Rebirth as a Wind Cultivator - Chapter 96: Fruit Mission

Xiulan pumped her legs faster, pushing herself to keep pace with Ming. The mountain road winded upward, quickly leaving tree, shrub, and grass behind. A constant pulse of qi ran through her meridians to maintain the exertion, otherwise she would have collapsed hours earlier.

“This is ridiculous,” Xiulan panted, glancing over her shoulder. Small beads of sweat dotted her crown but they were quickly wisped away by the passing air. “Missions shouldn’t require this much running.”

Ming laughed without breaking stride. “This? This is good practice. If you can’t run for an entire day without tiring, you’ve neglected your training.”

Xiulan grunted. Ming spoke truth, however unwelcome. The pace shouldn’t exhaust her. Technically her muscles and body were fine, it was the constant flow of qi that was challenging. The focus had led to her robes already becoming damp. Meanwhile, Ming glided forward with dry skin and steady breathing.

“The tender better appreciate our punctuality,” Xiulan muttered, focusing on controlling her breath despite wanting to sigh dramatically. The mission would pay decent spirit stones, but her mind kept wandering to other places.

She pictured the kitchen where Pan Xia waited, probably experimenting with new cultivation food recipes. Or the alchemy lab where Su Yin had promised to show her improved pill-making techniques.

Xiulan nearly stumbled as the realization hit her. She actually looked forward to returning to the Pavilion. To her new friends. To her projects.

The mountain face grew steeper. Xiulan stopped and craned her head up. The stone turned vertical into a cliff, or rather a pillar that jutted upward as tall as any modern day skyscraper. What was the name for them? A mesa, or butte?

“No normal person could get up here without climbing gear,” Xiulan said, her knuckles white as she gripped a small ledge. “This is insane.”

Ming glanced back. “You’re right. But we’re not normal people, are we? The fruit is isolated for a reason, it won’t grow in a populated area.”

“That’s not the point! Look at this!” Xiulan jabbed her finger upward. “It’s literally a vertical mountain!”

Ming raised an eyebrow. “Did you actually listen during the mission briefing?”

“Yes! I listened!” Xiulan snapped. “I just didn’t understand it would be like this. Even when Feng Yu and I went after the serpent scales, the terrain wasn’t this rugged.” She winced. “At least we’re not lugging around a giant cauldron weighing more than both of us combined.”

“Junior Sister, the method isn’t more complicated than the running.” Ming demonstrated the proper technique, punching her fist into the rock face and channeling qi to maintain her grip. “Less complaining, more climbing.”

Then, rather than climbing up like a ladder, she tossed herself upward and then caught herself again at the apex.

Xiulan shook her head and wondered how long the stone would last with cultivators peppering the side with holes. Maybe the birds would appreciate it, though?

Shaking her head she focused qi into her hands and feet and began to mimick the technique. Each jump required precise control. Too little power and she wouldn’t gain enough height. Too much and she would screw the timing of her qi cycle. Xiulan drove her fist into the stone, wincing as tiny fragments bit into her skin.

A thought occurred to her as she dangled from the mountainside. With her cultivation at Qi Gathering stage, would falling even hurt her? Terminal velocity only reached a certain speed. She probably wouldn’t even break a bone.

Curiosity made her look down.

“Shit!” Xiulan yelped, instantly regretting her decision. They were already fifty meters above the ground, the forest in the distance reduced to a carpet of green dots.

“I hate missions!” Xiulan shouted upward. “I hate them so much!”

Ming’s laughter echoed down the cliff face. “We’ll rest when we reach the top! Just another hundred meters!”

“A hundred?!” Xiulan groaned.

Xiulan dug her fingers into the stone, gritting her teeth as she pulled herself upward. Each movement sent tremors through her meridians. It wasn’t that the effort or flow of qi was too much for her to handle, but they had started their run at dawn and had maintained the flow the entire time without a break.

It was a matter of long-term endurance, and even in the siege of Blackmere she had hardly kept up the constant effort for so long. Taking a deep grounding breath she steadied her qi inflow. That helped, a bit.

I could be making cultivation burgers with Pan Xia right now.

Ming’s face appeared at the edge above, peering down with an amused expression. “Almost there! Just ten more meters!”

“Ten more meters,” Xiulan muttered under her breath. “Might as well be ten thousand.”

She focused her qi into her limbs, strengthening her grip as she made another leap. The stone crumbled slightly beneath her fingers as she reanchored herself, sending a shower of pebbles downward. Xiulan froze momentarily, heart pounding.

Don’t look down. Don’t look down.

With a final surge of effort, she reached the edge of the plateau. Ming caught her in a one armed hug and pulled her away from the edge. Xiulan clung to Ming’s side gratefully.

Xiulan let out a breath of relief. “Finally! Sweet, sweet flat ground.”

She surveyed their surroundings. The plateau stretched out, unexpectedly level after the brutal climb. Near the center stood a modest wooden building with a tiled roof. What caught Xiulan’s attention, however, were the trees surrounding it. There were half a dozen specimens with luminescent sky-blue leaves that seemed to pulse gently in the mountain air.

“Sky-borne roots,” Xiulan whispered, recognizing them immediately. Blue fruits hung from the branches, practically vibrating with elemental energy. “Those are definitely elemental fruits.”

As they approached the building, a tall man with striking red hair and bright green eyes emerged. He wore the robes of the Herb Hall, similar to those Su Yin and most of the others in alchemy class wore during lessons.

Ming stepped forward and presented a wooden token that sparkled with qi. “Senior Li Xun, we’ve come from the Treasure Pavilion as arranged.”

The man—Li Xun—examined the token carefully before nodding. “Your permissions are confirmed. The packs are ready for transport.”

“Can we rest before heading back?” Xiulan blurted out.

Ming glanced at her with slight disapproval before turning back to Li Xun. “Perhaps some tea before we depart?”

Li Xun nodded. “Of course. Please, follow me.”

He led them into the building and showed them to a simple room with a low table surrounded by cushions on the floor. “I’ll return shortly with refreshments.”

Once he left, Xiulan sank onto a cushion with a dramatic sigh. “This is when things get complicated, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Ming asked, seating herself gracefully.

“This is exactly when bandits would attack,” Xiulan said, waving her hands for emphasis. “Or we’ll discover the spirit fruit farm is possessed by some evil entity that will try to kill us. Or maybe the fruits themselves are sentient and plotting revenge against cultivators.”

Ming laughed, shaking her head. “What kind of fiction have you been reading instead of your alchemical studies?”

“I’m just creative,” Xiulan shrugged. But in the game, that was exactly how it would go. The mission would take an unexpected turn, the player would face a surprise challenge, and the rewards would increase accordingly...

The door slid open as Li Xun returned with a tray. He set down two cups and a steaming pot of fragrant tea. Heavens Grass tea? Xiulan recognized it form what Master Qingfeng had served her so often. It was a pleasant surprise.

“Thank you, Senior Li,” Xiulan and Ming said in unison.

After Li Xun departed again, Ming fixed Xiulan with an amused look. “Don’t borrow trouble. Not every mission involves fighting for your life.”

Xiulan sipped her cup, enjoying the refreshing sensation as it soothed her tired body. “Fine. But if we get attacked by flying monkeys on the way down, I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so.’”

Li Xun returned carrying two large wooden packs. Each had thick leather straps and reinforced corners that glinted with faint spiritual energy.

“These contain the spirit fruits requested,” he said, placing them on the floor. “The containers are reinforced with spirit wood, but they’re still relatively fragile. The fruits must remain intact during transport.”

Xiulan examined the packs. Each stood nearly half her height and looked heavy enough to make the climb down miserable.

“We have to climb down with these on our backs?” Xiulan frowned.

Ming raised an eyebrow. “Have you not practiced your qi cushion?”

Xiulan froze then blinked. Heat rushed to her cheeks as memory clicked into place. The whole glide thing on the way to Themis.

“I... sort of forgot,” she admitted.

“Forgot?” Ming snorted. “Cultivation supposedly improves memory, but you’re not showing much promise in that department.”

“Hey!” Xiulan crossed her arms defensively. “I have a lot to think about! And I do remember now that you brought it up.”

They strapped on the packs, adjusting the weight distribution. Xiulan rolled her shoulders, testing the balance.

“I’m still not confident about it though,” she told Ming. “It’s one thing to fall freely, but with these packs...”

“We’ll go down together again.” Ming secured the last strap on her pack.

“Great, but no throwing us off without warning this time.”

Ming smiled innocently—too innocently. A suspicious twitch ran through Xiulan’s body. Her senior sister had definitely been planning to do exactly that!

Li Xun watched their exchange with growing confusion. “Do you... need help getting down?”

“We appreciate your concern,” Ming bowed slightly. “But we should be fine as long as my junior sister doesn’t have a panic attack.”

The corner of Xiulan’s lips twitched, but thankfully Li Xun didn’t take the bait and wished them well as they headed out.

They reached the cliff edge and Ming offered her hand. Xiulan took it without hesitation.

She felt the thread of qi Ming extended through their palms. Xiulan accepted it, threading the energy through her meridians with precision before passing it back to Ming, completing the circuit between them.

“Ready?” Ming asked.

Xiulan nodded.

Together, they stepped off the cliff.

Even knowing what would happen didn’t stop the butterflies that exploded in Xiulan’s stomach. The initial drop made her heart leap into her throat. Wind whipped her hair upward as gravity pulled them down.

Halfway down, they began to trade vertical velocity for horizontal turning the plunge into a glide. Ming’s qi wrapped around them both, creating an invisible air cushion that slowed their descent. Xiulan reached over to cling to Ming’s arm with both hands as they floated down.

They touched down softly on the road already halfway to the forest, their packs intact. Ming adjusted her robes and turned to Xiulan with an expectant look.

“Did you pay attention to the qi flow this time? Could you do it on your own now?”

Xiulan blinked rapidly. She’d been so focused on not screaming that she’d completely forgotten to analyze the technique. “Um... I wasn’t really focusing on that part.”

Ming slapped her palm against her forehead. “When we return to the pavilion, you’ll be doing repeated leaps from the tower as remedial training.”

“What?!” Xiulan yelped.

“This is an important skill,” Ming said firmly. “Even if you’re tough enough to survive slamming into the ground, what if you need to carry something fragile? Or someone who can’t survive the impact?”

Xiulan sighed. “Point taken. I was just... well, falling is scary. Especially when you aren’t fighting for your life against a giant dragon snake serpent thing.”

“At least that kept your mind occupied,” Ming said with a growing grin. “Although you should keep in mind if you squeeze your senior sister’s arm so tight the qi flow stops it would break the technique.” Ming cracked her neck. “Let’s get moving again.”

Xiulan’s cheeks heated up and hurried to keep pace. “At least we got a good start back, and we don’t even have to deal with the rugged part.”

“We can make it back to Aeris before evening and turn in the mission,” Ming said, setting a steady pace.

Xiulan calculated quickly. That meant returning a whole day earlier than planned. She could get back to helping Pan Xia with their cultivation food experiments sooner than expected. Maybe they could solve the qi dispersal problem with the burgers.

About half an hour later, they reached forested section of the trail. The path narrowed, and tall trees blocked visibility on both sides. Xiulan adjusted her pack, the weight of the spirit fruits starting to strain her shoulders despite her cultivation.

Two figures suddenly stepped out from behind the trees, blocking their path. They wore cultivator robes with no sect markings, their faces concealed behind plain white masks. One held a curved blade that glinted with faint spiritual energy, while the other carried no visible weapons.

Ming and Xiulan skidded to a stop. Xiulan’s hand instinctively moved toward Severing Light strapped to her back.

Ming turned to Xiulan with an exasperated expression. “This is your fault.”

“MY fault?” Xiulan sputtered. “How is this possibly my fault?”

“You literally said bandits would attack!” Ming hissed. “You borrowed trouble!”

“Oh come on!” Xiulan protested. “I can’t manifest bandits by mentioning them!”

The masked cultivator with the blade stepped forward. “Hand over the spirit fruits and we’ll let you pass unharmed.”

“See?” Ming whispered. “Bandits. Just like you said.”

“That’s just coincidence!” Xiulan whispered back furiously. “And why are we whispering? They can clearly hear us!”

The second masked figure raised his hand, a ball of swirling green energy forming above his palm. “We won’t ask twice.”

Ming assessed the situation with narrowed eyes. “Qi Refining stage, both of them. Nothing we can’t handle.”

“So we’re fighting?” Xiulan asked, already shifting her weight to a more balanced stance.

“No,” Ming replied. She reached over and pulled the spirit fruit pack off Xiulan’s shoulders. “You’re fighting.”

“What?!” Xiulan nearly choked.

“Consider it part of your training,” Ming said calmly, stepping back and crossing her arms. “Show me what you’ve learned.”

Xiulan stared at her senior sister in disbelief. “You can’t be serious! There are two of them! They are a whole cultivation step above me!”

“I’ve fought with you before and you dealt with worse at Blackmere,” Ming said, unmoved. “This should be a good tribulation for you.”

Xiulan’s hand squeezed Severing Light’s shaft. She hated this part of cultivation ‘culture’. Ming could handle them easily but insisted on turning this into training. Real fights risked death, even with quick intervention. Why face unnecessary danger when efficiency made more sense?

The bandits exchanged confused glances, clearly not expecting this turn of events.

“Um, are you two having a disagreement?” the one with the blade asked.

“Shut up!” Xiulan snapped. “We’re having a discussion!”

She turned back to Ming. “Fine! I’ll handle this myself. But if I die, I’m coming back as a ghost to haunt you.”

“Dramatic as always,” Ming sighed. “I’ll keep the fruits safe. Just remember your forms.”