The first weeks following the awakening ritual were a blur of intense focus for the Mo Clan. With their Martial Souls now vivid within their Spiritual Seas and their raw connection to Essence established, the quadruplets, guided by Mo Li, officially took their first, unsteady steps into the world of cultivation. Each morning, their small, canvas-covered shelter hummed with the subtle energy of their efforts, a stark contrast to the desolate peace of the outskirts.
Mo Li, now at Body Building 1st Stage, tirelessly supervised their progress. He meticulously rationed the remaining Spirit Stones from Han Ling, offering slivers to each child, guiding them to draw the refined Essence into their nascent spiritual seas. His joy swelled as he watched them successfully breach the first threshold, each child, one after another, achieving Body Refinement 1st Stage within a few short weeks. It was a rapid pace, a testament to their inherent talents and the purity of the beast blood used in their awakening. But breakthroughs, even minor ones, demanded immense energy.
Their cultivation wasn't just theoretical; it began to subtly, then overtly, impact their daily lives.
Mo Feng, with his Swift Wind Blade Martial Soul, became their silent scout. His Wind Essence allowed him to move with a new, almost imperceptible lightness, his footsteps barely disturbing the dust. His senses, sharpened by his Martial Soul, now perceived the faintest shifts in air currents, the distant rustle of unseen creatures, and even the subtle vibrations in the ground. During their scavenging trips, he'd range ahead, a watchful sentinel. One evening, as Mo Li worried about a hidden snare he'd set earlier, Mo Feng, without a word, pointed to a seemingly innocuous patch of ground. "There's a hollow space, Father," he murmured, his gaze unusually focused. Mo Li investigated, and indeed, found the well-concealed snare, its tripwire invisible to the untrained eye. Mo Feng's warning had averted a painful, resource-draining injury.
Mo Lei, driven by his fiery spirit and Scorching Earth Boar Martial Soul, turned his energy towards bolstering their meager defenses. His Earth Essence made his small body surprisingly dense and resilient. He spent hours, under Mo Li's watchful eye, packing mud and stones around the base of their shelter, creating rudimentary earthworks. His fists, imbued with nascent Fire Essence, now packed a surprisingly potent punch. While collecting firewood, a particularly aggressive wild dog snarled, baring its teeth. Mo Lei, without hesitation, slammed his fist into the ground near it. A small, controlled tremor rippled through the earth, and a faint burst of heat radiated upwards. The dog yelped, startled, and fled. His raw, unrefined power was a volatile but effective deterrent.
Mo Yue, ever tranquil, found her Verdant Lifebloom Martial Soul guiding her towards a deeper connection with the natural world around their camp. Her Wood Essence flowed with a calming, restorative quality, and she discovered she could subtly accelerate the growth of small saplings near their shelter, a faint green glow emanating from her fingertips as she touched them. She carefully nurtured a small, wilting herb patch they cultivated, coaxing the plants to thrive even in the poor soil. Her presence seemed to subtly imbue their immediate surroundings with a hint of vitality, making the air around her feel fresher, lighter. Her innate connection to life proved invaluable for their small-scale foraging, ensuring a slightly more consistent supply of edible plants.
And Mo Xuan, the most enigmatic, often cultivated in quiet solitude, his Shifting Void Eye Martial Soul guiding him through abstract perceptions. He didn't manifest overt power like his siblings, but his spatial awareness sharpened unnervingly. He began to instinctively know the exact distance to an object without measuring, the subtle variations in terrain, and even the "empty" spaces where others weren't. One afternoon, while practicing his perception, he warned Mo Li about a weak spot in the rickety wooden frame supporting their canvas roof, a spot that was invisible to the eye but "felt wrong" to him. Sure enough, upon inspection, the wood was rotting from within. His subtle, yet incredibly useful, gift helped avert a potential collapse.
The practical application of their nascent powers was exhilarating, a tangible sign of their new path. Mo Li's heart swelled with pride watching them, seeing the very purpose of his desperate struggles take root in his children. Their laughter became a little brighter, their spirits a little higher, nourished by the knowledge that they were forging their own destinies, moving beyond the simple, desperate survival they had known.
Yet, this burgeoning power came with a steep cost. Every successful use of their Martial Souls, every small step in cultivation, consumed precious Essence. And that Essence, for now, primarily came from the rapidly diminishing pile of Spirit Stones supplied by Han Ling.
Mo Li spent his evenings staring at the dwindling luminosity of the stones. The initial handful, once a fortune, now seemed like a pitiful reserve. The exchanges with Han Ling were consistent, providing a steady, if meager, trickle of stones in return for Sunpetal Blooms. But the demand had skyrocketed. Five cultivators now needed Essence daily – himself, pushing for higher Body Building stages to continue providing, and the four children, ravenous at Body Refinement 1st Stage, their awakened Martial Souls hungry for nourishment to grow.
The crisis of Spirit Stones loomed large, a suffocating weight that pressed down on Mo Li's shoulders. They were consuming them at an alarming rate, far faster than he could earn them from the relatively safe outskirts of the Beast Forest. The Sunpetal Blooms were common, and their price, though stable, was not high enough to support five active cultivators.
"We need more," Mo Li muttered one evening, the words a raw whisper into the quiet night. He looked at his sleeping children, their faces serene, their futures now so inextricably linked to the flow of these precious stones. He understood now that sustaining them, allowing their unique Martial Souls to truly develop, would require a far greater influx of resources than his current partnership could provide.
The benevolent support from Han Ling had provided a vital stepping stone, pulling them from the brink of destitution. But their needs had now outstripped that initial aid. To truly ascend, to nourish the powerful seeds that had awakened within his children, Mo Li realized they would have to take greater risks. The outskirts of the Beast Forest, once a perilous frontier, now felt like a cramped, insufficient pond. The true wealth, the richer veins of Essence, the more potent herbs, lay deeper within its dangerous heart, or perhaps in other, equally perilous ventures beyond Pinecreek Town itself.
The gleam of hope, once so bright, now felt a little fainter, overshadowed by the stark reality of their spiraling demand for Spirit Stones. Their journey had begun, but the next challenge was already knocking at their canvas door, demanding greater daring and far more resources. Mo Li knew he would have to make a choice, one that would inevitably lead them deeper into the dangerous cultivation world.