Chapter 79: The Opportunity for Four
Everyone else had left.
Wu Wenbin and two others had gone out together—naturally, they were off to discuss matters at the Wu family.
As a result, Room A-18 fell into a momentary quiet.
Yao Jingfeng and the other two didn’t plan on leaving either, or perhaps they had never intended to in the first place.
Once the outsiders were gone, Yao Jingfeng’s smile turned much more sincere, no longer the formal, polite smile he had worn earlier.
"Fourth Brother might not know yet, so let me introduce us again."
"We four are ranked by age. I’m the eldest at thirty-eight. Second Sister is Du Wanyi, thirty-three. Luo Tian is third, thirty-one. How about you, Fourth Brother?"
Ji Yuan had just turned nineteen after the New Year, not even twenty yet, so he smiled and said, "I’m twenty-three this year. Pleased to meet you, Eldest Brother, Second Sister, Third Brother."
After speaking, he cupped his hands in greeting toward the three of them.
Luo Tian squeezed out a smile. "When Eldest Brother first said he found me a Fourth Brother, I wasn’t too thrilled. But looking at it now, Eldest Brother was wise as always."
Du Wanyi rolled her eyes as she listened.
"It was clearly me who brought Fourth Brother in, okay?"
Watching them bicker, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but feel that, while their bond might have originated from mutual interest, their relationship seemed genuinely good.
However, having just arrived, Ji Yuan didn’t want to intrude and simply sat to the side, watching and listening.
Du Wanyi seemed to notice his discomfort and came over, pulling a thumb-sized jade stone from her storage pouch.
A faint aura of pure energy radiated from it, instantly clearing the mind and uplifting the spirit.
"Fourth Brother, how did you know about this Pure Spirit Jade? Not many in the Yunyu Marshlands know of this item."
Du Wanyi asked softly.
Even Yao Jingfeng, who had been talking with Luo Tian, turned around and raised his eyebrows. "Looks like our Fourth Brother just looks honest. In reality, he’s got all the know-how."
Ji Yuan: "???"
Was there something special about this Pure Spirit Jade?
"I read about it in an old book. It said it could be used to study a certain type of talisman, so I thought I’d find one to try it out."
Ji Yuan chuckled sheepishly.
"Really?"
Du Wanyi didn’t quite believe it.
"Really."
Ji Yuan affirmed resolutely.
Yao Jingfeng laughed on the side. "Most people from the Joy Pavilion use this Pure Spirit Jade because its main effect is keeping the mind clear during dual cultivation, preventing distraction by lust, and allowing the technique to run smoothly."
"It does that?!"
Ji Yuan had truly not known this.
But once he processed it, he turned to look at Du Wanyi in shock—since the Pure Spirit Jade had that effect, and Second Sister had one on her…
"What are you thinking!"
Du Wanyi jabbed her jade-like forefinger hard into Ji Yuan’s shoulder. "I killed a tribulation cultivator and looted it from them!"
"I knew it. Of course it had to be something like that."
Ji Yuan nodded firmly, as if it was only natural. "I need six of them. Do you have that many, Second Sister?"
"I’ve got eight here. You can have them all."
With a flash of white light in her hand, eight small, exquisite jade stones appeared in Du Wanyi’s palm.
Ji Yuan asked, "How many spirit stones each? I couldn’t even find the price at Hundred Treasure Pavilion."
"Who cares about spirit stones? I snatched these anyway. No use keeping them. If you want them, they’re all yours."
Du Wanyi casually shoved the eight Pure Spirit Jades into Ji Yuan’s hands.
"This—"
Before Ji Yuan could finish, Yao Jingfeng smiled and said, "Fourth Brother just joined us. As your older siblings, we naturally have to prepare a little gift."
He then tossed something through the air, which landed in Ji Yuan’s hands.
Luo Tian did the same.
Yao Jingfeng threw over a drawstring cloth pouch.
Luo Tian tossed a small, jet-black orb that looked like a pebble.
This item, Ji Yuan also had—it was called... Water Thunder Bomb!
When detonated, it was equivalent to a full-power strike from a peak Qi Refining cultivator.
Luo Tian had just casually thrown it over, which startled Ji Yuan into a cold sweat.
"A little trinket. Just take it and have fun, Fourth Brother."
Third Brother Luo Tian even made a show of it.
As for the cloth pouch from Eldest Brother Yao Jingfeng, just holding it in his hand, Ji Yuan could feel the dense spiritual energy it contained.
"I don’t have anything fancy, just thirty spirit stones. Use them for your cultivation, Fourth Brother."
"Alright, we said it’s a gift, so just keep it."
Du Wanyi urged him.
Ji Yuan didn’t really lack these things, but since they were gifts, he accepted them and thanked them again.
Since he had received gifts, naturally he needed to return the favor.
He checked his own storage pouch.
He had plenty of magical tools, but all were for his own use.
The same went for talismans—he didn’t have enough middle-grade ones to hand out, and the high-grade ones were all scattered and mismatched.
Pills were the same.
Giving spirit stones felt a bit too plain—especially since Yao Jingfeng had started off with that. If he just returned spirit stones, it would seem off.
After thinking it over, Ji Yuan figured the best gift would be Blood Essence, but the ones he had saved up had been sold off just yesterday.
Oh well.
He would just prepare a return gift next time they met.
With the gifts exchanged, the four of them once again took their seats.
This time, however, the three of them were much more serious. Du Wanyi even walked over to the door and pasted several talismans on it.
Ji Yuan also cleared his mind and silently waited for what they had to say next.
"From what happened today, Fourth Brother, you must have seen things clearly—this Mutual Aid Society is really just a loose association. Not only is it like this at our level, but even the upper levels are the same."
As always, it was Eldest Brother Yao Jingfeng who spoke first. "The only real use of the Mutual Aid Society is to exchange basic information or make some trades. The things that truly help with our cultivation are actually small circles like ours."
As he spoke, he reached out and drew a circle in the air between the four of them.
"Right, while we couldn’t say so earlier, within the current Yunyu Marshlands small circles, our group of four is probably the strongest," Du Wanyi added.
"But the Yunyu Marshlands aren’t our goal. Joining the Water Dragon Sect isn’t our goal either."
Yao Jingfeng smiled as he spoke.
To outsiders, joining the Water Dragon Sect might seem like a near-impossible feat, but to the four of them, it really wasn’t anything difficult.
Take Luo Tian, for example—he could have joined the Water Dragon Sect this year.
But for some reason, he gave it up.
"Our only goal is Foundation Establishment!"
As soon as Yao Jingfeng said this, Luo Tian and Du Wanyi’s eyes lit up.
Those who hadn’t reached the late stage of Qi Refining were all thinking about how to break through to the late stage. But once one reached the late stage, their focus naturally shifted to how to achieve Foundation Establishment.
"That’s why the only purpose we have for forming this bond as peers is to achieve Foundation Establishment. And not just one of us—we all need to become Foundation Establishment cultivators!"
"Good!" Luo Tian responded.
Ji Yuan also nodded seriously.
"I'm not bragging," Yao Jingfeng smiled, "but right now in the Yunyu Marshlands, the ones with the highest chance of reaching Foundation Establishment are us four."
"Because each of us has a bit of fortuitous opportunity—a unique advantage of our own."
As he spoke, Yao Jingfeng turned his gaze to Ji Yuan. He put away his smile and adopted a more serious tone.
"Fourth Brother, you’ve just arrived, so you might not be too clear on things yet. That’s why we’re explaining again."
"Of course, if you feel that what we’re asking is too personal or inconvenient to share, you can choose to withdraw now. That’s totally fine. We’ll still count it as a friendly connection."
Since they wanted to form this bond and help each other, each person had to offer something of value in exchange.
Otherwise, why would the others be willing to take you seriously?
Ji Yuan had expected this, so he already had something in mind.
Now that it was time for him to speak, the other two turned their eyes toward him as well. Ji Yuan smiled and said, "Since I’ve decided to stay here, I naturally trust you three."
As he spoke, Ji Yuan pulled out half a tael of Blood Essence from his storage pouch.
"I don’t have any remarkable specialties, except for one—I have a method for cultivating Blood Essence. Every three days, I can produce half a gram."
"Half a tael every three days?"
Yao Jingfeng’s eyes lit up. "No wonder Fourth Brother has such strength. This is an impressive skill."
"Good! Fourth Brother, you’re a straightforward one!" Luo Tian praised him first, then took out another Water Thunder Bomb, smiling.
"My fortuitous encounter back then was the method for refining these Water Thunder Bombs. Most of the ones circulating in the Yunyu Marshlands are made by me. So, if you ever need any, just let me know."
Being able to craft Water Thunder Bombs—no wonder Luo Tian had such strength.
Sitting cross-legged on her chair, Du Wanyi smiled and said, "I can sense where treasures are within a one-li radius. If Fourth Brother ever wants to go treasure hunting, just come to me."
Hmm?
If Luo Tian’s skill didn’t seem particularly surprising to Ji Yuan, then Du Wanyi’s revelation certainly did.
A human-shaped treasure-hunting mouse?
Wasn’t this even more useful than Qiu Qianhai’s finger bone?
However, Du Wanyi didn’t explain exactly how treasures were defined.
Perhaps seeing Ji Yuan’s surprise, Yao Jingfeng offered an explanation.
"It can only be used once a day, so don’t get your hopes too high, Fourth Brother."
"We usually scout areas we suspect contain something good, and then let Second Sister confirm the location."
Even just once a day—it was still powerful.
If used for exploring secret realms, wouldn’t it be spot-on every time?
Clearly, Du Wanyi must have some kind of special artifact.
Ji Yuan’s gaze turned to Yao Jingfeng, who hadn’t yet revealed his specialty.
The other three had already shared their strengths.
Now only Eldest Brother was left.
"Me? My opportunity is rather unpresentable," Yao Jingfeng said a little sheepishly.
Du Wanyi and Luo Tian both smiled knowingly.
Just as Ji Yuan was wondering, he suddenly felt a surge of spiritual energy pass through the room.
It was like someone had triggered a spell—or perhaps something had flown by.
Ji Yuan instinctively looked around.
Meanwhile, Du Wanyi and Luo Tian were already laughing.
"Fourth Brother, didn’t you notice you’re missing something?" Yao Jingfeng said with a smile.
Ji Yuan instantly had a bad feeling and reached for his waist.
Sure enough, the spot where his storage pouch had been tied was now completely empty.
Yao Jingfeng weighed the pouch in his hand and then tossed it back to Ji Yuan with an apologetic grin. "Pardon me."
"As you saw, I’ve mastered a minor spell that lets me steal things from others. But it only works on items worn externally. I can’t take anything stored inside a pouch."
"It’s also very easy to get caught, so I can only use it in crowded places."
Ji Yuan put the pouch back in place without panic.
It only contained a few spirit stones anyway.
The rest was just leftovers of Spiritual Pig meat or miscellaneous things like Green-Yellow Chicken Spiritual Eggs.
The pouch containing real spirit stones and magical tools was tucked into his chest, always within his spiritual awareness.
"Unfortunately, Eldest Brother is too moral and rarely uses that technique," Du Wanyi teased with a grin.
"It’s still useful against tribulation cultivators or demonic rogues," Luo Tian added.
Ji Yuan thought about it and agreed.
"Third Brother makes a good point. As long as Eldest Brother keeps to his moral boundaries, it should be fine."
"Of course," Yao Jingfeng laughed. "So if you ever think I can be of use, just speak up, Fourth Brother."
"Alright." Ji Yuan nodded.
"Originally, it was just the three of us—Second Sister searching for treasures, Third Brother handling the action, and I handled the miscellaneous stuff. But we often got hurt. Now that Fourth Brother is here, especially with his Blood Essence cultivation, things will be much better."
"Our team will be much safer now," Du Wanyi said, smiling from her seat.
"Indeed, I was always the one getting hurt. From now on, I’ll be relying on you, Fourth Brother." Even Luo Tian, though joking, wore a serious expression.
Yao Jingfeng chuckled along and then said, "Alright, let’s get back to talking about Foundation Establishment."