"It took us 5 days to come, so pretty much that."
Su Mingyue replied without turning her head. Ning Rongrong, on the other hand, rode a little ahead, opting for silence.
The rhythmic clop of hooves against dirt became the only punctuation in the long silence.
The night deepened, the moon a sliver of bone-white in a sky dusted with cold, distant stars.
As for safety? Around their village, there are no spirit beasts, only wild animals, which are a piece of cake for them.
He watched Ning Rongrong, who was riding a little ahead. Her posture was ramrod straight, clearly accustomed to riding horses.
"Where do you think you are looking, little brother?"
Ning Rongrong, feeling the gaze behind her, turned her head only to see someone’s gaze fixed on her and questioned teasingly.
"Umm... Would you believe me if I said I was envious of your horse riding?"
Gu Changsheng answered, awkwardly rubbing his neck as he turned his gaze away.
"Liar!"
Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes at his reply. Such a terrible liar. She seemed less like a disciple of a great sect and more like just a young, mischievous girl.
Gu Changsheng just smiled wryly, having no way to prove his innocence. With nothing else to do, he tried to open up Su Mingyue’s status panel, and it worked.
___
『Name』: Su Mingyue
『Cultivation』: 4th Stage of Qi Refinement Realm
『Talent』: None
『Fate』: Purple
『Fortuitous Encounters』:
1. Finding an ancient map, she goes to a small village and finds a hidden spiritual spring (✓).
2. Influenced by fate, she was gifted a withered 5–Star spiritual plant, Nine–Elemental Dao Lotus (???).
3. While returning to the Sect from a mission, she finds a 2–Star Spiritual plant.
___
"Hmm?!"
Gu Changsheng muttered lightly, his voice subconsciously slipping out of his mouth.
"Did you say anything?"
Su Mingyue, hearing Gu Changsheng’s muttering, asked, a bit confused. But this time, she didn’t obtain a reply.
Gu Changsheng was deep in thought.
There were some differences in this one compared to Mulan’s. Like the check mark, which most likely meant a claimed opportunity, and the question mark, which may indicate a non-available opportunity.
From the information given, he also assessed the overall situation.
Su Mingyue was a 4th Stage Qi Refinement Realm cultivator who somehow got a treasure map leading to the hidden spot he had gone to.
Though she didn’t get the spiritual plant from Dong Mulan, she still gained the spiritual spring.
He just didn’t know if she was currently carrying it within a spatial treasure or had left it there for the future.
Point to be noted, the spiritual plant she gained was the withered Nine–Elemental Dao Lotus and not the Nine–Elemental Creation Fruit.
So what happened to the fruit? It wasn’t Mulan’s opportunity, nor was it Su Mingyue’s, so exactly whose was it supposed to be?
"Ohho... The guts. To think someone would actually dare to ignore you, Su Mingyue, heheh~."
Just as he was thinking of this, sudden teasing caught him off guard. Looking around, he saw Ning Rongrong with a wide, cheeky grin on her face.
Only then did he realize he f*cked up, for the second time at that. With a wry smile, he nervously said,
"Would you believe me if I said I overthink a lot?"
"If you say so."
Su Mingyue replied, her voice without any anger.
Outwardly, he sighed in relief while inwardly, he giggled at her ’not angry’ attitude.
At least his acting was improving.
Both of the women were quite friendly, so he wasn’t actually nervous about being ’kicked in the butt’, just playing dumb so he wouldn’t attract attention.
But he couldn’t have known that the more he did this, the more their interest grew.
Ning Rongrong, now a bit behind, stared at his back curiously. She felt an urge to get to know this little brother better.
These two had only joined the Cloud Piercing Sect for 11 years. While in May, it seemed like a lot, for a cultivator, it was nothing.
Before that, they were just mortal girls living in a mortal city.
Although these 11 years had changed their perspectives quite a bit, they were still naive and pure at heart.
"The Cloud Piercing Sect... what is it like?"
Gu Changsheng inquired, his voice like stirring waves in the lake. Ning Rongrong, without a thought, spoke, her voice carrying back to them.
"The Cloud Piercing Sect is situated on a mountain called Cloud Piercing Mountain, as its peak reaches beyond the clouds. The Cloud Piercing Sect has a Soul Creation Realm ancestor as the sect guardian."
Su Mingyue added, though without a hint of fondness, still a bit offended.
"It’s one of the seven great orthodox sects in the Azure Sky Province. Our focus is on the wind element."
"The sect’s management is divided into 5 parts: Normal disciples represented by (★); Senior disciples represented by (★★); Deacons represented by (★★★); Prime disciples represented by (★★★★); Elders represented by (★★★★★); and finally, the Sect Leader."
As she said the latter half, Ning Rongrong pointed towards the single star on the left chest side of her robe, while Su Mingyue had 2 stars on her robe.
It took a moment for Gu Changsheng to digest the information, confused about something, he asked away.
"Orthodox sect? And fug province??"
He now had the chance to know about this world, so he’s going to make most of it, even though he had guessed as much, it was better to just verify it.
"What do you me– Oh, I forgot you’re from a village."
Ning Rongrong looked back at him, startled. But then it came to him that this little brother was a bit of a bozzo, explaining as much as possible.
"Orthodox sects are those sects which do not actively interface in matters non relevant to cultivation, and the other type, unorthodox sects actively interfare with the outside world for their own benefit or purely amusement."
"Though it isn’t true, orthodox sects are of as righteous and unorthodox sects are known as evil."