"What? Yangshan Gathering Place didn't come to Area C this year?"
Yu Ershan left home and went all the way to the place where he had stayed last year: Area C.
After reluctantly paying a New Moon Coin to grease some palms, he unexpectedly learned that Yangshan Gathering Place wasn't in Area C at all.
Where had it gone?
He knew that gathering places usually followed the same routine when choosing where to settle, but things didn't always stay the same. After all, every gathering place wanted a better spot.
Different areas also represented different standings within the Blessed Land.
Naturally, the farther ahead, the better.
Yangshan Gathering Place was also a small settlement, though it had a somewhat larger population than Ox Ridge Settlement, with around two thousand people. Among the small settlements, it ranked somewhere in the upper middle, and was considerably stronger than Ox Ridge.
Normally, Yangshan Gathering Place would be assigned to Area C.
He hadn't expected that this year, not only had Ox Ridge Settlement left the area, but Yangshan Gathering Place had vanished from it too.
"Area D? Impossible! Could it be Area B?"
Yu Ershan mulled it over.
Setting the other settlements aside, among the settlements in Area C in previous years, Yangshan had ranked near the top, while Ox Ridge had been near the bottom.
The reason Ox Ridge had never ended up in Area D before was that two settlements in Area D had relatively large populations, but were also somewhat unusual.
So small settlements like Ox Ridge had been placed in Area C instead.
The reason for this year's change was certainly intriguing.
But Yangshan Gathering Place was different. Even if it wasn't in Area C, it couldn't possibly have been demoted to Area D.
That left only one place.
Area B.
Although he still didn't know what had happened to Yangshan Gathering Place, being assigned to Area B was presumably a good thing.
The worry he'd felt when he couldn't see them before entering the Blessed Land finally eased a little.
After another round of searching, Yu Ershan finally reached Area B. He spent yet another New Moon Coin and eventually found the location of Miss Xiaoxiao's family.
After he explained why he'd come, the answer he received was just as he'd expected.
Miss Xiaoxiao wasn't here. She had gone with the family head to the West District—to the small courtyard where an elder of her family, a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, lived.
Just like the head of the Zhou Family in Ox Ridge Settlement, after entering the Blessed Land, the family head had simply gone to stay where the family's Qi Refining Realm cultivator lived.
Families from settlements backed by Qi Refining Realm cultivators generally operated this way.
The family head brought promising juniors to stay close to the cultivator. Not only were the surroundings better, but they could also receive guidance.
In truth, Yu Ershan had already considered this possibility before he came.
If she hadn't been valued, they wouldn't have let him marry into her family in the first place. They certainly wouldn't have sent him a hundred Spirit Stones. A hundred Spirit Stones—that was the price of a Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment cultivator's life.
But even so, he had come. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to set his mind at ease.
As long as he knew she was safe and had arrived in the Blessed Land without incident, that was enough.
After giving his name and explaining why he'd come, he asked them to pass on the message when Miss Xiaoxiao returned, then left Area B.
Next, he would make sure Yu Dashan cultivated properly. If he dared slack off, then his little brother would show him no mercy.
At least the firewood he'd bought wouldn't go to waste.
Meanwhile, at Ox Ridge Settlement, Old Man Yu had gotten up early too.
After feeding Spirit Stones to the Rare Species sapling last night, he had gone back out and continued sleeping in the bed inside his house.
He couldn't hide in the cellar until the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster had fully arrived.
That way, if anything happened in the middle of the night, he would notice in time.
The temperature at the settlement had dropped sharply. It was colder than yesterday, and the breath he exhaled was clearly visible.
Old Man Yu threw on a thick coat and went into the courtyard. First, he checked around the base of the walls, and after making sure none of the little traps he'd set had been triggered, he breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he open the gate and step outside.
In just one day, the trees that had been lush and green were now shedding leaves with a rustle. It seemed as if they had changed overnight.
The abundance that followed the storm had been more like the last flare of a dying candle.
The falling leaves also meant the trees were entering dormancy, drawing all their vitality deep inside to withstand the coming Black Annihilation Wind Disaster.
Whether they would still be alive next year was up to luck.
That was the fate of most plants.
Becoming a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root was difficult enough, let alone becoming a Rare Species.
Even if they survived, they could only repeat this process again and again.
Seeing this, Old Man Yu couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.
The Black Annihilation Wind Disaster hadn't arrived yet, but he had no intention of visiting or wandering around the settlement. Today, he decided to seal the gate with stones and cut off all contact with outsiders.
Then he would stay by his Rare Species sapling and wait for the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster to arrive.
As for his three sons, he no longer let himself dwell on them. It wasn't that he didn't care; he simply knew that worrying wouldn't help.
Since they had made this choice, both he and his three sons would have to accept it and be ready to bear the consequences.
Besides, his second son was with them. Given how clever and steady he was, nothing should go wrong.
After eating, Old Man Yu began piling the last of his stones in front of the gate. He knew perfectly well that this defense couldn't stop the insects, but at least it gave him some peace of mind.
Besides, at a critical moment, it might be enough to keep some people out.
Once he was done, he climbed onto the wall and looked at the Rare Species sapling inside the little hut. A few leaves had fallen to the ground, but overall, it hadn't started turning yellow and dropping all its leaves like the trees in the distance.
"Could it be that Rare Species don't need to go dormant?"
Old Man Yu was puzzled.
With his limited knowledge, he couldn't tell what state the Rare Species sapling was in.
But he understood that Rare Species had their own unique way of surviving. He, an amateur, didn't need to tell it what to do.
The only thing he could do was keep feeding it Spirit Stones as long as the sapling could still absorb them.
Since it hadn't gone dormant, he might as well grind up two more Spirit Stones for it in a bit.
Having made up his mind, Old Man Yu looked into the distance, then jumped down from the wall.
After he left, Yu An shook his branches, and another leaf fell.
Unlike before, this leaf flew off at an angle and covered some distance before stopping against the wall.
"Flying Flower Plucking Leaf—Initiate."
Yu An mentally muttered to himself, finding the whole thing rather amusing.
Neither proficiency nor initiation appeared on the panel. They were entirely his own imaginings. But one thing was certain: his control over his trunk and leaves had clearly grown stronger.
He believed that where there was a will, there was a way.
He'd worked so hard as a tree. How could he possibly have nothing to show for it?
Even if he reached Juvenile Stage Three without awakening a Divine Ability like Flying Flower Plucking Leaf, he could still train it himself.
That would be like gaining an extra Divine Ability.
No matter how he looked at it, it was a bargain.
Later, when Old Man Yu came back to feed him at the 'dining hall' formed by his roots, Yu An focused and began absorbing the Spirit Stones once again.
But this time, he faintly sensed some inexplicable change.
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