Step Out

“Still, I’m planning to seriously learn a craft later on. I’ve heard that much of what our sect produces is sold outside, and the profits are quite good,” Baizhu continued.

Although the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall paid fairly well because of its heavy workload, if he could truly master a craft and add items of his own making to the sect’s merchandise, he would receive a commission.

Besides working under Elder Liu, he also wanted to earn more money and resources for himself. That way, once his cultivation improved, he could go down the mountain more often to visit the Old Beggar.

Feng Xuanbie was somewhat surprised. “How are you going to find the time for all that?”

He himself only planned to find the easiest job possible and scrape together some resources, yet he already felt that he was working hard enough.

He had not expected Baizhu, who looked so young, to have such an ambitious appetite.

Baizhu merely smiled.

“I’ll give it a try. I’ll do my best to manage myself. When I have energy to spare, I’ll push myself a little harder. When I can’t keep up, I’ll slow down.”

That evening, inside the Spirit Canteen on Yaoguang Floating Island, Liu Yunan was caught by a group of elders from the Spirit Field Division, led by Old Master Lin.

They had already heard that disciples from Azure Cloud Peak wanted to start working that day, so they surrounded Liu Yunan and urged him to hurry up and tell the new disciples about the excellent benefits offered by the Spirit Field Division!

The work was simple, and newcomers could get started right away!

After all, farming did not require much technical skill. With experienced elders nearby to teach them, newcomers would quickly get the hang of it.

Besides, life as a farmer was full of variety! Even if one’s cultivation was still low, one could experience all sorts of interesting formations, pills, talismans, and magical artifacts!

After all, much of the research usually conducted by the Four Arts Hall was intended to improve the efficiency and productivity of the spirit fields. As a result, the Spirit Field Division could be said to be a place where many of the Four Arts Hall’s creations were gathered together.

Fortunately, the new disciples had all successfully drawn qi into their bodies and crossed that initial hurdle. From then on, cultivation was largely a matter of time and efficiency, so there was no need to rush.

Thus, after being relentlessly badgered by the elders, Liu Yunan finally relented.

The next day, after classes at the Cultivation Hall on Azure Cloud Peak ended, all the disciples there received a recruitment notice from Elder Liu on behalf of the sect’s Spirit Field Division.

For a time, many of them became interested in the Spirit Field Division.

Before long, more than a dozen new disciples joined.

The elders of the Spirit Field Division were delighted. Every day, they took turns bringing the new disciples out into the fields, eager to pass on everything they knew about farming.

That way, the sect would have more skilled farmers, and they could open up even more spirit fields!

Once the Spirit Field Division had opened the floodgates, the other departments in need of manpower were unwilling to sit idle either, and they soon began recruiting as well.

More and more Azure Cloud Peak disciples poured into the various halls, pavilions, and gardens, filling a large number of vacancies throughout the Ascendant Immortal Sect.

Lin Xiao, meanwhile, spent every day cooped up in his room, writing and drawing. No one knew what he was planning this time.

Every so often, he would also run over to the Finance Hall and deliver a stack of budget sheets to Qin Jianghe.

As a result, Qin Jianghe felt like making a run for it whenever he saw Lin Xiao these days.

Although the sect had some savings, the spirit stone mine needed to be left untouched for quite some time. The recent recruitment of disciples had also cost a great deal.

The Finance Hall therefore had to keep a strict eye on every expense.

But Qin Jianghe simply could not bring himself to reject Lin Xiao.

After all, he wholeheartedly approved of Brother Xiao’s ideas!

The problem was that the sect really was short on money!

While the Ascendant Immortal Sect remained peaceful, harmonious, and full of promise, the ten cultivators from the Immortal Realm had finally seen a patch of green in the distance after walking through the Land of Severed Spirits day after day, surrounded by nothing but a bleak, lifeless gray.

Although it was truly only a tiny speck, it was already extraordinarily conspicuous to the Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators, whose senses were sharp and who had spent an entire year in that dead environment.

Thus, all ten of them quickened their pace at the same time.

After traveling several more miles, they finally sensed the impossibly thin spiritual energy in the air.

“We finally have spiritual energy!”

Once one of the Golden Core cultivators had completely left the Land of Severed Spirits and felt the spiritual energy around him gradually grow denser, he could not help exclaiming.

The others also breathed sighs of relief and immediately circulated their cultivation methods, beginning to restore their spiritual power.

After more than a year, they had finally made it out of the Land of Severed Spirits and entered the mortal world.

Yao Yuchang worked to restore the spiritual power in his body, hoping to return to peak condition as quickly as possible. At the same time, he turned around and gave the others their instructions.

“All right. Now that we’ve reached the mortal world, let’s finish this mission as quickly as possible.”

Someone immediately voiced his agreement.

“Elder Yao is right. The spiritual energy in the mortal world is far too thin as well. We’ve been out of the Land of Severed Spirits for so long, yet the spiritual power in my body still hasn’t recovered by much.”

Yao Yuchang was also dissatisfied with the mortal world’s meager spiritual energy, but he did not reveal it on his face. Instead, he took out nine jade slips and handed one to each of the other nine people.

“I won’t say anything else. These are maps of the mortal world. Take one each. Although the mortal world is lacking in spiritual energy, it still has quite a few nations and sects. I’ve marked the nations and sects you’ve been assigned to negotiate with. The numbers are roughly equal for everyone, so follow the markings and discuss matters with them. I’ll wait for your good news in Tuiyi Kingdom.”

He Yi accepted a jade slip along with the other eight people.

Yet in the very next moment, the nine people around him each said their farewells.

“Farewell, everyone!”

“This old man is off!”

“We’ll meet again in Tuiyi Kingdom!”

…

They had already discussed every detail of the mission during the past year on the road, leaving nothing much to say. Once they had received their maps, there was no reason to continue traveling together.

He Yi stood alone in place, watching the escaping lights of the other nine cultivators shoot off in different directions. He gave a faint curl of his lips.

Clearly, they all wanted to find an unoccupied place as quickly as possible and meditate in peace. None of them could relax and focus on recovering while the others were around.

For cultivators like them, the year-long journey through the Land of Severed Spirits had caused some minor damage to their Golden Cores and Nascent Souls due to their prolonged lack of spiritual energy.

The damage was not particularly serious, but who would be willing to let an otherwise perfect Golden Core or Nascent Soul develop an unnecessary flaw?

He Yi was not in a hurry.

He strolled along the road at a leisurely pace, allowing the spiritual power in his body to recover at an extremely slow rate. At the same time, he used his divine sense to examine the jade slip in his hand.

Only after determining his destination did he take out his flying artifact and transform into a streak of escaping light, flying steadily toward his chosen direction.

Ten more days passed just like that.

Before they knew it, the day had arrived for the disciples of Azure Cloud Peak at the Ascendant Immortal Sect to take masters.

That day, the disciples of Azure Cloud Peak attended their morning classes as usual. Once class ended, they were informed that they were to assemble in the sect’s main square.