Zhang Xiaopang, on the other hand, would come at noon. He couldn't help it; young people love their sleep. He went to bed early but woke up late, so he could only come over around midday. At first, he just wanted to analyze the Go games, as the Little Fatty still didn't believe Wang Meng could beat him. But as he watched, he found himself completely absorbed.
Somehow, every time he finished watching a game, he would have a flash of insight during his cultivation sessions. Before he knew it, he had made great progress.
As for Wang Meng, probably very few people even remembered him anymore.
Under Wang Meng's meticulous care, the Spirit Field was thriving. Wang Meng had even created a simple Moistening Technique to nourish life. If one purely wanted to increase their power, there were many methods available to an Evil Cultivator, but Wang Meng knew all too well what the end result of that path was. He now had to comprehend the esoteric principles of a Saint Cultivator, starting from the very basics.
Cultivation required persistence, but also passion and immersion. In this regard, Wang Meng was the fiercest of all.
Wang Meng had also used up that Spirit Stone. He had completed the first layer of the Blast-Inducing Technique, and breaking through that layer brought him an unexpected surprise. The more difficult it was to break through a level, the stronger one's Life Mark became. No wonder Wang Meng's diligent cultivation had yielded such poor results; his Life Mark was simply too profound. To put it simply, if someone like him were born into a Cultivation Family with ample resources, his future would be limitless. But if he was all alone, he could very well perish prematurely.
Spirit Valley's harvest came once every six months, but Wang Meng had no intention of waiting that long. He calculated that with a Spiritual Spring and some magic, the first crop could be ready in another half a month.
Ma Le was dozing off from boredom. Ever since Zhao Guang had left, the Thunderlight Pavilion had become rather idle. Forget about Main Hall missions; nowadays, hardly anyone even accepted missions from Thunderlight Hall itself. Only a few of the older senior brothers and sisters would occasionally stop by, but they often just sighed and shook their heads. The simple tasks weren't worth doing, and for the more difficult ones, they couldn't find suitable teammates. Venturing out alone was too risky.
In the more powerful Sub-Halls, on the other hand, everyone scrambled for missions. If you were late, someone else would quickly snap it up. This was especially true for Sect Hall missions, which offered considerable rewards. The greater the difficulty, the more lavish the prize.
"Little Junior Sister, we meet again." Wang Meng winked at Xiaotian, who was slacking off in a corner. The young lady immediately blushed, shot to her feet, smoothed her hair, and bowed repeatedly.
"My apologies, my apologies! Oh, it's you, Senior Brother Wang!" Xiaotian's big eyes lit up as she smiled, revealing a pair of cute little tiger fangs. She was absolutely adorable.
"Haha, so Junior Sister remembers me. I should also thank you for the Wind Cloud Technique you gave me last time. It's very useful."
Wang Meng said.
Ma Tian'Er's face instantly turned red, and she quickly waved her hands. "Senior Brother, please don't make fun of me. I made another one later, and the result..."
"Is that so? It was probably just a one-time mistake. That's unavoidable. What Talisman Cultivator can claim they've never messed up in their entire life? At least the one you gave me is pretty good."
As he spoke, he handed the Wind Cloud Technique to Ma Tian'Er. "If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
Ma Tian'Er took the Talisman and froze. "Ah, did I make this???"
"Haha, it's not like I made it."
"Wow, I'm amazing!" Ma Tian'Er jumped for joy, drawing glances from several girls nearby.
Ma Tian'Er quickly quieted down, her face blushing. "My senior sister has been chewing me out these past few days. Thank you, I have confidence again."
Wang Meng smiled slightly. "Do you sell Spiritual Spring here? I'll have to buy it on credit, though. I'll pay you back when my Spirit Field is harvested."
"Yes, yes, we do! It's just fifteen contribution points. I'll put it on your tab."
Before Wang Meng could even confirm he wanted to buy it, she skipped off to get it.
Wang Meng took the Spiritual Spring and couldn't help but smile. "Aren't you afraid I'll skip out on the bill?"
Ma Tian'Er shook her head. "No way. Senior Brother is a good person!"
'A good person? What a foreign feeling.'
"Thank you, then."
As soon as Wang Meng left, the other girls immediately swarmed around her.
"Xiaotian, are you crazy? How can you let someone buy on credit here? He looks like he doesn't have any skills. Don't tell me you're planning to pay for it yourself!"
"Xiaotian, fess up. You haven't fallen for that simple-looking guy, have you?" a short-haired girl said, instantly igniting everyone's burning passion for gossip.
"It must be! Why else would our Xiaotian be paying for him!"
"That's odd. You ignore Senior when he looks for you, but you're all over this kid. Don't tell me you have a taste for the exotic?"
Surrounded in the middle, Xiaotian's face was completely red. She had transferred to Thunderlight Hall last year. A Technique Cultivator from the Talisman Sect specializing in Talismans, her gentle personality had allowed her to be quickly accepted by everyone. Her cultivation at the Tenth Layer of Life Mark was also quite good among the disciples, a clear sign that she had a solid foundation.
Disciples of the Holy Hall who weren't wealthy enough had to earn contribution points to exchange for the magic they wished to learn. On one hand, this strengthened the Holy Hall's overall power; on the other, it prevented anyone from reaping rewards without sowing, encouraging the disciples to work harder in their cultivation.
Male disciples generally had to do manual labor, like tending Spirit Fields as Wang Meng did. The female disciples were a bit luckier and could take on part-time jobs at places like the Thunderlight Pavilion or the Sword Pavilion. Ma Tian'Er's placement at the Thunderlight Pavilion had been approved by Zhao Guang back in the day. It had caused quite a stir for a while, as everyone thought the Senior was interested in her, but in the end, it was all thunder and no rain.
"Senior Sisters, please stop making fun of me, I just..." Ma Tian'Er was immediately overwhelmed by the onslaught from this group of hormonal female disciples.
"Excuses are just cover-ups, and cover-ups are confessions! Tian'Er, just admit it. For you to fall for him, that kid must have accumulated good karma for eight lifetimes!"
An older senior sister spoke up, probably sensing that if they continued, the little girl would want to find a hole to crawl into.
Generally speaking, for a couple to be considered well-matched, the male cultivator's cultivation had to be higher than the female cultivator's. The gap between these two was just too wide—one was at the Tenth Layer of Life Mark, the other not even at the Fifth Layer. Only someone with Tian'Er's silly personality would be like this.
"Come on, tell your Senior Sister, how did you meet this guy?"
"Yeah, yeah!" The other female cultivators' eyes widened. Surely that kid didn't trick her with some sweet nothings.
That girl, Xiaotian, was very naive and thought everyone was a good person. If a man deliberately tried to trick her, she would fall for it easily. The women's innate desire to protect the weak was aroused.
Ma Tian'Er fidgeted with her hands, her head bowed and her face a total mess of red. She actually mustered up her courage. "Actually... we've only met twice."
The senior sisters instantly felt the urge to spit blood. The one in the lead, dressed in purple, touched Ma Tian'Er's forehead. "Xiaotian, you don't have a fever, do you? You've fallen for him after only meeting twice? Did any of you get a good look at him just now? Is that guy handsome?"
"He's okay, I guess. I wasn't really paying attention."
"He'll do, I suppose. I don't think he's good enough for our Xiaotian."
"Please, Senior Sisters, spare me." Ma Tian'Er was already quite shy, and being teased by them like this made her wish she could find a hole to crawl into.
"Alright, then tell us what exactly you see in him, and we'll let you off the hook!"
Ma Tian'Er looked dazed for a moment. "Actually, I don't know either. I just... really like his eyes."