In the late autumn, the maple forest in the mountains was a fiery red, filled with the desolation of all things. Only around the Daoist temple was it perpetually spring. Little Man helped his master stake down a row of trellises, while Little Han skillfully tied the reed poles on them with strips of torn cloth. The three of them blended almost seamlessly with the scenery of the mountain peak.
"Rustle..."
With the sound of footsteps, a group from the Medicine King Valley ascended the mountain peak. What appeared before them was a dilapidated Daoist temple, a makeshift alchemy room beside it, and an old thatched kitchen. In the vegetable garden next to the temple, the young master and his disciples had already finished making the trellises. Xu Ming'an picked up a bundle of branches, about to secure the eggplants and chili peppers that had already grown quite tall.
"Excuse me..."
Sun Xingchun, wearing a flowing green dress and possessing an exceptionally pure and ethereal beauty, walked in the forefront. Her pair of spirited, large eyes looked at the busy master and his disciples. She cupped her fists and chuckled, "May I ask if you are Daoist Xu Ming'an?"
"Ah?"
Xu Ming'an was taken aback. He quickly put down the branches, tidied his worn Daoist robe, dusted off the dirt from his body, and bowed, "I am the Daoist Xu Ming'an. May I ask what business this young lady has with me?"
"Medicine King Valley, eldest daughter Sun Xingchun."
Sun Xingchun cupped her fists and smiled, "This is my younger sister, Sun Yunnuan, and this is Mr. Su Zhe, an steward of the Medicine King Valley. We have come up the mountain to discuss an important matter with you, Daoist."
"Is that so..."
Xu Ming'an pursed his lips. He observed that the group was elegantly dressed, with a palpable flow of spiritual energy emanating from them. The realms of the leading few were impossibly high, making it impossible for Xu Ming'an to even probe them. He surmised that the Medicine King Valley must be a renowned sect from a great mountain. Thus, Xu Ming'an immediately stepped out of the vegetable garden and said, "Then please, esteemed guests, rest in the Daoist temple for a while. Little Man, Little Han, fetch some water for our honored guests."
"Yes, Master!"
The two disciples scurried towards the kitchen. Sun Xingchun looked at Little Han and covered her mouth with a soft chuckle. This little immortal maiden was brimming with spiritual energy and reminded her so much of herself when she was younger.
Upon entering the Daoist temple, they finally had shelter from the sun. However, there weren't enough chairs in the temple. Therefore, Su Zhe and the others very politely stood aside, allowing the two young ladies and the host, Xu Ming'an, to sit.
Sun Xingchun gently bit her red lips and said, "Recently, I heard that you, Daoist, have refined a Zhenyuan Pill that can aid in breaking through realms. In fact, we from the Medicine King Valley have come specifically for this matter."
"Oh?"
Xu Ming'an frowned, his heart pounding. How had the news gotten out? Had the Du family siblings broken their promise and revealed his whereabouts to the outside world? Now that these people from the Medicine King Valley had actually come up the mountain, it was truly troublesome.
"Daoist."
Sun Yunnuan smiled faintly, "We mean no harm. The Medicine King Valley wishes to cooperate with your esteemed temple. After all, the formula for the Zhenyuan Pill has been lost for many years. There are too many cultivators in our human realm who are stuck at bottlenecks, ultimately leading to death or self-destruction. If you are willing, Daoist, the Medicine King Valley is willing to purchase the formula for the Zhenyuan Pill at a high price."
"..."
Xu Ming'an's expression shifted between doubt and uncertainty.
"Daoist."
Su Zhe, exuding an air of scholarly refinement, cupped his fists and smiled at Xu Ming'an, "The Zhenyuan Pill, was it truly refined by you, Daoist?"
"..."
Xu Ming'an frowned. Su Zhe was a martial artist who had studied, much like Lin Zhao. Both of them possessed a scholarly aura. Unfortunately, Xu Ming'an felt a hint of sinister intent in Su Zhe's smile, while Lin Zhao was different, treating people with sincerity and possessing a clear heart. Their temperaments were similar yet completely distinct.
Xu Ming'an was an honest man and couldn't lie. He frowned and said, "I did refine it. However, this formula is a secret technique passed down by my master. My master is not here at the moment, so I regret to be unable to comply. I will not sell this formula."
"Ah?"
Sun Xingchun's delicate mouth parted slightly, a look of disappointment on her pretty face. She said softly, "Daoist, if the Medicine King Valley were to offer five hundred Jinzi coins, would you still refuse to sell? These five hundred Jinzi coins would be enough to expand this Daoist temple tenfold, enough for you and your two disciples to live a very comfortable life for the rest of your lives."
"No."
Xu Ming'an stood up, bowed, and said with a smile, "If our esteemed guests are willing to stay for a meal, I, Xu Ming'an, will prepare lunch. I will cook extra rice. If you are unwilling, then please return."
"..."
A sinister glint appeared in Su Zhe's eyes, but he remained silent.
Sun Xingchun sighed and stood up, cupping her fists. "Please reconsider, Daoist. If you change your mind, send someone to inform the Medicine King Valley, and we will return with generous gifts!"
"Alright." Xu Ming'an nodded.
Beside them, Sun Yunnuan's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Daoist, since you are unwilling to sell the formula, what about the Zhenyuan Pills themselves? Are you willing to sell the Zhenyuan Pills you refined to the Medicine King Valley?"
"No."
Xu Ming'an shook his head again. He had made an agreement with Lin Zhao: Xu Ming'an would be responsible for refining the pills, and after they were produced, Lin Zhao would handle their distribution and sale. He felt apologetic. "Firstly, I have only recently begun learning alchemy, and the success rate of producing pills is extremely low, yielding very few Zhenyuan Pills. Secondly, there are restrictions from my sect; we do not conduct business in the Daoist temple."
"I understand."
Sun Yunnuan pursed her red lips. "What a pity. Then, goodbye, Daoist. We have troubled you."
"Apologies."
"I understand."
Sun Xingchun had completely given up. However, when she saw Gu Xiaohan, she still smiled and waved, "Xiaohan, come here."
"Oh!"
Gu Xiaohan was not shy and walked straight forward.
"Call me Sister Xingchun."
Sun Xingchun placed her hands behind her back and smiled, "If you do, I will give you a very good gift."
"Ah?"
Gu Xiaohan was stunned. Was there such a profitable deal in the world?
"Sister Xingchun!"
She called out very loudly.
"Good girl."
Sun Xingchun smiled and nodded, patting Gu Xiaohan's small head. Then, she took out a verdant spiritual hairpin and said with a smile, "I bought this hairpin on a mountain in Furong Prefecture. It's not anything special, just a low-grade earth-tier magic artifact. Since we are fated, I will give it to you."
"Master..."
Gu Xiaohan dared not accept it and turned to look at Xu Ming'an.
"Daoist."
Sun Xingchun smiled, "I merely feel a connection with Xiaohan and have absolutely no connection to the business discussed today. This spiritual hairpin is of no use to me, so I'm giving it to Xiaohan as a small gift. She likes it too, please grant your approval, Daoist."
Xu Ming'an hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Gu Xiaohan happily accepted the spiritual hairpin.
Xu Ming'an escorted everyone to the mountainside before leaving. Sun Xingchun and Sun Yunnuan looked back at the young Daoist's retreating figure, feeling a touch of regret in their hearts. The mission assigned by their second uncle had not been completed this time, but there was nothing they could do; they had tried their best. The Medicine King Valley had always conducted business openly and honestly and could not resort to underhanded tactics.
...
Snowy Domain Heavenly Pool, the back mountain of the Summit Villa.
"Chik chik chik~~~"
Sword Qi crisscrossed through the air. Su Qingjiu, the master of Changming Mountain, personally wielded her sword, clearing patches of flat ground on the mountainside. After Su Qingjiu finished this, thunder rumbled in the sky, and a dirt mountain moved horizontally through the air. Beneath the mountain was a figure, supporting the entire mountain. It was Chen Ben. The back mountain of the Summit Villa was mostly composed of stone pillars and mountains, with very little soil remaining within the mountains. Therefore, although the spiritual energy in the mountains was abundant, soil had to be transported from elsewhere.
"Sister Su!"
As Chen Ben dropped the dirt mountain, he chuckled, "It's up to you now."
"A small matter."
Su Qingjiu raised her hand and pointed. Her natal flying sword, Bai Yu, roared out and instantly disintegrated the entire dirt mountain in the air. Countless specks of dust rained down, evenly distributed over the leveled ground on the mountainside, forming fertile soil.
"Continue."
On his flying sword, Hong Ye, Lin Zhao sat cross-legged, controlling everything. He said to Wu Zhi beside him, "We need to think about where the water source will come from. Can the stream on the south side of the mountain peak be diverted to irrigate it?"
"Yes."
Wu Zhi replied, "There are no issues with the height. Shall I have Mu Zha lead the cavalry to dig trenches?"
"No need."
Lin Zhao said, "The entire Snowy Domain Heavenly Pool falls under the jurisdiction of Lord Su Shan. Altering the terrain and topography is just a matter of raising a hand for Lord Su Shan. Don't you agree, Lord Su Shan?"
A somewhat sheepish voice came from the distance, belonging to the white-robed mountain lord, "Yes, yes, yes. Everything the Mountain Lord says is correct."
Beside them, Liu Liying, the fan-wielding goddess radiating spiritual energy, said softly, "Young Master, what are you doing?"
"Making terraced fields."
Lin Zhao smiled, "The back mountain relies on the Summit Villa and is rich in spiritual energy. We shouldn't waste it. We will turn the mountainside of the back mountain into terraced fields and then start planting spirit rice. This way, everyone in the Summit Villa can have spirit rice porridge, especially the younger generation like Tong Yu, Zhang Luobai, and Zhuang Yirong. Spirit rice porridge will benefit them the most."
"Indeed."
Wu Zhi smiled slightly, " our human realm originally had spirit rice, but it was only a very small type of millet with extremely thin spiritual energy contained within the grains, making it somewhat useless. Only a very few sects would spend labor and resources to cultivate it. However, the seeds that Master brought back from the Hundred Flowers Realm are different. They are all long, plump, top-grade spirit rice seeds. Once planted, they can indeed change some of the habits of the human realm's mountain dwellers to a certain extent."
"I see."
Liu Liying smiled, "Once the spirit rice is planted, I can help consolidate the mountain and water's spiritual energy in the back mountain to make the spirit rice grow more vigorously."
"Certainly."
Lin Zhao gave Liu Liying a thumbs-up. "Bringing Liying to ascend to the human realm was indeed an extremely wise decision."
Beside them, Deputy Commander Huang Tingyu, dressed in a light yellow cloak that fluttered behind him, stood with his arms crossed against the wind. He glanced at Lin Zhao, then at Liu Liying, and chuckled, "At first, I thought you were just coveting Liu Liying's beauty and wanted to bring her back to warm your bed. I never expected you to use her for this."
Liu Liying stomped her foot, looking angrily at old Huang, her cheeks flushed.
Old Huang grinned and shook his head, "What a waste of talent... If it were me, I would never let my little darling toil with such trivial matters all day."
Lin Zhao chuckled, "Don't worry, Old Huang. You're so ugly, you probably won't have such a little darling in this lifetime."
Old Huang narrowed his eyes, genuinely considering running away from home at this moment.
...
Fusu Great Wall.
Winter was about to descend, and the wind blowing across the Fusu Great Wall had become exceptionally sharp. Lin Wanhua stood on the city wall, frowning as she looked into the distance. Not far away, a figure descended, it was Chi Zhongyu.
"Have you decided?"
Lin Wanhua smiled faintly, "The Sword Tomb of the Fusu Great Wall is not easy to breach. Although it contains countless famous swords and abandoned sword intents, it is also full of specters. Few who enter the Sword Tomb return unharmed; most die or are injured."
"It doesn't matter."
Chi Zhongyu smiled, "My sword heart is already as it is, so why not take a gamble? What do you think, City Lord?"
"Then go. Try not to die."
"Yes!"