If he didn't always keep people at arm's length, how could he still be wandering the martial world alone after six years in the apocalypse, despite his fame?
Ge Qing thought about it; Xu Nuo's usual demeanor did indeed suggest he was easy to get along with as long as you followed his principles, but getting close to him was another matter entirely. So, the person who had come to console someone ended up being consoled himself. He sighed and patted Park Su's shoulder, saying, "Good luck."
They then focused on washing the dishes. After breakfast, everyone started their cultivation routine as planned.
However, Xu Nuo didn't want any anomalies in the surrounding spiritual energy to be noticed by others while Park Su was cultivating, so he didn't let him stay on the first floor but took him to the second floor to cultivate by his side.
As for that bottle of spirit beast blood, after breakfast, while Ge Qing and Park Su were washing up, Xu Nuo specifically went to ask Lu Shang for it.
The reason they had kept this bottle of mutated beast blood was actually to commemorate their first life-and-death experience together. It was from a mutated wildcat, a second-tier mutated animal, which had attacked them due to its incredible speed and sharp claws. Although they managed to kill it, they were severely injured in the process, thus valuing the blood as a keepsake.
But now, with Xu Nuo asking for it, they couldn't really hold onto a bottle that was otherwise just a memento. So, Xu Nuo got the beast blood without much effort, though he thought it wasn't right to always be asking for things from others.
He figured that since they would be heading out soon, he might also keep an eye out for these mutated animals on the road, perhaps finding even better quality beast blood to use in making tools for drawing talismans.
While Park Su was cultivating, Xu Nuo used the blood to create an alternative to cinnabar and then started making talismans with talisman paper, checking the effects. Finding them satisfactory, he became even more determined to hunt for more.
At the same time, he continued to draw talismans since the recent attack on the resort had used up a fair amount of them. Although he still had a good stock of talismans, it's always better to be prepared. Who knows what kind of dangers they might face on the way to the S base mentioned by Park Su? Having enough talismans could mean the difference between life and death in a situation where they might need to hold off zombies. If his stock was insufficient, unforeseen events could occur.
He didn't want anyone around him to be in any danger at all, but he would indeed need to spend some time making talismans and talisman paper. Now, he was somewhat grateful that his old man had taught him how to make talisman paper and cinnabar to save money, allowing him to be self-sufficient in these resource-scarce times. Otherwise, looking for shops that used to make talisman paper would be difficult, and even if found, the quality of the paper might not meet his needs, wasting time.
It would be better for him to find some trees rich in spiritual energy to make talisman paper. Perhaps even the mutated plants that Park Su couldn't use could be used for this purpose, as he had noticed that these mutated plants and animals contained more spiritual energy than before, making them ideal for crafting better talismans, just like the ones he was making now.
Xu Nuo watched over Park Su, while Lu Shang watched over Ge Qing, though not as relaxed as Xu Nuo since he was worried about disturbances during Ge Qing's breakthrough to the third tier of his ability. His concerns were not unfounded, as during their cultivation, people from the "high, low, fat, and thin" group kept coming to spy. Fortunately, Xu Nuo sensed their movements and deliberately left the window open to show he was there, deterring them from any rash actions.
For five consecutive days, Ge Qing finally completed his breakthrough, and Lu Shang breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Park Su had absorbed quite a few zombie cores but frequently took breaks, as unlike Ge Qing, he didn't have an imminent breakthrough. However, waking up to see Xu Nuo meticulously drawing talismans beside him was a kind of enjoyment. Xu Nuo didn't teach him about talismans at this time, just let him continue cultivating.
Although Park Su absorbed energy faster than Ge Qing, the presence of the hallucinogenic dandelion in his body meant he needed much more energy. Even though his absorption rate had increased, after splitting the energy, what he could accumulate wasn't much. Still, absorbing so many first and second-tier zombie cores had brought him to the mid-tier of the third level in his abilities.
Initially, he thought since he had given the energy stone to Xu Nuo, he'd keep all the second-tier zombie cores for himself without feeling guilty. However, Xu Nuo not only shared the energy stone with him but also shared its secret, which made him feel a bit embarrassed about keeping all the cores to himself.
Following the principle that the stronger Xu Nuo was, the safer he would be, he was more than willing to share his cores with Xu Nuo, especially since with the energy stone, these cores seemed less significant.
So, after feeling that Ge Qing had completed his breakthrough, Park Su stopped absorbing the second-tier zombie cores and turned to Xu Nuo, saying, "I'll leave the remaining second-tier zombie cores for you. I've already made pretty good progress by reaching the mid-tier of the third level this quickly. Although your Dao techniques are high, your abilities haven't broken through to the third tier, which isn't ideal. Moreover, you have a lot to do next, and having abilities will make things much easier, right?"
Understanding Park Su's nature, Xu Nuo didn't refuse, just quietly had him store the cores for now. He could cultivate whenever he wanted since they were within reach. Besides, keeping some cores as spares was good, and since finding more cinnabar was difficult, he could try using these cores as a substitute for cinnabar in drawing talismans.
Of course, he didn't tell Park Su about this yet, preferring to share the success once it was achieved; he wasn't used to giving people hope only to disappoint them.
He also didn't mention that he could use the spiritual energy from Dao techniques to boost his abilities to the peak of the fifth tier; it wasn't about distrusting Park Su but rather not wanting to discourage him too much.
After Ge Qing broke through, Lu Shang was very pleased, but because of the disturbance caused outside the villa during the breakthrough, the "high, low, fat, and thin" group grew increasingly envious.
There was no way around it; they had only been here for a little over twenty days, and there had already been four instances of ability fluctuations, which meant the people inside were constantly breaking through their abilities.
You see, for them to break through was a tremendous effort. Not only did they need to hunt for zombie cores to enhance their abilities, but they also had to practice their skills to mastery, all while keeping their methods secret to prevent others from overtaking them. They also had to seek out other ways to quickly advance themselves. Initially, they thought Xu Nuo's group was just someone awakening an ability, but later discovered it was someone breaking through. After seeing Xu Nuo's capabilities, they knew he was a master, and they were very curious about how he managed to cultivate so quickly.
However, they couldn't find out how Xu Nuo achieved such rapid cultivation; instead, their rivals, Ge Qing and Lu Shang, reaped such significant benefits. In their view, only Lu Shang was on the verge of a breakthrough, while Ge Qing should have needed much longer. Yet, in just over half a month, Ge Qing had also broken through to the third tier. How could they remain calm?
Moreover, the one who had confronted them before had also made a breakthrough, at least to the point where they could no longer gauge his abilities.
Seeing this, they really wanted to approach Xu Nuo and ask about their breakthrough methods. Having already offended him, they had later tried to apologize, only to be met with closed doors or cold dismissals, which made them quite irritated. They thought, with so many ability users on their side, everyone must be jealous of such progress.
As the saying goes, it's hard for two fists to defeat four hands; if they all worked together, they could definitely give them some trouble. So, they gathered all the ability users to discuss their plan.
Indeed, everyone was very enthusiastic about enhancing their own abilities. They proposed that since they couldn't easily break through while under surveillance, they should wait for them to come out and then deal with them one by one.
With so many ability users, they didn't believe they couldn't handle just four people.
What they didn't know was that Xu Nuo had already detected their deployment with his mental energy from the moment they started their ambush, and his face darkened.
He thought the lesson he had given them was enough for them to restrain themselves, but he hadn't anticipated that human greed was truly boundless, giving them the courage to do things they wouldn't have dared before.
It seemed like they couldn't stay in this place much longer. With all this trouble, it wasn't conducive to good cultivation. Since Park Su had already made his breakthrough and he had researched the energy stone sufficiently, they might as well take this opportunity to head to the S base early and find a place to rest properly.
It wasn't that he was afraid of the "high, low, fat, and thin" group, but killing them all seemed disproportionate for such a minor issue. Moreover, he was concerned that if he went on a killing spree, it might make Park Su uncomfortable.
He knew that Park Su had a soft spot for these living people, especially fellow ability users, unless they had attacked them first. If he took the initiative to strike, even if Park Su might not say anything, he was still worried that Park Su would be disappointed in him or start treating him with caution. That was not what he wanted.
However, leaving them be was problematic since they were quite an eyesore, and who knew when they might shoot an arrow from the shadows.