23.
"We have reached." Looking at the small village that was built at the small patch of flat land at the intersection of two mountains, Elder Cheng stopped for a moment before nodding to others.
After two days of the arduous journey, they finally reached their destination. The first thing that came into their sight was a small village built with evergreen trees in the same way as the Eastern Part of Ignis city.
Looking at the village, Yang Ze compared it with the city of Darati where he was dispatched by the family. Compared to Darati, the village here seemed much smaller. The number of people scarcely reached more than a hundred.
"Surely, this can't be the place where you guys came from." With furrowed brows, Yang Ze looked at Elder Cheng with a questioning gaze. Compared to the grandeur city he had made up in his mind, this was quite a setback.
"No, absolutely not. You can think of it as a warehouse where we store our things and then they get dispatched to various locations."
"Great." Nodding his head, Yang Ze extended his palm in front of Elder Cheng.
"Huh?" Confused by this action of his Elder Cheng stood still.
"The spirit stones." The main reason for coming here was to earn the spirit stones, there was no way Yang Ze was going to delay any further. Right now, his priority is to increase his strength at a continuous pace.
"Follow me." Twitching the corner of his lips, Elder Chen signalled him to follow before the two of them headed inside the small house. While Yang Ze stood at the entrance, Elder Chen stepped in and soon returned with a small bag that was seemingly made out of leaves intertwined with each other.
"Take it." Though he threw it to him rather casually, Yang Ze could feel Elder Cheng's pain. It seemed that spirit stones were quite precious even for a guy like him. He ran his gaze across the screen and after confirming that he could really upgrade, let out a sigh of relief. He had never seen a spirit stone before, so even if the man in front of him just threw some rocks, he wouldn't be able to identify them. Thankfully, he confirmed they were real before placing the bag in his pocket.
"You are not going to go all by yourself now are you?" Looking at Yang Ze who was prepared to leave, elder Cheng asked in a low voice. "Not to mention how difficult is it to go alone, it would be troublesome if you lost your way back home."
Yang Ze stood in his place quietly and looked at the elder Cheng for a long time. Though there was always an inexplicable smile on his face hiding under the mask. Elder Cheng gave out a hollow laugh before continuing.
"How about this? We will leave the place after a week and I will give you extra three spirit stones once we reach Ignis city. During these four days, you can rest here." Elder Cheng slowly walked toward Yang Ze with a meaningful smile and whispered in his ears. 'Not to mention, you can increase your familiarity with Hua Lin.'
Looking at the wretched smile on Elder Cheng, Yang Ze smiled even more. It was at this moment they were suddenly interrupted by an old sound.
"Hahaha, Hua Cheng, you are here." An old man who looked to be in his eighties was slowly making his way toward them. Compared to the other people Xen saw in this place, the man seemed to be vastly different. Even though his face was covered in wrinkles and his head white; there was a bright glint of light in his eyes that was filled with energy. He was wearing a simple grey robe that was spotlessly clean.
"Senior." Looking at the old man, Elder Cheng bowed to him respectfully. Even though he was an elder in the family, the old man in front of him had a position higher than himself.
"How was your journey? Any problems?" Even though the older man was talking to Elder Cheng, his eyes were scanning Yang Ze in front of him.
"There was a pack of wolves, but both he and I were able to fend them off."
"Great job... young hero. You can call me old Li. May I know your name?" The old man looked at Yang Ze before speaking with a smile.
"Meng Hao." Yang Ze's eyes flashed for a moment before returning to normal.
"That is a nice name. If it's not too much to ask, where did you come from?" The old man still had that amiable smile on his face. One look at him and anyone would think of the friendly grandpa next door.
"The northern plains." Yang Ze's answer was short but his eyes were still fixated on the old man in front of him. One couldn't see any expression on his face that was covered with a mask, but if one could, they would see him smiling.
"Hahaha, truly. The world needs more heroes like you." After a brief silence, the old man took his leave from there. Looking at his departing back, Yang Ze stood there deep in his thoughts.
"Here, follow me. You can live here." Pulling him towards the nearest house, elder Cheng told him to rest before taking his leave. Yang Ze stood there silently for a long time, just looking at the village quietly. It was not until there was no one in his sight that he closed his door and sat on the wooden bed.
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{Name: Yang Ze}
{Realm: Middle Stage Qi Guiding}
{XP: 400/1000}
{Technique: Seaheart Art Third Layer}
*Reached the limit of knowledge. (Can be Derived further from Yang Yuanzhen) (Spirit stones 4/1) +
{Efficiency: 100 XP/day}
{Level: 1} (4/10 spirit stones needed to upgrade)
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"So this is spirit stone?" Taking out a stone from the bag, Yang Ze observed it in his palm. Unlike any other regular stones, this stone was transparent with a white mist inside it. Just a single glance and even an ordinary human could make out its preciousness.
Yang Ze didn't know the use of this stone other than it was used by his plug-in. After taking a deep breath, Yang Ze clicked on the '+'. The moment he clicked on '+', he suddenly saw an illusory figure of Yang Yuanzhen, the father of this body in front of him. At this moment the white mist that was observable to the naked eye was slowly moving inside his body. The process lasted for a long time before subsiding.
"Should I try it myself once?" Yang Ze was tempted to practice himself. Till now his strength increased with the help of his plug-in. Maybe he could try practising himself, maybe it will increase the amount of XP. The more he thought about it, the more he found it to be feasible.
Without any further ado, Yang Ze sat cross-legged and started circulating his breathing and qi according to the newly stilled memory in his mind. The process went on smoothly, by the time he opened his eyes again, it was already evening. Looking at the night sky, Yang Ze was stunned for a moment before coming to his senses. Even though he spent more than eight hours, he felt like he only spent half an hour. The sense of time seemed to be diluted during practice.
"Any changes?" With great hopes, Yang Ze looked at the screen in front of him.
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{Name: Yang Ze}
{Realm: Middle Stage Qi Guiding}
{XP: 400/1000}
{Technique: Seaheart Art Third Layer}
{Efficiency: 100 XP/day}
{Level: 1} (3/10 spirit stones needed to upgrade)
--------------------------------------------------------
"HUUUUUH?"
Looking at the screen without any changes, he was stunned for a moment before cursing in a low voice. His qualifications were truly trash. It would take a miracle before he could practice by himself. Thankfully, he didn't need to worry about that anymore. "It seems like I was still thinking too much."
With his qualifications, not to mention cultivation in the Qi Guiding realm, even starting with the practice would required years of hard work. So, the result was somewhat acceptable for him.
"Knock, knock."
While he was still lost in his thoughts, a sudden knock on the door brought him back into reality.
"Elder Cheng?" The first figure that came to his mind was the elder Cheng. After arranging his clothes properly he stood up and opened the door.
"HUH?" To his surprise, outside the door was the figure of a mature woman in her mid-twenties. Right now she was wearing long robes. The front of the robe seemed to be loose which was just barely hiding the scenery underneath it. The moonlight that was slowly illuminating the flawless face seemed to have turned her into a fairy descending on earth.
Yang Ze's eyes flashed for a moment before his surprised hoarse voice sounded from under the mask.
"Hua Lin?"