Their conversation with Zhong Da was very short after the incident with the disgusting cookies Shui had tried to get Jun to try. An attempt to share the suffering she had experienced. Yin Hu was beyond relieved that it hadn't been just his taste buds that were irrevocably ruined. Rather, it was just the culinary skills of this entire cultivation world they were currently in. Well, his judgment remained only on the cultivators of the planet, simply because he hadn't had the time nor the opportunity to taste anything of culinary value from the mortals.

Yet, he doubted that it would be anything better. Cultivators were supposed to fill their food with Qi to push it to new heights and yet here they were.

Said mortals were limited by mundane ingredients.

Jun And Shui followed Yin Hu back toward the pavilion. Bickering among themselves. Jun was still upset at Shui's ridiculous attempt to force her to eat the cookie and let the little girl know about it. Though, by the time they entered the pavilion, their conversation had already shifted past the incident. Onto something that had no relevance to the event. Flowers and which color was the best.

Yin Hu was positive the situation would have been completely different had Shui been able to catch Jun. He doubted the older girl would still be so innocent to horrific culinary abilities.

Both stopped their conversations as soon as they entered the pavilion proper. They turned towards Yin, silently waiting for his instructions, future commands, and the new training regime he had promised them.

He noticed their reactions and turned to face them as well. Yin Hu paused as he noticed the deep frowns in Jun's face that had not been there previously. Only when they entered now. "Something the matter, Jun? You seem to have some recollection of what a Zhong means. Is it that?"

Yin Hu remembered her reaction as soon as the man said his surname.

"Mhm. I do," she said as she turned back and looked towards where the couple would have been standing past the fabric of the pavilion. She paused for a second before she finally turned back to look at him. "It's more than that. I feel like I know that man. His energy, the Qi within him, it all seemed so familiar, yet I can't seem to place it. He gives me the creeps. Terrifies me. Yet his face I have never seen…"

Yin Hu let Jun get her moment to think and regather her thoughts. She seemed stuck on this matter. Unable to shake whatever she was feeling currently. He hoped to see if she was going to add anything about what her feeling had been. He trusted her intuition implicitly. Especially because she had lived in this cultivation world far longer than he had and developed a strong sense for what was good or evil.

The same sense that had kept her and Shui protected from all of the dangers of this world when they had no source of protection until they fell into the hands of the Bandit Lord Dong ZhenKang. It was something that had been built ever since she was a child and the first time she escaped from the holds of demonic cultivators attacking their family, clan, and sect.

Yin Hu would have been an idiot to disregard it.

I have a pretty favorable impression of the couple. They never showed me anything other than deep levels of respect so far. Can't really make a decision either way currently, though I do lean toward Jun simply because she is my disciple and they are strangers to me.

Zhong Da really went out of his way to serve him tea and take care of anything he requested. Maybe too much. Jumping on any opportunity to please him or solve any of Yin Hu's miniscule issues. He had attributed it to their current situation as a whole. Wu Xui seemed too sickly to have been out here in a supposedly dangerous forest. Even if she was a monster or made an attempt at killing others in any form at all. Her bouts of fainting and what looked like strokes were not lies.

"You said you were familiar with Zhong Da. As in the family name as well?" Yin Hu said to wake her back from whatever thoughts she had going through her head right now. An attempt to get more information.

Jun nodded. "The Zhongs are a massive family and sect that dominates the Righteous Bloc. They, like the majority of the most powerful among the righteous cultivators, disappeared the day the calamity arrived. Sealing themselves and their mountain sects and starting up their legendary primordial arrays to go into deep isolation. Either he is lying and he is not truly Zhong Da, he failed to make it back in time before the seals were applied, or in the worst case scenario, he had been banished from the sect itself. I doubt there's a fourth option."

"I haven't seen anything evil from them. Did you get a chance to peek at his core?"

"No, the encounter was too quick, Master. Though I am still learning how to comfortably use my newfound powers, especially now that you've given us a mutation. I have no clue how that would affect my cultivation and the ability to use Qi overall or if I could hide any probing attempt without them noticing instantly. A hammer bludgeoning a nail into a mirror."

Yin Hu rubbed at his beard. Taking his time to think this matter through and not make a hasty decision.

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He could potentially kick the two out of his camp without any repercussions at all. The forest seemed empty of any monsters or spiritual beasts that he had been expecting. The tales were all exactly that, long stories and myths that probably weren't true. It felt incredulous that a place where all these cultivators literally started sweating bullets at its mention would be so vibrant and safe. It might have just been a ploy or trick by someone to keep the place for him alone that was overblown out of proportion.

Then again, he did need new sparring partner for the two girls. Wu Xui would be a perfect partner for Shui especially with how weak and fragile the lady seemed to be. Though he would need to be careful of the little one going overboard and actually injuring the older lady, nearly killing her. He couldn't let her develop into a murderhobo main character.

Zhong Da would be an optimal partner for Jun as well. He seemed very in control of his abilities and body, perfect for her to practice as a new liquid core cultivator.

It was the same process he did with YagWan and his two disciples.

They had clearly been there to cause them harm or worse, kill the two girls simply because there was a bounty on their heads and the old man and his disciples were bounty hunters looking for a big payday. He had taken advantage of that moment and turned the situation into one where he helped develop Jun and Shui as best as possible. Making tremendous advancements to their mental health, which again had been set back by Dong ZhenKang.

Jun and Shui were already making progress back to where they had been. Jun doing better than the little girl.

He would also need to update his plan and figure out what steps he needed to take before the sparring could occur. All in the hopes to make sure that they, firstly, did not expose themselves and secondarily, they did not end up showing all their cards to what could potentially be their enemies. Just enough to get used to their new found abilities and whatever the mutations meant for them in the short term.

The very first step would be to consider their cultivation and what they were likely going to be using for the future. He doubted whatever they had with them on hand was anything close to the monstrous items he currently carried within his special rice bag. Though the issue of almost everything he pulled out sounding like evil demonic things still remained.

"Give me some time to consider my options, Jun. In the meantime, start cultivating and prepare yourself. Maybe we could take advantage of this moment and have the two spar with you and Shui." Yin Hu said as he came to a final decision. Buy time until he figured his next couple steps and the trajectory he wanted them to go on. He was not about to let them go through the process blind.

"Yes, Ancestor" both of them said at the same time.

The two girls headed back towards their own rooms. Both of them had cultivation mats that would help them gather Qi from the surroundings and speed up the process of preparing themselves and getting used to what it was to have the mutations on at all times. He expected slightly above average results, but that was better than the alternative they had previously.

Yin Hu, on the other hand, pulled out the Compendium and started studying it one more time. After the purification process had been completed, finally came the start of bringing them manuals to cultivate. This was the most vague part of the entire process. Unlike before where the katas had entire descriptions of what needed to be done, or the entire potion for their spiritual roots purification, this part only had a general guide to give them what was the best possible manual applicable for them.

It had a bold note for him to read near the end.

Manuals with adjacent Elements of Higher Realm and Ranking are more applicable and sought after than the disciple's Element of lesser Realm and Ranking

The rule only applied if the difference was an entire major realm. No minor realms were a big enough chasm to the adjacent elements to be worth the time and effort to cultivate them. He needed to figure out a way to find the exact realms on this planet. Make up a dozen excuses and find something weak enough because again the lowest of anything he could use remained within the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Very much like what the lowest Spiritual Roots he could accept from a disciple based upon the Compendium.

I do have to consider that the ranks might not be acceptable in this cultivation world. Would it be just like the mutation ranks and how it tried to ascend them? That is not something I want to test. Not without direct access to the system and its ability to stop and start whatever process the ascension looked like.

Yin Hu decided to fully go through with the process to figure this out. They had agreed with Zhong Da and Wu Xui to sit for a couple more days and give the girls some time to recover and learn their newfound abilities. Any longer and it would not be right. It would not be wise to have the girls hanging by a promise without any form of advancement halfway through the journey towards Righteous Sect Bloc. Especially if there were monsters out there that could threaten them.

He, for some odd reason, doubted that there were.

Yin Hu had already been using his perception ability ever since he woke up. It had gained more coverage the longer he practiced and kept it on. Ever since its arrival he had not seen anything worthy of finding or the perception ability catching by itself. Nothing except the small blip during the whole debacle that was the Shao Yating incident with Jun. He was still unsure if it had been Jun, Yating, or something else entirely that he had caught on.

The theory had been that everyone else knew how to hide their abilities. Everyone except Jun… except that Shui had nothing either. Maybe she was too weak? What about Wu Xui. He doubted she could keep whatever was sealing her power from being seen during her fainting spells, unless Zhong Da was keeping it on for her in order to hide their presence.

Even now, as he closed his eyes and searched as far as he could, letting his senses blanket the entire area. As far as he could possibly push it. He could not find anything worth the time it took to approach. Not a blip in his radar the entire way forward.

Maybe my skill is broken too… Just like the system.

It was another reason to keep the husband and wife around. Maybe they could indirectly teach the girls whatever this method was.

He, on the other hand, had been slacking on his own practice.

It was about time he returned to his trainings, even if he had to hide it from the couple due to the sheer embarrassment he would feel if they see him attempt a flying quintuple kick followed by a spinning sword slash.

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