Chapter 27: Showing Off Skills

While Su Che was having a mental conversation with Lao Hei, he heard Lei Xiao say, “Yinfeng Rats are timid and cunning. It’s easier to kill them outright. To capture them alive, not only do you need certain skills, but also special trapping tools. That’s why I suggest you just buy one, it’s more convenient.”
Su Che nodded. Lei Qingxue, who was standing nearby, asked curiously, “Did you buy a Yinfeng Rat?”
“Yes,” replied Lei Xiao. “Yesterday, Junior Su urgently needed a low-level demon beast to refine a magic weapon, so I had him buy one in the town. It’s not expensive anyway.”
“A mere Yinfeng Rat? There’s really no need to spend spirit stones,” Lei Qingxue shook her head lightly. “Xiaoxiao, you yourself aren’t frugal and are used to spending recklessly. Don’t spoil Junior Su.”
“Junior Su doesn’t lack those few spirit stones anyway. Besides, I even tried hard to haggle for him!” Lei Xiao muttered in defense, then winked at Su Che. “There’s no helping it. My third sister just likes to scold me. Actually, she’s only a few months older than me.”
Su Che smiled and explained for her, “Senior Qingxue, it was because I was in a hurry to refine the magic weapon that I dared to enter the Yinfeng Gorge. I was worried that my insufficient strength would become a burden to Senior Lei.”
Lei Qingxue nodded and, in her role as a senior, gave him some advice: “You two come from such privileged backgrounds and don’t understand the hardships of ordinary people. You really should experience what it’s like to be self-taught disciples so you can truly appreciate how hard-earned every spirit stone is.”
Su Che knew she meant well and obediently nodded in acceptance, though inwardly he thought, I’m also a self-taught disciple from Xuanji City!
After this conversation, Lei Qingxue and Su Che became much closer, and they talked more often. Judging from the personalities of this brother and sister, Su Che thought the Lei family’s upbringing was very successful. Despite being from a wealthy family, they lacked arrogance and were easy to get along with.
As they continued forward, the terrain in the gorge became more complex, with steeper cliffs on both sides. There were frequent forks in the path, and huge rocks scattered around blocked the view, making it easy to get lost. Fortunately, those who dared to enter the gorge were all practitioners, so even if they got lost, they could climb up to the top of the gorge to orient themselves.
As they walked, they suddenly heard Lei Qingxue say, “There’s a Wind Spirit Grass over there.”

Following her line of sight, Su Che and Lei Xiao saw that about ten zhang above the right cliff face, a small pale blue grass grew in a crack in the rock, with only a tiny leaf visible. It was fortunate that Lei Qingxue had exceptional eyesight and great attention to detail, otherwise she might not have noticed it.

“Is that the Wind Spirit Grass?” Su Che reminded Old Black in his mind, “Remember what this spiritual grass looks like. If you spot it, inform me immediately.”

“Yes, master.”

Su Che already knew that although Old Black’s detection methods weren’t as far-reaching as those of human cultivators, it wouldn’t miss any clues within its detection range. It could even see through certain depths of rock layers or cliffs. Even if a spiritual grass grew deep in a crack, it couldn’t escape Old Black’s search.

Looking at Lei Qingxue, the height of ten zhang posed no challenge to someone at the third level of Qi cultivation. She soared into the air like a celestial fairy, her small, cute light beige boots lightly touching the protrusions on the cliff face before she quickly climbed up.

In just a few blinks, she descended from the sky, holding a pale blue spiritual grass with seven leaves, and a small cluster of dark blue bean-like fruits hanging from the central stem.

“It’s less than thirty years old—barely usable,” Lei Qingxue said with a faint smile as she put the Wind Spirit Grass into a special pouch for spiritual herbs.

Su Che didn’t ask about its uses. He guessed it wasn’t some precious medicinal herb anyway. Besides, if he wanted to learn about spiritual herbs, there were countless relevant books in the sect that he could consult for free.

“Let’s go,” Lei Qingxue said. “We still need to collect nineteen more.”

“The Wind Spirit Grass is quite common. Finding nineteen more shouldn’t be hard. It’s my Burrowing Poison Vines that are tricky,” Lei Xiao complained in a low voice, seemingly forgetting that he had volunteered for this task—no one had forced him.

“Wait, don’t go yet!”

Su Che shouted softly, then leaped onto a large rock on the right side, pointing to a crack in the upper cliff face. “There’s another Wind Spirit Grass in there.”

The crack was quite deep, and due to the angle, the Lei siblings couldn’t see the Wind Spirit Grass Su Che was referring to. Doubtful, they climbed onto the rock where Su Che was, and then faintly spotted a hint of pale blue.

“It really is!” Lei Xiao widened his eyes, looking at Su Che in disbelief. “How did you know? We couldn’t see it from below just now.”

Lei Qingxue also gave Su Che a deep look, thinking to herself, “It’s not just that it’s invisible from below; even standing here, without his guidance, it would be very difficult to spot that color. His search ability is so outstanding—it seems his family has indeed made great achievements in this field.”

“Great!” Lei Xiao’s exaggerated expression still hadn’t faded as he put his arm around Su Che’s shoulder and said, “Before we develop divine senses, your ability will be extremely useful! Very good. From now on, I’ll rely entirely on you for the Earth-Stealing Poison Vines.”

As he spoke, Lei Xiao took out a book titled *Illustrated Guide to Spiritual Herbs* from his Qi Bag, flipped through it quickly, and pointed at a certain vine plant, exclaiming, “Junior Su, this is the Earth-Stealing Poison Vine. If you help me complete this task, I’ll take you to…” He glanced secretly at his cousin and lowered his voice, “Whatever you want to do, I’ll take you there!”

While Su Che was looking at the guide, Lei Qingxue had already picked the Wind Spirit Herb and flown down from the cliff. The slight breeze carried a faint fragrance—not that of the Wind Spirit Herb, but rather the delicate scent of a pure young girl.

Similarly, Lei Qingxue was very pleased with Su Che’s search ability. After all, with this ability, not only would this gathering task become much easier, but similar search missions in the future could also be completed together… The Lei family didn’t lack spiritual stones; what they lacked was faction contribution points.

Next, the three of them ventured deeper into the canyon. With Old Black’s detection skills and Su Che’s help, Lei Xiao and Lei Qingxue managed to collect the roots of two Earth-Stealing Poison Vines and six Wind Spirit Herbs.

Su Che was cautious by nature. Even when showing off his skills intentionally, he did so in a measured way—only to surprise people within reason, without arousing suspicion or provoking greed. After all, after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, anyone could develop divine senses, so such abilities no longer held any special significance.

“One more friend means one more path. The Lei family has deep roots in the Tianxuan Sect. Building good relations with them certainly can’t hurt.” It was with this mindset that Su Che displayed his abilities in a measured way, earning the respect of the Lei siblings and ensuring their interactions remained on an equal footing.

The three youths happily gathered the spiritual herbs, while their pursuer remained extremely cautious and patient… Old Black had even counted: in total, that guy activated the communication talismans five times.

“It’s almost time; they should show up soon, right?” Su Che guessed in his heart. Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, Lao He reported, “Master, there are four people lurking at the corner of the path ahead—three men and one woman. I can depict their appearances as mental images.” “Good, let me take a look,” Su Che replied. In an instant, Su Che’s mind received a nearly realistic image—essentially, Lao He had recorded what he saw and transmitted it to Su Che. It was said that a certain ‘shadow-image memory crystal’ in the cultivation world also had a similar function, though Su Che and Lao He’s method of mental communication was more direct and faster. Su Che saw that three men and one woman were lurking behind the fork in the path. One of the young men had a distinctive face—a dark red birthmark on his right temple. “It’s him!” Su Che immediately recognized the guy—it was the same vendor who sold him the Wind Rat the previous day. “It was just a transaction for a Wind Rat, twelve spirit stones at most. Neither I nor Lei Xiao showed off our wealth or said anything offensive. Why would these guys plot against us? What’s their motive?”