At night, near the Blue Wave Pond on Laru Island.
The Blue Wave Pool, as its name suggests, is a turquoise pool of water.
The still water surface reflects the surrounding scenery, like a natural ink wash painting.
Just helped another young nun, Zhang Ling, from the same team gather the spirit tuber.
The sky is getting dark.
The group decided not to continue on their journey.
It was just right to stop and rest for the night at a place with water sources.
At this moment, everyone is sitting under the tree shade and eating dry food.
Although Chen Yun and his team are powerful monks, they have not achieved true enlightenment yet, so they are still mortal beings who naturally need to consume food.
Even the three senior magicians, Wu Kejiu, Kang Yuan, and Qin Ming, are no exception.
Only Chen Yun leaned against the trunk of the tree, sipping only a few mouthfuls of clear water in his canteen.
He cultivated the Jade Talisman of Flying Spirit, which enables him to draw in energy from the outside to sustain himself. Apart from occasionally replenishing a bit of clear water, he basically doesn't need to eat.
However, some misunderstood and thought that Chen Yun was visiting the Sun and Moon Lake Cavern for the first time, not knowing the situation, so they hadn't prepared any food.
That is, the twenty-something green skirt young nun Zhang Ling, who approached Chen Yun's side, reached out her hand and gave him a pill, "Take it."
Everyone turned their heads to look.
Chen Yun also lifted his eyelids, blinking and asking, "What is this?"
Zhang Ling squatted down, smiling happily, "This is a hunger-suppressing pill. Eating it ensures that you won't be hungry for three days. I noticed that you haven't eaten anything since yesterday, and it seems like you might be hungry and weak. That would make it hard for you to continue the journey."
In the Sun and Moon Lake Cavern, food is a very precious commodity.
The group is going to stay in the Sun and Moon Lake Cavern for a year.
Plus not everyone can go on a fast.
Without ample prepared food, while one can still survive in the Sun and Moon Lake Cavern by finding something to eat, it would be quite inconvenient and a lot of time would be wasted in seeking treasures.
Therefore, those who come here generally prepare food in advance and rarely share it with others.
This can be seen from Chen Yun's waiting outside the Sun and Moon Lake Cavern yesterday, only Qin Ming delivering food could reveal the truth.
So why did Zhang Ling voluntarily give Chen Yun food to eat today?
In the end, today everyone saw Chen Yun's strength.
Knowing that he can bear the responsibility for the whole team with Wu Kejiu, Kang Yuan, and Qin Ming.
What to search for next, perhaps relying on his strength.
Naturally, everyone's attitude towards Chen Yun grew warmer.
Chen Yun understood these truths.
However, he did not accept the hunger-suppressing pill. Instead, he waved his hand casually and said, "Thank you for your kindness. I am on a fast, usually not eating grains, and occasionally drinking some clear water is enough."
"Ah?"
"Mr. Chen, can you really go on a fast like that?"
"What a waste of words, Mr. Chen. The Xuanmen Sect is the genuine one, how could he not know how to fast?"
"I'm really envious of the Xuanmen Sect. We want to fast, we have to cultivate up to the stage of a true immortal."
The group showed a look of envy.
Fasting is an unwritten secret.
Let alone these outer-door monks.
Even among the true Xuanmen sectarians, it's not guaranteed that everyone has the practice of fasting.
Fasting, as the name implies, means not eating food.
In fact, it's not that simple.
Fasting is also known as "eating air."
This method originated from the secret teachings of the Fangxian family.
Gradually, it was absorbed by various sects.
How powerful is the practice of "eating air"?
As stated in "Huainanzi. Topography Instructions": "Eating air makes one spiritually enlightened and long-lived."
If one cultivates the method of "eating air" to a high level, where they can live as long as gods, it's easy to imagine how profound this practice is.
Because of this, when these outer-door monks heard that Chen Yun practiced the art of fasting, each one of them showed a look of envy.
After a while, everyone finished their food.
Normally, the next step should be a good night's rest to ensure there's enough strength to deal with any dangers that may arise in the following days.
However, not everyone can rest.
Who knows, maybe some divine beast or cultivator will come to steal them while they sleep?
Wu Kejiu, as the initiator of the team, has always been at the core.
Looking at the seated group, Wu Kejiu said, "All fellow cultivators, let's discuss who will be the first to keep watch and when we should switch to someone else."
"Okay."
"Mr. Wu, you decide. I'm listening."
The group responded in a sparse and scattered manner.
Unexpectedly, Ding Xu suddenly said, "Let's let Mr. Chen watch the night first, and then he can get some good rest in the second half of the night."
Qin Ming agreed, "Today Mr. Chen did a lot of work, and it's worth letting him watch the first half of the night first."
"Yes, Mr. Chen has been hardworking."
"Let him watch the first half of the night first."
Gao Chen and Zhang Ling, among others, all agreed.
It's better to keep watch during the first half of the night.
After all, sleeping through the second half of the night will allow us to wake up early in the morning.
If we watch the second half of the night, we would be woken up in the middle.
Then we would have to wait until the next evening to rest again.
So watching the second half of the night is a hard job.
After all, Chen Yun did so much work today, and it's fine to let him watch the first half of the night.
Even in the heart of Wu Kejiu, the core of the team, he was prepared to make such an arrangement.
It just doesn't sound right when other people say it.
Wu Kejiu always felt that their hearts were subtly leaning towards Chen Yun.
If this goes on, it might come to a point where the core of the team will have to change.
At that moment, Wu Kejiu secretly felt dissatisfied with the others' attitude.
Of course, dissatisfaction aside.
These words definitely couldn't be said out loud.
Otherwise, people would think he had a narrow mind.
Wu Kejiu said in a calm manner, "Indeed, Mr. Chen fought a fierce battle with someone else today and was very tired. I originally planned to arrange for him to watch the first half of the night, and since everyone suggested it, we will first confirm that Mr. Chen watches the first half of the night, and then we will confirm others."
His words seemed to mean nothing on the surface.
In reality, he was declaring "sovereignty."
Informing everyone that he Wu Kejiu was the core.
Chen Yun didn't think about it that way.
He wasn't interested in power struggles and disputes, but he just nodded and smiled, "Okay, thank you everyone for leaving me this nice task."
Qin Ming then narrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Wu Kejiu.
He, Kang Yuan, and Wu Kejiu had a similar incident during their last visit to the Sun and Moon Lake Cavern.
Although Wu Kejiu indeed had the ability to do so, he managed to bring Kang Yuan and himself to a subordinate position under Wu Kejiu's command.
Now, seeing Wu Kejiu seemingly trying the same tactic with Chen Yun, Qin Ming felt a hint of dissatisfaction in his heart.
Only Qin Ming intentionally and unintentionally said, "Mr. Chen worked so hard today and gained the hearts of everyone. Therefore, it's only natural for us to elect him to watch the first half of the night out of respect."
"Yes." Ding Xu nodded, "I also think so."
"That's right."
"We elected Mr. Chen to watch the first half of the night out of respect."
Zhang Ling, Gao Chen, and other seven or eight cultivators agreed.
Now, Wu Kejiu felt his position as the leader being challenged, and his fist clenched tightly in his sleeve in anger at Qin Ming's words. However, he did not show it and only smiled and said, "Qin friend has a valid point. Alright, let's continue to arrange for others to keep watch. So, I and Qin friend will volunteer to keep watch for the second half of the night, while Mr. Chen and Mr. Kang will lead a team to watch the first half of the night..."
He didn't give Qin Ming a chance to speak and continued to arrange the list without pause.
Besides Chen Yun, all the people who had just agreed with Qin Ming's words were now assigned to watch the second half of the night.
It was clear that Wu Kejiu was using this method to respond to Qin Ming. At this moment, he was still the decisive figure in the team.
Qin Ming wanted to propose some objections, but Wu Kejiu had already volunteered to watch the second half of the night and was setting an example. Who would dare to argue with that?
Finally, the plan was set.
Chen Yun, Kang Yuan, Long Nu Sanjiu, Xu Yang, and others would keep watch during the first half of the night.
Wu Kejiu, Qin Ming, Gao Chen, and Ding Xu, among others, would keep watch during the second half of the night.
Soon after, the people who were on guard for the second half of the night went to sleep.
Chen Yun and Kang Yuan, as two of the "Four Decision-Makers," each led a group of ten or so people to patrol around the campsite.
Around the time of mid-night, they switched shifts with Wu Kejiu and Qin Ming, among others.
The night passed quietly without any incident.
In reality, the entire team was subtly divided into two factions.
One faction was led by Chen Yun, with a smaller number of people.
The other faction was still led by Wu Kejiu.
Both sides were subtly competing with each other in secret.
Of course, Chen Yun had never competitively challenged anyone from beginning to end.
But Qin Ming had been making decisions on his own, replacing Chen Yun to challenge Wu Kejiu.
...
The next day, the sun rose in the east.
Wu Kejiu and Qin Ming, among others, woke up Kang Yuan and Long Nu Sanjiu, who were still asleep.
Chen Yun had been practicing martial arts all night, so he didn't need to be woken up by Wu Kejiu and others.
The crowd washed up in the Azure Water Spring.
Soon after, Wu Kejiu called everyone together to start arranging today's schedule. "Today we have three main goals. The first is to help Mr. Chen get the Yinxue Huateng Vines. That should be an easy task and require little effort. The second is to go to the Extreme Cold Cave and assist Mr. Kang in obtaining Xuelong, which has strong divine beasts guarding it, so when the time comes, everyone may need to put in some effort. Oh, by the way, I remember when we last entered this cave, there seemed to be Zizhi trees over there. However, the number of trees was not very large, and I'm not sure if they have matured yet. If they have matured, it might also help Mr. Chen complete his task of collecting Zizhi fruits all at once. Finally, we need to rush to the Flame Peak and help Mr. Xu obtain Fenghuo Lingzhi there may also have strong divine beasts guarding it and will require everyone's efforts You all have any opinions? If not, let's get started."
"No."
"Let's go now."
Xu Yang, Zhang Ling, and others responded.
After receiving a positive response, Wu Kejiu got up first and soared towards the west.
Chen Yun and Qin Ming followed closely behind.
He pondered silently on what Wu Kejiu had said just now while flying with the wind.
There could very well be ripe Zizhi fruits at the Extreme Cold Cave?
He had returned to the Snowy Mountain earlier and obtained twelve other required herbs.
Adding to the remaining Jiushu Chufeng, Yujie Herb, and Zhufuyecao from before.
The types of celestial roots he lacked were actually not many.
It's just that the main medicine, ten Zizhi fruits, the Yinxue Huateng Vines, Xuanshui, and the exotic white atractylodon rhizoma were needed.
If they could truly obtain ten Zizhi fruits when going to the Extreme Cold Cave.
And if they could probably obtain the Yinxue Huateng Vines today as well.
Then collecting Xuanshui and exotic white atractylodon rhizoma, they could gather all the celestial roots needed for the intermediate-level Dantian Cultivation Elixir.
Chen Yun thought to himself that if it hadn't been for the interference of Magus Mei Lin earlier, his speed in collecting herbs might have been even faster.
As Chen Yun was pondering the collection of celestial roots, he didn't notice that Wu Kejiu, flying in front, subtly glanced at him with a subtle twist of his head.
Wu Kejiu's gaze was full of determination.
He was determined to show his skills well today.
To let everyone know that he was the true core of the team.
Rather than the other day's display of power by Chen Yun.
It was because of this kind of mindset.
Wu Kejiu had made up his mind.
No matter how powerful the divine beast they encountered today.
He must act first and take the lead over Chen Yun.
Fortunately, Chen Yun was unaware of the other's thoughts, otherwise he would have burst out laughing.
He was dedicated to seeking immortality and longevity, how could he possibly have any thoughts about the "core" of a small team?
(The end of this chapter)
