Chapter 31 – Hope for the Helpless

To prepare for the return of the green-and-black duo and their potential ‘big event’, Lynn Naya made a worst-case scenario plan. She stopped cultivating and focused all her energy on drawing Light Body Talismans, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

Three days later, the duo still hadn’t returned, and the mortal area started to get restless. After all, the cultivators were their protectors, and their disappearance made people feel uneasy.

Zhou Yuan was the most anxious of all. It wasn’t because of the cultivators, but because her brother, Zhou Feibai, had gone out with them and hadn’t come back. She was worried that something had happened to him.

“It’s already the seventh day. What if something really happened?”

Ever since the green-and-black duo started going out to hunt beasts, other Dao Palace disciples had started to follow them. At first, it was only the high-level cultivators, but eventually, even some of the lower-level ones, like Zhou Feibai, started to go with them.

Zhou Feibai would always leave some prey, like rabbits and pheasants, at Zhou Yuan’s house when he passed by. But now that he hadn’t returned for days, it was understandable why Zhou Yuan was worried.

“A good person has the heavens on their side. You shouldn’t worry too much.” Scarface Qing tried to comfort her, but his words were weak and unconvincing.

Just then, a visitor arrived. It was the head of the Qu family, who lived across from them.

The Qu family was from the group of outsiders who had recently arrived. They had just finished building their new home, and tonight, they finally had time to thank Scarface Qing.

Lynn Naya had sensed the visitor’s arrival immediately. When she realized it was the Qu family head, she finished circulating her spiritual energy and went to the main room.

Over the past two weeks, she had learned why these Qu family members had survived the recent disaster. It was all thanks to their ancestral skill of brewing wine.

The Qu clan was known for their unique and flavorful brewed wine. They were so famous that many beasts would disguise themselves as humans to buy their wine.

Their surname, Qu, was also granted to them by a powerful figure because of their excellent wine-making skills.

A few years ago, during the last conflict, their entire clan was taken and held captive by a beast who wanted them to brew wine for it. This was how they had avoided being wiped out.

But a beast was not a human. The beast was an insatiable drunkard and ordered the Qu family to brew fruit wine day and night without giving them any food.

The lack of food and rest, combined with the heavy work, led to the Qu clan’s gradual decline. Their numbers dwindled from three thousand to just a few dozen. If Yanxi and the other cultivator hadn’t passed by and rescued them, the rest of the clan would have followed the same fate as their ancestors.

When Lynn Naya entered Scarface Qing’s main room, the people inside were chatting away. When they saw her, ScarfaceQing immediately stood up and placed a bamboo stool in front of her.

His small action did not go unnoticed by the Qu clan head. He knew that Scarface Qing was now a prominent figure in the eyes of the cultivators and that his wife’s brother was a cultivator on the mountain. By all accounts, he should be the most important person in this room, so why was he being so respectful to this young girl?

Could this girl also have a powerful background?

While he was still wondering, the young girl greeted him with a “Hello, old man.” and sat down calmly.

Old man…

The Qu family head wanted to say that he wasn’t old and was only in his forties, but he looked like he was in his sixties or seventies. It was pointless to argue, so he just accepted it.

The chat inside the room continued. “Old man, you said the cultivators saved you, but do you know how long the journey was?”

The Qu clan head thought for a moment. “It was at least 200 kilometers. The place where the white-furred, red-faced ape lived was only about 15 kilometers from my village. I even went there a decade ago.”

“That far? It must have taken many days to walk.”

“It took almost half a month.”

“Did you encounter any dangers along the way?” Scarface Qing asked.

“No, with the two cultivators leading the way, we didn’t lose a single person.”

Perhaps this struck a chord with Zhou Yuan, and she couldn’t help but say, “The two cultivators are not ordinary people. They must be safe with them.”

“Of course,” the old man said, with more confidence than anyone else. Then he changed the topic. “Since I came in, you’ve looked worried. Did something happen? Tell me, maybe I can help.”

Zhou Yuan forced a smile. “It’s just that the two cultivators haven’t come back for days, and I’m a little worried…”

“Oh, that. You don’t have to worry. I probably know what they went to do.” The Qu clan head hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice.

“This is not something to be spread around. Just between us. On the way here, the cultivators said they found a group of evil cultivators, but since they had us, they didn’t act then. Now that they haven’t come back for days, I think they went to raid their hideout.”

After saying that, the Qu clan head added, “The two cultivators are very powerful. You don’t have to worry about them. They are good people, and heaven will treat them well.”

Hearing this, Zhou Yuan became even more worried.

Her change made the Qu clan head feel a little lost. He wanted to ask more, but Lynn Naya took over the conversation and continued to ask him about the outside world.

She asked how they rested at night, if they encountered any soul fog, what the terrain was like, and if they encountered a lot of beasts. In the end, she even asked the old man if he could draw a rough map from memory.

The Qu clan head was surprised by the request. Although he didn’t know much about the journey, he had followed his family when he was a child to sell wine and buy food, so he had a general idea of the location.

Guessing that the young woman might have some connections, he said he would try to draw a map but couldn’t guarantee its accuracy. After all, it had been a long time, and the Dao Palace was no longer the same.

“A rough idea is fine, too.” Lynn Naya wanted to know more about the outside world. And tonight, she had not come for nothing—the old man told her that there was no soul fog at night for hundreds of kilometers.

This meant that the outside world wasn’t completely overrun by soul fog, and if she ever wanted to leave the Dao Palace, she could find another place to live.

Of course, with beasts and evil cultivators everywhere, the safest place to be was still the Dao Palace.

After that night, another two days passed, and the Dao Palace disciples who had gone out finally returned.

Lynn Naya was in the herb forest at the time. She saw that many of the disciples who returned were injured. It seemed they had been pushed to their limits. She wondered what they had gone out for. Was it really to kill evil cultivators as the Qu family head had said?

At this moment, Lynn Naya missed her dining buddy a lot. Unfortunately, ever since the dining buddy’s senior brother had returned, she had not come back to the herb forest.

I have to work harder to become stronger, or I’ll always be in the dark about everything.

This time, the green-and-black duo acted strangely and didn’t stay at the foot of the mountain when they came back. It was about seven days later that her dining buddy finally appeared in front of Lynn Naya.

Compared to her usual carefree attitude, the girl had a trace of hesitation on her face this time.

Someone with something on their mind can’t even enjoy their food. After a while, Lynn Naya, who had been watching the girl sigh for the umpteenth time, finally couldn’t help but ask, “What happened? Your sighing is tying my stomach in knots.”

“Sigh…” The girl let out another long sigh. Her expression was conflicted, but in the end, she said, “Let me ask you, if you had a chance to cultivate, would you take it?”

A chance for me to cultivate?

Lynn Naya laughed. “I’m just a normal person. I don’t even have a spiritual root. How can I cultivate?”

“I’m talking about normal people who don’t have spiritual roots.” The girl sighed again. “I’m not afraid to tell you. A few days ago, Senior Brother Yanxi went to kill a bunch of evil cultivators, and among their spoils, he found a cultivation method for ordinary people.”

“You know that most evil cultivators are people who couldn’t find success in cultivation and took a crooked path. Some of them are even monsters who want to defy the heavens without a spiritual root. It’s just that those methods for people without a spiritual root were too wicked and malicious. The righteous sects didn’t want people to try them.”

“But this time is different. The cultivation method Senior Brother found doesn’t require doing anything atrocious. It just requires…”

When she got to the key point, she didn’t elaborate and skipped ahead. “Anyway, there is a cultivation method that can let normal people cultivate. If it were you, would you be willing to try?”

Lynn Naya more or less understood.

Based on her experience with the girl over the past year, she wasn’t someone who would easily leak secrets about the mountain. Whatever she said would be made public later.

If it would be made public, it meant that the matter was feasible.

“If it were me, I’d be happy to. If I had some cultivation, I wouldn’t be so weak. I wouldn’t have to just stand there and take a beating during the beast attack. But since you’re so hesitant about such a great cultivation method, there must be a big drawback. Why don’t you tell me what it is?”

“The drawback is that you might die,” the girl said. “Normal people are different from cultivators. This cultivation method isn’t a hundred percent successful. The death rate is high. Maybe only two or three out of ten people will succeed.”

“No wonder you’re so conflicted.” The odds were a little too low. “What did the cultivators on the mountain say?”

If they let the mortals try it, the risk was too high.

The girl shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know that Senior Brother Yanxi said this method can be improved, but he doesn’t know when it will be done.”

“Then let’s wait until he’s done. You said he’s a genius, so maybe when he comes out, he’ll give everyone a pleasant surprise.” Lynn Naya said casually. It was already a great feat to create a cultivation method, and improving it was even more difficult.

Most geniuses put all their skill points into cultivation speed. As for improving cultivation methods… No way. Is that guy really going to improve it?

With her common sense telling her it was unlikely but her heart feeling like it was possible, Lynn Naya waited for half a month.

Half a month later, her dining buddy, for the first time, ran up to her excitedly during mealtime and spoke incoherently. “It worked! Senior Brother Yanxi is a genius! We can cultivate now!”

Lynn Naya’s first thought after hearing this was: Things are about to change, and my opportunity to make spirit stones has arrived.