Naruto stared at the spot Sora had just been standing in. After a long time, he let out a sigh while holding the yellow paper in his hand. After coming to the Konoha Sect, Sora was his first friend, but now this happened.
"This immortal talisman is the cause of this disaster!" Naruto stared at the talisman. His eyes suddenly changed as he noticed what was different about it. Although this yellow talisman looked just like the talismans disciples get when they go to visit their families, the amount of spiritual energy in it was much higher than the other ones. In addition, there was a sense of danger coming from the talisman. Naruto was surprised. Although he didn't know what it was, he knew that it was a treasure.
Hesitating slightly, Naruto put away the yellow paper. Looking at the corpse on the ground, he let out a sigh. If this corpse wasn't taken care of, with Sora's speed, he wouldn't be able to escape the Sect.
Luckily, there was enough room in the bag of holding to hold the corpse. Naruto then organized the room and wiped away the blood. He quietly went into the mountain and disposed of the body, then carefully made his way back to his room.
After lamenting about what happened, he decided to not think about Sora anymore. He took out the immortal talisman and began to study it.
On the first look, the talisman looked exactly like the ones disciples used when visiting home, but upon closer inspection, one could tell from the material and the ink that it was vastly superior than the talismans disciples used to go home.
Naruto squeezed the immortal talisman. He pondered a little. He wasn't sure of the exact usage of this talisman. Since the day that he had almost died from drinking the dew, he had been very careful about things belonging to immortals. He didn't dare to carelessly use them.
Plus, the characters on the talisman revealed a hint of danger, causing him to be even more cautious. After hesitating for a bit, he put away the talisman. He decided to study it later.
After doing all of this, he took out the mysterious bead and entered the dream space.
This time, he didn't focus all his time on cultivation, but spent some learning the Attraction Force Technique.
He felt that the Attraction Force Technique was very useful after using it on brother Sasuke. That was why he was so determined to practice it.
He first used the gourd as a target. He tried using the Attraction Force to grab the gourd. After numerous tries, he finally succeeded. He immediately stopped using the Attraction Force and started from the beginning.
Naruto's thought process was very simple. He felt that he must be able to freely use the Attraction Force. If he tried to use it 10 times, it must succeed 10 times, or else, no matter how strong it was, it couldn't be used in key moments.
He calculated a bit. Given his current condition, he could succeed 3 out of 10 times. With only 4 successes so far, it was far from measuring up to his own standards.
The time spent in the dream flew by. Without Naruto realizing, the feeling of being torn apart came. After coming back to reality, he wasted no time at all. As he opened his eyes, he drank more spring water and started to cultivate. When there was sufficient spiritual energy in his body, he took a deep breath as the contents of the Three Stages of Chakra Condensation appeared in his head.
Aside from the laws for each of the three stages of Chakra Condensation, there were also two very important chants.
These chants were the real core of Chakra Condensation. There were 15 layers of Chakra Condensation. Aside from the first layer, which one could obtain by themself, all the other 14 layers required a chant to enter the next layer.
For example, if he had already completed the first layer, and even mastered the second layer's cultivation method, he could only stay in the first layer if he didn't succeed the second layer's chant.
Naruto muttered the chant in his mind. The spiritual energy in his body started to change. At first, the change was small, but soon, it felt like boiling water was flowing through his body.
It seemed that there wasn't enough spiritual energy as it intermittently spread throughout his body, causing soreness, numbness, itchiness, pain, and the like all over his body. He also had an illusion that his body was full of holes. All of this was caused by the spiritual energy.
There was a very prominent line in Three Stages of Chakra Condensation; the opening chant for each layer won't always succeed.
Talent, spiritual energy, and chance all played key roles. Some people would be able succeed in one try, while some people would need ten or hundreds of tries.
After a long time, the feeling in his body slowly dissipated. Naruto was covered in sweat, and the spiritual energy in his body was all gone. But Naruto knew from the book that the lack of spiritual energy was only temporary and would recover after meditating for a while. He failed to open the second layer, but Naruto was not discouraged. This time, he was just testing it out. It just showed that he didn't have enough spiritual energy at that moment to enter the second layer.
After all, he had just achieved the first layer. There was no rush. He still had the spring water with him, so he could just cultivate until he reached the limit of the first layer before attempting to reach the second layer again. That would increase his chances greatly.
With this plan, Naruto started to cultivate night and day. The spiritual energy in his body started to slowly accumulate, and his mastery of the Attraction Force Technique also increased.
He tried the chant for the second layer many times, but all of them ended in failure.
In reality, half a month had passed, but three months had passed in the dream space. Today, Naruto was cultivating, waiting for the time to enter the dream space again. He saw that it was still early. He hesitated for a bit, then started the chant for the second layer to experience it again.
He couldn't even remember how many times he had experienced it. Every time, it ended with him being worn out and all the spiritual energy in his body gone without success.
Two hours later, Naruto raised his head. He was worn out again, and all he spiritual energy was gone from his body. He muttered to himself with a wry smile, "Failed again. Entering the second layer is too hard!" Suddenly, his eyes darted toward the door.
A cold voice came through the door. "Apprentice-brother Naruto, come out to see me."
The voice sounded familiar. Naruto got up and opened the door to see a 27 or 28 year old youth in black standing outside with a cold air about him.
"Black clothes!" Naruto's heart tightened. He recognized that he was the same person that brought him, Menma, and Udon to the Konoha Sect, and also the person who brought his father to find him near the cliff.
But Naruto remembered that he was wearing white clothes back then. Now, after a few short months, he had risen up to black clothes! He suddenly remembered the day when they were testing at the foot of the mountain. The person who took Udon as a helper said that the man in front of Naruto now had reached a critical point in their cultivation, and took over as the examiner to avoid distracting him.
Among purple, black, white, and red, black represented a really high cultivation. Naruto couldn't see through his cultivation, so he respectfully said, "Naruto greets brother Shino. Congratulations to senior on reaching black clothes."
The black clad youth looked at Naruto and slowly said, "Me successfully breaking into the fifth layer of Chakra Condensation does relate a bit to you. If I hadn't found that cave while looking for you, I wouldn't have broken through so quickly."
Naruto was stunned and asked, "Brother Shino, that hole with the suction force in the cave could help cultivation?"
The black clad youth nodded and said, "When you reach the peak of the fourth layer and need to use the chant to enter the fifth layer, go there yourself and you will see the effect." He glanced at Naruto and said, "Brother Naruto, it can't be helped since your talent is mediocre, but since you are a disciple now, you must cultivate diligently. I see that you have no spiritual energy in you at all. You haven't even reached the first layer of Chakra Condensation. I'm afraid that out of all the inner disciples, you are the only one."
Naruto was stunned but wryly smiled, "I'll take Apprentice-brother's advice to heart. I will double my effort in cultivation." He suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Brother Shino, what is the reason you're here today?"
The black clad youth chuckled and said, "It's nothing serious. The honorary disciple in charge of the chore house disappeared. Someone saw you go there that day, so I came here to ask you about it."
Naruto's expression remained normal and laughed, "I have an inkling of what happened. Normally, I don't go near the chore house, but half a month ago, I passed by it and an honorary disciple was talking behind my back, so I taught him a lesson. Maybe he got scared of me and left the sect."
Brother Shino nodded his head, half laughing. He looked at Naruto and said, "A disgusting honorary disciple is not important. Today, I came to you because the elders have decided that an honorary disciple shouldn't be in charge of the chore house, so they wanted an inner disciple to take over. But no inner disciple wants to go, they are all busy cultivating."
Naruto wryly smiled, "I understand. It seems the task has been assigned to me."
Brother Shino smiled slightly and said, "Pack your things and head there today. Right now, the chore house is really messy. You have to get it back in order."
He cusped his hands at Naruto, took a step, and a sword appeared under his feet. The sword emitted rainbow colors as he rode it away.
Naruto revealed a frustrated expression. He didn't want to go to the chore house. The people there were too nosey; it would be too easy for his secret to be exposed. Also, there would be a lot of work that would disrupt his cultivation. But now, he couldn't not go. With a belly filled with anger, he packed his things and arrived at the chore house.
After arriving there, he reached a decision in his heart. He couldn't stay in the chore house for too long. He had to mess up everything in the chore house so that every honorary disciple would go to the elders to ask for a replacement.
With this idea in mind, Naruto cleaned up Disciple Sasuke's room. Besides the bed and the table, everything that was useless was thrown outside.
While he was doing this, a few disciples arrived at the chore house. They had learned that Naruto was now in charge of assigning chores, so many of them were nervous. The faces of the few that ridiculed Naruto the most were pale and their hearts pounded.
Some had intentions of helping Naruto clean up, but after being glared at, they all obediently stood in the yard.
After he finished cleaning, Naruto casually sat down on a chair. He coldly looked at the 100 plus honorary disciples before him. He knew that the Konoha Sect had a lot of honorary disciples. This was only a fraction of them. In the next few days, there would be more honorary disciples coming back to report on their work.
"You will now chop 500 pounds of firewood!" Naruto casually pointed at a person. He remembered that that person had secretly ridiculed him.
That person was stunned. He immediately cried, "Brother Naruto I … I used to work in the kitchen. I don't know how to chop wood."
Naruto rolled his eyes. He snorted, "Now it's 1000 pounds a day!"
The boy suddenly kneeled to the ground and started crying. "Brother Naruto, you are a good person. I shouldn't have ridiculed you back then. But please, don't be so vindictive I … I … I can't possibly do 1000 pounds, how about 500 pounds?"
The surrounding people all looked at each other. They all knew Naruto would make things difficult, but this was clearly revenge.
There were a few honorary disciples in the crowd that shouted in discontent. "Everyone, don't listen to him. Let's go find an elder and have them carry out justice. Naruto is too overbearing."
"Correct. Let us go find the elders to get another inner disciple to be in charge of this place. If they don't listen to us, we will kneel and never get up."
"True. Let's go, everyone. Don't stay here. This Naruto has a villainous look. He doesn't even remember that he entered the Sect by trying to commit suicide. Such a disgrace."
The sound the dissatisfied voices grew louder and louder. Soon, everyone left the yard while shouting insults. They all had looks of grievance as they went toward the courtyard, all shouting things like, "Naruto doesn't want us to live anymore."
Naruto was relaxed in his heart. He didn't stop them and hoped that they would succeed. This way, the elders would get mad and make someone else take over so he can concentrate on cultivation.
The remaining ten or so people were hesitating. They wanted to leave, but if this thing failed, wouldn't it mean that they had completely disrespected Naruto?
Naruto wasn't in a rush. He waited for the result from the main courtyard. A moment later, all the honorary disciples gloomily came back, one by one. This time, they were no longer shouting, but had eyes filled with despair and silence.
Naruto saw their expressions and knew that they had failed. He was very disappointed in his heart. It seemed he had to make an even bigger commotion. Thinking about it, he scanned the people here and said, "All of you who secretly mocked me, listen to me. I am here today to get revenge. If you're dissatisfied, go to the elders. If you can get me removed from this position, I will have to thank you."
One of the disciples begged, "Brother Naruto, you are a great person. Please forgive us."
"Yes, Brother Naruto, we were blind back then. Please give us a break. I … I'll kowtow to you."
"Brother Naruto, they all mocked you back then, but I never did. I even defended you. I …"
Without waiting for that person to finish, someone on the side angrily said, "Izumo, back then, you mocked him the loudest. Brother Naruto, don't listen to him."
Izumo's expression changed. He angrily said, "Kotetsu, I am your older brother, you backstabbing bastard. Go back to your room and see how I'm going to beat you up."
"I'm loyal, Brother Naruto. You're a kind person, please give me some easier work."
"Brother Naruto, don't listen to those two brothers. They are known for this two man act. Who knows how many honorary disciples they cheated? Apprentice-brother, I'm the person who has never said a bad thing about you."
A very pretty female honorary disciple delicately said, "Brother Naruto, this apprentice-sister has always had a weak body and can't do any hard labor. How about I come and give you a massage every night? Is that ok?"
Among the honorary disciples of the Konoha Sect, there weren't many female disciples. Only about ten percent were female. After all, in the test of perseverance, males had a better chance.
The few female honorary disciples were, of course, well received by everyone. Based on their looks, some even got favored by inner disciples.
Then, another female honorary disciple threw a pretty look at Naruto and flirtatiously said, "Apprentice-brother, brother Sasuke never gave me any hard work, I only ever came to serve him at night. I know a few other apprentice-sisters. I'll take them to see you tonight, ok?"
Everyone was desperately trying to tell Naruto that they had never said anything bad about him. After listening for a very long time, Naruto ran out of patience and shouted, "All of you, shut up. What a mess this is."
After he finished speaking, he pointed at a person and said, "You, 20 vats of water. If you're unhappy, go to the elders."
That person's body quivered. He opened his mouth to talk, but saw the impatience in Naruto's eyes. He immediately smiled and nodded his head.
"You, wash 500 kg of clothes every day. Remember, if you're dissatisfied, go find the elders." The person who was pointed at swallowed hard and almost passed out. He muttered, "500 kg, that's like all the clothes in the sect added together…"
"You, clean the whole sect! Same thing, if you're dissatisfied go find the elders!"
"You, clear the outhouses. If I see one fly in there, you can go live in there."
"You, go gather 500 pounds of herbs a day. If you mix weeds in there to trick me, I'll kick you out of the sect! All of you listen, if you're dissatisfied go find the elders!" For some, while the workload was hard, it was still bearable. However, for the last few he pointed at, their legs grew soft and immediately collapsed on the ground.
All the honorary disciples wore pitiful expressions. The entire Konoha Sect might not even have 500 kg of herbs in the mountains.
…
Based on Naruto's memories of the people that had mocked him, he pointed at them one by one and carefully thought about what jobs to give them. He wasn't tired at all and finally finished assigning all the work. He lounged around for a while and thought that the chores that he assigned were impossible to finish. What could the honorary disciples do other than go complain to the elders? But just in case the elders decided not to do anything, it'd be better to make this mess even bigger, to let them know that it was a big mistake to make me, Naruto, in charge of the chore house.
Thinking about it, he pointed at a person he didn't know and said, "You're in luck. Your job is to keep track of everything. Make a list of all the gifts given to me. Record their names and time of gift. If you try to be greedy, I'll kick you out of the sect!"
That person was so surprised he immediately fell to the ground and kowtowed to Naruto. He repeatedly said that he would remember to do it correctly and not make a mistake.
All the honorary disciples were dumbfounded. Before, Disciple Sasuke was secretive about it, but this Naruto was boldly asking for bribes.
A moment later, an honorary disciple stepped forward and took out three talismans used for visiting home. He presented them to Naruto and said, "Brother Naruto, this is me paying my respects to you."
Naruto replied with a sound. He put the talismans away and asked, "What job were you assigned earlier?"
"Gather 20 vats of water a day!" The person nervously replied.
Naruto slowly said, "Then, do 5 vats a day instead"
That person was surprised and immediately expressed his thanks.
Following that person's lead, everyone else got up and were about to step forward when Naruto slowly stood up and said, "All of you leave. You all need to follow the proper process of giving gifts. Write down your current job and your desired job on a piece of paper, then send it to the person I appointed to manage this. You can only do it only once in 10 days."
After he finished, he went back into his room and closed the door.
The people in the yard where sighing. Some even had anger in their eyes. Their stomachs were full of curses directed at Naruto, but none of them said them out loud. They all dispersed with long faces.
After they left, Naruto came out of the room and explored the entire chore house. He found a remote door to a storage room.
The storage room was not large. After Naruto cleaned it up, although he was disappointed, this was the most secluded place here. He cleaned up to make some space, then locked the door and entered the dream space.
Time flew by. Naruto had already been in charge of the chore house for two months. In those two months, besides assigning jobs to the honorary disciples for the first few days, the rest of the time he focused on his cultivation. As for the chores of the honorary disciples, he didn't care at all. If they didn't do their jobs, all he had to do was snort coldly and they would offer him gifts.
Naruto was very annoyed during those two months. His cultivation was constantly getting interrupted by the honorary disciples. He didn't know what the other inner disciples and elders were thinking. He messed things up this much, but they still hadn't sent a replacement.
"Do I need to be even more unreasonable?" To leave the chore house, Naruto was ready to go all out. He really wanted to see what the limits of the elders were.
Privately, among the honorary disciples, besides the two words trash and shameless, he gained another title; the Black Hearted King.
Compared to Disciple Sasuke's nickname, weasel, it was on a whole different level.
After Naruto had practiced for a year in the dream space, the spiritual energy in his body had increased many folds. He had reached the limit of the first layer. No matter how much he cultivated, his spiritual energy no longer increased. Thus, one night, he started to try the chant to enter the second layer.
After failing so many times, his hard work wasn't a waste as he finally broke into the second layer.
The pores on his body were oozing black grease. After washing himself, Naruto looked at himself and saw that his eyes were like lightning. He looked very different from before.
He rubbed his chin and thought, "There is only the chant for the third layer left. If I go back to Iruka to ask for the chants for the later layers and he finds out I reached the second layer, he will definitely question me about how it happened. If I can't properly explain it, then it will bring me a lot of trouble."
After thinking for a while, Naruto still couldn't think of a good idea. He couldn't help but frown.
With a sigh, Naruto began to practice the Attraction Force Technique. After this year's time of practice, Naruto could now succeed 10 out of 10 times. Since he reached his current degree, he decided to try it on something harder. He found a large rock in the chore house and began to practice.
Another month had passed. What Naruto had done at the chore house caused all the honorary disciples to complain non-stop. It was winter time and the sect started to prepare for the yearly inner disciple competition.
This year was the Konoha Sect's honorary disciple competition that happens every 10 years. If one ranked in the top three, they would become an inner disciple. All the honorary disciples were polishing their fighting skills and secretly plotting.
Therefore, things related to the chore house were delayed as everyone was too busy.
Naruto was very disappointed that he was still in charge of the chore house. As for the inner disciple competition, he didn't plan to participate. If he had the time, why not spend it cultivating in the dream space instead?
Today, it started to snow on the Heng Yue mountain. From a distance, it seemed like a land of snow.
Naruto wasn't cultivating, but stood quietly in the yard. The Attraction Force technique activated as if there was a giant hand moving around, pushing away all the snow so none would land on him.
Looking toward where his home was, he remembered that his parents would have the stove burning to keep the house warm around this time of year.
He would sit next to the stove reading. Dad would be on the side carving, and mom would be storing pickled vegetables.
Sometimes, he'd be tired from reading and sit next to his dad, watching him carve. When he was in high spirits, he would go and help his dad. There was a lot of joy between them.
Naruto remembered that under his bed were some wooden tops. He would sometimes take them out and play with them on the ice with the neighborhood kids.
Thinking about all this, Naruto took a deep breath. A cultivator needs to sever all mortal ties, and all of these were thoughts that would disrupt cultivation. Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his mind was clear. He couldn't sever all his mortal connections, so he hid them deep in his heart.
While he was reminiscing, his expression suddenly changed. He was now in the second layer of Chakra Condensation and had wakened his ability of divine sense. All of this was described in the Three Layers of Chakra Condensation book.
With a scan of his divine sense, he noticed that Udon was coming in his direction. A moment later, the door opened. Udon walked in, wearing a leather cap and leather coat. He looked at Naruto, surprised, and said, "Brother Iron Heart, aren't you cold? Wearing this little and still standing outside."
Naruto chuckled, "I calculated that you would come and see me so I came out to welcome you, you little rascal." He didn't feel cold at all. After reaching the second layer of Chakra Condensation, he noticed that his body was a lot stronger than before.
Udon chuckled. He walked in and carefully looked at Naruto and said, "Brother Iron Heart, how come I feel you're a bit different from a few months ago?"
Naruto said, "That's natural. I have reached the second layer of Chakra Condensation and can be considered an immortal!"
Udon's mouth twitched. He went into the room and said, "Don't boast. Our talents are at about the same level. I have received help from immortal pills and still haven't reached the first layer. But for you to reach the second layer? Impossible."
Naruto didn't try to clarify. Sometimes, when he told the truth, people wouldn't even believe him, and if he lied, then he might end up causing others to be suspicious. In the end, his relationship with Udon wasn't deep. Better to be on guard.
To trust someone at first sight was not something that Naruto was capable of.
"Udon, how come you have time to visit me today? Is the pill house not busy?" Naruto returned to the room and poured Udon a cup of hot water.
Udon took the hot water and blew it a few times before taking a sip. He smiled. "You haven't gone to the pill house to pick up your things in the past few months. I've been saving your portion, and came to deliver it to you today." As he was talking, he took out a small package and put it on the table.
Naruto revealed a faint smile. He didn't even look at the package, but looked at Udon. He didn't believe Udon only came to deliver a package.
Udon was embarrassed after being stared at and said, "Iron Heart, I heard you've been doing pretty well at the chore house these past few months."
Naruto poured himself some water. He took a sip and said, "Udon, just say what you need to say. If I can help, I definitely will!"
Udon's expression was awkward. He moved closer and mysteriously said, "Brother Iron Heart, I always knew you were a smart person. Speaking honestly, I know you have a lot of the talisman the honorary disciples use to visit home. Can you lend me some?"
Naruto's expression remained normal. He asked, "How much do you need?"
Udon hesitated and said, "At least 200."
"That much? What do you need it for?" Naruto was stunned. He did have 200 talismans. He had received almost 500 from bribes.
Udon sighed and said, with a bitter face, "Brother Iron Heart, in two months it will be the inner disciple competition. While I can participate, I don't have any chance of winning. But I refuse to give up. That bastard Menma has already reached the first layer of Chakra Condensation and I heard that he is attempting to reach the second layer."
"How does he cultivate so quickly?" Naruto hadn't see Menma in a while and was quite surprised. It seemed that talent really mattered.
Udon revealed an angry expression and said, "It's only because he has a good master. His master didn't care about the price and begged my master for a batch of Foundation Establishment pills. Those are very precious pills within the sect. After eating the pill, cultivation speed increases drastically."
Naruto nodded and asked, "What does this have to do with you borrowing talismans?"
Udon muttered, "Of course there is a connection. You don't interact with others much, but a month before the competition, all the inner disciples will hold a small exchange. There, everyone takes out their treasures to exchange for the final preparation. I heard from some seniors that attended it before. They said that during the exchange, anything can be used, like flying swords, magical treasures, pills, etc."
After Naruto heard this, his heart started pounding. He didn't have much interest in flying swords or magical treasures, but the chants for the Chakra Condensation stages were important to him. Thinking that he might be able to obtain them at the exchange, he pondered for a while and said, "The inner disciples trust each other that much, to just do these exchanges?"
Udon laughed and said, "Brother Iron Heart, you have asked an important question. There is one rule during this exchange, and that's also the requirement to enter the exchange. That is, have a disguise pill. After taking the disguise pill, unless someone is at the foundation stage, no one can recognize you."
A thought flashed through Naruto's head. "You are borrowing all these talismans for that pill?"
Udon was stunned. He nodded and said, "Brother Iron Heart is really smart. That is true. This pill is controlled by my master, and around this time of year, he starts to privately sell them. The price is 200 talismans."
Naruto considered a bit and said, "This exchange seems quite interesting. I want to go check it out as well."
Udon quickly said, "Sure, as long as you have a disguise pill, you can attend. My goal this time is a Foundation Establishment pill. I heard that this time, there is a disciple selling them."
Naruto waved his right hand and took out 400 talismans from his bag of holding. He made them into 4 bundles of 100 talismans each.
Udon's eyes lit up, then stored them in his bag of holding. "Brother Iron Heart, there is still about half a month of time. I'll come and find you then. We can go together."
Naruto nodded. They talked for a while and Udon left.
After Udon left, he contemplated it for a while. Naruto attached great importance to this exchange, as this was a chance for him to get the chants for the later Chakra Condensation stages.
But he didn't have anything valuable, and all the talismans were used on buying the disguise pill. After pondering for a long time, he decided to bring some spiritual energy filled Spring Water. That should be able to attract some people.
With the help of the pill, no one would know his identity.
After making up his mind, Naruto no longer thought about this matter. Right now, he couldn't enter the dream space, so he started to practice the Attraction Force Technique on the large rocks in the chore house.
He had already practiced the Attraction Force over ten thousand times in the dream space. He had become more and more skilled at it. If it was used on a gourd, then the success rate was 10 out of 10. Now, in everyday life, as long as he moved his hand, he could grab small objects.
If the size was too big, the success rate would lower, but with his spiritual energy still growing, and after he entered the second layer, the Attraction Force Technique was starting to show its true power.
After practicing on the large rocks for a few hours, it was dark and snowing outside, but Naruto didn't immediately enter the dream space. He stood at the doorway and stared at the snowflakes as he started to ponder.
Throughout the month, while cultivating at the second layer, Naruto noticed a problem. The effects of the spiritual energy filled Spring Water had decreased. Although the decrease was very small and could be made up, it brought him endless worry.
He was afraid that, as his Chakra Condensation stage got higher and higher, one day, the spiritual energy filled Spring Water would lose its effect.
While soaking the mysterious bead in liquid dew was the best, followed by spring water, dew collection was far too slow. There was not enough to use, and there was none in the winter. The spring water was the easiest and most practical to get and he had an endless supply, however, if one day, the spring water is no longer effective, Naruto needed to have something to replace it.
He slightly moved his hand and activated the Attraction Force Technique. Chunks of snow formed into a dragon and charged into a large pot in the room.
After a short while, Naruto had filled half the pot. He stopped the Attraction Force Technique and came next to the pot. He formed a seal with his right hand. After more than ten tries, he finally formed a baby-sized fireball. The fireball emitted a lot of heat and quickly melted the snow.
After all of the snow had melted, he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Continuously using two techniques had made him very tired.
There wasn't much snow water in the pot. He threw the mysterious bead into pot and took it out ten minutes later.
He now had a very good understanding of the mysterious bead. Soaking it in spring water for 10 minutes was the limit. He had tested soaking it for longer, but found that as long as it was in for at least ten minutes, the effect remained the same.
He took a drink of the water, then closed his eyes and carefully examined the change in the spiritual energy in his body. A moment later, he opened his eyes and muttered, "The effect is a lot better than spring water, but still below dew. It can be used!"
He immediately took out countless gourds. They were all the gourds that he had gathered in the mountains. After working for the entire night, all the snow in his yard was gone. That snow filled up a small portion of the gourds with spiritual energy water.
In the next few days, besides training in the dream space, Naruto had been busy collecting snow to melt for water. If not for the fear of the spiritual energy escaping, he would have used vats, so he used gourds instead. It was good that he had enough gourds. After only a few days, he had accumulated a few hundred gourds filled with snow water. He calculated that the snow water that he had collected in those gourds was enough for him to use in the dream space for a long time.
After storing the snow water, Naruto went back to cultivating. Although the spring water's effect had dropped, it was still useful.
In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed. Over those ten days, Naruto had drunk more spring water than he ever had before. Good thing the spring water dissolved into spiritual energy in his body, otherwise, there was no way his stomach could handle that much water.
The amount of spiritual energy needed for the second layer was much greater than the first layer. In fact, Naruto had already cultivated for more than 9 months in his dream space.
If it was the first layer, after cultivating for 9 months with this much spiritual energy, he would have achieved some good results, but now, even though he felt that his body contained much more spiritual energy, he still wasn't able to reach the results he desired.
The day that Naruto agreed with to meet with Udon had come, so Naruto didn't enter the dream space. Around midnight, it started to snow, and Udon entered Naruto's divine sense.
Shortly after, Udon opened the door, but didn't come in. He quickly said, "Master took a long time to refine pills and delayed me. Come quickly, the exchange is about to start."
Udon hurried toward the exchange and Naruto hastily followed.
The two walked in the snow and wandered out of the sect's courtyards and into the mountains.
The current road was very slippery, so Udon walked very slowly. His body was shaking. He whispered, "What's with his damn weather? If I fell down the mountain here and died, even if I was I ghost, I would want some justice!"
Naruto's body was now very light. He didn't share Udon's discomfort at all. In fact, he felt that the weather was pretty good. He thought that, after the exchange was over, he could collect a lot more snow water.
After walking for a while, Udon stopped. He secretly handed Naruto a green pill and whispered, "We are almost there. I came here a few days ago. It's only a few turns away. Let us take the pill now, so no one will know our identities."
Udon took out a similar pill swallowed it. A thick black fog appeared and covered Udon's body. A gruff voice came out from the fog and said, "How is it? Can you tell who I am?"
Naruto scanned Udon with his divine sense and found that he felt as if there was a barrier of mud blocking him. That made him feel like the pill was safe to take. He laughed and said, "This pill is really amazing!" Then he took the pill and a similar thing happened to him as well.
The two quickly walked forward. After making a few turns, they arrived at an open area.
The open space was very large. Dozens of people stood there, covered in black fog like them, in silence.
After Naruto and Udon arrived, they found an empty space and stood there without moving.
Not long after, seeing that no one else was coming, one person stepped forward, coughed once, then hoarsely said, "Time is up. This time, I will host the exchange again. Just as before, I'll go first." After he finished talking, he pulled out a little silver sword and said, "This flying sword doesn't belong to the sect. It's one that I obtained myself and it's very powerful. I want only 500 talismans."
Everyone started to talk about the sword amongst themselves for a while, then someone walked forward and, without a word, handed over 500 talismans and finished the trade.
Another began to say, "I have this piece of magical jade that could release a skill similar to earth split three times. I only want 10 Chakra Gathering Pills." He took out a piece of jade, waved it and put it away.
Someone not far from Naruto immediately said, "I'll exchange with you!" As he was coming out, another person quickly said, "I'll trade 12 pills for that piece of jade!"
The first person hesitated and stared hard at the second person without a word. He felt that 10 pills was the limit.
Soon after, people came up one by one, showing off their stuff, and the scene became lively, especially when people fought over a certain item. Whoever had the highest bid won.
"I have a technique here that, as long as you're above the second layer of Chakra Condensation, you can use it to hide your cultivation for a short period of time, unless the person is already at the Foundation Establishment stage. I know that this thing is pretty useless. I only want 10 … 5 Chakra Gathering Pills for it." The person who said it was very hesitant.
Everyone laughed. This technique really was useless. All of the disciples wanted to show off their cultivation, because the higher the cultivation, the better their treatment. Who was that bored, to want to hide their cultivation? If it lasted longer, then it would at least have some use, but it only lasted for a short period and cost so much; 5 Chakra Gathering Pills.
Seeing that no one wanted it the person sighed. Just as he was about to put it away, Naruto called out, "I'll trade 5 Chakra Gathering Pills for it."
The person in the middle was stunned. They quickly became excited and came up to exchange.
Holding the thing containing the technique, Naruto was stunned. He had never seen this type of thing before. He quickly scanned it with his divine sense and the method for the technique quickly appeared in his mind.
This thing might be useless for others, but it was very useful to him, even though it could only hide cultivation for a short period of time.
A voice suddenly rang out. Despite it being hoarse, it was still filled with pride. "One Foundation Establishment pill. State your offer!"
Udon immediately became excited and quickly said, "20 Chakra Gathering Pills!"
"1000 talismans plus a flying sword!"
"2000 talismans!"
"30 Chakra Gathering Pills plus 500 talismans!"
"A piece of skill jade, a flying sword, 10 Chakra Gathering Pills and 500 talismans!"
The crowd loudly shouted their offers. They clearly viewed the Foundation Establishment pill as an item of great importance. Naruto had heard about this Foundation Establishment pill from Udon. After taking the pill, its effect would stay in the body for two months. In those two months, the rate in which one absorbed spiritual energy would be increased by several times. It was something every disciple under the 7th layer of Chakra Condensation desired.
That pill was very precious, even in the sect. Every disciple normally only had two chances of obtaining it; when a disciple was promoted to black cloth rank, they could receive one, and when they get promoted to purple cloth they would receive two.
Naruto had no interest in this Foundation Establishment Pill at all. Seeing the price already so high, he sighed for Udon. It seemed that Udon wouldn't be able to get this Foundation Establishment Pill.
While thinking this, he heard Udon shout, "230 Chakra Gathering Pills! This is my limit. Any more and I'm not trading!"
The scene quickly became silent. 230 Chakra Gathering Pills was already a very high price. Not many could beat it. But the Foundation Establishment pill was simply too rare, and few were willing to give theirs up.
The person selling the Foundation Establishment pill smiled. He arrogantly said, "With just 230 Chakra Gathering Pills, you want to trade for my Foundation Establishment pill? If the price is under 2000 Chakra Gathering Pills, I'm not trading!"
Naruto quickly listened to his voice. After pondering for a while, he secretly guessed that this person was Menma, but he was not sure, because he was completely hidden by the black fog.
Udon shrugged and didn't say a word. Everyone present was stunned by that person's arrogance.
The person in charge coughed and said, "Ok everyone, since that person doesn't want to trade his Foundation Establishment Pill, let us move on and continue the exchange."
Before long, another person came out and presented their goods. Soon, it was Naruto's turn. He stepped forward, took out a small bottle, and said, "A mysterious liquid that could match 1 drop to 1 Chakra gathering pill. There are about 100 drops in here. I only want the chants for the 4th layer or later." After he finished talking, he opened the bottle. Everyone could sense the spiritual energy within it.
Many people became mesmerized. Although Chakra Gathering Pills were filled with spiritual energy, it was still a finished product. This liquid had many more uses, like refining more pills.
Even when refining treasures, like a flying swords it would help increase its spiritual power.
Someone immediately said, "I'll trade the chant for the 4th layer with you!"
Naruto raised his brow and said, "Only the 4th layer?"
Another person shouted, "How about the chants for the 4th, 5th, and 6th layers to trade for that mysterious liquid?"
Naruto pondered a little. He shook his head and said, "I want the chants for the 4th through 15th layer."
"Brother, aren't you making this too difficult for us? Even second elder apprentice-brother Zabuza, who won last year's competition, is only at the 6th layer, and they only have the chant for 7th, 8th, and 9th layer. From the 10th to 15th layer, only a few elder apprentice-brothers have them!"
Naruto was stunned. He hesitated for a while. Suddenly, a voice from not far away said, "If you have 200 drops of that liquid, I can give you the chant for layers 4 through 9!"
Everyone looked toward the voice and saw a man wearing purple walking toward the disguised Naruto. He was only about 20 years old, but had a cold expression. When he arrived, he looked at the surroundings and everyone was shocked. They respectfully said, "Second elder apprentice-brother Zabuza!"
The purple clothed man didn't pay any attention to them, but said to Naruto, "Do you have 200 drops?"
Naruto's face hardened and his pupils shrank. He was getting an extremely dangerous feeling from this person, far exceeding anyone else that he had met in the Konoha Sect.
Even master Iruka and brother Shino couldn't compare to him.
Naruto respectfully replied, "This liquid is something I found by accident. Besides these 100 drops, I have a few dozen left to use for myself. I don't have that much."
The purple clothed man pondered a little. He tossed out a piece of jade and said, "Fine. Give me the rest of the liquid and these chants are yours!"
Naruto took the piece of jade and scanned it to make sure it contained what he needed. He took out another bottle and placed the two bottles on the ground. He didn't get closer to the purple clothed man.
The purple clothed man looked at Naruto, then waved his hand. The two bottles flew towards him. After scanning them with his divine sense, he said, "If you get more of this liquid, come look for me in the back mountains. It doesn't matter if its Foundation Establishment pills, flying swords, skill jade, or even the chant for the 10th layer or later. I can get them all!" After he finished speaking, he turned around and left.
Naruto's eye became narrow and his gaze became cold. The last thing that purple clothed man said was simply too vicious. If it was the people in the crowd, they might not have immediately realized, but Naruto had always been smart, so he could always see the deeper meaning in things.
The words the guy said meant that anyone could take the mysterious liquid to him to trade. That placed Naruto in a very dangerous position.
Although he couldn't see other people's eyes, he could feel that there were people secretly watching him.
But after Naruto decided to bring out the spring water, he had already prepared for this possibility, so he didn't panic and calmly checked his surrounding.
The crowd quickly continued the exchange until it was over. As people left, there were people who were filled with joy, as well as many filled with disappointment.
Naruto did not leave with Udon, but placed a dozen or so talismans on his legs and rushed out. He disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Udon was a smart person and understood why Naruto did this. He quickly used a talisman and left the exchange ground.
The disciples that revealed some good treasures all did the same and quickly left.
The several disciples that had malicious thoughts toward Naruto after seeing the mysterious liquid were all taken by surprise. They wanted to chase, but only saw a shadow. They cursed a few times and left.
Some of the higher cultivation level disciples didn't go and blatantly try steal things. This was, after all, an exchange between disciples of the same sect. If killing and stealing really occurred and was found out by the other's master, then there would be dire consequences.
As Naruto was running, he kept placing more talismans on his legs. The speed the talismans gave stacked, so, with a few dozen talismans on his legs, he quickly returned to the sect courtyard.
The person he was the most afraid of was the purple clothed man. He didn't immediately return to the chore house, but hid in an empty room.
Only when daylight appeared and the disguise disappeared did Naruto carefully leave the room. Luckily, along the way back, there was nothing.