644 Change in Direction
The travel to the 3rd mountain took a long time for the two of them.
The mountain itself was about 35 kilometers from where they were, so even when sprinting, it would take them about an hour.
However, Jiang Zhilan was too scared to run away. What if a strong beast was ahead of her and she didn't notice it before it was too late?
What if she met one of those strong disciples from the major clans and sects, and they deemed her an eyesore?
She needed to be careful.
As for Alex, he was torn between wanting to run away and taking his time.
As much as he loved the idea of finding treasures in the houses at the 5th mountain, his attention was primarily on the 4th mountain, which stood behind the 3rd mountain.
If he could enter the mountain and find a Blood Spirit Ginseng…
"No, I can't get my expectations up. That will only lead to disappointment," he thought. "Besides, I might find other treasures while taking my time as well."
Still, he hoped to be a tad bit faster. At the rate they were going, it would take them almost 8 hours to reach the 3rd mountain.
That was just a bit too slow for him.
Just as he was about to ask Jiang Zhilan to speed up, he noticed something in his spiritual sense.
There was a man about 160 meters away from them who was walking in his own direction. His cultivation base was veiled as well as he could and it was hard to tell what his cultivation was exactly.
The man hadn't noticed them, and Jiang Zhilan hadn't noticed him either. But that would change any moment now as the man was walking in a direction that would pass them eventually.
As expected, at about 50 meters away, both the man and the woman noticed each other.
Alex fully revealed his True Disciple realm cultivation base that would be a threat to nobody. The man showed no expression when he saw him.
However, when he sensed Zhilan, his eyes changed a bit.
'He's that weak, huh?' Alex thought. If he was scared of True Master 4th realm then he certainly couldn't be very strong.
The man and Zhilan stared off for a few seconds before Zhilan asked, "Wanna join our group?"
The man shook his head and walked away from the two of them.
Alex was surprised at how easily this was gone. The man didn't want to fight Zhilan right now it seemed.
"Don't worry, little Brother," Zhilan said. "We've only come to the secret realm, so they know we don't have anything valuable on us at the moment. The looting will only begin on the 2nd or 3rd day."
Alex nodded. He understood that. But it was still surprising to see the man not even try. Did he not expect them to have valuable treasures from the outside world?
It was only a few minutes later that a thought came to Alex. They really couldn't take away the items the people in here had.
After all, when they left, they would be outside and at the mercy of the Saints that waited outside.
Unless someone was definitely a rogue cultivator with no backer, no one was going to steal someone else's property.
The treasures from this world, however, that was up to anyone to grasp. So, even if you steal that, no one could say anything at all.
After all, you didn't own it in the first place.
As they continued moving, Zhilan herself brought the idea of moving faster, and Alex nodded.
Zhilan found a weird-looking bird that Alex didn't recognize and wanted to tame.
She brought out a black spear with a green blade on it. As soon as she started using it, her black spear moved like a river while the green blade tried to carve a path out for the river.
Water splashed around with every strike and hurt the bird she was fighting. Her spear art was good. Better than all that he had seen back in the Crimson Empire.
But those were kids with spears, and this was a True expert. The difference in speed and control was vast.
Even if those others had discovered their Spear Intent, seeing actual damage done by a spear was different.
If those kids reached the same cultivation base as her, it was likely they would do so much better than her. But it would take them a long time to do so.
After a couple of minutes of the fight, she realized that it was only different in terms of looks, but was no different than any of the birds that were outside.
As such, she lost interest in the bird and told him to continue moving.
Throughout the journey, Alex went around gathering the uncommon ingredients that he came across.
Zhilan showed some slight suspicions to see if he was lying and doing something else instead. But once he showed her his bronze badge that was in his storage bag, she immediately dropped all suspicions.
In fact, her attitude started changing quite a bit too. The words that sounded fake and hollow were now starting to sound full-on weight and enthusiasm.
"I can't believe you got a bronze badge at such a young age, little brother. You must be a prodigy in alchemy. How does one get better in alchemy as a rogue cultivator? It must be very expensive to you right?"
"Oh, I forgot. You're an alchemist. You folks don't really have a problem with money, do you? You, those formation makers, talisman makers…"
The woman kept on talking about things that basically boiled down to "I'm so jealous of you."
As she spoke, she changed her topic towards the information that she hadn't broken through in nearly 7 months.
Alex frowned. He knew where this topic was going.
"Oh my god, that's right. Little brother, can you make me a pill so that I have an easier way to advance my cultivation base? I would be really happy."
"Oh, and I'm not asking you to do it for free or anything, okay? I'm going to pay you fairly. Let's change our direction and go to the 2nd mountain. There are some artifact forging rooms there, but you should be able to use them the same as Alchemy rooms right?" she asked.
Alex nodded absentmindedly as a thought crossed him. 'Artifact forging rooms?' he thought. She hadn't mentioned that before.
That meant that this woman was keeping more information than he thought.
Also, Alex didn't want to go to the 2nd mountain at all. That would only add time to his travel to the 4th mountain.
That was his main priority right now.
"Sister, I don't have the ingredients to make a pill for you right now," he said. " But if we go to the 4th mountain where there are many plants, I might find some ingredients there."
The girl frowned. It wasn't because of what Alex said, but because if she went to the 4th mountain, then that meant not going to the 3rd mountain, which housed the cultivation rooms.
She desperately wanted to go there. But if she did have a pill before she entered, she would have a great chance at advancing to the next realm.
After all, a single day in those cultivation rooms lasted almost a month.
"Alright, let's go to the 4th mountain," she said, bringing joy to Alex's heart.
From Zhilan, Alex learned that the 4th mountain was about 10 kilometers away from the 3rd mountain. From where they were, at their current speed, it would take them 3 more hours.
Alex was more than happy with this speed.
As the two of them continued walking, in an opening at the front, Alex noticed 2 young women and 1 man fighting against a beast that was double their size.
This beast was an armadillo with a red shell and yellow body. The red shells had spikes growing out of them and it was seriously fighting against the man with the sword.
One of the wounded girls behind her held another wounded girl in her arms.
Ning scanned their cultivation base and it was obvious that they were either from a small sect or normal rogue cultivators.
Aside from the man who was in his True Master 5th realm, the other two girls were in the late True Disciple realm.
Seeing the man fight against an equally strong beast that was focused on defense, Alex knew this match could not be won unless the man had better attacks up his sleeve.
From how bloody he was, it was obvious that he didn't.
However, Alex didn't keep focusing on that. He focused on the three behind those two with fruits that bore strong Earth energy.
One of those fruits almost felt like a Saint Rank fruit.
Zhilan's footsteps slowed down as she heard the sounds of battle. If those that were fighting there were stronger than her, then she definitely didn't need to interfere.
Alex frowned when he saw her cowardice. As if not noticing, he kept walking forward towards the sound.
"What are you doing?" the girl shrieked.
"What? I'm going to see what the sound is all about," he said.
"Are you crazy, what if they are strong?" she asked.
"I mean, I'm just looking. If they are strong, I will run in the opposite direction," he said.
That made sense to Zhilan. So, after a bit of contemplation, she went along as well.
Finally, they reached the opening in the forest where the tree rose and the fight took place below it.
As soon as Zhilan saw that there was nothing to be afraid of here, she smiled and walked ahead.
Alex sighed, but he too walked ahead. However, unlike her, his eyes were only focused on the fruits that littered the tree.
