Xin retrieved a ledger in the Artefact pavilion and carefully examined it.
More than sixty of them, Xin felt overwhelmed. He quickly crossed out every cheap and common dao shard, as these could be obtained through barter or regular trade. This was a great chance to grab an expensive shard free of charge, so even if it didn't fit him, he'd be able to trade it for something else. Well, at least there is some reward for an authorized breakthrough, Wu Lei and Rui Ming didn't receive any for theirs.
Attacking shards are all trash, it's pointless to grab any of them, ranged or melee. I've got a ranged compound move, and my Steel Sting is still very effective, being relatively cheap and common doesn't diminish its value.
Defensive shards, hmmm...
Foil Coat is decent and can be rearranged after receiving damage, it's somewhat superior to Iron Lung.
Barkskin is weaker than the Foil Coat, but is very qi effective. No, still not it. It's too common, and I can't use it well. Even if it's a bit better on paper, I'm very good at using the Iron Lung. I should keep it for now.
Other defensive shards are too situational, and none of them are rare enough.
Movement shards...
Springvine is great, other than being used for jumping, with some training, you can also use it as a grappling hook. A decent option, but then there is some overlap with the snakevine… Too many eggs in one basket, isn't it?
Ironglide dao shard. Strong, enables great mobility feats as long as you're on the ground. But Rui Ming is right, it's a very wasteful method. That's not it.
Expansive limb? Hmmm... It's quite rare, but it will be long before I learn to lengthen my limbs. I need an immediate boost, my wood path mastery isn't good enough to use this one well.
Nah, no interesting movement shards.
Investigative shards...
Flower scent. Boosts my sense of smell, works much better with plants and wood path materials. Can also emanate a flowery fragrance. Niche, but interesting. Well, I've got the totem already.
Resonance hearing! Wow, this one is rare and synergises well with my natural perception! One of the strongest hearing type dao shards, after all. Even at rank one, it can counter some rank two methods. It won't be too hard to master, its principle is similar to my Resonance Palms, after all. A strong contender. Xin kept reading.
Mediocre. Rare, but useless. Above average, but hard to use. Xin crossed most of the shards lower in the list, leaving only two.
Mercurial healing! It's very rare, the rarest one on the list, to be precise. I've seen Murong Zhan's ledger, and it wasn't there back then. Could it be... It was left there just for me? Could they have moved it from the sect's treasury to help me grow if I noticed and picked it, or am I just paranoid?
Still, even if it's hard to master, it's a powerful healing method, and is very qi effective. It's expensive to upkeep, and is quite toxic if overused, but it seems like a great shard.
Xin's gaze randomly stumbled on the dao shard he had already crossed out.
Wait.
Healing seed dao shard. A rare, expensive and niche seed-shaped dao shard, it produces just one healing seed that can be consumed by anyone, not just the user. It's a very strong healing method, but takes a lot of time and effort to recharge. One could speed up the process by feeding it rank one or two materials instead of mortal materials, of course, but if I wanted to recharge it with my own qi, I'd probably burn through most of my reserve for just another use. The seed lasts only twenty breaths before withering and losing power, and the shard itself grows "tired" and experiences a slumber for a few hours after being used.
Xin felt a tingling in his forehead. This… can't be?
Xin sprinted into the female wing of the living quarters, pushed a female internal disciple who was on duty aside and ran for the living rooms.
This should be the one.
"Wu Xiaoyun! Wu Xiaoyun! Open up! I need you!"
"Huh?" Xin heard a bunch of confused voices inside of the room. Moments later, Wu Xiaoyun opened.
"Xin... My hair's uncombed and I'm not wearing makeup... What's so urgent?"
Xin stumbled for a moment. Without makeup, it took him a few moments to recognize her. She looked quite ordinary, but her high cheekbones and thick eyebrows gave her a serious look.
"You look great! It doesn't matter, I need your guidance."
"Let's step outside." She put a cloak on top of her robes and walked him down the corridor, looking quite embarrassed. "You can't just barge in like that. What happened?"
"Oh, let me pull out my seed." He reached into his pocket and started looking for his dao shard. His phrasing certainly made Wu Xiaoyun confused, and she raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
Oh, right. My core. He touched his belly and manifested a dao shard in his hand.
"Huh?"
"That's it. Plant restoration dao shard. You should be familiar with it." It also looked like a seed, but was much smaller than the healing seed dao shard.
"Yes, of course. One of your trophies?"
"Indeed."
"It's not very common, you could trade it for a steel sting dao shard and get three stones on top."
"Yes, but look here." Xin opened the ledger scroll and pointed towards the healing seed dao shard.
"Healing seed? It's quite rare. Wait, above that, is this mercurial healing? That's amazing..."
"How do you know it?"
"I know plenty of healing methods, I worked in a hospital, didn't I tell you?"
"If you did, I forgot. Sorry." Xin made a blank face.
"Heh. Think I didn't. Thing is, it's rare and quite expensive. Think you should get it."
"So you don't see what I see?" Xin pointed at a dao shard in his hand, then at the healing seed dao shard."
"You... Oh... Oh! Oh!" Wu Xiaoyun became as lively as Xin. "This... Will it work? It's a shard, not an actual plant, after all... Well, metaphysically, it represents a plant... It should work."
"You think so? Then, what about the seed's charge?"
"A lot of the reinvigoration energy will settle down in the seed, speeding up its charge."
"How much?" Xin's pupils expanded as if he was hunting a rare animal.
"A third, by rough estimates. But it will also awaken it from its slumber."
"A third... So I could use a healing seed, then recharge a third of it and revive the plant... Then I could use my own qi to fill the other two thirds... That's amazing."
"At your rank, eating two seeds will lead to some meridian stress, but relatively minor. But indeed, two seeds can bring a mortally wounded person back to full health. I like your idea, but you are still missing something."
"Eh?" Xin raised his eyebrows.
"Plant reinvigoration dao shard can also be used to keep the seed that was produced alive. It will drain the shard's energy, but it should be enough for a few hours. So if you were to invest rank one materials to feed both shards, you could technically gain three seeds. One kept alive, another one produced naturally, the third one produced by your qi."
"Absurd combination. Why isn't it used more?"
"Because you'll have to attune to two dao shards, limiting your soul foundation. Because it's expensive..."
"And because there is no point in wasting qi and materials on this, if you can't actually beat your enemies, your healing is useless." Xin interrupted her, but it didn't seem rude, it was more like he finished a phrase after her.
"You get me. So, unless you have a cheap attacking or defensive method, or you want to be a dedicated healer of a group of fighters, it's not very optimal."
Xin smirked.
"Cheap attacking method?" Resonance Palms. Dual infusion crossbow. Totemic swipes, too, once I have them. "Sounds doable."
"Xin... You know, if you could manifest a Connective Vine, like the one I used in the yaoguai fight, you could deliver the seed through it."
"Eh... Right, thanks, but I'm going to cultivate alone, learning that part of the inheritance sounds like a low priority."
"I'm so worried about that! Not just taming a totem, but refining it? Surviving alone in the steppe, with all these nomads and demons prowling around? Not even speaking of beasts and the undead. Do you have to do this?"
"Of course. I need to win the rank one tournament. Our world is about to get invaded, I want to be at least rank two by then. I need to climb the ladder, or I'll get stomped on, I was lucky to not be in Tealstone the day the boar attacked. You know, I could be there attending a fair, I was just not in the mood. Didn't want to interact with people and haggle. My plan for that evening was to stare at the ceiling after drinking some rice wine, then making a hare stew and falling asleep. I'm not going back to that life of inaction. Ever."
"Xin, you don't have to chase another extreme. What if you die?"
"Don't worry, I'll die. We all die. Living like I did is akin to death, anyway." He proudly lifted his chin, rejecting his former self. Wu Xiaoyun just stared at her feet, embarrassed.
"Xin. I'm attempting my breakthrough soon. By the time you return, there will be a mercurial healing dao shard waiting for you, if no one picks it by then… I'll try to hurry." Her cheeks blushed. "It would be better if it was a surprise, but I think I should tell you so that you can plan around it."
Her expression carried a hint of fear, as if she was scared of what she just said.
Xin was also astonished. In his view, this was nothing short of a declaration of love. What do I even say?
"Xiaoyun... You're an amazing girl. I admire your determination and intelligence, but this... That's too much. We aren't that close. Don't you dare sacrifice your potential to appease a retard like me. You have your own value, and you deserve to be surrounded with better people. Focus on yourself, I'm not worth it. I promise."
Wu Xiaoyun stood there, dumbfounded. It took her a few seconds to interpret what Xin meant.
Are these compliments just to sugarcoat his rejection? Does he actually like me? Do I have to uplift his self-esteem to make him accept me? Is he genuinely this insecure, or is he saying this to push me away? I'm ugly, aren't I? And I'm a pushover, that's why he isn't attracted to me, right? For him, I'm just a friend. He can't be using me, he's too noble for that...
"Xiaoyun... Sorry if I was too rough. I'm just... Not good at this, you know. Stuff. Like, gently talking. And... You're cool. Seriously." Fuck. Am I giving her false hope? Is this even false? Am I afraid to admit something about myself? Probably not. I hate this, anyway.
Wu Xiaoyun stared at her feet as tears rolled down her face.
"Xin, I get it. I'll focus on myself. Do whatever. Thank you."
What is she thanking me for? Should I hug her? No, she might read it wrongly. Or just push me away. Whatever.
"No, thank you. Your advice might save my life."
"Why didn't you ask any of the wood path masters?" Her voice was somewhat shaken.
"I didn't trust them to give their best. I trust you. And you'll overcome them one day."
Wu Xiaoyun smiled widely. Xin felt a warmth course through his chest. A genuine compliment like that was something Xin rarely made. There was a knot in his chest, and Xin felt like it was slowly being untied.
"You should get going, Xin. This meeting is weird enough. Go grab your seed."
"Don't worry, I'll go grab my seed." He underlined this world playfully with his voice and smiled. "And I'll reinvigorate it once I shoot it. I can do it three times, hehehe."
"Retard." Wu Xioayun chuckled and walked away.