The next morning, Mei Lin was cultivating in the deepest part of the cave, simultaneously reflecting on the events of the past few days.
'I'll need to gather more blood to speed up my cultivation. Wei Li was much faster than I, even without any cultivation resources. Not to mention, I know the basics of cultivation and have resources, yet I'm still much slower. Once we participate in the auction, I'll buy as many cultivation resources as possible and enter secluded cultivation for a while to accelerate the process,' she thought, feeling enlightened by her cultivation and resolute in her plan. Mei Lin opened her eyes and saw Yu Lan sitting on the bed, all her belongings packed into her storage space. Without further delay, they left the cave.
As they quickly descended the cave wall, their direction was straightforward, and they wasted no time. Under Yu Lan's lead, they headed to one of the houses beneath the cave wall, which served as a bathhouse.
Both entered one of the bathhouses and chose the right one. It wasn't overly crowded, and before heading to the pool, Mei Lin paid two spirit stones for access. As they stepped inside, Mei Lin already sensed that using the bathhouse might bring trouble.
She could feel that a few people inside were cultivators, though none were in the Qi Condensation Realm, which eased her mind. They wouldn't be able to discern her cultivation path unless she used her natural energy.
After selecting a spot in the first area of the bathhouse, designated for cleaning the body before entering the pool, Mei Lin chose a corner to wash, ensuring her red robe wouldn't get wet from the surrounding water. However, her distinctive attire drew attention, positioning her near the entrance.
Yu Lan joined her, and as she began to remove her clothes, Mei Lin's robe vanished into her storage ring, revealing her ethereal white body. The others in the room grew curious, knowing such an unusual physique likely belonged to a cultivator. Their gazes fell on Mei Lin, noting she was missing one arm from the shoulder down, completely naked.
"Mother, mother, that girl doesn't have two hands. What hap—" The girl's mother quickly hushed her, preventing further comment. Yu Lan folded her clothes beside her, and before she could speak, they too disappeared into Mei Lin's storage ring.
"A cultivator," someone whispered, and the room fell silent as they realized a cultivator stood before them. It was rare for non-cultivators to interact with cultivators, especially in the Yellow District, where most lived in the cave walls, waiting for the chaos outside to subside before returning home.
Non-cultivators from the Green Zone had already returned to their homes, thanks to restoration arrays used on nearly all houses and mansions, leaving only those from the Yellow District, who had lost everything, here. Typically, cultivators avoided bathhouses, viewing them as a wasteful use of time and effort, as ordinary baths offered no real benefit.
*****
Mei Lin closed her eyes and covered her face to diffuse the attention centered on her, then left with Yu Lan for the pool. She was relieved to have kept her eyes shut, preventing the other cultivators from noticing hers. Yu Lan took Mei Lin's hand as they quickly exited the room. Upon leaving, Mei Lin retrieved her bamboo hat and let Yu Lan go, preparing to leave, as she was no longer in the mood to linger where she might be exposed.
Yu Lan hurried off as they entered the inner courtyard of the bathhouse, where the pool was located. Before Mei Lin could return to the cave, Yu Lan returned with a young attendant holding a plate of food.
"Mei Lin, I asked an attendant to guide us to the pool. It's not full, so I managed to order us food. They told me the pool contains trace amounts of natural energy from a hot spring with roots deep beneath the city."
"Welcome to our bathhouse, miss. My name is Pu Yao. I'm the attendant in charge today," the attendant greeted.
Mei Lin ignored her, considering that this might not be a bad idea and could aid Yu Lan's recovery. Glancing around, the inner courtyard was shrouded in mist, providing a natural cover over the pool that nearly concealed it entirely.
"How much?" Mei Lin cut the conversation short, but Pu Yao, accustomed to such treatment, responded promptly.
"It will be one low-grade spirit stone for the food, one for tea, and three for wine." The girl holding the plate with food showed no concern, even as she requested the spirit stones. Mei Lin, unbothered by the price, paid to expedite the process and assess the pool's natural energy.
"Please follow me. I'll guide you there. There are some basic rules, but since the young miss is a cultivator, I don't think there will be any issues," Pu Yao said.
The young attendant was unusually chatty, thanks to Mei Lin's generous payment, and after both ordered tea, Mei Lin stepped through the doors into the courtyard with the pool. "Thank you for guiding us here, Pu Yao," Yu Lan said, trying to avoid behaving like a typical cultivator who disregarded non-cultivators.
"Would you like anything else, miss?" Pu Yao attempted to engage further, but Yu Lan, unwilling to lose sight of Mei Lin, declined further conversation. Pu Yao let her go and went to fetch their drinks.
*****
Mei Lin entered the pool first and felt that, compared to the rest of the bathhouse, the natural energy in the hot water was stronger, though it remained weak at the pool's edge. She ventured deeper to find a better spot to cultivate.
Deeper in the pool, Mei Lin sensed she was nearing the center, where the natural energy was strongest. She also detected two cultivators sitting there in cultivation robes despite the water. She moved slowly around them; the water reached her waist, designed specifically for cultivators to sit and cultivate. This area formed an incomplete ring around the spot where water seeped from the ground, with hot water spreading inward from the ring and flowing outward to the pool's outer edges.
Mei Lin sat across from the two cultivators, who were at the fourth and seventh stages of Body Tempering. She waited for Yu Lan, who soon joined her. As soon as Yu Lan sat, drowsiness overwhelmed her, and she closed her eyes, drifting into sleep.
Mei Lin waited for Pu Yao to arrive with the food and wine, which she did shortly after. Once Pu Yao left, Mei Lin began to cultivate.
As time passed, more people entered the pool, including cultivators who claimed spots in the inner area. All the newcomers noticed that, unlike the robed cultivators, Mei Li ,who was a cultivator, was there without robes, drawing attention even more.
After spotting the only cultivator standing out from the crowd, one of the cultivators commented, "What a nice piece we have here?"
"Senior brother, they even brought wine. Why don't we drink with them after the bath?" said another cultivator, part of a group recovering from a day of processing citizens to the wall.
"Senior brother Ba, we should wake the girl and ask if they're interested."
"Don't worry, what could happen? We are disciples of the sect," another disciple added.
Ba He, a senior member of the sect, came from a family closely tied to the sect through substantial donations to the Li family. He had been considered a potential Dao guardian for the young master of the Li family, but due to his limited cultivation potential, he wasn't selected. Now, he served as an instructor for new sect recruits.
After more than fifty years of cultivation, Ba He had stalled at the fifth stage of Body Tempering, hitting a bottleneck with insufficient opportunities to break through. Stagnant for over twenty years, this setback shifted his focus. Facing this unsolvable issue, he began enjoying sudden visits to the city, where sect rules were lenient for members. They could do as they pleased, except for killing citizens, though this rule didn't apply to those with sufficient strength to defy sect orders.
Ba He is one of the members of sect and his family was closely connected to the sect by donating large amount of wealth to Li family, so he was selected as a one of the potential Dao guardians for the young master of Li family, but thanks to his poor cultivation potential, he was not picked as one up and now was serving as connection between the sect and the city as a recruiter in the town for new potential member of the sect.
After more than fifty years of cultivation, at the fifth stage of BT Ba He encountered bottom neck and with not enough opportunity to get through, so he was stagnant at the same stage for more than twenty years, which switched his
After experiencing this unsolvable problem, he start to enjoy his life at the city, which was not strict for someone with the connections and his family holding a status in the town the members of the sect, so they could do whatever they wanted, except killing the citizens, but that does not apply to the once who has sufficient strength and can define orders from the sect.