Striving for Pearly Whites

"Morning, Brother Sun. Have you had breakfast?"

Sun Yigao nodded.

"Good morning, sect master. I have."

Lin Xiao waved a hand.

"Come on! Let's head up the mountain! We can talk on the way!"

So, on their way up the mountain, Lin Xiao told Sun Yigao about the sect's current situation.

Then he brought up how they would spend two hours digging mud that day.

Sun Yigao immediately said he would go dig mud with everyone else.

Lin Xiao rubbed his nose and said,

"Brother Sun, to tell you the truth, there's something the sect needs you for more than digging mud."

"Please, speak freely, sect master."

Lin Xiao said it outright.

"Well, everyone in the sect besides me-and you, of course-is illiterate."

Hearing that, Sun Yigao smiled.

"I see. Rest assured, sect master. I wouldn't presume to call myself a teacher, but if it's just teaching everyone to read and understand the general meaning, I should be barely up to the task."

Of course, Lin Xiao knew he was being modest when he said he was barely up to the task.

This was a genuine scholar from ancient times who had studied for ten years!

He was bound to do a much better job teaching than Lin Xiao.

Sun Yigao smiled again.

"Of course, I'll still join in the sect's mud-digging work."

Lin Xiao didn't refuse.

After all, it was a group activity. Taking part together would help strengthen the bonds between fellow disciples and make the sect more united, wouldn't it?

When they reached the mountainside, Sun Yigao looked at the simple but sturdy grass shelter, the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree whose fragrance drifted on the breeze, and the spirit field with its fresh sprouts. He found the place thoroughly pleasant.

Then he looked at the half-meter-high stone stele beside the shelter, with the three characters for Lingxian Sect written crookedly on it.

Sun Yigao hesitated.

"Sect master... would you like me to write a new inscription for our sect...?"

Lin Xiao thought that scholars really did notice completely different things from Tietou and the others.

"No need. This, actually, um... as for the writing, once our sect's main hall is built, it might change."

"Change?" Sun Yigao was puzzled and didn't quite understand.

Lin Xiao said,

"Yes. The writing on this stele will become more and more beautiful as our sect's main hall becomes more and more magnificent."

Sun Yigao couldn't help looking fascinated, and a sense of awe welled up in him. He exclaimed,

"What an immortal's method!"

The two then entered the grass shelter.

After a moment's thought, Lin Xiao took two books out of his private storage.

They were the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction and its simplified version.

He handed both cultivation manuals to Sun Yigao and said,

"This is our sect's current core cultivation manual, the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction. There's an original version and a simplified one. I made the simplified version so people like Fuzi, who can't read, would have a slightly easier time understanding it. Would you rather use the original or the simplified version?"

Sun Yigao took the two manuals and leafed through both.

Then he kept the original and returned the simplified version to Lin Xiao.

"I'll use the original."

Lin Xiao put away the simplified version.

"All right. Take a look and see if you can cultivate it. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me. I'll go check on the spirit field."

"All right." Now that he had joined the Lingxian Sect, Sun Yigao didn't intend to stand on ceremony with Lin Xiao.

From now on, he was part of this little sect too!

Seeing Sun Yigao settle down to study the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction, Lin Xiao turned and left the grass shelter.

There he saw Lin Yun, whom he had left behind earlier, finally make it up the mountain.

Lin Yun knew Lin Xiao had been welcoming Scholar Sun, the new recruit, so he only gave Lin Xiao a slight glare before entering the shelter to cultivate.

Watching Lin Yun's retreating figure, Lin Xiao sensed the Qi around him.

His older brother seemed close to succeeding at Drawing Qi into the Body.

Come to think of it, before he had unlocked idle mode, he himself had felt it would take at least several days to draw Qi into his body.

And he had the aptitude of a dragon or phoenix among men.

Yet now, after only a few days, Fuzi, whose aptitude was better than some but worse than others, had already crossed the threshold of Drawing Qi into the Body and entered the Qi Refining First Layer.

And now, in just two short days, Lin Yun, whose aptitude was outstanding, was also about to succeed at Drawing Qi into the Body. It would probably happen today.

Lin Xiao stroked his chin.

Could it have something to do with the Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation the system rewarded me with?

It seemed Fuzi's cultivation speed had picked up after they got the Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation.

He had read plenty of immortal cultivation novels in which people could spend ages cultivating in the Qi Refining Stage alone.

Perhaps the cultivation method has something to do with it too? Could an A-grade cultivation method already be something incredible?

Still, it seemed this Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation was very useful!

Even the initial-grade one had such an effect.

Does that mean intermediate- and high-grade Spirit Gathering Formations are even stronger? Lin Xiao felt a little anticipation.

Would the cultivation room increase everyone's cultivation speed even further?

At that thought, Lin Xiao felt a sense of urgency.

He had to get the cultivation room built as soon as possible!

Lin Xiao was sitting beneath the peach blossom tree, pondering the sect's grand plans, when Tietou, Fuzi, and the other two arrived.

The four greeted Lin Xiao warmly when they saw him beneath the tree, only to be dazzled by his gleaming white teeth.

Once they learned how he had gotten them, Lin Xiao told them they would all have to cultivate to clean their own teeth. The four immediately scrambled into the grass shelter and began cultivating.

At around ten o'clock, Lin Xiao called everyone together and set off for the upper reaches of Mountain Stream.

It was time to dig mud!

There was plenty of red clay soil upstream of Mountain Stream, in vast stretches.

Knowing they would be digging mud today, everyone except Sun Yigao had brought a shovel.

Lin Xiao had brought two, so he gave one to Sun Yigao.

The seven of them set to their great mud-digging undertaking with gusto.

It was only early spring, but digging mud was physical labor, and the soil here was full of stones of all sizes.

As a result, they didn't make very fast progress.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, they had dug only around twenty baskets' worth.

A large portion of that had been dug by Lin Xiao, who was at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, and Jiang Youfu, who was at the Qi Refining First Layer.

There was no other reason: the two of them were strong.

Lin Xiao looked at the sun and saw that it was getting late, so he called a halt.

Carrying all this mud back would take quite a bit of time and effort too.

Everyone packed the soil into baskets and was just about to start carrying it.

Suddenly, Lin Xiao slapped his forehead!

Damn! How could I have forgotten my private storage?

I can just put the soil straight into my private storage and take it out to use when we get back to the sect!

Why do we need everyone to toil away carrying it bit by bit, like the Foolish Old Man moving mountains?

Lin Xiao hurriedly told everyone to take the baskets off their backs again.

Qin Jianghe looked puzzled.

"Brother Xiao, what's wrong? Aren't we carrying this mud back?"

Lin Xiao waved his hand.

"No, no. I just remembered something. We don't have to go to all that trouble!"

"What is it?"

Everyone looked at him expectantly.