52 Preparations~

Coming out of the Scripture Pavilion, Ning's thoughts moved quickly.

Among the various cultivation techniques, the reason why Ning chose the Golden Heaven Stream, even when there were multiple suitable techniques for him, was quite simple.

The Golden Heaven Stream was created by the Nascent Soul Patriarch, the same one who also developed the Pure Qi Sutra.

Patriarch Li Changsou was a distinguished figure in the Pure Qi sect, especially since it was said that his legacy was hidden in the sect. Once upon a time, many tried to search for it, but in the end, everyone returned empty-handed.

At this point, the matter of the legacy was considered just a myth, something people thought was made out of thin air to increase the prestige of the sect.

Ning didn't believe any of that. The reason was simple; there was a protagonist in this sect. Would the starting sect of the protagonist be so barebones without any specialty?

Of course not!

Especially since the previous encounter, Ning realized that he could also obtain the opportunities meant for the protagonist; he was naturally moved.

But since the legacy was so elusive that Ning couldn't catch any hints, he naturally placed his attention on the techniques that the patriarch had created.

And among the different techniques the Patriarch had created, the Golden Heaven Stream was quite special.

"Only mastered by the patriarch himself... if this is not a clue, I don't know what is," Ning thought.

Maybe, just like in a game, when one wants to get a special quest, one needs to do some progression tasks relating to the quest. So, with that mentality, Ning just wanted to progress and find the legacy quest slowly and steadily.

In the end, even if his thoughts were wrong, Golden Heaven Stream, which was a foundation-building cultivation technique passed down by a Nascent Soul master, was obviously going to be superior to the other techniques. Especially since it was the improved version of the Pure Qi Sutra, which he had come to love.

So, in this matter, there was no loss at all. If there was one, then it was the thing about this technique needing to burn money to be successfully practiced.

But Ning, whose practice always burned money, said he was used to it.

...

Ning didn't move towards his house but walked towards the Outer Sect. As usual, he greeted the two puppets guarding the inner sect and went towards a remote cave.

*Knock*Knock*

Ning knocked on the door, and soon the door was opened by a huge figure that seemed to overshadow him completely.

"Brother Ning, it's been quite a while since you have visited me. I thought you had forgotten about me." The large figure gave a friendly hug to Ning.

"Ouch! I told you not to do that, Fatty Li. You are too strong." Ning quickly rubbed his sore bones.

Yes, the person he was visiting was the friend of the protagonist, Fatty Li.

Ning glanced up and down at Fatty Li and noted he still seemed to be at the third stage.

"Fatty Li, tell me, are you practicing physical cultivation? Last time, I could still bear your strength, but your physical strength seems to have gotten even stronger." Ning casually asked.

"I don't practice anything of the sort, Brother Ning. But recently, I do feel my appetite getting stronger." After saying that, Fatty Li glanced at Ning greedily.

"Don't give me that look. Do you expect me to bring you something every time?" Even though he said so, Ning still threw a few pounds of spiritual rice at the fatty.

Fatty Li caught it as if it was a huge treasure, "You still bring something every time though..."

Ning used glare. It was super effective.

Fatty Li shut up feeling the glare, and then quickly shouted in praise, "As expected of my favorite brother."

"You..." Ning was speechless.

Favorite brother, you say? I just think you just consider me as a food delivery service.

Well, in the end, Ning just sighed.

Ah! The things I do to build connections.

Now, Ning was sure that this fatty had some kind of special spiritual physique that inclined towards increasing physical strength.

One needs to know that with Bone Forging Fist, Heaven Shattering Fist, and the intense training regimen, Ning's physique was probably one of the best among the people of the same level. Especially, since he washed out all the impurities present in his body.

But Fatty Li was not an ordinary person; he was that one fatty friend that the protagonist has, so Ning would be surprised if this guy was not special.

And Fatty Li didn't disappoint either. He who just lived a gluttonous life already possessed greater physical strength than him.

Unlike the standard protagonist, Ning considered connections as a part of strength as well. It was always better to have more friends than enemies after all.

And Fatty Li was a guy worthy of investment.

So, Ning naturally paid attention to their relationship. After all, things like friendship should be maintained constantly; it was not like a one-off thing.

With that, Ning asked, "Fatty Li, don't you want to enter the inner sect? You could probably have reached the inner sect in the previous outer sect competition."

Fatty Li was in the third stage of Qi Condensation, so he naturally fulfilled the prerequisite to compete in the competition.

"Well, I don't like fighting. Especially, except for Brother Ning and Xiao Fan, no new outer sect disciple was able to be promoted this time. I want to consolidate my strength." Fatty Li spoke between bites of apples he seemed to have on hand.

Ning nodded and then asked seemingly casually, "Speaking of which, how is Xiao Fan doing these days?"

After discovering the trait of being able to come across Xiao Fan at any turn, Ning naturally paid more attention to him. For that, Fatty Li was an important news source indeed.

Speaking of Xiao Fan, Fatty Li suddenly became enraged, "Brother Ning, the current situation of Xiao Fan in the inner sect is not that good. You should know about Xiao Hong?"

Ning nodded. He remembered that ear-piercing scream of Xiao Fan till now during one of his hunts.

"Xiao Hong, who had a high-grade spiritual root, was taken as an inner sect disciple as soon as he entered the sect. But that guy is a big bully. He constantly torments Xiao Fan by sending his goons to beat him up. Xiao Fan really has bad luck..." Fatty Li lamented, not noticing Ning's lips twitching at the end.

"Still, with the help of Senior Sister Xiao, Xiao Fan is doing progressively better. Just a few days ago, he visited me and said something about his qi becoming impure due to a mishap in his cultivation. So, he went on a mission to get a look at some scroll that had a method to purify qi. I don't know if he has accomplished that or not?"

"He probably has. Besides, Fatty Li, I, and Xiao Fan are inner sect disciples; only you are in the outer sect. Hurry and quickly enter the inner sect as well." Ning easily diverted the topic.

Ning and Fatty Li talked for a while, allowing him to glean more information on the current status of Xiao Fan. As the sole friend of the protagonist, Fatty Li naturally knew more information than others.

In the end, Ning pointed out some problems in cultivation that Fatty Li was facing and jingled away.

...

"Problem with cultivation, huh?" Ning mumbled, his mind occupied.

"Junior Brother! Junior Brother!"

A young voice rang and interrupted Ning from his dazed state.

"It's you, senior sister. Are you on your daily walk?" Ning asked. He knew that his senior sister was too intent on roaming the sect to find anything juicy happening to whet her appetite.

"Hmph! You did not even come to greet me after you completed your mission." Liu Sisi pouted.

"I had something I had to do, so sorry for that, senior sister." Ning calmly dealt with Liu Sisi before suddenly producing two mid-grade spirit stones from his space pouch. "Also, before I forget, thank you for lending me the mid-grade spirit stone last time. They were of great help to me."

Ning had borrowed two mid-grade spirit stones from Liu Sisi. One had been used to cross the barrier in his cultivation, and the other was kept safe in case of an emergency. Now having had great gains in his mission, he naturally wanted to repay his senior sister.

Liu Sisi glanced at the two spirit stones and just huffed, not caring about them too much like the rich girl she was. "It's good that those stones were useful to you since I don't have much use for them. You don't need to return them. If you are grateful, then treat me to a meal next time."

"I would definitely." Ning didn't argue much since he knew that this senior of his was also stubborn in her own right. Well, he could always slip them into her pockets later...

"So, where are you heading to, junior brother?" Liu Sisi asked, seeing Ning head in the opposite direction of where his residence was.

"Heaven Forge peak."

...

Heaven Forge Peak, despite its extravagant name, was a plain peak. It was the place where most weapon refiners resided, and its head was one of the nine foundation-building experts of the sect.

With a chime, Ning and Liu Sisi entered one of the residences on the peak.

"Hello! Brother Xuangmin." Ning greeted a middle-aged man who seemed to be polishing some swords.

"Oh! It's you." Xuangmin gave Liu Sisi a nod before glancing at Ning. "So, you are here for your order, boy?"

"Yes." Ning nodded.

"Wait a minute." Xuangmin walked inside to bring out the order.

"What did you buy, junior brother?" Liu Sisi was as curious as always, asking in a cutesy tone.

"Just some arrows and weights... nothing special." Ning had just said those words when there was a sudden huff.

"Nothing special? You really need to know the meaning of special, kid." Xuangmin walked out with a large pouch and took out various metallic objects that seemed entirely too foreign to Liu Sisi.

"What's that?" Liu Sisi asked.

"Dunno. One day this kid suddenly came and gave a very weird order. Says he wants to train with it or something." Xuangmin answered, raising an eyebrow, watching Ning lift said objects with unexpected ease compared to his lithe figure.

"Good! I like it." Ning spoke, lifting a short bar with a weight at each end.

Of course, what Ning had ordered were just dumbbells. It was something very common for him, but for the natives of this world who never had to lift weights to gain physical strength, this object was indeed something weird.

"If you say so. This was the first time I made something so weird, well probably not that weird for you though." Xuangmin also seemed satisfied with a job well done, but his tone was quite brittle.

"What do you mean, brother?" Liu Sisi asked the middle-aged man.

"The first time this kid came here, he asked me to make a scarf that could wrap and strangle someone with a single thought. I could not make such a thing, nor ever thought of making such an item until he came along. Nonetheless, he certainly made quite an impression." Xuangmin huffed again.

Ning just chuckled awkwardly hearing that.

It's not his fault to want something like that, okay?

Just imagine someone trying to punch you when your scarf suddenly moves on its own and strangles them to death. That kind of defense is too alluring to pass up.

Well, at least for Ning it certainly was. Especially, since he was a long-range attacker primarily.

"Here's the pay, Brother Xuangmin." Ning handed a pouch to Xuangmin, as he moved to keep the fifty arrows and ten different-sized dumbbells in his space pouch.

"Come again, kid. But next time try to make some normal requests." Xuangmin didn't forget to jab at Ning with the last comment.

"I would try." Ning chuckled awkwardly as his thoughts moved.

"It's time to grind."

...

Thanks for reading~