Flying Sword Chops Firewood

"Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle!"

Zhang Yang arrived at the summit of Cloud Soaring Peak, where Ling Yunzi resided.

The Azure Cloud Seven Sons each occupied a mountain peak, and each bore a title.

Though the Azure Cloud Sect had few disciples, anyone who underestimated it would be making a grave mistake.

Ling Yunzi came out and asked irritably, "What is it?"

Zhang Yang said with a smile, "There's something I need to trouble Martial Uncle with. I want to inspect the Azure Cloud Sect territory, but my cultivation is low—I'm only a Core Formation Realm cultivator. If I encounter powerful demon beasts or evildoers who have trespassed into Azure Cloud Sect territory, things could get troublesome. So I'd like to ask Martial Uncle to accompany me."

Seeing that it was no great matter, Ling Yunzi nodded in agreement.

"Martial Uncle, before we leave, I need your help with one more thing!" Zhang Yang pointed toward the Main Hall. "If they rely only on themselves, I'm afraid they won't be able to build housing in two days. Please draw your sword and help them cut down some trees, so they can build their houses and courtyards."

Ling Yunzi's mouth twitched repeatedly. He truly did not know what to say.

A dignified Nascent Soul Realm sword cultivator, chopping firewood... with a Flying Sword, no less...

The others, who had been observing Zhang Yang through a treasure mirror to see how he would reform things, all snickered when they saw Ling Yunzi's expression.

They had known it—being found by Zhang Yang at a time like this could never mean anything good.

Ling Yunzi took a deep breath and leaped toward the Main Hall.

Before he had even landed, his Flying Sword had appeared. Sword Qi swept toward the towering ancient trees beside the hall, trees that had stood there for who knew how many years.

He had already vented his resentment on those trees.

At the Main Hall Plaza, everyone was frowning miserably. Many of them had no idea how to build houses at all.

More importantly, they did not even have any tools. How were they supposed to fell timber to construct houses?

All of a sudden, a vast and incomparably powerful Sword Qi cleaved into a tree. A great tree so thick that several people would have to link arms to encircle it swiftly turned into chunks of timber beneath the Sword Qi.

Trees fell one after another, and piles upon piles of logs appeared...

Zhang Yang flew over, looked at the stunned crowd, and called out loudly, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and thank Martial Uncle Ling Yun!"

Everyone came back to their senses and said in unison, "Thank you, Martial Uncle Ling Yun!"

"Didn't you eat? Louder, and keep it together! Three, two, one—thank Martial Uncle Ling Yun!"

"Thank you, Martial Uncle Ling Yun!"

The crowd shouted at the top of their lungs, their deafening voices resounding throughout the Azure Cloud Sect.

As Ling Yunzi wielded his sword, he sensed the crowd's vigor and saw the expressions on their faces. The resentment in his heart lessened out of nowhere.

After that, he focused on wielding his sword and brought down more than a dozen additional trees in succession.

"Martial Uncle, that should be enough! Don't cut down any more!" Zhang Yang called for him to stop.

Ling Yunzi sheathed his sword, clasped his hands behind his back, and stood there with the air of an exalted master.

The more than eighty people who had just joined the Azure Cloud Sect stared with shining eyes.

If they had possessed no real concept of cultivation before, then after seeing Ling Yunzi act, they now yearned for the path of cultivation ahead and felt a greater sense of belonging to the Azure Cloud Sect.

"Everyone, get moving! Help each other and build the houses you'll be living in as quickly as possible!" Zhang Yang gave the order, then said to Ling Yunzi, "Martial Uncle, let's go!"

He took the lead in flying out of Azure Cloud Sect territory, and Ling Yunzi naturally followed after him.

On Azure Cloud Peak, the others who had watched the scene just now were deep in thought.

After a moment of silence, Azure Cloud Master said blandly, "I need to enter seclusion. We'll meet again in half a year. As for you all, help those youngsters out! Since they have joined our Azure Cloud Sect, we cannot simply leave them to fend for themselves!"

Then he left.

The other five looked at one another, unsure of what to say.

Even if they wanted to help, they did not know where to begin!

They did not know how to build houses either!

In the end, they each returned to their own places, intending to wait until Zhang Yang came back before discussing it further.

Judging by Ling Yunzi's situation just now, if Zhang Yang needed them, he would probably come looking for them.

Meanwhile, Ling Yunzi asked Zhang Yang in confusion, "Where are you going?"

Why could he not see through Zhang Yang's intentions?

Zhang Yang smiled and said, "Martial Uncle, our Azure Cloud Sect isn't poor at all. We simply don't know how to make use of what we have."

"Make use of?" Ling Yunzi was utterly baffled.

What was there in the Azure Cloud Sect worth making use of?

Zhang Yang smiled and pointed to the vast land below them. "Everything within a radius of three hundred li is Azure Cloud Sect territory. Everything on this land should belong to our Azure Cloud Sect. Yet all these years, we have never developed these resources."

Ling Yunzi understood somewhat. He glanced at Zhang Yang. "So you recruited many people to have them develop the resources?"

Zhang Yang shook his head. "Of course not just for that. I simply never expected Azure Cloud Sect territory to be this vast. Oh, there's a village ahead. Let's go down."

When the villagers saw people flying toward their village, they stood frozen for a long while before dropping to their knees and crying out, "Immortal Masters!"

Zhang Yang hurriedly helped them up. "Get up! Quickly, get up!"

The villagers looked at Zhang Yang with both fear and yearning in their eyes.

They had long heard of the existence of immortal masters, but they had never expected to see living ones today.

Zhang Yang looked over the crowd and asked, "Where is the village chief?"

An elderly man with graying hair stepped out trembling. He kept his head lowered, not daring to look at Zhang Yang at all. "This humble old man is the village chief here. My name is Li Fugui. May I ask what orders the Immortal Master has?"

"Elder, there's no need to be so formal!" Zhang Yang said with a smile. "We are from the Azure Cloud Sect. We're only about seventy or eighty li from your village, so we're neighbors!"

"The Azure Cloud Sect!" Village Chief Li Fugui said in surprise. "We've heard of it. We never expected the Immortal Masters to come from the Azure Cloud Sect. Oh, right, it seems someone from our village also went to the Azure Cloud Sect to take the assessment... Old Ninth... Li Dagou, your child went to the Azure Cloud Sect for the assessment, didn't he?"

A burly man with thick arms scratched his head and stepped forward. Somewhat embarrassed, he nodded. "My child was a little extraordinary from birth, so he went to the Azure Cloud Sect to try his luck. He's been gone for many days and still hasn't returned... Immortal Master, my child is called Li Er. Did he pass the assessment? My child is a good boy. I beg the Immortal Master to show mercy..."

Zhang Yang nodded with a smile. "He is already an Azure Cloud Sect disciple!"

Were there even any who had failed the assessment this time?

He had indeed seen Li Er's name.

Li Dagou froze, then could not help dropping to his knees as tears streamed down his face. "Thank you, Immortal Master!"

For an ordinary family to produce an immortal master—what tremendous glory that was!

Zhang Yang quickly helped Li Dagou up and said with a smile, "The Azure Cloud Sect may recruit more disciples in the future. There will be an assessment once every ten years. Anyone under fifteen may participate, and the Azure Cloud Sect welcomes them all.

I also came this time to inform everyone of something. If anyone bullies your village, or if you encounter any other trouble, you may seek help from the Azure Cloud Sect.

Also, if you find any good spirit herbs or medicinal materials in the mountains, you may bring them directly to the Azure Cloud Sect. We will trade with you fairly, and may even trade you pills, talismans, and other things you might need."

All the villagers were overjoyed and asked one after another, "Immortal Master, is this true?"

For ordinary villagers, this meant another path forward!

Compared with trading at the market, they would naturally rather trade directly with the Azure Cloud Sect.

Thus, everyone was extremely excited.

"It's true!" Zhang Yang nodded. "When you arrive at the Azure Cloud Sect, just give them my name. My name is Zhang Yang!"

"Many thanks, Immortal Master Zhang!" everyone thanked him again.

"If you discover something you cannot identify and think it might be valuable, you may also bring it to the Azure Cloud Sect. We will appraise it for you, and then you can decide whether to trade it." Zhang Yang offered one more reminder before leaving the village with Ling Yunzi.

The villagers watched Zhang Yang and Ling Yunzi depart with envious eyes. Then they turned and rushed into the forests to search for medicinal herbs.