Chapter 217 Clues

Ye Changqing leisurely sipped the spiritual tea, the Cloud Peak Silver Needle paired with Jade Dew Golden Buds, the tea soup was golden in color, with a unique taste and a long aftertaste.

His eyes shone, and he was in a good mood.

Not far away, a large blue-shelled tortoise would occasionally glance at him.

Ji An finished his cultivation and returned to the cold pool:

"Senior brother, did you sleep well last night?"

"Haha, I haven't slept in late in years."

Ye Changqing laughed and said that as he gets older, he needs less and less sleep.

It was already difficult for him to get drunk on first-tier spirit wine, and he had never drunk second-tier spirit wine so heartily.

Such wonderful moments are fleeting, so seize the day and enjoy life to the fullest.

He raised the pale blue teacup and said:

"Fragrant tea and strong wine, the things from Chiyan Peak are always unique."

"Jade dew and golden teeth, truly a fine thing."

The Azure Jade Tree of the Moonlit Night is extremely rare, and its ability to nourish the soul is even more exceptional.

A few years ago, a disciple handed over the seeds of the Youyue Cangyu Tree in Mingfeng Mountain Immortal City. As soon as they were transported back to Qin Gong Hall, they were exchanged by Senior Brother Lin Mao. Unexpectedly, a tree was planted here as well.

This junior brother seems to prefer staying put, but he has quite a network of connections.

Ji An smiled and said:

"The only drawback is that the tea tree is only of the first-grade superior quality, which has little effect on cultivators like us in the mid-to-late stages of Foundation Establishment. It can only enhance the flavor of the tea."

After he sat down, the maids brought out lunch.

"Yu Han, go and fetch a jar of Jade Dew Golden Sprouts."

After instructing the maid, Ji An turned and said:

"As the tea trees age, they produce more and more tea, and I send some to my fellow apprentices every year."

In the past, the leaves of the Azure Jade Tree were scarce, and he was reluctant to pick them.

Ye Changqing smiled and said:

"I'll come here more often from now on; who knows what good things I might find."

The longer two people know each other, the deeper their relationship becomes, and there's no need for many polite words.

"Welcome to visit anytime."

The two chatted casually while eating lunch, and Ye Changqing said:

"The sect's territory is peaceful and quiet, but signs of a demonic calamity have already appeared in Mingfeng Mountain Immortal City."

According to the investigation, small groups of demonic beasts were being driven away by higher-level demonic beasts and were migrating outwards from deeper parts of the mountains.

These demonic beasts gathered in a huge valley more than two thousand miles west of Mingfeng Mountain. It seemed that a demonic calamity would erupt in a few years.

Ye Changqing sighed inwardly; what was bound to happen would eventually happen.

It is unknown how much strength the Western Continent will retain after this demonic calamity, and how much strength the sects will be able to retain.

"When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it."

The three sects have been preparing for the outbreak of the demon calamity for over a hundred years, and the overall strength of the Western Continent is much stronger than when the last demon calamity broke out.

With the addition of cultivators from the Central Continent sects to assist, we should be able to overcome this crisis more easily.

Ji An said that the main reason for the outbreak of the demon disaster was that the demon beasts had too strong a reproductive capacity, and the land could not support the growth of so many demon beasts.

At this point, either different demon beast clans fight each other, or they find an outlet to vent their frustrations and divert the conflict elsewhere.

The higher-level demon beasts have become much wiser, and the demon kings of various demon beast clans have united to drive out the lower-level demon beasts and attack human forces.

In this way, we can both reduce the number of beasts and create more living space for the demon beasts to fight back against the human cultivators' relentless advance.

The flesh and blood of cultivators are a great source of nourishment for demonic beasts, and they can also sustain themselves through battle, leading to the birth of even more powerful demonic beasts within their clans.

Ye Changqing remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said out of the blue:

"Junior brother, what do you think of the atmosphere within the sect?"

"It's great. Everyone has a common goal, and there's no backstabbing or infighting."

Ye Changqing rubbed his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry:

“I asked the wrong person. You have ample resources for cultivation and don’t go out often, so you haven’t encountered many scheming and backstabbing situations.”

There have been many open and covert struggles over cultivation resources, but fortunately, the patriarch above keeps things under control.

The world is not as wonderful as it seems, and the cultivators of Central Continent are not as trustworthy as they seem.

Some sects in the Central Continent only want us to serve as walls to withstand the onslaught of demonic calamities and as obedient dogs; they don't want the cultivators of the Western Continent to become too powerful.

He didn't delve into the darker aspects of life; where there are people, there is conflict—it's human nature.

Cultivators are also human beings, and they also have desires. Low-level cultivators do not need to cultivate their minds. Apart from having a longer lifespan, they are not much different from ordinary people in essence.

Crimson Flame Peak has been coveted by others, and some cultivators wanted to use their connections to recruit Junior Brother Ji into the Enforcement Hall to fight on the front lines against demonic beasts.

The purpose of doing this is self-evident.

The situation had not yet reached the point where it was necessary to force spirit farmers to go to the battlefield, let alone a high-ranking spirit farmer who had a great role to play. The conscription order was rejected by the Hall of Diligent Work.

Ji An remained silent. His cultivation path after transmigrating had indeed been smooth sailing, without experiencing much of the dangers of the world.

If you think about it carefully, there isn't much difference between human cultivators and demon beasts.

If there are too many cultivators, the spiritual vein nodes will not be able to support too many cultivators to absorb and release spiritual energy.

Having embarked on the path of cultivation, which cultivator wouldn't want to make progress?

But resources are limited and will inevitably be unevenly distributed, so people have to fight and compete for them to maintain their cultivation.

The good thing is that high-level cultivators understand sustainable development better and will actively control the number of cultivators.

The first hurdle is the Opening Meridian Pill. If the supply of this pill is reduced, the number of cultivators will immediately decrease significantly.

The same applies to spiritual farming. Only one hundred spiritual trees can be planted in a single spiritual field. If one hundred and fifty trees are planted, the spiritual veins will be over-consumed and eventually dry up.

In order for the spirit field to produce in a long-term manner, the number of spirit plants must be controlled.

Ye Changqing smiled broadly, raised his glass, and said:

"Why are we talking about such depressing things? Come on, let's drink!"

Junior brother, just focus on improving your cultivation. The higher your cultivation, the less likely you are to encounter troublesome matters.

"drink wine."

Ji An smiled and said that when a person is powerful, the whole world will treat him kindly. He understood this principle in his previous life.

Half a month has passed.

Li Minghui rode her flying shuttle to Crimson Flame Peak. Looking down at the shimmering second-tier spiritual plants in the spiritual field and the blooming peach blossoms, she couldn't suppress her smile.

The shuttle slowly descended into the icy pool, and she spoke first:

"If all the spiritual farmers in our sect have the abilities of our junior brother, then Fallen Maple Valley will be trampled under our feet."

The reason why the alchemists in Falling Wind Valley have a continuous supply of spiritual herbs to refine is because they have a powerful team of spiritual farmers.

Comparatively speaking, the Spirit Farmer is the sect's weak point, limiting the growth of the Beast Taming Hall.

Junior Brother Ji has been stationed at Crimson Flame Peak for over twenty years, cultivating seventy or eighty second-tier spiritual plants. Such an achievement is unmatched by any other cultivator in the sect.

We don't expect many more, but if five or six more Spirit Farmers of this level appear, the sect's foundation will be rapidly strengthened.

Think about it, if there were an extra 500 second-tier spirit trees, the sect's annual production of second-tier low-grade resources would increase by about 20%.

With consistent cultivation over time, a mid-grade second-tier spirit tree can be nurtured, providing assistance to cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage.

"I feel embarrassed by my senior sister's praise. I just prefer a simpler pace of life, and taking care of the spirit field is very simple."

Ji An laughed and said that he had the ability to obtain resources through planting, and with the characteristics of the stone turtle, he would naturally choose a piece of land to live on.

He led the other person to the living room, where the host and guest took their seats.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Minghui got straight to the point:

"Junior brother, my master has already asked someone to refine the pills, and the plan to cultivate the five-colored deer is about to begin."

Starting next month, I will send other junior students to collect fresh mulberry leaves every three days.

Be sure to use tender mulberry leaves that are less than three days old. Remember that.

The dark clouds of a demonic calamity have begun to gather. If Master cultivates a Chaoyuan-stage beast as soon as possible, he will be better able to cope with the storm and play a greater role.

"Don't worry, Senior Sister. I will do my best in matters concerning Uncle He. How could I possibly be sloppy?"

The customer has paid a deposit and will settle the spirit stones on time later.

Besides, he couldn't afford to take responsibility if anything went wrong.

"Master's affairs cannot be neglected. I said one more thing, please don't be offended, junior brother."

Li Minghui explained for a moment, then said:

“Junior brother, you can trade the ripe Biluo fruit in your hands to me. I brought the spirit disk, so we can complete the transaction directly.”

The sect stipulates that contribution points and minor merits in cultivators' jade tokens cannot be traded among themselves, but cultivators can issue bounty missions to complete the transactions.

The sect will take a small amount of contribution points, which can be considered a channel for consuming contribution points.

Normally, such transactions would be completed in the various halls, but Li Minghui, as the deputy hall master of the Beast Taming Hall, had the authority to bring out the sect's spirit disk.

"Over the years, six of the Biluo trees have matured, yielding 360 fruits. Eight more trees are maturing soon, and it is estimated that they will yield more than 400 fruits."

Although there are more than twenty second-tier Biluo trees, only so many will bear fruit in the next two or three years.

Ji An instructed:

"Yu Han, go to the warehouse and fetch the second-tier Bi Luo Fruit."

He kept twenty-five fruits in his hand for a rainy day.

"Junior brother has really been a great help. We were in dire need of supplies, but now we have plenty. We, the Yunhe Mountain lineage, will remember this kindness."

Li Minghui smiled kindly. The number of second-tier Jade Leaf Mulberry trees on Crimson Flame Peak had reached fifty-six, far exceeding the expectation, and the gap in mulberry leaves was already very small.

With the addition of spirit fruits and so many resources invested, the chances of the Five-Colored Deer breaking through have increased even further.

"It is my honor to be able to help Uncle He."

Everyone carried the bridal sedan chair, and Ji An spoke words of flattery without changing his expression.

"The peach blossoms have already bloomed. If they bear spirit peaches, please give us priority consideration, junior brother."

Li Minghui said, "Although the Five-Colored Deer can transform the power of the five elements, it will inevitably cause losses."

Being able to eat more kinds of spiritual fruits would be the best.

“No problem. I will send some of the spirit peaches to Master’s cave, keep a few for myself to try, and I can consider trading the rest to Senior Sister.”

"Second-grade low-level spirit peaches are handed over to the sect for five minor merits each, and we will also give them to our junior brothers at the same price."

For every ten fruits traded, four additional small merits are required.

Spirit peaches are fire-elemental spiritual plants, which are more popular among cultivators, so she offered a higher reward.

"Okay, let's do as you say, senior sister."

(End of this chapter)