Chapter 6: Chapter Six: Be More Careful

Jiang Yu saw him press his two fingers together and fire a mung‑bean‑sized green light into her dantian, her tense heart contracting rapidly.

"Tracking the mark, so I won't lose you later." Jiang Bai took out a meditation cushion and sat in the living room, removing the immobilization talisman behind her only after half an hour.

He also forced her into the Fish Card, saying, "Move all the spiritual herbs away, quickly."

Jiang Yu intended not to move, but the other said, "I'm not working today; I'll come find you tomorrow."

She brushed away the spiritual herbs and the water jar, but a tiny turtle leapt out of the jar and spoke, "Living things cannot go into a storage bag."

"…" Jiang Yu turned to look at Jiang Bai, found him jumping at the bottom of the pond, then lifted the little turtle and leapt out of the space.

She then tossed it together with the spiritual herbs, whooshing to the next house, but hesitated to knock, fearing she would bring danger to the occupants.

She turned her body and sprinted toward the valley mouth.

Yet Jiang Bai had already chased from her courtyard and sent a voice, "You failed to guard when you should have, and messed around when you shouldn't; none of the talismans in your hand are effective."

"This time you met me; next time you meet someone else, be more careful."

While walking, he also shoved a communication talisman into her hand and arrived at the valley gate guard post before she did.

Jiang Yu signed and saw him off, then immediately said to Shishu, "Shishu, could you give me one of your communication talismans?"

"Here, you seem afraid of him; he's not your cousin, right?" Shishu said amiably.

Jiang Yu accepted and thanked, "No, he wants to buy something of mine."

Shishu nodded, "In the past, some disciples visited under the pretense of a cousin, and over time it affected their cultivation."

Jiang Yu understood, "I've settled with him this time; if he comes again, please refuse his entry, Shishu."

Saying that, she offered the remaining one jin of smoked jerky from her storage bag.

Shishu recognized it as top‑grade first‑tier spiritual beef, smiled and accepted, and reminded her, "Although new entry disciples can claim a cultivation method for free using their identity jade card, …"

"…but it's best to first go to the Transmission Hall, consult a Transmission Shishu, then claim it."

After thanking again, Jiang Yu finally returned to her own courtyard.

She looked at the open house door and only later realized that the basic defensive formation in her room had no effect on Jiang Bai.

At that moment, a voice echoed in her ear, "Hey, how long are you going to stand out there?"

Jiang Yu suddenly woke up, her spirit sense entered the room, and she saw the little turtle crawling on the table, opening a bottle to eat a gathering‑Qi pill.

Out of ten bottles, two were already empty, lying upside down.

She dashed into the house, quickly gathered the seven intact bottles, and looked around.

The fish‑shaped jade card and spiritual herbs were gone: "Why didn't you go with him?"

"His earth‑wood spiritual root, I'm a female water‑type Yao Race, why would I mix with him?" If there were no suitable place, the little turtle wouldn't follow Jiang Bai.

It also tossed ten medium‑grade spirit stones, "covering the pill money and lodging fee."

Truly lavish, the exchange rate of high, medium, and low spirit stones is 1 to 100; one medium stone can be exchanged for a hundred low stones.

Jiang Yu accepted, but it didn't stop her from suspecting the little turtle was left to spy on her, so she quickly cast a technique, taking the control array disc in her hand:

"It is said that the Yao Race can speak human language upon reaching the seventh stage of Nascent Soul; you and Jiang Bai are both at the Nascent Soul stage?"

"I am at the fifth stage, he at the seventh, but when we were in the Great Luo Cave Heaven, he encountered a spatial storm and his cultivation fell to the Refining Qi stage."

"The water quality in this valley is good; I am resting here for a while."

"The scrolls of the Great Luo Cave Heaven are for you, consider them my welcome gift." The little turtle's head shrank, and a thin scroll flew into her hand.

Jiang Yu immediately opened and read it; indeed it matched Jiang Bai's description: the Cave Heaven is an ancient secret cultivation site, its key recognizes its master only once, and the key is destroyed when the master dies.

And for two people who share the same Tai Chi Fish Card as master, both must be present to enter the Fish Card's small space.

Strangely, the Fish Card merged, and Jiang Bai still wants to move everything out of it.

"On this, besides stating that from Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul you can enter, and that the Cave Heaven has many heavy restrictions and treasures, there's no other concrete information?"

She flipped it back and forth, thinking the paper was as light as a thin wing, not knowing what material it was, and the characters vanished after a moment; could it be Jiang Bai's own creation?

"It is mutable, you need to explore it yourselves."

"I've lived inside for many years and still haven't figured out how big it is." The little turtle, after swallowing the last pill, yawned.

Jiang Yu tentatively asked, "You are now higher in cultivation than him; can you decipher the mark in my dantian?"

"Can't decipher it; take me to the river to sleep…" The turtle fell asleep before finishing the sentence.

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then took the little turtle down to the river bottom, thoughtfully attaching two golden‑bell talismans to it for protection.

When she left the river bottom, she didn't realize the little turtle had opened its eyes to look at the surrounding light shield before falling asleep again.

Jiang Yu had no intention to tidy the room, quickly ate a bowl of noodles and left, seeking Shishu to borrow a celestial crane and heading to the Inner Affairs Hall.

She used the ten medium‑grade spirit stones from the little turtle, added two bottles of top‑grade gathering‑Qi pills and a hundred low‑grade spirit stones, and exchanged for a mid‑level low‑grade formation.

The formation is called Four‑Phenomena Trapped Dragon Formation, a unified defense, costing about 1,500 low‑grade spirit stones.

It was Jiang Yu's first time spending so much; her pouch now held only 28 spirit stones, and she felt stingy.

Unfortunately her secondhand Five Elements defense formation was a basic grade, only effective against the Refining Qi stage.

Mid‑level formations differ; they can't even break the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, and it's said a top‑tier mid‑level formation can trap Nascent Soul cultivators.

But the top‑tier price is very steep; she still can't afford it.

The reason she added premium pills to the exchange was to allow the Inner Affairs Hall to test for toxins; fortunately the pills were normal.

Looking at a low‑grade flying boat for 300 low spirit stones, a flying paper crane costs 80; she decided to forgo it and later earn spirit stones to get a secondhand one.

Jiang Yu quickly studied the sect map at the Inner Affairs Hall entrance, then decisively flew to the Transmission Hall and released the borrowed crane.

The crane charges by the hour, and she would have to stay here a long time, which she couldn't afford.

While searching for the side hall where the Transmission Shishus work and rest, she curiously surveyed the passing rooms.

In almost every room, a Foundation Establishment cultivator was lecturing disciples; alchemical vessels, talismans, formation techniques, and even classes teaching children to read were present.

She asked the on‑duty disciple guarding the side hall, "Senior brother, I'm a new entry disciple; may I attend the Shishus' lecture now?"

While speaking, she also offered a reluctant first‑tier spirit fruit.

【61】 The on‑duty disciple took it without fuss, "If you don't want to wander the sect, you can come to class anytime."

But you may only enter before class starts; you may not come and go during the lecture to disturb the classroom.

"Is there a schedule of the uncles' class contents? I want to attend the cultivation technique class." Jiang Yu's focus is cultivation, alchemy, and talisman arrays; she can only first study talismans that consume little materials.

The on-duty disciple took out a class schedule for her, "Copy it down."

Jiang Yu immediately copied it down, using an afternoon to listen to three different Foundation Establishment cultivators give lectures.

She finally selected an uncle-master surnamed Guan to consult.

Uncle Guan had looked at her book of the Yin Qi Method, pondered a moment, and said: "Gold, water, fire three spirit roots; if one mainly cultivates fire technique, combat power is strong."

But you said the water and fire roots are equal; it's best to find the Dong Xuan Scripture to cultivate.

Jiang Yu couldn't help but ask: "Uncle, if we cultivate both, will water and fire counteract each other?"