Heaven’s Shadow

Yan Luo was slightly surprised and said, “Although eagle fruit is precious, it can still be found. In the Baicao Medicine Hall on the mountain and the numerous spiritual material shops in Kunwu City below the mountain, you should be able to buy it. There’s no need for my help, right?”

Su Qingjun smiled a little, seeming somewhat embarrassed, and said, “Martial Aunt, my master means that it’s best for me to eat freshly picked eagle fruit.”

Yan Luo was taken aback, looking thoughtful. Suddenly, she lowered her head and opened the jade box in her hand, glanced inside, her expression changed slightly, and then she fell silent. After a moment, she sighed and said, “It seems that Brother Muyuan has indeed placed great expectations on you.”

Su Qingjun slightly lowered her head, with a smile on her face, not explaining further, and said softly, “I earnestly ask for Martial Aunt’s help. Qingjun would be immensely grateful.”

Yan Luo closed the jade box in her hand, thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “Alright, I will arrange this. You may go now. There should be news within a few days. I will inform you then.”

Su Qingjun bowed deeply to her, her expression respectful, and said, “Thank you, Martial Aunt.”

Yan Luo sighed, got up to avoid the bow, and stepped forward to help Su Qingjun up, walking out together with her, saying, “Qingjun, you have a bright future ahead, with limitless achievements. There’s no need to be so courteous to an old woman like me. I cannot bear it.”

Su Qingjun shook her head and said, “Martial Aunt, you speak too highly. I…”

Yan Luo smiled, raised her hand to stop her, and said, “It’s alright. We both know it in our hearts. Anyway, I will remember this matter. Just wait for my news.”

Su Qingjun nodded, thanked Yan Luo again, then smiled and greeted Yi Xin, who followed Yan Luo out, before leaving.

Watching the beautiful woman’s figure disappear at the end of the corridor, Yi Xin couldn’t help but show a trace of envy. She said to Yan Luo, “Martial Aunt, Sister Su is really amazing. Whether it’s cultivation, talent, appearance, or demeanor, she is flawless.”

Yan Luo smiled but said nothing, turned around, and walked back into the house.

Yi Xin followed up, curious, and asked, “By the way, Martial Aunt, why did you react so strongly when Sister Su said she needed fresh eagle fruit?”

Yan Luo snorted and said, “What do you know? The freshness issue has a lot of intricacies.”

Yi Xin immediately became interested, pulled Yan Luo’s arm, and laughed, “Martial Aunt, tell me about it.”

Yan Luo rolled her eyes at her and said, “Make tea!”

“Alright, alright.” Yi Xin giggled, quickly poured out the cold tea, brewed a new hot cup, placed it in front of Yan Luo, and then smiled, “Martial Aunt, please teach me so I can also broaden my knowledge.”

Yan Luo took a sip of the tea, sighed, and said, “The eagle fruit is very useful. Although it’s precious, it’s not considered an extremely rare spiritual material. Normally, it’s nothing special. But this spiritual fruit has a unique feature. After it matures, it naturally contains a pure spiritual energy that dissipates as the fruit petals open, which takes about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. If you consume the eagle fruit within this time, its efficacy will be about ten percent higher than at other times.”

“Ten percent?” Yi Xin was surprised.

“Yes, only ten percent,” Yan Luo said flatly, “Because no one can perfectly time the picking of the eagle fruit to eat it, all the eagle fruits on the market are preserved after being picked. The difference in efficacy is not significant, so no one cares.”

Yi Xin glanced outside the door and said, “Then why does Sister Su’s master insist on her having fresh fruit?”

“This is what I was talking about,” Yan Luo laughed, “Her master, Muyuan Zhenren, has placed extremely high expectations on her. He spares no effort to do even the smallest details perfectly. This way, if there are no accidents, her foundation will almost certainly be flawless. At least in the Nascent Soul stage, she might have a slightly better chance.”

Yi Xin was stunned for a while, then shook her head and sighed, “It’s true that people have different fates. Sister Su is really lucky.”

“Lucky…” Yan Luo glanced at her, smiled faintly, but said nothing.

—

The light in the air twisted for a moment, and after a while, Lu Chen’s figure appeared in the tree hollow.

The bored Ah Tu lying on the ground immediately lifted its head, barked, and limped over.

At this moment, most of the white cloth on Ah Tu’s body had been removed, but more than half of its body was still bandaged, looking rather pitiful. However, Ah Tu’s amazing resilience was once again demonstrated. After Lu Chen’s treatment, the severe injuries started to heal rapidly, and now it could even move around with difficulty.

Lu Chen squatted down, patted Ah Tu’s head, and then checked its wounds. Nodding in satisfaction, he took out a package of meat and tossed it to Ah Tu. The dog barked happily, its tail wagging furiously, and began to devour the meat.

Lu Chen sat beside it, stroked its head, and said, “You must be bored being stuck here. Just hold on a little longer. Once you’re healed, you can go out again.”

Ah Tu looked up at him, rubbed its head against his hand, and then continued chewing the meat bone. After a few bites, it suddenly looked up again, its one remaining eye fixed on Lu Chen, and let out a few low growls.

Its sharp, white fangs were visible, and even its gaze seemed cold and ruthless, reminiscent of those bloodthirsty, crazed black coyotes on Black Armor Mountain in the Land of Confusion. The ancient, hidden beastly nature seemed to be emanating from this black dog bit by bit.

Lu Chen watched it quietly for a while and then said calmly, “Don’t worry, we’ll definitely avenge this.”

Ah Tu looked at him, its tail wagged once, and then it resumed gnawing on the bone.

Lu Chen sat beside it, watching it eat continuously. He observed the fur under the white bandages gradually regaining its vitality and glossy black sheen, as well as the gradually emerging aura of latent beastly strength. He remained silent.

—

Another morning dawned, with fresh air turning into a gentle breeze that blew over the grass garden of Liu Xiangpu. Most of the menial disciples arrived on time to work there, including Lu Chen. However, this day was different from usual. The Jindan cultivator in charge of this area, Lin Sheng, accompanied another female cultivator with crane-like hair and a youthful face, Yan Luo, to the garden. They selected eight people from the roster, temporarily exempting them from their usual spirit herb planting tasks, and led them to a larger spirit field on the other side of the garden.

This spirit field was planted with many trees of the same type, some of which had already borne fruit. The fruits looked peculiar, green with red, and somewhat resembled eagle beaks.

Lin Sheng didn’t immediately address the group but instead stood aside, speaking softly with Yan Luo.

The eight menial disciples stood silently at the edge of the field, many of them showing expressions of confusion.

Lu Chen was among these eight, and coincidentally, so was He Changsheng.

As Lu Chen glanced around, his eyes met He Changsheng’s. He Changsheng seemed much better than in recent days, no longer looking irritable or violent, appearing much calmer.

When Lu Chen’s gaze met his, He Changsheng even smiled and nodded at him. However, if one looked closely, there was a subtle hint of strange confusion in He Changsheng’s eyes. He seemed to be observing Lu Chen closely, as if trying to discern something about him.

In contrast, Lu Chen appeared completely normal, standing quietly. When his gaze met He Changsheng’s, he politely nodded back, showing neither anger nor intimacy, just as usual.

He Changsheng looked at Lu Chen for a long time, the confusion in his eyes deepening.

After a while, Lin Sheng finished his conversation with Yan Luo and, looking confident, stepped forward to address the eight assembled menial disciples.

The content of his speech wasn’t complicated. He explained that this spirit field was planted with a precious two-pattern spiritual material called “eagle fruit.” Since someone in the sect urgently needed it, they needed to cultivate it carefully. If they did well, there would be rewards, and the rewards would be double the usual amount. Additionally, the best cultivator would receive spirit stones directly, beyond the usual harvest rewards.

The menial disciples were immediately moved. The rewards were unprecedentedly generous, and it was clear that the eight selected by Lin Sheng were the best at cultivating spirit plants among the menial disciples in the garden.

Clearly, the sect was expecting the best possible results from this task.

With this mutual understanding, the eight quickly got to work in the spirit field.

Lin Sheng nodded in satisfaction, walked to the edge of the field, and said to Yan Luo, “Senior Sister Yan, what do you think?”

Yan Luo smiled and said, “Thank you for your help. It’s a pity, though. If the Foundation Establishment disciples could do this, it would be even better. Menial disciples’ cultivation is too low, and their control over the five-element spiritual power is still lacking.”

Lin Sheng laughed and said, “Who wouldn’t agree? But any disciple with even a bit of talent sees planting and farming as lowly work. Even if they’re idle, they absolutely refuse to do this kind of work. If word got out, it would be considered a great humiliation, a blow to their status and dignity. They’d rather die than do it. I don’t know how this attitude started, but it’s a shame.”

Yan Luo sighed helplessly and said, “Indeed, that’s the way it is. Well, we have to make do with what we have and pick the best from the available lot.”

Lin Sheng laughed, “We can only do that.”