Mujiao Town

At the foot of Funiu Mountain lay a small town called Mujiao Town, home to nearly ten thousand mortals of the Song Family. Song Family cultivators had guarded the town year-round, and it had remained peaceful and uneventful for a hundred years. This had also drawn many mortals of other surnames from nearby to settle here. A broad street ran through the center of town, crowded with an endless stream of passersby. Shops of every kind lined both sides, their cries of trade ringing without pause, painting a scene of prosperity and peace.

Whether they were lofty sects or family powers that dominated a region, the vast number of mortals were the foundation of the Cultivation World. They continuously supplied its major powers with fresh blood and wisdom.

Among roughly ten thousand mortals, two or three cultivators with Spirit Roots and the ability to cultivate would emerge. If they were descendants of cultivators, their chances of possessing Spirit Roots were somewhat higher than those of ordinary mortals' descendants.

Ordinary mortals were far too weak. In this Cultivation World, where Demonic Beasts ran rampant, they found it difficult to survive and reproduce without cultivators' protection. That was why the Cultivation World had come to place ever greater importance on mortals. Anywhere with a large mortal population would, more or less, have cultivators protecting it.

To strengthen themselves, the major sects of the Cultivation World would send disciples of lesser talent to administer mortals throughout the lands under their control, breeding more disciples with Spirit Root talent for their sects. Over time, this gave rise to the great cultivation families.

There were dozens of cultivation families like the Song Family in Qinghe County. All of them were affiliated with the Carefree Sect, the overlord of Wei State. Each family had a vast number of mortals under its care. Within the Song Family's sphere of influence, including Mujiao Town and more than a dozen nearby villages, there were over twenty thousand mortals in total, with most of them living in Mujiao Town.

Among the major Qi Refining Families of Qinghe County, the Song Family had relatively few mortals. Several Qi Refining Families with larger populations had more than a hundred thousand mortals each. As for the Huang Family, Qinghe County's overlord and a Foundation Establishment Family, it directly controlled nearly five hundred thousand mortals.

Those mortals who developed Spirit Roots continuously replenished the cultivation families, while those with exceptional Spirit Root talent were taken in by the Carefree Sect.

Most of the mortals in Mujiao Town carried Song Family blood. Some had fled here from elsewhere, and through Marriage Alliances with local Song Family mortals, they had gradually become part of the Song Family as well.

The family generally did not concern itself with the surnames of mortals. However, once someone with a Spirit Root was discovered, they would be brought to Funiu Mountain to cultivate and given a new name according to the Song Family cultivators' generational order.

Song Qingming had likewise been found to possess a Spirit Root during the family's examination of mortals when he was ten years old. He had then been brought to Funiu Mountain by family cultivators to learn cultivation, where he had remained until now. Though his place of cultivation was not far from home, Song Qingming rarely returned to visit his family.

Having received this family assignment to stand guard, he did not know when he would next have a chance to return. He had descended the mountain early today precisely so he would have time to visit his home.

Among the mortal residences west of Mujiao Town stood an ordinary house. It looked somewhat newer than the surrounding homes. An earthen wall enclosed a simple courtyard, with a small gate set in the center of the wall.

Song Qingming stood before the half-open wooden gate, gazing at the familiar courtyard before him. On a huge Stone Platform in the courtyard sat a plainly dressed woman beside a green bamboo basket. She slowly separated the golden bamboo shoots from the basket one by one and laid them out neatly across the Stone Platform to dry.

As though she had heard the sound at the gate, the woman paused and turned to look toward it.

"You've been gone so long. What are you standing at the gate for? Did cultivation turn you stupid?"

Song Qingming froze for a moment, then chuckled foolishly and walked into the courtyard.

"Mother, has everyone at home been well lately?"

"We built a new house. Your younger brother and father have both moved into the new rooms out back. I still can't bear to part with this old Stone Platform. A few days ago, we dug up some fresh bamboo shoots in the mountains, so I brought them here to dry. When you come back next time, you can bring some up the mountain to taste. You children all loved these when you were little."

Mother Song finished arranging the bamboo shoots and came to Song Qingming's side. "San'er, come home and visit whenever you have time. They say immortals do not eat mortal food, but weren't the immortals on the mountain all born from mortals below? How can there be such a great difference?"

Song Qingming's childhood name had been Song San. Only after being brought to Funiu Mountain to cultivate had he been renamed Song Qingming. Yet now, apart from his mother, no one called him by that name anymore.

The family rules stipulated that before reaching the age of twenty, all cultivators could only return home during a few designated days each year to visit relatives. At all other times, they were not permitted to return freely. This allowed the young people who had just gone up the mountain to gradually distance themselves from the mortals below, grow accustomed to the tedium of mountain cultivation as early as possible, and avoid neglecting their cultivation out of attachment to the warmth of their mortal families.

After stepping onto the path of cultivation, Song Qingming had rarely returned home. Now, most of his childhood companions no longer recognized him. Even the people in his own household had changed greatly in how they treated him.

Whenever he returned home, even when they sat at the same table to eat, Song Qingming could sense that his father, elder sister, and younger brother always maintained a faint distance between mortal and immortal.

His father no longer yelled at him for sleeping in. His hot-tempered Second Sister no longer dared call him "brat." Even his younger brother, who had always followed behind him and played with him as a child, now showed him an added measure of respect.

Father Song had originally been an ordinary household head in Mujiao Town. No one with a Spirit Root had appeared in his family for three generations, and after living in town for so many years, the family had always led an unremarkable life, apart from the early death of his eldest sister.

Later, Song Qingming was found to possess a Spirit Root, and the clan bestowed a sum of gold and silver upon them. Only then did his family's life gradually improve. Now, they could be considered a wealthy household in Mujiao Town.

After chatting for a while longer, the two returned to the newly built residence. The family of five shared lunch, and beneath his mother's reluctant gaze, Song Qingming left some silver for the household before quietly departing.

When Song Qingming left home now, he no longer felt the same attachment as before. Of everyone in the family, only his mother still regarded him as her child rather than an immortal.

Fifty li east of Mujiao Town stood a mountain a hundred zhang high. It had originally been an unnamed place, but a hundred years ago, the Song Family cultivated a small Spirit Vein here and renamed it Lingyuan Mountain.

Lingyuan Mountain was not too far from Funiu Mountain. It was also the second Spirit Vein occupied by the Song Family, aside from the high-grade Spirit Vein of Funiu Mountain.

About a hundred years ago, while hunting Demonic Beasts here, senior cultivators of the Song Family had accidentally discovered a Mysterious Iron Ore Vein. Upon learning of this, the second-generation family head led the family's cultivators to slay several Mid-grade Demonic Beasts entrenched on the mountain, then occupied it and relocated some family mortals here to mine the Mysterious Iron Ore Vein.

Mysterious Iron Mine was also a common low-grade ore in the Cultivation World and could be used to make certain low-grade magic tools. The Mysterious Iron Sword Song Qingming had used for nearly ten years had been forged from this very ore.

After nearly a century of family management, Lingyuan Mountain was now home to several hundred mortals. Every year, they mined Mysterious Iron Mine worth approximately eighty Spirit Stones for the family, making this one of the family's most important sources of income. The family therefore attached great importance to this place. Not only had it set up two formations here for protection, but two family cultivators also stood guard here year-round.

Travel to Lingyuan Mountain and stand guard for three years—this was the family assignment Song Qingming had received yesterday at the Treasury Pavilion.

The Song Family rules stated that once a family cultivator reached the Mid Qi Refining Stage, they had to complete certain family assignments on schedule. Naturally, these assignments came with corresponding rewards.

For guarding Lingyuan Mountain for one year, the family would grant an additional ten Merit Points. Although Lingyuan Mountain's Spirit Vein was somewhat inferior and only a mid-grade Spirit Vein, it was still sufficient to support the cultivation of two Qi Refining Cultivators. It would not have much effect on Song Qingming's cultivation at his current Mid Qi Refining Stage.

It would neither hinder his cultivation nor allow him to earn some Spirit Stones. This assignment was currently the most suitable family task for him. Once he took it on, along with the formations and Formation Diagrams he usually drew, he would be able to exchange for a Mid-grade Magic Tool after one year.

Song Qingming had previously gone to Lingyuan Mountain to help transport Mysterious Iron Mine. When most cultivators in the family had just broken through to the Mid Qi Refining Stage, they would be assigned to stand guard here for a few years. It was considered a way of looking after cultivators who had just advanced to the Mid Qi Refining Stage—a relatively safe duty that would not delay their cultivation too greatly.

This assignment primarily involved watching over and supervising the family mortals as they mined ore here. Each year, all he needed to do was ensure that enough Mysterious Iron Mine was handed over to the family on time.