It was after breakfast. This time, Tashi did the cooking. Even if it wasn't that great a meal from a professional cook, it was decent enough and much better than Miko's.
"I have to go to work now, just... don't enter the locked rooms and enjoy yourself. Here's some cash for lunch if you want to eat out and for dinner in case I come back late. Don't injure yourself anymore, I'm not home to check on you for awhile," Tashi chuckled.
"Alright, see you!" Miko chirped. Once she was sure he was gone, Miko sat down cross legged, outside in the garden next to the sakura tree with a small puncture in its trunk. Miko tried to feel the stored spiritual energy collected in her mana vessels. Not much of it has dissisipated into the surroundings, thankfully, and much of it is still stored in her. Now, she needed to contain it into her core.
Carefully, Miko gathered the energy in her vessels and stored them into her core. Energy flowed inside in a steady stream, and Miko twitched her eyes in horror. Not good. There was too much energy inside her. If all of it was poured into her core, her body would be imbalanced and destabalise. That would cause a lightning tribulation to take place right here and now, in order for her to ascend and increase her core's capacty. This meant trouble for her. The real danger was not during the tribulation, since the lightning from the heavens would prevent anyone from disturbing the trial by killing them. It was the aftermath. During the tribulation, human cultivators could detect the change in spiritual energy of the lightning, and could be able to discover Miko's identity and location. Based on what Miru has said, she could be hunted down after, when she was weak and vulnerable.
Miko immediately switched the energy to her wounds instead, using them to heal. It was a complete waste for most beasts, since their body would recover naturally without complications in a short time. However, even after that, there was still abundant energy left over. It was a waste to let it dissisipate naturally, and posed a danger to her if she used everything.
"Aha!" Miko said, as she though of an ingenious idea. She could just buy a spiritual energy container first, then absorb the energy later. That bottle or container would be a much better vessel for the energy compared to her. It could store the energy without it dissisipating, but there was only one a problem. Even in old times, such a device was extremely expensive. It is crafted from at least a fifth stage spirit stone as material, as well as expensive blue jade from the south. It also has to be forged in high heat over five days, and be refined and reinforced with lustrous nightform crystal and snow glass quartz. Both of which are quite rare and come from mines in the east. Spirit stones are rarely discovered in the human realm, let alone a fifth stage one. Furthermore, with an increasing number of cultivators, even those from peasant families, the price will only increase more.
Miko's ear drooped a little when she thought about the price. Although she has yet to buy it, she could tell it was going to be extremely expensive. Not even the money Tashi has given her would be enough to cover the cost! It wasn't like she could trick the shopkeeper because he was likely a cultivator too if he was selling such goods. A cultivator could see through her illusions immediately! Nevermind, she could try asking Tashi when he returned. Now, she needed to come up with a way for the money.
...
"I followed her scent. She set off in the direction of the town over. Luckily, she didn't head in the direction of the central city. There is a high concentration of human cultivators there, and she would be seen through immediately." Ryo said, sniffing the ground near the outskirts of the village.
"Mm. If she were to go there, who knows if she would even make it back alive. Not only are there many cultivators, the training academy is centralised there, branching off into the neighbouring towns. There are also quite a few sects, and there are many powerful masters there. Even staying hidden is difficult if you are under seventh stage. They are good at tracking spirits there, with some of their masters are seventh stage and above, few at the peak. Its suicide." Miru pondered.
"What are we going to do? If she keeps following that human everywhere blindly, which I think she is, she is eventually going to reach there. Business is good there and that attracts humans, especially that one. She will just tag along and die," Ryo asked.
"I'll... find a way... In the mean time, tracking that human down is most important. If Yasuko can change him, its for the best. If not... I'll issue a small warning first..."
...
Miko finally found a way to earn some money. But first, she needed to know exactly how much a single container costs first. She decided to make her way into the streets, and see if they were on sale there. After all, spiritual beasts are not the only exorcists in the human civilisation. Other spirits like plant and elemental spirits could exorcise malicious spirits made from hatred or lingering spirits from humans to improve their cultivation. Additionally, other humans can also perform exorcisms if they are strong enough. If she was lucky, she would be easily able to find them on the streets.
Miko walked the streets, the morning sun glistening on her skin. She had dressed up in some simple clothes before comming out, which showed off her beauty. The streets were bustling as people were trying to sell their goods or buy some. Miko looked around, keeping an eye out for some store which sold items for cultivators.
After walking for quite some time, Miko finally saw the shop in the distance. It rested atop a raised platform, showing off its high reputation with a sign printed in gold letters. It was much bigger than all the other street shops, as well as the cultivation shop back in Miru and Ryo's village. With a shop this big, Miko was sure that what she wanted was inside. However, there was only one small problem. The shop radiated strong spiritual energy from the humans.
Miko bit her lip. After looking for so long, she finally found the place, yet it was overrun by too many humans. It was a miscalculation on her part. Even if she had the money, she may not be able to enter. Still, she decided to try her luck. What was the worst that could happen?