As they traveled, Hua Ziyan gradually got more comfortable in Wu Long's presence, as he was generously answering her questions. Ever since he started talking about the significance of other aspects of battle she forgot all about everything else and only focused on learning more about the subject. Thus the time it took to arrive at their first lodging felt very short for her.
He was also observing and appreciating her reactions, way of speaking and mannerisms, which lacked maturity and refinement, but somehow held their own charm.
One trait he noticed that she had in common with Liu Li, was their sense of urgency in regard to improving themselves. It was apparent from how both of them got entranced in learning to the point of forgetting time once he gave a little nudge that could help them.
He had that trait all his life so he could relate to it. He desperately struggled to break free from the shackles of his natural talent and poor foundation.
After a night at the lodging, Wu Long came out to the courtyard to see Liu Li already waiting for him. When she noticed him, she looked relieved.
"Great, you're here"
"Did you think I would forget?" Wu Long nodded with a chuckle.
"Not really, but it still is not the usual routine so…" she said a bit flustered about how apparent her reaction was.
"Don't worry, I won't miss our morning routine. I enjoy this time as much as you do, perhaps even more" he replied with a charming smile on his face, which, coupled with his sincere gaze and words made her heart skip a beat.
"Ahem, so, shall we start?" she averted her eyes and cleared her throat, slightly agitated.
"Sure" he replied, savoring her cute appearance.
As they sparred, she gradually focused on the sword and any awkwardness disappeared. This focused look on her beautiful face was very enchanting, and her graceful movements would involuntarily glue any eyes to her.
After the end of their training, there were a few figures watching them, but not openly. One of which was Hua Ziyan, one more being Zhang Huang, and the other two being the elders who came on the trip with them. Liu Li also noticed them, but it is not like they kept their training secret, and there was no reason to keep it that. And it would naturally be exposed anyway as there is no way to keep something like this secret on the trip. However, there was still something she didn't like about the situation so she inwardly decided to pick a little more secluded spot for their training at the next lodging.
Wu Long was not fazed as well, however, he too, preferred less spectators, as he could feel her concentration weaken, as well as simply liking the peaceful and somewhat intimate atmosphere they had trained in earlier.
As they resumed their journey, Hua Ziyan tactfully did not ask Wu Long anything concerning the morning training, and he did not explain anything either, though it wasn't like he was not going to reply if she asked. They resumed their conversation from yesterday and would eventually change topics and discuss things outside of cultivation.
As he continued sparring with Liu Li in the mornings and talking with Hua Ziyan on the way, more than a week went by and they stopped for lodging at a big city that rose due to trade between the kingdom they were in, and the empire they were going to.
As Wu Long learnt, this world had three continents and three empires, each ruling a continent. But, there were also 14 kingdoms that were subordinate to the empires, on all three continents. The empires lived in peace for more than 3000 years, unshakeable and unchanging, while the kingdoms always had conflicts and strife, sometimes falling to give rise to new kingdoms. That was the difference in foundation, the empires had practitioners at the peak of this world's cultivation, Mortal Transcendence Realm presiding over them, and thus nothing could shake their rule. While kingdoms rarely had royal family members higher than Qi Manifestation Realm, and were essentially completely mortal dynasties with cultivators living all around them.
He went out as soon as they arrived and visited an outlet of one of the larger trading companies on this continent.
"Welcome. How may the Golden Ox trading company be of service to you today, sir?" an attendant asked as soon as he walked in.
"I will be buying medicinal ingredients, off the shelves as I have no time to wait for an auction"he gave her a light smile that instantly made her blush.
"Certainly, please follow me"
While they were walking, he took out a scroll he prepared beforehand.
"While I am shopping, I would also trouble you to gather information on whether your company deals in any of these ingredients, and if yes, what are the approximate prices for each one. The list is quite extensive, so please do take your time." he said to her as he handed her the scroll and a few gold coins, an unseen wealth for an attendant.
"With pleasure!" she replied with great enthusiasm.
Once he arrived at the hall dealing in medicinal ingredients he went through the stalls and bought some yang attribute medicines that he deemed somewhat useful to him now. He also purchased a few Yin attribute medicines and complementary less precious Yang attribute medicines to use as auxiliary for Yin Yang Conversion Cauldron Body technique. He also bought a few tools for crushing, grinding and storing medicines, medicinal liquids and such. He bought all of this by using money 'generously donated' to him by Zhao Wuji previously, as money was among the most useful things in his spatial ring, and there was quite a sum since he was a prime disciple and a descendant of a prominent family.
It has been a bit more than a month and a half since his last drastic rise in cultivation and body tempering, and his constant activity, and efforts in meditating before sleep every day have helped him stabilize his cultivation by now.
His target now was to reach the middle levels of Qi Gathering Realm by the time he repaired his sword. That was because his first potential partner was someone in the 7th level Revolving Qi Realm, and he would not be able to cultivate her Yin Qi, much less Pure Yin Essence in the Body Transformation Realm. It did not mean that he couldn't just choose a different partner, but it wasn't like he had the ability to repair the sword right now, so he just set up this goal for the ideal scenario.
As he still had some time because he did not see the attendant returning, he went to the medicinal tools shop and purchased three leather rolls with jade, gold and silver needles, each containing 100 needles. Something he always liked to have on hand but did not find in the Yin Yang Unity Palace Treasure Hall.
He also purchased a smaller set of steel needles in case he needed to use them not as medicinal tools but for cases like Zhao Wuji previously.
Right when he was finished, the attendant returned with the scroll as well as one more scroll that had the information he requested, and he left after giving her some more gold coins.
On his way back he was stopped by four male inner court disciples who seemed to be waiting for him not that far from the inn they stayed in.
"Stop there, you are Junior Apprentice Wu, right?" one of them said.
"Do you enjoy asking meaningless questions? Let's be quick about it, I don't enjoy the company of men." Wu Long retorted.
He did not usually cause unnecessary conflict by intent, but he preferred to get such meddlesome things done quickly as he didn't like wasting time.
"You!" the disciple who asked him immediately lost his temper, while the others laughed.
"Haha, this kid's crazy" One of them found the scene amusing
"You're right, it seems that he does not understand that this is not the sect anymore." Another one also laughed. They assumed Wu Long was just not understanding the situation.
"Haa~ useless" he said, and his right palm went forward.
The disciple before him who was speaking to him first didn't expect him to suddenly attack, so he reacted late, and Wu Long's palm landed on his chin, lifting it up with a slight twist. The force and direction were precisely distributed, and he flew up a few centimeters and back about a meter, falling on his back.
While he was still falling, Wu Long's hand that was stretched from the palm strike went to the right to the next disciple's neck in a chopping motion, which then landed at a specific spot and sent him further to the right.
His foot took a step back, avoiding a strike from his left, which went by in front of his face. He took a steel needle with his left hand, and accurately pierced a spot on the back of the attacker with it. At the same time, his upper body swayed a bit avoiding the fist from his right this time, and using his left foot as a pivot, he kicked the attacker's knee from the back with his right foot.
The right attacker knelt from the impact while Wu Long took a needle in each hand and pierced spots on the back of both opponents. The first one to receive the needle now having two.
He took two quick steps back and stood still as they tried to recover both from shock and the damage.
The first one still felt a little dizzy since he was the least prepared of them, and the strike attacked a precise spot on his neck through the movement of his chin and his own weight.
The second one was directly struck in the neck, but as it was not a lethal or crippling attack it merely pushed him back and made him a little disoriented for a moment.
The one with two needles in his back near his neck felt numb all over, and would definitely not be able to fight anymore.
The last one with one needle felt weakness in his legs and could not stand up as a needle was struck in a different spot on the center of his back near his spine.
"Now, I think we are basically done here now, but you are all cultivators and inner court disciples, you should understand where we stand. If you agree to stop this farce here, I will remove the needles and let you go unscathed, you will not feel anything in the morning, but I would not recommend cultivating with your partners tonight.
You can tell eh… I don't remember his name, but you can tell him that I don't care about what he wants, nor do I care about him in general. I don't care much about men. As long as he does not touch my bottom line, I will ignore this little stunt. For you, I will say this, I despise doing useless things over and over again, so if you ever oppose me again, I will not care that you were instigated, or about sect rules and your backgrounds, you will die." as he talked, he finished the final warning with a cold gaze that instantly made them realize how serious were his words.
They might have misjudged him before, but they were not fools, they now knew they did not stand a chance against him no matter how they struggled.
He then returned an indifferent look, and asked, "now, shall I remove the needles?"
When he saw them nod with scared expressions, he said with a friendly smile and cheerful voice like he didn't just attack and then threatened them with death, "wise choice!"
He removed one needle at a time pressing two or three different spots nearby with his fingers of the other hand. Each spot he pressed was different for each needle he took out.
"All done, you may go. And remember, take it easy in the bedroom tonight for you two" he reminded them and they instantly scurried away.
'Haa, shopping and fighting after, the combination never gets old' he thought with a chuckle as he returned to the inn.