Chapter 6: Fleeting Time, Zhenmai Three-Color Gourd
Time flew by like flowing water, so fast, without a trace, impossible to find.
"Brother Ye, you disregard personal gain and are truly righteous. I, Zhu, am ashamed of myself."
Zhu Yue sighed inwardly, wondering how much his son resembled his father.
"Mange, go fetch three hundred Spirit Stones and send them to Ye Yang."
After a pause, Zhu Yue continued, "This young man is good. You can interact with him more, but you shouldn't offend him nor get overly close."
Zhu Mange was absent-minded, but secretly chuckled to herself.
"That Ye Yang seems to have some reputation in the Flying Heaven Gate. Let's see how I, this Young Miss, will play him right into my hands. It just so happens that I've just arrived at the Flying Heaven Gate, so it's a good opportunity to leverage him."
...
During the day, after Ye Yang finished his cultivation, he saw Bai Zizhen walking slowly towards the Scripture Pavilion.
Three-colored light flickered on his fingertips, holding a gourd vine about two feet long.
The gourd vine shimmered with red, yellow, and blue light, resplendent and quite extraordinary.
"This is?"
Upon seeing Ye Yang, Bai Zizhen took the initiative to speak.
"This is the seventeenth generation seed of the Sect's Zhenmai Treasure, the Crimson Flame Flying Crow Gourd. It was cultivated with great difficulty, and I'm preparing to plant it in the Scripture Pavilion. You might as well come with me."
The Crimson Flame Flying Crow Gourd is the Zhenmai Treasure of the Flying Heaven Gate, capable of transforming into a great sun and releasing thousands of fire crow spirits.
The Flying Heaven Gate was able to defend its ancestors' vast foundation amidst a pack of wolves.
The Crimson Flame Flying Crow Gourd played an indispensable role.
He had heard that when the Flying Heaven Gate's first ancestor was cultivating in the mountains, he stumbled upon an old wild gourd vine with a gourd hanging on it, so he picked it.
Later, it was refined into a Magical Artifact, and after a thousand years of nurturing, it became the Flying Heaven Gate's most precious treasure.
All Cultivators' Dao-protecting artifacts are divided into grades such as Thousand-Forged Elite Soldiers, Magical Artifacts, Spiritual Artifacts, and Treasure Artifacts.
Among them, Magical Artifacts are precious, requiring dozens of main and auxiliary Materials to refine. Most Cultivators who have just broken through to the Martial Human Realm do not have the extra financial resources to refine them.
Most of what they use are merely Thousand-Forged Elite Soldiers.
As for Spiritual Artifacts, they are above Magical Artifacts. When a Magical Artifact develops a trace of spirituality and connects with its owner's will, it can be called a Spiritual Artifact, possessing immense power.
And Treasure Artifacts already possess the ability to move mountains and fill seas, extremely precious and rare, which is why they are also called Zhenmai Treasure Artifacts.
It means that possessing a Treasure Artifact is enough to suppress a region and prevent prying eyes from petty villains.
He heard that above Treasure Artifacts, there were Dao Artifacts, but Ye Yang didn't know how powerful those Dao Artifacts were.
At this moment, the two arrived at the Scripture Pavilion. Bai Zizhen took out a jade hoe and dug a small pit in the pavilion. The two carefully planted the gourd vine within it.
The Scripture Pavilion itself was rich in Spiritual Qi, and the spiritual soil was fertile. With the three-colored gourd vine planted within, its green leaves unfurled, and its tendrils spread out.
Although not large, faint red, yellow, and blue glows flickered, making it incredibly brilliant and beautiful.
Finally, Bai Zizhen buried three Spirit Stones in the soil to provide nourishment for the gourd vine.
"The Spiritual Vein nodes converge beneath this Scripture Pavilion, making the Spiritual Qi most concentrated here. I hope this gourd vine will mature and become a talent, guarding the Scripture Pavilion and our Flying Heaven Gate."
Bai Zizhen looked at the gourd vine and smiled.
Ye Yang followed his words, "Junior Martial Uncle Bai has put in so much effort; this gourd vine will surely not disappoint Junior Martial Uncle Bai's expectations."
Bai Zizhen smiled, glancing at Ye Yang.
"You're quite the talker. All right, hurry up and go cultivate."
At night.
Ye Yang sat in his room, holding a short brush and a yellow paper, occasionally jotting down something and meticulously planning his next steps.
The time for the Fork Zhang Family's plea for help had arrived. He planned to ride a Tuo Yun Horse and quickly head to the Fork Zhang Family.
"It's just..."
Thinking of this, Ye Yang slowly wrote down the words "Awakening of the Innate Life" on the yellow paper.
The Innate Life is profoundly mysterious, an external manifestation of one's state of mind, Aptitude, and understanding of life.
Some people manifest it naturally, while others never do in their entire lives.
However, it is basically activated during the Heaven Sacrificing Ceremony. The Flying Heaven Gate holds a Heaven Sacrificing Ceremony every ten years, and this ceremony will begin in two months.
Activating the Innate Life means that future cultivation speed and potential will further increase.
However.
"Activating the Innate Life requires a protecting meridian pill, which is not cheap."
Ye Yang frowned, again writing down the three words 'protecting meridian pill' on the paper.
The sole purpose of this pill is to protect the surrounding meridians and heart. Even if the Awakening fails, it can protect the body from damage.
"One pill costs four hundred Spirit Stones, and two are needed for combined use."
After writing down the words "four hundred Spirit Stones," Ye Yang sighed inwardly. He only received forty Spirit Stones each month.
After deducting the daily cultivation expenses, he couldn't save much. After years of frugality, he had only saved over three hundred Spirit Stones, leaving his pockets empty.
Moreover, his Father Ye passed away early, and his life savings, the only inheritance left, was this house with a courtyard.
Although it was expensive, he couldn't just sell it and live in the woods.
Although the Sect gave a considerable amount of contribution points as a pension after his father's death.
However, contribution points were hard to come by and precious, and they had greater uses, so he didn't want to use them to exchange for protecting meridian pills.
"My old man was an honest person. Sometimes I wonder if he hadn't been so honest, maybe he wouldn't have died so early."
Ye Yang thought to himself, honest people do the most work and suffer the greatest loss of benefits.
And honest people often receive the least benefits.
For many years, his old man was upright and incorruptible, never accepting a single bribe, living a life of hardship, leading by example, and ultimately dying by another's blade.
If not for that, his current life would be much better.
"If possible, renovating the house and renting it to new Disciples joining the Sect wouldn't be bad either."
The house left by Father Ye was a three-entry, three-exit building, occupying a huge area. At that time, just the land alone cost Father Ye a lifetime's savings.
After the land was completed, Father Ye also used the convenience of his position at the time to draw a scattered Spiritual Vein from beside the Sect's main Spiritual Vein and created an ancient well.
After many years of cultivation, the spiritual well was filled with Spiritual Qi; just the overflowing Spiritual Qi was enough for his cultivation.
The Disciples recruited by the Flying Heaven Gate were only arranged in caves or collective dormitories.
The Spiritual Qi was shallow, making it very easy to delay cultivation, so many people were willing to rent houses for cultivation.
However, renovating the house, refurbishing the rooms, remodeling the courtyard, and arranging various Spirit Gathering Formations.
It all added up to another expense, probably no less than the price of one protecting meridian pill.
...
Several days passed quickly.
In the early morning, after the morning glow faded, the world turned silver-gray.
Before the sky was fully bright, the milky white smoke and the dust haze of the rising sun mingled together, like a thin layer of cellophane covering the walls, rooftops, and treetops.
Ye Yang, drenched in sweat, steadfastly swung his Wind Frost Blade five thousand times and completed twelve rotations of the Savage Bull Qi.
Then he packed his luggage and left the Flying Heaven Gate under the cover of darkness, preparing to head to the station of 'Chazi Zhang' Family.
As soon as he stepped out of the gate, he saw a slender figure standing in front of it.
It was a fair-skinned girl, tall, with a cool temperament and long legs—it was Zhu Mange.
Today, without elders present, she wore a white sheer pleated skirt.
However, the white dress could not conceal her full, plump, and alluring figure.
Especially the turbulent, proud peaks of her chest, made even more captivating by the faint concealment of a large red rose bandeau.
Where it should be prominent, it was high and prominent; where it should be concave, it was a deep, fragrant valley. Her tender white skin appeared even fairer against the white clothing.
The deeply recessed cleavage on her chest always attracted men's eyes.
"Senior Brother Ye."
Ye Yang didn't know why Zhu Mange would come to find him so early in the morning.
So he didn't respond, but waited for Zhu Mange to continue speaking.
Zhu Mange, finding herself ignored, said, "Senior Brother Ye, a few friends and I have established a Justice Society within the Sect. Could you please join us to boost our momentum?"
As she walked, her legs were long and straight, and her full, high upper body strained the bandeau tightly.
A fragrant scent wafted over, but Ye Yang's first reaction was to refuse. Although the person in front of him was a great beauty, he didn't want to cause trouble for himself.
From ancient times to the present, society matters have often been the initial Prototype of forming factions, small cliques, and small circles. The Zhu Family can be close, but not overly so.
"I'm going out recently and don't know when I'll be back."
Ye Yang neither directly refused nor directly agreed, but said something ambiguous.
Zhu Mange stamped her foot.
"Senior Brother Ye, don't forget, there's still, still... between us..."
She wanted to use a honey trap to lure Ye Yang into becoming her personal enforcer.
"Wait a moment!"
After saying that, Ye Yang went into the house, and soon after.
With a creak, the old wooden door was opened by Ye Yang.
Ye Yang took out a piece of paper and a pen and handed them to Zhu Mange.
Zhu Mange asked, "What is this?"
Ye Yang spoke.
"Junior Sister, the marriage engagement back then was just a joke. Father and Junior Martial Uncle Zhu Yue both knew it wasn't to be taken seriously."
"I was just thinking the same thing. How about we write a letter to each other, and from now on, our two Families are clear of any obligations?"
"You..."
Zhu Mange wanted to say something, but she didn't dare to turn hostile. She originally intended to use this to scheme Ye Yang into being her aid.
But she didn't expect to almost shoot herself in the foot.
She could only take the paper and pen and then said.
"Senior Brother, what are you talking about!"
Ye Yang naturally understood Zhu Mange's thoughts and put away the paper and pen.
"Junior Sister, I wonder what your plans are for the future."
Without waiting for Zhu Mange to speak, Ye Yang continued, "Three months from now, after the Heaven Sacrificing Ceremony, it will be time for the 'Flying Heaven Seven Truths' competition. Junior Sister will certainly not miss this opportunity."
The Flying Heaven Seven Truths is the highest title for the younger generation of the Flying Heaven Gate, and it's not just a title.
It also involves the future distribution of Sect benefits, personal treatment, and upward mobility channels.
As a Family Disciple, how could Zhu Mange not know the value of the Flying Heaven Seven Truths? Her breathing became a little heavier.
"Does Senior Brother have a way?"
"Naturally, I can guide your cultivation and help you analyze and plan to obtain the title of Flying Heaven Seven Truths. We can sign a contract now."
"Then what do I have to pay?"
Zhu Mange wasn't foolish; everything comes with a price. There were hundreds of Flying Heaven Gate Disciples, and who knows how many were eyeing this coveted position.
"Six hundred Spirit Stones."
Zhu Mange smiled. It seemed Senior Brother Ye was quite short on money.
However, six hundred Spirit Stones was a hefty price. She had just arrived at the Flying Heaven Gate and only received thirty Spirit Stones a month.
Six hundred Spirit Stones was equivalent to two years of income, but she was the youngest daughter of the Zhu Family, and her usual pocket money was higher than the Sect's benefits.
Ye Yang's strength in the Flying Heaven Gate was not weak. Since she had just arrived, getting his cultivation guidance wouldn't be a bad thing.
Although talking about money with a beautiful woman is a very embarrassing thing, Ye Yang was not someone who cared about Face. Face is the cheapest thing in this world.
For him at this stage, what he needed most were Spirit Stones.
With Spirit Stones, he could buy protecting meridian pills, providing an extra layer of assurance for the Heaven Sacrificing Ceremony.
He could also re-renovate the house, build a courtyard, level the ground, attract tenants, and earn rent.
Over time, the Spirit Stones would snowball, accumulating more and more.
"Okay, but can it be a little less? How about five hundred Spirit Stones?"
Zhu Mange hesitated for a moment and gave her current price. As if afraid Ye Yang would go back on his word, she added, "I'll pay on the spot."
Ye Yang remained silent, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.
Zhu Mange, fearing Ye Yang would change his mind, hastily said, "Okay, then it's six hundred Spirit Stones."
Then, Zhu Mange took out a bag and said, "Here are three hundred Spirit Stones, please accept them, Senior Brother."
Immediately after, she took out another bag, counted out three hundred Spirit Stones from it, and handed them to Ye Yang, saying, "Senior Brother Ye, please count them."
Although he was surprised why the other party had prepared two portions.