Chapter 84, First Release on Jinjiang Literature City: Solitude in the Scorching Fire Mountains

Low-level puppetry is not uncommon in the Xuan Yun Sect, but it's not particularly common either. It's just that the sect has many disciples with all sorts of quirks, and occasionally someone from each peak will do it. Yao Sisi told Liu Yuan to take good care of the house, as she planned to go out and train with Qi Mu.

The two took out a map, looked around the area, and settled on the Scorching Fire Mountain Range, which wasn't too far from the sect. She said, "A few days ago, the strange fire was split and it suffered some damage. I plan to go around here and find some spiritual fire for it to devour."

Qi Mu vaguely remembered how painful it was when he separated his soul; it was excruciating, worse than death. He didn't know exactly what it would be like to separate his spiritual fire, but it would definitely be uncomfortable.

Unable to contain his concern, he asked, "Does it hurt a lot to separate the spirit fire?"

Yao Sisi nodded: "It was indeed not easy, but fortunately it didn't take long and we finished it quickly."

Qi Mu: "Your Earth Core Flame is so good. It would be painful and a pity to break it apart. Why don't you wait for me to go with you to catch another spirit flame? Besides, I also want to try my luck and maybe I can contract a spirit flame suitable for alchemy."

Yao Sisi: "I didn't expect it to hurt so much at first. But since you mentioned alchemical fire, you can actually go to the weapon refining room to refine pills. It's my fault for not thinking it through. I should have set up a separate room for you. After all, the Earth Core Fire is very suitable for refining pills."

Qi Mu didn't plan to refine pills in crowded places, so he casually declined, saying, "That's your weapon refining room, so I won't go there. Besides, I often go to Danfeng to exchange ideas, so I can refine pills there as well. It's just that..." It's not so convenient outside.

Seeing that he hesitated for a moment, Yao Sisi guessed, "If you're out there refining pills, I can help you."

A smile appeared between Qi Mu's brows. She knew exactly what he was thinking: "Alright, we'll rely on Miss Sisi while we're out here."

The two checked their belongings and, seeing that they had almost everything, set off together for the Scorching Fire Mountains. They rode the Lingyun and flew for about half a month before finally arriving at their destination. The Lingyun was no longer as fast as it had been when they left the Mystic Beast Forest. Yao Sisi had made some improvements to it before setting off, making it twice as fast as before, but even so, it still took them so long to fly.

The journey was always tedious, so the two took turns cultivating on their magical artifacts. Qi Mu, in particular, realized that the gap between their cultivation levels was widening. If the other person reached the Core Formation stage in the future, they would definitely not accompany him on his training trips. The difference in cultivation levels would make him a burden.

But he was already working hard to cultivate. Compared to his fellow disciples, his cultivation speed was not slow at all. Moreover, he also made time to refine pills. But if he didn't make time for this, his cultivation resources would be scarce.

He could only seize every spare moment to cultivate in order not to fall further behind.

If it weren't for purifying his spiritual root back then, catching up would have been even more difficult. Just look at Liu Yuan; it will take him at least two years to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Yao Sisi, unaware of his worries, looked into the distance and said, "The Scorching Fire Mountains are really vast. Where are we located?"

Qi Mu also looked into the distance, where the boundless greenery surrounded the mountains and seemed to stretch endlessly: "Let's stay on the outer perimeter for now. There are many fire and earth elemental herbs here. We can pick some and take them back to plant."

Yao Sisi: "Okay, then we can't put it in the jade box. Let's plant it directly in your square plate. By the way, do you have this magic artifact with you?"

Qi Mu: "I brought it with me. The spiritual soil is all prepared inside, and I'm ready to harvest the spiritual herbs!"

Yao Sisi: "I heard that a strange fire once appeared in the Scorching Fire Mountain Range. Although it was taken away by someone, so many years have passed, I don't know if there will be a strange fire again."

Qi Mu paused. He was a part-time alchemist, and it would be great to have the help of a different kind of fire. However, contracting a different kind of fire was extremely dangerous and he didn't want to die. It wasn't that he was afraid of death, but his life had just gotten on track and he was very happy. He was reluctant to die.

Moreover, he only picked up alchemy to improve their lives and provide them with resources for cultivation. It wasn't something he was particularly fond of. If we're talking about hobbies, he was much better at refining poison than alchemy. But it's fine to do poison refining occasionally. If she knew that he was extremely fond of refining poison, how would she see him? Wouldn't his usual gentlemanly demeanor seem terrifying?

People take it for granted when bad people are bad, but it's the mild-mannered people who are "bad" that are unbearable.

Moreover, the process of refining poisons can sometimes damage the skin, so he dared not do it too often.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Yao Sisi asked, "What's wrong? Don't you like the strange fire?"

Qi Mu: "It's not that I don't like it, it's just that forming a bond with a strange fire is too dangerous. I can form a bond with a spiritual fire, which is enough for alchemy. Anyway, I am a sword cultivator, and strange fire is not of much use to me except for alchemy."

Yao Sisi thought for a moment and said, "You're right. Let's see if we can find a suitable spirit fire. You can try to contract one then. Besides, with my Earth Core Flame to help suppress it, contracting a spirit fire won't be difficult."

Qi Mu smiled and said, "Okay!"

The two disembarked from the flying artifact and walked through the vast mountain range. It must be said that this mountain range was no smaller than the Xuan Beast Forest of the past. People below the Golden Core stage could walk around in the outer area, and even demonic beasts at the Nascent Soul stage could be found in the inner area.

Equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage, that's a ninth-tier demon beast, which has a chance to advance to the upper realm when the opportunity arises.

Perhaps because the mountain range was too large, Yao Sisi and Qi Mu did not encounter many people on the way. Both of them were wearing sect attire. The robes issued by the sect had built-in defensive functions, and it was cheap to buy new ones if they were damaged.

Armed with weapons, they walked cautiously through the mountains and forests. Yao Sisi said, "I heard there are little spirit mice that can detect treasures. I'll buy one sometime, but I don't know if they're easy to raise."

Qi Mu: "I can tell you don't really like these things, and you didn't keep that little fox from before."

Yao Sisi paused for a moment, "I don't really like it that much, so I won't keep it. I can just rent one when I go out, or I can just team up with someone else."

As they walked through the woods, their divine senses extended outwards to detect danger, while their eyes swept across the forest.

Qi Mu thought for a moment and said, "I wonder if there are any techniques to detect spiritual objects, so that we don't have to go through the trouble of finding people to team up with."

Yao Sisi's eyes lit up after hearing her words: "How come I didn't think of that? It's dark under the lamp. I'll look for it in the library another day."

As for her own little wooden house, she had only glanced at the jade slips during the upgrade and had not found any incantations for finding spiritual objects.

Qi Mu asked her, "Do you have any ideas about your natal magic weapon?"

Yao Sisi said, "Not yet. I don't plan to store a knife in my dantian. Although I really like knife-type weapons, the thought of storing it in my dantian makes me uncomfortable. What about you? Do you plan to use a sword as your future natal magic weapon?"

Qi Mu nodded and answered with certainty, "Yes, my cultivation technique is compatible with the spirit sword. Only when my natal magic weapon is a sword can I unleash its greatest power."

Yao Sisi thought to herself: The cultivation method I chose at the beginning was the Primordial Return to Origin Record, which is a very lenient method that can be used by cultivators of magic, swords, and others. It is different from this one.

"My cultivation method has no preference for weapons. The sword technique I practice is an additional technique that does not affect my natal magic weapon. At most, it just requires some time to adjust."

Qi Mu: "Anyway, we've only just arrived, so there's no rush. I've heard that many Golden Core cultivators don't even have their own natal magic weapon yet, and they're all exploring ways to find one with better growth potential."

Yao Sisi: "Those with better growth potential need to be in harmony with their own Dao, but this is difficult for Golden Core cultivators, and even many Nascent Soul cultivators have not yet condensed their Dao Seed."

Qi Mu: "The Dao Seed... that's indeed quite far away. Does Miss Sisi have any obsession with it?"

Yao Sisi shook her head vigorously, "No!"

Qi Mu found that he could understand her better while discussing the Dao, so he stopped hiding anything and the conversation gradually became more open. "So, is there anything you like?"

Yao Sisi replied without hesitation, "I like cultivation!"

Qi Mu continued, "Some people cultivate for the sake of immortality, but what is Miss Sisi's motivation?"

Yao Sisi: "For the thrill!"

Qi Mu: "???"

"How so?"

Yao Sisi said, "As the saying goes, when people are well-fed and warm, they think of lust. According to the hierarchy of human needs, I need spiritual comfort right now, but I don't have any other things I like or any goals I want to achieve. Only cultivation makes me feel less bored, more interesting, and freer!"

Qi Mu: "But that's not enough; you can't find the Dao Heart that way."

Yao Sisi wholeheartedly agreed: "Of course it's difficult, because it's not clear enough. That's why it's said that condensing the Dao Seed is very difficult!"

They walked in the woods for a while, and Yao Sisi sensed a group of demonic beasts ahead. She said, "There's some noise about three miles ahead. Let's go take a look."

They stepped onto their flying artifacts and moved a short distance away. They saw blue-maned horses grazing ahead. These beasts were quite fast, but their attack power wasn't high. Besides, the one in the lead was only at the third rank, which Yao Sisi could easily eliminate.

Qi Mu, with his sharp eyes, noticed the spiritual herbs they were eating and said to Yao Sisi, "They are eating Su Nan Xiang, which is a spiritual herb commonly used in detoxification pills. Even if it is not used in medicine, it can also help to clear the liver and improve eyesight if you keep it on a regular basis."

Yao Sisi: "These guys have trampled all the spirit herbs. I'll go chase them away, and you can collect them."

She flew down from the yellow-shaped Jin Yang, and the spirit fire in her hand flew past like a snake. The herd of blue-maned horses neighed and began to scatter and flee. These herbivorous little demon beasts were most afraid of fire.

Especially since it was a strange fire with extremely high temperature, almost immediately these guys used their special ability to run away at lightning speed and disappeared from sight.

Qi Mu came down to sort through the spiritual herbs. Some of them were trampled down, but because the soil was soft, the herbs did not die. Moreover, there was a large clump of herbs here, almost none of which could be used for medicine, as they were not old enough. However, it would be good to take them back and plant them on the mountain peak.

He carefully dug it down with his spirit hoe and transplanted it into a square pot. Yao Sisi stood not far away to keep watch for him, lest any other dangers approach. Just as she was looking around, she discovered the mushroom at the base of the tree.

She pointed to the mushroom and said to Qi Mu, who was not far away, "Do you think that mushroom is edible? It looks a bit like the little spirit mushrooms you picked when we were in the Mystic Beast Forest. They taste very good."

Qi Mu turned around and looked in the direction she was pointing. He saw small pine mushrooms growing under the damp tree roots, a large cluster that could fill a small basket. "Those are non-toxic and edible, but they don't contain much spiritual energy. They just taste good. I'll go and collect them in a bit."

Yao Sisi said, "I'll go collect them. Anyway, we're just keeping them for eating, not for planting. It doesn't matter if the roots get damaged."

As she spoke, she moved closer to the mushroom, making sure there was no danger around before bending down to collect it. She didn't actually recognize any mushrooms, and many mushrooms look very similar and are difficult to distinguish. If Qi Mu hadn't nodded and said it was fine, she wouldn't have gone any closer.

The mushrooms in the cultivation world are not the harmless kind found in the mortal world. Many of them can cause poisoning even if you don't eat them, just by touching them. They are quite potent.

She took out a paper packet from her storage bag, put the mushrooms inside, and then returned to Qi Mu with regret, saying, "Can we eat these mushrooms tonight? I should have kept one of those blue-maned horses for meat."

Qi Mu had already planted the Su Nan Xiang. He didn't collect all of them, only taking away some that looked intact: "It's alright, there's still some time before nightfall, we'll definitely encounter other demonic beasts."

Yao Sisi thought about it and realized it made sense. Could they possibly not encounter a monster in such a vast forest?

"Alright, let's head towards the mountain peak. Maybe we can find some spiritual fire."

As the saying goes, "looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death," so the two of them were not in a hurry to travel. They scoured the jungle and collected any good spiritual plants they came across, planting them in square pots. If a plant was of good quality and could be used in medicine, they would store it in a jade box.

Unfortunately, Yao Sisi didn't encounter any worthwhile monsters to eat by nightfall. She did encounter some, but they were either poisonous, had shells, or were extremely unpalatable.

What kind of luck does she have?

Perhaps her frustration was too obvious, because Qi Mu could sense it. "There's still a piece of spiritual meat in the storage bag, left over from the last barbecue. We'll eat this stewed mushroom later."

Yao Sisi was overjoyed: "You even brought meat! That's great! I'm going to have a delicious meal!"

Seeing her happy, Qi Mu's lips curved into a smile. He enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere between the two of them, completely undisturbed by outsiders: "We didn't bring much. If we encounter any delicious monsters these days, we won't let them go."

Yao Sisi wholeheartedly agreed: "I've already been taken advantage of once, how could I let them go again? Let's find a place to rest, we're so tired after walking all day!"

They quickly found a cave. After checking that there was no danger inside, Yao Sisi set up a magic array outside, while Qi Mu began to clean up the little mushrooms she had been longing for.

As she set up the formation, she thought of Ri Jiu. In the past, when they went out, Ri Jiu was in charge of the formation. Now they could only rely on themselves.

She couldn't help but say, "I wonder where Ri Jiu went. She's been gone for so long."

Hearing her soft muttering to herself, Qi Mu paused in washing the mushrooms. His fair fingers, pinching between the mushrooms, contrasted sharply with the dark brown ones, like shimmering warm jade stained with dust. But Yao Sisi didn't see his pause. She was in the final step of setting up the formation. By the time she turned around, Qi Mu had already finished cleaning the mushrooms and was preparing other ingredients, as if he hadn't heard her words at all.

What's there to be afraid of if you've been gone for so long? If you're so capable, then just keep disappearing and never reappear.

The two enjoyed a cozy meal of mushroom soup inside the cave. After dinner, they began meditating and cultivating. Qi Mu, not wanting to waste any time, needed to catch up with her as soon as possible to avoid falling further behind in cultivation.

The two sat very close together. When night fell, they took out spare beds from their storage bags and placed them close together, since the cave was small and they needed to leave room to walk.

Looking at the simple cave, Qi Mu suddenly stopped complaining. They hadn't been alone like this in a long time. In the quiet air, listening to her steady breathing, he felt so content.