Getting to Work

Lin Xiao said to the three of them:

"Hey, Tuzi, if you know anyone in the village or nearby villages who has a good character, you can talk to them too and ask if they'd be willing to join us.

"But let me make one thing clear first: don't go revealing that we really can cultivate immortality! If we mishandle this and people with ulterior motives find out, we'll be in trouble if they start scheming against us."

Qin Jianghe listened with great interest, while Tietou scratched the back of his head in confusion.

Liu Yunan waved a hand grandly.

"Don't worry, Brother Xiao. We just have to let outsiders think we're playing around and keep them from finding out we really can cultivate immortality. Is that what you mean?"

Lin Xiao nodded.

"That's right. In other people's eyes, we're still just a few kids. Until we've made something of our cultivation, it's best to keep a low profile."

Seeing the puzzled look on Tietou's face, Lin Xiao asked him:

"Tietou, what don't you understand?"

Tietou said:

"I understood what you meant, Brother Xiao. I just don't know what that thing you said was-a 'motive old lady'? What's that?"

"Oh, come on! You don't even know that?" Before Lin Xiao could explain, Liu Yunan slapped his thigh and explained it to him. "He said 'ulterior motives.' It means someone's hiding bad intentions in their heart. Got it?"

"Oh, oh, oh! Got it, got it! Don't worry, Brother Xiao, we definitely won't let anyone find out!" His confusion cleared up, Tietou felt refreshed and pounded his chest in assurance.

Qin Jianghe spoke up then.

"I think we should do this: if we find someone suitable to join us, we'll find an excuse to bring them to Brother Xiao and let him do the talking, so we don't accidentally mess things up."

The others thought that sounded good too and nodded.

"All right, it's settled!"

In the blink of an eye, it was already around two or three in the afternoon.

Once they had finished talking, Lin Xiao patted his backside and stood up.

"Come on. Our sect has something important to do right now. While we're at it, I'll take you back to the sect and show you the way."

The three of them excitedly followed Lin Xiao out the door.

When they reached the mountainside, the three immediately exclaimed in amazement at the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree beside the path.

"Brother Xiao, this peach tree is gorgeous! I've been to Peach Blossom Village next door, and I've never seen a peach tree this beautiful there!"

In the grass hut not far away, Jiang Youfu heard the commotion and came out.

Lin Yun had already gone down the mountain at noon, returning to the Lin Household's old residence to learn carpentry from Old Master Lin.

"Tietou! Jianghe! Tuzi! Hahaha, you're here too!"

"Fuzi! Hey! Brother Xiao said you've already started cultivating immortality and even become a Qi Refining First Layer cultivator. Is that true? Not bad, Fuzi!"

Jiang Youfu scratched the back of his head and chuckled modestly.

"No, no. Brother Xiao's the impressive one. He's already at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, and he taught me everything."

The boys gathered together. Though they had only been apart for a few days, they somehow made it feel like a reunion after years.

The once-quiet mountainside suddenly became lively.

Lin Xiao interrupted their reunion at the right moment and took the three newcomers on a tour, introducing the sect's current facilities.

There really wasn't much: just the peach tree, the grass hut, the medicinal field, and the sect's defensive barrier.

The boys, who couldn't read, paid no attention to the sect's stone stele.

The tour was no more than a quick walk around.

Even so, Tietou and the other two were very appreciative, exclaiming in amazement again and again.

Once the tour was over, it was time to talk business.

Lin Xiao said to them:

"We have two tasks right now. The first is building our sect's main hall."

Tietou immediately rolled up his sleeves.

"I went with my dad to build houses for people a while back and picked up some building skills! How are we building it? Just tell me, Brother Xiao!"

Not to be outdone, the other three all said they could start work right away.

Lin Xiao smiled.

"We don't need to build the house ourselves. I have a way. All we need to do is dig up soil and chop down trees."

Their eyes widened in astonishment. Could a house really appear without being built?

Liu Yunan was the first to put away his astonished expression.

"We're going to be people who cultivate immortality from now on. We can't keep making such a fuss over every little thing. Think about it: isn't it just building a house? For us, who'll one day live forever, move mountains and fill seas, is that even worth mentioning?"

Hearing him put it that way, they all thought it made perfect sense and suppressed their surprise.

Qin Jianghe agreed.

"Tuzi's right. We can't make Brother Xiao lose face! From now on, we'll be, um, what was it?"

Lin Xiao said, "Cultivators."

"Right, right, right, we'll be cultivators from now on! Our abilities will only get greater and greater! Am I right, Brother Xiao?"

Lin Xiao nodded with a smile. "Right."

Lin Xiao had already calculated roughly how much soil and timber they needed, but he didn't want to use ordinary soil. He wanted to look for red earth, which was sturdier.

After seeing the Spirit Herb Soil Synthesizer synthesize soil for the spirit field, he guessed that perhaps the base materials the synthesizer needed were all at a one-to-one ratio.

For example, when he built a house, whatever volume of soil and timber he put in would produce the largest building space possible using all those materials.

Lin Xiao didn't intend to build the sect's main hall too large, or there wouldn't be enough room on this few-hundred-square-meter stretch of mountainside.

The current task required him to build a cultivation room, and he guessed that there might later be requirements for an alchemy room, an artifact-refining room, and the like.

After all, spirit fields and medicinal herbs had already appeared. Could alchemy be far behind?

So he had to leave open space for the buildings they would very likely need to build in the future.

Thus, in Lin Xiao's plan, the new sect main hall would occupy around fifty square meters.

For their sect, which currently had fewer than ten members and probably wouldn't find it easy to recruit more in the future, fifty square meters would certainly be enough for the time being.

If it wasn't enough... if there wasn't enough floor space, they could think of a way to make the hall taller.

As for the cultivation room,

Lin Xiao had already thought that through too. They wouldn't be doing anything in the cultivation room except looking for a quiet space to sit in meditation and cultivate. A large, open room with the Spirit Gathering Formation inside and decent soundproofing would do.

Lin Xiao had already calculated the amount of soil and timber needed for the sect's main hall: roughly sixty cubic meters of soil and about fifteen logs over fifteen centimeters in diameter and more than three meters long.

Then Lin Xiao brought out the large bamboo basket Lin Yun had brought up earlier and said to everyone:

"Our sect's main hall needs a lot of soil. We'll have to carry back about a hundred baskets this size."

The others looked at the basket, which was so large a person could just get their arms around it, and all said it was no problem.

Afraid they would strain themselves carrying soil without regard for their health, Lin Xiao immediately said:

"We can't rush the sect's main hall. You need to keep your bodies in good shape for cultivation, so don't go wrecking your health building a hall. We'll all carry it together, a little each day. We need to save the rest of our time for cultivation!"