Chapter 390 Hospitality (2)
Upon reaching the top of Yangao Mountain, Ji Rong gained a deep understanding of those "promising talents." Overall, these talents were not bad, but this "not bad" was only in comparison to Ji Rong's own childhood.
They were clearly eager to be fed, including a Qilin, a red dragon, a firebird, and various fire beasts... densely packed together, numbering as many as two hundred. This was not a recommendation of disciples, but a resignation of an orphan.
Ji Rong immediately frowned and pulled Si Nu aside. She spread her wings and claws, creating a soundproof barrier, and said, "Great Sage Si Nu, what is the meaning of this?"
Si Nu said, "Times have changed. After the death of the Great Sage of Blazing Flames, the situation of this Blessed Land of Wonderful Flames is the same as mine, and it is disliked by Guangyang Palace."
That day, I originally intended to take the Mountain Turtle God to the desolate islands of Danzhou, and only stop here to rest. However, they promised us a mountain and kept us here.
I pondered that since the world is under the shadow of Lord Xi, He will definitely not let me go after He comes out of seclusion. Even if I go to the depths of the desolate sea, I will be dug up. It would be better to be bound to this blessed land of Qi Yan.
Now, they're merely sending their bloodline offspring away, while I, hoping the young children of the Red Dragon Clan can truly become disciples of the Jade Void Palace and learn some skills, have also sent eight of them in.”
Ji Rong shook her head and said, "We are not an orphanage!"
The woman from Si said, "The offering of the ring is just a gesture of respect. If you can take some with you, they are willing to offer you local specialties."
"Oh?" Ji Rong immediately became interested and asked, "What kind of local specialty?"
Si Nu then pulled Ji Rong to Kuang Zhen's side and said to Kuang Zhen, "Quickly show your senior brother the true sincerity of Qi Yan Blessed Land."
Then Kuang Zhenfei flew over and said a few words to Qiyuan. Qiyuan's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran over from the group of small cultivators and nodded, saying, "Honored guest, please follow me."
Qi Yuan led them to the outside of a cave. He released the restriction, pushed open the stone door, and went into the inner room alone. After a while, he came back with a tray of Fire Marrow Storage Rings and Fire Crystal Storage Rings, saying, "Please accept these, esteemed guests."
Looking at the generous gift, Ji Rong thought for a moment and then said, "Forging Stone Demon Emperor, you have arranged too many minor cultivators; Jade Void Palace cannot accommodate them all."
But since we've accepted your benefits, we'll help you to the end. We just want to preserve our bloodline, so why be so fixated on one place?
Bring out all the other intelligent cubs of your clan. Let me take a look. If there are any cubs with decent talent, I will select them and send them to the Danxue Mountains and Tanghe Mountains.
Although life in those two places is certainly not as good as in Jade Void Palace, and one has to rely on oneself, it's still better than living in constant fear like you all.”
Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan was overjoyed and said, "Thank you so much..." Before he could finish speaking, Kuang Zhen stopped him. After a few whispered words, Qi Yuan sincerely bowed and said, "Thank you so much, Lady Ji!"
Then, he quickly walked to Si Nu and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Great Sage, for saving us."
Si Nu helped him up and whispered, "Now that there are no more worries, let's quickly send the younger generation out and get to training."
Qi nodded and hurriedly went to the clan's territory to gather all the intelligent cubs.
Qi Yuan was very fast; in just one hour, he and the other clansmen delivered the remaining 123 enlightened cultivators of the Qi clan to Ji Rong and Qing Guanzi.
Qing Guanzi rubbed the newly acquired storage ring in his paw, looking at the group of cubs who were obviously of lower quality and no different from tender meat to him, and said helplessly to Ji Rong, "Junior sister, you have always been smart. Since your senior brother can't do this, you can choose it."
Ji Rong smiled and said, "I can choose, but you have to deliver it to me, Senior Brother."
Qing Guanzi nodded and said, "No problem, no problem."
Ji Rong then had the cubs line up, waiting for her to ask them questions.
Her selection method was ingenious. For each person she met, she would ask the same three questions, and those who could answer them could go with her.
These three questions were chosen based on Ji Rong's childhood experiences:
"Who are you?
Where are you from?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Most of these cubs are at the Spirit Realm, and the better ones are only at the Illusion Realm. Although they are of divine blood, perhaps their bloodline is diluted too much, and most of them are dull and dazed, no different from ordinary cultivators.
Ji Rong's three seemingly simple questions were answered completely by only eleven people, and Ji Rong then asked for those eleven.
Ji Rong then said to Qing Guanzi, "Senior brother, take a look at the rest. Are there any with particularly good aptitude? They all have divine blood. Although they are not very clever, if they are sent to Junior Nephew Ji Zhi for training, they will definitely become excellent blacksmithing apprentices."
Qing Guanzi raised his head, glanced around, and then reluctantly pointed out five more, which Ji Rong then took.
Having chosen the small repairman to take back, Ji Rong looked at the mountain tortoise's docile appearance and thought to himself that if he hadn't been forced to come here, he might still be living a carefree life with wild boars and wild geese in the Guangyang Mountains.
Sui sighed and said, "Senior brother, you take them to settle down. I want to travel around Hezhou for a while before returning."
Qing Guanzi immediately said, "Junior sister, go and have fun. It won't make a difference if you stay a few more days. I'll wait for you here."
Ji Rong lowered her head and said to the mountain tortoise, "Mountain Tortoise God, are there any other mountain gods in Hezhou? Please take me to see them."
The mountain tortoise nodded and said, "Okay."
Then, the mountain tortoise grew to a gigantic size and carried Ji Rong away. After leaving the Qi Yan Blessed Land, Ji Rong solemnly said, "Mountain Tortoise God, you can connect the spiritual vein you are in charge of to the Linglan River spiritual vein. Now the spiritual flow of the Danxue Mountain Range and the Canglan Mountain Range has been opened up. In this way, you will not have to worry about running out of spiritual energy in the future."
The mountain tortoise tilted its head slightly and looked at Ji Rong, saying, "This humble god understands, Lord Ji."
Having settled the important matters, Ji Rong remembered something else and asked, "What mountain gods are there in Hezhou now?"
The mountain tortoise said, "Besides me, the others who are still alive are the mountain sparrows and mountain oxen of Crane Island Cave, the mountain leeches and mountain carp of Sand River Cave, the mountain jackals of Taiyin Blessed Land, and the mountain eagles of Qiongqi Mountain."
"Lord Ji, let's go to Qiongqi Mountain first. There are no spiritual veins there, and no fighting."
The mountain tortoise carried Ji Rong, crawling slowly on the ground, but they had long since left the Qiyan Mountain Range, and the surrounding scenery was still receding into the distance.
Ji Rong sat for a while before suddenly realizing that He was exercising His power, and said, "Mountain Turtle God, your origin is precious. Why don't I carry you there? You can just point me in the right direction."
The mountain tortoise laughed and said, "Don't worry, Lord Ji. This humble god has no particular strengths, except for his endurance and the space inside his belly."
When the Great Sage Si Nu took me away, she made me swallow the reserves of an entire mountain. Now, among all my offspring, I, the mountain tortoise, am perhaps the richest.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Rong felt satisfied with the kindness she had maintained for so long. If she hadn't been so compassionate, she would never have known that the Lord of Xi was also a cunning manipulator with multiple burrows.
If I hadn't felt a pang of pity, how would I have known that this seemingly harmless, docile mountain tortoise had actually swallowed a bellyful of the source stream?
"My belly is full," Ji Rong thought happily, "If only I could take some of it and put it into my Origin Regeneration Pool."
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