Little Red Dots
The next day, after receiving the complete orders and deposits from the three major sects and the royal family, Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe did not linger and left the capital to return to Hufang Province.
After entering Hufang Province, the two parted ways.
Qin Jianghe went to Songyang County, while Liu Yunan returned to Xiushui Village.
Because the North-South Trading House in the capital needed to arrange manpower as soon as possible, Qin Jianghe had to return to Lingxiao Escort Agency to bring Gu Yuxiao and his cousin Fang Mancang there.
Meanwhile, his second cousin Fang Manliang, stayed behind to take charge of the Lingxiao Escort Agency.
From now on, Lingxiao Escort Agency will be responsible for transporting all goods sold by the North-South Trading House.
Liu Yunan returned to the sect at dusk more than ten days later.
Upon returning to the sect, he didn't even step into the Affairs Hall where he usually stayed, but went straight to the small garden at the entrance to the secret realm in the center of the sect.
Seeing Sun Yigao sitting comfortably by the cold pond, engrossed in reading a book, he quickly stepped forward and whispered:
"Yigao, how are they?"
Upon seeing him return, Sun Yigao smiled gently at him and said:
"They are still exploring the secret realm, and nothing unusual has happened yet."
Currently, within the entire sect, apart from Big Peach who is only at the Spirit Awakening Second Layer, and a few family members whose cultivation progress is relatively slow and who have only just reached the first or second level of the Qi Refining, all the others who are at the third or fourth level or above, Xiaoluan, and Fang Tuantuan have entered the recently opened Green Field Mystic Realm.
Since Lin Xiao has completely taken control of the Green Field Mystic Realm, and cultivators from the Immortal Cultivation Realm can no longer enter, there are no other threats inside except for the small Demon Beast and some dangerous environments.
Therefore, this secret realm is considered to be of minimal risk to the people of the Lingxian Sect, while also providing an opportunity to broaden their horizons and collect materials and resources.
Lingxian Sect naturally couldn't let such an opportunity slip by, so they arranged for everyone with a cultivation level of Third Layer of Qi Refining or above to participate.
Of course, if your cultivation level is below the Third Layer of Qi Refining, you can still go in.
Anyway, once inside, each of them will have a red rope that serves as a key to exit the secret realm. If they encounter danger, they can simply break the red rope and come out.
Even if they themselves encounter danger and are unable to react in time, the red rope itself has a defensive function. If it encounters a situation beyond its defensive capabilities and its defensive function is directly shattered, it will automatically teleport the person away.
Therefore, the safety of the Lingxian Sect members in the Green Field Mystic Realm is not a problem.
However, there were always a few experienced farmers who couldn't bear to leave the fields in the village and the sect, so they chose to stay and look after them.
As for Big Peach, she simply didn't want to go.
When Liu Yunan asked it before, Big Peach, which can now express and understand simple meanings, immediately shook its head like a rattle drum.
It won't tell you why when you ask; it just won't go.
Xiaoluan also disliked her apprentice for being so timid. Seeing Big Peach's reluctant look, she immediately slapped it across the face with a chicken claw and turned to enter the secret realm.
Little did it know that seeing it go in, Big Peach, who had been kicked away by its chicken claw, was overjoyed.
It can finally escape the clutches of its devilish master for a while!
After everyone entered the secret realm, Big Peach lived a very comfortable life these days. In its still very young heart, it only hoped that its master could stay in that secret realm forever and never come out.
Liu Yunan walked to the large rock at the entrance of the Green Field Mystic Realm and lightly tapped a small groove covered with moss.
Immediately, a complete map of the Green Field Mystic Realm appeared before him.
The map can be resized to fit him.
There were small red dots flashing on it, constantly moving around.
Clearly, these little red dots represent the people who went inside.
Liu Yunan zoomed in on the map and carefully observed the color depth of each small red dot.
These little red dots actually correspond to the red ropes they hold, which serve as both defense and the key. Each time the defensive energy of the red ropes is depleted, the brightness of the little red dots on the map will decrease.
Therefore, people outside can get a general idea of the people inside by observing the brightness of each small red dot on the map.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that each little red dot inside was still flashing and moving around energetically.
These days, even though he's far away in the capital, this matter has been on his mind.
I'm afraid that something might have happened to the people in the secret realm when I return.
Now that the weight on his heart had been lifted, he walked over and sat down next to Sun Yigao with a sense of relief.
The Lingxian Sect had long ago brought stones to the edge of this cold pool, cut them into tables and benches, and now this small garden at the entrance to the secret realm is one of the Lingxian Sect members' favorite places to stroll and relax.
Sun Yigao promptly brewed him some tea and said:
"How did the talks in the capital go?"
Liu Yunan took a big gulp and immediately felt that the tea from his own sect was indeed the best. He nodded excitedly and replied:
"It went very smoothly, extremely smoothly. Jianghe and I had a blast acting together. Yigao, let me tell you..."
Two people whose cultivation breakthroughs were so rapid that they probably would never be able to enter the Green Field Mystic Realm in their lifetime chatted idly at the entrance of the secret realm.
By the time the two had finished chatting, dinner time had already passed.
Sun Yigao looked up at the sky, closed the book in his hand, and said to Liu Yunan:
"It's almost time. I'll go down the mountain to check on Tong Jialiang."
Because he had to teach during the day, he usually went to see Tong Jialiang at night.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yunan thought of Tong Jialiang and Han Weishu, who were staying at Lin Xiao's house, and stood up with him, saying:
"I'll go with you to take a look."
Xiushui Village today is vastly different from what it used to be.
In the past, once night fell in Xiushui Village, only one or two families would light candles that had been kept for a long time to provide a little light for the village when they had urgent business to attend to and needed to work through the night. Otherwise, the entire village relied on the moon for light when getting up at night.
But now, almost every household in the village is not exactly brightly lit, but they no longer have to fumble around in the dark like before.
Along the village road, stone lanterns have been erected, and people regularly replace the candles inside each day.
This was done jointly by several wealthy households who moved to Xiushui Village.
The villagers cherish these stone lanterns and take turns cleaning and maintaining them.
These stone lanterns have brought light to Xiushui Village, which had lived in darkness for generations; they seem to be proclaiming something to the night with their illuminating light.
The two strolled along the streetlights toward Lin Xiao's house.
On the way, Liu Yunan asked:
"How is Tong Jialiang doing right now?"
Sun Yigao pondered for a moment and replied:
"I've already given him some conservative treatments according to the records in ancient books, and they've had some effect, but it's not very significant. Moreover, the effectiveness of the conservative treatments is gradually weakening. If we just maintain his current state, he might be... ruined for the rest of his life."