Chapter 114 - 111: 3 Years of Silence
Even though the height of summer was ending, the weather in Yuanhe Mountain was still just as scorching.
On a mountainside plateau on Yuanling Mountain, Fang Qingyuan gazed at the fertile land before him. He unleashed a Fire Element Technique and began to incinerate the vegetation.
Trailing behind him were over a hundred mortals, including the Qu and Liu Families.
Since Fang Qingyuan was moving to Yuanling Mountain, he couldn’t feel at ease leaving the Qu and Liu families behind at the Qingfeng Tea Garden. What’s more, Qu Wujie and Liu Xun had both turned three, and it was time for them to begin their cultivation journey.
So, Fang Qingyuan brought both the Qu and Liu families to Yuanling Mountain, planning to settle them together with Zhang Yuan’s relatives for companionship.
The remaining dozen or so families were left at the Qingfeng Tea Garden as tea farmers. Just like in previous years, their only duty was to collect and hand over the mutated Qingfeng Silver Hero Tea each year.
The Qingfeng Tea Garden was still Fang Qingyuan’s property. As long as the Southern Border Beast Taming Mountain did not fall, and as long as Fang Qingyuan didn’t want to sell it, it would always be his. Even if others coveted it, they couldn’t take it away.
Therefore, even with Fang Qingyuan moving out, it would have no effect on the mother of that underground Jinbao—the corpse of the Nascent Soul Giant Beast.
There weren’t many places on Yuanling Mountain suitable for mortals to live, only three or four plots of land in total. The largest of these was given to Jiang Kui’s relatives. From the remaining plots, Fang Qingyuan chose a medium-sized field to serve as the settlement for his and Zhang Yuan’s people.
This particular plot of land had only about a thousand mu of flat, arable ground. The rest was exposed rock, capable of growing nothing but a few weeds.
Food is the first necessity of the people. Without land, there is no grain. This current plot of land could support a few hundred people at most.
Any more people, and the grain produced by the land wouldn’t be enough to eat. Cultivators, after all, weren’t true immortals; they couldn’t conjure food from thin air.
In truth, there was plenty of land suitable for cultivation outside Yuanling Mountain, but it wasn’t safe. Furthermore, the land outside had no Spiritual Power underground, which was detrimental to a Cultivator’s training. Jiang Kui couldn’t possibly assign Qi Refining Cultivators to guard a mortal territory year-round.
Beneath Yuanling Mountain, however, a small Spirit Vein lay hidden deep inside. Most of the Spiritual Land formed by the spreading vein was Tier Two Lower Grade; only the most vital sections were Second-rank Middle-grade.
The Second-rank Middle-grade Spiritual Land was the most precious cultivation resource on the mountain. Unfortunately, there wasn’t even a total of three mu of land that could be called Second-rank Middle-grade.
Jiang Kui had built three houses on this Second-rank Middle-grade Spiritual Land: one for herself, and one each for Fang Qingyuan and Zhang Yuan.
After Fang Qingyuan moved into his new house, he tried cultivating through meditation and immediately fell in love with the place.
Previously, the small courtyard in Fang Qingyuan’s old residence was also located on a Tier Two Spirit Land, but its position wasn’t the best—only halfway up the mountain.
The prime locations at the summit were not his to have; he would only have the right to get in line for one after becoming a formal disciple.
But now, things were better. Following Jiang Kui out here had solved his housing situation, to say nothing of the other benefits.
The concentration of Spiritual Power in the Second-rank Middle-grade Spiritual Land was more than double that of his previous courtyard.
Fang Qingyuan had originally estimated it would take him three to four years to perfect his Sixth-Layer Qi Refining cultivation. But cultivating here, he now figured it would only take a little over two years.
Furthermore, his Wood Spirit Root’s aptitude had also increased a little, which would save another two or three months of hard work. If things went smoothly, he could probably perfect the Sixth-Layer Qi Refining realm by the year after next, and then he could focus on finding an opportunity to break through his bottleneck.
It was now the tenth day since Fang Qingyuan had moved to Yuanling Mountain. Jiang Kui and Zhang Yuan had gone to a mine fifty li away to inspect the situation. Fang Qingyuan, meanwhile, had stayed behind on the mountain to settle the mortals. He was also clearing the land for them by burning it, so they could promptly plant some grains and vegetables that would survive the winter.
A rolling Fire Dragon swept past, devouring all the weeds in its path. Some newly felled trees were stacked to the side, waiting to be processed.
Qu Wei and the others would later use this wood to build houses. The current pile looked substantial, but the total amount was actually insufficient.
No matter. Fang Qingyuan had already sent Jinbao up the mountain to fell trees. Jinbao could easily topple a tree the width of a bowl with a single push of his palm. He would then stack them on Yinbao’s back, who was in charge of transport.
The two Spirit Beasts worked together with astonishing efficiency. In just three days, they had already gathered over a thousand logs, and even now, they were still hard at work.
Four hours later, the thousand-plus mu of land had been burned to a crisp. Fang Qingyuan had spared no Spiritual Power, continuously casting the Fire Dragon Technique, and it had left him quite exhausted.
Looking at the ash on the ground, which was all that remained of the original plants, Fang Qingyuan said to Qu Wei, who was standing to the side:
"Tomorrow, take everyone and turn over all the soil in this plot. Bury the wood ash in the ground. After some time passes, you can plant vegetables and grains."
Qu Wei quickly nodded in agreement. Then, seeing that Fang Qingyuan was in a good mood, he ventured a request:
"Sect Leader, since the several hundred of us arrived at Yuanling Mountain, we’ve been searching everywhere for a water source. But after searching for a long time, we’ve only found a single pool ten li away. Fetching water for daily use and cooking is too troublesome. I was wondering if the Sect Leader could help us find a source of water."
Fang Qingyuan listened to Qu Wei’s request and agreed after a moment of thought. ’These mortals are the foundation of my future,’ he mused. ’As their Sect Leader, I ought to help when I can.’
’Of course, with so few people in this early stage, I have to step in personally. Once the population grows, they’ll have to rely on themselves.’
’After all, these mortals serve me. I can’t possibly manage every little thing. That’s not only unrealistic but would also be a detriment later on.’
Having figured this out, Fang Qingyuan leaped into the sky and began searching for a water source from mid-air.
Just a quarter of an hour later, Fang Qingyuan found that there were indeed too few open-air water sources on Yuanling Mountain. Even the ones with a larger volume of water were simply too far away from this place.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan gave up on searching for surface water sources. He landed on the ground and began to activate the *Vertical Earth Golden Light Divine Movement Art*, preparing to search for water underground.
Compared to the unstable water sources on the surface, groundwater was an excellent alternative. Moreover, groundwater is clear and pure, and generally much safer than surface water.
As Fang Qingyuan cast the technique, the ground before him turned into an illusory phantom. With a leap, Fang Qingyuan entered the earth.
A depth of twenty-five zhang at a time was already where groundwater could be found. Fang Qingyuan’s luck was good; after changing locations and casting the Vertical Earth Technique three times, he found an artesian aquifer.
The water source and quality in this aquifer were very stable and not easily contaminated. Moreover, as long as a channel was opened to the surface, water would gush out continuously without needing to be pumped.
Focusing on this spot, Fang Qingyuan summoned his Magic Sword and drilled into the ground. In just a moment, a column of water shot into the sky.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan opened seven more holes in one go. Before long, seven gushing wells had been formed.
When Qu Wei and the others saw this, they immediately rushed forward, cheering, and began to drink their fill.
When Qu Wei had drunk his fill and looked up again, Fang Qingyuan was already gone, having drifted away gracefully.
....
After busying himself with these trivial matters, Fang Qingyuan returned to his own residence at the summit. A half-mu courtyard with three thatched-roof houses—this was Fang Qingyuan’s new home.
It looked simple, but its value was far greater than his old house. And those three thatched-roof houses were no ordinary structures. The roofs were built with Tier One Middle Grade Clear Heart Grass, and the beams were made of Tier One Middle Grade Zhe Wood Spiritual Material. For these three houses alone, Jiang Kui had spent over a thousand Spirit Stones, at the very least.
Jiang Kui believed that they could be frugal in other areas, but there was no need to pinch pennies on things related to cultivation.
This was a place they would be living in for hundreds of years to come. Better materials would make for a more comfortable life.
Indeed, Fang Qingyuan found it very comfortable—especially since he hadn’t had to spend a single Spirit Stone on its construction.
As dusk fell, Jinbao and Yinbao finally came waddling back. Seeing Jinbao covered in dust and dirt, Fang Qingyuan’s heart ached for him, and he quickly took out some Flower Nectar and Spirit Fish as a reward.
But then Fang Qingyuan noticed that Jinbao had actually given half of the Flower Nectar to Yinbao, while Yinbao, in turn, offered two of its Spirit Fish to Jinbao.
’Well, I’ll be. They’ve learned to share and trade food. But can you two even digest all that?’
Both Spirit Fish and Flower Nectar were high-energy ingredients rich in Spiritual Power. An ordinary mortal would not feel hungry for three days after eating just a small spoonful of Flower Nectar. If they ate a few more spoonfuls, their body likely wouldn’t be able to handle it, and they would die bleeding from all seven orifices.
That was why Fang Qingyuan always gave the two Spirit Beasts a fixed amount of food at a fixed time. He was afraid of giving too much, lest they couldn’t digest it, and afraid of giving too little, lest they go hungry.
But now that the two Spirit Beasts were choosing to trade food, Fang Qingyuan decided to look the other way. ’No big deal,’ he thought. ’I’ll just give them a little more tomorrow.’
Jiang Kui only returned to Yuanling Mountain on the third day. Zhang Yuan, however, remained at the mine to supervise.
This mine had originally belonged to the Wei Family. It was later given to Lechuan, who sent a few Inner and Outer Disciples to manage it. At the end of this year, these disciples would also be withdrawn, and the entire operation would be handed over to Jiang Kui.
Currently, the main workforce for mining was the Shrimp Turtle Beasts bred by the Beast Taming Sect. These creatures had low intelligence and long, slender bodies, making them well-suited for use in dangerous mine shafts.
This mine near Yuanling Mountain had been exploited for many years, and the conditions inside were now quite harsh. In the early years, its output was good, and some Cultivators were willing to go down and mine. But after a dozen or so Cultivators died, the Wei Family paid out the compensation, did the math, and decided it wasn’t profitable, so they shelved the project.
Later, when Lechuan took over, he bought a batch of Shrimp Turtle Beasts from Zongshan and put them into the mine shafts. That was several years ago now.
Shrimp Turtle Beasts were Spirit Beasts, after all. Their efficiency couldn’t compare to human Cultivators, but their advantage was that they were cheap, and there was no need to pay compensation.
With over a hundred Shrimp Turtle Beasts, they could dig up fifty to sixty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones annually. If they had a stroke of good luck and dug up a few Top-grade Spirit Stones, then it would be considered a very good year.
Jiang Kui currently had no one else available to use, so she had to grab Zhang Yuan and have him take over the mine. She would replace him once she found a suitable person.
Fang Qingyuan, however, didn’t need to worry about these matters. He now had such an excellent environment for cultivation. ’The most important thing,’ he thought, ’is to raise my cultivation level as soon as possible.’
And so, for the next three years, Fang Qingyuan settled down to cultivate. As for other matters, he rarely got involved unless Jiang Kui sought him out.
In the first year, Qu Wei and the other mortals established a firm foothold, and the mine was handed over as scheduled.
In the second year, Jiang Kui killed several demonic beasts that had escaped from the Wilderness Forest. The beasts’ corpses were distributed among the relatives of the three of them. That same year, over a hundred babies were born among the mortals.
In the third year, Fang Qingyuan’s cultivation smoothly reached the Sixth-Layer Qi Refining, but then he got stuck at a bottleneck. Though slightly disappointed by this, Fang Qingyuan quickly adjusted his mindset and began to actively participate in the territory’s affairs. It was also during this year that his Metal Spirit Root was the first to break through to the top grade.
It wasn’t until the Mid-Autumn Festival of the fourth year that Fang Qingyuan finally found the opportunity for his breakthrough.
