Barren Mountain

For the time being, Dong Lin had no plans to venture into the secret realm. After learning a little about it,

he turned his attention to Spirit Rice cultivation.

With the sect sealing off the mountain, demand for Spirit Rice cultivation had surged severalfold.

The Cavern Repository had issued a series of missions involving Spirit Field cultivation and the reclamation of Spirit Fields on barren mountains.

It seemed the sect intended to use this opportunity to develop the vast forests within its territory on a large scale.

Dong Lin studied the missions in detail.

Rent one mu of reclaimed fertile Spirit Field: twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones per year, minimum lease of five years, maximum of twenty years. Remaining: 1,932 mu.

Buy one mu of reclaimed fertile Spirit Field: four hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Remaining: 348 mu.

"Looks like the sect has quite a few Spirit Fields that are for rent but not for sale. Renting one field for twenty years would actually be worse than buying a Spirit Field outright. What strange pricing."

Dong Lin thought to himself in confusion and continued reading.

Rent one mu of wasteland: five Low-Grade Spirit Stones per year, minimum lease of five years, maximum of twenty years. Upon expiration, if inspection confirms that the Spirit Field's fertility meets the standard, one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones in reclamation fees will be refunded. Remaining: 6,942 mu.

Buy one mu of wasteland: one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Remaining: 6,942 mu.

Wasteland was simply abandoned Spirit Field. Its soil fertility was far inferior to that of ordinary Spirit Fields, with most of it having already drained away.

However, since it had once been Spirit Field, some things remained in the soil, making it still far more valuable than ordinary land.

One had to know that turning a plot of land into a Spirit Field fit for cultivation required extensive preparation.

First came the Spirit-Gathering Formation. Usually, an array master proficient in formations would be hired to set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation across the designated land.

The Spirit-Gathering Formation had to be buried about ten meters underground to ensure the field's spiritual energy would not be completely depleted.

The quality of a Spirit Field depended on the grade of the Spirit-Gathering Formation and the concentration of spiritual energy around the land.

Some plots of land sat above a Spirit Vein. Such places could become excellent Spirit Fields without even needing a Spirit-Gathering Formation.

Next came measures against strange insects and the irrigation of spirit water.

Unless a cultivator watched over a Spirit Field day and night, it needed either formations specifically designed to restrict strange insects or Spirit Beasts raised to capture them and released into the fields.

Whether the land had sufficient moisture was also crucial. If formations could continuously draw in spirit water purified by spiritual energy and sprinkle it over the fields, the spiritual plants would grow even better.

Although spiritual energy concentration was extremely important, merely increasing a field's spiritual energy concentration could not raise its fertility to the standards of a Spirit Field.

Opening up a Spirit Field involved exceedingly complicated matters.

One had to know that the quality of Spirit Fields outside varied wildly. Only the Heaven Sect had gone to great lengths to establish uniform standards for the Spirit Fields within the sect.

Some Spirit Fields whose spiritual energy concentration far exceeded the standard could be converted into medicinal herb fields, preventing a waste of resources.

After all, even the finest variety of Bloodjade Spirit Rice could not be mentioned in the same breath as medicinal herbs that could be cultivated in bulk.

The cultivation world had spent thousands of years exploring and developing before transforming mortal farming culture into the large-scale mass cultivation of spiritual plants.

The intricacies involved were such that even clear-minded cultivators had to study them carefully before they could understand them.

"I wonder how much it would cost to reclaim and fertilize a patch of wasteland until it meets the standards of a Spirit Field. If it costs less than one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, there might be some profit in it."

The sale of barren mountains occupied a separate large section. It contained numerous barren mountains of all sizes, all undeveloped peaks near the sect.

The sale of these barren mountains immediately piqued Dong Lin's interest.

Rather than renting or buying fields to cultivate, why not simply buy an entire mountain? Once it was developed, would he not become the lord of a mountain?

Then, when he spoke of it, he could say, "I am the master of such-and-such mountain of the Profound Dao Celestial Sect." Wouldn't that instantly raise his prestige?

With that thought, Dong Lin took out his jade token and asked the disciple responsible for selling barren mountains for detailed information.

The person selling the barren mountains was a senior sister dressed in a moon-white short robe and skirt. She held a beast-hide map in her hand, inscribed with detailed information about the barren mountains the sect had for sale.

"What kind of mountain does Junior Brother want? Do you have any requirements regarding size or location?"

After he and the senior sister roughly settled on the size of the barren mountain and its distance from the inner sect, several suitable undeveloped barren mountains came into view.

Using the projection from his jade token, Dong Lin carefully examined the locations, sizes, and shapes of several barren mountains before finally selecting one seventy li southeast of Heaven Hall.

The mountain stood roughly three hundred and forty meters tall, and everything within a radius of one li had been included within its boundaries by the sect.

A radius of one li?

Dong Lin calculated silently.

"That should be more than a thousand mu, right? The land utilization rate on a mountain may not be that high.

But as long as I can reclaim one or two hundred mu, won't I make a fortune?"

Dong Lin nodded in satisfaction, then glanced at the price.

Six hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

Dong Lin calculated the money he had on hand, and his face immediately darkened.

If he bought this barren mountain, most of his wealth would be gone.

And he would have to exchange his precious Sect Contribution Points for Spirit Stones. It was simply too much of a loss.

"Huh?" Dong Lin suddenly thought of something.

"Hello, Senior Sister. May I ask whether barren mountains within the sect can be bought with Sect Contribution Points?"

Although the jade board only listed the price in Spirit Stones, things sold within the sect could generally be bought directly with Sect Contribution Points, couldn't they?

"Junior Brother, do you want to use Sect Contribution Points to buy a barren mountain?"

The senior sister responsible for selling barren mountains asked hesitantly.

"Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Junior Brother looks quite short on Spirit Stones.

Sect Contribution Points are much harder to obtain than Spirit Stones. We generally save our contribution points to exchange for precious breakthrough pills, suitable magical artifacts, and such.

For things that can be bought with Spirit Stones within the sect, we usually would not think of using contribution points.

Of course, all these mountains within the sect are affected by the sect's Heaven-Tier Spirit Vein, so their value goes without saying.

Even if you use Sect Contribution Points to buy one, you can only get a twenty percent discount. It will still cost four hundred and eighty contribution points.

Nearly five hundred contribution points is no small amount. Can Junior Brother afford that?"

"Four hundred and eighty contribution points? That is quite a bit cheaper."

Dong Lin had never earned Sect Contribution Points himself, so he lacked a proper understanding of them and had no idea how precious more than four hundred contribution points were.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister. I'll think it over some more."

"Mhm, it's nothing. Junior Brother looks like you've only just entered the Qi Refining Realm. Why are you already thinking of buying a mountain within the sect?

Let me offer a friendly reminder: with only Qi Refining Realm strength, guarding a mountain by yourself would be rather difficult."

Dong Lin looked at the senior sister before him, his face full of confusion.

"What do you mean by that, Senior Sister? Can danger appear even on mountains within the sect's territory?"

"Junior Brother is still too young. There are countless strange beasts and monsters in the mountains.

The sect has merely driven almost all high-realm Spirit Beasts out of its territory one by one,

but Spirit Beasts below the Golden Core Realm still roam the undeveloped barren mountains within the sect.

Some strange beasts have even multiplied into enormous clans in certain mountains.

Without sufficient strength, buying a mountain alone would not be safe.

Those who usually come to buy barren mountains within the sect are either sect stewards above the Golden Core Realm or groups of Foundation Establishment Realm disciples purchasing them together.

A disciple who is merely in the Qi Refining Realm yet wants to buy a barren mountain alone is something I've never seen before."

At this point, Yun Shu covered the corner of her lips and gave a soft laugh.

Dong Lin awkwardly scratched his head, secretly realizing that was how it was.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister. I nearly spent recklessly."

"Senior Sister, how about we add each other as friends first? Once the time is right in the future, I'll come back and buy a mountain from you."

"After Junior Brother reaches Foundation Establishment? That will be quite a long time.

Sure. My name is Yun Shu, a deacon of the Cavern Repository.

If Junior Brother wants to exchange for anything at the Cavern Repository, you can come find me as well."

"Thank you, Senior Sister. If there is a chance in the future, I certainly will."