Junior sister, I really need to control you

Mu Xiaoyu nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

So her senior brother really did treat her very well.

"Over the years, I have been cultivating day and night in order to have the opportunity to become a disciple of a deacon. No matter which deacon it is, with a master to guide me, my cultivation will be much faster."

Lu Kuan looked at Mu Xiaoyu with some envy: "Someone like you has half a master, which gives you many advantages over other disciples."

“Yes,” Wu Mingke said with some envy, “I also dare not relax all day long, for fear that my cultivation will not keep up and I will lose the opportunity to become a disciple of the steward.”

"So everyone's cultivation is this hard..." Mu Xiaoyu felt a little better and casually asked, "How long do you cultivate each day?"

“I spend three hours practicing my martial arts every day and one hour refining my techniques. Among my peers in the temple, there are very few who work harder than me,” Wu Mingke said earnestly.

"Hmph, I only practice my martial arts for two and a half hours a day, but I spend a full two hours cultivating my techniques. In total, I have half an hour more than you!" Lu Kuan's tone revealed a hint of smugness that said, "I won."

Wu Mingke rolled her eyes at him again: "Nobody's going to compare this with you, how childish!"

"If you really don't care, why did you say that?" Lu Kuan asked with a smile.

"You!" Wu Mingke raised an eyebrow and pointed. "What's the use of practicing many techniques? I've cultivated for longer than you, and my cultivation level is higher!"

“Your slight advantage in cultivation level has long been wiped out by the difference in cultivation techniques!” Lu Kuan retorted defiantly.

The two argued more and more fiercely, and in just a few words, it seemed that their verbal battle was about to escalate into a martial arts duel.

Unaware that Mu Xiaoyu, standing to the side, suddenly had a complicated expression and fell silent.

So, do you two only spend this much time cultivating each day?

“Alright, junior brothers and sisters, stop arguing,” the leading young man from Huangzhu Temple said, turning his head. “Let’s rest here after we’ve finished our rounds.”

Wu Mingke and Lu Kuan each snorted coldly, then separated and found two trees, sitting cross-legged under their shade to meditate.

"Unfortunately, we haven't been very lucky. We haven't encountered any monsters all day." The young man from Huangzhu Temple looked at the compass in his hand and frowned slightly.

Hearing this, Mu Xiaoyu couldn't help but say, "It's a good thing we didn't encounter any monsters. Fighting monsters is so dangerous."

She recalled being led by her senior brother to fight a giant black python. Although she wasn't seriously injured in that battle, she had exhausted her magic power in the end, making it extremely dangerous.

"How dangerous could it be for the four of us to swarm an ordinary monster?"

The young man from Huangzhu Temple shook his head and laughed, "Besides, fortune is found in danger. Every monster has valuable parts. Once we hunt a monster, the materials from its body are ours. Even if we split it among four people, each of us will get a lot of talisman money."

"Talisman money?" Mu Xiaoyu asked curiously, "How much talisman money can one usually earn?"

"There's no fixed answer. The type and cultivation level of the monster greatly affect the value of the materials it carries," the young man said, shaking his head. "But even the smallest ones are generally worth one or two hundred talismans, and each of us can get forty or fifty."

"If we find something valuable, we might be able to exchange it for several hundred talismans, and each of us could get two or three hundred."

"I've even heard of people hunting down monsters with low cultivation levels that are worth thousands of talismans... It's truly enviable."

"Oh." Mu Xiaoyu nodded without any change in expression.

So that's all there is?

Seeing that Mu Xiaoyu didn't react to the number, the young man's expression changed slightly.

He naturally knew that Mu Xiaoyu had been sent here directly by a senior with profound cultivation.

Given her special status, it's normal for her to be wealthier than ordinary cultivators.

Thinking of this, he asked, "Could it be... that Junior Sister Mu is quite wealthy?"

A sense of unease crept into Mu Xiaoyu's heart, and she immediately shook her head.

My parents always said that when you're away from home, you shouldn't flaunt your wealth.

"Haha, Junior Sister Mu, there's no need to worry," the young man laughed. "I just wanted to say that every year when the Refining Fruits are harvested, the temple sells a limited quantity of Refining Fruits to fellow Daoists who come to patrol or exorcise demons each day."

"If Junior Sister Mu has enough money, she can buy one or two to try after today's patrol."

"For sale?" Mu Xiaoyu asked, puzzled. "Why?"

"Of course, some fellow Daoists who come to patrol or exorcise demons are curious about the taste or effects of the Refined Fruit. If we don't sell any, overly curious fellow Daoists might risk stealing and eating it."

The young man explained, "On the other hand, we sell a limited number of practice items each day. Curious fellow cultivators can buy one to try for just a hundred or two hundred talismans, so there's no need for them to take any risks."

"The saying 'it's better to guide than to block' applies here."

He paused for a moment, then explained, "However, before the harvest of the Refined Essence, the orders have already been divided up by the major Dharma lineages, so the amount of Refined Essence sold each day is not much, and it will be snapped up as soon as it is released."

"If Junior Sister Mu is interested, you'd better buy it as soon as possible, or it will be gone."

"So... is Lian Shi (a type of fruit) delicious?" Mu Xiaoyu asked.

"Sweet and refreshing, with a lingering fragrance, it surpasses all ordinary fruits and vegetables!" the young man said without hesitation.

Mu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up.

But then he was immediately caught in a dilemma.

It sounds so delicious, she really wants to try it.

But one hundred coins per talisman is a bit too expensive; it could fill two Qiankun bags with snacks.

My senior colleague once said that if I wanted to buy anything other than snacks, I had to ask him first.

But my senior brother lives on the mountaintop... If I want to ask him, wouldn't I have to climb to the mountaintop first?

Is it worth climbing a mountain for a fruit that sounds delicious?

Mu Xiaoyu looked conflicted.

When the young cultivators of Huangzhu Temple saw Mu Xiaoyu's hesitation, they assumed that although she had some family wealth, she wasn't wealthy enough to casually spend a hundred talismans just to try something new.

After all, young disciples working in ordinary Taoist temples only earn five or six hundred coins a month.

Even if Mu Xiaoyu is rich, she wouldn't just casually spend a hundred talismans just to try something new, would she?

However, he didn't really care. He wouldn't get a share of the money from selling the training materials anyway. He was just mentioning it casually. Whether Mu Xiaoyu bought it or not was none of his business.

Just as he was about to find a shady spot to meditate for a while, Mu Xiaoyu in front of him raised her eyebrows, took out a gleaming magic sword from her Qiankun bag, and unleashed a sword strike, sending ten sword lights rushing towards him!

The young man was startled, but in the blink of an eye, ten sword lights swept past him and disappeared into the canopy of a large tree a few feet away.

With a few muffled sounds, the treetops shook, and a dark green figure fell to the ground.

There's a monster!

The young man immediately realized what was happening and turned to face the dark green monster that had been knocked down.

It was a monkey that was five or six feet tall, with dark green fur and eyes all over its body, except for its protruding fangs, which were white with mottled yellow spots.

"A green-furred monkey?" The young man was completely baffled.

The color of the fur of this demon is closely related to its cultivation level; the more powerful the Azure Velvet Monkey, the greener its fur.

Judging from its color, it probably has been cultivating for twenty or thirty years, hiding in the tree canopy and even knowing how to conceal its aura.

"Junior Sister Mu is very vigilant!"

The young man glanced at Mu Xiaoyu with some gratitude.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this monkey is only five feet tall. In terms of cultivation, he is no match for this monkey. If he were to be ambushed by it, he would probably have to immediately send out a distress call.

The training has only been in place for one day, and there aren't many demons attracted yet. These demons, which are twenty or thirty years old, are probably the most powerful in the mountains right now.

Most of the time, they would encounter demons with only ten or so years of cultivation, or even less.

Moreover, logically speaking, he possesses a compass for locating demons. Although a demon with thirty years of cultivation is very dangerous, it shouldn't be able to avoid the compass.

Without time to think it through, he took out a magic weapon from his Qiankun bag, intending to seize the opportunity when the green-furred monkey revealed a weakness, but then he realized that something seemed wrong.

The nimble blue monkey, which should have been known for its agility, didn't get up after falling; it just lay there, and a large pool of blood quickly spread out.

The monkey had five or six transparent holes pierced through its body by the sword light, and it was clearly barely breathing.

He looked at Mu Xiaoyu with a face full of horror.

Junior Sister Mu killed a demon with thirty years of cultivation with a single sword strike?!

Wu Mingke and Lu Kuan, who rushed over from under the shade of the tree, failed to recognize the cultivation level of the Green Velvet Monkey. They only saw Mu Xiaoyu suddenly draw her sword not far away. Where the sword light struck, a demon fell down, already half dead.

"Junior Sister Mu is amazing!" Wu Mingke exclaimed.

"What excellent swordsmanship!" Lu Kuan was also quite surprised.

Facing the three people's surprised and admiring gazes, Mu Xiaoyu showed no smugness. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Senior Brother—was it you?!"

Just as the other three were completely baffled, a figure dressed in a black Taoist robe appeared beside the already cold corpse of the Green Velvet Monkey, as if a ripple of water had spread out.

"Oh? Junior sister, how did you sense me?" Li Yinsheng didn't even look at the monkey, and walked towards Mu Xiaoyu with a smile.

Although he had only just mastered this Shadow Concealment Formation, it shouldn't be easily seen through, right?

"Intuition!" Mu Xiaoyu sheathed her Cold Bright Sword, puffing out her cheeks. "Senior Brother, this isn't the first time you've used a demon to trick me!"

Li Yinsheng remained expressionless: "That was to train your combat skills last time."

"And what about this time?" Mu Xiaoyu asked.

“This time it really was just to tease you,” Li Yinsheng said.

Mu Xiaoyu's cheeks puffed out even more as she looked up and glared at him.

"Alright, alright," he patted Mu Xiaoyu's head and laughed, "This monkey has thirty years of cultivation. If you really encounter it, you might not even be able to escape with your life."

Of course, under normal circumstances, Mu Xiaoyu would not have encountered a monkey.

The monkey itself wasn't even in Bamboo Forest Peak; it was just waiting for an opportunity near the peak.

It's probably because, as a demon formed from an ape, it already possesses some intelligence and wants to wait for more and more powerful demons to arrive in the next few days before sneaking in to fish in troubled waters.

When Li Yinsheng descended the mountain, he scanned it with his divine sense and found that there were no other demons with higher cultivation levels around. He then easily captured it, beat it half to death, and hung it on a tree.

Therefore, my junior sister's sword light easily pierced through the monster's body.

Under normal circumstances, this monkey has a body protected by demonic power, and unless the junior sister uses the Xuan Sha Xiong Xiang Sword, she will almost never be able to break through its defenses.

but……

After glancing at the monkey, who had lost too much blood and was now cold, Li Yinsheng focused his attention on the slightly changed gold characters.

In the last line, the reward for transcending tribulation, which previously displayed "Current spell training time: None", has now changed to "Current spell training time: Ten days".

No...is that right?

The good news is that there are indeed rewards for slaying monsters.