Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 145 Rice Mochi and the Mermaid
Merfolk, known as Quanxian in the Guixu Realm, are considered the most mysterious race among all the Ten Continents and Three Islands.

They mostly live alone and leave their families as soon as they reach adulthood, so when people encounter Quanxian people, they usually encounter one or two of them.

For example, right now, under the moonlight, Quan Xian sits alone on the reef, curiously watching Bai Chenxue and Shen Yun.

Bai Chenxue asked hesitantly, "It doesn't seem like I have a red name. Should I... go over and say hello? Maybe I can buy the Mermaid Silk?"

Shen Yun suddenly realized, thinking he had guessed the truth, and said, "I knew there would be a new storyline after the map of the Ten Thousand Mountains was opened! Maybe it will involve contact with the Quanxian Clan!"

"Huh? Is that really how it is?"

Shen Yun said confidently, "What else could it be? The map of the Ten Thousand Mountains is so big, and we haven't found a single new faction! It's like it's just a completely deserted area! We can't have opened the map and found nothing, right? This must be a new storyline! Or some kind of hidden quest! Come on, let's go over there and see if we can have a chat!"

As he spoke, Shen Yun took the lead and walked towards the reef where the Quanxian clan member was located, shouting as he went, "Hey! Friends over there! Aloha! We are disciples of the Taiyin Sect! Are you from the Quanxian clan?"

Bai Chenxue followed behind Shen Yun. After hearing his greeting, she weakly reminded him, "Xiao Yun, this... he probably doesn't understand 'Aloha', right?"

Shen Yun replied softly, "It's okay! Even if we don't speak the same language, people can still convey their emotions through body language and tone of voice!"

"You are... human cultivators?"

Unexpectedly, the two heard a voice "spoken" using spiritual power, which seemed to be a mixed sound and echoed in their ears.

Bai Chenxue quickened her pace, jogging as she hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, yes! We are! Whew, we are, whew, cultivators of the Taiyin Sect!"

When the two got closer, under the moonlight, they could finally see what Quan Xian looked like.

Her long, silver hair cascaded half-wet over her shoulders, and she wore a headdress woven from black pearls. Her eyes were a light blue with a hint of green, like two Paraiba stones. The fins on her elbows and the scales on her tail were silver-blue, shimmering with iridescent colors in the moonlight, making her as beautiful as a piece of glass.

“So… so beautiful…”

Bai Chenxue was almost stunned, her eyes sparkling.

Shen Yun was also amazed until he saw the other's flat chest... Oh, so beautiful, he's actually a male merman!

"Thank you! My name is Coral!"

That ethereal voice came again from all directions.

Bai Chenxue quickly replied, "My name is Cai Cai! His name is Yun Canghai! We are both disciples of the Taiyin Sect!"

Shen Yun noticed that the other party did not open their mouth when speaking, but communicated with them purely through spiritual power, so he couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, is this how the Quanxian Clan always speaks with spiritual power?"

"No, it's just that I'm not very good at speaking yet."

As soon as the ethereal voice faded, Coral opened his mouth and stammered, "I haven't met a human in a long time, so it's been a long time since I've spoken."

Bai Chenxue quickly waved her hand: "Ah! It's okay, it's okay! You can say whatever you want!"

Shen Yun became even more curious: "Don't you Quanxian people speak to each other? How do you communicate?" Coral readily switched back to communicating through spiritual energy and explained, "We communicate with our divine sense. If our cultivation is sufficient, we can communicate with each other even from a thousand miles away!"

Bai Chenxue hadn't paid close attention to the game's mechanics, which only deepened her confusion: "Spiritual communication?"

"We need to reach the Nascent Soul stage to do this, which is somewhat like telepathic communication or secret sound transmission."

Shen Yun tugged at Bai Chenxue's sleeve and whispered.

"Oh! So, you don't interact with humans? You don't trade? You don't do business?"

Coral thought for a moment and replied, "Occasionally, but there's everything in the ocean, so there's no need for any transactions!"

"Hehe! You're exaggerating, aren't you? That's definitely not true!"

As Bai Chenxue spoke, she took out a bamboo cup from her game backpack, and a sweet fragrance immediately wafted out of the cup.

"This is……"

Bai Chenxue handed the bamboo cup forward, saying enthusiastically, "This is called milk tea! It also has rice mochi in it! I originally bought it to stock up, but I happened to find it here, so I'm giving it to you to try!"

Shen Yun stared at the bamboo cup in shock: "No, rice mochi!? Sister Ya Ya even replicated this thing!?"

"Hehe! You didn't expect that, did you? This is a brand new product! It's just really expensive, supposedly because it can only be ground by hand. She had to give her employees a raise to make enough for a limited supply of only a few dozen cups a day! And Sister Ya said she also invested in a research institute because she couldn't stand life without a grinder and a blender!"

Bai Chenxue whispered, then turned to Shanhu and began to teach her step by step: "Look, this is a wooden spoon. It looks very simple, but it still works. Like this, you reach down and dig it out. The rice and mochi will all sink to the bottom!"

Coral curiously held the bamboo cup, then took the wooden spoon and, imitating Bai Chenxue's earlier actions, scooped up a large lump of milky white gelatinous substance.

Bai Chenxue exclaimed repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes! That's it! Rice mochi! It's so delicious!"

Coral first brought the rice mochi in the spoon closer to smell it. A rich, strange sweet aroma swirled around his nose, the smell of food he had never tasted before.

After examining the food, he looked at the two human cultivators in front of him who were barely at the Foundation Establishment stage. He hesitated for a moment before putting the rice and mochi from the wooden spoon into his mouth.

The smooth, creamy rice mochi swirled in his mouth before sliding down his throat. The sweet taste was unlike anything he had ever experienced before—rich, full-bodied, and with a slightly milky flavor—it was truly strange! The milky taste that he used to find unbearably fishy was now miraculously less repulsive to him!
He parroted what he was hearing and asked in a dry voice, "This is called... rice mochi?"

"Mmm! What you're eating is called 'rice mochi'! But what's in this bamboo tube is actually called 'milk tea'! As the name suggests, it's a drink made with milk and tea! 'Rice mochi' is just a small topping, uh, like... a side dish!"

Bai Chenxue became even more enthusiastic, saying, "You can try taking a sip of milk tea and eating a bite of rice mochi; it tastes even better!"

However, in the private chat interface that only Bai Chenxue and Shen Yun could see, she sent the following message: "If we bribe the mermaid sister like this, she shouldn't refuse when we ask for the silk later, right?"

"I don't think so. We're buying, not robbing!"

Shen Yun replied, "Besides, he's a male merman."

(End of this chapter)