"Brother Zhang, you can't be serious… Who the h*ell could climb up that mountain?", Yu Hao was exasperated and could only shake his head.
He and Lu Zheng tried to talk Zhang Baichi out of this crazy idea, but the latter was determined to try. "I told you, if you don't have a better idea, then help me to figure it out."
"Okay, okay, we'll figure something out in the future. Let's just get back to the others, alright?", Lu Zheng said, shaking his head as well.
Zhang Baichi didn't have any plan on how to actually get up the mountain, thus he could only comply with the others and follow them back to the rest of their group.
'System is there any way to get up there?', he simply asked in his head.
[Ding! There does not appear to be any intended path to climb the mountain. It is advised for Host to fly up to the peak.]
Zhang Baichi rolled his eyes. 'Very funny. Just so you know, there is no way for me to fly.'
[Ding! Host in incorrect. With the system to assist Host, there are many treasures that Host can use to gain the ability to fly.]
'You're talking about the shop…? Right, there should be some treasures.', Zhang Baichi exclaimed. 'So, what treasure can I get with the points I have right now?'
[Ding! Host cannot afford any treasure with the ability to flight at the moment. The cheapest treasure can be bought for 500 Points.]
Anger welled up in Zhang Baichi's chest, but he managed to control his facial expression to not alarm Lu Zheng and Yu Hao. 'Are you playing some f*cking game with me again?'
[Ding! Host's current situation enables Host to easily obtain many points from hunting Demonbeasts.]
'So, you're treating me as a labourer now? To collect True Dragon Blood?', Zhang Baichi complained.
[Ding! Trading the corpses of Demonbeasts with True Dragon Blood for Points is indeed the easiest method available to Host.]
'Yeah, f*ck you too. How many more Points do I need again? Show me my status.', Zhang Baichi rolled his eyes.
[Ding! Displaying information as instructed:]
[Name: Zhang Baichi
Age: 13 years
Occupation: Personal Disciple of Jian Wubai, the Sect Master of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect(!)
Reputation: None
Cultivation: 10th Layer of the Body Forging Realm(!)
Techniques: Black Heaven Scripture, Breezing Wind Sword Technique, Fractured Star Sword Technique
Intents: Quasi-Star Intent(!), Quasi-Sword Intent(!)
Points: 62(!)
Inventory Shop]
'62 Points… So, I need another 438 - or about ten Demonbeast corpses - to buy the lowest level flying treasure.', Zhang Baichi sighed, drawing the attention of Yu Hao and Lu Zheng.
The former frowned, not understanding why Zhang Baichi suddenly seemed so deflated. "What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing.", Zhang Baichi cleared his throat.
They were drawing closer to the rest of their group, most of which had already reassembled as they had no means to read the murals on the Dragon Peak's surface.
Zhang Baichi clapped his hands and to draw everyone's attention. "Alright, listen up. We've found some hints regarding this Mystic Realm: There might be some secret hidden at the top of the Dragon Peak."
Everyone's eyes were on him, all of them surprised, shocked, or simply not convinced. Zhang Baichi didn't care for their stares and continued. "There are two methods: Either we find a way up the mountain, or we fly up there. Naturally, the second option would be much more comfortable."
"Do you have a flying treasure?", Xiao Xueling asked in astonishment. How many treasures did Zhang Baichi actually have? The young man grew more and more mysterious in her eyes.
Zhang Baichi nodded at her and lied without batting an eye. "I do, but it's not usable at the moment. It will be in a while, though. In the meantime, we will go out and hunt for Demonbeasts to collects merits."
A few people frowned, as Zhang Baichi's proposal meant putting everyone in danger. Xiao Xueling remained calm and spoke up again. "It's too dangerous to go hunting during the night. We can't see and we don't know how strong the Demonbeasts actually are."
"Who said we're gonna hunt during the night? They're asleep during the day; They might as well ask for an ambush.", Zhang Baichi confidentially declared.
"…With all of us working together, killing a few Demonbeasts at the Qi Gathering Realm shouldn't be too hard." Most of the disciples made a concession.
However, Zhang Baichi wasn't done. He shook his head and spoke in a light voice. "All of you work together, I'll go on my own."
Yu Hao frowned. "What do you mean? You're telling us to leave you behind?"
"I'm saying that I want to use this time to train and temper myself and that you all would get in my way.", Zhang Baichi declared, earning him many angry glares.
Even Yu Hao and Lu Zheng frowned. "What the h*ll are you saying? You're supposed to be the leader for our group and you're saying we'd get in your way?"
Xiao Xueling was much more levelheaded than them. "What if the Broad Wisdom Sect ambushes you?"
"Then I'll kill as many as come.", Zhang Baichi said without any emotion.
"…What if they ambush us?", she said, her tone more serious this time.
Zhang Baichi looked at her and then the rest of the group but remained silent.
Although no one said anything, it was clear what Xiao Xueling was implying with her question. She wasn't confident in being able to defeat the disciples of the Broad Wisdom Sect, even if they were 17 people fighting against 10 of the Broad Wisdom Sect.
The mood among the group fell, but everyone had to admit that their collective strength was too weak compared to the Broad Wisdom Sect's disciples. Only few among them remained rather calm, and were confident in being able to fight the Broad Wisdom Sect.
In fact, no one knew the true strength of those disciples since they came from an influence outside of the Grand Mo Kingdom. Since they were confident in coming to the Beastwilds Mystic Realm, their strength should be extraordinary.
It was also likely that they possessed many treasures that could save their lives, something that only few among the disciples of the three sects actually had.
Zhang Baichi looked at the faces of everyone among the group and glanced at Xiao Xueling. In contrast to the seriousness of the rest of the group, Xiao Xueling seemed rather relaxed and waited for Zhang Baichi's response.
'She's forcing me to take responsibility over both groups?' He saw through her tricks, but there was nothing he could do about that. If he refused now, he would turn everyone against himself, which would make things much more difficult.
'I'll remember that.' With an indifferent expression, his eyes shifted from Xiao Xueling to the rest of the group. "We'll travel together, then. All of you should take this matter more seriously. You are cultivators, so how can all of you be fine with relying on someone else?"
Most of the disciples didn't pay his words much thought, while others looked ashamed. Those that were confident in themselves looked at their fellow disciples and seemed disappointed.
Zhang Baichi turned around without another word and walked towards their basecamp. Lu Zheng, Yu Hao, and Yun Ye followed behind him. As did Xiao Xueling and the other young women at the 10th Layer of the Body Forging Realm form the Willow Tree Pavilion.
While that woman had been heavily injured before, she still retained her pride and wouldn't beg the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect's disciples to protect them.
Everyone else followed after them a few moments later.
In the basecamp, Zhang Baichi and the others came up with a plan on how to hunt the Demonbeasts and promptly turned that plan into reality.
With Lu Zheng's prior experience and Xiao Xueling's knowledge on how to find Demonbeasts, it was easy for them to up with a plan.
If they had to be honest, the three of them together could already create a perfect hunting squad, but Xiao Xueling wouldn't leave the disciples of her sect behind, as that would impact her performance at the end of the month.
Zhang Baichi and the others were bound by the mission the Sect Master, Jian Wubai, had given them and couldn't abandon the Willow Tree Pavilion as well. Moreover, their fellow disciples had to be brought along as well.
For the next few days, their group of 18 people went around the northern parts of the Mystic Realm to hunt for Demonbeasts, but they rarely found Demonbeasts as strong as the Mutated Cloudwolves from before.
During this time, Zhang Baichi gained a good understanding of everyone's strength and with the exception of a few people like Lu Zheng, Yu Hao, Xiao Xueling and Yun Ye, everyone else's strength was quite frankly disappointing.
Even people like Lu Hao, the two disciples from the Ji family, or the stronger disciples among the Willow Tree Pavilion were barely half-decent in his eyes.
They had hunted a good number of Demonbeasts by the time a week had passed, but since Zhang Baichi had to pretend to bring the corpses back to the sects, he could only take few Demonbeasts and sell their corpses to the system.
Still, he quickly amassed Points in this one week, bringing his total to over 300.
They had not seen or heard anything of the Broad Wisdom Sect as of yet, which was both good and troubling at the same time. It was apparent that those people were planning something, but it was unknown what that something was or when they would strike.