For the time being, it did not look like Mei Chao Bing was right with that thought. While Yun Bei Fen obviously saw that he hadn't done too well in his first attempt, the next few weren't much better. He had no problem at all making a ball of spiritual energy up to a certain size but making and moving it were two different matters altogether. The speed stayed low and the trajectory was a mess. If this was used as an attack, the only thing it would achieve would be to confuse the enemy.
After several failed attempts, Yun Bei Fen couldn't help but turn to Mei Chao Bing, hoping that he would explain to him what he was doing wrong.
Mei Chao Bing just smiled though and went over to rub Yun Bei Fen's head. "Don't worry about it. You're just learning. It'll take some time to explore. Do you want to take a break first before you continue trying?"
Yun Bei Fen looked at the piece of ground that he had tried to throw all of the previous attacks at and then shook his head. While it might be better to take a break, he wanted to continue trying until he managed to do it, no matter how long that would take.
Mei Chao Bing could imagine what was going through his head. He brushed through his hair with his fingers and then leaned down to give him a kiss. "Alright. Then try a bit longer. If you feel that you need a break, just say it though. I don't want you to tire yourself out."
Yun Bei Fen nodded eagerly and then continued to try. The result wasn't very good though. Well, it really wasn't strange. When there was something new that he had to learn it always took a little longer. Thus, Mei Chao Bing just didn't rush him and only continued to watch from the side.
On the other hand, Yi Ju and Yuan Lei finished practicing the advanced skill of the energy shield and went back to reading traces.
Tan Xin was going through all her skills, showing Liu Bao Ru what she was able to do. Liu Bao Ru watched closely, sometimes having her repeat something and then mercilessly pointed out all the mistakes she made. While it might be difficult to bear, she was sure that only this way, Tan Xin could improve.
If the basics were solid, the future parts would also be. On the other hand, if they weren't, then the gaps in the more advanced skills would be bigger, letting a shrewd enemy take advantage of it. She definitely would not let that happen. Thus, she tried to pay attention even to the smallest detail.
Song Mu watched over what everyone was doing and offered his help when he felt that it was needed. He was able to see a few things that Liu Bao Ru hadn't spotted and gave some hints on what Yuan Lei and Yi Ju might need to focus on the most if they were to stay in the border region but other than that, there really wasn't anything for him to do. Thus, he finally sat down at the side and just started to cultivate. Anyway, if the others needed him, they would definitely say so.
In this manner, the first half of the day was soon over. Finally, everybody took a break and came together to rest for a while.
Yun Bei Fen, Yi Ju, and Tan Xin who were of a lower level and needed to eat more to sustain their energy were sitting together, eating some of the rations that they had taken with them.
After a while, Yi Ju couldn't help but speak up. "Do you guys think that senior martial sister Xi's group already reached the Li Ren Sect?" She looked from one person to the other, not quite sure who would be able to give an answer.
Mei Chao Bing didn't feel comfortable speaking up when he wasn't the one leading the group while Song Mu felt that Mei Chao Bing was closer to her so it would be more likely for Mei Chao Bing to answer. Since he didn't want to cross him, he didn't even think of speaking up.
In the end, the one who said his guess was Yuan Lei. "All sects are about the same distance from each other. So I guess that they should've already gotten there by the time that we reached the Zhen Yan Sect. In fact, they might even be back at our own sect's camp by now."
Mei Chao Bing and Song Mu both nodded, at least showing that they were of a similar opinion.
Tan Xin couldn't help but become curious when she heard that. "Then what about us? How long will we be staying here? We'll need about the same time back so that will be quite a lot."
Yi Ju nodded. "Right. And then there's also the question of whether anybody has found anything else. Do you really think that the clues we discovered were the only ones?"
This time, Yuan Lei didn't want to give a guess and turned to look at Song Mu.
Since he was the leader, Song Mu could hardly refuse to answer. "I think we should stay for up to five days and then leave. If something happened before that, we could go already but otherwise, it's good to wait a bit. As for the clues … I really don't know. I'm afraid we can only wait to find out."
Yi Ju pursed her lips. "You say if something happens. Are we waiting for something good or something bad to happen?"
Song Mu smiled wryly. "Well, if they find another clue, it is hard to say whether that is good or bad. It is good in so far as that means that our guess of what the worst-case scenario might be won't come true. On the other hand, it really means that the demonic practitioners were targeting us and have something very big planned. So I guess there's no chance that there will be anything good happening in the border region."
Yi Ju couldn't help but furrow her brows, realizing that what he said was true. It truly wasn't like they should expect anything good here. She really wished that they would soon find a solution for everything and then be able to leave. She didn't want to have to deal with this any longer.