Breaking Through?

Naimu'er reaped another bountiful harvest from Aslan's body. There were seven gold coins alone, along with a resentment crystal. Presumably, Aslan had spent most of his time looking after that young apprentice knight, so he hadn't gathered more treasures. Yet this was already enough. Even if his other possessions were mostly ruined, this single crystal could fetch four to five thousand silver dollars. Apart from that, his greatsword was of exceptionally high quality. Not only had it been tempered and nourished by him over a long time, but it was also a top-tier masterpiece among knight-grade weapons. Brand new, its price would easily exceed ten thousand. From this, one could see Aslan's standing—at least in terms of financial strength, he was likely far wealthier than the knight from before. Regrettably, the greatsword was severely damaged, making repair quite difficult, and even if restored, it would never regain its former state. A more sensible choice was to melt it down and reforge it; the raw materials alone made doing so worthwhile. Naimu'er was in a bit of a dilemma. "This... I wouldn't mind taking it, but how do we tally the money?" He had originally planned to buy a new one after breaking through, but his funds were ultimately limited; there was no way he could afford a top-tier masterpiece like this. If this greatsword were repaired, its quality wouldn't be worse than anything new he could purchase. "I suggest turning it over to the Martial Academy," Cynthia answered. "Don't you worry about courting trouble with a custom-made greatsword like this?" "He claimed to be from... the Camille family?" Naimu'er racked his brain trying to remember. "Is that family well-known?" "Some families aren't necessarily unknown," Cynthia said calmly. "It's just that with our standing, we lack the status to have heard of them." "There are families like that?" Naimu'er felt a bit unresigned. "And here I thought our information wasn't half bad." "Then keep the greatsword for yourself," Cynthia replied, not bothering to argue. "Name a price." Her sudden agreeableness left Naimu'er slightly bewildered—just earlier, you were ready to let me leave this place all on my own! He reminded himself not to be too reckless. "Then... four thousand silver dollars?" "Are you joking?" Cynthia flatly refused, maintaining a straight face. "At the very least six thousand silver dollars—and that's the friends-and-family rate!" "Not worth it!" Naimu'er replied without hesitation. "If we turn it in to the Martial Academy, we'd be lucky to get four thousand and laugh all the way to the bank!" He genuinely didn't believe this was any friendly discount; Red Pine might not even offer that much. Cynthia drawled, "But the Martial Academy can withstand the Camille family. If it's sold to you, can you withstand them?" Aslan had disrupted the Red Pine students' mission and died only after being tainted by Guizu aura, so the family might not necessarily come looking for trouble. Still, if they truly did come knocking over the weapon, they certainly wouldn't target just Naimu'er—all three of them would share the blame. Handing the broadsword over to Red Pine would indeed bring in less money, but it was completely safe, leaving no fear of anyone settling scores later. "Then... forget it. Let's just sell it to the Martial Academy," Naimu'er said after some thought, painfully giving it up. He even consoled himself, "We got it for free anyway. By the way, will Xiao Wu agree?" Cynthia replied casually, "When he said he's poor, he was just making casual talk... Didn't you see his biguijue?" "I think we should still ask him," Naimu'er said, feeling somewhat reluctant. "What if he wants the sword too?" He was unwilling to spend six thousand silver dollars on a sword fraught with potential liabilities, but what if Xiao Wu was willing? That guy seemed to have an unusual attachment to cold weapons. "Well, all right," Cynthia agreed after a moment's thought, walking behind the boulder with him. Then the two were dumbfounded: the Jin youth sat cross-legged on the ground, soles and palms turned upward, eyelids half-lowered. With an apprentice knight's perception, he ought to have noticed their conversation, yet he remained utterly motionless. "What is—" Naimu'er started, only to be cut off by a fierce glare from his fellow countrywoman. "Hush," Cynthia whispered. "He's probably cultivating. Let's not disturb him." Naimu'er didn't dare say much. Only after retreating some distance did he mutter under his breath, "Cultivating like that, though..." "Perhaps it's a method unique to Jin," Cynthia said, having also acknowledged his Jin origins. As for the principle that warriors should avoid disturbances while cultivating, that held true in any country. "If you really want to ask, wait until he finishes." "People from Jin love playing mysterious," Naimu'er grumbled, then added, "He probably won't tell the truth anyway." "Then there's nothing to be done," Cynthia replied, unfazed. "When it comes to cultivation methods, no one can afford to be generous." This was no mere conjecture of hers, but common knowledge; every nation guarded its cultivation methods with utmost gravity. Throughout history, several national wars had been triggered by the leak of cultivation methods. Naimu'er didn't question her words either, but another point of curiosity welled up in him. "Do you think he might be breaking through? I feel like his strength is just a hair's breadth away from knight." "Breaking through on a battlefield?" Cynthia laughed in spite of herself. "You might as well hope he breaks through in the middle of combat!" Breaking through in mid-combat actually did happen, and it was hardly rare in Liang, with countless tales surrounding it. In the Liang narrative, their people were inherently valiant; when pushed into a corner, they might just unleash an explosive burst of latent potential! Yet even they admitted that after going berserk on the spot, more than ninety percent never lived to see the next day. Thus, while breaking through like that worked, it was by no means the optimal choice. Given the choice, breaking through step by steady step was far better. Cynthia didn't believe Wu Youren was breaking through. Although their current position was relatively stable, the surrounding situation remained tense. If one truly wanted to advance to knight, there was no rush to do so right now. Yet no sooner had her words fallen than both felt something amiss at the same time, turning together toward the large boulder. After staring for a good while, Naimu'er spoke up. "Why do I feel like something's off?" "Mm..." Cynthia also pondered for a long time before replying, "A little, yes. It feels... somewhat warm around here?" "Could it be a Guizu domain?" Naimu'er's expression turned grave. "Have our senses fooled us?" Not only did such a possibility exist, but the odds were high. Cynthia smiled, however. "Don't worry. With him around, there's no way a Guizu domain could trick us." Seeing his junior schoolmate's smile, Naimu'er flared up at once. "I don't appreciate hearing that—" "Shut up!" Cynthia's face darkened, cutting him off without hesitation. "If you don't want to hear it, plug your ears!" A dead silence fell, lasting for quite a while. After a long time, rumbling thunder rolled across the horizon, and dark clouds surged toward them. "Tomorrow," Cynthia sighed softly. "I'll discuss it with him, and we'll all pull back together." *Can't just the two of us pull back?* Naimu'er badly wanted to ask, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut. Near dusk, raindrops the size of beans pattered noisily down. The two went to check on Wu Youren and found the Jin youth still sitting cross-legged, completely still. Without a word, Cynthia pulled out a folding canopy and pitched it over him. It was homemade and very crude, worse even than a parasol, but it could withstand ordinary mountain winds. "He probably doesn't mind the rain, does he?" Naimu'er felt his junior schoolmate's behavior was verging on servile. Yet there was nothing he could do; he was injured right now, and neither of these two was someone he could afford to offend. Cynthia didn't take the bait. With a solemn expression, she remarked, "Thunderstorms... bring both fortune and bane!" On overcast, rainy days, devoid of sunlight, the Guizu grew very active, and the sound of falling rain would mask abnormal noises. A thunderstorm, however, was a different matter: while the Guizu might be active, lightning and thunder had an inhibitory effect on most of them. Night was fast approaching, and weather like this gave one quite a headache. "It'll just be the two of us keeping watch tonight," Naimu'er said, frowning deeply. "And we have to keep an eye on him too. How about... we wake him up?" "Leave him be," Cynthia said casually. "We just need to look out for ourselves." Raindrops the size of beans pelted down with a clatter. One sheltered beneath an overhanging rock, the other inside a cave, both gazing out blankly at the pouring deluge. They watched as the sky darkened bit by bit and the temperature dropped steadily. The two positioned themselves to mutually support one another, yet at this moment, all they could do was stare blankly back and forth. Just then, a figure appeared—it was none other than Wu Youren, who had been sitting in meditation until now. The aura around the Jin youth seemed a little peculiar, rising and falling erratically. The rain outside was heavy, yet only his hair and the shoulders of his clothes were slightly dampened. When rainwater hit his body, it seemed to encounter an invisible film, sliding down along his form. Normally, only upon reaching the rank of knight and projecting battle qi outward could one produce such an effect. Yet both of them felt an indefinable sensation, though of one thing they were certain: this was definitely not the presence of a knight! "Thank you both for your trouble," Wu Youren called out, cupping his hands toward them from a distance. "Rest well tonight." "That qi film around you..." Cynthia couldn't help asking. "What's going on with it?" "Just a little trick I puzzled out myself," Wu Youren answered with a straight face. "I was wondering if I could use it to block Guizu aura." "I couldn't really explain how, though." In truth, it was because he had practiced Daoist cultivation methods just now and reached roughly the level of "qi nurturing," producing this effect. Retracting it wasn't difficult, of course, but it required deliberate effort; otherwise, it would fluctuate erratically between retracting and expanding. Chiefly, he was unfamiliar with controlling this breath; with some practice, he should be fine. Right now he had accumulated quite a few experience points, and with no instructors around, he needed to make the most of his time to absorb them. Yet what Cynthia and Naimu'er cared about was something else: "You can't explain it?" When knights shielded themselves with battle qi, it truly could ward off some Guizu aura. If an apprentice knight could manage it as well, that would be an incredible boon. "Yeah," Wu Youren nodded, answering with complete earnestness. "I don't really know how I did it either." "You can just stumble into it like that?" Naimu'er was clearly skeptical. "You just don't want to reveal it, right?" The other boy was from Jin; keeping such a miraculous technique secret from people of Liang was only natural.