Workers and Freeloaders

Spring turned to autumn, and several years passed in the blink of an eye. The traces left behind by the Heavenly Tribulation years ago were now difficult to find. The Star Dou Great Forest remained much the same, but one thing had changed: Spirit Beasts with sufficiently high cultivation all knew that a powerful new presence had appeared within the forest—one that was also the hardest for Spirit Beasts to understand.

At four in the morning on another day, Ye Qing woke up in that same pit, rising from a cloud formed of energy. In truth, going months without sleep would not have caused him any problems now, but his own habits, along with Self-Discipline No. 3, had made him retain many ordinary biological routines, such as sleeping and eating.

Walking out of the cave, Ye Qing looked up at the sky. A few strands of starlight filtered through the trees and fell across his face. Compared to the bustling traffic and steel jungles of the past, he greatly enjoyed this natural starlight. Then he began today's life as a craftsman. That was right: Qing Di, with seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, was now working as a construction worker.

If humans could reach this place, they would discover that a Castle had appeared in the Star Dou Great Forest, built against the mountainside. It was not rough or crude in style either; even the most discerning nobles would be unable to find fault with it. Ye Qing had also discovered the system's bizarre sense of humor.

Over the past few years, he had grown accustomed to many things and come to understand how unreliable the system was. When he complained that the food tasted bad, the system unlocked the chef sub-class for him. When he felt that living in a cave was too gloomy, it unlocked the architect sub-class and even added "repair the house" to his daily activities.

Yet when he complained that he had remained in beast form and could not transform, the system only knew how to remain silent. Every brick and beam of that Castle had been made by his own hands. With the monstrous strength of his demon body, sharp claws, and the techniques instilled by the system, his hands—or rather, front paws—were now more precise than industrial machinery.

Over the course of a few years, he had watched his home transform from a pit into a Castle. He had to admit, it gave him an immense sense of accomplishment.

The Castle had been completed a few days ago. Di Tian and Bi Ji had come to see Ye Qing's new home then. Di Tian had no interest in it at all and thought Ye Qing was wasting his time, while Bi Ji had been quite interested and liked Ye Qing's style very much. She had already returned to her own territory to renovate her residence.

Today, Ye Qing had come out to work as a lumberjack. After all, he had built a Castle. If it remained empty forever, would it not become a haunted house? So he had come out to fell trees and make furniture. The Star Dou Great Forest did not lack trees; towering ancient trees were everywhere.

"The tree is falling!" With Ye Qing's shout, a huge tree crashed down in response before Ye Qing dragged it back to the Castle. He only shouted like that to vent the loneliness in his heart. Over the past few years, Ye Qing had mostly passed his time talking to himself and casually chatting with the system. After all, his soul was still human, and prolonged solitude made him deeply uncomfortable.

As for friends... his relationship with Di Tian seemed fairly good, but Di Tian appeared only at intervals measured in years. Di Tian's cultivation sessions often lasted years or even decades. Bi Ji came around more often, but she was also busy. Not only did she heal injured Spirit Beasts in the forest, but after learning Soul Flash and Bala from Ye Qing, protecting the weak had become her hobby. In the past, she had cultivation but lacked combat ability; her vast Soul Power was unsuitable for fighting. But now?

If Bi Ji fired a Soul Flash with all her strength, there truly would be peace—nuclear peace on a global scale. As for the others... ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were all extremely respectful whenever they saw him, not to mention lower-level Spirit Beasts.

His aura had scared quite a few Spirit Beasts into wetting themselves. Since then, he had rarely allowed any of his aura to leak out. Unfortunately, the nearby Spirit Beasts already knew what he looked like, and they still acted that way whenever they saw him. He found it very hard to get used to.

Of course, he also knew a bear—the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear known as Xiong Jun. Ye Qing had fought Xiong Jun back then, but because of the nature of his soul, the system could no longer help him enter that state.

So, relying on his higher cultivation and richer experience, he fought Xiong Jun to a draw. After that, Xiong Jun fixated on him. Unlike Di Tian, who possessed the restraint expected of the Beast God, Xiong Jun shamelessly came to fight Ye Qing almost every day.

The consequence was that the system decided Ye Qing's combat talent was too poor. So, late one night, it prepared a Virtual Training Device for him. As a result, Ye Qing sparred with Xiong Jun during the day and fought illusions at night, causing his combat ability to rise in a straight line.

When Ye Qing dragged the tree back toward the Castle, a black shadow was thrown over from afar. Ye Qing reacted as though he were already used to it.

He jumped, caught it, and landed.

The black shadow turned out to be a two-meter-long wild boar, though it had long since died. Then a boorish voice rang out.

"Old Ye! This old bear is here to mooch another meal!" A burly man walked out of the forest, clapped his hands, and spoke. Over the years, Xiong Jun and Ye Qing had become familiar with each other. As for how they had gotten familiar... for someone as straightforward as Xiong Jun, there was nothing a meal could not solve. If there was, then two meals would.

"Be careful. Don't smash up my house with that strength of yours! Did you handle everything properly?"

"Handled it. I know your habits. It's an ordinary wild boar caught from the outskirts, and it's been cleaned. I also brought what you wanted: Soul-Eating Bee honey. Only I could get this honey; someone else wouldn't be able to dig it out."

Xiong Jun knew that Ye Qing had some strange quirks, such as never actively hunting Spirit Beasts for food, especially Spirit Beasts with high cultivation.

"I really don't know where that habit came from. And you're clearly a Rabbit, yet you eat meat."

"I told you, I'm a Hou. But I can't explain what a Hou is to you anyway. If you can get human seasonings, I'll make you an even better meal. Since we don't have any now, we'll just make do with roasted meat. Let me see that honey."

"Whatever you say. Anything you make tastes better than what I can make. As for those seasonings you mentioned, they're hard to find. Those human Spirit Masters rarely carry that stuff."

That was not to say they went around robbing humans. Countless Spirit Beasts were hunted by humans every day, and likewise, plenty of humans died in the forest. Entire groups often perished in the forest, leaving behind ownerless belongings. Ever since Xiong Jun became addicted to Ye Qing's cooking, he had sent clever Spirit Beasts among his subordinates to search for whatever Ye Qing wanted.

After a while, nothing remained of the wild boar. Even the bones had been eaten clean by Xiong Jun.

"Want to exchange a few moves?" Ye Qing asked Xiong Jun.

"No. Since last year, you've been beating me down every time. But that's only right. Otherwise, your cultivation would be wasted." Ever since the system had intensified Ye Qing's training, Xiong Jun was no longer his opponent.

"But Old Ye, your Castle is so empty. Don't you find it boring? This old bear doesn't think you're the kind of person who can go into seclusion for decades at a time like Di Tian."

"Maybe. So what?"

"Find some subordinates. I have my own clan, and Bi Ji has one too. Those little brats can be annoying sometimes, but having people around is nice. Your place is ultimately too quiet."

"We'll see. Remember to look for the things I asked for next time." After Xiong Jun left, aside from the campfire still burning outside the Castle, the place became deserted once more. Yet when Ye Qing returned to the Castle, he discovered that a green energy cluster had appeared atop the energy cluster he had forgotten to put away before leaving. A question mark slowly rose in Ye Qing's heart.

"Can energy grow mold?"

Another day of asking for bookmarks and recommendations. If it's convenient, there's an investment option on the mobile app—please give it a click.