Sparrow Guard (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

Azure Stone Mountain summit.

Ling Pengyun stood beside the six mu of Spirit Fields, lowering his head to gaze at the vast village by Azure Stone Lake, where cooking smoke rose on all sides. He sighed with emotion.

"Time flies. In the blink of an eye, I had already been on Azure Stone Mountain for a month! Those villagers had been here for fifteen days as well! The years rushed by; one must seize every moment!"

During the brief moment Ling Pengyun was lost in thought, two thumb-sized insects swooped down from afar into the three mu of rice seedlings atop Azure Stone Mountain, opening their mouths to gnaw on the leaves of the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice.

Ling Pengyun, still distracted, noticed movement among the rice seedlings. Turning back, he saw another two insects chewing on the Spirit Rice leaves. Helplessness filled his heart, and disgust showed on his face.

"These damned bugs, why are they here again?!"

Furious, Ling Pengyun waved his hand and fired two golden needles, directly killing the two insects that had only just entered the Innate First Layer.

Ever since the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice, Qi Training Grass, and Sword Star Grass in the six mu of Spirit Fields atop the mountain had sprouted, they had begun emitting considerable spiritual energy, displaying the signs of Spirit Plants.

Every day, this attracted many insects, even insects and wild beasts of the Innate Realm.

Wild beasts were not much of a problem. Before they could even approach Azure Stone Mountain, they would be slain by the Lingxiao Guard organized from the martial artists of Azure Stone Village.

However, insects could fly, which truly caused Ling Pengyun no small amount of trouble.

His cultivation was not high to begin with. Though his divine sense was somewhat stronger than that of cultivators at the same level, comparable to that of a Qi Training Sixth Layer cultivator—

—if he did not deliberately spread his divine sense throughout the surrounding area, it was still difficult for him to immediately notice insects gnawing on the Spirit Plants and rice seedlings while cultivating.

Yet if he deliberately kept his divine sense spread around him as a warning, the consumption of divine sense was far too great, and he could not maintain it for long.

Back when he was on Lingxiao Mountain, there had been sufficient spiritual energy to activate the Mountain Protection Formation and raise its curtain of light. This kept flying insects, birds, and beasts from harming the Spirit Plants on the mountain. Thus, Ling Ruda, Ling Pengyun's introductory teacher in Spirit Plant cultivation, had never told him that planting Spirit Plants also required guarding against flying insects.

As a result, five days ago, when the six mu of Spirit Plants had first begun displaying Spirit Plant characteristics and carrying spiritual energy, they had been ravaged by quite a few insects.

Had it not been for the sheer number of flying insects gathered in the Spirit Fields atop the mountain at that time, Ling Pengyun, immersed in cultivation, truly might not have discovered them.

Although he had killed those flying insects then, Ling Pengyun had learned his lesson afterward. He left the stone cave halfway up the mountain where he lived and sat cross-legged atop Azure Stone Mountain day and night, constantly guarding against insects attacking and ruining the rice seedlings and young Spirit Plants.

As for them threatening Ling Pengyun himself, that was not possible unless those insects entered the Qi Refining Realm.

Then again, these insects of the Acquired Realm and Innate Realm had sensed the abundant spiritual energy contained in the Spirit Plants growing in the six mu of Spirit Fields atop Azure Stone Mountain. By eating them, they could advance their cultivation. That was why they came one after another, risking their lives to devour the Spirit Plants.

"If the Spirit Vein of Azure Stone Mountain had enough spiritual energy to activate this Mountain Protection Formation, it would be wonderful. Then the formation could create a curtain of light and keep those flying insects and birds outside. I would not need to waste so much time, effort, and energy guarding this place day and night. I would not even have to interrupt my cultivation and wake up to kill bugs!" Ling Pengyun muttered helplessly.

He waved his hand and collected the two Innate insects that had been killed by the golden needles from the rice field.

These insects were gathered for the hundred or so Acquired Realm and Innate Realm Lingxiao Guards of Azure Stone Village. If martial artists ate more of these Innate insects rich in blood energy, they could also speed up their cultivation somewhat and break through to higher realms.

Over these days, the nearly hundred Innate flying insects Ling Pengyun had killed had all ended up in the mouths of those Lingxiao Guards.

If the Lingxiao Guard grew stronger, it would save Ling Pengyun quite a bit of effort. After all, he was still relying on the Lingxiao Guard formed by those martial artists to kill the wild beasts drawn in by the Spirit Plants planted atop Azure Stone Mountain.

At the same time, he could bestow favors upon those Lingxiao Guards and make them more loyal to the Lineage.

At that moment, a yellow sparrow flew in from the horizon, its target being the summit of Azure Stone Mountain.

Ling Pengyun's face filled with disgust. He had already guessed that this Innate Realm sparrow had likely been drawn here by the Spirit Plants on the summit as well.

Just as he was about to fire a golden needle and kill it, he saw the sparrow grab a quick meal halfway there, swallowing a flying insect that had likewise been drawn in by the Spirit Plants.

This sight truly inspired Ling Pengyun.

"Eh, birds eat insects; one thing restrains another. If I tame this bird, would I not be freed from the miserable task of standing guard here day and night?"

Ling Pengyun said happily.

He immediately stopped casting the Golden Needle Technique and allowed the distant sparrow to approach Azure Stone Mountain.

The sparrow had some brains as well. Seeing someone on the summit, it circled Azure Stone Mountain several times. Only after seeing that Ling Pengyun, standing beside the six mu of Spirit Plants, remained motionless like a stone man did it cautiously land amid the six mu of Spirit Plants atop the mountain and open its beak to peck at the rice seedlings.

Only then did Ling Pengyun make his move.

However, it was not a killing move. Instead, he used the Object Manipulation Technique to capture it.

Then, forming hand seals with both hands, he sent a Recognition of Ownership Restriction into the sparrow's mind and forcibly claimed it as his master. Though it struggled with all its strength, it could not resist Ling Pengyun's divine sense, which suppressed Innate wild beasts.

In less than half a breath, the Recognition of Ownership Restriction succeeded.

As for why Ling Pengyun had not used Fresh Blood as the medium to cast the Recognition of Ownership Restriction, the reason was simple. It was merely an Innate Realm sparrow; using Fresh Blood as the medium would truly have been a waste.

The Earth-Turning Earthworms were different. They possessed the bloodline of first-rank demonic beasts. Not only could they remarkably improve the quality of Spirit Soil, but they also had a chance of advancing into the Qi Refining Realm. The reason they could not serve as guards for the Spirit Fields was that their offensive power was extremely weak; their sole use was changing the quality of Spirit Soil.

Of course, such a simple Recognition of Ownership Restriction also carried some danger. Though this sparrow was only in the Innate Realm and could not break free from Ling Pengyun's restriction, once it broke through into the Qi Refining Realm, even if it only possessed Qi Refining First Layer cultivation, it could easily break free from Ling Pengyun's Recognition of Ownership Restriction.

Still, whether this Innate Third Layer sparrow had the fortune to break through into the Qi Refining Realm was another matter entirely.

Seeing that the restriction had succeeded, Ling Pengyun cast a minor spell, the "Deterrence Art." This art could intimidate those with lower cultivation, filling them with fear.

The Yellow-Feathered Sparrow caught by the Object Manipulation Technique was precisely in such a state. The moment the Deterrence Art appeared, it immediately gave up resisting, its eyes filled with terror.

"From now on, catch any flying insects on this mountain summit that want to gnaw on those Spirit Plants for me. Otherwise... die!" Ling Pengyun said viciously.

With the help of the Recognition of Ownership Restriction, the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow understood every word clearly. The fear in its heart grew even stronger, and it deeply regretted why it had coveted those spirit-energy-filled plants atop the mountain.

Under the threat of death, the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Afterward, the sparrow obediently flapped its wings and circled through the air. Whenever an insect approached, it would peck and eat it, looking every bit like an excellent guard for the Spirit Fields.

Thanks to Gui Youbai for the two hundred Qidian Coins reward.