Cultivation System: Elder Edition

Chapter 370

Ghosts of the Mine (XVI)

... huh.

Alrighty then.

Xing Feng went from being an ordinary little kid to... well, this. Breaking through into the Foundation Establishment without any preparations, without any items, without any guidance. Just... walking into it, essentially.

As the dawn cracked, and everyone started coming out, I noticed something.

Nobody else knew.

In fact, judging by Xing Feng's behavior... even he didn't freakin' know.

... how can somebody who just broke up not know it? I don't know. Nobody knows anything, apparently. I do wonder whether I should announce it, however. What would the kids think? What would Long Tao think? 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Oh well. They'll have to learn eventually.

"Congratulations, Feng'er," I announced as we were eating.

"On what, Master?" he asked rather innocently.

"On breaking through into the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"Hm? I did? When?"

"--h-he really did!!"

"When did he break through?!!"

"How is this possible?!" as everyone swarmed the little boy, I had to endure overwhelming, to say the least, gazes of Long Tao and Lao Shun. Especially Long Tao, who looked perhaps more shocked than I'd ever seen him. Or, at least the most he'd ever let me see.

... was this really such a big deal?

"Master, how did Junior Brother break through?" Wan Lan asked. "We didn't feel any fluctuations last night..."

"That's right, that's right!" Dai Xiu echoed. "Did you secretly help him, Master?"

"No," I said. "Your Junior Brother naturally entered a state of Enlightenment and broke through. That's why he's likely unaware himself that he did it."

"!!!"

"Wow, little Feng'er! That's amazing!"

"He he~"

As they celebrated, I endured another gaze, that of the woman's, piercing my soul. Why?! Why do you keep looking at me that way?!! I'm not the one who broke through!!

The breakfast continued, the kids questioning Xing Feng over and over, and he not knowing how to answer anything. This is what 'genius', I guess, is about. Things just... happen to them, for better or worse.

We packed up and started the climb up, immediately encountering a few beasts. Xing Feng went out to face them on his own, while my eyes wandered toward the youngest member of our little group--Light.

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I thought she'd be upset that little Feng broke through before her, but... she didn't seem to mind it? I mean, she's magnitudes stronger than him, sure, but watching someone shoot past you in cultivation can't be that pleasant.

She seemed to care the most that she remain the youngest, so maybe her priorities are just different than someone like Dai Xiu? In fact, she even approached him after the battle and gave him a few pointers on how to fight better.

"You really are simply full of surprises," the woman said as everyone settled into smaller groups and I was kind of left alone. Or, they noticed she wanted to chat with me, so they dispersed into smaller groups.

"I am?"

"I've only heard of two other cases of people entering the state of Enlightenment naturally and breaking through."

"Oh."

"In the history of this continent," she added.

"... oh."

"As such, it'd be best if you didn't go around bragging about it."

"Thank you for the advice."

"Hm. Phoenix Realm might turn out to be even more fun than most people thought..."

She parted with those words, leaving me with a lot to think about.

Namely, just how much should the kids show off in the realm? Drawing some attention is fine, sure, but drawing all eyes onto us would just lead to being badgered and chased by everyone and their mother.

Haah.

It's an issue when you have kids that aren't talented, but it's also an issue when they're too talented. I've felt for a while that just I, and Lao Shun to a degree, I suppose, aren't enough of a deterrence. Even if, theoretically, we could beat people wanting to hurt us, I'd much prefer if they never even tried fighting us.

What we need is a figure of enough stature and backing that would cause most groups to think dealing with us just isn't worth the headache. That woman, actually, could probably provide that, but the issue is that she had no reason to. And if I tried to squirm my way into it by offering her some crazy shit, there's also a good chance she would just kill me and steal it.

About midway through the day and, coincidentally, midway up the ramp toward the next fork, a new Demonic Beast appeared--it was a tiger... of sorts. Black-skinned, with white, elongating curves symmetrically pulsing back against its truly massive and muscular body, it looked like the kind of animal myths were written about.

Its eyes shone scarlet red, and the pressure it exuded was no joke. In fact, none of the kids stepped forth to fight it, as though they sensed it.

It was the woman, actually, who stepped forward--but, to my surprise, not to fight.

"Great Tiger, this is our offering." She presented a small, palm-sized black box toward the beast, bowing deeply and placing it at its feet. "May we pass?"

The beast, however, completely ignored her, its eyes focused entirely on me. No... wait, not me--somebody next to me. It was Long Tao. Of course it was Long Tao.

He looked back at the tiger virtually expressionless, and thus the two stared at each other for a few moments before the beast looked away. If I didn't know any better... I'd think they casually chatted about something or another.

"You may," a voice echoed inside my mind like a bolt of thunder. "Rest here for the night and move at dawn. Do not wander; I cannot guarantee your safety."

It sauntered off right after, not even having taken the box. Judging by the flummoxed expression on the woman's face, that's not common, which was why I immediately looked at Long Tao.

"Someone your father knew?"

"My second uncle," he said.

"Lucky."

He merely glanced at me and smiled.

The woman stood there, surprised, for a good minute before picking up the box and ordering the other five to prepare the camp. We stopped, too, and pitched the tent; there was just barely enough space for it, and even that was after we cut a few trees down. Well, when I say we, I mean the kids. One good thing about having a whole lot of disciples is that there's always someone else to do the chores.

The night fell, we ate dinner, and everyone left to their own little corners. Just as I was about to settle in for the night, too, Long Tao rattled me.

"Come with me, Master," he said.

"... Alright." What else was I to say? Chances are that he was taking us to that tiger. And though I was perfectly fine never needing to see that gigantic thing again, if this old monster tells me to follow... "Won't they have suspicions?" I pointed at the other camp next to us.

"They won't know."

"... what did you do?"

"Nothing," he said. "Just a small trick my grandma taught me."

"..." haah. You and your ever-increasing number of family members. You all will be the death of me.