Heading for Ying Prefecture

Three years later, in the Cold Crow Mountain Range and Phoenix Forest Mountain

As You Xiaobao, the head of the You Household, listened to the two family heads in Lush Forest Jia arguing fiercely over water, his headache caused the hideous scars on his face to tremble incessantly.

"Alright, alright, the Floating Spirit Spring is located at the border of your two households. Since it only springs up during the transition between the two seasons, then each of you should take turns enjoying one. What's there to argue about?!"

Upon hearing him speak, the two heads of the household, who had been arguing fiercely, both became quite respectful and shut up for a while.

After all, You Xiaobao was not only the head of Lush Forest Jia, in charge of more than ten cultivation sects in Lush Forest Jia, but he had also been recruited by the Chongming Sect several times to serve as a volunteer and made many military achievements.

To be honest, although You Xiaobao's cultivation level is only at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, and he can't even be considered a late-stage cultivator, he is still a prominent figure in the surrounding area. At least, he is not someone that the two people in front of him can underestimate.

However, there is only one spring of this Floating Spirit Spring, and even though You Xiaobao is very prestigious, this dispute between the two cannot be resolved with just empty words.

The older head of the Hua Household glared fiercely at the Golden Sword Sect leader before bowing to You Xiaobao and saying, "Master, you are wise! This Floating Spirit Spring clearly originated from our family's Spirit Vein; how can it be shared with other families?!"

The Golden Sword Sect leader, Xian, remained unfazed, merely sneering, "It's true that the Floating Spirit Spring originated from your family's Spirit Vein, but the spring's source lies within my territory. How can you possibly take it away with mere words?!"

You despicable person who twists the truth!

"You treacherous scoundrel who spouts such lies!"

Seeing that the situation was spiraling out of control again, You Xiaobao could no longer sit idly by. He immediately shouted, "Silence!" His shout caused the two leaders to freeze in their tracks and fall silent.

You Xiaobao also knew that this spring of spiritual energy could yield nearly fifty Spirit Stone in a year, so neither family was willing to part with it. However, they each had their own reasons, making it difficult to reach a fair judgment.

However, he was getting annoyed by the dragging things out, so he stopped being polite and made his own decision. "The spring and autumn seasons will be used by the Golden Sword Sect, while the summer and winter spiritual springs will belong to the Hua Household. Let's settle it like this."

"Captain!"

"You Household, this..."

"Alright," You Xiaobao frowned, then continued:

"If you two feel that Mr. You's judgment is not fair, then you can go to Bao Chief Dong for a fair discussion, and I will not hold a grudge. If Bao Chief Dong is also unable to be fair to you, then you can find a time and place to fight it out and resolve the dispute."

But don't forget that we need to first invite the disciples of the upper sect to the Jia-Chou Military Stronghold to act as witnesses. Otherwise, this would be fighting without prior authorization, and all the cultivators from the dozen or so families in Lush Forest Jia, numbering in the dozens, would have to suffer the consequences of this lawsuit.

As for other petty tricks, you may have the guts to do them. But I, You, must first warn you. If the higher-ups find out, confiscating your property and exterminating your entire family would be the least of your worries.

The Hua Household head's expression shifted for a moment, but in the end he just gritted his teeth, cupped his hands in greeting, and left the You Household's main hall.

The Golden Sword Sect leader, who was lagging behind, did not share the same expression as the Hua Household Head. He knew that the spiritual energy of the spring was stronger in spring and autumn, and thus had the upper hand in this dispute.

You Xiaobao felt no remorse for his favoritism. The Golden Sword Sect was quite small, with only five or six Qi Refinement, which was rather laughable. However, one of them had been recruited as a Pine Wind Volunteers and had died in Fa Prefecture, so he naturally had to take good care of him.

Although the Hua Household is large, with nearly twenty cultivators, they were not very enthusiastic when it came to recruiting, which Chongming Sect difference in their abilities. The Chongming Sect has many conquests to attend to, and in the future, all the families of Cold Crow Mountain will need to gather and respond.

If the Hua Household doesn't want to be inferior to others in the future, they need to emulate other families and dedicate themselves to the Chongming Sect. When that time comes, they won't be targeted, You Xiaobao will take good care of them.

"You secretly moved your boundary marker, so be it. The boundary is only a few feet off, and the higher sect probably won't be able to find out when they come to measure it later. Just be careful to keep your family members from talking, and remember not to let it get out. If the village head comes looking for trouble, I won't be able to protect you."

You Xiaobao gave the Golden Sword Sect leader another admonition, then politely saw him off. On his return, however, he did not head straight for the main hall, but instead changed out of his respectable robes and into a short outfit, heading towards the spirit field.

At this moment, the person working in the field is Cai Qingyun, You Xiaobao's mentor. Since he came to Phoenix Forest Mountain with the You Household, the old man has been enjoying a rare period of peace and tranquility.

The Chongming Sect was different from the other masters Cai Qingyun had encountered in his nearly 100 years of cultivation. Although they still collected annual tributes and provisions, they were not completely irresponsible.

Inside the Hundred Arts Pavilion, located in Jia-Chou Military Stronghold, there were even retainers and disciples hired and stationed by the Chongming Sect, who opened their doors to teach more than 400 families in Cold Crow Mountain.

All cultivators need to do is pay a small amount of resources to enter the Hundred Arts Pavilion to listen to lectures.

While these retainers and disciples were not particularly skilled in any particular art, at most only at the First-Tier Middle-Grade the first rank, and often lacked clarity on crucial points, they were still enough to move these low-level cultivators, who had no way to seek the Dao, to tears of gratitude.

Cai Qingyun was one of the beneficiaries. This old man had been cultivating spiritual fields for sixty years, but it wasn't until last year that he heard the Dharma and attained enlightenment, becoming First-Tier Lower-Grade agricultural master. Since then, he has been able to cultivate Spirit Plant with twice the results with half the effort, and after paying the rent, he has more surplus grain to raise his descendants.

Seeing You Xiaobao approach, Cai Qingyun quickly advised, "You don't need to do anything, rest. Your injuries haven't fully healed yet."

The former smiled but ignored the advice and went down to the spirit field with his spirit hoe.

Those who are family know their own situation. You Xiaobao knew that his old injuries had not healed and had not improved for several years. However, if there were no other way, these injuries would be difficult to heal for the rest of his life, and even his cultivation would hardly make any progress.

Chongming Sect's supplies were not easy to obtain, and the phrase "risking one's life" was no joke.

Even so, You Xiaobao felt no resentment, because compared to his neighbors and comrades who had all perished somewhere, You Xiaobao felt he was already lucky enough.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade his disciple, Cai Qingyun stopped what he was doing and came over to say, "Wenrui went to the Upper Sect to participate in the Immortal Ascension Assembly last time. His aptitude was quite good, but his temperament was lacking. He only lasted three breaths in the Heart-Questioning Formation before fainting. It's a pity."

You Wenrui is the only one among You Xiaobao's dozens of offspring who possesses Spirit Root. Since returning from the Chongming Sect's Immortal Ascension Assembly, he has been in a slump.

You Xiaobao also valued the future of his offspring, so he softly replied to Cai Qingyun, "Yes, after a few days when the spirit fish in this valley have grown a bit fatter, we'll go to Jia-Chou Military Stronghold to exchange for a slightly better item to Drawing Spirit into the Body for Wenrui."

I heard that the head of the Ma Duo Ridge Mo Household Wei Mountain Bao, is recruiting disciples. He is a qualified cultivator who has received proper training.

Back in the Chongming Sect, he often served Elder Zhou, and even Sect Leader Kang knew his name. If Wenrui could become his disciple, he would at least have a solid foundation in the future.

Cai Qingyun seemed to approve of You Xiaobao's plan. He narrowed his small eyes slightly and said with a faint smile, "This is indeed a good approach. There are still some provisions at home. Take them to Jia-Chou Military Stronghold and exchange them for some decent spiritual items to use as tuition fees."

You Xiaobao echoed, "Yes, but that might seem abrupt. I wonder if General Bai is available or if he's at the Jia-Chou Military Stronghold. He's the senior brother of the Mo Household head; if he's willing to put in a good word for us, this shouldn't be difficult."

Cai Qingyun nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. This was the benefit of meeting a benefactor. You Xiaobao had only accompanied Yuan Changsheng on one expedition, yet this Chongming Sect figure from the Chongming Sect had already made the You Household known.

As long as You Xiaobao understands his place and knows his place, the You Household of Phoenix Forest Mountain will have many advantages under the jurisdiction of the Chongming Sect, which is far beyond what other small families can achieve.

Soon it was time for You Xiaobao to go out and sell spirit fish. After paying a fragment of spirit coin and joining the Jia-Chou Military Stronghold, he found it quite lively.

But You Xiaobao quickly realized something and murmured, "That's right, today is the fifth day of an even-numbered month, the day for selecting the Crimson Zhang Guard."

The area beneath the arena in the center of the stronghold was already bustling with activity. On the stage stood a newly made combat robot puppet from the Ingenious Craftsman Fort. Although it looked clumsy, it was slightly stronger than an ordinary late-stage cultivator.

Occasionally, cultivators who had registered their names and hometowns below the stage would come up to challenge, but they still lost more often than they won. You Xiaobao stood below the stage and watched for about half an hour, but no one could defeat the mechanical puppet, which made the surrounding cultivators quite bored.

You Xiaobao wasn't too surprised by this. After all, among the more than four hundred families in Cold Crow Mountain, those with real connections wouldn't need to go through such trouble to enlist in the Crimson Zhang Guard.

This bustling place was merely a stepping stone for ordinary families and Rogue Cultivator, created by the Chongming Sect to prevent untalented individuals from going unappreciated.

However, how many of these people are truly outstanding? It's common for the Chongming Sect to come up empty-handed after hosting this arena for a whole day, and they can only waste more than ten Spirit Stones to control the puppets.

After watching the excitement, You Xiaobao took the spirit fish and went to a familiar restaurant. There was a mediocre chef there, who was also under the jurisdiction of Lush Forest Jia, and could give You Xiaobao a fairly reasonable price.

You Xiaobao then walked to the entrance of the Double Brightness Branch Pavilion, ignoring the scrolling messages on the Mirage Qi Screen at the entrance, intending to sell the odds and ends he had accumulated first.

Although You Xiaobao didn't achieve many victories in the recent battles, he did gain some small gains, managing to exchange them for over a hundred Spirit Stone.

You Xiaobao used a small amount of money to buy You Wenrui the item for Drawing Spirit into the Body. He wasn't in a hurry to leave, and carefully looked around the hall for a while before spending forty Spirit Stone to exchange for a bottle of wood spirit pills and a few other nice-looking odds and ends before finally leaving.

When he arrived at Yuan Changsheng's residence, the latter had just returned from the Chongming Sect and looked travel-worn.

"Oh, so your son is to become Junior Brother Mo's disciple?! That's certainly a good thing. I'll write a letter; Junior Brother Mo surely won't refuse."

However, Yuan Changsheng stopped exchanging pleasantries with You Xiaobao after saying this much.

The latter was quite sensible, knowing that important figures were naturally very busy, and receiving even a letter was a pleasant surprise for him. He dared not say anything more and immediately bowed and withdrew with profuse thanks.

After serving tea and seeing the guests off, Yuan Changsheng frowned and sat alone for a long time.

He had every reason to be upset. It was only because Yuan Changsheng came from a special background that the Chongming Sect would allow a mere Qi Refining Qi Refinement like him to know about such a major matter as the Core Formation's Chongming Sect Formation.

However, judging from his expression alone, it was clear that Sect Leader Kang Da's Core Formation core this time was probably not going smoothly.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Yuan Changsheng turned his head to look at the sunset outside the window, then let out a long sigh, "Uncle-Master, you haven't succeeded this time?!"

"Not only did it fail, but I also lost a piece of Yellow Dragon Wood. Who knows how long it will be before I encounter a Core Formation spiritual item of this caliber again? My Boyue will probably give me a severe scolding. We're already not well-off, and now I've incurred a huge debt. It's troublesome."

Kang Dabao, who was in the reception hall, had a ruddy complexion and showed no signs of disappointment. After he finished speaking, he handed the newly engraved Core Formation Jade Slip to Yang Wuwei, who had come to visit, to look through it.

The latter's injuries, sustained during the attack on Yang Baofeng years ago, have only begun to heal this year.

Therefore, it was only at this point that Yang Wuwei picked up his cultivation again, and the matter of Core Formation was left to Sect Leader Kang Da.

This trip serves two purposes: to visit and to learn from others' experiences. With readily available examples before us, there's no reason not to seek their guidance.

However, his injuries last time were quite severe, and it was only because his status as a Golden Core seed was somewhat valuable, and the two senior cultivators of the Yang Household were considerate of his life-risking efforts, that they spent a large sum of money to save his life.

However, it may take more than ten years to restore things to their original state, so Yang Wuwei was ultimately left behind.

Yang Wuwei had also seen some cultivators who failed to Core Formation. Regardless of the severity of their injuries, they were all filled with sorrow, a stark contrast to Kang Dabao's reaction now.

Instead of offering any words of comfort, Yang Wuwei was met with a smile from Sect Leader Kang Da, who said with a carefree air:

"This minor setback isn't entirely a bad thing. At least I've discovered the shortcomings in the Core Thesis and glimpsed the mysteries of the Heart Tribulation. With a few years of recuperation and the search for some spiritual objects, I can try again and hopefully won't fall too far behind you, fellow Daoist."

In fact, Kang Dabao's failure to Core Formation this time was not as trivial as he claimed. The dangers involved were a hundred times greater than those during his Foundation Establishment.

In this world, the process of cultivators Core Formation generally involves three steps: first, Core Thesis; second, questioning emotions through mental tribulations; and finally, forming the core with spiritual power.

Before Core Formation, Sect Leader Kang Da had consumed another round of spiritual dew. This time, however, no extraordinary phenomena were observed; it merely slightly improved his aptitude by one level.

However, its effects are far less immediate than when taken for the first time; it's better than nothing.

However, Kang Dabao's Core Thesis is now nearing completion, and the test of discerning truth is no longer a challenge for him. As for the so-called tribulation of the heart and questioning of emotions, Sect Leader Kang Da had already been tempered by the inexplicable tribulation of the heart that appeared before he condensed the Jade Leaf Dao Foundation, and he was not confused by one inner demon after another.

The real danger lay in the stage of spiritual energy forming the core. As the dragon horn patterns on the Yellow Dragon Wood crumbled inch by inch, Kang Dabao could already see the nascent form of the Golden Core.

However, he could sense that if he were to truly Core Formation using this spiritual object, it might only be a low-grade core, or there was a very small chance it could be a mid-grade core.

To be honest, if it were the former Sect Leader Kang Da, who was content with a little wealth, why would he care about these things? But now, faced with the readily available nine-year lifespan, Kang Dabao still hesitates.

Just as he was hesitating, the Jade Leaf Dao Foundation within the Niwan Palace stirred, clearly not wanting Kang Dabao to take this opportunity to Core Formation.

So, Sect Leader Kang Da made a tough decision and actually abandoned the Golden Core he had just obtained, instead intending to transform it back into liquid.

Kang Dabao didn't know if anyone had ever done something so dangerous before, nor did he care whether his actions were unprecedented or unparalleled. He only knew that he almost exploded and died in the process.

Only by enduring a physical condition comparable to that of Demon Beast and a will honed through hardship did they manage to survive and avoid death.

Given Sect Leader Kang Da's cautious nature, he would never do such a tightrope walk a second time, barring any exceptions.

These matters could not be clearly explained to outsiders, so Kang Dabao compiled a semi-true, semi-false record of his Core Formation and gave it to Yang Wuwei as a way of repaying a favor.

As the two were chatting happily, a sudden gust of wind arose outside the Chongming Sect. The culprit, without even needing the disciples on duty to ask questions, ascended into the air and loudly proclaimed, "Ancestor, I'm back! Young Kang, come out and greet me at once!"

"Is that old bird back?"

Both Kang and Yang adopted serious expressions. Kang was puzzled, wondering to himself why this old bird had come to the Chongming Sect first after returning home, seemingly without even going home!

Fei Tianqin only transformed into a form with a wingspan of two zhang this time, but it still couldn't conceal the imposing and majestic aura emanating from him.

The palaces and halls on his back were also dismantled and used for other purposes. The dejected Daoist Peng was no longer by his side, and he seemed to be returning from Ying Prefecture alone.

Seeing the two of them come out side by side, the old bird didn't even glance at Yang Wuwei beside Kang Dabao, and then only summoned the former to his front.

"Greetings, sir."

"I told you not to bow, not to bow, don't be like a kowtow worm."

It had been several years since Kang Dabao had last seen Fei Tianqin, but his tone and manner remained unchanged:

"I heard from Nanying that you failed to Core Formation, so I came specifically to see you."

"Thank you for your concern, Ancestor. It's just a waste of a Core Formation spiritual treasure."

"Ha, it can only be used to help people Core Formation, what kind of extraordinary spiritual object is it? Let it be wasted then." Fei Tianqin scoffed, then continued, "Once you go to Ying Prefecture, these kinds of things will be Like a Mountain like mountains, take whatever you want."

Kang Dabao could tell that there was definitely exaggeration in these words. These Core Formation spiritual items must be valuable to the Fei Household, but he couldn't very well refute them at this moment.

He sounded somewhat doubtful, then repeated, "Went to Ying Prefecture."

Fei Tianqin went straight to the point, without any formalities. "Pack your things, I'm going to take you to Ying Prefecture now. My brother says he wants to see you."