Chapter Twelve: Return to the Sect

“No, that’s not right!”
The old man’s tone suddenly shifted.
“Judging by your shameless cunning, I fear you may have tricked my grandson!”
Chen Qi hadn’t expected the elder to hit so close to the truth and hastily protested,
“I truly did swear brotherhood with your grandson—heaven and earth can bear witness to our bond. If I am lying, may I be struck down by the heavens—”
“Enough!”
The elder cut off Chen Qi’s oath, tossing a bottle of elixir his way.
“Since you’ve taken this medicine, I’ll not escort you back to the sect. Head east from here, cross two mountain ridges, and you’ll reach the sect gates.”
With those words, he fixed Chen Qi with a deep, searching look, then added,
“I must collect more medicinal herbs for my grandson—I’ll be going on ahead.”
He swept his sleeve, and in the blink of an eye, the old man’s figure had vanished several yards away.
Chen Qi watched the elder’s departing form. Once he was out of sight, Chen Qi’s gaze fell immediately on the bottle of elixir in his hands. It radiated a faint blue light.

Pinecloud Nectar
Origin: Cangxing Continent
Quality: Blue
Type: Consumable
Effect 1: Instantly restores 10% of maximum health upon use, and over the next 30 seconds, gradually restores a further 15% of maximum health.
Effect 2: Temporarily increases agility by +3 for 30 minutes.
Score: 150
Description: An exclusive elixir refined by Outer Elder Sun Jingshan of the Cloudsea Sect. Crafted from the sap of century-old mountain cloud pines and supplemented with a host of rare medicinal herbs. Potent yet gentle, the unique refining method fully draws out the old cloud pine’s power, granting the user a temporary boost to agility and aiding in the healing of external wounds.
Price: 1220 universal points
…
The elixir’s formidable potency left Chen Qi momentarily dazed, then elated.
To him, this was a life-saving trump card, granting him much greater assurance in his future hunt for that great bear.
Chen Qi uncorked the bottle, curious to see the medicine’s form. Inside were four drops of pale blue liquid!
He hadn’t expected Elder Sun to bestow such a generous gift so casually. Staring in the direction the elder had gone, Chen Qi was deeply moved and thought to himself,

“Elder Sun may appear fierce, but to me, his grandson’s sworn brother, he is truly beyond reproach!”
Chen Qi quietly etched this kindness into his heart, reflecting,
“The grandfather and grandson are truly alike—aloof and hard to approach to outsiders, but absolutely sincere to friends.”
This also gave Chen Qi one more reason to defeat the great bear. There were two vermillion fruits inside, and he intended to save one for his sworn brother.
As he sighed, he realized his strength had quietly returned.
Just as he readied himself to leave, he slapped his own forehead,
“How foolish—I nearly missed something!”
With that, he strode to the corpses of the Scarlet Flame Beasts Elder Sun had slain with a casual swipe, and set about dissecting them with his knife.
A few minutes later, Chen Qi happily stored the materials in his inventory. For someone of his humble background, every bit saved counted.
He was nothing like Sun Ruohai, who had an elder for a grandfather!
Sighing over the unfairness of fate, Chen Qi set off lightly toward the sect.
Though the day’s trek through the mountains had been fraught with peril, his gains were substantial.
The materials in his pack would surely suffice to meet the 100-point contribution threshold for the Outer Disciple Examination.
After about an hour, Chen Qi crossed a mountain ridge, casually dispatching a few low-grade, witless wild beasts and collecting some more materials. Looking east, he spotted a tall mountain that struck him as familiar.
If he was correct, beyond that peak lay the gates of the Cloudsea Sect.
As he clambered up the slope, his thoughts wandered,
“I wonder how the other Contracted in the ‘Sprout Space’ are doing.”
No sooner had he spoken than he came upon a mountain stream and saw four people in ochre servant’s robes approaching him.
Chen Qi frowned, and at that moment, a young woman at the back of the group cast a spell at him.
“Quicksand Technique!”
She called out, and instantly, the ground beneath and behind Chen Qi turned to treacherous, shifting sand.
Walking was suddenly difficult. Chen Qi realized these four were up to no good, and his retreat was cut off.
The four spread out: the mage girl and an agile-looking man with a dagger stayed beside her, a warrior wielding a two-handed sword took the front.
The last one, a captainly type with a spear, stepped forward and called to Chen Qi,
“Brother, we mean no harm. You’re coming back from a hunt outside the mountains, aren’t you? We just want to borrow fifty contribution points.”

Chen Qi frowned, taking in the four’s wary formation—and noting that his own health was only at sixty percent.
He put on a helpless expression, summoned the Iron-arm Ape’s arm bone from his inventory, and approached the captain, saying,
“I wonder if this arm bone will let you allow me through.”
Chen Qi had already resolved: if they showed any sign of greed, he would strike without mercy.
As expected, the captain grabbed the arm bone and checked its stats, saying,
“How can just one pair of arm bones be enough? We’ve been waiting here for hours, you should—”
The captain hadn’t finished his sentence when he saw Chen Qi’s blade flash.
His face changed instantly, mouth opening to give an order.
Chen Qi had already drawn his weapon, activating Focused Burst.
For 2.2 seconds, his reflexes were superhuman; his blade easily slipped past the captain’s hastily raised spear and slashed at his neck.
A bloody gash opened at the captain’s throat, blood spurting out.
The other three reacted at once: the warrior charged with his greatsword, the mage conjured earthen spikes, and the agile man readied a hand crossbow.
The captain staggered back, face pale, fumbling for a vial of medicine.
Chen Qi had no intention of fleeing; he knew he had to kill the captain before the warrior reached him.
Seeing his Focused Burst still active, Chen Qi thrust his blade at the captain’s heart.
The captain gulped down his potion with one hand, trying to parry with his spear in the other.
Chen Qi triggered Blood Surge, and in that heightened state, it was as if he could control the very flow of his blood energy.
He channeled most of it to knock aside the captain’s spear, the rest to deflect the earthen spikes, and sent his blade plunging even faster toward the captain’s heart.
With a wet sound, the blade pierced the captain’s heart. The potion he’d just swallowed was useless—the captain’s pale lips moved as if to speak, but no words came.
Chen Qi was hit by two crossbow bolts, and saw the warrior charging in.
He knew he couldn’t show weakness now, nor let them realize he’d just expended most of his skills.
Otherwise, facing the three remaining Contracted working together, his scant health would spell certain doom.