"What a great opportunity!"
A surge of joy rose in Gu Han's heart.
The Jade Spirit Fruit was a top-tier treasure among fourth-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures, even comparable to many fifth-grade ones.
When used as an ingredient for alchemy, it had various effects and was widely employed in refining some fourth and fifth-grade pills.
But if consumed directly, it had only one effect: to strengthen the meridians of cultivators below the Dou Master level and enhance their cultivation speed. If taken during the Dou Disciple stage, it guaranteed a hundred percent success when condensing the Dou Qi Vortex at the ninth level of Dou Qi.
It was well known that human meridians were fragile and could hardly withstand the power of pills during the Dou Disciple stage. Most cultivators at this level could only steadily absorb the energy of heaven and earth through the simplest methods to grow stronger.
This was why many factions used cultivation level before the age of twenty as a criterion to assess a disciple's potential, as it largely reflected one's innate talent and cultivation mentality.
This was also why Qi Gathering Powder, a pill that ensured a hundred percent breakthrough from the ninth level of Dou Disciple to Dou Practitioner, could rank as a fourth-grade pill.
Condensing the Dou Qi Vortex at the ninth level of Dou Disciple had a significant failure rate. Once failed, one's cultivation would regress to the eighth level. With bad luck, it might take over ten attempts to succeed, delaying the prime cultivation period and affecting future prospects.
The Jade Spirit Fruit had an even better effect than Qi Gathering Powder.
"First quarter of the Chou hour, 1:15 a.m.—still over an hour left."
"Third quarter of the Mao hour, 5:15 a.m.—a four-hour gap in between."
"There's enough time, but I must hurry."
Gu Han quickly got up, changed into pure black clothes, and quietly left the wooden hut.
It was the middle of the night, and most people were already asleep. Setting off promptly could avoid detection.
Cloud Stream Valley in the back mountain was quite a distance from the area where Provisional Disciples lived, and the path was rough. Starting early could prevent unexpected changes.
After nearly an hour, Gu Han arrived at the location mentioned in the intelligence and indeed saw a sizable rock covered in moss and unknown vine-like plants.
An ordinary passerby would never guess that behind this rock lay a small path leading to an Aura Gathering Ground.
"Thud!"
Gu Han took out an iron rod prepared in advance from his Storage Ring, dug around the rock to deepen the area, then inserted it at one spot and used the lever principle to pry it open, applying Dou Disciple energy during the process.
After dozens of repetitions, an opening just wide enough for one person appeared, revealing a narrow path behind it.
Walking along the path for nearly two hundred meters, Gu Han felt his vision broaden, and the dense energy of heaven and earth felt very comfortable.
Exiting the path, he saw an open cavern about ten zhang in diameter, with a small purple-stemmed tree three zhang tall at the center.
On the tree hung five fruits, emitting a faint white light like small lanterns in the night.
"Jade Spirit Fruit!"
Gu Han's breath trembled slightly.
This was his ticket to swiftly reach the Dou Practitioner level, and it would also strengthen his meridians, making his future cultivation path smoother.
It was no exaggeration to say that one Jade Spirit Fruit was enough to repay the Cloud Mist Sect for nurturing him.
"Hoo."
Letting out a breath, Gu Han cautiously approached the Jade Spirit Fruit tree, his eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Although the intelligence hadn't mentioned any dangers, and the rock at the entrance indicated that no one had entered this place for many years, a fourth-grade heavenly material and earthly treasure was highly likely to attract Magical Beasts. It was better to be cautious.
Fortunately, the opportunity discovered by the Mysterious Turtle proved reliable. Gu Han managed to pick all five Jade Spirit Fruits and store them in his Storage Ring without encountering any danger.
Although he wanted to uproot the entire Jade Spirit Fruit tree and take it with him, Gu Han knew this wasn't feasible for now. He left without any hesitation or lingering attachment.
After more than an hour, he returned to his small wooden cabin, where his rapidly beating heart gradually calmed down.
Meanwhile, in the outer sect disciples' residential area, a wooden door in a prime location was suddenly pushed open.
Mo Qing, who had been sleeping in the inner room, opened his eyes and spoke with an unpleasant expression: "Who dares to disturb me? I..."
His face suddenly froze, then instantly transformed into a smile as he rolled out of bed and approached the visitor: "Brother, what brings you here?"
The visitor was none other than Mo Yu - the grandson of the Mo family's Grand Elder, who had been taken as a disciple by Grand Elder Yun Leng. At eighteen years old, Mo Yu had already reached the one-star Dou Master level and was expected to reach Dou Spirit before thirty, with potential to challenge Dou King before forty.
"I heard about what happened yesterday." Mo Yu stood with his back to Mo Qing at the window, watching the nearly vanished moon. "I came specifically to warn you not to do anything unnecessary."
"Brother!" Mo Qing wanted to argue.
That Gu Han had shown him no respect, which meant showing no respect to the Mo family. How could they not teach him a lesson?
What would other sect members think of the Mo family if they let this slide? That the Mo family was weak and easily bullied?
"As the Grand Elder's personal disciple, I must lead by example in many situations." Mo Yu turned to stare at Mo Qing with a penetrating gaze. "The sect has rules, and the Punishment Elder is closer to the Sect Master than to my teacher."
"Within the sect, we must follow the rules, but outside the sect..."
Mo Yu didn't elaborate further, but Mo Qing understood perfectly.
Gu Han was just an orphan. Although quite talented, he would inevitably need to go out for training missions.
When that time came, with the Mo family's position as the leading family among the four great families of the Northeast Province in the Jia Ma Empire, they had a hundred ways to eliminate him quietly and without trace.
Within the sect, they needed to learn to hide and restrain themselves.
"Yes, elder brother." Mo Qing obediently agreed and immediately said: "I'll tell Mo Feng to cancel the plan to secretly teach Gu Han a lesson."
"No need." Mo Yu raised his hand. "How do you think I learned about these matters? I've instructed Mo Feng to proceed as planned, but to use covert methods and deliver a warning instead."
"You don't need to concern yourself with these matters anymore. Focus on your cultivation. When I obtain the Jade Spirit Fruits for you, you'll be able to break through to Dou Practitioner."
"By then, with the pills provided by our family, the Mystic Level Cultivation Method and Dou Skills, plus instruction from Dou Grand Master and Dou Spirit level teachers..."
"Someone like Gu Han won't even be able to see your shadow."
Thinking of the future his elder brother described, Mo Qing's eyes burned with fervor.
Fifteen minutes later, Mo Yu used a Yellow Level movement skill to travel to Cloud Stream Valley.
"What?!"
Seeing the obviously moved rock, Mo Yu's expression drastically changed as a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
Rushing to the Aura Gathering Ground, he nearly fainted when he saw the completely empty Jade Spirit Fruit tree.
"Which thieving dog did this? My Mo family will be mortal enemies with you!"
Achoo.
The "thieving dog" Gu Han felt his nose itch.
"By my calculation, is Mo Yu cursing me right now?"
A flicker of amusement shone in his eyes as Gu Han quickened his pace. Holding his token, he had already arrived at the outer sect training hall.
The Cloud Mist Sect had four training halls, built respectively in the outer sect, inner sect, mountaintop, and back mountain areas - all constructed in locations with the most concentrated heaven and earth energy within their respective regions.
Within the cultivation hall were cultivation chambers. Using an outer sect cultivation chamber for one day required expending a hundred merit points. Outer sect disciples would only choose to use them when attempting to break through minor realms.
Instead of immediately heading to the Skill Transmission Hall as originally planned, Gu Han first came to the outer sect cultivation chambers, intending to utilize the environment here to complete his breakthrough.
But just as he stepped into the cultivation hall, he saw someone emerge from the side and quickly rush toward him.
"Huh?"
"It's her!"