LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 55. Return To The Sect
After the whole space crack event, everything returned to square one and I saw Ren Qingquan lose his will to continue experimenting.
Luckily, even if we lost the greatest source of income coming from devouring those lightning punishments like an attack from the Heavenly Will. But, it is still possible to gain points from killing creatures and absorbing their souls.
Deciding to leave the island and return to Pure Wave Sect, Ren Qingquan walked toward the sea.
Personally, I wish for him to stay on this island to devour the souls of surrounding creatures. But, looking at his haggard expression I decided to go easy on him and didn't send any quest to force him to continue.
When he arrived at the shore, I heard Ren Qingquan asking me a question. 'System, can you change my metal plate back into that bowl shaped boat? Or am I lacking some metals to create it?'
Well, the amount of metals he has is indeed sufficient to create a boat. But, I didn't immediately create it and instead asked him about Lackey A.
[Host, do you remember that guy you killed yesterday?]
Ren Qingquan replied upon hearing my sudden question. 'What is wrong with that guy?'
[How do you think he arrived on this island?]
'System, stop playing riddle and just tell me alre-' Midway through his grumble, Ren Qingquan stopped as realization struck him. 'Wait, damn. I forgot that guy also has a boat!'
[Indeed].
He opened the system map before asking. 'Then, system. Where is the boat that guy left? I don't see it on the map. Furthermore, I remembered it being capable of turning invisible. So, searching for it will be a pain.'
After he said that, I answered.
[Host, of course you can't sense its location. That boat has been pushed several kilometers away from the island due to the previous lightning dragon attack.]
Maybe due to the lightning attack or other reason, that boat has shown itself. Thanks to [Calculate], my ability to sense detail has increased. Which makes me capable of seeing the fleeting silhouette of that boat when Ren Qingquan is looking around.
Opening the system map, I placed a simplistic boat mark at the map's corner.
[The boat's location has been marked in the system map.]
After reading my notification, he started swimming toward that boat by summoning a propeller at his feet.
Several minutes of swimming later, he finally arrived at the small boat Lackey A used. The size of that boat is quite small with only 3 meters in length.
Climbing above the boat, I saw three small circles which are probably the formations engraved in this boat. Two of the formations are located at the boat's right and left side respectively. Meanwhile the other is located at the rear.
With the help of [Scan] and [Calculate], I tried to guess the function and how to use those formations through comparing data from other formations.
While Ren Qingquan is scratching his head in confusion about how to move the boat without anyOUR and even prepared to use Armament Transformation to propel it. I finally finished analyzing those formations.
Looking at Ren Qingquan who had dipped one of his feet at the rear of that boat and prepared to activate Armament Transformation, I sent a message to him.
[Host, actually you can spend some spirit qi into the formation engraved in the boat to move it.]
Ren Qingquan quickly pulled his leg which had been half duped into the sea water. Next, I introduced those formations to him before instructing him how to activate the formation.
[Host may use the formation at the rear to drive the boat forward by placing your spirit qi and controlling it with your mental power. You may also increase the boat's speed by adding spirit stones.
As for the formation at the side of this boat, one of them is used to activate the stealth mode while the other is used to turn the boat into miniature form. Similarly, the host may activate them by using your spirit qi.]
Ren Qingquan followed my instruction and sent a trace of his absorbed spirit into the formation. He then used his mental power to drive the boat toward Pure Wave Sect.
Thanks to the similarity between controlling Armament Transformation's whips, and controlling this boat. Ren Qingquan easily drove it with extremely high speed.
While he is busy controlling the boat, I am preparing myself to spread a part of my attention toward that Young Master Gu. Just because I haven't mentioned him for some time, doesn't mean I forgot about him.
Feeling the Lv 1 [Scan] anchored at him, I focused on his surroundings. As it is merely a Lv 1 [Scan], I can only detect a ten meters range from Young Master Gu.
Currently, Young Master Gu is sitting in the middle of a formation while in a meditative position. His expression is incredibly serious with cold sweat trickling down his face. Around him, there is a jade bottle and several hundred pieces of spirit stones placed in certain positions. Inside the bottle, there are tens of pills with unknown usage.
Through the [Scan]'s limited distance, I tried to record the formation he is sitting at. That formation is actually capable of gathering spirit qi from inside the spirit stones and sending it into Young Master Gu Cheng.
Because the level of [Scan] I used is extremely low, I can't peek at what Young Master Gu Cheng's doing internally. But, from that formation's function, and how he often looks constipated. I think he is currently busy breaking through?
After all, when Ren Qingquan cultivated previously, he didn't have that constipated look.
Within ten minutes, I had finished recording the formation Young Master Gu Cheng used. Storing that information into my [Storage], I stopped focusing on him and went to check other people Ren Qingquan has granted subsystems.
When I observed the ninetieth subsystem ten hours later, Ren Qingquan finally arrived at the shore nearby Pure Wave Sect. Thanks to the fast speed of Lackey A's boat, Ren Qingquan's return time is actually several times shorter than the time he spent to reach that island.
Jumping from the boat, he landed to the ground with a somersault. This time, due to the boat's fast speed, it didn't shake too much. Which barely caused him any sea sickness.
Activating the formation to turn that boat smaller, I saw him store the boat inside [Storage]
As the sky had already darkened, he decided to look for a suitable place to place his 2x2x2 metal shelter and take a rest before running to the Pure Wave Sect tomorrow.
Selecting a hidden cave a kilometer from the sea, he pulled his shelter and entered it to sleep.
While Ren Qingquan is sleeping, I just randomly placed my attention at several random subsystems to pass my time. Just like usual, most people are either cultivating or doing daily chores.
Placing my attention to check on the group from Martial Arts World. Except for fatty Zhang that loved to smash doors and Ren Qingchen the regressor, everyone is still sitting in meditative posture trying to sense the ambient spirit qi.
Ren Qingchen is still busy cultivating and absorbing the surrounding spirit qi like before. Meanwhile, Fatty Zhang is currently walking to who knows where.
As I am curious about where Fatty Zhang is going, I keep on staring at the [Scan] attached to him and don't switch my attention.
After fifteen minutes, I saw him returning to a house slightly bigger than the one Ren Qingquan got in the Pure Wave Sect. Then, sitting on the bed, Fatty Zhang began meditating and absorbed the surrounding spirit qi.
Ehh? That's it? What a waste of my time and excitement!
The next day, Ren Qingquan finally woke up and quickly stored his metal shelter before running to the sect.
One hour later, he arrived at the opaque barrier guarding the sect. I am not sure how the sect's formation decided between enemy and friend. Anyway, once Ren Qingquan arrived, the barrier easily allowed him to pass through.
After running until the sun rose above his head, through Ren Qingquan's eyes, I finally saw the Pure Wave Sect's buildings.
'There are still 10 days left before my mission's deadline.' Counting the day and seeing as there is still a lot of time left, Ren Qingquan went to the direction of his residence instead of completing his mission first. 'Let's rest for a moment.'
Once he arrived at his residence, another hour had already passed. I seriously want to complain about the Cultivation World's public transportation infrastructure.
When he saw the bed in his bedroom, Ren Qingquan immediately jumped into it and lay on it like a corpse. If someone accidentally entered the room, they might think they entered a crime scene.
Several minutes of staring at nothingness later, he suddenly spoke to me. 'System, can you help me to break through my cultivation?'
[Please wait, system is calculating]
I activated [Calculate] and [Storage] to look for the answer to his question. First, I read through the cultivation methods I have collected which actually just amounted to 2. But, although they indeed teach how to achieve a breakthrough, the words they used are a bit confusing and contain much unnecessary imagery.
In Pure Wave Sect's Pure Wave Method-Qi Gathering Section. It talks about turning into the wave and pushing things. Meanwhile, The Immortal Turtle Tempering Technique talks about solidifying shell nonsense.
I got the approximate intention that the cultivation method tried to convene. But, I am still not 100% sure.
So, After another minute of searching, I marked a place that will increase my confidence at helping Ren Qingquan to breakthrough.
Within the sect's guide book he obtained when he first entered the sect, there is something called cultivation room mentioned. It is said to be of great help for cultivation and breaking through.
If I visited that place and used my [Scan] on people trying to breakthrough, I might be able to ascertain what the hell this whole breakthrough business is and help Ren Qingquan to achieve it with 100% certainty.
Marking the location where the sect's cultivation room is located, I sent a message to Ren Qingquan.
[Host, currently the system is unable to help you achieve a breakthrough as there is no sufficient data. Please visit the sect's cultivation room to help the system collect more data about how cultivators breakthrough.]
Looking at my message, Ren Qingquan opened the system map. When he saw an additional icon with the shape of someone meditating at the corner of the map, he asked. 'System, how far is the location of that cultivation room from my house?'
[Around 4 kilometers]
Seeing the distance I gave, he immediately deflated. 'Let's do it tomorrow. I just want to rest for today.'
And so, Ren Qingquan wasted his whole day staring at nothing or just rolling around his bed.
Tomorrow arrived and I saw him leaving his bed. After a simple bath, he activated Agile Step and followed the mark I left in the system map toward the sect's cultivation room.
When Ren Qingquan arrived at the place I marked, he saw a huge ten storied pagoda. On the right side of that pagoda's door, there is a counter with the sign Resource Department's Cultivation Room Registry written above it.
Different from those groups of Miscellaneous Hall's, something building I often see before, which is written with beautiful calligraphy and simple materials. The sign of that Resource Department's Cultivation Room Registry is made out of solid gold!
Furthermore, the word 'Resource Department's Cultivation Room Registry' used another different material with dark color and slight metallic luster which give off luxurious feels. From my [Scan], I can feel a massive energy contained within that dark metal material. The whole sign directly screams nouveau riche.
Behind the counter, a familiar fat boy is seen sitting in a meditative position. Sensing Ren Qingquan's arrival, that fatty stood up. Looking at Ren Qingquan's face, that fatty wore a shocked expression before screaming excitedly. "Brother Ren!"
Looking at fatty, I immediately connected the dots. It seems after fatty successfully sensed spirit qi, he was sent here to do a job.
Ren Qingquan waved at Fatty Zhang upon hearing his greetings. Then, both of them started to converse with each other.
Just like I guessed, from Ren Qingquan's conversation with Fatty Zhang. He indeed has been tasked to man the counter for the Cultivation Room Registry. As the elder who took Fatty Zhang and that senior brother that still hasn't been named is a part of the Resource Department. He easily pulled some string to help Fatty Zhang take the job.
Then, fatty also leaked a lot of secret news like how the job to man a counter is one of the most profitable jobs and has been monopolized by the higher ups for their disciples, and many other spicy gossip.