ambushes. I think we should also get our hands on as many talismans and pills as possible. Our lives are at risk, after all.”

Duo Lan held her glare a bit longer before nodding her head, and the three of them spent the next hour or so wrapping up their plans. Toward the end, Hao Zhen also took out the pills that used to belong to Ke Li, and Duo Lan lived up to her reputation as an alchemy prodigy by quickly identifying each of them. Hao Zhen also handed her a couple of jade slips with pill formulas, which she looked through before determining that they weren’t anything special, just common pill formulas that could be easily acquired in the Alchemy Division with contribution points.

II

“What happened back there?” Tian Jin asked, whirling around to face Hao Zhen as soon as Duo Lan’s residence was out of sight. They were on their way back to his residence. “Why did you stare at Duo Lan like that? What did you realize?”

From what he had seen so far, Hao Zhen was usually careful not to show what he was thinking, so whatever he had noticed, it must have been something big. Tian Jin was unable to pinpoint what had provoked that reaction in him, however.

Hao Zhen glanced left and right, making sure there wasn’t anyone within earshot, before stepping in closer and leaning in. “What she said about the sect not paying you or her any special attention—that was her biggest slip-up yet.”

Tian Jin cocked his head, trying to recall what exactly Duo Lan said. “What do you mean?”

“She said that the sect wouldn’t be able to give you two any special attention. That wasn’t just an assumption or a theory based on how important prime disciples are—she was stating a fact, as if she had already looked into this and confirmed whether the sect had anything planned for the two of you,” Hao Zhen said. “Outer disciples aren’t even supposed to know about the Glistening Stone Hunt yet, but not only did she find out ahead of time, but she also got her hands on all sorts of materials—materials that probably won’t even be given to us outer disciples later—and now she just proved she knew precisely what the upper echelons of the sect were planning. That, coupled with the fact that she seems to already know Du Qing, plus her other slip-ups so far… I believe that Duo Lan’s actually an apprenticed inner disciple, if not a prime disciple—or, at the very least, someone related to an inner elder or prime elder. I was already suspecting something like this before, but now I’m sure of it.”

That… That made sense. Tian Jin had already been suspecting something like that, but when Hao Zhen put everything together like this, he also couldn’t see any other explanation for Duo Lan’s behavior.

“That, however, begs the question of why exactly she’s pretending to be an outer disciple,” Hao Zhen continued. “I think we can assume that her reasons don’t have anything to do with us or our conflict with Du Qing, but that still means we don’t know her goals or motives. So far, the only things we know are that she appears to be on bad terms with Du Qing, that she’s probably on our side, and that she has no intention of revealing her true identity to us or directly relying on it. Beyond that, however, we know nothing.”

“I see…” Tian Jin nodded his head, taking a moment to consider Hao Zhen’s words. “But isn’t that a good thing? Just like you said, she’s probably on our side, so isn’t it a good thing that she’s someone important?”

“It probably is,” Hao Zhen said, crossing his arms. “It’s just… Well, I don’t really like not knowing, I guess. But yes, there’s a good chance that if the situation gets dire, she’ll be able to flip the table by revealing her identity. In fact, despite what she said about you two not getting any special supervision, she probably will be getting some, because of her actual identity. That still doesn’t mean we should bet on that, however, because either she’s a really good actor, or she doesn’t believe that her real identity will be of much help, as she did seem genuinely worried back in her place just now. I don’t think she’d have bothered calling us over and providing us all with of this information, otherwise.” Hao Zhen sighed. “As I said, there are just too many unknowns.”

“Since that’s the case, are you sure it wouldn’t be better to just ask her about it?” Tian Jin asked. “I know what you said before about not knowing how she’d react if we tried to get to the bottom of the issue, but since we’ve already determined that she’s not working against us, I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem.”

“Maybe. I… I don’t know,” Hao Zhen said, spreading his hands, a helpless look on his face. “But I don’t think it’ll be a good idea to do that right now, not unless we really have to. Before we confront her, I want to have a better idea of what exactly she’s doing in the Outer Court.”

Tian Jin looked up, pondering the situation. He understood where Hao Zhen was coming from, but he didn’t like this tiptoeing business. At this point, he thought Hao Zhen was being too cautious. Still, he decided to respect the other boy’s decisions.

They walked the rest of their way back to his residence in silence.

III

Hao Zhen lay awake on his bed in his room in Tian Jin’s house, unable to fall asleep. It had already been a while since he lay down, but sleep eluded him, too many thoughts filling his head.

He wasn’t thinking about Tian Jin, Duo Lan, or the situation with Du Qing—he had already spent the entire day worrying about those things. He wasn’t even thinking about the strange world he was currently living in—or even about his current life at all.

These past few days, he had been either too tired or too busy trying to come up with plans for the future. Now that he was no longer exhausted and didn’t have anything else to plan, however, he couldn’t help but think about something he had been avoiding dwelling on so far: his previous life.

This was a can of worms he hadn’t been intending on opening any time soon, but it seemed like he couldn’t suppress his thoughts about them any longer.

He still wasn’t sure what he felt about his life as Amyas. He could remember it just as clearly as he could remember his current life—if not more. At the same time, however, it couldn’t be any further away from his current reality.

He had no idea what had happened to his old family—to Amyas’s family—because he didn’t know how and why he had transmigrated in the first place. How much time had passed since his transmigration? Was it only sixteen years—his current age—or was it more? Did time even flow at the same rate in both worlds?

Did his old world even still exist?

Hao Zhen sighed. He rolled around and buried his head in the pillow, before letting out a scream of frustration.

This was exactly why he had been avoiding thinking about this. As he currently was, he was just grasping at straws, and each and every possibility and explanation he came up with was a grim one.

Were his old family and friends still alive? If so, what effect had his transmigration had in his previous world? If he transmigrated after having a sudden heart attack or something along those lines… Maybe his parents would get over it quickly—they hadn’t cared much for him anyway—and his friends wouldn’t be that affected, either, as he didn’t have any he was particularly close with, but his sister…

He didn’t think Eva would take it well. They bickered all the time, and if he was being honest, she was the reason why his previous life had sucked in so many ways, but she was still Eva. Brilliant, perfect Eva—someone you just couldn’t help but love.

He certainly didn’t think he’d have been able to take her death in stride. In fact, the only reason why he wasn’t an absolute mess right now was probably because of how unbelievable his current circumstances were and that he wasn’t even sure what state she was in.

Hao Zhen sighed, before standing up from the bed. He then walked around the bed, fixing the bedsheets, which had long since become a mess. Tomorrow he and Tian Jin would be going to the Exchange Pavilion to get their hands on some talismans and pills, and then they’d spend the entire day training. He needed all the rest he could get, and that meant he needed to sleep instead of moping on his bed, pointlessly worrying about things he had no control over.

Shaking his head, he threw himself back down on the bed, letting himself sink into the mattress. He then closed his eyes and waited for sleep to claim him.