Chapter 3: If Heaven Offers and You Refuse, You Will Suffer the Consequences
"What a great opportunity!"
A sense of joy welled up within Gu Han.
The jade spirit fruit was a top-tier fourth-grade natural treasure, not even inferior to many fifth-grade ones.
If used as a medicinal ingredient, it had many effects and was widely used in refining certain fourth and fifth-grade pills.
However, if consumed directly, it had only one effect: strengthening the meridians of cultivators below the Dou Master level and increasing their cultivation speed. If taken during the Dou Qi Practitioner stage, it guaranteed a hundred percent success rate when condensing the Dou Qi Cyclone at the Ninth Stage Dou Qi Practitioner.
As everyone knew, human meridians were fragile, making it difficult to withstand the power of medicinal pills during the Dou Qi Practitioner stage. Most cultivators at this stage could only honestly use the simplest methods to absorb the energy of heaven and earth to grow stronger.
This was why many factions used cultivation levels before the age of twenty as a standard to judge a disciple's potential, as it largely reflected one's talent and cultivation temperament.
This was also why the Qi Gathering Powder, a pill that allowed a Ninth Stage Dou Qi Practitioner to break through to a Dou Fighter with a hundred percent success rate, was ranked as a fourth-grade pill.
Condensing a Dou Qi Cyclone from the Ninth Stage Dou Qi Practitioner had a significant failure rate. Once it failed, one's cultivation would regress to the eighth stage. With bad luck, it might take over a dozen attempts to succeed, wasting the best period for cultivation and affecting one's future.
The jade spirit fruit's effect was even better than the Qi Gathering Powder.
"The first quarter of the Ox hour, 1:15 AM. There's still over an hour left."
"The third quarter of the Rabbit hour, 5:15 AM. There's a four-hour interval in between."
"There's time, but I must hurry."
Gu Han quickly stood up, changed into a set of pure black clothes, and quietly left the wooden hut.
It was the middle of the night, and most people were already asleep. Leaving as soon as possible would help him avoid being discovered.
Cloud Creek Valley in the back mountain was quite a distance from the area where the Outer Disciples lived, and the path was difficult. Leaving early would prevent any unexpected issues.
Nearly two hours later, Gu Han arrived at the location mentioned in the information. As expected, he saw a sizable rock covered in moss and unknown vine-like plants.
An ordinary person passing by would never imagine that a small path hidden behind the rock led to a Spirit Nurturing Ground.
"Bang!"
Gu Han took out a pre-prepared iron rod from his storage ring, dug deep around the rock, then inserted it into a specific spot and used the lever principle to pry it, utilizing his Dou Qi in the process.
After repeating this dozens of times, an opening just wide enough for a single person appeared, with a narrow path behind it.
Walking nearly two hundred meters along the path, Gu Han felt his vision broaden, and the rich energy of heaven and earth made him feel very comfortable.
After exiting the path, what met his eyes was an open-air cave about thirty meters in diameter. In the very center stood a small, three-meter-tall tree with purple stems.
There were five fruits on the tree, glowing with a faint white light in the night like small lanterns.
"jade spirit fruit!"
Gu Han's breathing hitched slightly.
This was his ticket to quickly reaching the Dou Fighter level, and it could also strengthen his meridians, making his future cultivation path smoother.
It was no exaggeration to say that a single jade spirit fruit was enough to repay the Cloud Mist Sect's kindness in nurturing him.
"Phew."
Exhaling, Gu Han cautiously walked toward the jade spirit fruit tree, his eyes alertly scanning the surroundings.
Although the information didn't mention any danger, and the rock at the entrance suggested no one had entered for many years, a fourth-grade natural treasure was highly likely to attract magic beasts. One still had to be careful.
Fortunately, the opportunity peeked at by the Black Tortoise was reliable. No danger occurred until he had plucked all five jade spirit fruits and placed them into his storage ring.
Although he wanted to uproot the jade spirit fruit tree and take it with him, Gu Han knew it wasn't realistic for now, so he left without lingering.
After another two hours or so, he returned to his small wooden hut, and his pounding heart gradually calmed down.
Meanwhile, in the area where the Outer Sect Disciples lived, the wooden door of a building situated in a spot with an excellent view was suddenly pushed open.
Mo Qing, who was sleeping in the inner room, opened his eyes and spoke with a very displeased expression, "Who is it? How dare you disturb this young master—uh..."
Mo Qing's face suddenly froze, then instantly transformed into a smile as he rolled out of bed and walked toward the visitor. "Brother, why are you here?"
The visitor was none other than Mo Yu, the disciple of Great Elder Yun Ling and the grandson of the Mo Clan's Great Elder. At eighteen, he was already a one-star Dou Master, with the potential to reach Dou Spirit before thirty and strike for Dou King before forty.
"I heard about yesterday's incident." Mo Yu walked to the window with his back to Mo Qing, looking at the moon that was about to disappear. "I came specifically to warn you: don't do anything unnecessary."
"Brother!" Mo Qing wanted to argue.
That Gu Han didn't give him face, which meant he wasn't giving face to the Mo Clan. How could he not be taught a lesson?
How would others in the sect view the Mo Clan in the future? Would they think the Mo Clan was weak and easy to bully?
"I am the Great Elder's personal disciple, and I must lead by example in many situations." Mo Yu turned to stare at Mo Qing, his gaze oppressive. "The sect has rules, and the Punishment Elder is closer to the Sect Leader than to my teacher."
"Inside the sect, we must follow the rules, but outside the sect..."
Mo Yu didn't elaborate on the rest, but Mo Qing understood.
Gu Han was just an orphan. Although he had good talent, he would eventually have to go out for experience.
At that time, with the Mo Clan's strength as the head of the Four Great Families in the Northeast Province of the Jia Ma Empire, there would be a hundred ways to deal with him silently.
One must learn to hide and exercise restraint within the sect.
"Yes, Big Brother." Mo Qing obediently complied and immediately said, "I had Mo Feng secretly go to give Gu Han a lesson. I'll go tell him the plan is canceled right now."
"No need." Mo Yu raised his hand. "Where do you think I heard about this? I've told Mo Feng to proceed as planned, but to use covert methods and give a warning instead."
"You don't need to worry about these things anymore. Just focus on your cultivation. Once I've secured the jade spirit fruit for you, you can break through to Dou Fighter."
"By then, you'll have pills and Mysterious-level Qi Methods and Dou Techniques provided by the clan, along with guidance from teachers at the Great Dou Master and Dou Spirit levels."
"People like Gu Han won't even be able to see your back."
Thinking of the scene described by his older brother, Mo Qing's eyes grew fervent.
A quarter of an hour later, Mo Yu used a Yellow-level movement technique to rush to Cloud Creek Valley.
"Huh?!"
Seeing the rock that had clearly been moved, Mo Yu's expression changed drastically, an ominous premonition rising in his heart.
He hurried to the Spirit Nurturing Ground, and seeing the jade spirit fruit tree empty, he almost fainted.
"Which scoundrel did this? My Mo Clan will never share the same sky with you!"
Achoo!
The "scoundrel" Gu Han felt his nose itch.
"Calculating the time, is Mo Yu cursing me?"
A trace of a smile flashed in his eyes. Gu Han quickened his pace, and holding his token, he arrived at the Outer Sect Cultivation Hall.
The Cloud Mist Sect had four Cultivation Halls, built in the outer sect, inner sect, mountain peak, and back mountain, respectively. All were located in places where the energy of heaven and earth was most concentrated in their areas.
There were cultivation rooms within the Cultivation Halls. Cultivating in an outer sect cultivation room for one day cost a hundred contribution points, so Outer Sect Disciples would only choose to use them when attempting to break through a minor realm.
Gu Han was in no hurry to go to the Merit Hall as originally planned. Instead, he came to the outer sect cultivation room first, preparing to use the environment here to complete his breakthrough.
But just as he entered the Cultivation Hall, he saw someone step out from the side and rush toward him.
"Hmm?"
"It's her!"