Chapter 259: Bound to the Birth System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 260: Cultivators Must Strengthen Themselves (30)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

During her time cultivating at Yunxia Valley, Shen Yao generally lived quite easily.

Wherever there was occasional trouble, Shen Yao resolved it smoothly.

Most importantly, Shen Yao accumulated many trump cards usable in worlds without spiritual energy at Yunxia Valley, all gathered bit by bit, and during this time she did not attract special attention from others.

"These I grow would be worthless radishes and cabbages in a normal world; who would bother to pay attention to such things?"

Shen Yao organized the storage bags in her hands; after the new season of Ma Ling Grass was grown, she harvested and stored them all.

This is a basic material for refining pills, its specific function being to stimulate the medicinal properties of other spiritual objects.

Even if pills cannot be refined in a world without spiritual energy, these Ma Ling Grass can still be used to decoct medicine. In short, the point is their flexible utility.

The system had grown calm about its own Host's behavior; it looked at the storage bags organized by the Host and mentioned that they had already stayed at Yunxia Valley for several decades—it was time to go out for a walk.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao's expression was hard to read: "I thought you could go look at gossip by yourself?"

It wasn't as if she had never sneaked out, and Shen Yao didn't need to talk to the system every day.

Sometimes, Shen Yao couldn't find the system for several months at a time.

The system smiled ingratiatingly: "Looking by yourself isn't nearly as interesting as going out together."

Besides, there really wasn't much gossip in the Cultivation World; most people here were busy cultivating.

It had once turned its gaze outward, only to turn back, still finding life uninteresting.

What could be done? It could only hope this world would end quickly so it could enter the next Task World.

Hehehehe

Thinking of the next Task World, the system felt its talents would be greatly put to use. By then the Host would understand just how great the benefits of its love for gossip were.

The system, currently extremely happy, did not know its own Host liked to take the unconventional path; none of its expectations came true, and instead it ended up suffering a loss.

But that was a later matter; for now, the system was urging its Host to go out—what was there at Yunxia Valley worth lingering over? Wasn't going out more interesting?

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao discovered that the more time she spent with the system, the less it seemed like a system.

Clearly an artificial intelligence, it seemed to have gained sentience, even its speech carrying some human emotions.

Tsk tsk tsk

Could it be that this artificial intelligence was fake, and actually a personified creature was hiding behind it?

Shen Yao's imagination ran wild, but unfortunately she had not yet experienced a future society of rapidly advancing technology, so for now she didn't know what artificial intelligence could achieve; otherwise she would definitely want to verify it thoroughly.

Half a month later, after Shen Yao had arranged for disciples to plant all the new batch of spirit plant seeds, she came to the Steward Hall to hand over the token, and didn't forget to pick up several ordinary missions at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall on the way.

The treatment of Elders and Disciples was different; Shen Yao going out was not mandatory, which was also why she had been able to stay peacefully at Yunxia Valley for several decades.

"Shen Elder, this is the mission token; after the mission is completed, return the token to the valley and hand it in."

A disciple of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall held up both hands, presenting a glowing token before Shen Yao.

Shen Yao picked it up, gazed at it with her beautiful eyes for a few moments, then put it away in her storage bag.

Turning to leave, Shen Yao did not immediately go down the mountain, but instead went to Huang Ying's residence to visit her.

That West Mountain Secret Realm had been too shocking, leaving a great shadow in Huang Ying's heart.

Since then, Huang Ying had reduced her outings; though not as exaggerated as Shen Yao, judging from the new disciples recruited by Yunxia Valley and the Elders leading teams to various secret realms, Huang Ying was not among them.

This time Shen Yao came to bid farewell to Huang Ying; she did not know how long she would be gone, and even the mission she took had no time limit.

Huang Ying's expression was complex: "I thought you would stay at Yunxia Valley forever."

Shen Yao smiled: "Yunxia Valley is very good; I've stayed here so many years, it's time to go out and see."

Shen Yao also planned to visit Ren Yangyao's three children's sect.

These years, Ren Yangyao and the three of them often came over; although their stays weren't long, everyone in the valley knew them. Even if Shen Yao went out traveling, she didn't have to worry about someone with no eyes coming to provoke her.

Huang Ying reached out and touched her cheek: "Since you're going out, go early and return early; it's dangerous outside, be careful in everything."

Shen Yao nodded, then handed over the forbidden restriction of her residence to Huang Ying: "During this time I'm away, I trouble Senior Sister Huang to take care of it."

As for others, Shen Yao didn't trust them; only Huang Ying was one of the few existences in Yunxia Valley that could put her at ease.

Huang Ying smiled with a radiant face; although her appearance was slowly aging, the rippling charm between her eyebrows and eyes still allowed one to glimpse her former grace.

To put Shen Yao at ease, she, a living person, was more than enough to protect this foundation.

Shen Yao stayed at Huang Ying's place for half a day, and when the time was about right, she left.

Waving to the people seeing her off behind her, Shen Yao looked up at the sky and laughed lightly.

When she was on the Xuantian Continent, her latter half of life had always been spent traveling; now that she had come to the Canglan Continent, her choice had not changed.

The only difference was probably whether there was someone by her side or not.

But these difficulties were nothing to her; after leaving the valley, Shen Yao simply chose a nearby marketplace to stop and rest, and on the way bought a Snow Spirit Cat.

"Compared to partnering with people, getting along with a cat makes me happier."

Shen Yao held the snow-white kitten, no longer than a forearm, and her whole person was visibly happy.

Pets like Snow Spirit Cats were small animals most beloved by female cultivators in the Cultivation World. Moreover, Snow Spirit Cats didn't eat much, and there were Beast Cores sold specifically for them.

After paying the price, Shen Yao held the cat and strolled through the marketplace, while also paying attention to the prices of some spiritual herbs and pills.

As tools that could be used to make a living, Shen Yao gave them a hundred percent of her attention.

Having spent so many years in Yunxia Valley, Shen Yao had also systematically studied artifact refinement and talisman inscriptions; unfortunately, her talent in both was truly unremarkable, and the finished products she made could only be considered barely up to standard—fine for her own use, but selling them would be taking advantage of people.

So now, Shen Yao had no choice but to focus first on her alchemy business. During this time away, barring accidents, she would still have to rely on alchemy to earn travel money.

"Fellow Cultivator, the price I gave is already low; it cannot be any cheaper."

The stall vendor was a Loose Cultivator, counting every single Spirit Stone.

Shen Yao didn't haggle much with the other party, petting the cat while asking someone to pack it for her; since the price was right and the Spiritual Herbs were well preserved, she bought them.

Turning on buy-buy-buy mode all the way, amid the adorable meows of the cat, Shen Yao almost patronized every stall along the street.

Although Shen Yao appeared very generous throughout, since she was buying only common Spiritual Herbs, no one had the slightest desire to rob her.

Just like that, Shen Yao stayed one night at the Marketplace, and the next day, holding the cat, she left directly.

The first stop of her destination: Lingxiao Hall.

This was the sect Ren Yangzuo had chosen, and also the sect closest to Yunxia Valley; compared to Lingyun Sect and Guiyun Sect, those were far too distant.

The last time Ren Yangzuo came here was five years ago, and she didn't know if she could meet the person himself this time.

Shen Yao held the cat, quietly saying that they had plenty of time and weren't in a rush to go there.

The Transmission Talisman had already been sent; at Shen Yao's current travel speed, reaching Lingxiao Hall would take about one month.

"Fellow Cultivator, if you take our Sihai Gang's Flying Boat, you only need half a month to reach Jingning City; Lingxiao Hall is located outside Jingning City, just one day's journey away. Fellow Cultivator, won't you consider it?"

Shen Yao was stopped by someone, who immediately started pitching the benefits of taking a Flying Boat.

At this time, Shen Yao had been walking on foot for several days, and had also completed a Sect Mission along the way.

Hearing this, Shen Yao asked the price, feeling it wasn't too expensive: "When do we depart?"

Hearing there was hope, the other party immediately blurted out that the next Flying Boat was tomorrow.

Pay money and get the ticket in one hand; Shen Yao continued browsing the surrounding shops.

The Cultivator who saw Shen Yao off reached out and wiped a sweat drop from his forehead.

Sigh.

It really wasn't easy; who could have thought that the Flying Boat scheduled for tomorrow would suddenly have a passenger cancel, forcing him to personally run out to solicit customers.

A round trip for a Flying Boat requires many Spirit Stones; to ensure no loss, Stewards like them had to come out themselves to find customers.

So, the Cultivation World and the Mortal World are essentially no different—people gather together to live, and all sorts of troubles are inevitable.

Shen Yao's time shopping always passed quickly, especially since she was bringing a cat that loved to act spoiled.

She went to the Medicine Shop to buy some Pills for Spirit Beasts to eat, then took out the Pills she had refined alone to sell them; after successfully balancing income and expenditure, Shen Yao went to the opposite Talisman Shop to buy some high-attack Talisman Paper for self-defense.

But it was better than nothing; Shen Yao thought that with her Foundation Establishment cultivation realm, if she couldn't handle it, she still had other life-saving weapons on her person.

Ren Yangyao's three children had advanced in cultivation, already entering Golden Core Late Stage.

The treasures in their hands, if casually revealed, would be enough for Shen Yao to save her life.

And over these years, the three brats never came empty-handed; Shen Yao had plenty of trump cards on her person.

This was also the reason that, upon hearing the Sihai Gang's Steward mention the Flying Boat, she agreed without thinking for long.

The morning air carried a chill; after rounding the Small Alley ahead and arriving at the shops where crowds were denser, the bustling atmosphere instantly filled her entire field of vision.

Just like moving from plainness into clamor, Shen Yao looked at the shops with people coming and going, exhaled, and walked straight in holding the cat.

Because she had a ticket for the ship, Shen Yao was not stopped by the Shop Assistant.

Smoothly bypassing Dian Dian to reach the open area behind, she saw several huge Flying Boats before her eyes.

The Flying Boats had corresponding numbers written on them; finding the ship she was about to board, Shen Yao keenly heard someone arguing not far away.

Huh?

It was the Steward who had recommended this Flying Boat to her yesterday; opposite him was an unruly Youth.

Because the two were too far away, Shen Yao couldn't hear the specific conversation, but judging from body language, tone, and movements, it should just be internal conflict.

Internal conflict?

The Sihai Gang was a very famous Organization; not to mention in the Eastern Cultivation World, even when she was in the Northern Border, Shen Yao had heard the name of the Sihai Gang.

It was said that the Big Shot behind this Organization could be several Spirit Transformation Cultivators; of course, there might even be deeper ones.

After all, there are so many old monsters in the Cultivation World; as long as one's Cultivation Realm is high enough, one can live for several thousand years.

Strolling into the interior of the Flying Boat, Shen Yao found her Room and went in to rest.

The Snow Spirit Cat she was holding had already jumped out of Shen Yao's arms to climb around; cat creatures were naturally good at running and jumping.

Activating the Spirit Gathering Array in the room, feeling the Spiritual Energy in the air gathering, Shen Yao came to the Bedside and sat down, then took out several Jade Slips she had bought earlier to examine.

The Jade Slips were products from her shopping; when bored, she could take them out to pass the time.

As for the content in the Jade Slips, they were all travelogues and simple biographies.

Similar to Storybooks in the Mortal World, not many people read them but sales were high; after all, the price wasn't expensive, and much of the content was true.

For some Loose Cultivators outside or Cultivators who had just left their Sect, these biographies and travelogues were the main buyers; who hadn't fantasized that one day they could find a Secret Realm or the place where a Great Power fell and strike it rich?

Although such possibilities were slim, the entire Canglan Continent was vast beyond measure, with countless rumors drifting about; who knows? Someone always wanted to try.

Shen Yao didn't have such thoughts; she bought Jade Slips purely to pass the time.

And the Jade Slips could only be considered a bonus, a free gift because she bought too many types of Pills.

Closing her eyes, she used Shenfu to examine the Jade Slip content; by the time she finished reading the Jade Slip, the Flying Boat beneath her had already taken off.

Standing up and coming to the Window Side, Shen Yao raised her head and glanced outside indifferently.

Outside was filled with Cloud Mist; not far away were Mountain Ranges hidden in the clouds.

Estimating by time, at this moment the Flying Boat had already left the town and was flying along a fixed Route toward Jingning City.

Finding the time on the Flying Boat rather boring, Shen Yao simply borrowed the Alchemy Furnace here to practice Alchemy.

Her Storage Bag already stored many Spiritual Herbs, all species she had collected after going out.

Refine some simple pills with them, and conveniently sell them to people on the flying boat.

Shen Yao had Foundation Establishment cultivation; she felt "simple" was only relative, not truly pills one could buy with just a few spirit stones.

Petting the already-sleeping Snow Spirit Cat, Shen Yao went out to find the steward on the flying boat.

Renting the pill room's usage rights with Lingyu Stones, Shen Yao decisively took the cat along.

Inside the pill room was a Spirit Fire Pill Furnace; Shen Yao only needed to process the spiritual herbs according to the steps, then throw them into the pill furnace one by one according to medicinal property and steps to refine them, finally extinguish the fire and open the furnace, collecting the fragrant pills into empty pill bottles.

The empty pill bottles were filled with pills; Shen Yao listened to the Snow Spirit Cat's meows and hurriedly took out two pills for spirit beasts to hand to it.

But after eating, the Snow Spirit Cat did not stop, still meowing.

At the same time, it paced restlessly around the doorway direction.

Shen Yao:... Hmm?

Suddenly feeling something was wrong, Shen Yao stood up and came to the doorway, at the same time pressing her ear against the door to listen.

Not forgetting pets like Snow Spirit Cats, although they looked cute and harmless, their sense of smell and hearing were keen, and they could hear faint sounds from afar.

Just now the Snow Spirit Cat was meowing; did something happen outside?