Names and Nature

"Names?"

Hua Chunning was somewhat puzzled, but she answered, "The elders of the clan chose it."

Li Chengxuan looked at the flower beds before him and frowned. "The Hua Household has cultivated Yi Wood for generations. Shouldn't its members be named after grasses, branches, leaves, and vines, to match the imagery of its lineage?!"

Hua Chunning was exceptionally clever. After a little thought, she nodded. "I've read the family records. That was indeed the case in the past."

"But I don't know when that rule fell out of use."

At that, she gave a bitter chuckle. "Perhaps our lineage was severed, and we fell into the mortal world, so we stopped caring about such things."

Li Chengxuan was skeptical.

The more a family fell on hard times, the more it liked to make a show of observing its rules.

The Hua Household especially had persisted for generations, hoping to raise a Yi Wood cultivator and return to the cultivation world.

Ever since Li Chengxuan had decided to accumulate Merit and cultivate Continue Lost Teachings, he had read many ancient texts and the teachings of various lineages.

He vaguely remembered reading half a surviving bamboo-slip manuscript. He didn't know which lineage it belonged to, but it spoke of a method of "determining nature through names."

Li Chengxuan wasn't certain either, so he could only set the thought aside. "For now, stay here, handle the routine affairs, and gather your Manifestation."

"When you return to the Hua Household, remember to ask about the whole story."

Though Hua Chunning didn't understand, she nodded. "I'll remember, Master."

Just then, several vehicles approached from the distance.

Duanmu Ren had arrived.

Seeing Li Chengxuan again, Duanmu Ren had mixed feelings.

The torrents rolled on, heaven and earth grew dim, and the spirit of heroes wore away.

Judging others by himself, Duanmu Ren saw and heard only of muddleheaded common folk, scurrying like flies and squabbling like dogs.

When he learned that Li Chengxuan was a mud-legged peasant born in Li Household Hollow, he felt a touch of contempt for him out of nowhere.

As the saying went, sages must be born in distant lands, and legends must arise elsewhere.

Even though he had witnessed Li Chengxuan's wondrous methods with his own eyes, he still instinctively dismissed and looked down on him.

After all, the history books were filled with stories of people playing gods and ghosts to curry favor with the powerful.

The education Duanmu Ren had received since childhood, his lifetime of experience, and even his status and authority all made it impossible for him to accept everything Li Chengxuan had said.

Yet Hua Chunning's appearance had dispelled many of Duanmu Ren's doubts.

She really had appeared out of thin air.

No matter how Duanmu Ren had his people investigate her in secret, they still found nothing.

What happened afterward left Duanmu Ren even more shocked and puzzled.

"Daoist Li."

Duanmu Ren suppressed the many distracting thoughts in his mind and greeted him with a smile. "It's been a long time."

"Mm."

Li Chengxuan nodded slightly and got straight to the point. "County Chief Duanmu, what did you want to see me about?!"

Duanmu Ren's expression turned solemn. "This matter is rather complicated. I can't explain it in just a few words."

"First, following Fairy Hua's suggestion, the project has now been officially named."

"The Supreme Mystery Sub-Courtyard."

Li Chengxuan nodded slightly.

The name Li Household Hollow really didn't sound grand or impressive enough.

Duanmu Ren continued, "Fairy Hua has spared no effort in getting the project moving."

"She's personally inspected every brick and tile, every blade of grass and tree."

"Everyone from me to the workers admires her."

Li Chengxuan glanced at Hua Chunning and nodded again without speaking.

There should be a "but" coming.

"But..."

Sure enough, Duanmu Ren changed tack and frowned. "When it comes to the design of the project's core area, Fairy Hua has been a little too ambitious and wants everything. She actually wants to pile up a hundred-meter mountain!"

Hua Chunning paid no heed to a mortal county magistrate, and her expression grew a little cold.

Since this was a sub-courtyard of Supreme Mystery Mountain, it should naturally be modeled after the mountain as closely as possible.

Thirty-three zhang high was already Hua Chunning's minimum.

Seeing their expressions, Duanmu Ren sighed and gave a wry smile. "You two must have been cultivating in seclusion and don't know how difficult and expensive it is to build a mountain on flat ground."

With that, he handed over several pages of documents.

They used a mountain built in a major southern city as an example. It had taken five years and cost nearly two billion.

That was already far beyond the means of a small county like Stone Ridge.

Li Chengxuan understood after hearing this and nodded. "We'll set the matter of building the mountain aside for now."

"I'll handle it later."

Duanmu Ren didn't understand what he meant.

But seeing that Li Chengxuan was quite reasonable and wasn't asking him to do the impossible, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Hua Chunning, however, was stirred.

Building mountains and filling seas was naturally fraught with difficulties in the mortal world.

But for cultivators, that wasn't necessarily so.

On the Southern Edge Continent, the Xue Household of Rosy Clouds Resting Mountain cultivated Wu Earth and was said to be skilled in this very art.

Li Chengxuan asked, "What else?!"

With the biggest problem resolved, Duanmu Ren smiled and said in a relaxed manner, "From here on, it's all good news."

"Fairy Hua's expertise in garden design and caring for flowers and plants has even won praise from experts at the provincial design institute."

"Stone Ridge County produces coal, and there's smog all year round. After a long time, it becomes hard to breathe."

"Only here is the air fresh. It's practically as if an air filter had been installed."

There was no Spiritual Qi in this place.

The Yi Wood Spiritual Atmosphere Hua Chunning had set up was probably having a negligible effect.

Li Chengxuan chuckled. "So?!"

Duanmu Ren hesitated for a moment, then cautiously suggested, "So I was thinking, could we add some wellness facilities and build some villas and upscale hotels?"

"Daoist Li, Stone Ridge may be a poor, remote place, but there are quite a few wealthy people here."

"Recently, quite a few have already come to ask about it of their own accord."

Li Chengxuan fell into thought.

Li Chengxuan had originally proposed this so-called resort project for some peace and quiet, and Duanmu Ren had undertaken it to humor Li Chengxuan and cheat some subsidies on the side.

Now, Duanmu Ren had clearly changed his mind. He wanted to raise his stakes and turn the sham into something real.

Li Chengxuan knew Duanmu Ren's character: he wouldn't release the hawk until he saw the rabbit. Puzzled, he said, "This place... doesn't seem to have anything special about it. County Chief Duanmu, you might as well speak plainly."

Duanmu Ren smiled awkwardly and glanced at Hua Chunning. "The key to this is Fairy Hua."

"Oh?"

A thought flashed through Li Chengxuan's mind, and he immediately understood. Smiling, he said, "You've set your sights on Chunning's medical skills?!"

"Daoist Li, your foresight is truly admirable."

Duanmu Ren flattered him out of habit, then said sincerely, "Fairy Hua went to the surrounding villages and treated patients for free, sparing no effort. It caused quite a sensation."

"A few old miners had pneumoconiosis. They were almost beyond help and living in great pain."

"Who would have thought Fairy Hua's wondrous hands could bring them back to health?"

"Though she didn't cure them completely, she greatly eased their condition. The doctors were shocked when they went to the provincial capital for a follow-up examination."

Hua Chunning remained calm.

She was a direct descendant of Rejuvenation Valley. Treating a few mortals with a few pills and removing Wood Qi from their lungs was hardly worth mentioning.

Just as he'd thought.

Li Chengxuan chuckled. "Chunning, what do you think?!"

Hua Chunning thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I've used up all the pills I brought with me, Master. I'd like to help, but I can't."

"Besides, I'm still devoted to cultivation. I wouldn't dare waste my Manifestation."

In the past, it wouldn't necessarily have been out of the question.

But now, after receiving the sect master's guidance, Hua Chunning would not act recklessly and dissipate her already meager Manifestation for the sake of a few mortal commoners.

Duanmu Ren grew anxious at once. "If you've run out, you can go back and get more!"

"Besides, I heard that Fairy Hua had people buy quite a few medicinal ingredients and is trying to refine pills!"

It no longer mattered how much he could swindle in subsidies or how much money he could make from the resort project.

Innovative medicines were a hot topic right now, and with a little maneuvering, he could earn considerable political credit.

Just treating the sick miners would do a great deal to offset his bad reputation for greed.

Some old leaders were plagued by illness in their later years.

That meant potentially enormous favors owed to him!

How could the births, deaths, sicknesses, and old age of mortals compare to the importance of her own path to immortality?!

Hua Chunning shook her head again and said mildly, "Once the sub-courtyard is built and I've gathered enough Manifestation, I'll return to the sect to cultivate. I won't be staying here permanently."

Duanmu Ren was stunned and grew even more anxious, but he could still tell who was in charge. He looked at Li Chengxuan, the one who could truly make the decision, and said earnestly, "Daoist Li, please think this over. This project can do without anyone else, but it can't do without Fairy Hua."

"She's the project's face and the centerpiece of its publicity!"

Li Chengxuan frowned. "You used her to promote it?!"

"It wasn't me!"

Duanmu Ren shook his head repeatedly and took out his phone. "It was the netizens!"

"Fairy Hua is a top-tier internet celebrity now!"