Chapter 72 Celebration, Recruitment

After informing the Qingfeng Sect disciples, Xie Kuling made another trip to Xuanling Immortal Mountain.

Li Chang'an is harvesting birdgrass and broadleaf fern.

These two kinds of spiritual herbs grew very tall in a month, reaching about a meter or more.

If you leave a stubble when you cut the millet and grass, it can absorb spiritual energy in the ground and continue to grow.

The broadleaf fern has six large, thick leaves. The middle part is similar to that of ordinary ferns, but it is taller and thicker. The top is where the seeds are formed.

Neither of these two spiritual herbs are crops, so they cannot be harvested with the help of the mountain god's antlers.

The fungus spirits wielded small sickles to harvest the birdgrass, while Li Chang'an and the mountain demon first collected the seeds of the broad shadow fern, and then used their spiritual power to manipulate the sickles to harvest the broad shadow fern.

Of the twenty piglets we bought initially, nineteen were sows, and they are all pregnant now. These broadleaf ferns are used to feed the pigs.

Previously, Li Chang'an fed the pigs with vegetables grown in the immortal mountains along with concentrated feed. Now that the pigs are pregnant, he thought that the broad-shadow fern was at least a spiritual herb, so he could supplement the pigs' nutrition and raise them better.

The birdgrass was used to feed chickens and ducks, as well as the Brightbirds of the West Floating Island.

After tying up a bunch of broadleaf ferns, Li Chang'an heard Xie Kuling explain his purpose.

"Celebrate? Sure." Li Chang'an used his spiritual power to throw the bundle of broad-leaved ferns to the edge of the field.

The mandrill poked its head out from the grass and said, "Don't forget my shrimp and crab."

Xie Kuling chuckled and said, "Shrimp and crab are of course available. My uncle has already made reservations at the restaurant. Everyone can order whatever they want. We'll meet up at five o'clock this afternoon and head over together."

"Okay." Li Chang'an nodded in agreement.

The mandrill hesitated.

So you're going to a restaurant? But it really doesn't like crowded places.

Seeing this, Li Chang'an quickly said, "I'll pack it up for you."

The mandrill was finally relieved.

At 5 p.m., the twenty-two members of the Qingfeng Sect and the members of Xuanling Immortal Mountain set off for the city.

The group traveled by car, while the rest flew using their qi and swords.

The restaurant that Xie Kuling booked was a large open-air food stall with three floors, mainly serving various late-night snacks, fried rice, and stir-fries.

The first floor is very spacious, with several sets of tables and chairs set up along the roadside outside the store. There are several glass tanks at the entrance, filled with fresh fish, shrimp and crabs, with oxygenation equipment in the tanks, and bubbles popping in the water.

When they arrived, the owner had just opened the door, and the barbecue chef was putting the lit charcoal into the barbecue grill.

Xie Xuan stepped forward and said, "Boss, we booked the third floor today."

"Okay." The boss greeted them and led the group to the third floor.

There are several private rooms and a large hall on the third floor, but Xie Xuan booked the entire third floor.

"The mantis shrimp, flower crabs, razor clams, and oysters are all quite plump this month. Would you like some? We also have ribbonfish, which is delicious braised," the owner asked.

Xie Xuan asked curiously, "Is it fresh?"

"Of course it's fresh." The shopkeeper laughed heartily, his tone somewhat proud: "My dad is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he goes to the next province every day to get fresh seafood."

No wonder his business is so good, and he has a high online rating.

Xie Xuan smiled knowingly and ordered several dishes based on the owner's recommendations, along with some stir-fries, grilled fish, and two cases of beer.

The dishes were served one by one, and the Qingfeng Sect cultivators, who had only recently awakened their spiritual roots, didn't care about fasting at all and ate with great relish.

Li Chang'an had never cared about fasting, and eating late-night snacks at a food stall gave him a long-lost feeling.

When I was an actor and working odd jobs, I would occasionally go to a food stall with a few familiar coworkers, and we would each order a plate of fried rice or fried noodles.

During this time, Tianxuan had gotten used to not fasting at Xuanling Immortal Mountain. Although the food on the table had no spiritual energy, she still ate it as usual.

The tea essence and mushroom essence also like these dishes, but when they drink beer, they are both stimulated by the strange taste.

Curious, one of the mushroom spirits took a sip of beer and ran away with a "coo". The other mushroom spirits, seeing its reaction, became even more curious and all went over to take a sip, then ran away with the same "coo" sound.

The tea essence couldn't stand it anymore; how could there be such awful water in the world? So it quickly rubbed a handful of tea leaves, asked the shopkeeper for a pot of boiling water to brew tea, and shared it with the mushroom essences. Adding some milk made it a cup of milk tea.

The Qingfeng Sect disciples watched, laughing heartily.

The late-night snack lasted until 8 p.m. Xie Kuling asked the owner to make two more dishes: salt and pepper mantis shrimp, steamed crab, and spicy razor clams, to be packed up for Li Chang'an to take back to the sword spirit and the mountain demon.

This was the first time the mandrill had ever eaten mantis shrimp. After finishing one, it said, "It's too prickly. It's not as good as the shrimp you raise."

Li Chang'an thought for a moment, then searched online for a video on peeling mantis shrimp and had the mandrill learn while eating.

Mandrills, who have always eaten shrimp and crabs with the shells on, :...

It seems to have discovered a new world.

After delivering the food to the mandrill, Li Chang'an carried the other dishes to the sword spirit's room.

Blade & Soul is watching a movie.

When he first got his hands on the electronic products, he wasn't very interested and dismissed these novelties.

But later, for some reason, he fell in love with movies, TV dramas, and novels.

Li Chang'an placed the basket on the table in the room, then turned around and saw the sword spirit sitting on the sofa, intently staring at the projection on the wall. He almost couldn't help but laugh.

The sword spirit glanced at him lightly.

Li Chang'an quickly looked away and said, "This is some food I packed for you. Try it, it's delicious."

The sword spirit nodded, its gaze then fixed on the projection.

Li Chang'an walked to the door, pulled the doorknob, and suddenly turned around and said, "Actually, I was wondering, senior, are you as socially awkward as the mandrill?"

Therefore, they don't like going out or being in crowds.

Mustering his courage to utter those words, Li Chang'an quickly slipped through the open door and fled when the sword spirit gave him a cold look.

"Senior, you should try watching a movie while eating, it's really cool!"

...

The Xie family uncle and nephew, along with the disciples of the Qingfeng Sect, spent a day cleaning and tidying up the five mountain peaks of the Qingfeng Sect.

Those trash and filth can be dealt with by drawing cleansing talismans, and folding blankets and tidying rooms can also be done quickly with the help of spiritual power.

The disciples discovered the wonders of awakening their spiritual roots for the first time.

The next day, several people arrived at the Qingfeng Sect's mountain gate.

Not only is the dining hall closed this week, but Qingfeng Sect also has no plans to receive tourists.

The appearance of these people at the mountain gate attracted the attention of the disciples.

The chief disciple of the Qingfeng Sect went to inquire, "The Qingfeng Sect is not receiving tourists this week. Do you have other business to attend to?"

A woman smiled, pulled over a little girl who looked about six or seven years old, and asked, "Excuse me, is Master Xie here?"

The eldest disciple nodded: "Yes, are you looking for the mountain lord? Please wait a moment while I inform him."

He walked to the side, took out his phone, and sent a message to Xie Kuling. A short while later, Xie Kuling appeared at the mountain gate.

Although those in the Qi Refining stage cannot fly or control their Qi, they can increase their speed by circulating spiritual energy, which is why Xie Ku Ling arrived so quickly.

Knowing that these people at the mountain gate had come specifically to find him, he clasped his hands in greeting and asked gently, "I am Xie Kuling, the mountain master of the Qingfeng Sect. May I ask what business you have with me?"

The woman spoke first: "Master Xie, my child just turned six and awakened her spiritual root. She was tested at the Alliance branch and found to have dual spiritual roots in earth and wood. The Alliance members all say that she has excellent talent. Can your Qingfeng Sect accept her?"

After the woman finished speaking, two parents who had come with their children said, "My daughter has also awakened her spiritual roots. She has the three spiritual roots of metal, water, and earth. We plan to have her join the Qingfeng Sect."

On the other side, there were also two pairs of parents and two children standing there, and they nodded and said, "Me too."

There were four children in total. The first one to speak was a little girl brought by her parents. She was a local from Ling'an City. The other three were from other places, not far from Ling'an City.

Xie Kuling was stunned: "Gentlemen... why would you think of sending your child to my Qingfeng Sect? To be honest, all the disciples of my Qingfeng Sect today are orphans who have been abandoned or lost their families. What are you doing...?"

The little girl's mother smiled and said, "We didn't want to abandon our children. Sending them to Qingfeng Sect to cultivate is for their own good."

"I've actually compared many sects, and I've also visited the cultivation academy founded by the alliance. Those sects... their philosophies are still quite outdated. Although the cultivation academy is free, the disciples graduate after ten years, and there are no teachers to continue teaching them. Instead, the disciples are left to seek the Dao and cultivate on their own, and the hardships involved are self-evident."

“I heard from the Alliance members that Qingfeng Sect is an ancient sect with a history of six thousand years. It has many secret manuals and can create trial conditions for its disciples, which is more conducive to cultivation. So I thought of sending my child to Qingfeng Sect.”

After she finished speaking, the parents of the other three children also nodded.

This cultivation competition showed them more possibilities for the Qingfeng Sect. They didn't expect their own children to actually become immortals, since no one could become an immortal in the current situation of scarce spiritual energy. They only hoped that their children could have better opportunities for cultivation.

Xie Kuling opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

"I... thank you all for your trust..."

He sorted out his thoughts and calmed down: "But, the Qingfeng Sect doesn't have a single proper teaching elder right now, so they probably don't have the qualifications to take on disciples and teach them cultivation."

"The Qingfeng Sect disciples who have awakened their spiritual roots are actually all self-taught."

After the New Year, he held a meeting and brought up the matter of sending his disciples to the cultivation academy.

Although it is said that they only need to go for ten years, if they want to come back afterward, the Qingfeng Sect will still open its doors to welcome them.

But none of the disciples wanted to leave. The younger disciples, in particular, clung to him and cried incessantly, asking him if he didn't want them anymore.

Helpless, Xie Kuling had no choice but to let his disciples study on their own for the time being. He planned to use everything the Qingfeng Sect could offer to invite a Foundation Establishment cultivator to serve as the teaching elder.

They haven't started posting job openings yet.

The parents looked at each other, speechless.

Xie Kuling smiled and said, "After all, Qingfeng Sect has never been a proper sect before, and we and our disciples have never thought about cultivation."

"However, I am about to ask the teaching elders. If you are willing, you can wait for the results of my recruitment. Of course, in the meantime, you can also look for other sects for your children, so as not to delay their cultivation."

After Xie Kuling finished speaking, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the parents.

The little girl and her mother exchanged a glance.

Her mother thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "Okay, I can wait for the mountain lord's recruitment results."

As soon as she said that, the other parents nodded in agreement.

Xie Kuling breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged contact information with several parents.

That evening, after discussing with his uncle Xie Xuan, Xie Kuling logged onto the Qingfeng Sect's official account on Fangcun and formally announced the recruitment information.

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Author's Note: [Sprinkling flowers]