Moon Lake Village

Song Qingming returned to Lingyuan Mountain with unease in his heart. Seeing how troubled he looked, Song Changxin assumed he had run into something else on the way back and asked him a few concerned questions.

Only then did Song Qingming realize that he had indeed been worrying too much. Even if the Liu Family suspected him, the worst that could happen was that he returned the item to them. Now that he had a stable source of Spirit Stones, as long as he was willing to spend time making talismans, he would certainly never lack cultivation resources in the future.

With that thought, Song Qingming finally calmed down and casually laughed it off with Song Changxin. Ever since his accident two years ago, Ninth Uncle had become much more concerned about him. Whenever he traveled far from home, Song Changxin would always give him a round of reminders and advice. Song Qingming was deeply moved by this.

After that, in order to set himself right, Song Qingming once again threw himself into talisman making day and night. Kept busy from dawn to dusk, he finally stopped thinking about the Liu Family.

Yet what he had not expected was that, only a few days after returning to Lingyuan Mountain, Thirteenth Uncle Song Changxiong arrived as usual to transport supplies and brought with him shocking news.

Two days earlier, for reasons unknown, the Jingyuan Mountain Liu Family had been expelled from the Carefree Sect overnight. Apart from a handful of Liu Family cultivators who were away from home, all thirty-odd cultivators of the Liu Family had been sent by the Carefree Sect to labor in the mines. Clan Head Liu Tianlong had committed suicide on the spot. From then on, there was no longer a Jingyuan Mountain Liu Family in Qinghe County.

Upon hearing that Liu Tianlong was already dead, Song Qingming remained stunned for a long while. He truly had not expected that just as he had finally put the matter aside, the Liu Family that had weighed so heavily on his mind only days ago would vanish overnight.

Though he should have been delighted by the news, Song Qingming never smiled. Instead, his face was grave. The sect stood high above all others, and for a small family like the Song Family, survival was truly not easy. One misstep, and they could meet the same fate as the Liu Family between one morning and the next.

Song Qingming thought to himself that the Carefree Sect's eradication of the Liu Family was very likely connected to the Water Spirit Fruit in Liu Tianlong's Storage Bag. Now that this spirit fruit had come into his possession, it might likewise bring a calamity of utter destruction upon the Song Family.

After obtaining Liu Tianlong's Storage Bag, he had considered this question more than once. That Water Spirit Fruit was clearly a spiritual item that had been picked not long before. Could the Liu Family's expedition into the Floating Cloud Mountain Range truly have been for that Water Spirit Fruit? Now, the Liu Family's sudden downfall was very likely related to this item.

Of the fifty thousand mortals under Jingyuan Mountain's jurisdiction, a small portion were to be relocated to Qinghe Market, while all the rest were divided among the nearby families. Most of them were taken in by the Huang Family. Even the Song Family received more than two thousand people. In order to settle these two thousand-plus people, Fourth Elder, who managed the family's mundane affairs, had racked his brains. Left with no alternative, he even planned to send family cultivators to relocate two hundred of them to Lingyuan Mountain.

Song Changxiong had come this time to inform Song Changxin and Song Qingming in advance that they needed to quickly arrange for people to build new mortal dwellings over the next few days, so they would be ready to receive these two hundred Liu Family mortals at any time.

Song Changxin seemed already accustomed to the rise and fall of cultivation families. Upon hearing the news, he merely nodded, more troubled by how to settle these mortals.

Lingyuan Mountain was remotely situated, and there was not much land that could be cultivated. Even their original food supply had needed support from Funiu Mountain every year. With two hundred more mouths to feed all at once, their existing grain would certainly not be enough.

After discussing it, Song Changxin and Song Qingming decided to reclaim more farmland on Lingyuan Mountain. Otherwise, relying entirely on Funiu Mountain for grain in the future would never be a long-term solution. Mujiao Town now had two thousand more people as well, so Funiu Mountain must surely be under great strain.

If they could solve this problem themselves on Lingyuan Mountain, things would be far easier in the future. They would no longer have to wait hopefully for Funiu Mountain to send grain every time.

After several days of inspection, the two decided to place the new mortal residential area on the western side of Crescent Moon Lake. This had originally been where Song Qingming lived, and there were another four or five small buildings beside it that had remained unoccupied.

Song Qingming arranged for the mortals from the mine to build a small house farther west, near the Mysterious Iron Mine, and moved directly beside the mine. This would also make it easier for him to inspect the mine regularly in the future.

Led by more than a dozen Martial Masters, the villagers of Lingyuan Mountain began felling trees on the mountain and putting up new houses. Song Changxin even specifically arranged for the miners to stop work for several days and help build the homes.

Before long, under Song Qingming's lead, the Lingyuan Mountain villagers spent half a month building more than twenty new houses. Together with the few homes that had originally been vacant, they could barely accommodate two hundred people.

After the new homes were completed, Song Changxin divided off some of Lingyuan Mountain's original mortal miners and moved them into the newly built houses west of Crescent Moon Lake for easier management. Once the Liu Family mortals arrived, they would be dispersed and mixed among Lingyuan Mountain's original residents.

This was also the method most often used by major cultivation families when taking in mortals from other families. On the one hand, it allowed them to adapt to their new surroundings more quickly; on the other, it prevented them from gathering together into a single mass and stirring up trouble.

Only a few days after Song Qingming and the others finished building the houses, Song Changxiong and Fourth Brother Song Qingrui escorted more than two hundred mortals to Lingyuan Mountain. Under the arrangements of Lingyuan Mountain's original Village Chief, these mortals were soon assigned their respective homes. After a round of counting, there were now more than five hundred mortals on Lingyuan Mountain.

There was currently no shortage of workers at the Mysterious Iron Ore Vein. After giving it some thought, Song Qingming decided to temporarily divide these five hundred mortals into two groups. Those living on the eastern side of Crescent Moon Lake would continue mining, while those on the western side would first be assigned to reclaim farmland beside the village.

Because Lingyuan Mountain lay deep in the mountains, there were not many places suitable for reclaiming fertile fields. Song Qingming could only lead these people in using magical tools to cut through mountains and split stone, divert water and dig canals, reclaiming several dozen mu of new fields for growing grain.

He also made a special trip to Mujiao Town to obtain a batch of fish fry, which he released into Crescent Moon Lake. He assigned several families to tend and raise them. It took nearly two months before this thorny food problem was provisionally resolved.

Fortunately, he had the Incomplete Map to quickly restore his Mana. During this time, aside from having no time to make talismans, his cultivation had not been delayed. Ninth Uncle Song Changxin did not know this, however, and feared that Song Qingming had been working too hard and neglecting his cultivation. He specially sent him some Spirit Rice so that he could make up some progress in cultivation.

Song Qingming could not very well refuse, lest Song Changxin continue worrying about him.

Another three busy months passed. The Liu Family mortals finally settled down securely. Fortunately, these people were relatively easy to manage. Since their main family had suffered disaster, compared with those who had to relocate hundreds of li away to Qinghe Market, they could be considered very fortunate to have come to the Song Family.

Mortals were unlike cultivators, who were immune to all illnesses. When large numbers of mortals traveled long distances, those with weaker constitutions could easily collapse along the way. Besides, those lofty cultivators of the Carefree Sect would not care much whether such mortals lived or died. So long as there were no deaths on a massive scale, they would not lift a finger to treat them.

In order to look after them, Fourth Elder had ensured that many of the Liu Family mortals assigned to Lingyuan Mountain did not bear the Liu surname. After being dispersed, they quickly integrated among the Song Family mortals.

For easier management, Song Qingming split Lingyuan Mountain's original single village into two. The eastern side of Crescent Moon Lake retained the name Lingyuan Village, while the western half received a new name: Moon Lake Village. Song Qingyu's father was appointed Village Chief of Moon Lake Village.

After Moon Lake Village was established, Song Qingming selected several capable mortals from among the newly arrived Liu Family people to strengthen Lingyuan Mountain's formation-guarding Martial Masters and the mine guards.

Song Qingming had these people intensify their daily training. After some time, he planned to take them into the mountains to hunt wild beasts, which could also help replenish the mountain's food stores.