The fact that more and more people were paying attention to Mount Shu was something Jiang Yan neither knew about nor cared about.
It didn't affect Mount Shu's daily life in the slightest.
Life on Mount Shu was, strictly speaking, very peaceful.
Day after day, everyone simply pursued quiet cultivation.
And no one ever felt bored—because the joy of immersing oneself in immortal cultivation, of feeling one's very life essence rise bit by bit, was pleasure enough.
Jiang Yan's own cultivation was just as tranquil.
Each day he led everyone in morning and evening classes, spent the rest of his time teaching Klee, and refined his divine sense by consuming Primogems.
At night, he would spare a little time to give Ganyu and Klee extra personal lessons.
As for the sect's other affairs—he left them in Zhongli's capable hands.
That morning, after the usual lessons, Jiang Yan told everyone to go back and prepare for the exploration of the Nine Nether Secret Realm at noon.
Though "prepare" was something of a stretch—truth be told, most people had very little to pack.
Take Li Shui for example.
Yesterday, her pill furnace had exploded again while refining, forcing her to beg Cloud Retainer to repair it.
Thinking she should at least contribute something useful before today's exploration, she tried again at the last moment.
The result? More explosions.
Four or five times in a row, until the newly repaired furnace cracked again.
Desperate, she went shamelessly to Windreturn Peak to ask Cloud Retainer for help once more—
—only to be greeted by a faceful of Yin Five Thunders before she could even finish climbing.
This time, no matter how many promises of "I'll give you pills later" Li Shui made, Cloud Retainer refused.
She chased her down the mountain with lightning, scolding her "intellect" all the way in elegant phrases, until Li Shui was blasted several thousand kilometers off Shu's borders.
Left with no choice, Li Shui could only hide in her cave dwelling, sulking and cultivating all night.
Her pill-refining plan was a complete failure.
Cloud Retainer and Pingzi had also hoped to craft some magic tools before the exploration, but in the end, all of their efforts failed as well.
Cloud Retainer of course put all the blame on Li Shui.
Li Shui, on the other hand, muttered that even without her interference, the best those two had managed was a single low-grade pill furnace—so why blame her?
Ningguang, however, had spent the night quietly at her Bamboo Peak, drawing talismans.
By dawn she had stockpiled quite a few.
The others simply cultivated to adjust their condition before the journey.
So when Jiang Yan dismissed them to prepare, Keqing and the rest merely returned to their caves, realized they had nothing to pack—most didn't even own a magic tool—and decided to just head early to Dragonhead Peak to wait.
By late morning, Ningguang too arrived on her flying sword.
Now, apart from Jiang Yan, Ganyu, and Klee, everyone was present.
Landing, Ningguang glanced at the group, who had clearly been here early and had even been cultivating for quite a while, and asked curiously:
"Didn't the sect master tell everyone to prepare? Why did you all come so early?"
At that, Keqing opened her eyes, gave Ningguang a languid look, and said:
"Look at me. Aside from my Qingshuang Sword, do you see anything else I need to prepare?"
The others all turned to look at Ningguang as well.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Ningguang thought for a moment. Then, with a flicker of divine sense, the pouch at her waist produced one jade bottle after another.
Pills of every sort piled into a small mountain before them—at least dozens of bottles.
Everyone's expressions turned grim.
They were already poor enough as it was… was Ningguang deliberately flaunting her wealth?
At last, the pouch stopped spitting out bottles.
Looking at the crowd's barely concealed envy, Ningguang let out a soft laugh and said magnanimously:
"These pills, I just exchanged from the Merit Hall. There are Qi-Restoring Pills, True Essence Pills for cultivation, and Healing Powder for injuries.
"Everyone, take some. The Nine Nether Secret Realm will last an unknown length of time and is extremely dangerous—we must be prepared."
At that, Keqing suddenly felt ashamed of her earlier pettiness.
But when she glanced over the pile and estimated the value, she gasped aloud:
"This… this must be worth thirty thousand contribution points!"
"It's far too precious—we can't possibly accept it!"
Lisa, standing nearby, was equally stunned.
Her eyes were filled with envy as she looked at Ningguang.
Thirty thousand contribution points—equivalent to thirty thousand lower-grade spirit stones.
Lisa had converted all her Primogems into spirit stones and, even then, had barely scraped together two hundred. She couldn't bear to use them at all.
But Ningguang had just handed out thirty thousand worth—for free?
This woman truly was still Liyue's wealthiest, even here on Shu.
Ningguang only shook her head with a small laugh.
"There's no need to refuse.
"You all know the dangers of the Nine Nether Realm. Without pills, we can't even take a single step forward.
"No one knows how long we'll be inside, or how many dangers we'll face. Being well prepared is a must.
"We are all fellow disciples. Helping one another is only natural."
Her sincerity left the others hard-pressed to refuse.
Especially Keqing, who recalled all they had learned these past days about the Nine Nether Realm.
Unlike Teyvat, it was a true world of cultivators.
There, even someone at the Refining Qi stage was hardly above a foot soldier.
The beasts themselves cultivated. That was why they could rival human cultivators at all.
Treasures in such a world were nearly always guarded by powerful monsters.
And battles meant injuries. Without pills to recover quickly, one would become a burden—or simply die.
Alice, looking at the mountain of pills, couldn't help but feel tempted.
She too needed resources to cultivate.
(Not for Klee—her daughter, as the sect master's personal disciple, had resources beyond imagination. Alice had even seen her popping True Essence Pills like candy just a few days ago…)
If Alice didn't work hard herself, in a few decades her daughter might surpass her.
A mother could accept being outshone by her child…
—but not that quickly! That would just make her look useless.
And so, the lure of these pills was great.
After some hesitation, Ningguang pressed again with a calm smile:
"Don't trouble yourselves with guilt. I've done the math. If this trip goes well, we'll more than make back the cost—and then some.
"A single spirit herb of the Spirit-Refining tier is worth thousands of contribution points. And there are manuals, tools, spirit stones—countless treasures.
"The longer we last inside, the greater the harvest.
"With these thirty thousand points' worth of pills, we'll at least be in a far stronger position than going in empty-handed."
Her reasoning was sound.
The Nine Nether Realm was full of danger, yes—but also of profit.
Even the weeds there were infused with spirit energy.
And besides—Ningguang had the most contribution points in the entire sect.
No one else could afford such a stockpile.
Spending a little to earn goodwill from so many future powerhouses was, in her eyes, a deal that far outweighed the cost.
Finally, after much persuasion, Zhongli sighed and accepted some of the pills.
"This time, we'll accept. But consider them borrowed. When we return from the Nine Nether, we will repay you—with interest."
That was in line with Mount Shu's rules: no endless handouts, no baseless dependency.
Once Zhongli accepted, the rest followed. Ningguang only smiled faintly, saying nothing more.
With the pills in hand, everyone's confidence in the upcoming exploration rose sharply.
Ningguang even distributed the talismans she had drawn the night before.
Though not much use to someone like Zhongli, they might at least guarantee basic combat ability in the event of exhaustion.
This time, no one refused her kindness.
By now, noon was fast approaching.
Excitement simmered in the group as they began to imagine the treasures they might obtain.
Yes, the Nine Nether was dangerous.
But the profit was worth the risk.
Cloud Retainer glanced around, then teased Baisheng:
"This time, your Beast-Taming Art will finally have its chance."
Baisheng only gave a bitter smile.
"With my current strength, who knows who will be taming whom? I can only try my best."
It was true—he was only mid-stage Refining Qi.
The beasts of the Nine Nether were another story altogether.
Still, compared to tending wild animals on Luoxia Peak, even trying was an improvement.
As they mused, two streaks of light flashed across the sky.
On Jiang Yan's sword stood little Klee, waving excitedly to Alice:
"Mommy! Klee came with Master!"
Seeing her daughter, Alice's heart instantly lightened.
The tension of the exploration eased.
And when her gaze fell on Klee's equipment… she felt both reassured—and just a little sour.
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