Building Roads in Full Swing (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

At the mountaintop.

The Yellow-Feathered Sparrow guarding the six mu of Spirit Fields saw Ling Pengyun arrive carrying a strip of snake meat rich in spiritual energy. Its eyes immediately lit up, and it promptly landed by Ling Pengyun's feet, lowering its head ingratiatingly and rubbing against his shoes.

Ling Pengyun was quite pleased by the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow's behavior.

He tossed the meat of the Early-Stage Qi Training Ink Cloud Poisonous Snake in his hand onto the ground and said,

"Eat."

Because of the Recognition of Ownership Restriction between it and Ling Pengyun, the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow could understand his words.

Delighted at once, it hurried over to the snake meat, opened its beak, and gnawed frantically at the spiritually infused flesh like a starving wolf.

Even when its belly had swollen round and taut, it did not stop eating.

Only after consuming a full third of the snake meat did the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow, no bigger than a fist, finally reach its limit and stop.

Yet less than half a breath later, its eyes turned bleary, its steps grew unsteady, and it collapsed unconscious on the spot.

This truly gave Ling Pengyun a fright.

He hurriedly extended his divine sense into the unconscious sparrow's body to inspect it.

Only then did he discover that the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow had simply eaten too much snake meat containing spiritual energy. Unlike demonic beasts, it lacked a Spiritual Energy Circulation Route passed down through its bloodline, so the spiritual energy in the meat had overwhelmed it senseless.

"This sparrow really is..." Ling Pengyun was speechless.

To help the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow wake sooner, Ling Pengyun sent spiritual power into its body, guiding the spiritual energy within the snake meat in its stomach through the meridians throughout its body to strengthen its cultivation.

Even if he had not done so, once the spiritual energy contained in the snake meat in the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow's stomach gradually dissipated after some time, it would have awakened on its own.

Before long, under Ling Pengyun's guidance, all the spiritual energy from the snake meat in the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow's stomach was absorbed by the bird, strengthening its cultivation.

Its cultivation consequently broke through to the Innate Fourth Layer, and it soon woke up as well.

Sensing its newfound strength, the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow was overjoyed. It chirped merrily twice, ran to Ling Pengyun's feet, and continuously rubbed against his right foot.

"I'll keep the remaining snake meat for now. I'll come feed you again tomorrow and the day after. Guard the spiritual plants in these six mu of Spirit Fields at the mountaintop properly. If any flying insects come to gnaw on them, you need not go on living. But if you serve diligently, I'll find more spiritual items for you to eat in the future and help your cultivation grow!" Ling Pengyun spoke with a solemn expression, first laying down harsh threats before offering a sweet date.

The Yellow-Feathered Sparrow understood every word clearly, yet it cast the first half—the threats—straight to the back of its mind.

To it, guarding the fields for this "powerful human" was an outright stroke of fortune.

All it had to do each day was catch a few flying insects that came to eat the spiritual plants, and it was rewarded with the meat of an Early-Stage Qi Training snake.

Who knew whether serving this human even more faithfully might earn it even better spiritual items?

Perhaps in this lifetime, it might even break through into the Qi Refining realm, a realm no sparrow among its ancestors had ever entered, and from then on step onto the immortal path and roam free and happy.

Its eyes immediately burned with fervor, and it rubbed even harder against Ling Pengyun's right foot to show its loyalty!

"Enough. Guard these Spirit Fields well!" Leaving behind those words, Ling Pengyun stored away the remaining carcass of the Early-Stage Qi Training Ink Cloud Poisonous Snake. He then walked to the six mu of Spirit Fields, cast Spirit Rain over each of them, and only then returned to the cave halfway up the mountain to absorb Moonlight Power for a while.

Afterward, he closed his eyes and circulated his cultivation technique, refining the residual spiritual power left behind from the Spirit Peach he had consumed earlier to advance his cultivation.

When one was immersed in cultivation, time passed exceedingly quickly. Before he knew it, another day had gone by.

Waking at sunrise had already been carved into Ling Pengyun's mind. Whenever that hour arrived, he would sense it and think of absorbing First Sun Power.

Ling Pengyun stopped circulating his cultivation technique, stepped to the cave entrance, and absorbed First Sun Power for a while. After casting Spirit Rain to water the six mu of Spirit Fields at the mountaintop, he applied the Light Body Technique and headed down the mountain. He sought out Ling Dong, the village chief of Azure Stone Mountain Village, informed him that he had returned to Azure Stone Mountain, and instructed Ling Dong to gather manpower in preparation for road construction.

To grow rich, one must first build roads. This was a legacy engraved into Ling Pengyun's bones.

Ling Dong also agreed with the proposal.

If they wished to haul the rice ripening at year's end to Xia Zhi Town three hundred li away for sale, they had to have a good road passable by horse-drawn carriages.

If the area around Azure Stone Village remained as it was now—covered in rocks and riddled with potholes, without even a dirt road—it would certainly increase the time needed to transport grain out for sale. The outside grain market might then become saturated, leaving Azure Stone Village's grain difficult to sell.

At first, the villagers of Azure Stone Village were somewhat opposed to building roads. Road construction was extremely time-consuming, especially a road stretching three hundred li directly to Xia Zhi Town. It would likely delay them for at least more than half a year.

They still had farm work to attend to, and they were waiting for the rice to ripen at year's end so they could make a handsome profit. Where would they find the time to build roads?

However, once they heard of the consequences of not building a road, as well as how Ling Pengyun, an "Immortal Elder," would set aside great personal profit and cast Spirit Rain over a long period to hasten the fifty mu of rice planted in Azure Stone Village into "Pseudo Immortal Rice,"

the villagers of Azure Stone Village immediately voiced their agreement. Not a single person raised an objection.

Beginning the next day, Azure Stone Village launched a massive road-building project. More than five hundred villagers participated, all young Strong Men, including over a hundred Lingxiao Guards of the Acquired Realm and Innate Realm from Azure Stone Village.

Since they were merely building the simplest kind of dirt road, requiring only a level and tidy surface rather than too many complicated procedures, and since the villagers of Azure Stone Village were full of drive, progress on the road advanced with each passing day.

In barely forty days, the villagers of Azure Stone Village had completed nearly one hundred li of dirt road.

In less than three months, this dirt road would likely be fully completed, connecting directly to Xia Zhi Town three hundred li away.

The Ling Clan established its villages and towns according to the grades of their Spirit Veins. Near First Rank Low Grade and First Rank Middle Grade Spirit Veins, only small mortal villages could be established, guarded by cultivators at the Qi Training Middle Stage.

Only when a Spirit Vein reached First Rank High Grade could a town with a population exceeding ten thousand be established nearby, with cultivators at the Qi Training Late Stage stationed there.

The Ling Clan did this because it feared that if there were too many mortal clansmen while the stationed cultivators were too weak, they would be unable to protect the mortals. This could attract demonic cultivators, who would harm those mortals and use their lives to refine demonic artifacts.

Such things occurred frequently in the Cultivation World.

Two bands of demonic cultivators had once roamed Cloudwater County, where the Ling Clan had originally been located. Had the Ling Clan not been affiliated with the Pingyun Yang Family of Cloudwater County, it would likely have been wiped out by demonic cultivators long ago!

Xia Zhi Town had a Qi Training Late Stage cultivator of the Ling Clan's Yun Generation stationed there, protecting peace across the region. If any subordinate village encountered danger, the clansman stationed in Xia Zhi Town would also immediately provide support.

Azure Stone Village was under Xia Zhi Town's jurisdiction.

Thanks to Gui Youbai for the 100-point reward.