"Still a bit short from the eighth rank of body tempering." A tall boy around the age of 12 mumbled to himself. He had the same brown hair and dark brown eyes like Yang Yu, but unlike Yang Yu, his eyes were sharp and focused. His fit body and neat clothes made him look noble. This was Yang Chen, Yang Yu's older brother.
He took a look around his room. Everything was well organized except for some empty bottles littered on the floor. Frowning slightly, he started organizing them, arranging some into shelves and throwing others away. For the last couple hours, he had been using multiple elixirs and trying to break into the eighth rank. Being at the seventh rank of body tempering, he was able to afford many elixirs by hunting demon beasts.
Unlike regular beasts, demon beasts are savage and brutal animals that are able to cultivate. Non-savage beasts are called magic beasts. Their strengths are divided into 10 ranks, starting from rank one. Each rank is then divided into three stages: initial, intermediate, peak. An ordinary initial first rank magic beast is able to rival a third rank body tempering cultivator. Intermediate magic beast is equivalent to a sixth rank, and peak is equivalent to ninth rank.
As a seventh rank body tempering cultivator, Yang Chen was able to hunt initial and some intermediate rank 1 magic beasts. After killing them, the most beasts would leave a beast core, the essence of their cultivation, and that could be sold. Due to the impurities of the care, it's not worth very much, but it is enough to buy some low level elixirs and herbs.
Seems like I'll need to make a trip to the city to get more elixirs. Yang Chen thought. He was furiously cultivating in order to guarantee a spot in the upcoming Tian Lin academy entrance. A good bit of his savings have already been used up from buying herbs and elixirs.
He opened his windows, and soon after a red bird flew into the room and perched on his shoulder. It happily chirped at him and nuzzled its head against his neck. Seeing this Yang Chen smiled.
"Xiao Hong, I won't be able to play with you today. I need to go out somewhere. Don't stray too far alright?" Yang Chen gently spoke to the bird.
As if it understood, the bird dropped its head, as if it was crestfallen, but it still nodded. Then it flew out the way it came in.
Stretching, Yang Chen stood up and opened the door. As the door opened, Yang Yu walked by the room. Seeing a bruise on his face, Yang Chen frowned.
"Hold on." Yang Chen grabbed Yang Yu's shoulder and turned him around to face him. Scanning his body, Yang Chen's face slowly became ugly. Not just on his face, there were also bruises on his arms and legs.
"Who did this to you?" Yang Chen demanded.
Yang Yu became teary eyed. "It was Yang Bin! He used some underhand tricks that caught me off guard and beat me up like this."
"Yang Bin?" Yang Chen mumbled. The name sounded somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't think of anyone stronger than Yang Yu at his age with that name. A few seconds laters, it hit him. "Yang Bin? The one that is stuck at the first rank of the body tempering stage?" Yang Chen gave Yang Yu a weird look.
"He's at the third rank now." Yang Yu said in a low voice.
Yang Chen was taken aback, and looked at him strangely. And aren't you at the fourth rank?
Not wanting him to feel worse, Yang Chen didn't voice his thoughts. "I see. He must have gotten his hands on some rare elixir. I'll help you teach him a lesson, once I've broken through."
There was a short pause, as Yang Yu processed that statement. "You're almost at the eighth rank?" He cried, his eyes widening from shock.
Yang Chen smiled. "Very close. I plan on going to the city today to buy some elixir. Want to join?"
"Of course! Let me ask dad for some money." Yang Yu exclaimed cheerfully and ran off. Whenever Yang Chen goes to the city, Yang Yu will also tag along. Since Yang Yu doesn't have much money, he would go ask his dad for some spare change. Usually it's only enough to buy three, maybe four 10 year herbs, but every once in a while, when their father was feeling generous, the amount could be enough to buy a 100 year herb.
Just wait, Yang Bin. After I get stronger, I'll make sure to pay back the humiliation you caused me yesterday. Yang Yu thought.
****
"Are we there yet?" Yang Mengyao's bored voice rang out.
Currently, Yang Bin and Yang Mengyao were on a carriage, riding on a mossy trail through a forest to reach Tian Lin city. Outside of the carriage, Yang Gang and Li Jing were driving the horses. Even though they knew they took a relatively safe road, their eyes still vigilantly scanned the surroundings for any beasts.
Inside of the carriage, there were two rows of seats large enough to fit three people. The window blinds were opened, letting the sunlight fill the carriage. Yang Bin was sitting down, silently cultivating, while Yang Mengyao laid on the seat and complained.
"Complaining won't make it go any faster." Yang Bin opened his eyes and smiled a little.
"Don't worry. We're almost there. About 10 more minutes." Li Jing reassured her.
To which Yang Mengyao groaned.
"Why don't you try cultivating?" Yang Bin advised.
"It's boring. I don't want to." Yang Mengyao childishly shook her head.
Enduring Yang Mengyao's bitter wails and complaints, Yang Bin sighed and returned to his cultivation. After about 10 minutes, they started to slow.
"We're here." Yang Gang said.
Hearing that, Yang Mengyao immediately sat up. Excitedly, she opened the door and hopped off the carriage. "Brother, let's go!" She waved at Yang Bin.
Li Jing laughed. "Son, go with Mengyao to pacify her heart. Once we find a place to stop, we'll meet up with you. Take this." She tossed Yang Bin a small pendant. It was a qi tracker. Once the user infuses it with their qi, they will be able to sense its location within a radius of 5 li.
"Alright." Yang Bin pocketed the pendant and hopped off the carriage.
In front of him stood a large gate. Despite the passing of time, the golden words Tian Lin on top of the gate still gave off a grand and majestic aura. Many carriages and people walked in and out of the gate. Inside the gates, there were many people standing beside their stalls and advertising to passersby. Even though Yang Bin was outside the gate, he could hear some of their shouts.
"100 year old earth bamboo for sale!"
"Come buy an inscribed weapon!"
"We are selling an earth grade technique! Sea Splitting Palm!"
Yang Mengyao's eyes sparkled. Pulling Yang Bin's arm, she dragged him with her to the stall selling the inscribed weapons.
The man next to the stall noticed them walking towards him. "Little friends, are you guys interested in buying an inscribed weapon? It's not too expensive, only 10 gold coins." He lightheartedly laughed and joked.
Hearing the price, Yang Bin's eyes twitched. A gold coin was worth 100 silver coins, and a silver coin was worth 100 bronze coins. 10 gold coins was enough to sustain an ordinary person for many months and about three 100 year herbs. Still, Yang Bin said nothing and simply stood by the side.
"Uncle, what is the difference between regular weapons and inscribed ones?" Yang Mengyao, not fazed by the astronomical price, asked.
He patiently explained, "An inscribed weapon is a weapon that a spirit cultivator has engraved a rune into."
Seeing Yang Mengyao's confusion, he patiently explained. "Some spirit cultivators are able to create runes through their spirit power; they are called rune masters. Whenever they engrave a rune on a tool, it enhances the tool. Most runes give the tool more durability, power, or sharpness, though more advanced ones can give it even more powerful enhancements, like give it a fire element."
"Oh! I understand now." Yang Mengyao said. By the side, Yang Bin also nodded in understanding.
"Not just on weapons; spirit cultivators can also engrave the runes on stones, turning them into talismans. Once activated, these talismans give the user very powerful boosts for a certain amount of time. Unfortunately, these talismans are single use and harder to make." An aged voice rang out.
Yang Bin and Yang Mengyao turned around to where the voice originated from.
Not too far away from them, there was an old man with a straw hat on his head. He had gray hair and his face was full of wrinkles. Leaning on his walking stick, the man squinted his eyes at Yang Bin. Then he spoke.
"How strange. Little boy, despite being at the body tempering stage, I can see that your spirit is almost as strong as a spirit condensing stage cultivator."