Chapter 21: Hint of Evil (1)

Ja Sun and Ah Yin followed Caihong. Their destination didn't seem too far since Caihong returned a little quicker than before. The duo easily traversed the terrain. Ja Sun's proficiency in Storm Steps was already great and he had enough handle on Grace and Disgrace forms. All that was left is to combine the two and reach the third level of the technique. In this month, he also completely enhanced his palms according to level 2 of gentle palm techniques, increasing his combat prowess by a notch.

'I'm finally outside...' Ja Sun took a deep breath and began cultivating the Fiery Golden Pupils. This is the only technique he hadn't cultivated seriously because he locked himself in a natural basement. 

The cultivation of Fiery Golden Pupils was extremely plain and continuous. The technique demanded the user to absorb unrefined yang energy during the day and let it slowly refine the eyes instead of using the eyes to refine energy. The cultivation of this technique is extremely painful. It makes the eyes feel like hot bulbs and if a cultivator accidentally absorbs pure yang energy out of his basic capacity, the eyes of the cultivator might get damaged, too!

'Can't risk it this time out of fun,' Ja Sun calmly started to feel the surroundings. This wouldn't be his first time cultivating the technique so the moment he managed to feel a hair-like strand of yang qi invisible to the naked eye, he pulled it into his eyes and stopped instantly. 

This cultivation technique would take a long time to achieve any milestone so he wasn't anxious. Instead, Ja Sun's eyes warmed up and he felt the need to itch around his eyes as the unrefined energy spread through his eyes sockets and covered every part of his eyes.

"We're here," Ja Sun slowed down and watched as Caihong flew into a slightly larger hole hidden by the roots of a tree. In reality, there was a slope ahead and the tree grew over the slope itself. Under its thick, the hole looked like an ordinary burrow and at night, it would look even more discreet.

However, one would have to crawl through the hole to enter the hidden spot this time.

"After you!" Ja Sun stepped back. Glancing at him, Ah Yin shrugged and knelt before passing through the roots and entering the dark hole. 

'Nice!' Ja Sun hurriedly entered himself. He had slight difficulty because of the items he carried with him but when he entered the hole, he found a wall of long vine-line river grass moving forward slowly, completely blocking his view!

'Who said it would be easy, right?' Ja Sun's mood plummeted and he followed slowly. The path wasn't straight. In fact, the two had to crawl for almost 5 minutes, making their way through the winding routes as Ja Sun felt that they were slowly descending this time instead of directly. Finally, he could see light seeping through the gaps of the wall of the vine, and finally, the river grass turned normal. Stepping out of the hole, Ja Sun pulled his items out and gazed at the internal structure hidden away from the eyes of others with a wondrous expression.

This cave was much brighter than the previous one thanks to green crystals growing out from the cave's surface randomly. A thin mist covered the ground and in the middle, Ja Sun saw a wide pond, the surface of which shimmered a green glow. The greatest growth of crystals was around the pond itself. The most fascinating situation was that from the middle of the pond, a thick pillar shot up and pushed against the roof. The ceiling was pushed outwards, indicating the cause of the gentle hill.

Within the pillar, Ja Sun saw thick, smoky currents moving continuously.

"Do you know what these crystals are?" Ja Sun looked towards Ah Yin.

"No... but the pillar in the center should be the main cause... or the pond itself. Let's check it. It shouldn't be dangerous," Ah Yin walked towards the pond and Ja Sun set his tome, shoes, and bundle of food and clothes aside before following Ah Yin. The two of them climbed up the crystals after making sure they weren't dangerous and observed the pool. 

The water so clear that they could see the bottom layered with emerald-like stones. The growth in the pond, unlike the cave, seemed to be in a pattern and made a strange formation around the towering white pillar.

Glancing at each other, the two of them fell silent. They couldn't understand the situation at all. If it was a plant, then the two of them secretly felt that they would have the chance to identify the situation but now, they were cautious enough to not approach it easily.

"Let's break one of the crystals and inspect it," Ja Sun mumbled and jumped down. Touching the green crystal, he covered it with his spirit energy and failed to glean any hints.

"Hmm?" Ah Yin sounded her surprise.

"What?" Ja Sun looked towards her.

Glancing towards Ja Sun, she turned silent.

"What?" Ja Sun inquired again.

"Nothing," she turned around.

"So... after that loud— Hmm— you're just not going to tell me?" He inquired with a frown.

"Exchange of information. This place is good for you and the Human-tongue Owls seem to not only find hidden locations but also good locations. Tell me about your first spirit ring and I'll tell you about this place," Ah Yin glanced back.

"You won't do the same thing I did, right?" Ja Sun smirked.

"No," Ah Yin looked away and shook her head.

*Rustle*

She heard a strange rustling sound and before she could observe using her mental energy, she heard a loud splash.

Shocked, she looked back and found Ja Sun's dark robe on the ground. Meanwhile, he himself had disappeared, and hurriedly reaching the edge of the crystal, she shouted at the swimming Ja Sun.

"Hurry up and get out!"

Smilingly, Ja Sun swam back as two vines tore from the bank of the pool, wrapped around his body, and tossed him out.

*Thud*

Ja Sun landed and stretched his body. His furry forearms and calves were completely pressed due to the water while he swept his hair back.

"I wanted to bath," Ja Sun shrugged as Ah Yin glared in his direction without looking down and hurriedly waved her hand. The mist around the crystals, under the beckoning of her spirit energy, covered Ja Sun until he became the very figure of smoke and mist.

"So? What is this pool?"

"Poison!" Ah Yin snorted.

"Huh?" Ja Sun looked strange.

"This is a natural poison pond. I don't know what the poison does but since it is naturally formed, its antidote will appear around it naturally, too. The pillar, more specifically, the mist is its counter. That's why, even after entering here, we did not feel anything special and nothing leaks out from here."

Ja Sun looked at his arms. Only now did he begin to feel slight numbness.

"Probably paralysis," He replied, "Then why did you say it's a good thing? I would have been more cautious if you didn't play me!" Ja Sun looked in her direction with indignation.

'Surprisingly... his tone feels soothing at the moment,' Ah Yin smirked.

"I didn't lie. But I also didn't mean it was good for you by dipping in it! It's poison. Its effect is extremely low here but by taking it out, maybe you can use it for the better."

"Oh..." Ja Sun sighed, "So I still can't bath."

"And because of the poison, your odor may get worse..." Ah Yin sighed.

He fell into a daze before he slowly picked his robe and covered himself with a depressed expression.

"Let's cultivate," Ah Yin finally spoke up as Ja Sun nodded.

"Or we could train?" He looked at Ah Yin. She was the best sparring practice Ja Sun could ask for aside from Zhao Wuji.

"No, I don't want to waste my time. I will cultivate. I'm not a fighter anyway."

She had just closed her eyes when she heard Ja Sun's mumble.

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"Maybe that's why you lost to me so easily..."

"We train."

---

"Are you really going to use that?" Ja Sun looked at the straightened blade of grass in Ah Yin's hand. His hair now grew past the nape of his neck and the facial hair on his face completely evident. Within the Star Dou Great Forest, the duo was present near a lake occupied by a pair of tough-clawed bears, however, the bears idly ate the fish on the side without minding Ja Sun's presence.

"Yes," Ah Yin nodded. Her hands moved quickly as she began to slash around Ja Sun's head. Strands of silver hair fell over the Starry Black Majestic Battle Robes that were swept away due to a soft gust of spirit energy. Next, Ah Yin pulled Ja Sun's head back. Staring at Ja Sun calmly, she pushed the blade of grass against his cheeks and chin, cleaning his facial hair.

"Thanks..." Ja Sun chuckled, "I didn't know you were good at this kind of stuff."

"I'm not. But mastering it isn't hard," Ah Yin sighed as if recalling something tiring. 

"Then... why did you take five months to help me?" He inquired with a strange expression.

Ja Sun's stay in the forest now exceeded slightly over six months. All this time, the duo continued to cultivate and train which made Ja Sun reach rank 20 in the next two months but he continued to use to concentric spirit technique to increase the density of his spirit energy.

After all, he wanted to capitalize on the process of forming his second spirit ring and then easily shoot through a couple of spirit ranks.

"What spirit do you think you'll find this time?" Ah Yin changed the subject as if unwilling to state her reasons. By now, the duo was extremely familiar with each other. Their usual comments or provocations worked on the other one almost... every time.

"I don't know," Ja Sun smirked and inhaled deeply. 

Ja Sun would only come out of the hole every day to absorb a wisp of yang qi and take care of his business. Usually, he would do the two of them at the same time to save time and be efficient about it.

But reaching even the first realm of the Fiery Golden Pupils seemed like a distant task. Once a cultivator reached the first level of the technique, he becomes immune to illusions and can see through any deception. But, while training the eyes, the vision will get better and the user will slowly be able to accommodate more and more yang qi. By now, Ja Sun's vision was impeccable even during the night!

But after being stuck for six months, Ja Sun needed to get fresh air and pretend to absorb a spirit ring.

"I think... I'll probably try a thousand-year-old spirit ring. The butterfly was almost a thousand-year-old and I easily absorbed it," Ja Sun smiled.

"You have twin martial souls so you obviously have an advantage. Once you fill the spirit rings on your Three-Eyed Silver Lion, you can directly absorb higher-tier spirit rings on your other martial soul," Ah Yin glanced at Ja Sun's right talon before narrowing her eyes, "And you need to cover that up."

"A few more days... it feels so good to not hide," he snickered. He was already halfway done. Another six months and an S-rank mission would be completed again!

Ah Yin's flashing spirit ring— the third purple one— finally stopped. But before she retracted her spirit rings, Ah Yin's expression changed and she hurriedly grasped Ja Sun's hand before entering the forest at a pace far greater than usual. But instead of moving too far, she hid behind a tree and signaled Ja Sun to be quiet.

Even the pair of the thousand-year-old Black-furred tough-clawed bears gazed in a particular direction. Low grunts and snarls erupted from their muzzles as their bodies slightly bulked up and the pitch-black claws revealed a cold shine.

"That's... that's a pair of tough-clawed bears! We're lucky! Lucky!" 

"Stop shouting!"

"You'll expose us, dumbass!"

"Yeah, if you screw this then I'll screw your mum!"

"Good luck digging her grave, I guess?" A few loud calls rang Ja Sun's expression turned strange. He observed the group from a distance as they revealed themselves to be a group of better-looking spirit masters. 

There were four of them, all men. At first glance, the group seemed to be in their mid-twenties and wore varying outfits that indicated the possibility of different factions behind them or their origin being ordinary. What attracted Ja Sun's attention was a cage fashioned as a cart being pulled by the burliest of them. The cage was properly covered by cloth but Ja Sun could still hear loud, muffled screams.

"Slave traders, probably," Ah Yin whispered.

"Let's find the opportunity..." Ja Sun's eyes glimmered, "And loot them."

"What?" Ah Yin frowned.

"Look at their hands," Ja Sun whispered, "They are wearing essence tools. Probably storage wrist bands. Almost every single one of them is something we cannot afford ordinarily."

Ah Yin looked at their hands did see weapons emerging in their hands from the glowing item. Even her heart was moved. 

'I... wouldn't need to keep renting another room for all my clothes...' She took a deep breath.

"Let's wait and see. If they are too strong, we leave... but if we do attack them and they recognize you, then what?" Ah Yin inquired.

"Again, a simple choice," Ja Sun shrugged, "I don't know them, so they are no different than a spirit beast to me. Consider the items they have as spirit rings... now, what rational person would do if he needs a spirit ring?" 

"A rational person would kill them to hide his identity," Ah Yin nodded before glancing at Ja Sun, "You, on the other hand, would wait for the spirit beasts to kill themselves."

"Just... shut up, already," Ja Sun sighed.

Ah Yin smirked and looked towards the group. She felt a strange breath from the cage that felt a little too strange.

"Brother Tan, the Tough-clawed Bears are said to be the descendants of the legendary Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear!" The lanky man wearing blue-furred robes gazed at two snarling beasts with an amazed expression.

The burly man set the carriage and glanced at the lanky youth before shaking his head, "Brother Bai, don't believe everything you hear. They are just slightly stronger defensive beasts."

"If it's defense..." the man wearing black armor gazed at the skinny youth, "Then brother Niu should decide."

"I already absorbed my spirit ring. But the two bears are still valuable. Especially their hides can make better robes and boots. Brother Yang, take charge, we'll support you," the man called Niu nodded.

The man in black armor smirked. Instantly, four rings appeared around the four men— yellow, yellow, purple, purple.

"They... should be easy to deal with," Ah Yin suddenly spoke up.

"You know them?" Ja Sun gazed at the four with clear greed.

"After those siblings from Clear Sky Clan became famous, I wanted to know more about this clan. After all, reaching the rank of spirit sage in their thirties is an extremely great accomplishment. As it turns out, to support the Clear Sky Clan, four subsidiary clans were developed— Strength, Speed, Defense, and Attack. These clans have respective family names: Tai, Bai, Niu, and Yang."

"Then... aren't they an amazing team already?" Ja Sun looked on curiously.

"They are. But not difficult to handle if caught unprepared." Ah Yin looked towards Ja Sun and he smiled.

"Be sure to incapacitate then if you cannot kill. I'm happy to deal the final blow. You'll understand when to act," Ja Sun removed his spirit beasts enhancement and the previously slightly tame bears instantly roared and charged with a brutal expression. Their red eyes pressurized the four as they activated their martial souls.

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