NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: Guarding the Herb Garden
Who could have imagined that Li Ergou, previously so full of vigor, would now be overwhelmed with sorrow.
Lan Chang'an sighed at the impermanence of life.
Even when one is at the height of glory, one must never become arrogant.
"You don't need to be so pessimistic," said Lan Chang'an.
"Big brother Lan, I know my own combat ability. Going to the front line mining area, life and death is uncertain," said Li Ergou bitterly.
He had no confidence in returning alive, which was why he sought out his most trusted person Lan Chang'an to entrust his will.
"Actually, you have one advantage."
"What advantage?" Li Ergou was puzzled.
"You have a clear self-awareness and know your own strengths."
Li Ergou lacked courage, was weak in combat, and had no real battle experience."Big brother Lan, it's come to this point, and you're still mocking me?"
"For you, this may not be a bad thing for survival."
"Cultivators fear overconfidence the most, arrogantly looking down on their peers and disregarding ordinary cultivators. Many talented cultivators have capsized in the ditch due to carelessness," Lan Chang'an sighed, taking out two talismans from his storage bag and handing them to Li Ergou.
"These are healing and wind speed talismans, big brother can only help you up to this point."
After all, they had known each other for eight long years. Perhaps this would be the last time he saw Li Ergou.
Lan Chang'an was not too stingy, giving him two middle-grade talismans. Nowdays, in the Mu family, he was considered a senior first-rank talisman master, occasionally refining mid-grade talismans.
"Thank you, big brother," Li Ergou accepted the talismans, still looking at Lan Chang'an expectantly.
"Alright, I promise you," Lan Chang'an sighed. "If it really comes to that, I will do what I can to provide some care for your wife and children."
Only then did Li Ergou break into a smile, a heavy weight lifted from his heart.
Before parting, he couldn't help but ask:
"Big brother Lan, should I not have changed my name?"
Before changing his name, Li Ergou had smooth sailing and knew no troubles.
But after changing his name to "Li Changqing", he had one foot in the abyss.
"Destiny, fortune, profound mysteries - who can truly understand?" Lan Chang'an shook his head, unable to answer.
After all, in his previous life, he was merely at the Core Formation Realm, not a great cultivator. There were too many things in the cultivation world that he could not comprehend.
...
The next day, Li Ergou left Feiyue Villa, following the young and middle-aged cultivators of the family to the Purple Copper Mining Area.
Lan Chang'an watched his departing back.
After pondering for a long time, he looked towards the center of Purple Moon Lake, where the outline of the "Moonheart Island" was faintly visible.
That was where the Foundation Establishment Ancestor of the Mu family resided.
Lan Chang'an's soul was extraordinary, and he was also able to let the soul brand that was lit up in the first life of the Nine Seal Stele add to it, raising his spiritual sense by one level.
He could sense that the Mu family's ancestral patriarch was still present, but his aura was growing weaker by the day.
Years ago in Jin Yun Valley, Lin Yi had inquired about rumors, saying that the Mu family's Ancestor would not live more than ten years.
According to Lan Chang'an's remote perception, the estimation wasn't far off, probably three to five years remaining.
This judgment was not solely based on his soul sense, but also the keen perception of the aura of time and longevity from the Ancient Trees Evergreen Technique.
Lan Chang'an's bottom line was that as long as this Foundation Establishment Ancestor could remain stable, he would maintain a wait-and-see approach and not rush to leave.
"But in three to five years, if the Mu family does not produce a new Foundation Establishment cultivator, they will definitely not be able to protect the second-grade spiritual vein. At that time..."
Lan Chang'an withdrew his gaze, silently planning several contingencies in his heart.
...
Two months later.
No news came from Li Ergou at the front lines.
Since the mining area was quite distant, as an outsider, Lan Chang'an received relatively limited information.
However, there were occasional injured cultivators returning, while younger Mu family cultivators were sent to the front lines. The tense situation eventually affected Lan Chang'an.
"Go and guard the herb garden?"
On this day, as Lan Chang'an was handing over a batch of talismans, he received an arrangement from the higher-ups of the Mu family.
With his cultivation not even reaching the middle stage of Qi-Refining, the family would not send him to the front lines unless absolutely necessary as a talisman master. But apart from the mining frontline, the Mu family also had some assets that needed guarding. Such as the herb garden, spirit fields, and water resources.
The Mu family had an herb garden located in a mountain valley two hundred miles away from Purple Moon Manor. Since it was relatively close to the family's residence, guarding the herb garden was comparatively safer.
"The herb garden is located on a spiritual ground with a spirit-gathering formation. You can cultivate and make talismans there, while also helping the family guard the herb garden." The family steward leading Lan Chang'an to the herb garden explained.
Lan Chang'an had no reason to refuse. Since Li Ergou had gone to the frontlines, it was reasonable for him to do some logistical work in the herb garden.
Due to the short distance, Lan Chang'an rode his black golden blade and flew directly to the herb garden. He was accompanied by two or three young Mu family cultivators at around the second layer of Qi-Refining.
The mountain valley where the herb garden was located had a natural energy formation that gathered the essence of the sun and moon, suitable for growing medicinal herbs. The entire herb garden spanned thousands of acres, protected by a first-grade formation.
Apart from the divided planting areas, there was a small village-like area with houses built near a stream in the herb garden.
Upon entering the herb garden, each person was assigned a separate wooden cabin.
The conditions were definitely not as good as Purple Moon Manor.
"Lan Chang'an."
Hearing someone call his name, Lan Chang'an turned to look. It was a one-armed youth with a familiar face, his body wrapped in bandages in several places.
"Mu Yunfei?" Lan Chang'an recalled the identity from the handsome youth's face.
Eight years ago, Mu Yunfei had escorted their group of spirit seedlings back home and distributed spirit stones to them along the way.
The two were considered to have fought side by side before.
Back then, with his first layer of Qi-Refining cultivation, Lan Chang'an had killed a Zheng family cultivator at the third layer of Qi-Refining, earning Mu Yunfei's praise.
"Brother Yunfei, your arm, could it be from the frontline mining area..."
Lan Chang'an was slightly surprised.
"Yes, I need to recuperate for a year. The family master asked me to also look after the herb garden in the meantime. After all, this is an important location for the family, and the elder who previously guarded it has gone to the front lines." Mu Yunfei's voice was low and slightly hoarse. He was no longer the family's rising star from eight years ago.
Mu Yunfei was two years older than Lan Chang'an, at the peak of the sixth layer of Qi-Refining, considered one of the family's young elites.
Lan Chang'an thought silently: "Even the injured are being deployed on duty. It seems the Mu family is really lacking manpower."
...
A few days later, Lan Chang'an had adapted to life in the herb garden.
The spiritual energy in the herb garden could not compare to Purple Moon Manor.
However, the rich spiritual essence of plants and trees here complemented Lan Chang'an's cultivation of the wood-based Ancient Trees Evergreen Technique. Therefore, his cultivation speed was no slower than at the Feiyue Manor which had a first-grade spiritual brance underneath it.
During these days, Lan Chang'an became familiar with Mu Yunfei and inquired about the situation at the front line mining area.
Deep within that Purple Copper Mining Area, they had indeed discovered deposits of the "Purple Heart Copper".
Purple Heart Copper was not included in the original agreement between the two families to evenly split the resources.
Moreover, the distribution of Purple Heart Copper was very scattered and the quantity was relatively small, making it easy to hoard privately.
Nowadays, cultivators from both families were using their own means to mine the Purple Heart Copper, occasionally resulting in conflicts.
"Didn't the Beast Taming Zhou Family, who acted as the adjudicator back then, step in to stop this?" Lan Chang'an curiously asked Mu Yunfei.
"The Beast Taming Zhou Family?" Mu Yunfei sneered. "They're clearly biased towards the Zheng Family! A pair of Zheng Family's spiritual root bearing sisters married the young master of one of the lineages of the Zhou family."
The Beast Taming Zhou Family, as one of the seven great families, had an Core Formation Realm residing in the family, with nearly ten Foundation Establishment cultivators. Their forces were vast, and the branching factions within the family were also rather complicated.
Fortunately, it was only one of their branches that was being pulled in by the Zheng Family, otherwise the Mu Family would have to directly surrender.
The reason Mu Yunfei said the Zhou Family was biased was because the Zheng Family had more young and middle-aged cultivators, and their ancestor still had twenty to thirty years of lifespan remaining in a better state.
If the Zhou Family did not uphold fairness, with such a protracted attrition, the Zheng Family would have the opportunity to gradually encroach and swallow up the Mu Family's assets.
"You don't have to worry, my Mu family and the Maple Leaf Huang family are liaising, there is a possibility of a joint marriage. The Huang Family has three Foundation Establishment cultivators and are a very powerful force."
Seeming to notice Lan Chang'an's concern, Mu Yunfei revealed this information.
"The Maple Leaf Huang Family, join marriage?"
Lan Chang'an pondered thoughtfully.
It seemed both the Zheng and Mu Families were trying to rally powerful allies.
...
"Be nimble with your hands and feet! Pluck those Misty Orchid herbs, Master Ge is waiting to refine pills."
On this day, as Lan Chang'an was chatting with Mu Yunfei, an impatient raspy voice came from the herb field area not far away.
"Who is that?" Lan Chang'an glanced towards an old man in an ancient robe with puffy eye bags in the distance. He had not noticed before that there was actually a seventh layer Qi-Refining elder in the herb garden.
"That's the pill refiner 'Ge Yi', one of the four guest elders of the family. Since we urgently need spirit pills recently, Elder Ge has been staying at the herb garden for easier access to materials for refining pills." Mu Yunfei introduced with respect shown on his face.
It dawned on Lu Chang'an that it was a Senior Alchemist, no wonder he had such a fierce temper, barking orders at a few young Mu Family cultivators like commanding his grandsons.
After Pill Refiner Ge left, Mu Yunfei lowered his voice and said: "Elder Ge has a bad temper, you should be careful around him and not provoke him. Elder Ge is an old acquaintance of the old ancestor, even the family head has to defer to him to some extent."
"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Yunfei."
Lan Chang'an nodded.
He was at the herb garden to assist in the defense and cultivate low-profile. He did not need to interact with Elder Ge.
...
Being in the rear area of the herb garden, it remained peaceful without any disturbances.
Lan Chang'an cultivated calmly there for over half a year.
On this day, as he sat cross-legged in his room, absorbing the spiritual essence of plants and trees through his cultivation, Lan Chang'an suddenly opened his jet-black eyes.
"The peak of the third layer of Qi-Refining."
Since he was re-cultivating, he basically had no bottlenecks in the Qi-Refining stage. This meant he could advance to the middle stage of Qi-Refining at any time.
(End of chapter)