The Spirit Stone crisis gnawed at Mo Li. Their meager reserves, once a beacon of hope, dwindled with each passing day as five cultivators—himself and his four rapidly growing children—demanded constant nourishment for their burgeoning Martial Souls. The current income from Sunpetal Blooms was no longer sufficient. A bolder, more perilous path was necessary, one that would expose his children to the raw realities of the cultivation world. It was time for them to learn more than just Essence circulation; it was time to learn to survive.
He made the difficult decision to take them with him, deeper into the Beast Forest than they had ever dared venture. It was a risky move, but one born of desperation and a fierce belief in his children's burgeoning potential.
The forest instantly transformed from a distant, ominous presence to a palpable, living entity surrounding them. Mo Li became a stern, unwavering teacher. He taught them:
* Wilderness Survival: How to identify safe water sources, edible plants (and poisonous look-alikes), track small game, build more robust temporary shelters, and read the subtle signs of the wild. He emphasized the importance of silence, stealth, and observation.
* Beast Recognition & Evasion: Beyond just combat, he taught them to differentiate between harmless beasts, those to be wary of, and those that spelled immediate danger. They learned scent recognition, track identification, and the critical skill of evading larger, more powerful creatures that even Mo Li wouldn't dare confront directly.
* Teamwork in the Wild: Each quadruplet's unique Martial Soul and its growing innate abilities proved invaluable.
* Mo Feng (Swift Wind Blade/Wind): His sharpened senses and silent movement made him an unparalleled scout. He could detect approaching beasts from farther away, warning the group with subtle hand signals. His innate ability manifested in his heightened perception of danger, his small body tensing moments before a threat was evident to others.
* Mo Lei (Scorching Earth Boar/Earth-Fire): His brute strength and resilient form were ideal for clearing paths, digging defensive holes, and acting as a sturdy anchor. When faced with aggressive, smaller beasts, he would use his enhanced physical power and rudimentary Earth-Fire Essence to deter them, often with a controlled burst of heat or a jarring tremor, proving surprisingly effective. His first innate ability, a "Fissure Tremor," allowed him to create a small, localized tremor in the ground with a focused stomp, disorienting creatures or briefly shifting loose earth.
* Mo Yue (Verdant Lifebloom/Wood): Her serene presence and affinity for nature made her invaluable for foraging. She could quickly identify beneficial herbs beyond just Sunpetal Blooms, and even locate hidden water sources. Her innate ability, a "Vining Mend," allowed her to accelerate the growth of small, tough vines, useful for securing their temporary camp or creating rudimentary restraints. She could also subtly soothe minor cuts and bruises with her Wood Essence, making their strenuous journey more bearable.
* Mo Xuan (Shifting Void Eye/Void): Mo Xuan's unique perception was perhaps the most unsettlingly useful. He seemed to "see" the unseen, detecting hidden pathways, camouflaged beasts, or even subtle traps left by other cultivators. His innate ability, "Void Whisper," allowed him to sense the precise location and relative distance of things through obstacles, discerning the "empty spaces" and even the subtle disturbances in space caused by hidden objects or living beings. This allowed them to avoid dangers others would blindly stumble into, or find hidden caches of more valuable herbs.
With four more pairs of hands and their nascent powers, their efficiency skyrocketed. They gathered larger quantities of Sunpetal Blooms, but also began to identify and harvest other, slightly more valuable healing herbs and common cultivation ingredients that grew deeper in the outskirts.
More importantly, Mo Li began teaching them how to hunt and process the bodies of weaker Martial Beasts—those too small or too low-grade for awakening, but valuable nonetheless. They learned how to carefully skin hides, extract useful organs, and even preserve small Essence-infused bones or claws. These parts, though minor, could be sold in the bustling marketplace of Pinecreek Town.
The first time Mo Li took them to sell their wares, the children were awestruck by the sheer variety of goods and cultivators. Mo Li, now a Body Building 1st Stage cultivator and a regular supplier to Han Ling, moved with a quiet confidence that belied his origins. He skillfully bartered their collected beast parts and herbs, converting them into a more substantial sum of Spirit Stones than he had ever managed before. It was still a meager amount by the standards of the city's true powers, but it was more. Enough to stem the tide of depletion, enough to buy a few basic cultivation pills for the children to aid their Body Refinement growth.
Life remained harsh, filled with constant vigilance and physical exertion. They still retreated during the yearly beast surges, wisely allowing the city guards to bear the brunt of the chaos. But now, there was a palpable shift in the Mo Clan's dynamic. The quadruplets were no longer just helpless dependants; they were active, contributing members, their diverse Martial Soul abilities making them a surprisingly cohesive and effective unit. Their time in the wild was forging them, not just into cultivators, but into a stronger, more self-reliant clan. The hungry seeds of their power were being fed, slowly, painstakingly, but consistently. The path to becoming the strongest clan in the world felt impossibly distant, but for the first time, it didn't feel entirely unreachable.