The thousand-year-old ginseng was located in Starry Forest, which was some ways away from Seven Stars University. Rather than being located in one of the six edges of Xing Hao Island, Starry Forest was positioned deeper inland. It was also the closest forest to Seven Stars University, which was probably why it received its name. It bordered on the edge of the island where Seven Stars University was located, and shared a border with the larger Astral Forest that spread across the entire edge where our academy was built upon.
Despite its relative nearness, we still needed to make preparations for the trip. Si Nan, Mu Zi Xing and I went to procure supplies. Rations, water and equipment for trekking through the woods. While I had plenty of credits, Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing were limited in the funds they had. Thus they couldn't afford expensive armaments and weapons.
As for me, I already had my dragon sword, which Cheng Long gave to me when I left the sect. So I didn't need any new weapons. I offered to buy Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing whatever they needed, but they refused my offer.
"This should do it," I murmured after stocking up on necessities. My friends nodded, also taking stock of what they had bought.
"We'll meet in the square tomorrow," Mu Zi Xing reminded us cheerfully before she went her separate way. She was assigned to the girls' dorm while Si Nan and I were obviously staying in the guys' dorm. I nodded and waved while Si Nan watched Mu Zi Xing leave. Then the both of us continued toward our respective rooms.
Before we split up, Si Nan stopped and lowered his head.
"Thanks, Shu Cong."
"Huh? What's this, all of a sudden?"
"I know the truth." Si Nan hesitated. "The only reason why you took this task was because you wanted to help both me and Mu Zi Xing."
"Nah, I also needed the credits, so…"
Si Nan shook his head, smiling. "If you really needed the credits, you could have earned them by challenging other students to duels. You would earn more that way, especially since you're currently ranked fourth. That means you have a good chance of defeating most of the other students in Seven Stars Academy. It would have been a much easier way for you to earn credits."
"Yeah, well…"
"The only reason why you didn't do that and instead asked me and Mu Zi Xing to come along for a mission is because you are trying to help us. Unlike you, our cultivation realms aren't very high and I don't have much combat experience. So if we wanted to earn credits, we'll have to do it through tasks. And it is unlikely that I have the strength to defeat other students in duels. That's even more the case for Mu Zi Xing, who is a healer and not a combat-type cultivator. You're giving us a chance to earn the credits we need to purchase resources for our training."
"Uh, well…"
Now that Si Nan had seen through my intentions, I had no reason to deny it. I could only look away awkwardly, fiddling with my glasses and scratching my head.
"When did you realize…?"
"From the very beginning."
"Mu Zi Xing, she…"
"She still doesn't know. She's too much of an airhead." Si Nan sighed. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on inside that brain of hers."
"Please don't tell her." I forced a smile and pushed my glasses up my nose. "She doesn't need to know. I don't want her to feel…obligated. You too, don't be so formal. We are friends, it's only natural that we help each other."
"Thanks." Si Nan glanced at his smartphone. "But we are getting pretty edgy comments, though. There are quite a few people who think that you shouldn't help us, that you should be…more selfish and focus only on yourself, and not bother with us because we are a burden."
Actually, I was pretty sure the commenters didn't just call my friends a burden. They probably used harsher words, such as trash. I felt rage welling up inside me. If I could smash those keyboard warriors in the face, I would. I really needed to gain the ability to break the fourth wall – and I meant it literally. So that I could break idiot commenters' jaws.
"Ignore them," I said coldly. "I will never abandon my friends. I'm not some self-centered prick who only cares about myself. I'm not some fourteen-year-old edge lord who is convinced that the whole world is out to betray me, and I should abandon humanity and only look out for myself."
They were reading the wrong story if that was the kind of protagonist they wanted. I was literally the savior, the leader of the resistance who led a counterattack against the demonic sects and saved the fledging coalition of battered orthodox sects. What exactly were they expecting from me?
"I'll see you tomorrow then."
Heading to my room, I then packed up everything and patiently waited for the next day to arrive.
When morning finally did come, I joined Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing in the university square. We then took the bus toward the town nearest to Starry Forest.
The bus was a seemingly new vehicle painted with all sorts of advertisements. The interior was the same as normal buses, with cushioned seats and air conditioning. In fact, if we weren't on Xing Hao Island, I wouldn't have been able to tell apart the buses from the public ones I took. The only difference was that this bus ran on qi. Even so, it wasn't that much faster than a normal bus. Unlike the trains, the buses drove along a public road packed full of other vehicles, and so the driver had to be careful. Even though cultivators were unlikely to die from speeding, the damage to vehicles and the injuries suffered would make accidents troublesome, not to mention expensive.
So we had to put up with the normal speed, something that we weren't used to after riding on one of those high-speed qi-powered trains that connected the far ends of the island together.
After thirty minutes of travel by bus, we then made our way to Starry Forest on foot. Obviously, the terrain was far too uneven and treacherous for the likes of vehicles, so we had to trek through the woods. Fortunately, there was a well-worn dirt trail that was left behind by countless hikers and explorers, so we could keep to it without getting lost.
"The thousand-year-old ginseng should be found in sector 12b of Starry Forest," Mu Zi Xing said as she studied the map on her smartphone. As we ventured deeper into the forest, we were no longer able to receive any sort of telephone signals or reception, but fortunately we had downloaded the maps into our phones.
On the other hand, we could charge the batteries of our smartphones with our qi when they ran out of juice, which made it very convenient. Cultivators were pretty much walking powerbanks. Not a very flattering description now that I thought about it, but still very convenient.
"Be careful. That sector is plagued by minion-ranked dark pumas and warrior-ranked shadow leopards." Si Nan had done his research. He glanced at me. "A shadow leopard is equivalent to a peak Heaven realm cultivator. Even you'll have to be careful if you encounter one, Shu Cong."
"Understood. I'll be careful."
I was already stretching out with my qi sense and trying to detect signs of enemy presence. There were plenty of spirit beasts in the forest, but most of them were harmless. A jade rabbit hopped away, startled by our presence, while various birds chirped and flew overhead. Bugs dropped here and there, annoying us despite our having purchased insect repellent. I had to swat several vampire mosquitoes before they could suck my blood.
And since this was a cultivator island, it was not a good idea to underestimate even the insects. Vampire mosquitoes were spirit beasts too, and they sucked significantly more blood than regular mosquitoes. In fact, a normal human would be sucked dry if they were to be bitten by these disgusting monsters.
Fortunately, they posed no threat to even Yellow realm cultivators, and even Mu Zi Xing could crush them like the insects they were.
As it turned out, they were the only spirit beasts we had to worry about. No dark pumas emerged to lash out at us, no shadow leopards stalked us from the…uh, shadows. Even though I was confident that there were no predators tailing us because of my Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths, I wasn't taking things for granted. Underestimating the environment was a quick way to the grave.
Despite the trail, we ended up traveling for a whole day without reaching sector 12b. As evening drew near, we could hear howls. I drew my sword and paused for a moment before stabbing into the bushes. There was a snarl and a gray wolf stumbled out of hiding. It slashed at me with its claws, but I deftly decapitated it in a single stroke.
"They are finally crawling out of the woodwork, huh?" I muttered.
"Whoa! I didn't notice the gray wolf at all!" Mu Zi Xing's hands flew to her mouth. She looked at me nervously. "Good thing Shu Cong is here, or we might have…"
"Stay close to me," Si Nan instructed her, reaching out and grabbing her hand. I left Mu Zi Xing to Si Nan and took the vanguard position, moving forward cautiously and looking out for more enemies. Right now, there were none, but our situation might change any time.
Glancing up, I noted how dark it was becoming. The sun was dipping over the horizon and the lengthening shadows were drowning the forest in blackness. Even though I couldn't actually see them, my sixth sense picked up multiple presences that weren't active during the day. It was almost as if the forest was coming to life at night.
"We should set up camp and rest for the night. Wait until sunrise before we start moving again."
"Good idea." Si Nan nodded in agreement. He grimaced as he glanced at the darkening skies. "It'll be much harder to set up the tents when it gets totally dark."
"Where should we set up camp?" Mu Zi Xing asked, looking around.
"There's a clearing several dozen meters ahead." Si Nan was consulting the map he downloaded into his smartphone. "A place with a lot of space. It should be ideal for setting up camp."
"Then I'll set up a defensive array to protect our camp," I suggested. That way, we didn't need to take turns serving as sentries to keep watch for predators and enemies. Anything that crossed the barrier generated by my spirit array would set off an alarm that would wake us up. And unless it was some high-level master above Heaven realm, the intruder would probably be incinerated by the barrier too. At the very least he would be given a rude and very painful shock.
"We'll leave that to you then." Si Nan nodded.
We continued toward the clearing, hastening our paces. For a moment, I paused, causing Si Nan to glance at me worriedly.
"What is it?"
"We are not alone," I informed him, an edge to my voice. Si Nan clenched his fists while Mu Zi Xing cowered behind him. I raised a hand and shook my head. "Don't worry, they are humans. I think they are our fellow students from other universities.���
Judging from the amount of qi they were emanating, they were around my level. Some below my cultivation realm, and some above my cultivation realm. But even the strongest was near the peak of Heaven realm, which meant they were most likely all students.
"I propose we say hi."
"Really?" Mu Zi Xing looked at me skeptically, but Si Nan nodded.
"For this mission, we will need their help. Especially as we get deeper into dark puma and shadow leopard territory."
"That's what I was thinking too," I agreed. "Better to work together with fellow humans. That way, we'll stand a higher chance of success."
Of course, that was assuming these students agreed to our proposal. For all we knew, they might react hostilely when they saw us. I had read way too many cultivation stories to know how crazy some people could be.
Fortunately, this was reality, and actual people weren't greedy, murderous psychopaths who took every chance to kill every random stranger they came across.
At least, I hope not…