Worried Sick

Seeing that all the villagers gathered around the fence had their eyes fixed on them, the five disciples, unsure whether they should accept the villagers’ help, turned to look at their master, Sun Yigao, who was busy rolling up his sleeves and digging a pit.

Sun Yigao merely glanced at them and Yang Zhuzi, then gave the five disciples a look that clearly said, “You decide for yourselves.” Without saying a word, he lowered his head and continued with his work.

The five disciples exchanged glances. After a quick discussion through voice transmission, Wen Yuejun, the oldest among them, stepped forward to accept the villagers’ assistance and express his thanks.

Although the members of the Lingxian Sect were not using any spells, their bodies had long since been nourished by spiritual energy and were already completely different from those of ordinary mortals. Not only were they far stronger than regular people, but their stamina was also beyond anything ordinary folk could hope to match.

The villagers couldn’t help feeling astonished.

As they worked in groups of two or three, sweating profusely, they still found time to whisper among themselves.

“These scholars aren’t just handsome. They’re amazingly strong, too.”

“Ain’t that the truth? They don’t look anything like the scholars we’ve seen before. The village elder said they’re people with great abilities.”

“He really said that?”

“Of course. My wife heard it straight from the elder’s wife yesterday.”

…

Once the sky grew bright, many of the village’s older children came over to watch.

There was nothing particularly unusual about building a house. In the village, someone was always repairing a roof or putting up new tiles from time to time.

But they had never seen such good-looking older brothers and sisters before!

Fortunately, the members of the Lingxian Sect had already been toughened by the villagers of Xiushui Village. They felt not the slightest embarrassment at being surrounded by children.

Since their master, Sun Yigao, had entered a state where he did nothing but work and refused to concern himself with anything else, the five disciples had no choice but to discuss matters among themselves.

For instance, they had to decide exactly how to build the academy.

To that end, the five of them held a meeting during their lunch break.

The academy they planned to build would consist primarily of two sections: classrooms for lessons and dormitories for lodging.

They had thought of building dormitories after noticing that many villagers from ten li or even farther away had come rushing over to inquire about the academy.

If those villagers truly intended to send their children there, the journey back and forth would take a great deal of time. Furthermore, it would be unsafe for the children to travel such long distances every day.

Thus, building dormitories for children from distant families was essential.

Dormitories would be easy enough to build. All they needed were rooms that could shelter the children from the wind and rain and provide them with a place to sleep.

The five disciples, however, had plenty of ideas when it came to the classrooms.

“There has to be a library corner!” Tong Wan said excitedly.

She was young and did not have many duties within the sect. Whenever she had free time, she often went to listen to the elders of the sect recount the past. They would tell her how rudimentary the Lingxian Sect had been in its early days, and how the library corner in the cultivation chamber had served as the cradle of everyone’s cultivation knowledge.

Thus, when it came time to offer suggestions for the classrooms, this was the first thing that came to mind.

“Mm, Tong Wan’s suggestion is a good one.” Wen Yuejun, who was in charge of taking notes, recorded the library corner with a stroke of his brush.

“It would be best to have a study room as well,” Yin Xiaoxiao suggested.

Tong Wan looked puzzled. “Wouldn’t studying in the classroom be fine?”

Yin Xiaoxiao explained, “I was thinking that the study room could be built between the classrooms and the dormitories. That way, students who need a place to study after the classrooms have been locked for the day can use it.”

Wen Yuejun spoke up upon hearing this. “But hasn’t our master always said that learning requires both effort and rest, and that one shouldn’t become exhausted by books? A full day of classes is already more than enough for these children. Their energy is nothing like that of cultivators such as ourselves. Why would we need to set up a separate study room?”

Yin Xiaoxiao sighed. “I was thinking about how poor these children are by birth, while the paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones we can provide are limited. Master once said, ‘Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.’ We should also avoid encouraging the students to become idle and dependent. Later on, we could establish some form of student aid—for example, students could copy books in exchange for paper and writing materials.”

“If we do that, we’ll need a place where they can work outside of class.”

After hearing her explanation, everyone understood. They nodded in agreement one after another.

Yin Xiaoxiao was delighted to see that everyone approved of her suggestion.

Another disciple, Zhuang Xun, added, “The dormitories will also have to be divided into boys’ and girls’ quarters.”

“We need an office for ourselves, too. I want a large desk so I can grade the students’ assignments!”

“We should build a dining hall as well. The students can contribute grain regularly and eat there. Those who bring their own meals can heat them up in the dining hall.”

“And latrines!”

“The latrines’ manure pits could be used to make compost. We can have the students help plant vegetables, so we’ll need to set aside a garden.”

“We could put up a simple thatched pavilion. During breaks, if Yingzi has time, she can play a tune for the students and help cultivate their artistic sensibilities.”

“That’s right, we have to cultivate their artistic sensibilities, too. What was that saying the sect master mentioned before?”

“‘Life is a wilderness. It needs both solid, flourishing earth beneath our feet and a boundless sky for our imaginations to soar through!’”

In the distance, Sun Yigao was resting beneath the shade of a tree with his eyes closed. A faint smile lifted the corners of his lips.

The bright midday sun made the piles of timber and freshly compacted yellow-earth bricks scattered across the nearby clearing shine dazzlingly. From the distant mountains came the faint sound of the year’s first cicada song, as if even the cicadas were looking forward to the academy’s completion.

Every aspect of the Lingxian Sect’s development was proceeding in an orderly fashion, giving all the cultivators in the mortal realm something new to strive toward.

Recently, however, one piece of news received by the Lingxian Sect had left Lin Xiao deeply troubled.

Actually, he had been quite happy at the beginning of the day.

The previous day had marked the third anniversary of Xiushui City’s founding, as well as the city’s annual New Year auction.

Over the past two years, the cultivators of the mortal realm had gained quite a bit of worldly experience at the auctions. They had assumed that this year’s New Year auction would merely offer a wider variety of items and somewhat better quality than before.

Who could have imagined that the items put forward by the Lingxian Sect this time would blind them with sheer brilliance?

The Lingxian Sect had actually put ten secret-realm access permits up for auction as the grand finale!

They were only secret realms for cultivators at the Qi Refining stage, but they were secret realms all the same!

Secret realms had existed in the mortal realm for thousands upon thousands of years only in legends—legends that had nearly faded away entirely.

Even if they were merely Qi Refining-stage secret realms, the rare spiritual plants and materials contained within were things the impoverished mortal realm could never hope to match.

Not to mention that, according to legend, some secret realms might even give birth to spirit beasts or fairies…

Even setting all that aside, the spiritual energy within the secret realms alone made them well worth visiting!

It was said that secret realms were born at the world’s energy points, where dense spiritual energy intertwined with spatial anchors. They were fragments of the countless worlds scattered throughout the universe.

The vast majority of them were abundant in spiritual energy beyond measure.

It was said that even the various sects of the cultivation world treasured them greatly. Whether a secret realm was claimed or ownerless, they would do everything in their power to protect it.