Chapter 146: Striking a Chord
Smoke Cloud Peak.
Smoke Cloud Pavilion.
After arriving at the entrance to the Smoke Cloud Pavilion, Huang Mengzhu slid off Fang Yun’s back.
"Junior Brother Fang, over here."
Not long after stepping into the Smoke Cloud Pavilion, Fang Yun heard Wu Junxin’s voice.
Two people were already seated at a square table. Besides Wu Junxin, the other person, a sturdy-looking man, had to be the Yang Yingjie that Wu Junxin had mentioned.
Fang Yun led Huang Mengzhu over.
"Senior Brother Wu, and Senior Brother Yang."
Hearing this, Huang Mengzhu, who was beside him, greeted them as Fang Yun had.
"This must be Junior Sister Huang. I haven’t seen you in a while, you’ve gotten so tall." Wu Junxin recalled the first time he’d met Huang Mengzhu. "Come, come, have a seat. The Spiritual Food will be out shortly."
After the two sat down, each of the four sides of the square table was occupied by one person, with Fang Yun sitting opposite Wu Junxin.
Once seated, Huang Mengzhu listened quietly without saying a word.
On the way over, she had asked Brother Fang Yun what she should say or do during the senior brothers’ treat.
Brother Fang Yun told her that if no one asked her anything, she should just listen quietly. As for what to do, her job was, of course, to take care of the Spiritual Food on the table.
To just enjoy a good meal.
"Junior Brother Fang, you might not know much about me, but I’ve heard disciples talking about you when I happen to pass by," Yang Yingjie said to Fang Yun, prompted by a gesture from Wu Junxin.
When Wu Junxin had introduced Yang Yingjie, there was something he hadn’t told Fang Yun.
It was that Yang Yingjie had been hoping to meet Fang Yun and had asked Wu Junxin to help with an introduction.
Wu Junxin felt this was a delicate matter, so he had sounded Fang Yun out indirectly to see if he had any interest in Yang Yingjie.
If he hadn’t been interested, this meeting wouldn’t be happening now.
Fortunately, Fang Yun was interested in Yang Yingjie and was willing to meet him.
Now that everyone was here, it was Yang Yingjie’s chance, and Wu Junxin hoped he would do most of the talking.
He was willing to help Yang Yingjie mainly because they had a good relationship, having both entered the Celestial Cloud Sect around the same time.
"Junior Brother Fang, you and Junior Brother Yang are quite similar in some ways, like your control over your time," Wu Junxin chimed in at the right moment, which would help Fang Yun feel more of a connection with Yang Yingjie.
"I hear you spend most of your time outside the sect, Senior Brother Yang." Fang Yun looked at Yang Yingjie.
Yang Yingjie nodded. "That’s right. I don’t spend much time in the sect. As soon as I get back, I spend all my Spirit Stones and Contribution Points on pills to aid my cultivation. Once I’m done cultivating, I head back out on missions."
Before Fang Yun and Huang Mengzhu arrived, Wu Junxin had already advised him that if he wanted to befriend Fang Yun, the best way was to first build a rapport by finding common ground.
That way, it would be much easier to ask for his help with Alchemy or Artifact Refining later on.
"Are you also of the Mixed Spirit Roots, Senior Brother Yang?"
"Well... no, I have the Three Spirit Roots of Gold, Wood, and Water," Yang Yingjie said, not expecting Fang Yun to ask directly about Spirit Roots.
If he had Mixed Spirit Roots, he wouldn’t have been able to enter the Celestial Cloud Sect.
Like Wu Junxin, he had no background or connections.
"Gold, Wood, and Water. Same as Mengzhu’s Spirit Root," Fang Yun remarked.
Hearing this, Huang Mengzhu just nodded. As long as no one asked her a question, she wouldn’t speak.
"Oh, then that’s quite a coincidence," Wu Junxin said. He was a Cultivator with Dual Spirit Roots, the best among everyone present.
"What Cultivation Technique are you practicing, Junior Sister?" Yang Yingjie asked, looking at Huang Mengzhu.
"The Wood Spirit Spell." Huang Mengzhu replied. She had originally chosen a Wood Attribute Cultivation Technique because she knew Brother Fang Yun also cultivated one.
"I’m cultivating the Metal Attribute Geng Metal Spell."
As the conversation started, everyone gradually became more familiar with one another.
Not long after, the Spiritual Food arrived, and they all began to eat and chat. Huang Mengzhu, however, was focused on eating.
Through their simple chat, Fang Yun’s impression of Yang Yingjie was quite good, partly due to Wu Junxin’s introduction.
He had a very good feeling about Wu Junxin, which in turn influenced his perception of Yang Yingjie.
"Senior Brother, are the places where you carry out missions mainly within the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory?" Sensing the other’s eagerness to befriend him, Fang Yun didn’t hold back with his questions.
Hearing this, Yang Yingjie was inwardly delighted.
’When Fang Yun wants to know more about me, it means I’ve already made a good impression on him.’
’Fang Yun is a cultivator who relies on consuming pills, while I myself am a cultivator who only partially relies on them. Compared to Fang Yun’s Alchemy Talent, my own method of earning Spirit Stones and Contribution Points from missions to exchange for pills is naturally much less efficient.’
"No, the missions I undertake are mostly in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory." Yang Yingjie quickly explained his reasoning. "Missions within the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory have very high rewards. And if you can kill one or two Demons from the Celestial Demon Sect while you’re at it, you can earn a lot of Contribution Points."
"But the risks of taking missions there are also higher."
"Hehe, I’m skilled enough to take missions in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory. I’m quite sensitive to Demon Power..."
Yang Yingjie directly told Fang Yun about some of his special abilities.
In addition, Yang Yingjie shared some of his experiences from taking missions in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory, experiences he used to stay safer there.
"...And nowadays, it’s become easier to run into Demons from the Celestial Demon Sect even when on missions within our own Celestial Cloud Sect territory. It’s happening more frequently than in previous years."
Wu Junxin nodded. "Junior Brother Fang, do you remember the corpse of the Celestial Demon Sect Demon I gave you?"
"Of course I remember."
From the information Fang Yun had gathered so far, the external environment for the Celestial Cloud Sect had become worse in recent years compared to the years just before.
However, if one looked at a longer timescale, say a century, the current external environment for the Celestial Cloud Sect was actually very good.
Over a hundred years ago, the interval between the Four Sects’ Trials was extended because of something the Celestial Cloud Sect did.
"Senior Brother Yang, since you often take missions in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory, I have an Upper Grade Magical Artifact that might be quite suitable for you." As he spoke, Fang Yun took out a Profound Iron Shield he had refined. "This shield’s normal defensive capabilities are average, but it has excellent protective effects against Demon Power, comparable to a supreme-grade magical artifact."
"How many Lower Grade Spirit Stones?" Yang Yingjie’s eyes lit up as he immediately asked.
’An Upper Grade Magical Artifact like this is exactly what I need at my current stage.’
’As a Ninth Layer Qi Refining cultivator, it’s difficult for me to control a supreme-grade magical artifact. Moreover, supreme-grade magical artifacts are hard to come by; they aren’t always for sale in the Artifact Pavilion—it all comes down to luck.’
’For me, the shield Fang Yun is offering is definitely more useful than a supreme-grade magical artifact.’
"Let’s round it to a whole number. One hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones," Fang Yun quickly quoted a price.
’The refining cost for this Profound Iron Shield was nearly forty Lower Grade Spirit Stones, which wasn’t cheap.’