The four of them set off to Orefine after they had distributed all of the stones, the only problem was after dealing with the few dishonest fellows there were still a few stones left-over, the faker had gathered some of his own after all, and Shu He had added a couple to the pile on the way back, there was a bit of a scuffle to decide how they were distributed but after Toa Yan stepped forward as the one with the highest cultivation, and largest group there, they decided on a method.
It was the same one they were going to do before all the stones were stolen, they piled them up and held an auction where the highest bidder got them and the money was distributed to everyone else equally, in the end everyone got something so it went on peacefully before they dispersed, many of them would continue to search for stones after all.
Unfortunately, none of them realised that the source of the stones was leaving that same day, Shu He had worked out the little duck had likely sent three months or so wandering and eating every material it could find, then 'going' all over the place, that's why they were so scattered, but there was obviously a hard limit and based on how much they had found, there wouldn't be too many left.
Either way, Shu He was happy to have finally finished his mission, he had way too many things he needed to do once he returned to the sect so he was eager to get back which was one of the reasons he had decided to hitch a ride, It had been just under 2 months since he left the sect, with the travel time on this carriage it may take about a month to return.
Shu He sat in the cabin with his eyes closed, Tao Yan was sat next to him, and Gong Jie was opposite, Wang Kang was currently driving the carriage, so he was outside of course… but the cabin was oddly silent.
The reason for that was simple, on Shu He's lap sat a little white duck that was happily getting its head scratched by him and occasionally being fed seeds, the other two started oddly in silence as they try to work up the courage to ask about the elephant in the room.
They had seen him interacting with the little duck back in Pure-Pond but they though he was just fond of wildlife and this one got attached to him, what they didn't expect was to see it waddle and hop into the cabin with them before being lifted on to Shu He's lap like everything was normal.
"Uh… Brother Shu, may I ask you something?" Tao Yan cleared his throat as he asked cautiously.
"Hm? Go ahead" Shu He's eyes opened gently exposing his golden eyes to the faint sunlight, he was deep in thought, so he was slightly dazed after being called out.
"What… uh… who… uh…" Tao Yan tried to find the words to ask the question but kept stumbling.
"Why do you have a duck with you?!" Gong Jie suddenly burst, unable to hold back.
"Quack?!" The little duck jumped, flapping it's wings in surprise before it settled down again, Shu He stared at the two, his eyes wide open. "Oh, that's what you wanted to ask about? Why didn't you say sooner?".
"It's just made us a little… speechless, seeing you randomly bring a duck along with you, Brother Shu" Tao Yan explained.
"Huh? Isn't it to eat later?" Wang Kang who was listening in from the front asked in confusion.
"No!" "Quack!"
Shu He and the little duck denied together making the two inside the cabin look at it strangely.
"It can understand us?" Tao Yan looked closely at the small duck, scrutinising it while Qi flickered in his eyes "It's not a spirit beast though?"
"Nope, Little Xue is a normal duck; Well, normal in the sense that it doesn't have a spirit heart, otherwise it's anything but" Shu He explained.
"Little.. Xue?" The two paused as Tao Yan repeated the name, looking between Shu He and the duck, meanwhile Gong Jie was struggling to hold back her laughter as she rocked in her seat.
"Pf..t..ah..a..ahahahaha you named it 'Xue'?!" She said after being unable to hold back, Shu He frowned slightly as he held 'Little Xue' up.
"Look! Her feathers are snow white, they're the colour of the purest snow! The name makes sense!" He ruffled the ducks feathers slightly to show their lustrous colour much to the chagrin of Little Xue who just wanted to nap.
"But it's… a duck! Ahahhahahahahahahahahah" Gong Jie laughed so much that she almost fell off her seat and on to the hard wood floor.
"Hmph… you like it, don't you Little Xue?" He said as he sat back down and stroked the little ducks head as it responded with a small "Quack".
"Now, now, Junior Sister I think that name is fine, don't be so rude…" Tao Yan tried to settle her seeing that Shu He was becoming a little disheartened. "O-o-okay, Senior Brother… pf… hehe.. got it!" she replied, trying her hardest to hold in the rest of her laughter.
"Brother Shu, may I ask why you brought it along with you though? I would understand if it was a spirit beast, but an animal that's only slightly peculiar…" He didn't understand, was what Tao Yan was trying to say.
However, Shu He merely flashed him a grin "Little Xue isn't merely 'slightly peculiar'… I'm part to raise her, I'm part of the Beast Taming Division after all".
"You are?! I would have never guessed… do you not have other partners?" Tao Yan replied with surprise, it was common knowledge among the smaller sects as to the major divisions of the five great sects.
"Well, I only joined 6 months before I went out on a mission, the sect that is" Shu He shrugged.
"6 months…" Tao Yan pondered before he shook, the same with Gong Jie and Wang Kang who was sat outside before-
"""6 MONTHS?!""" They yelled in unison prompting Shu He to cover his ears before scowling.
"Mind telling me before you scream like that?" he complained but the three completely ignored his words.
"You were only in the sect for 6 months, but you need to be an Inner Disciple to leave on missions! This is the same for every sect! Does that mean you became an Inner Disciple in THE Titanic Steel Sect in half a year?!" Tao Yan spoke like a machine gun as he questioned Shu He.
"But-but- I hear the fastest was usually around 3 years! And that's for experienced cultivators from clans!" Gong Jie was speechless once again, but for an entirely different reason this time.
"It takes a year to become an Inner Disciple even in our sect…" Wang Kang mumbled from the driver's seat.
"Ah, the truth is I'm not a Inner Disciple quite yet, rather I'll become one after I return from this mission" Shu He corrected them, but it didn't reduce their amazement.
"Even so, that will be 8… 9 months at most… how did you do it?" Tao Yan shook his head, this person before him might have been far more impressive than he could have ever imagined.
Shu He sighed lightly "I know what you're thinking, but my promotion is a special case… it's not because of my current achievements, but rather because of my… potential" he spoke carefully, he didn't want to reveal too much.
"But if disciples were promoted based on potential, then wouldn't a lot of the large clans scions become inner and core disciples much faster?" Gong Jie expressed her doubt.
"Junior Sister, you should know when to stop asking questions, Brother Shu has probably told us as much as he can" Tao Yan reprimanded his junior for pushing, he understood that the vagueness in Shu He's explanation was on purpose.
"Ah… sorry, my apologies" She bowed towards Shu He to express her sincerity, Shu He lightly shook his head "It's fine, if I can explain it to you guys in the future I will".
"We're happy to have your trust, Brother Shu!" The two sat back down after calming themselves "By the way, can you tell us about the Titanic Steel Sect? We only know what information is available publicly, but since we're heading for the challenge there we need everything we can learn" Tao Yan suddenly asked, causing the other two to perk their ears up to listen.
Shu He tilted his head and patted his brow with his index finger before smiling slightly "Sure, I think I can do that without getting into trouble".
"Great!"
Shu He began talking about the sect in general, the events he had experiences, the key features of the sect without going too much into the important parts like security or the formations, the conversation lasted long into the night as Shu He began asking about their sect in return, he began learning more about the Water region as well because of it.
'This is some great information!' He happily smiled during the discussion, he intended to head there in the near future after all!
…
Currently it was deep in the night, they had stopped by the side of the road and made a small camp to rest for an hour before they moved on once more, they were sat around a simple campfire while roasting the meat of a few rabbit-like creatures that Shu He had hunted nearby.
"It's nice having someone skilled in hunting with us, we'd usually be eating the jerky we'd stocked up on at times like this" Tao Yan mentioned as he turned the makeshift skewer slowly.
"We should carry around spices like this in the future as well!" Wang Kang drooled lightly while watching the meat turn on the fire.
"It's a bit of effort… but it smells nice so it's worth it" Gong Jie nodded slightly as she smelled the pleasant fragrance of the meat and fat cooking combined with the spice mix and salt.
"I'm happy you like it, food is one of the many pleasures in life, just eating stuff that's efficient is rather sad" Shu He laughed as he put the small containers that contained spices and salt back into his backpack, he doesn't always use them, but they are great for overpowering the gamy taste of wild meat.
"Quack…" Little Xue stared at the meat on the spit roast with glimmering eyes, Shu He could swear he spotted a drip of drool dribbling from its little beak.
"You can't eat that, it's bad for a duck" he knelt down and patted its small head that dropped like it had a treasure taken from it making him chuckle a little.
"Here" He held out his hand with seeds on it, but also sneakily snuck a little bundle of golden thread qi on it, Little Xue happily gobbled it up along with the seeds before snuggling up to the log that Shu He was going to sit on.
'This little glutton…' He smiled as he watched it go.
It was a peaceful night, Shu He looked up at the sky at the four happily conversed and couldn't help but hope that the rest of his journey home was peaceful-
And then just half an hour later, something happened that no one suspected would.
The four of them felt an odd shift in the atmosphere, but none of them realised just what was happening- Apart from Shu He that is.
His golden eyes flickered as he analysed the area with his territory, something was happening that he hadn't seen happen ever before; The Golden Qi that existed naturally in the environment suddenly began to shift, moving like it was caught in a vortex.
And the centre of that vortex-
Little Xue!
Its little body was glowing!