Everyone grew excited at Lin Ke's words.
They had only just heard Lin Ke's explanation and were already enthralled by the prospect of cultivating immortality. Now, they were wild with joy.
"I... can I cultivate too?"
Li Cuihua, the plump woman behind Fang Tong, looked dazed.
In the Green Mulberry Garden, Fang Tong generally managed the men, while Li Cuihua managed the women. That was how things currently stood.
Though Li Cuihua was dependable in her work, she was a woman of few words and had never asked Lin Ke for anything. She was nothing like Fang Tong, who was sly as a fox despite his honest, dutiful appearance.
"Of course you can." Lin Ke smiled. "Provided an opportunity comes along in the future, though. It isn't possible just yet."
Living with hope was entirely different from living in despair or living in numb resignation.
Whether he was dangling a grand feast before them or sketching out a blueprint, at least it could lift everyone's spirits.
Besides, he was fairly confident himself.
He had possessed none of that confidence when he first transmigrated.
But after forming his niwan palace, forging a thirteen-tenths Dao Foundation, witnessing Lin Can's birth, and defeating Lin Quan-meng in the Sect Grand Tournament, Lin Ke's confidence in his future had grown enormously.
Of course, greater confidence did not mean arrogance or complacency.
Until he had grown strong enough, keeping his head down was still the better choice.
"All of you can, but for now, avoiding disaster comes first." Lin Ke smiled. "Everyone, follow behind me and my senior sister."
He looked at Zong Ya.
Zong Ya nodded, then turned her hand over and produced a Glowshroom. "These Glowshrooms certainly are convenient. You can plant them straight into the soil."
Taking the lead, Zong Ya entered through the entrance beneath Golden Silkworm Peak. Lin Ke followed close behind, with everyone else trailing after them.
Every few steps, Zong Ya took out a Glowshroom and pushed it into the soil.
Zong Ya had also learned the Mountain-Moving Art. Though it fell short of Lin Ke's Mountain-Moving and Sea-Overturning, it could still soften the earth hardened by his half-baked Turn Earth to Steel.
The Glowshrooms looked like tiny, pure-white button mushrooms, automatically drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy to emit light.
Apparently, these Glowshrooms could serve as food for earth mole crickets. Perhaps he could try feeding them to other insects in the future.
"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"...
Zong Ya planted mushrooms as she walked, eventually reaching the first underground level Lin Ke had created.
Taking inspiration from shelters, Lin Ke had left two sentry posts and some small traps here to regulate entry and exit.
Using her mental power, Zong Ya pushed seven or eight Glowshrooms into the surrounding walls and ceiling.
Then she continued downward.
"Junior brother, you don't seem particularly skilled at construction." Zong Ya offered her assessment as they walked. "What you've built here... isn't entirely sensible, is it?"
Upon reaching the second underground level, she frowned, feeling that something was off.
"I don't think it's entirely sensible either..." Lin Ke surveyed their surroundings. "Unfortunately, we need to stay hidden, so we can't ask anyone from the Dragon-Pointing Sect to help with the design."
When building it, all he had known to do was blindly create cubic or rectangular rooms, without any sensible planning. As a result, even the entrance ran straight down from the first level.
After all, though he had seen plenty of buildings in his previous life, he had never really paid attention to the principles or methods behind their construction.
That was why even Lin Ke kept feeling uncomfortable after descending from the first level.
The Dragon-Pointing Sect specialized in civil engineering, feng shui calculations, tracing dragon veins, and locating auspicious sites. Much like the Golden Wing Sect specialized in raising insects, they were true professionals.
It would be wonderful if he could invite one of them over to help.
But the Dragon-Pointing Sect charged for its services too, and Lin Ke needed to budget carefully right now. He could not afford to squander money.
For now, they would simply have to make do.
Zong Ya understood this as well, so she merely sighed and continued working.
Planting Glowshrooms was not difficult. After watching for a while, Lin Ke took some from her and joined in.
He had excavated seven levels in this underground world. In principle, they should have begun housing people on the seventh level at the very bottom.
But the ventilation was not ready yet. If the people of the Green Mulberry Garden went down there to sleep, they would probably all suffocate.
The ventilation problem needed solving, and Lin Ke was considering ways to keep the cost down.
Otherwise, he could simply buy a Clear Wind Formation, and fresh air would be produced continuously.
But Spirit Stones would likewise be consumed continuously, and he could not afford that drain.
If I'd known in my previous life that I would transmigrate, I should have learned more... Lin Ke's thoughts wandered as he planted Glowshrooms.
The two worked quickly, and before long, all seven underground levels had been planted.
The mortals of the Green Mulberry Garden set down their bundles one after another, then headed outside to fell trees and carry them in, trunk by trunk, to build houses.
Lin Ke could have helped, but by then, he and his senior sister were already on their way to the Year Festival Square.
The Transmission Elder, Rain Spider True Person, was summoning all inner and outer disciples through their disciple tokens!
The two flew side by side, taking quite some time to reach the square.
The square was packed. The spectator stands were filled with inner and outer disciples at the qi refining stage, while Dao Foundation disciples hovered in the air.
Even higher up, Lin Ke could make out figures with powerful auras.
Golden Core!
Disciples at the golden core stage were supposed to travel the world, but that was not an absolute rule.
Most golden core stage disciples returned to the sect from time to time.
From the looks of things, Rain Spider True Person had summoned all the Golden Core direct disciples who had returned.
Even farther above, other figures appeared and disappeared from view. They were presumably the Nascent Soul elders who normally cultivated throughout the sect.
Lin Ke and Zong Ya were practically among the last to arrive. Not long after they reached the square, Rain Spider True Person began to speak.
"Our sect was founded thousands of years ago. The lands along the Red River for a million li in every direction are all our domain."
Rain Spider True Person wore a solemn expression. An unquestionable sense of nobility and sanctity filled the elder's voice, threaded with pride.
"We have always cultivated peacefully in our own corner of the world, never seeking conflict with other sects or making enemies of the demon race. Throughout the Cloud Frontier, our reputation is praised by all."
"But... the demon race has violated the pact!"
At this point, Rain Spider True Person's tone shifted, turning chilling:
"First, the Cloud Frontier Beast Venerable inexplicably pinned this so-called Spirit Pearl affair on all humanity in the Cloud Frontier. Then came a call for every member of the demon race throughout the Cloud Frontier to wage war against us!"
"This is war! A war in which the demon race seeks to annihilate humanity!"
"A thousand years ago, the Hundred Schools flourished across the land. Naturally, human settlements also arose in our Cloud Frontier, gradually growing and prospering through communities such as the Miao Wei and Ha Ka."
"We are industrious and wise. We harness the power of the immortal Dao to command all things, and we willingly hold the Year Festival every year to give thanks to heaven, earth, and the Great Dao."
"But if the Cloud Frontier Beast Venerable seeks to wage war against humanity out of selfish desire, then we shall fight! Moreover, we shall strike first and catch them utterly unprepared!"
Rain Spider True Person's voice rose, and the surrounding disciples began to boil with fighting spirit, rubbing their fists and flexing their hands as they cheered in excitement.
"Our Golden Wing Sect shall seize this opportunity to expand our territory, so that our future disciples may enjoy greater resources and better cultivation conditions!"
"From this day forward, open the sect-protecting formation! All Nascent Soul elders shall henceforth be titled Peak Seats! They shall garrison the two hundred and six peaks beyond the sect grounds, including Clear Moon Peak, Great Flame Peak, Barbarian Hao Peak, and Purple Peak, each governing the lands within a thousand li of their respective peak!"
"Any sect disciple who conquers a territory at least one li across beyond the sect grounds and holds it for ten days without losing it shall be awarded that land as a fief, under the protection of their overseeing Peak Seat and the sect!"
"Everyone..."
"Expand our sect's frontiers!"
Before you continue