A fortunate discovery

Li Zhu and Hua Shu took about an hour to replenish their energy, while the Flaming Saber sect members they had saved also cultivated.

The fight, though short, had been exhausting, as they had both fought against stronger opponents than themselves.

Opening his eyes, Li Zhu stood up, before saying, "Hua Shu, we better get going if we want to complete our mission in time"

Hua Shu, hearing this, also stood up, and began to walk away from the clearing with Li Zhu, ready to slay more monsters.

"Wait, benefactors, how can you leave without us thanking you?" at that moment, one of the red-robed cultivators spoke up, making his intentions clear.

"Since we would have been injured or even killed by those two, I think you two should have the Moon-Death fruit, as a token of our gratitude" continued the young man, speaking from his heart.

As he said this, though, it was clear that the other party members were not as willing to give up their treasure, with all of them showing resentful expressions, clearly having been forced to accept this by the man, who was probably their group leader.

The three could not be blamed, though, since the life as an outer sect member was tough, and a Moon-Death fruit was a very rare encounter so far from the inner forest and its horrors.

"There is no need for that, your group found it first" hastily replied Li Zhu, who had never planned on taking a reward for their good deed.

Hearing this, the three ungrateful cultivators relaxed, as warm expressions abruptly replaced their resentful looks.

"Well, even if you do not want the fruit, at least let me cook lunch for you. I, Zhou Fai, am known for my culinary skills, and am glad to do anything which could show our gratitude" said another young man, who had completely changed his attitude after he heard they could keep the Moon-Death fruit.

"Okay, I guess that will do no bad. At the very least, we'll have a full stomach when hunting spirit beasts" replied Li Zhu, who was actually quite hungry.

With that settled, the six young cultivators sat down by the fire, as Zhou Fai took many ingredients out of his bag, starting the preparation for a tasty dish.

As they waited for the meal, the group of people talked about their lives and goals. They found out that all of them were from the same sect, which made even the most cautious of the red-robed cultivators relax, realizing they were all in the same boat.

In the Endless Sword continent, all youth admired power and wished to gain status, reaching the top of the continent, with all under their influence.

Of course, the people that actually managed to overcome the challenges of life, to become powerful figures, were very few, and most others failed trying, resulting in many shattered dreams and unnecessary deaths.

This world was a cruel place, where the majority of people would never live up to their hopes, and in the end, they would have the very life they had dreaded as kids, and the odds were their children would also go down the same path, the path of broken hope and endless regret.

Of course, the six young cultivators here would not think of such matters, as they were still in their prime, and each one of them firmly believed they would become the next talent of the century, bringing honor and status to their family.

They talked for about half an hour, before Zhou Fai finally finished his dish, which was a red meat stew, with bread on the side.

Smelling the fragrant aroma, Li Zhu curiously asked, "Zhou Fai, what meat did you use for this stew? It seems to be releasing heavenly energy."

Hearing the question, the young mans eyes lit up, as though he had wanted to mention the meat this whole time, "I used the meat of an Earth-Flame cow, which is a fourth stage Qi gathering realm spirit beast which lives in the north of the Crouching Tiger Kingdom. Not only is the taste absolutely delicious and the meat tender, but eating this dish can also replenish your heavenly energy, making it a perfect lunch right before a tough fight."

As he explained the ingredients he had used, Zhou Fai looked very excited, clearly having a passion for food and culinary.

'What a strange hobby… though that man scared even me with his power" thinking of cooking, Li Zhu was reminded of a great expert that he had met as a child in the royal palace.

That man focused solely on culinary, and the spirit dishes he made and ate had brought his cultivation to an unimaginable level, even pressuring the emperor, who had felt he had to be courteous with this chef, for fear of offending him.

'I guess any path can lead to greatness, if enough hard work is put in" mused Li Zhu, as Zhou Fai just finished talking, after having just explained every step of the stew making process.

After that explanation, the group of cultivators finished their meals, as they happily chatted together, enjoying the company.

This did not last long, though, as the group of red-robed cultivators finally decided to leave after everyone had finished their lunch.

They needed to quickly return to the sect, since the Moon-Death fruit was too precious to carry with them. If word spread that they had such a treasure, many bandits or even fellow sect members would jump them, and the group was not confident about their ability to defend themselves against so many people.

"Well, thank you for the lunch, senior brothers and sisters, me and Hua Shu will stay in the forest to complete our mission, before returning to the sect." Stated Li Zhu, who was now eager to resume the fight-intensive mission, and hone is fighting skills.

"Okay, junior brother and sister, we will be taking our leave, then" and with that, the group left, leaving Hua Shu and Li Zhu alone with Buddy again.

Surprisingly, the moment the four left hearing range, Buddy began barking at Li Zhu, and moving his head in a specific direction.

It seemed as though he wanted to communicate something, so Li Zhu quickly told Hua Shu, "I need to see what Buddy is acting up about, then I'll come back and we can continue fighting", before following the dog, who was leading him towards the stone wall of a cliff.

As they reached the wall, Buddy repeatedly pointed his head, barking at Li Zhu with an excited expression.

Li Zhu was not sure what was happening, so he decided to fuse with Buddy, to communicate through their souls, which was currently their only way of understanding each other.

Reaching the demonic soul territory of Buddy, Li Zhu was instantly engulfed with the feeling of excitement and curiosity that the dog was feeling.

After a short communication, which was not flawless, Li Zhu understood the gist of why Buddy was acting so strange.

While in Shadow Lurk, Buddy had apparently noticed that beyond this stone wall was a hollow cave, where many spirit plants and fruits were growing, unclaimed by humans.

This was an exciting revelation, since it meant Li Zhu could find cultivation resources easily, without even having to gather 100 nucleus cores.

Li Zhu was now very curios, so he proceeded to enter Shadow Lurk himself, traveling through the wall like it wasn't even there. Since each part of the wall had no contact with sunlight, the whole wall was technically in shadow, with each particle casting shade over the others.

Because of this, Li Zhu could travel through solid stone, which would otherwise be impossible at his cultivation stage.

As he traveled through the wall, Li Zhu suddenly reached a large, dark room.

'Buddy was right, this place is full of treasures!' thought Li Zhu, as he took in the beautiful sight of spirit plants and fruits growing all over the cave, unaffected by outside forces.

It was very hard to find a place that had not been looted by humans, so Li Zhu felt extremely happy about this accidental discovery, which would no doubt make him and Hua Shu rich.

Realizing this, Li Zhu quickly exited the cave through shadow lurk, before returning to the clearing, which was about fifty yards away, where Hua Shu was waiting for him and Buddy.

"Hua Shu, Buddy found a natural spirit plant garden in a cave! If we gather the resources inside, then we will be set for a long time when it comes to cultivation!" yelled Li Zhu from a distance, motioning her to follow him.

Hua Shu also grew excited hearing this news, so she quickly reached him at the stone wall, and immediately took out her bow.

"Wait, wait, what are you doing, Hua Shu" asked Li Zhu, who wanted to find a way to enter without harming any plants.

"We're breaking into this thing" coolly replied Hua Shu, before launching a fire arrow, which crushed the wall into pieces, yet surprisingly did not go any further, keeping all the plants perfectly intact.

'It's time to get rich' was the only thought Li Zhu had in mind, as he saw all the plants, growing inside the cave.