During these two months of cultivation, Chen Changming had also carefully tended more than three hundred mu of Spirit Fields. Since they had been planted at different times and matured at different rates, some of the Spirit Rice was ready for harvest after two months.
However.
Unfortunately for Chen Changming, only a small portion of the Spirit Rice on the mountaintop had reached mid-grade. The rest was still low-grade, though its quality was far better than that of ordinary low-grade Spirit Rice.
He tallied it up. This harvest came to a hundred thousand jin of Spirit Rice, including twenty thousand jin of Mid-grade Spirit Rice.
His Storage Bag simply wasn't big enough for so much Spirit Rice.
After loading some of it into his Storage Bag, Chen Changming headed for the Logistics Hall. Along the way, he was surprised to find the sect deserted, with none of its former bustle.
"Did they all go off to fight, or did they all run away?"
Chen Changming sighed to himself, his unease growing.
Elder Luo, who had once stood at the entrance to the Logistics Hall, was nowhere to be seen. The place was empty now, its doors shut tight. Even the square in front of it was completely deserted.
Chen Changming drew a sharp breath.
He had never imagined that even the Logistics Hall would be empty. Had everyone gone to fight?
Just as he turned around, an elderly man in white staggered in.
"You, a menial disciple, didn't run away?"
The white-haired old man came closer and looked at the youth before him in disbelief.
"Senior, I've been growing Spirit Rice all this time. I've come to turn in..." Chen Changming bowed respectfully.
The old man looked terribly unwell. There wasn't a trace of cultivation on him; he was like a mortal on the brink of death.
"No need. Our entire Lingxiao Sect has gone out to fight this time. There's no one left to collect the Spirit Rice."
The old man shook his head, then clapped a hand over his mouth and coughed violently. Blood seeped between his fingers.
A gust of wind swept by, and his frail, aged body swayed as if it might topple over.
"Senior, what happened to you..."
Chen Changming's heart grew heavy.
He had never expected the entire Lingxiao Sect to have gone off to fight. No wonder the sect was so deserted.
"I was wounded on the battlefield. I'm a cripple now, so they left me behind at the Logistics Hall."
The white-haired old man spoke between coughs.
Chen Changming's spirits sank. He left the Logistics Hall and returned to the valley where the Spirit Rice was grown.
No wonder no outer disciples had come by lately. They'd all been sent to the battlefield.
He looked across the Spirit Fields covering the mountainside, his gaze troubled. When the nest was overturned, no egg remained unbroken. If Lingxiao Sect lost the war, this place would likely change hands too.
This valley included.
He didn't know how much longer he could hold out. If he truly couldn't stay here, he would have no choice but to seek refuge with the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
The Ziyuan Secret Realm was also a good place to cultivate, and relatively safe.
Chen Changming made a round of the small courtyards at the foot of the mountain and discovered that some people had fled early too.
There weren't many, though—only three or four.
Most were still in the dark, continuing to grow Spirit Rice day after day.
Chen Changming sighed. These people only had a chance to visit the Logistics Hall once a year, and had no other sources of news, so they knew nothing about the changes beyond their doorstep.
After returning to load more than thirty thousand jin of Spirit Rice, Chen Changming went back down the mountain and headed to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion in Lingyun City.
After selling the Spirit Rice, he spent five hundred Spirit Stones at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion to buy a Storage Bag.
This Storage Bag had a much larger capacity, spanning dozens of cubic meters. It could easily hold hundreds of thousands of jin.
"It really is different now."
After leaving the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, he walked through Lingyun City and could feel how much fewer cultivators there were. He knew where they'd all gone to hide, too.
Back at Lingxiao Sect, Chen Changming resumed his old routine. He kept taking pills to cultivate while also tending the Spirit Fields and medicine fields. As time passed, his cultivation continued to improve.
Over the next three months, more and more Spirit Rice ripened, and he had stored hundreds of thousands of jin in that Storage Bag.
In the meantime, Chen Changming also went out to look around the sect. It was still deserted, which meant the war hadn't ended. Not a single one of the sect's people had returned.
"How can such a huge sect have so few people guarding it? Aren't they afraid someone will come knocking?"
Chen Changming shook his head, unable to make sense of it.
What he hadn't expected was that the next day, while watering the fields in the Ziyuan Secret Realm, a single remark from the young lady of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion would plunge him into an icy abyss.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, don't go back to Lingxiao Sect for now. Stay here in the Ziyuan Secret Realm and cultivate..."
"Why?"
The youth's heart skipped a beat. He sensed that something big was about to happen.
The White-Clad Woman spoke slowly. "Your Lingxiao Sect was guarded by an ancestor who had reached the half-step Golden Core realm. Normally, no other faction would dare to entertain such thoughts. But no one expected that an ancestor of the Blood Demon Sect would also break through to the half-step Golden Core realm. They're preparing to lead an army against Lingxiao Sect, whose defenses are now weak."
"I see."
Chen Changming sighed. Caught up in the tide of events, he was powerless to do anything. Fortunately, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion had warned him in time, allowing him to escape a great calamity.
Thinking of this, he cupped his hands and deliberately said gratefully, "Thank you, young lady, for saving my life."
"We each get what we need. The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion needs you, so of course we can't let you die for no reason."
The White-Clad Woman smiled, her lips pressed together.
This second-level Qi Refining youth seemed rather mature for his age. Once this batch of spiritual herbs had ripened, she could consider inviting him to join the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion and take charge of growing spiritual herbs.
After that.
Chen Changming stayed in the Ziyuan Secret Realm to cultivate. He continued watering the fields once every three days, spending the rest of his time focusing on the Evergreen Art and the Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, there's something special about your Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade. It's even more powerful than the versions I've seen people use in the martial world..."
A guard from the medicine fields watched as the blade technique whipped up gusts of wind and couldn't help exclaiming in surprise.
"It's all right. I've practiced it for many years."
The youth replied modestly.
He lowered his blade, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked over.
He'd been practicing the Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade for quite some time, and his understanding of it had grown deeper and deeper. His strikes were getting faster and faster. By today, he had practiced it more than ninety thousand times, and was nearing the hundred-thousand mark.
A month later.
Chen Changming's Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade finally broke through.
After breaking through, he didn't dare use it in front of anyone. Instead, he went to a deserted valley to practice.
After running through the technique, the youth could barely contain his delight.
The blade technique was now dozens of times more powerful. The manifestations of five ferocious tigers looked almost tangible and could attack as well.
Chen Changming returned to the Spirit Fields in high spirits.
Just then, a young man came over and cupped his hands.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, the young lady has sent word. She said reinforcements from Lingxiao Sect have returned and driven out the Blood Demon Sect, which had taken over their home. The sect is now being rebuilt, and they've put out a call for Lingxiao Sect disciples scattered across the land to return."
The sect was safe?
And they'd driven off the Blood Demon Sect?
Hearing the young man's news, Chen Changming felt a surge of excitement. No matter what, Lingxiao Sect was the sect where he'd first entered the world of cultivation, and he had always been one of its disciples.
"The young lady said the war between the two countries took too much out of them. Neither side could afford to keep fighting, so they signed a ceasefire agreement."
The young man spoke solemnly.
Chen Changming nodded.
War between two countries was no child's play. If one side had a clear advantage, that was one thing. But if their strength was evenly matched, the casualties would be horrific.
"The young lady also said that in the earlier battle, when the Blood Demon Sect invaded Lingxiao Sect, the ancestors of both sides were badly wounded and went into hiding. That's why Lingxiao Sect's reinforcements were able to defeat the Blood Demon Sect this time."
The young man added.
"I see..."
Chen Changming sighed softly. Fortunately, things had turned out this way, allowing Lingxiao Sect to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The young man looked at the low-level cultivator before him, who was only at the second level of Qi Refining, licked his lips, and said, "The young lady also said that Lingxiao Sect is showing real resolve this time. Any menial disciple at the second level of Qi Refining or above who's been living away from the sect can return and be promoted directly to an outer disciple."