On Qingfeng Mountain, Fang Qingyuan rode Yinbao, circling high above his ten-acre tea garden.
Viewed from the sky, the ten-acre tea garden was just a small patch of land. With just a slight tremor of its bat-like wings, Yinbao could leave the entire garden far behind.
Covered in a blanket of snow, the tea garden looked no different from the surrounding woods, but Fang Qingyuan knew it was his property—his future source of Spirit Stones.
Fang Qingyuan had no intention of replacing the few families of tea farrs bowing respectfully below. For one, they were experienced with the work here. For another, he had no desire to waste his energy on such mundane affairs.
As long as his annual share of Qingfeng Silver Hero Tea was not diminished, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t be bothered to make any changes. He had little interest in haggling with mortals to squeeze out a few more Spirit Stones.
He would rather spend his ti learning more about cultivating Spirit Plants, or even making a couple of trips on a Flying Boat to transport goods with his Immortal Mansion Space.
After taking a few more glances at his tea garden, Fang Qingyuan gave a sharp whistle and steered Yinbao toward the heavens.
’Barring any surprises, the next ti I visit this tea garden will be around the Qingming Festival next year.’
...
The next few months passed peacefully. At first, Fang Qingyuan continued to set up a stall at the Independent Practitioner Marketplace at the foot of the mountain to sell Talismans.
He stopped going once he had sold all of the Liu Brothers’ Talismans.
Fang Qingyuan abandoned the art of talisman crafting entirely. Although he did eventually succeed in creating a single Calming Talisman, one look at his success rate was enough for him to wisely decide to sell the Liu Brothers’ talisman-crafting notes.
He sold the two sets of notes from the Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivators for a good price, earning nearly ten Middle-grade Spirit Stones in total.
This was a high price, considering the notes contained only personal insights and reflections, not any unique Talisman Secret Techniques. For the right buyer, however, these insights were valuable for gaining new perspectives and broadening their own understanding—a tool to learn from another’s experience.
Fang Qingyuan had considered making multiple copies of the notes to sell, but they were recorded on jade slips imbued with the original authors’ Divine Soul Seal. A simple copy would fail to replicate their true essence.
Having abandoned talisman crafting, Fang Qingyuan found his aptitude for cultivating Spirit Plants was quite decent. Perhaps he had an innate talent for it, or perhaps the black soil within his Immortal Mansion Space was simply that nutritious.
Over the past three months, the Tier One Spirit Plant seedlings he had purchased from various places rarely died from transplant shock after being moved into the Immortal Mansion Space.
Normally, a seventy percent survival rate for transplanted Spirit Plants was considered good. Yet for Fang Qingyuan, over ninety percent of his transplants survived.
Five hundred seedlings of various Tier One Spirit Plants had cost Fang Qingyuan nearly two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, averaging about four Spirit Stones per plant.
A destitute Loose Cultivator might only earn seven or eight Low-grade Spirit Stones in a month—the price of just two seedlings.
In the Cultivation Realm, Spirit Stones and resources all flowed to the top. By a stroke of luck, Fang Qingyuan had uncovered the infant-stealing case. A pleased Lechuan had shown a bit of generosity, and what was a pittance to him had instantly raised Fang Qingyuan’s wealth by several orders of magnitude.
Ti flew. After experiencing the Wei Family’s attack on Shandu and exposing the Minshan Liu Family’s infant-stealing plot, the first year since Fang Qingyuan had awakened the mories of his past life was finally drawing to a close.
Mortals cherished their seasonal festivals, but Cultivators paid them little mind. The tiscale of a Cultivator’s life was on a completely different level from that of a mortal.
With an average lifespan of about fifty years, mortals treasured each passing year and its celebrations.
But for soone like Lechuan, with a lifespan approaching five hundred years, the idea of holding a formal celebration every single year was preposterous.
Perhaps Lechuan had enjoyed the festive atmosphere in his youth, but after more than a hundred years, he only wanted peace and quiet.
Since the villa’s head wasn’t interested in the holiday, his subordinates certainly wouldn’t make a big fuss. Besides, it had been a busy year, and many of their fellow disciples had died. The mood for this New Year was complicated, to say the least.
This New Year’s Eve, Fang Qingyuan spent the holiday in his new ho with Yinbao, his Cal Beast.
Fang Qingyuan had finally moved into a courtyard residence on the mountainside. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to move sooner; no suitable hos had been available.
Now that Celestial Gate Mountain had beco the true center of Tianshan Villa, the old villa grounds were gradually falling out of favor with the disciples.
The more ambitious disciples had all moved to Celestial Gate Mountain, leaving disciples like Fang Qingyuan behind at the original villa.
As the Inner Sect Disciples moved away, many of the mountainside courtyards beca vacant. Fang Qingyuan had deliberately waited, wanting to pick a larger one so Yinbao would be more comfortable.
His wish was finally granted. Although his current courtyard was slightly smaller than those at the foot of the mountain, it still ranked among the largest of all the Inner Sect Disciple residences.
The Spiritual Qi on the mountainside was over twenty percent denser than at the foot of the mountain. Cultivating here, Fang Qingyuan felt he could now break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Level that much sooner.
After the New Year holiday, Fang Qingyuan settled into a routine of cultivating in his small courtyard. He would only occasionally ride Yinbao out to deliver Spirit Fruits between Black River Square, Qinghe Square, the Celestial Gate Mountain Marketplace, and a few other nearby marketplaces to earn a small profit on the price difference.
For now, he only transported Spirit Fruits, unwilling to venture into other goods. ’Until I have a complete grasp of the situation,’ he thought, ’I don’t want to expose myself through carelessness or recklessness.’
Transporting Spirit Fruits only earned him two to three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones a month—a perfectly plausible and unsuspicious inco for an Inner Sect Disciple of Tianshan Villa.
As for the ferry business, Fang Qingyuan had temporarily given up on it. With the Wei Family gone and the Beast Taming Sect taking over, the transition had left a massive power vacuum, leading to chaos in the area around Celestial Gate Mountain.
Lately, Fang Qingyuan had heard several rumors about attacks on Ferry Beast Ships. Tribulation Cultivators would pose as passengers to act as an inside man, working with others lying in ambush to rob the ship and all its other passengers.
When the Wei Family cultivators were in charge, their patrols kept such Tribulation Cultivators in check. But the Beast Taming Sect had only just taken over and was still dealing with a thousand different matters, creating a window of opportunity for these bandits.
None of this had much to do with Fang Qingyuan, however. ’When the world is chaotic, it’s best to just lay low,’ he thought. It was the perfect excuse to pause his ferry business and focus on cultivation.
Ever since breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Level last year, Fang Qingyuan had cultivated diligently every day with few interruptions.
After the infant-stealing case, Fang Qingyuan was no longer bothered by worldly affairs, and his cultivation progressed smoothly. Especially recently, with his prolonged cultivation, he could feel that the mont of his breakthrough to the Qi Refining Fifth Level was just around the corner.
He did not have to wait long.
One day, after finishing his daily ditation, Fang Qingyuan opened his eyes in his Quiet Chamber, a look of delight spreading across his face. Just monts before, during his practice, he had naturally crossed the threshold of the Qi Refining Fourth Level and reached the Qi Refining Fifth Level.
He felt the Spiritual Power in his body, now a full thirty percent more abundant than at the Qi Refining Fourth Level. He recalled the heartache and frustration of trying to force a breakthrough last year, before his mories had awakened. Comparing that struggle to the effortless ease of his current breakthrough, Fang Qingyuan was almost moved to tears.
This year, Fang Qingyuan was twenty-nine years old.
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