"Rue... Rue Bu, hey Rue Bu, what are you thinking about that has you so out of it?" Shui Tao had never seen him so distracted before, he didn't even hear his name being called.
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking we shouldn't take that mission you suggested. It's far away from the alliance's territory." Rue Bu gave an excuse, though in reality, something else was bothering him.
'What kind of nonsense is this? How can I ever use the mindless wasp at this point? I thought I could influence some rank two Gu Masters in the tribe and make them hand over more resources, but the effect weakens the more people you influence. And that annoying usage requirement—or should I say, food? It's going to cause trouble if I use it even once, let alone multiple times...' He frowned.
Although he disliked the weakening effect when using it on multiple people, he was ready to adapt his plans. But learning about the activation requirement significantly reduced the Gu's value in his eyes.
'It's a good thing I don't need to feed it as often as normal Gu worms, just when I need to use it. But still, this is too much.' He decided to postpone his plans with the mindless wasp until he was stronger and could afford it.
"What? Why are you being so cautious all of a sudden? Didn't you say you were low on primeval stones? This mission will help. Even though it's far from the alliance's territory, it shouldn't be that hard, and we can gather information about wild beasts in the area to avoid them." Shui Tao was confused, Rue Bu never acted like this before. Usually, he would be eager for such a mission.
"Shui Tao, didn't you hear?" Chen Huan chimed in.
"What? Is there another secret situation that only the Ma and Lin tribes know about again?" he asked sarcastically.
Chen Huan looked at him judgmentally. "No, it's something that everyone with a survival instinct should know about." she berated him.
"Haha, don't be harsh on him, Chen Huan. It's partly your fault he's forgotten how to look after himself in the safety of the Shui tribe." Rue Bu joined in.
"Alright, just tell me what's going on already." Shui Tao demanded, clearly annoyed.
"There was a demonic cultivator spotted near the Ma tribe. Our guards tried to catch them, but they weren't pushovers and managed to escape. We still don't know why they were lurking in our territory, but we should be cautious regardless." Rue Bu explained.
"Then wouldn't it be safer to be away from the Ma tribe? We are just rank one students with no particular value to anyone, at least some of us, so who would target us?" Shui Tao took in the information, and instead of being afraid, he was more stubborn.
'He is kind of right, but I still have a really bad feeling.' Even though the demonic cultivator was found close to his previous cultivation space, it wasn't the exact location. No one in his position would think that the demonic cultivator was after him, but Rue Bu was always extra careful, sometimes more than necessary.
"He is kind of right, Rue Bu, even though I don't want to admit it. We've been close to that location before, and Shui Tao can get more information about it from his tribe too. Besides, it's in the Jin tribe's territory. What demonic cultivator would risk going there?" Chen Huan agreed with Shui Tao.
'She says that, but the Jin tribe's territory is so vast they can't manage all of it alone, unlike the alliance, which has far more lower-rank Gu Masters. But still, if I were a demonic cultivator, I wouldn't go into the territory of a rank five no matter how small the chances were of being found.' He thought for a bit, and seeing how dangerously low his primeval stones were, he eventually relented.
"Fine, I still don't think it's a good idea, but if you don't have a problem, neither do I." he said while looking at the mission in question.
The mission was given by the Lin tribe. Somewhere in the Jin tribe territory lay a mountain littered with small golems and statues made from earth and stone. Occasionally, these creatures were formed from various plants and tree parts, each with a metal 'heart' in a random part of its body that the Lin tribe often used in refining various Gu worms.
"This mission requires roughly 50 or so of these hearts. It will essentially take us the whole day to complete, even with the three of us. We wouldn't just need to kill these creatures; first, we have to find them, and if any of the others get in our way, we'll also have to deal with them." Chen Huan analyzed the situation carefully.
"Yes, it will take a lot of time, but the other stone-like ones aren't exactly useless either. We can sell them to someone in either the Ma tribe since they are excellent ingredients for metal and strength recipes too." Shui Tao corrected her.
"Hmm, what about the Jin tribe? Are they going to cause us problems?" Chen Huan asked.
"They shouldn't even notice us. Those creatures are everywhere in their territory, so if they do notice, they'll probably thank us instead. We're cleaning their territory for them, what more could they ask for? The hearts are good ingredients for metal path recipes, but as if the prestigious Jin tribe would stoop this low for an ingredient they have in abundance." Shui Tao explained. He clearly hadn't chosen this mission randomly and knew exactly how the Jin tribe would feel about it.
"Well, the alliance wouldn't have put it in the mission center if the Jin tribe wouldn't like it, Chen Huan." Rue Bu said plainly, ignoring Shui Tao's monologue.
"Ah, that makes more sense." Chen Huan said.
"..." Shui Tao, feeling slightly ignored he responded. "Hmph, anyway, are you sure you want to do this?" Shui Tao asked, addressing Chen Huan.
"Hmm? Oh, you mean because of what Grandfather said?" Remembering her grandfather's earlier words, she felt a sense of bitterness.
___________________________________
"...Oh, and surprisingly you don't have to feed it as often as other Gu worms, just when using it, and..." Chen Huan was still explaining the mindless wasp to Rue Bu and Shui Tao when she noticed her grandfather approaching and immediately stopped.
"Greetings, esteemed elder/grandfather." The three of them bowed respectfully to the rank three elder, who told them to be at ease.
"Don't be so formal. I just want to have a conversation with you." he said, smiling at Rue Bu.
"Of course, Elder Chen Ning, we just came here to ask Chen Huan if she will continue to be a part of our team." Rue Bu's answer confused Chen Huan and Shui Tao, as it wasn't what the elder had asked.
"Hmm, you are right. Forgive me, but you should know about the situation between us and the Chen family in your tribe, so little Huan didn't have any time to go on any missions." The elder seemed slightly annoyed by Rue Bu's answer but still apologized.
"Oh, Elder Chen Ning, I didn't mean to..." Rue Bu proceeded to apologize and bombard Chen Ning with compliments.
'Hmph, as if. You just didn't manage to convince any B-grade to come and help your family, and you're still afraid to lose even with Dong Min or Ma Xiao. You still wanted a B-grade. Making Chen Huan stay home under the excuse of 'training' for the fight with Chen Cheng because she is a direct descendant, but let's be honest, she has no chance of even touching him, let alone winning. With Long Mei and the Kui twins out of the question due to their grandparents' status, you were left with Rue Gang and me.' Rue Bu analyzed.
'Rue Gang probably refused, and you didn't have any affordable way of coercing him. You weren't able to find me in public like the other students and were probably too arrogant to come to me personally, so you put on this little show.' He wasn't exactly happy about being here, but cultivation is impossible without primeval stones.
"...So, Chen Huan, what do you think? Are you out?" Rue Bu finished sucking up to the elder and asked Chen Huan directly.
'This rascal, does he understand the situation? Hmph, no, he understands. Look at him, he is essentially flat-out rejecting my offer before even hearing it.' Chen Ning thought. He didn't know what to feel; on one hand, he was immediately rejected, but on the other, this kid in front of him was daring enough to reject him. It made him angry, but at the same time, he admired his courage.
'Forget it...' he thought, looking at Chen Huan, who was still contemplating what to do.
"Chen Huan, go." he said to her while heading back to the training ground to continue the students' training. "You aren't good enough to compete against Chen Cheng."
___________________________________
'Even though his words were harsh, he wasn't exactly wrong...' Chen Huan thought while explaining to Shui Tao.
"To be honest, I didn't want to go with you guys anymore. Even though it's a good way of training and getting primeval stones, I don't really need them. My family can provide me with essentially the same training and resources, so I wanted to focus on cultivation and training with Grandfather to be able to defend my Chen family at the end of the year." she explained.
"But when I saw what those students my grandfather recruited were capable of with how little time he coached them, I understood what it meant to have better talent. I now realize that no matter how much time I put in, I can't bridge the gap between us. So, even if by some miracle Grandfather chooses me over the rest of them, I still wouldn't be able to compete against Chen Cheng at the end of the year. I would end up causing my family to abandon our pride and Gu worms." She was calm as she spoke, adding. "I believe that leaving the fight to someone else who has a chance against Chen Cheng is a better way to serve my family." Shui Tao was surprised at her honesty and didn't bring up the situation any more.
'Chen Huan, you are so naive. He still hasn't given up, that's why he allowed you to join us again. If I were him, I would do the same to make sure my target doesn't leave my control.' Rue Bu thought as they started moving, leaving the Lin and Shui tribes' territories and approaching the Jin tribe. The familiar rugged terrain and huge mountains they saw last time were as daunting as ever.
Despite the mission's supposed ease, Rue Bu didn't let his guard down even once. He was in an unfamiliar environment with almost no way to save himself if they encountered a dangerous situation.
'I hope nothing unexpected happens.' As much as he wished for it, he wasn't entirely confident that this mission would go smoothly. 'Well, at least I have them...'