Continuing to look in the other direction, past the bamboo forest and through dense thickets, he finally discovered a hidden mountain spring on the other side of the stone basin.
The spring water flows out from the cracks in the rocky cliff. It is very thin, only as thick as a little finger, but it is enough to drink.
Beneath the spring was a stone trough, which Qing Xuanzi immediately recognized as man-made. Qing Xuanzi wondered, "Could someone have lived here before?"
With Rong Jiaojiao close to the stone trough, he carefully used his divine sense to investigate and discovered something unusual under the grass around the trough.
Parting the grass revealed a square stone slab covered in moss.
"It seems like someone has been here before." Qing Xuanzi said, as if talking to himself, but also as if speaking to Rong Jiaojiao in his arms.
With a cleansing spell, he brushed away the moss on the stone slab, revealing the carved patterns beneath.
The patterns were somewhat blurred, but they could still be vaguely discerned as ancient designs, confirming his conjecture that people had once lived here.
He continued clearing away the surrounding grass and discovered a stone path hidden behind the stone trough, obscured by weeds.
He cleared the path and came to a stone platform that was much higher than the flat ground. On the platform were abandoned stone slabs and ruins, from which the outline of what was once a small house could still be vaguely seen.
The ruins were overgrown with weeds. Qing Xuanzi used a few spells to clear away the weeds, revealing the original appearance of the ruins.
It consists of collapsed stone walls and stones, some weathered stone tables and chairs, and even a large stone half-buried in the soil.
One side of the stone has a smooth cut, on which are engraved some blurry characters, but they are now difficult to decipher.
He used a cleaning spell to clean the stone tablet, first trying to see the words on it clearly, but they were already blurry and he could only vaguely sense an ancient aura.
“This might be the site of an ancient solitary cultivator’s practice,” Qing Xuanzi remarked.
He led Rong Jiaojiao around the ruins and found that although the place had been abandoned for a long time, the surrounding environment was quiet and secluded, making it very suitable for cultivation.
Having made up my mind, I decided to settle down here.
However, it was already late, so he simply laid the stone slabs on the ground flat, set up the tent on them, and then started cooking.
After the meal, Qing Xuanzi, as always, trained and guided Rong Jiaojiao to take things in and out of her treasure.
Now she clearly understands that "take" means she has to take it out, and "collect" means she has to take it away.
If Qing Xuanzi shakes his head, it means the item he brought is incorrect, and she will know to immediately change it. If Qing Xuanzi keeps shaking his head, she will keep changing it until he stops shaking his head.
Qing Xuanzi only stopped to coax Rong Jiaojiao to sleep when she became sleepy and kept yawning.
After Rong Jiaojiao fell asleep, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
In the middle of the night, Qing Xuanzi even helped Rong Jiaojiao urinate. He felt like he was asking for trouble, but compared to gaining a good disciple, this little bit of suffering was nothing.
His grandmaster said that he would have a female disciple in the future, and that the disciple would be able to help him reach even greater heights!
Just now, I harvested a mature Hidden Spirit Grass. After cultivating for another two years, I will be able to refine it to break through to the Earth Master realm.
In this era of scarce spiritual energy, to be able to cultivate to the level of a geomancer in one's seventies is considered quite a talent.
Didn't you see that his grandmaster had been stuck at the peak of the Earth Master realm for decades and couldn't break through?
As he thought about it, Qing Xuanzi couldn't help but smile smugly. He was so lucky to have met such a treasure as Jiaojiao.
[Note here that the metaphysical levels in this book are divided into: Entering the Dao Realm, Dharma Master Realm, Mystic Master Realm, Earth Master Realm, and Celestial Master Realm. Each realm is further divided into four minor realms: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and peak.]
The next day, Qing Xuanzi got up at dawn to cook porridge for Rong Jiaojiao and also heated up two steamed buns for himself.
He sat on the stone platform, cooking porridge while pondering the issue of building a house.
He looked around at the surroundings. Scattered on the stone platform were many stones of different sizes, which were the materials used to build the stone house.
He thought to himself, since there used to be a stone house here, it would be appropriate to build a stone house here.
This is Rong Jiaojiao's voice coming from inside the tent, humming softly, clearly indicating that she has woken up.
Qing Xuanzi immediately went in and carried her out to the toilet. He then ladled out the porridge and used a spell to cool it to the perfect temperature for the child.
Kids have such good appetites! Rong Jiaojiao had just woken up, and as soon as she saw food, she started asking for it.
Qing Xuanzi brought over the porridge, and while eating, he said, "Time to eat. After we finish eating, we'll start building the house, and then we won't have to run around anymore."
Rong Jiaojiao couldn't understand what he was saying, but she understood the word "eat," so she immediately opened her mouth wide: "Ah~~ eat~~ ah~~ eat~~ open your mouth wide to eat."
Qing Xuanzi patiently fed her spoonful by spoonful. After Rong Jiaojiao finished eating the porridge, he ate his own breakfast first, put the pots and bowls together, and with a cleaning spell, they were clean and put away again. Then he took Rong Jiaojiao to the stone platform.
He placed Rong Jiaojiao on the mat and set up a barrier around her so that she could crawl around freely inside, but couldn't leave the barrier. Snakes, insects, rats, and other such things couldn't get in either. Only then could Qing Xuanzi go to work with peace of mind.
"Jiaojiao, play here, don't run too far," Qing Xuanzi instructed, regardless of whether Rong Jiaojiao could understand him.
He carefully examined the surrounding stones with his divine sense and found that although some of them were weathered, most of them were still solid and usable.
He began clearing the ruins on the stone platform, using magic to pile the scattered stones into a heap, and then carefully selected suitable stones to build the stone house.
The whole time, they were using magic, so Rong Jiaojiao saw big and small stones flying around, which made her very happy.
Something would appear inside the barrier from time to time—leaves, fruits, vegetables, all sorts of random things—and she would laugh at herself.
Qing Xuanzi kept a close eye on her. He noticed Rong Jiaojiao releasing these things the moment she did, and he also discovered that there were corn seedlings among them.
He felt a pity, but there was nothing he could do to stop her. He could only helplessly and amusedly watch out for her, making sure she didn't have a chance to eat random things.
He continued to use magic to cut the stone into the appropriate size and shape.
Rong Jiaojiao had been imitating and learning from Qing Xuanzi's actions. When she saw Qing Xuanzi use magic to split a large rock into many smaller ones, she stopped laughing and her eyes followed Qing Xuanzi's movements closely.
No one knew what she was doing; her face was flushed red. Qing Xuanzi thought she needed to relieve herself again and was about to carry her out of the barrier.
But the next second, a large cabbage was turned into small, fragmented pieces.
Then came the other things, larger cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, etc., and she cut all the slightly larger items into several pieces.
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