Chapter 108 - 107: Opening the Spiritual Land, Battlefield

Chapter 108: Chapter 107: Opening the Spiritual Land, Battlefield

"Do you two Senior Brothers know how much Spiritual Land there is in the Ring Mountain Spiritual Land?"

Li Changsheng walked over to them, and after taking a seat, asked curiously.

When he looked down from the Flying Ship, he saw that the Ring Mountain Spiritual Land was incomparably vast. He roughly estimated it to be at least tens of thousands of acres of land.

It contained mountain forests, hills, and plains.

’But it can’t all be Spiritual Land, right? That would be a bit too much.’

Steward Ye and Steward Wu exchanged a glance.

Steward Ye said with a light laugh, "According to our survey of the Spiritual Land, there are over a thousand acres that can be developed into Tier One Spirit Fields." After a pause, he added, "On the fringes, there are tens of thousands of acres of Ungraded Spiritual Land, which can barely support sparse plantings of Spirit Rice."

"As for Tier Two Spirit Fields, the demonic beasts on them haven’t been cleared out yet, so we can’t say for sure how many acres there are."

"Over a thousand acres of Tier One Spirit Fields, and tens of thousands of acres of Ungraded land..."

Shock filled Li Changsheng’s eyes, but then he noticed a problem and asked, "With so many Spirit Fields, the Tier One ones are manageable, but those tens of thousands of acres of Ungraded Spirit Fields..."

Steward Wu patted his belly and said with a laugh, "When the time comes, we’ll recruit Loose Cultivators to come here and develop the Ungraded Spirit Fields..."

"And their status?"

Steward Wu said as if it were a matter of course, "They’ll naturally remain Loose Cultivators. We’ll rent the Spirit Fields to them. They should count themselves lucky." After a pause, he added, "Junior Brother Li, your cultivation is low, so you’ve probably never traveled much..."

"Within the Cyan Yang Sect’s sphere of influence, Loose Cultivators have it pretty good."

"In the Ten Thousand Poison Forest, or with the Power Demon Sect... tsk tsk, now that’s a truly precarious existence."

Steward Wu said with a savage grin, "Junior Brother, if you’re traveling in the future and encounter Cultivators who are good with insects or are built so sturdily they don’t look human, just attack them on sight. Don’t be polite."

Li Changsheng nodded silently.

’It seems the Cyan Yang Sect isn’t on good terms with the other two sects...’

’It makes sense. Since ancient times, good and evil have never coexisted.’

’As for traveling?’

’Hmm, I’ll have to wait until I advance to the Condensing Pulse Realm. And even then, I’ll need to see how my own abilities measure up.’

Afterward, the three of them began to chat idly.

Under Li Changsheng’s deliberate steering of the conversation, they spoke entirely of matters within the Cyan Yang Sect, which he found quite fruitful.

Moments later, Tan Hu and Jin Fang entered the main hall, one after the other.

Judging by their ugly expressions, something must have happened outside that the others didn’t know about.

Li Changsheng looked at the "King" character on Tan Hu’s forehead, which was gradually dimming, and thought to himself, ’So, they did fight.’

At this moment, Steward Ye stood up. As if not sensing the chaotic auras within Tan Hu and Jin Fang, he said with a cheerful laugh, "Since you two Stewards are not yet familiar with the business of developing Spiritual Land, how about you accompany Steward Wu and me today?"

The two nodded in agreement, then exchanged a glance, their eyes blazing with fury.

Afterward, Jin Fang left with Steward Wu and Fang Fan.

Steward Ye glanced at Li Changsheng and said to Tan Hu with a smile, "Steward Tan, let’s get going as well." He then immediately headed for the door.

Dong Xing and Xu Li hurriedly followed.

After Tan Hu stood up, Li Changsheng sidled up to him and asked in confusion, "Senior Brother Tan, what happened?"

Tan Hu shook his head and said, "It’s nothing. Just stretched my limbs a bit."

Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Li Changsheng nodded and didn’t press the matter, walking out alongside him.

Following behind Steward Ye, the group walked along the newly cleared street.

Li Changsheng’s gaze swept over the surroundings.

He could see that the plots of Spiritual Land near the main hall had all been tilled and prepared, amounting to over a hundred acres.

And not far off, a Spirit Farmer was busy at work every five or six hundred meters.

A short while later, the group arrived before a plot of Spiritual Land where the weeds had clearly just been cut.

Steward Ye looked at Dong Xing and Xu Li, then with a flip of his hand, he produced two palm-sized, entirely gray stones. He handed them to the two men and asked with a smile, "Is there anything you don’t understand?"

Both Dong Xing and his companion shook their heads and each entered a one-acre Spirit Field.

’A Spirit-Locking Talisman?’

Li Changsheng’s gaze swept over the drab gray stone, and he watched the two men with anticipation.

To his surprise, after entering the Spiritual Land, the two only touched the ground with their palms, repeating this several times before stopping in one spot. Then, with a flip of their hands, they each took out a Rune Hoe and began to dig.

At that moment, Steward Ye, who was standing to the side, said with a face full of admiration, "Tsk... Truly worthy of being Spirit Plant Masters."

’He’s praising them already?’

?

Li Changsheng was speechless.

After turning his head back, he saw Dong Xing and Xu Li stop digging. They took out the Spirit-Locking Talismans Steward Ye had given them, and a stream of dark green light flowed from their palms, quickly seeping into the stones.

This dark green light was the life-source Spiritual Qi they had absorbed.

Seeing how dark green it was, Li Changsheng frowned slightly and thought to himself, ’What impure life-source Spiritual Qi.’

In his perception, the life-source Spiritual Qi flowing from their palms was very stiff, as if it were water mixed with a lot of sawdust. It lacked any trace of vitality and seemed like a completely different substance compared to the life-source Spiritual Qi he absorbed.

Soon, a twisted rune on the surface of the Spirit-Locking Talisman lit up.

Then, the two of them tossed it into the hole and shoveled dirt over it to bury it.

"Truly worthy of being Spirit Plant Masters!"

Steward Ye praised them lavishly, saying with a laugh, "With you two here, I believe it won’t be long before we can finish developing all the Spiritual Land."

"You flatter us, Steward."

The two hurriedly replied with humility.

Steward Ye nodded and continued, "You two just need to find the nodes where Spiritual Qi is emitted within the Spirit Field. Other Spirit Farmers will handle the rest."

"Yes, Steward."

The two nodded in agreement, turned, and walked into the Spiritual Land, touching the ground with their palms to search for the so-called Spiritual Qi nodes.

Time passed bit by bit.

Even though the two of them didn’t have to dig pits or till the fields, the investigation alone was exhausting. However, their time wasn’t wasted; they found several dozen Spiritual Qi nodes, which corresponded to several dozen acres of Spirit Fields.

’Is it that simple?’

Li Changsheng watched from the side, curious, and finally couldn’t resist stepping into a plot of Spiritual Land the two hadn’t touched.

Seeing this, Steward Ye and Tan Hu followed him, also curious.

Li Changsheng placed both hands on the ground, and a faint wisp of Spiritual Qi appeared in his senses.

’There’s nothing special about it?’

Li Changsheng was puzzled for a moment. With a slight thought, the Three-leaf Mark on his forehead flickered with light, and a touch of jade-green fluorescence appeared in his palm.

He pressed his palm against the Spiritual Land once more.

Li Changsheng’s mind went blank for an instant. He felt his consciousness spreading out like clouds and mist, extending until it met an invisible barrier and could go no further.

And in his mind, a vast network of channels appeared, dotted with points of light. A quick count revealed more than twenty of them.

The next moment.

Li Changsheng felt his body sway slightly, and he was ejected from that state.

"This is..."

Coming to his senses, Li Changsheng stood up and found that Steward Ye and the others had all gathered around him, looking at him with peculiar expressions.

Tan Hu retracted his arm and said with a frown, "Junior Brother, there’s no need to waste your life-source Spiritual Qi like that."

Hearing this, Dong Xing and Xu Li’s faces darkened, and they couldn’t help but roll their eyes.

’So when they use it, it’s not a waste!’

Tan Hu seemed to realize his words were a bit off. He smiled at the two and continued, "Although Junior Brother can absorb life-source Spiritual Qi at any time, it still takes time. Minor matters like this can be left to his subordinates."

Hearing this, the two men were once again speechless and rolled their eyes.

"Oh, okay..."

Li Changsheng was still savoring the state he had just been in. After coming to his senses, he realized he had consumed a full ten percent of the life-source Spiritual Qi within the channels of his forehead mark.

He thought for a moment.

Li Changsheng looked at Dong Xing and Xu Li and asked, "How far can you probe the Spiritual Land using your life-source Spiritual Qi?"

"Less than two hundred meters..." Dong Xing thought for a moment and replied.

Xu Li, his face a ferocious mask, said in a muffled voice, "A little over one hundred and thirty meters..."

Dong Xing asked curiously, "Steward Li, how far can you probe?"

"Five... five hundred meters?"

Li Changsheng hesitated for a moment before saying softly.

Hearing this, they all stared at him, speechless.

’When you say that, could you please not phrase it as a question?!’

However, this also let everyone know that Li Changsheng’s probe range definitely exceeded five hundred meters.

Steward Ye waved his hand and said with a laugh, "Alright, carry on."

Dong Xing and Xu Li nodded and stepped into the Spiritual Land.

Steward Ye watched for a while, then took his leave, heading with Tan Hu toward the other Spirit Farmers who were developing the Spiritual Land. He never asked if Li Changsheng wanted to develop a Spirit Field himself.

Just as Tan Hu had said, it was a minor matter that could be left to his subordinates.

Li Changsheng followed behind Dong Xing and Xu Li for a while, then said his goodbyes, released Xiaohua and his swarm of insects, and headed back toward his small courtyard.

He met some Spirit Farmers on the way, but none of them were familiar to him.

’They aren’t in this area?’

Li Changsheng thought of Yun Wan and the others, shook his head, and urged Xiaohua to return.

「A Cup of Tea’s Time Later.」

Li Changsheng pushed open the gate to his courtyard and stepped inside.

Xiaohua grunted and lay down by the entrance, while the swarm of insects scattered and settled in the surroundings.

Looking at the empty courtyard.

With a slight thought, Li Changsheng made a small tree, over a meter tall and stripped into a wooden stake, appear on the ground.

He then took out his Rune Hoe, picked up the small tree, and walked to a corner of the courtyard.

With another slight thought, he circulated his Spiritual Power. A glint of golden light appeared in his palm, and he lightly wiped it across the hoe. The golden light flowed like water, rapidly spreading over the hoe’s body and making it gleam with a sharp luster.

Li Changsheng picked up the hoe and, in a few quick motions, dug a pit. After planting the small tree, he began to clear out a vegetable garden.

He also thought about building a beast pen, but after some hesitation, he gave up on the idea.

After all, the Tier Two Spirit Fields weren’t located here. When they were developed, he would definitely have to live next to them, so building a beast pen now would be a waste of effort.

A vegetable garden, on the other hand, was no trouble; it wouldn’t take much effort either way.

And just as he was clearing the vegetable garden...

「By the shore of Ten Thousand Serpent Lake.」

Lan Cai Shen’s gaze swept over the two people on his left and right, and he felt a slight headache coming on.

After a moment of silence.

Lan Cai Shen said in a solemn voice, "Before I came, my father instructed me to have you two Stewards speed up the clearing process."

"Also, if the Demon Hunting Corps and the Patrol Guard suffer excessive losses because of you two, you will both need to give the sect an explanation."

Though his voice was soft, both Tong Zuo and Luo Fang frowned upon hearing his words.

A moment later.

Seeing that the two remained silent, Lan Cai Shen looked at them and laughed in exasperation, "If you two insist on being this way, then I will no longer meddle in your affairs."

With that, he turned and walked away. After walking about ten meters, he suddenly spun around and said coldly, "Let me offer you two Stewards a piece of advice. If the casualties in the Demon Hunting Corps and the Patrol Guard are too heavy..."

"So what if you advance to the Dao Foundation Realm?"

"When that time comes, the borders between the sect and the Ten Thousand Poison Forest and Power Demon Sect will be waiting for you to prove your merit."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The expressions on both Tong Zuo and Luo Fang’s faces changed drastically.