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Chapter 12 - Travel Is Full of Variables
Li Hanfeng maintained a peaceful mindset. Even if he couldn't instantly achieve flawless-quality spiritual qi, he wasn't too regretful.
After all, he practiced the Embryonic Breathing and Qi Absorption Method, which could gradually improve spiritual qi quality on its own - he'd reach flawless quality eventually.
If reaching it without refining Innate Qi would take a year of cultivation, after refining it, he could reach it earlier. As for exactly how much time would be saved, that depended on the results after refining.
Of course, refining had to be done slowly. Right now, the most urgent matter was the assessment task.
Since he'd accepted the karma, there was no possibility of avoiding it.
After severing karma, he wouldn't be entangled by it.
After accepting karma, no matter how he tried to avoid it, the matter would find him and involve him in various ways.
For example, this time - the sect assessment task that the sect wouldn't allow him to refuse.
After briefly calming his qi, Li Hanfeng got up, took his prepared items, and opened his door.
Fang Yu and the other three disciples from his courtyard were already waiting for him.
"Let's go meet up with the other six."
...
The Shushan Sect's mountain gate was very lively, filled with probationary disciples preparing to go down the mountain for assessment tasks.
At the mountain gate, the Shushan Sect had prepared flying boats to take probationary disciples down the mountain.
Li Hanfeng's group had gathered in advance, so they weren't affected by the crowds and scattered.
But not all teams were as organized as theirs.
With over three thousand probationary disciples gathered together, it was full of bustle and chaos.
"Where are the others? Why haven't they arrived yet!"
"How is my teammate on the flying boat? Don't they know to gather first?"
"We agreed to meet here!"
For a moment, the scene was chaotic.
What the many probationary disciples didn't know was that all their behavior was being watched by many eyes and recorded.
Of course, lack of organization wasn't considered a major issue in their eyes - it wouldn't lose points, but it wouldn't gain any either.
Li Hanfeng led his people onto the flying boat, found suitable seats, and instead of being affected by others, they began discussing the assessment task.
The task distributed by the sect had detailed information.
As team captain, Li Hanfeng said: "The assessment task doesn't specify completion time, but the task details specifically mention that Shuangxi Town is suffering from the water demon's torment and will use young boys and girls for sacrifice in ten days. So while there seems to be no time limit, we actually must reach Shuangxi Town within ten days, or once the incident happens, it'll be too late."
Xie Wen also analyzed: "The flying boat will only take us to the foot of the sect's mountain. The remaining journey requires us to travel on our own. Looking at the map provided by the sect, the thousand li distance isn't straight-line distance but travel distance, so we need to cover at least a hundred li daily."
Hearing this, Li Hanfeng shook his head. Xie Wen seemed experienced but was still young and didn't consider things comprehensively, so he added: "A hundred li is too extreme. Even though we're all cultivators, ten days of travel would leave us exhausted and affect demon hunting."
"And if we only rush to arrive on the day of sacrifice, we won't be able to investigate the water demon's details, and we'll easily be passive when fighting it. We'd better arrive three days early - that means a thousand li in seven days."
"I didn't think it through." Xie Wen apologized.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Li Hanfeng comforted him, then looked at the others seriously: "To arrive in seven days, we need to travel over 140 li daily. To prevent unexpected incidents along the way, we need to travel 150 li daily. You need to be prepared."
With their current cultivation, as their levels improved, spiritual qi would temper their bodies.
But among their ten people, four hadn't even reached middle-stage Qi Refining. Their physiques were decent but not yet powerful. Traveling 150 li for seven consecutive days wouldn't be easy.
Among the ten, probably only he and Wang Mingyue would have no pressure.
Of course, since he set such a plan, it was naturally achievable. As cultivators, they could use spiritual qi to recover their bodies.
If they really pushed themselves, they wouldn't even need seven days.
After explaining the travel plan, Chen Yang was first to speak: "I have no problem."
If Chen Yang, who only had second-layer Qi Refining cultivation, could say this, the others naturally had no objections.
After setting the general plan, Li Hanfeng asked: "Do you have any other questions? We can discuss them now while we still can."
Wang Mingyue raised her hand: "Brother Hanfeng, I have a question. The sect gave us this kind of task - aren't they afraid we won't make it in time? If we don't make it, we just fail the assessment and can't become formal disciples, but the people of Shuangxi Town will suffer the water demon's attack."
Everyone was stunned hearing this.
They hadn't considered this question.
Li Hanfeng thought about it: "The sect should have already considered this. If we can't make it, there should be sect members to handle it."
He didn't think their probationary disciple assessment would go unmonitored.
Maybe their team was being followed by sect cultivators.
"I see, then I'm relieved!" Wang Mingyue smiled brightly. She didn't want problems on their end to cause harm to the people of Shuangxi Town.
Seeing this, Li Hanfeng said: "Whether the sect sent people or not, we can't slack off. On one side are human lives, on the other is our future. Problems on either side would be unacceptable."
"Too bad you're just a bit short, Hanfeng. If you could reach the seventh layer of Qi Refining, you could use divine sense to control a sword, and traveling would be much easier."
With the new cultivation method in Qi Refining realm, because of greater foundation accumulation, reaching the seventh layer allowed divine sense projection and sword flying, which was indeed convenient for travel. With the old method, one needed to reach Qi Refining perfection, close to Foundation Establishment, to achieve divine sense projection.
But Fang Yu's words were mostly joking.
If Li Hanfeng were alone, he could indeed save travel time, but generally, seventh-layer Qi Refining divine sense wasn't enough to bring ten people traveling a thousand li.
They chatted like this, and before they knew it, the flying boat had landed at the foot of the sect's mountain.
Their identity tokens had route guidance, so after leaving the flying boat, they didn't waste time and immediately began traveling.
On the first day, with abundant energy, the ten relied on their cultivator physiques and managed to travel nearly two hundred li before stopping to rest. Even so, Chen Yang and others already had somewhat unsteady steps.
At night, they found a safe place to meditate and recover.
Only after leaving the mountain gate did they realize the spiritual qi concentration outside was completely incomparable to the sect - it was like heaven and earth.
Cultivating outside for a month might not equal one day of dedicated cultivation in the sect.
Of course, this spiritual qi was still adequate for recovering physical strength.
Li Hanfeng was completely unaffected. After one night, his cultivation had even improved slightly.
Because he'd already begun refining the Innate Qi.
Innate Qi's most important function was improving spiritual qi quality and roots, but it was still spiritual qi after all, so it had decent effects on advancing cultivation too.
He roughly estimated that if he could completely refine it, breaking through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining was certain, and reaching the eighth layer wasn't impossible.
Of course, his refining speed wasn't fast. At the current pace, he'd need at least another month - he could only take it slowly.
On the second day they continued traveling. This day's distance was much less, but they still completed the planned 150 li.
Li Hanfeng didn't increase the pace. Travel was full of variables - he couldn't demand others match his cultivation level, which would only increase exhaustion.
Even so, Chen Yang, who had the lowest cultivation, was struggling. Li Hanfeng privately gave him a Qi Refining Pill distributed by the sect, without letting others know.
Chen Yang clutched the pill, his throat moving as he silently remembered this in his heart, then chose to accept it. He was also smart enough not to let others know.
Originally thinking they'd continue peacefully until reaching Shuangxi Town, on the fourth day at midjourney, while resting in a village, they encountered a problem.
