Unawares, half a year slipped by.
In these six months, under the guidance of Eldest Senior Sister, Meng Luoluo's swordsmanship had reached the subtle realm of perfection, and her cultivation had already hit Qi Condensation Level 9, ready to break through at any moment.
At the very beginning, Eldest Senior Sister had brought over five sword manuals—one for each elemental attribute—all of which were Earth-tier cultivation techniques. The original intention was for her to pick one to learn, but she ended up studying all of them.
Sometimes she would spar with He Manting, but she had yet to figure out how many spiritual roots He Manting possessed. Every time they sparred, she would be beaten back with the exact same level of spiritual power; all she knew was that the other's cultivation was at the Soul-Gathering Realm.
Over the past six months of living with He Manting, their relationship had gradually grown more harmonious, mutual trust had deepened, and the small courtyard had become much livelier.
To the left and right sides of the house, there were a kitchen, an alchemy room, and an Artifact Refining Room respectively.
Only then did Meng Luoluo realize that He Manting was an all-around genius, a bona fide protagonist template who was skilled in alchemy, formations, artifact refining, swordsmanship, and talismans, with the most important thing being that she was also a fantastic cook.
In her own courtyard, Meng Luoluo cleared out quite a large patch of land to grow her own vegetables.
...
On this day, Eldest Senior Sister did not come; instead, it was Fourth Senior Sister who arrived.
Fourth Senior Sister held up a Storage Bag. "These are the robes for a personal disciple and some pills."
"Next month is the annual opening of the basic secret realm. All disciples who have not yet reached the Source Gathering Realm may enter to undergo tempering and gain experience. You can go if you like."
Meng Luoluo thought for a moment. "As long as one hasn't reached the Source Gathering Realm, is that all? Can I go twice?"
"Of course you can. It doesn't matter how many times you enter, only your cultivation realm matters."
Meng Luoluo said, "I won't go. I feel my cultivation is still somewhat lacking, so I'll go next time."
Shangguan Qingzhu nodded. "That's fine too. Spend a bit more time consolidating your cultivation."
...
After Fourth Senior Sister left, Meng Luoluo opened the Storage Bag. Inside was a set of sect disciple robes—white with gold thread trimming the collar and cuffs, and intricate golden characters embroidered on the sleeves—along with an ordinary iron sword, and several medicine bottles labeled Foundation Establishment Pill, Spirit Replenishing Liquid, Spring-Returning Pill, and Restoration Pill.
Meng Luoluo carefully inspected these items. Finally, she wouldn't have to use a wooden sword anymore. She thought about it—well, she could indeed make the breakthrough now. Yet she still felt a slight lack of a sense of security.
Never mind, she would make the breakthrough first.
Advancing from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment only required sufficient spiritual Qi; there was no heavenly tribulation to speak of.
Once the breakthrough was successful, she used a transmission jade talisman to notify Senior Sister and Master, and after receiving their approval, she was free to act as she pleased.
Meng Luoluo went straight to find He Manting and stated her thoughts directly. In fact, Meng Luoluo already had a solution in mind, but she lacked the materials, so she hoped to procure some through Sister Ting.
Naturally, He Manting saw right through Meng Luoluo's intentions.
She asked directly, "What do you need?"
Meng Luoluo replied, "Some rather hard materials. Even when exposed to heat, they won't change much."
Meng Luoluo wrote down a long list. Seeing this, He Manting only smiled. "Come, follow me down the mountain. I'll take you shopping. Do you have enough spirit stones?"
Meng Luoluo answered, "Enough, enough. Fourth Senior Sister gave me quite a lot—altogether fifty thousand upper-grade ones, one hundred thousand middle-grade ones, and three hundred thousand lower-grade ones. If it's not enough, don't I still have Sister Ting?"
He Manting smiled and gently stroked Meng Luoluo's head.
Meng Luoluo informed Senior Sister and then accompanied He Manting down the mountain.
...
Nestled at the foot of the Chaoyun Sect was a sizable city named Chenliu City.
The two of them headed straight for the AllThings Pavilion.
Inside the AllThings Pavilion.
As soon as He Manting stepped through the door, a shop assistant hurried over to greet them.
He Manting covertly flashed a black card. "Get your manager."
Seeing the black card and realizing a VIP had arrived, the assistant hurriedly ran upstairs to find the manager.
Before he was even seen, his voice was heard first.
Manager Li called out, "I don't know which honored guest has graced us with their presence. I failed to welcome you from afar, please forgive me, please forgive me."
The manager cleared his vision to look at the newcomers, but just as he was about to speak, He Manting stopped him with a glance.
He Manting said, "My surname is He; just call me Miss He. This is my cousin."
Meng Luoluo added, "Manager, you can just call me Miss Meng."
The manager said, "A private room on the upper floor has already been prepared with tea and pastries for the two of you. Let's discuss things in detail."
Though the manager had his doubts, it wasn't his place to gossip about figures of high status; whatever the Eldest Miss brought people here for, it certainly wouldn't be wrong.
Cutting straight to the chase, Meng Luoluo stated her purpose and produced the list.
Manager Li looked over the inventory: iron ore, charcoal, saltpeter, sulfur, white sugar, mercury, sea salt essence, copper, and so on...
Manager Li said, "Judging from this list, these are all ordinary items devoid of spiritual power. The two of you might as well state what this is really about."
Meng Luoluo replied, "Ordinary iron cannot pierce the hide of beasts, nor can it break through spiritual Qi defenses. I wonder if the manager has any ideas?"
Manager Li looked at He Manting, who nodded. She too was curious about what this little girl was up to.
Manager Li said, "I do, and you've come to the right person. There is a substance called Xumao Gold. Despite having 'gold' in its name, it possesses no golden spiritual power, nor is it as valuable as mortal gold."
"This item was brought out by someone from the Spirit Prohibition Land. It ignores all spiritual Qi and has an unimaginably hard texture, but the price..."
Meng Luoluo: "..."
Meng Luoluo asked, "Can this thing pierce Dharmic Robes?"
The manager replied, "If forged properly... well, it can pierce scales and armor, and mere Dharmic Robes are not worth mentioning."
Meng Luoluo settled the price with the manager, acquired a small amount of Xumao Gold, and purchased some ordinary materials. Just as they were about to leave the AllThings Pavilion, the manager hurried over and handed her a gold card. "Present this token when you come to the AllThings Pavilion for a discount. The Pastoral Villa operates the same way."
"Wishing the two of you a safe journey, and we welcome your return!"
As she walked, Meng Luoluo pondered how to craft weapons, and before she knew it, she was led by He Manting to the Pastoral Villa.
Meng Luoluo asked, "Isn't this the place the manager just mentioned? What are we here for?"
He Manting replied, "Come on, since we're already here, let's go inside and have a meal to celebrate your first time down the mountain."
Once inside, Meng Luoluo produced the gold card and took the initiative to ask, "Can this be used here?"
The assistant answered, "Yes, it can. Please head upstairs, both of you."
Seeing that Meng Luoluo was somewhat absent-minded, He Manting took the initiative to order the dishes. The two of them hurriedly finished eating, settled the bill, and left.
Meng Luoluo didn't dwell too much on this matter; her mind was still primarily occupied with the weapon issue. Xumao Gold was brought out from a secret realm, so the quantity wouldn't be very large, and she would need to find something else to substitute for it. After all, this material would be consumed in the process, and secondly, she simply didn't have that much money.
With no other choice, since her understanding of this world was still insufficient, she could only ask He Manting.
He Manting said, "Yes, you can use formations or ink, or you can fuse ordinary metals with Xumao Gold."
Meng Luoluo asked, "Ink?"
He Manting explained, "Ancient books record that there is a special material within the Abyss which, when made into ink, can injure people while ignoring any spiritual power. What exactly this material is, no one has discovered to this day. This kind of ink is mostly used by talisman cultivators to paint talismans mid-air."
Meng Luoluo asked, "Where is the Abyss located?"
He Manting said, "I think I should find you more books about this continent so you can gain a deeper understanding of it."
"There are Four Endless regions on this continent, and each Endless region has an Abyss, located respectively in the Endless Snow Mountain, the Endless Desert, the Endless Deep Sea, and the Endless Dense Forest."