Raising Piebald Horses

"Indeed! Given how dense the spiritual energy is where we live, it doesn't seem particularly strange to have improved my cultivation base, does it?"

Li Yunjing nodded, speaking nonchalantly.

"That's true!"

Ma Xingyuan nodded in sudden realization.

At this moment, he merely assumed that Li Yunjing had been stuck at the first level of Qi Refining for a long time.

This time, by taking advantage of the prime location at the Menial Hall, he had finally managed to push through to the second level in one go.

Ma Xingyuan would never have imagined that it had only taken Li Yunjing four days to go from a complete beginner to advancing to the second level of Qi Refining.

If word of this were to spread, it would surely cause a massive uproar.

Within the entire Divine Firmament Dao Sect, there were likely very few people who could cultivate that quickly.

On the mountain path, the two talked as they walked, encountering many menial disciples and outer sect disciples along the way.

These disciples were also traveling between various peaks and halls to complete sect missions.

However, disciples of the inner sect and above rarely appeared.

Clearly, within the Divine Firmament Dao Sect, the status of an inner sect disciple represented a qualitative leap.

Both of them possessed cultivation, so they moved with great speed, crossing eight mountain peaks in just three hours.

Before them appeared a thousand-foot-tall peak, yet this mountain stood solitary and lonely in the middle of an empty expanse.

There were no herb gardens, exotic flowers, or magnificent buildings to be seen in the vicinity.

"Is this Qiongze Peak? The name really lives up to the place—it's truly destitute!"

Ma Xingyuan muttered, feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Heh! Just think about it, what kind of place could possibly be used to raise Piebald Horses?"

Li Yunjing chuckled; he felt no disappointment in his heart.

In his past life, he had seen livestock farms, and the smell... tsk tsk.

That Qiongze Peak looked like this, standing apart from the thousand other mountains, was hardly surprising.

What the two did not know was that once they crossed this peak, they would be outside the Divine Firmament Mountain Range.

This was the extreme western edge of the Divine Firmament Dao Sect.

The Divine Firmament Dao Sect was divided into five major mountain clusters: East, West, South, North, and Center.

The center was naturally the core region, where the big shots and the sect's most important institutions were located.

Of the other directions, the East was the most prestigious, possessing the densest spiritual energy; the true inheritance disciples lived there almost exclusively.

The North and South came next, each with their own strengths.

The peaks in the West, by comparison, had the weakest spiritual energy.

Although the sect had established branches of various institutions in the West, the strength they dispatched there generally reached its limit at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The vast majority of menial and outer sect disciples, aside from those sent on missions to other peaks, lived in the West.

The entire western region contained seventy-two peaks, and Qiongze Peak was among the dozen or so worst ones.

"Sigh! I never thought that I, Ma Xingyuan, would end up doing this kind of work one day!"

Ma Xingyuan sighed gloomily.

He had spent his time among rogue cultivators; although he hadn't achieved anything of note, he had relied on his status as an immortal cultivator to live a life of luxury and influence in the mortal world.

He truly only associated with the elite, and wherever he went, he was an honored guest of officials, wealthy merchants, and noble families.

Now, he was actually going to feed horses; how could Ma Xingyuan not feel melancholy?

"Let's go!"

Li Yunjing laughed despite himself. Who wasn't in the same boat?

He had been a wanderer, roaming the Great Ming Dynasty, living a carefree, immortal-like existence.

Even in his wildest dreams, Li Yunjing would never have imagined a scenario like this.

The two began their ascent along the mountain path, and along the way, a faint, peculiar odor hung in the air.

It confirmed Li Yunjing's suspicions.

"Who goes there?"

When they reached the halfway point of the mountain, two gray-robed Daoists blocked their path and spoke up.

"Senior brothers, we are new disciples from the Menial Hall, assigned here to be responsible for raising the Piebald Horses."

Knowing these were the mountain patrol, Li Yunjing smiled and handed over his identification token.

"Hmm!"

The gray-robed disciples had actually guessed their purpose from the attire of Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan, but they still checked their identities as a matter of routine.

After confirming everything was correct, the man smiled and said, "Junior Brother Li, Junior Brother Ma, follow me."

"Yes!"

Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan replied, following the two men in front as they continued toward the mountain.

Before long, the four of them reached the summit and saw a palace.

At the entrance of the palace, disciples were constantly coming and going. Most were gray-robed miscellaneous disciples, with very few blue-robed outer sect disciples appearing.

On the plaque above the palace, three large characters were written: "Qiongze Peak."

This mountain was primarily used by the Divine Firmament Dao Sect to raise certain low-level spirit beasts.

The Piebald Horse was one of them.

The two disciples from Qiongze Peak led Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan into the hall.

They saw a burly, middle-aged man sitting on a high chair at the head of the hall, looking down at Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan.

This man exuded immense pressure, his muscles stretching his blue Daoist robe until it bulged.

His gaze was sharp and oppressive as he swept his eyes over Li Yunjing and his companion.

The man frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan.

These two newcomers were far too weak. Although one was at the second level of the Qi Refining stage and the other at the third, one look told him they had never undergone systematic training; they didn't even possess the characteristic traits of someone who had mastered any spells.

At a single glance, the middle-aged man knew these two newcomers were the dregs among the dregs.

With cultivation like this, they can only feed the Piebald Horses. It seems I won't even be able to exploit them or make them do extra work.

Hou Boyan's face was filled with displeasure.

After a moment of thought, Hou Boyan said coldly, "I am Hou Boyan, the steward of Qiongze Peak. The rules are all in the Divine Firmament Jade Records, so I won't repeat them. You two will be responsible for feeding the Piebald Horses. Here is your token!"

As he spoke, Hou Boyan flicked his wrist, and a gray light flew toward Ma Xingyuan.

Ma Xingyuan snatched the token out of the air. It was engraved with winding, complex runes, seemingly designed to control formations and restrictions.

Since the steward was impolite, there was nothing Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan could do.

The two were not particularly worried, and they followed the previous men out of the hall once more.

In any case, the rules of the Divine Firmament Dao Sect were extremely strict, especially regarding contribution points. As long as they did their jobs well, they didn't have to worry about this man withholding their points.

This was the sect's bottom line.

Of course, once the contribution points were issued to you, if you failed to keep them safe, that had nothing to do with the sect.

The two soon arrived at their "territory."

They completed the handover with the previous person in charge, checking the supplies and the number of Piebald Horses, as well as checking for any deaths, injuries, or illnesses.

Once everything matched the records, the two officially settled in.

The place where the Piebald Horses were kept was on the mountainside, in a shaded area.

The terrain here was a massive three-mile-wide platform. A circle of animal pens had been built across the entire platform, and the pens were covered in runes that crackled with "crackle, crackle" sparks of electricity.