New Moon Blessed Land was a small Blessed Land, and a newly born one at that, even though it had existed for nearly four hundred and fifty years.
That was long enough for ordinary people to have generations of descendants—more than ten, in fact.
And four hundred and fifty years was already nearly a lifetime for a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
But for a Blessed Land whose age was measured in millennia, it was more like a place that had only just come of age.
At that very moment, the open ground before New Moon Blessed Land was packed with people. They were much like Yu Dashan and the others: carrying bundles and bags, looking utterly bedraggled. They had clearly traveled from other settlements.
Yu Dashan and the others, however, paid them no mind. Instead, they gazed at the distant mountain, straight and towering, its peak piercing the clouds.
The mountain was called Moon Gazing Peak. Its summit was hidden among the drifting clouds that swirled around it, making it impossible to see clearly.
It was not only the symbol of New Moon Blessed Land; the Spiritual Root on which the Blessed Land depended for survival also grew there.
Since the mountain was forbidden ground for ordinary people, even Yu Dashan had never seen the Spiritual Root of New Moon Blessed Land with his own eyes.
The only thing he knew was its name: Moon Gazing Vine.
"Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root" was a term for plants, not just trees.
A blade of grass, a vine, or a flower might all evolve into a Spiritual Root through a twist of fate.
Aside from their shared ability to withstand the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster, different kinds of Spiritual Roots often determined the type of Blessed Land.
For example, some Spiritual Roots bore fruit or produced special effects, bringing great profits to a Blessed Land. These were called resource-type Blessed Lands, and they were the preferred destinations of merchant caravans.
Other Spiritual Roots produced nothing, but were enormous. Blessed Lands established around them were larger as well.
These types of Blessed Lands were mainly for habitation and could accommodate more people as they lived and multiplied.
Besides these, there were all kinds of other Spiritual Roots, each giving rise to a different kind of Blessed Land.
It was said that in the East Domain Center there was a large Blessed Land whose Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root could help people comprehend the Dao and increase their chances of breaking through bottlenecks. It was revered as the sacred land of the entire East Domain.
The Moon Gazing Vine neither flowered nor bore fruit, and it could not help people cultivate. Its greatest advantage was that it was lovely—beautiful.
Being beautiful alone seemed utterly useless.
But any plant that could evolve into a Spiritual Root despite the threat of the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster and the Insect Race had to be extraordinary. Flowers could not grow in a greenhouse, much less evolve into Spiritual Roots.
It could be said that every Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root had something unique about it.
The Moon Gazing Vine's beauty was enough to bewitch. Any living creature that saw it would be drawn to it. Even those who came with murder in their hearts would gradually lose their killing intent before the Moon Gazing Vine.
Humans, Demonic Beasts, and even the Insect Race were affected.
Without this ability, the Moon Gazing Vine would have long since been devoured by insects. How could it have grown all the way into a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root?
Besides that, the Moon Gazing Vine's tendrils were highly effective weapons.
Beneath its beautiful exterior lurked a savage side.
Around Moon Gazing Peak stood a series of relatively smaller towers, encircling and guarding the Moon Gazing Vine like stars clustered around the moon.
At the same time, these towers formed the defensive foundation of New Moon Blessed Land, linked together to create a great defensive formation.
After all, while a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root could resist the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster and block its life-draining power within its domain,
its domain was not all-powerful. It could ward off the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster's ability to drain life, but it could not stop the Insect Race from approaching.
If the Insect Race invaded its domain, the result would inevitably be a fight to the death.
Humans depended on Heaven and Earth Spiritual Roots to establish Blessed Lands, so their importance was self-evident. Naturally, when the Insect Race drew near, they could not leave the Spiritual Root to fight alone.
If the Spiritual Root were destroyed, what would happen to the ordinary people it protected?
So, to protect their Spiritual Roots and repel the Insect Race, all Blessed Lands constructed defensive formations. Together with the Spiritual Roots' abilities, these formations defended against the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster and the Insect Race, one from within and the other from without.
That was how a Blessed Land operated.
Humans and Spiritual Roots were, in a sense, mutually dependent.
"Which settlement are you from?"
Just as the people from Ox Ridge Settlement were gazing at distant Moon Gazing Peak, lost in its splendor, a Qi Refining Realm cultivator who looked like a manager approached them and asked.
"Manager Song, do you still remember me?"
As the man appeared, the Qi Refining Realm cultivator in the carriage stepped out as well and addressed him.
"You're Cheng Xiurui?"
After a brief moment's thought, Manager Song recognized him.
"That's right. I'm here to escort the people from Ox Ridge Settlement."
Cheng Xiurui's attitude toward Manager Song was worlds apart from the way he treated the people of Ox Ridge Settlement.
That was simply because the man before him was surnamed Song—the Song of the Song Family of New Moon Blessed Land.
Though Cheng Xiurui had once been considered a promising young talent in New Moon Blessed Land, reaching Perfection of Fetal Movement at twenty, the Cheng Family was a small, insignificant household. The elders in his family were only in the early stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
To secure an Immortal Destiny for him, his family had gone to great lengths, nearly exhausting most of its resources. Then they had waited several more years before he finally entered the Qi Refining Realm at twenty-five.
If he had not been surnamed Cheng, but Song, his Immortal Destiny would have been in his hands as soon as he reached Perfection of Fetal Movement at twenty. Why would he have wasted those precious years?
His breakthrough had already consumed most of his family's resources. The family could not afford to support two Qi Refining Realm cultivators who did no work and devoted themselves entirely to cultivation, so he had to find another way forward.
In the end, through connections, he had gotten in touch with Manager Song and secured the chance to take charge of Ox Ridge Settlement.
He had stayed there for several years.
Now, looking at Manager Song, who was only a few years older than him, Cheng Xiurui could tell from the aura he let slip that he would probably break through to the middle stage of the Qi Refining Realm in a year or two at most.
And what about him?
Even if everything went smoothly, it would take him twenty years to reach the middle stage.
And the further they went, the wider the gap would grow.
Unfortunately, his origins meant he could not afford to risk his life. Otherwise, joining an Insect Hunter Team might well have sped up his cultivation.
"How many people came from your settlement? Did you run into any danger on the way?"
Perhaps because they were acquainted, Manager Song's attitude was much warmer.
The storm had come suddenly the previous night, forcing all the settlements to rush here in a great wave. The Blessed Land had been caught off guard as well and had no choice but to mobilize in a hurry.
The earlier increase in the Blessed Land quota might have made it seem as if the Blessed Land did not care about the lives of ordinary people. But in truth, New Moon Blessed Land was not a resource-type Blessed Land, and the land around it was rather barren.
So it was poor.
Naturally, the settlements that could provide wealth to the Blessed Land were especially important.
The Blessed Land also knew better than to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs, so in previous years it had treated the settlements and their ordinary people with relative gentleness and tolerance.
There were reasons they had to raise the price this year.
Manager Song wanted to know their numbers so he could arrange for them to be settled and assess the extent of this year's losses.
Before the people from Ox Ridge Settlement arrived, several other settlements had already made it there. Judging by what he had heard, the situation was not promising.
The losses were greater than ever before.
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