Shuyan sipped at the bitter tea in his cup, his legs folded and leaning back on the chair. Face relaxed, he just enjoyed the tea, ignoring the noisy surroundings of the restaurant around him- the enticing aromas of various dishes, shuffling of footsteps against the wooden floor and the crowd ofred- and black-robed disciples behind him. He just sat there, looking out the window to the rising hills and rolling clouds.
This was the monthly meeting place of Shuyan and his friends, a restaurant in the outer area of the sect. Lin Dage sat beside him, his head flicking around at every step of a girl behind them with a smile on his face. This guy looked like a creep, causing the girls near their table to throw dirty glances at him. Some even muttered some curses but Lin Dage looked unfazed, his eyes trailing the moves of the proud swans.
"Still gawking at girls, Lin?" a voice broke the dynamic of the two boys, causing Shuyan to look behind him.
"Brother Bai Zhicen, you're here." Shuyan greeted his friend and gestured for the boy to sit. Bai Zhicen was a long-time friend of his, their time together dating back to their orphan days in their childhood village, where they were found by a Deacon of the sect and brought here after they turned fifteen. So their relationship ran deep.
"How have you been, Shuyan? And Gu Yantu isn't here?" Bai Zhicen replied as he sat down. He was burly, causing the chair to creak slightly. Lin Dage looked up at him with a scowl on his face and said, "What's it to you if I gawk at girls? They aren't your sisters, are they?"
Bai Zhicen looked at him and smiled, "That's all you can do. So I guess it's okay for you."
His reply nearly caused Lin Dage to turn the table and demand a fight, but he held it in and just gritted his teeth. "Well, if I looked like you, I would be this salty too."
Their bickering brought a smile to Shuyan's face. A step approached behind him, prompting him to look back to see the last member of their group—Gu Yantu—approaching with a smile too.
He looked like he had already heard bits of the bickering from the table, his smile bright and handsome. He was the young-master type, probably the best looking of the group but with a humbleness that none of the others had, even Shuyan.
"Brother Gu. How have you been? We've been waiting for you," Shuyan called out as Gu Yantu approached, causing the other two to greet him too.
Gu Yantu sat down, his arrival bringing silence to the table. Until he nodded and spoke, "So did anyone order food?"
All three rolled their eyes at the question, his gluttonous behavior all too familiar to them.
"Yes, I already did," Shuyan replied. Fortunately, this restaurant accepted silver and gold; otherwise he wouldn't have been able to afford anything here after the Pocket World had swallowed everything he had.
The conversation flowed smoothly as they talked about their daily life until the topic came to the Yearly Competition. Silence enveloped the table as the gravity of the situation settled on everyone's mind.
"How is everyone's progress going in Stage Two? I barely made it to the peak," Bai Zhicen broke the silence.
"I'm at the peak too," Gu Yantu nodded and spoke between mouthfuls of food.
And that was when Lin Dage puffed out his chest and spoke, "I am at Bone Forging."
Bai Zhicen and Gu Yantu widened their eyes, their questioning gazes landing on the proud boy in between them.
"I broke through almost a week ago, and my bones are slightly forged too after using the Body Refinement Pill from this month's resources," Lin Dage explained, his face bright and eyes narrowed with pleasure at the shocked expressions of his friends.
"I'm at the peak too." Shuyan stopped Lin's gloating with his sentence, and the shocked duo nodded their heads. Their faces still wore the shocked expression after learning of Lin Dage's breakthrough, so Shuyan didn't know if they were surprised by his progress. He had been stuck in Muscle and Tendon Refinement for few months now after all.
But It didn't matter much; all three of them were at the average mark in the outer sect, which meant that their chances of being in the last five were a lot higher than Lin Dage's.
Shuyan hadn't even been at the peak of Stage Two before getting the Pocket World and had the worst cultivation among them, but now with the Pocket World's push, he had caught up. A gentle push with a Body Refinement Pill was all he needed to enter Bone Forging Stage.
But he had none at the moment, all swallowed by the Pocket World. He regretted using everything in the heat of the moment. He couldn't even ask from his friends since all were in the same stage and needed all the resources they could.
"We need to reach at least Bone Forging like Lin to guarantee our chances, and I have got an idea for that," Bai Zhicen spoke with purpose, drawing the attention of everyone. Even Gu Yantu paused his eating and looked toward him.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "We can visit the Spiritveil Forest to hunt and gather. It is full of resources, and with all of us being at least at the peak of Second Stage, if we don't encounter any spirit beasts, we can breeze through it. We can earn lots of money if we are careful and lucky."
Bai Zhicen let his words hang in the air, all three of his friends turning thoughtful after hearing him.
"And with Lin at Bone Forging, we have extra precaution if something untoward happens." He added, hoping it would help in convincing them. They needed to do something to push their cultivation, and passive training wouldn't cut it if they wanted to remain at the sect. All of them knew that.
"But Spiritveil's just too dangerous," Shuyan voiced his concern. "Even Qi Condensation don't tread lightly there. And we are just Body Refinement juniors."
Bai Zhicen nodded, acknowledging the statement.
"That is if you travel deeper. We only need to roam the periphery to earn enough to push our cultivation to Stage Three." His explanation hit deep. Even Shuyan, who had been thinking of just cultivating in seclusion in preparation for the competition, looked tempted.
"I do have the Pocket World, but it needs massive resources to repair and improve, which I don't have. And the Spiritveil Forest is just the kind of place to hold such resources." Shuyan nodded to himself as his train of thought agreed with Bai Zhicen.
A visit to a place where he could lose his life didn't sit right with him but if he didn't take this risk, there was a chance he could be expelled from the sect after the competition which would be crippling to his cultivation journey.
Lin Dage, who had been silent all this time, spoke, "I feel like this is a good idea. Some of my friends have visited Spiritveil, and they told me what Bai just said. It isn't that dangerous in the periphery."
Lin Dage's statement was what Gu Yantu was waiting for to agree, as he nodded too.
Bai Zhicen smiled and said, "All right then. What do you think, Shuyan?"
"Okay." Shuyan's agreement was all Bai needed to begin laying down his plans for the excursion, unaware that a man had been leaning a bit too close to their table this entire time.