Very Delighted

“Brother Xiao, didn’t you say that He Yi was a Golden Core cultivator? He went through the Heart-Questioning Path so quickly!” Liu Yunan continued with his work, marveling aloud.

Lin Xiao recalled that He Yi had entered the Heart-Questioning Path yesterday morning and emerged by evening.

For someone at the Golden Core stage, that could be considered extremely fast.

However, because of Lin Xiao’s influence, He Yi already had the beginnings of primordial qi within his Golden Core. It was only natural that he would pass through the Heart-Questioning Path quickly.

As Lin Xiao understood it, He Yi had inherited a trace of his own Dao heart. In other words, He Yi’s Dao heart had been influenced by Lin Xiao—and not to a small degree. That was why he had been able to condense the embryonic form of primordial qi in such a short time.

Since He Yi’s Dao heart had been influenced by Lin Xiao, it was only to be expected that he would pass the Heart-Questioning Path so easily.

Moreover, after He Yi began cultivating the Primordial Core Heart Sutra, his cultivation speed might become astonishingly fast.

Lin Xiao explained all this to Liu Yunan.

Upon hearing it, Liu Yunan was filled with amazement.

“There’s actually such a convenient method?”

“I didn’t expect it either. At first, I was completely confused when I saw him faint,” Lin Xiao said.

“Hey, hey, Brother Xiao, tell me about it too. Maybe I can be influenced by you and form the embryonic stage of primordial qi as well?” Liu Yunan thought happily. If it really worked, wouldn’t his cultivation speed increase tremendously? He could even cultivate that Primordial Core Heart Sutra, which had given him a headache just looking at it.

Hearing this request, Lin Xiao gave him an exasperated sidelong glance.

“What am I supposed to tell you? From the time we were children until now, how many times haven’t I talked to you about cultivation? Even after we began cultivating, I’ve often discussed things with all of you. Yet I haven’t seen even a trace of primordial qi in your dantian.”

Liu Yunan put down the jade slip in his hand, moved over beside Lin Xiao, and draped an arm around his shoulders.

“You can’t put it that way, Brother Xiao. Think about it—you entered seclusion not long after comprehending the cultivation method for primordial qi. When would you have had the time to impart your Dao heart to us? Come on, come on, Brother Xiao, tell me.”

As he spoke, he bumped Lin Xiao with his shoulder and winked at him.

Lin Xiao burst out laughing at the sight.

“All right, all right. Stop acting so clingy.”

He took a stack of booklets from his private storage and stuffed them into Liu Yunan’s arms.

“I happened to have just finished writing my insights on cultivating primordial qi. I originally planned to place them in the Scripture Repository and Cultivation Hall tomorrow. Since you’re being so proactive, I’ll leave it to you. Go and take care of it. I can’t be bothered to make the trip myself.”

Liu Yunan immediately stored the booklets in his storage ring and laughed heartily.

“Of course, of course! Brother Xiao is busy with a hundred things every day. Leave this little chore to me!”

Lin Xiao returned to the small bamboo house he had built on Spirit Accumulation Mountain, on the floating island. By then, night had already fallen.

He sat at the table and took out the diagrams of the Jí Stone formations he had recorded in the Jí Stone mine. He studied them for quite some time, but still found no clues.

Then he suddenly remembered what He Yi had said earlier.

It seemed that the great sects in the cultivation world had preserved quite a few records and related objects concerning the Jí Stones.

Perhaps there would be clues in those ancient texts.

He would ask He Yi about it first thing tomorrow.

Since he had no leads, Lin Xiao put away the jade slips containing the recorded diagrams. He propped his chin on both hands and stared blankly at the lamplight on the table.

He wondered what changes the system update had brought.

Sect Development 2.0…

Could it be that the sect’s current development was still insufficient? Lin Xiao felt that things were going quite well.

He had no idea what kind of medicine the system was hiding in its gourd.

Regardless, he still needed to make time for cultivation. There was never any harm in having a higher cultivation level.

With that thought, Lin Xiao began meditating in the room.

After nearly three years, the spiritual qi produced by Spirit Accumulation Mountain had grown increasingly dense. By now, its concentration was not much different from that produced by the first-grade spiritual vein beneath the floating island.

It probably would not be long before Spirit Accumulation Mountain formed a first-grade spiritual vein of its own.

Sensing the spiritual qi around him, which was almost as dense as that provided by a first-grade spiritual vein, Lin Xiao was delighted.

The sect was about to have another part of its infrastructure completed.

Early the next morning, Liu Yunan and Lin Xiao descended the mountain and arrived at Village Chief Du’s home.

All the able-bodied members of the household had already gone out to work. Only Village Chief Du, his daughter-in-law, and his little grandson remained at home.

When they saw Lin Xiao and Liu Yunan arrive, Village Chief Du smiled so broadly that his eyes nearly disappeared. He waved them over.

“Brother Xiao, Brother Nan, come over quickly. Have some hot porridge. There’s still plenty warming in the pot.”

It was already deep winter, and white vapor puffed from Village Chief Du’s mouth as he spoke.

The two did not stand on ceremony. Smiling, they accepted the two steaming bowls of multigrain porridge that Du’s wife served them.

“Grandpa Village Chief, why did you call us here?” Lin Xiao asked Village Chief Du after taking a sip of the hot porridge.

Village Chief Du watched the two of them drink with a kindly, benevolent smile.

“Well, you see, the people in the village have received so much care from the Soaring Immortal Sect these past few years. Everyone thought they should give you something as a token of their appreciation.”

As soon as he heard that the villagers wanted to give them something, Lin Xiao hurriedly waved his hands.

“No, no, Grandpa Village Chief, please tell everyone not to go to any trouble. We have everything we need. Seeing everyone living better lives is enough to make us happy.”

“That’s right, Grandpa Village Chief. Everyone’s lives have only just started improving, so don’t give us anything,” Liu Yunan added from the side.

Seeing how quickly they refused, Du Liushui chuckled.

“We know you’re not lacking anything. What the villagers are giving you isn’t anything valuable, either. It’s all something everyone put effort into preparing. At this point, it can’t be returned even if we wanted to. It’s simply a token of our feelings. Don’t look down on it when you see it later.”

Since he put it that way, the two no longer refused. They decided to take a look first.

After quickly finishing the porridge in their bowls, Village Chief Du led them outside.

Lin Xiao and Liu Yunan were both somewhat puzzled.

Hadn’t he said the villagers were giving them something? Could it be that the gifts weren’t at the village chief’s house, but somewhere outside?

Village Chief Du led them to the western side of the Soaring Immortal Sect’s grounds halfway up North Mountain.

The area was covered in woodland. A large stretch of thorny brush separated it from the village, while it was actually much closer to the sect’s current residence halfway up North Mountain. If they built a flight of stone steps along the steep mountainside, it would lead directly here.

There were few tall trees in this area. Most of it consisted of low shrubs and small hills. Farther in was a small pool, but because the surrounding soil was extremely muddy, the pool remained murky all year round and looked more like a mud pit.

Lin Xiao and the others had often come here in the past to dig for loaches and catch tadpoles.

This time, however, they discovered that the place had undergone a complete transformation.

A small path approximately three meters wide had been cleared through the large expanse of thorny brush around the outskirts.

The soil in this area was actually fairly fertile. The reason Xiushui Village had never reclaimed it was that the ground was filled with stones of all sizes, many of them deeply embedded in the earth.

There were also plenty of weeds with vigorous root systems. Their roots were long, tough, and deeply buried underground.