Wu Liang gritted his teeth. Carefully, he was crouched behind a tree, watching Hu Hai as he ate.
The old cultivator showed no signs of knowing Wu Liang was there, probably meaning he didn't care. Wu Liang wrinkled his nose as the barbarian ate the meat of a mud frog- uncooked, even.
However, Wu Liang didn't care. He was here to follow in the footsteps of Hu Hai, and copy everything he did.
He was stirred out of his musings when the bearded man abruptly stopped eating.
"Didn't I tell you to go away? Yet you still persist in stalking me and copying my every move." He said, turning and directing his sharp gaze toward the area Wu Liang was in. Although Wu Liang thought he concealed himself well, he knew that the cultivator knew exactly where he was.
"You haven't killed me yet." Wu Liang pointed out, staring back defiantly.
"Listen, boy. This is not a game. We do not walk the same paths. I can tell you haven't even come close to understanding your way. Your calling isn't for the earth, and you still draw in unaspected Qi."
Wu Liang stayed quiet, before finally speaking. "You're right... But that doesn't mean you can't guide me."
The cultivator huffed. "Improve your cultivation first, fake dragon¹." He said.
"I will! But I need your help. I need it!" Wu Liang involuntarily clenched his fist, displeased at being called a fake dragon¹.
Hu Hai had an expression that revealed nothing about what he felt about that. Finally, he sighed. "You're stubborn. Fine, I will teach you. But first, you must discover your way." A smirk started to form on his face.
Wu Liang relaxed his muscles.
"Wait, are you implying I get a Dao Root?" Wu Liang asked. He was only a True Martial Cultivator, even Nivirnia Gathering cultivators rarely understand a piece of the Dao.
"I know the place to ponder. If you don't form your own understanding of the Dao, then you must go." Hu Hai said. On the last syllable, he vanished from Wu Liang's sight, appearing in front of him.
He moved faster than Wu Liang could react, grabbing the young man by the collar and leaping up the mountain.
...
¹Fake Dragon - Also known as Fake Genius. One who soars by using pills and other expensive things to ascend, building up impurities along the way.
...
Yulong sat crisscrossed, looking with envy at Zhao Zhelan. She had the mind to carry a cushion with her, yet not give one to him, leaving him to sit on the stone cold floor of the cave! Her figure was currently sharpening her elegant white sword with a whetstone.
As if sensing his gaze on her, she turned, glaring. "What do you want?"
Yulong smiled, sighing inwardly. "Hey, do you have a fire talisman?" He bluntly asked.
"-Well, Yes. Why?" She looked at him suspiciously.
"Oh, I just wanted to start a fire," Yulong said. After a pause, he added, "I know how to make arrays and formations, so no monster would see the smoke. And it'll be good light and help us cook the meat of the monsters."
"Hmm..." Zhao Zhelan contemplated. "We don't need to eat food. And if you really get hungry that easily, I have a fasting pill."
"Just because we don't have to eat doesn't mean we can't." He pointed out.
"Can you even cook?" She asked.
"I-" He paused. "Why don't I let you be the judge of that? After all, we both are a part of Heaven's Table, no?" He said, his expression unreadable.
Zhao Zhelan seemed to not back down from a challenge, though he could be imagining it, he thought he saw a change of expression in the woman when he mentioned being a part of Heaven's Table.
'I wonder who you are.' Yulong thought but decided not to follow that train of thought. He could end up discovering something he wasn't supposed to.
With a flick of her hand, Zhao Zhelan produced multiple cooking utensils. After a flash, she gave Yulong her fire talisman and a jade slip.
Sending his Qi into the slip, he reviewed its contents. The slip explained that the fire talisman shot a ball of flame that could burn anywhere.
'Useful, indeed.' He mused, pointing the fire talisman in front of him. Suddenly it released a burst of flame after he inputted his Qi, causing a ball of spiritual fire to burn in the middle of the cave.
With another flash of her storage ring, she produced the meat of multiple beasts and some more cooking utensils. Almost immediately, Yulong got to work.
'I should grill this.' He thought, looking at the display.
"Alright. Hey, do you have some wood?" Yulong said, rolling up his sleeves. Zhao Zhelan quirked an eyebrow but produced slabs of wood. Yulong examined them happily. "Fine craftsmanship! Hate to use such fine wood for such a purpose..."
Zhao Zhelan looked at him oddly as he started to assemble the wood, using his Qi to put it together. Suddenly he had a makeshift grill and rack. Not only that, he put wood under the fire to create smoke.
Then Yulong set aside seasonings that he could use. He also examined the body of a dead Flaming Deer, managing to get some meat out of it using a knife. He set some slabs of it on top of the grill and sprinkled the seasoning, checking the fire too to make sure it was burning well.
While the meat was slow-cooked, Yulong cut some of the slabs of the wood into skewers. Zhao Zhelan looked at him dubiously. "Are you sure this will work?"
"It should. But you should probably go set up a barrier to protect the smoke and smell before monsters are drawn." Yulong said. He checked on the meat every few minutes, not sure how long it would take for the deer.
If cooked the same way as pork, it would most likely take a few hours.
"Already ahead of you. I set up a barrier formation." She said haughtily.
"Wow, formation? Let me see." Yulong said, approaching the entrance of the cave. Focusing Qi into his eyes, he checked out the formation, which was sprinkled with mistakes and inconsistencies.
"Do you even know how to set up formations?" Yulong said with a frown.
"W-Well it was my first time! Can you do any better?" Zhao Zhelan said.
"I could probably set up an array more effective than that," Yulong replied.
"Oh, really? But, that reminds me, what is the difference between arrays, formations, and matrixes anyway?" She asked.
Yulong sighed and checked on the meat again. Getting down into a cross-legged position, he cleared his throat. "Digits are what is used to make arrays, formations, and eventually matrixes. An array is a line of instructions made of digits to do a certain thing. A formation is hundreds of digits to better detail to do something, and maybe more. A matrix is thousands, hundreds of thousands of lines in varying complexity. This can change the landscape, resurrect people, and more, but requires a steady supply of Qi."
Yulong clapped his hands. If one thought about it, an array would be a line of code, a formation of a page of code, and a matrix of hundreds of pages of code.
Zhao Zhelan looked at him meaningfully. Yulong stood and went over to the barrier array. Concentrating Qi into his finger, he started carefully rewriting Zhao Zhelan's code, removing all flaws.
Suddenly, the entrance glowed a bright yellow, leaving an invisible barrier behind.
Zhao Zhelan looked at him with a mouth wide open.
Yulong said nothing and checked the meat.