It only took Jing Yi and Yu Jin a few minutes to reach the pond. The trees around stood a little closer to each other at this spot, shrouding the edge of the pond in shadows. Without the sunlight trickling to the ground, the temperature was a little lower than in the rest of the grove although it still couldn't be described as a cool place. The chances of the Heart-Calming Buddha Flower growing here actually weren't that high.
Leng Jin Yu once again stood to the side although his gaze was roaming. The Heart-Calming Buddha Flower wasn't that hard to recognize. If it was there, he would probably spot it immediately but he wanted to give Jing Yi a chance to have a look for himself. He couldn't let the boy cultivate until ascension but there was nothing keeping him from learning alchemy. After all, he only had to pass a few trials. His life didn't have to be completely miserable. He should be able to enjoy at least a few things.
Jing Yi walked around the pond and looked at the places between the protruding roots of the trees. These were probably the places where a flower that favored cool spots would grow. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything that was even close to the appearance of a meditating Buddha.
Jing Yi turned to Yu Jin with a nervous expression. "Senior Martial Brother Yu, it seems … there isn't any Heart-Calming Buddha Flower growing around here."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. He had feared as much. The Heart-Calming Buddha Flower might have been a low leveled spiritual herb that was still quite common but it still didn't grow as widespread as the Crystal Grass and similar herbs. The conditions it needed for its growth were stricter.
"If that's the case, then let's go and search somewhere else. Looking at this secret realm I'm sure there will be some places that meet the requirements for the Heart-Calming Buddha Flower to grow." He turned around and made to leave the grove in the other direction.
Jing Yi hurriedly followed him. This time he stepped a little closer though. This senior martial brother of his seldom spoke if you didn't ask him a question. Now that he had responded it was probably the best opportunity to get him to talk a little more.
"Senior Martial Brother Yu, say … you're a cultivator, right?" Jing Yi's gaze flitted to the sword Yu Jin carried around and couldn't help but wonder if he had misunderstood maybe.
Yu Jin obviously knew some things about cultivation else he wouldn't know such things like the Flame Berries being good for somebody with fire spiritual veins. But it was also very rare for a cultivator to carry a sword around. Most people that did were practitioners instead. So could it be that he had gotten it wrong? Was Yu Jin actually a practitioner that just knew a bit about cultivation, too?
Leng Jin Yu noticed Jing Yi's gaze. "I'm both."
"Both?"
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "You haven't heard about the Sect Master being a practitioner also able to cultivate? As far as I know, he was famous for that once." He furrowed his brows slightly. Indeed, Yuchi Bing Xia had been famous for that. He had even heard of him before he ascended to the Nine Heavens. It was a pity though that he hadn't been able to advance anymore because he took over the sect.
"That must be difficult."
"Mn, it's not always easy. But with a higher cultivation base comes a longer life. So it's not like one wouldn't have the time for it. Furthermore, there are benefits to it."
Jing Yi waited for him to elaborate but once again his senior martial brother had already stopped talking. He had to thicken his face and ask further. "What kind of benefits?"
Leng Jin Yu looked over to the boy beside him. If he wasn't able to tell that he wanted to talk with him, then he would have wasted all these years. Well, it wasn't a problem for him. If not for the sake of pretending to be the disciple 'Yu Jin' and making sure that nobody would associate him with the Daoist Leng Jin Yu that ascended two decades ago, he wouldn't have adopted such a taciturn attitude in the first place.
He still had to be a little careful but it shouldn't be a problem if he slowly started to be a little more like himself. After all, they were in exceptional circumstances. Taking care of a junior martial brother was also expected. And many people were warmer to those they were familiar with.
"Well …" Leng Jin Yu slowed his steps a bit to make it easier for Jing Yi to follow next to him. "It's actually nothing special. Cultivators and practitioners can do different things. The way they defend and attack in a fight is different and there are also other things that will be easier or more difficult to learn depending on what one does.
I guess the former is self-explanatory. In a fight — a real fight, not just one like those at the gathering of practitioners or the cultivators' tournament — it will naturally come in handy to have other skills besides those your opponent also has.
You've never been in a fight so it might be hard to imagine it but everything you know can be used somehow. Countering something you know is often a lot easier than countering something unknown, too.
Someone who is both a cultivator and a practitioner and might even have several spirit veins will have more knowledge. Defending against either a practitioner or a cultivator will become easier since they often know what the other person is doing while surprising the opponent will be easier, too, since one could use the skills of the other occupation."
Jing Yi nodded, a little stunned. He had never heard Yu Jin talk this much and he even tried to explain it so that he would be able to understand even though he lacked a lot of experience. He really was not only capable but also a very nice person.