HBWnovel Chapter 163 Adjustment
Chapter 163 Adjustment
Geng Yu channeled his spiritual power, and countless fireballs rained down from the sky. Ice and fire are mutually exclusive, and the snow rats gathered snowballs to block them.
The snow mouse that was unfortunately hit let out a shrill scream, and its snow-white fur was burned to blackish-gray.
Zhong Qi casually flicked a golden arrow, which pierced the snow rat's dark eye, and bright red blood flowed from its eye socket.
The snow mouse stumbled back a few steps, fell to the ground, rolled around a few times, and then died.
Cheng Nan used a magic spell to trap the snow rat in its cage. Then, a wooden splinter emerged from the ground and pierced the snow rat's abdomen, causing its internal organs to spill onto the ground.
The ground around Dongfang Gui sank in all directions, and basketball-sized stones rolled into the trap. Snow mice that couldn't escape in time were either hit on the head or on the back.
"Squeak!"
The snow rats' screams and howls reached Ji Se's ears, but they didn't cause him any ripples.
Many were hit, but even more snow rats attacked the four of them.
Tear it apart!
Cheng Nan's back was scratched by the snow rat's sharp claws, leaving a bloody mark, and dark red blood flowed from his tattered clothes.
He turned around, trapped the snow rat with vines, and pierced its body with his sword.
As the battle intensified, the four gradually discovered their respective strengths and weaknesses.
“Zhong Qi, trap them and kill them, otherwise we won’t be able to deal with so many snow rats even if we run out of spiritual energy.”
Cheng Nan made a suggestion to Zhong Qi.
Zhong Qi nodded, fighting and retreating until he reached Cheng Nan's side.
"Junior Brother Geng, the ground is sinking, you start a fire."
Geng Yu's usual playful demeanor turned serious.
"it is good!"
The two of them moved closer to Cheng Nan in tacit agreement.
When Tu Shan arrived, the four of them had already developed some tacit understanding and were no longer as disheveled as they had been at the beginning.
Rong Lu sensed her presence and instantly appeared beside her.
When Tu Shan saw him, she remembered Hua Buhui's promise of a million high-grade spirit stones and a ninth-tier treasure, and her expression improved considerably.
Why wasn't Song Nian with the other four?
"She didn't want to go, feeling that Gise was being unfair."
Rong Lu didn't say much, just gave a brief summary in a few sentences.
Tu Shan didn't show it on his face, but he had an idea in his mind.
What do you think of Song Nian?
"Not good!"
Rong Lu has no feelings for Song Nian, but it's impossible for him to approve of her.
Not everyone is like Tu Shan. Although she always appeared to love money, she never actually acquired anything unjustly; everything was always consensual.
Even when she plundered other people's rings, it was always the other person who first harbored murderous intent before she acted.
Although she always said she would never save him, when he was truly facing a life-or-death situation, Tu Shan did not hesitate to lend a helping hand.
At his level, one judges by actions, not intentions.
Look beyond the surface.
He was willing to stand with Tu Shan through thick and thin.
"Okay, I understand! When is your senior brother coming?"
Tu Shan changed the subject, reminiscing about her one million high-grade spirit stones and treasures.
It wasn't that she was jealous, Rong Lu was just damn valuable.
"Senior brother is coming? When?"
Rong Lu looked delighted.
"Heh, you're asking me?" Tu Shan rolled her eyes. "I'd like to ask you something else. Hurry up and send him a communication jade so he can come over soon. I'm busy!"
"Okay!"
Tu Shan turned her gaze back to the battlefield.
Rong Lu took out the communication jade and fiddled with it, and soon the smile on his face grew even wider.
"My senior brother said he would arrive in a day and asked you to find a place nearby to wait for him."
Tu Shan grunted in response and then fell silent, watching the four of them work together.
"Tu Shan, thank you for last time!"
"No need, your senior brother already paid me." Tu Shan said coldly, "Did your senior brother tell you about having you follow me for the next fifty years?"
Rong Lu blinked once, then blinked again.
"I never said that!"
"He offered one million high-grade spirit stones and three ninth-tier treasures in exchange for me protecting you for fifty years, on the condition that you must be obedient and not ask questions you shouldn't ask. Can you do that?"
Seeing the seriousness in her eyes, Rong Lu did not hesitate and said sincerely, "Tu Shan, don't worry, I will do whatever you say!"
She brushed aside her bangs and said in a nonchalant tone, "Even if it means you die?"
Rong Lu saw a hint of seriousness in her eyes and nodded heavily.
"Yes, even if it means my death! You saved my life anyway, every extra day I live is a bonus."
Tu Shan touched her chin, looked up at him, and spoke casually.
"Fine, as long as you can do what you say, I won't let you die in front of me, even if it's just for that one million high-grade spirit stones and a ninth-tier treasure."
Rong Lu smiled brightly, his white teeth gleaming in the sunlight.
"Okay! I'll do as you say!"
Tu Shan rolled her eyes and stopped looking at him, turning her head to look at Jin Zhilin and Jian Leng in the distance.
So far, Dongfang Gui seems alright. He doesn't talk much, has strong execution skills, and is calm and collected. We'll see about the rest later.
For her, when looking for partners or teammates, strengths are important, but weaknesses are even more important.
Whether they can get along and cooperate well depends solely on whether they can tolerate each other's shortcomings.
Is it a fatal flaw?
If so, whether it can be changed, and to what extent it can be changed, are all very important to her.
She prefers to have fewer partners and friends than to have inferior ones.
The four worked together more and more seamlessly, and the snow rats disappeared faster and faster.
By the time they felt fear, most of them had already died or been injured.
The snow mouse, feeling a sense of urgency, quickly darted into its burrow.
The moment the snow rat disappeared without a trace, Geng Yu took out a soft couch, slumped down on it, and took a few deep breaths.
"I'm exhausted! If Tu Shan were here, we could take a shortcut."
After Zhong Qi cast a cleansing spell on himself, seeing how weak the other man looked, he cast one on him as well.
"Move a little further!"
Zhong Qi kicked him, and saw him move over, lie down next to him, and swallow a pill.
His mental state and cultivation had returned to their peak, and he rolled off the soft couch.
Cheng Nan and Dongfang Gui, who were meditating to recover, noticed his movement, opened their eyes and looked at him with confusion in their eyes.
"You all recover well, I'm going to collect our spoils."
Cheng Nan was speechless.
If he remembered correctly, Zhong Qi had 20,000 high-grade spirit stones.
These third-tier demonic beasts can be exchanged for less than one millionth of the spirit stones.
Look at them, no wonder they can accumulate so many spirit stones, unlike them, sigh!
Zhong Qi saw that the two were about to help, so he quickly stopped them.
"I'll put it in a storage bag and we'll divide it up later. You guys focus on recovering first."
Dongfang Gui gratefully clasped his hands in a fist salute, then returned to his previous position to continue his recovery.
Cheng Nan said, "Thank you. From now on, we'll take turns cleaning up after each other!"
Ji Se watched the four of them from afar, saying nothing, waiting for them to finish completely before joining them.
Jin Zhilin turned around, intending to discuss the four people's performance with his junior sister, only to find that Rong Lu, who had been standing to the right and behind his junior sister, had disappeared at some point.
"Junior Sister, Rong Lu is missing!"
Ji Se simply hummed in agreement.
"Junior Sister, when did he leave?"
"do not know!"
Of course she knew Rong Lu had left.
When Rong Lu left, he sent her a telepathic message about the past.
Besides, he's the strongest here, so it's better to worry about the others than him.
Ji Se knew that Tu Shan was nearby, but when he tried to use his divine sense, he couldn't see her and sighed inwardly.
That's the difference in strength!
She was still in the Golden Core stage, while her best friend had already reached the Nascent Soul stage.
I felt both happy for the fan and deeply powerless.
She worked tirelessly for five years, from the time she transmigrated until now, without stopping, and so did Tu Shan.
But the gap between them is widening.
I never imagined that one day she would become the one who drags others down.
I have to say, I've been feeling a bit emo lately.
Of course, this is only for a short period of time. Since the gap already exists, we should try to minimize it.
The fan wouldn't mind, and she wouldn't stop or back down because of it.
Ji Se cheered herself up. Seeing that Geng Yu and the others were recovering, she went to the side and continued practicing her sword.
Looking at his junior sister, who was quiet but hardworking and self-disciplined, Jin Zhilin suddenly felt ashamed.
He has too many thoughts; he's not as pure, simple, or insightful as his junior sister.
Junior Sister doesn't care what others think; she spends her time either cultivating spiritual energy or practicing swordsmanship.
He spent less than a third of the time on it as his junior sister did.
Is this why they have such a large gap?
Kim Ji-rim took his sword and went to the other side to practice.
Jian Leng had already found a good spot to practice her swordsmanship the moment Ji Se drew her sword.
Song Nian looked at the seven people who were cultivating, her eyes lowered, seemingly lost in thought.
This is only the outer perimeter of Tianyu Snow Mountain. Most of the demonic beasts are below the third rank, so even a slight smell of blood is nothing to fear for them.
After Geng Yu fully recovered, he walked up to Zhong Qi and said, "Come on, let's divide the spoils!"
At Gisse, he decided to accept her advice.
He wanted to earn spirit stones, lots and lots of spirit stones, to give to Tu Shan so she could teach him alchemy.
Once his alchemy skills improve, he'll be able to earn even more spirit stones; it's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.
Previously, watching her refine pills once cost a thousand high-grade spirit stones, while he only had twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones, so he could only watch twenty times.
Twenty times? With his clever mind, he definitely couldn't learn it.
I wonder how many spirit stones it would take to guarantee that you'll learn it completely.
Upon hearing that he was talking about distributing combat supplies, Cheng Nan stopped cultivating and hurriedly ran over.
Seeing the three people's movements, Dongfang Gui remained silent for a moment before getting up and following them.
Seeing this, Song Nian also went over to watch the four people divide their spoils.
How many snow rats did you catch this time?
Geng Yu chuckled and said, "Hehe, not many. I have forty-eight, and Zhong Qi has fifty-two."
Dongfang Gui paused slightly as he counted the snow rats, then said, "Forty-nine."
When Song Nian asked about it, Cheng Nan simply left.
What does he mean?
Geng Yu chuckled and said, "What do you mean? He didn't mean anything. He's not that familiar with us anyway. Isn't it normal for him to go back to his senior brothers and sisters after he's done his business?"
Song Nian had no way to refute it.
Zhong Qi looked at Geng Yu in surprise. He had a slight smile on his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes.
Ha, it seems Geng Yu doesn't like this Senior Sister Song very much either.
Dongfang Gui simply watched from the sidelines.
"The people from Tianyi Sword Sect have gone too far. Five of them went, and four of them are from our Lingyun Sect. Are they sending us to be the first to die?"
Seeing that the rest were all people from the Lingyun Sect, Song Nian spoke without any restraint.
She believed that her three junior brothers would stand by her side. Since it concerned the sect, they would definitely take it seriously and wouldn't be fooled by Ji Se.
Zhong Qi's expression turned slightly cold as he said, "Our presence here has nothing to do with the sect. It's just that our senior uncle took a liking to us and sent us here."
This is the first and last time I'm reminding Senior Sister Song that this has nothing to do with the sect; these spots were privately secured for us by our senior master.
No one will stop you if you don't want to stay here, but if you're trying to stir up trouble among us, I advise you to give up.
You and Senior Brother Dongfang are the only newcomers here. If you don't want to stay here, don't drag Senior Brother Dongfang down with you.
That's all I have to say, Geng Yu, let's go!
After Zhong Qi finished speaking, he gestured for Geng Yu to leave.
"What...what's your attitude?"
Song Nian's secret thoughts were exposed, and her face turned pale. She hurriedly denied it: "I didn't mean that. I just felt it was unfair."
Geng Yu stopped, turned around, and asked, "Fairness? What kind of fairness do you want?"
"At the very least, when going to fight monsters, the Lingyun Sect and the Tianyi Sword Sect should each contribute half!"
"Ha!" Geng Yu sneered, "Do you even know the significance of your trip here?"
Song Nian was very angry: "What's the point? My senior master said it's for us to gain experience."
Geng Yu didn't reply to Song Nian, but turned to Dongfang Gui and asked, "Senior Brother Dongfang, what do you think?"
Song Nian also turned to look at Dongfang Gui, her eyes flashing with vulnerability, trying to get his support.
"Senior Sister Song, whether it's for training or for other purposes, we should unite as a team. As for the conflict between sects, we can talk about that when the time comes."
Our most important task right now is to improve our strength. Besides, the two aren't mutually exclusive, Senior Sister Song, don't misunderstand!
After Dongfang Gui finished speaking, he came to Geng Yu's side, stared at Song Nian for a while, and then turned around and left first.
Song Nian gripped her hand tightly, the nail marks on her palm bleeding.
Why do so many people think of her like that? She just doesn't want the Tianyi Sword Sect to use the Lingyun Sect as a target, is that wrong?
"Senior Sister Song, you say it's unfair, let me tell you what unfair means. According to your idea, a sect should contribute half of its members, but the four members of our Lingyun Sect are only at the Foundation Establishment stage."
Apart from Cheng Nan, the other three members of the Tianyi Sword Sect are all at the Golden Core stage. Since each sect sends two members, the Tianyi Sword Sect must send at least one member at the Golden Core stage, which would be fair to them.
Also, the reason Ji Se arranged for the five of us is simply because the snow rat is a third-tier demon beast, which is perfect as a training subject for the five of us. It's not as complicated as you think.
It has nothing to do with the sect; it's simply because we need to improve our strength and cultivation, nothing more.
Senior Sister Song, think it over carefully!
Geng Yu was only giving this earnest advice out of respect for his master.
After he finished speaking, he grabbed Zhong Qi's arm and left without giving him a chance to speak.
Song Nian was momentarily stunned. When she came to her senses, she stamped her foot, hesitated for a moment, and then followed.
Ji Se didn't know what the group said, but Tu Shan and Rong Lu heard it clearly.
"Splash! Splash!"
The sixth-order gray-black four-winged eagle had awakened from its dazed state.
The sound of wings flapping against the wooden dragon forced Tu Shan to turn around.
"What? Want to go out and have fun? Or do you just want your freedom?"
The gray-black four-winged eagle pounded its wings against the wooden cage, its sharp talons trying to tear the vines apart, but despite its best efforts, it failed to harm the eagle in the slightest.
"Let me out!"
"Let you out? When you were chasing me, why didn't you think of sparing my life? I only deprived you of your freedom, I didn't take your life, you should feel lucky."