Mo Duan could feel a frown growing on his face as he read through the scrolls detailing his valley’s logistical situation. The scroll contained important information about the valley, such as the number of disciples under his care, their names, ages, and their spiritual roots.
It also included information on the valley’s financial situation, and things were not looking especially good.
For reasons that were mostly historical, there was a belief in the local culture that cultivators should hold themselves above behaving like mortals. What that actually meant was a matter of perspective, but most people in the Celestial Jade Empire believed that cultivators should adhere to a stricter moral code, defend the weak and uphold justice, and abstain from mortal indulgences.
There were even some individuals who believed that cultivators should refrain from engaging in anything that resembled politics, and that they should remove themselves from the outside world and focus their efforts entirely on achieving enlightenment.
Unfortunately for them, such a thing was simply impractical for a number of reasons, the most important of which was simply due to the nature of cultivation itself.
If an individual wanted to improve their cultivation, there were two primary factors that they needed to take into account. These factors were the absorption of Qi and their understanding of the Dao. A cultivator who found themselves a random cave to live in and attempted to simply meditate until they became some kind of supreme being would quickly find themselves starved of Qi to fuel their cultivation and lacking in their understanding of the Dao.
In order to reach high levels of cultivation, one would not only need to find locations with abundant sources of Qi and acquire large amounts of cultivation resources, but one also needed to experience life and increase their understanding of the Dao.
I just wish ‘understanding the Dao’ was a little less… ambiguous.
It was for this reason that cultivators establish empires, sects, and clans. These organizations helped them gather cultivation resources while also protecting the Qi abundant lands that they had managed to claim.
For the Verdant Valley Sect, this meant that each Elder had an extreme interest in the wellbeing of the sect and their valleys. The sect was something similar to an alliance between a group of powerful cultivators, with each valley serving as a personal powerbase for the Elder that controlled it.
Although raising his cultivation was not Mo Duans most immediate concern, he knew that wouldn’t be the case forever. If he ever wanted to be able to reach a higher level of cultivation without resorting to hideously immoral behavior, he would need a lot of resources and a power base to back him up.
My life would be a lot easier if this valley wasn’t barely breaking even when in terms of its budget…
Most of the valley’s disciples seemed to gain Spiritual Stones, the most common form of currency among cultivators, by doing menial tasks for the sect’s Hall of Administration. A portion of this income would go to the valley so that it could pay for things like food and supplies or cultivation resources.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Tranquil Garden Valley barely made a single Mid-grade Spiritual Stone every two months. That would be considered a lot for one of the new disciples, but it was barely anything at all for Mo Duan.
It looks like I’m going to need to use my own resources if I want to improve the valley…
While the Verdant Valley Sect took care of most basic needs such as clothing or a general cultivation method, Mo Duan felt like his valley was missing a few essential things. They needed a training hall in which the disciples could practice with various weapons, a meditation hall with Qi gathering Formations where they could go to cultivate, and a library to store specialized cultivation techniques.
Of course, there were probably a lot of other things that the valley needed, but those were the things that Mo Duan could think of off the top of his head.
They probably need proper homes as well… I doubt the kids will be satisfied with their ramshackle little houses forever.
Most of those were things that could be gained in the short term as long as the valley slightly increased its income and Mo Duan was willing to invest his own resources, but the long-term problems were much more difficult to solve.
For example, his valley would eventually need to find something to specialize in if they wanted to compete with the rest of the sect.
But I can worry more about that later, I have more than enough problems to worry about already. It’s already been a few hours so Xiao Li should’ve been able to gather the rest of the disciples by now.
A quick check with his spiritual sense allowed Mo Duan to verify that his disciples were indeed gathered and waiting for him in a field outside of the valley’s tiny village. Almost all of the disciples looked to be either curious, nervous, or some combination of the two. The fact that he had ordered all of them to gather, including those who had been in other valleys, made it obvious that whatever he intended to say was important.
Mo Duan allowed himself to let out a nervous breath.
This wouldn’t exactly be his first experience with public speaking; after dedicating a good portion of his life to his career, Mo Duan had eventually reached a point where he needed to give frequent presentations to his company’s executives. However, this was the first time that he had been given the responsibility for the futures of so many people. Especially when the majority of them were kids.
It was… more than a little daunting.
Hoping to distract himself from his nerves, Mo Duan turned his attention to Ling Jun, who seemed to be noticeably more ruffled and tired than the last time he had seen the boy.
I guess that’s not particularly surprising since he’s probably just got done cleaning.
The kid wasn’t sneering or glaring at his peers anymore, although it wasn’t hard for Mo Duan to tell that he wasn’t going to be making friends anytime soon. The rest of the new disciples were already beginning to separate into little cliques, while Ling Jun continued to stay stubbornly alone.
I suppose there’s no reason to keep them waiting.
Mo Duan stored the scrolls in his spatial ring and prepared to cast a cultivation technique for the first time since awakening in this strange world. Everything that he had done previously, such as manipulating his Flying Tool, using his spatial ring, or enhancing his physical abilities with Qi, was simple to the point of being nearly instinctual. Even the weakest of cultivators would be able to do these things.
On the other hand, a cultivation technique was like a magical spell that a cultivator needed to spend a significant amount of effort to learn. He was glad that his first attempt to use one would be in private; he didn’t want to risk arousing suspicion if something went wrong.
Besides, this was a significant moment that he wanted to enjoy. What kind of person wouldn’t be excited to cast their first magic spell?
The technique he was about to use was one that allowed him to instantly travel over a significant distance. Although it hadn’t been his predecessor's favorite due to the fact that it had a high Qi requirement and was rather slow to use outside of a heavily wooded area, it was flashy enough that it would certainly impress his disciples.
Mo Duan wasn’t usually one to make a display of himself, but he knew that this would be the first time that most of his disciples would really be interacting with him, and first impressions were important.
Mo Duan stepped outside of his house and closed his eyes so that he could focus on both his Qi and his spiritual sense. He then split his attention between two separate locations, an open spot directly in front of him and one near his gathered disciples. It was an extremely strange sensation, like simultaneously trying to read two different books at the same time, except actually succeeding.
Once he had his two target locations, Mo Duan began to use the technique, gradually filling each spot with wood Qi. He watched as two large and identical pine trees began to grow at both spots, causing most of his disciples to cry out in surprise and alarm.
So far so good…
Mo Duan let out a sigh of relief, glad that he hadn’t had any difficulties with the technique.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
He hesitated for a moment before steeling himself and pushing his hand against the tree, only startling slightly once his arm began to sink inside of it. Mo Duan could feel his arm slowly turn to wood, and he could see as an identical wooden hand began to emerge from the other tree near his disciples.
God this is weird… but I guess this is something I’m going to have to get used to. Xianxia magic can get pretty freaky.
Not allowing himself to hesitate any further, Mo Duan forced himself to walk forward as he prepared to share his intentions for the future of Tranquil Garden Valley with his disciples.
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Ling Jun was tired.
Not physically, of course. Given the amount of physical training he had received throughout his life, he would be disappointed in himself if something as simple as cleaning a small house exhausted him.
No, Ling Jun was feeling tired mentally as the reality of his current situation had begun to settle in. He had failed to attract the attention of any of the Elders and was thus brought to a valley that would not offer him the opportunities that he could have had otherwise. Not only that, but Ling Jun knew he would eventually be forced to explain his failure to his father and his clan, something which filled him with dread.
Although objectively speaking, Ling Jun could still admit his situation was still better than many. Tranquil Garden Valley was indeed lacking in comparison to the other valleys, but it was at least not lacking in its abundance of Qi. In that regard, Ling Jun could sense that it was definitely equal to the valley in which he took his trials, and was significantly better than Emerald Forest City.
As long as that remained the case, his future as a cultivator would not be cut off, even if it would become more difficult. However, Ling Jun had never been a coward or a quitter, and he didn’t intend to become one now.
So what if he hadn’t been chosen by any of the Elders? That simply meant that Ling Jun would have to prove that they made a mistake.
The most substantial difficulty that he would face would likely be the lack of training, resources, and cultivation techniques that would be available to him. These were things that could potentially be offset by his clan, but Ling Jun understood that the financial burden he would place on them would not be small…
There was a good reason that clans were generally willing to send their members to study in a sect; cultivation resources were not cheap and were jealously hoarded.
Everything is going to be fine. All I have to do is convince father and the rest of the clan that I’m still a good investment. I’m sure that I’ll find a way to prove myself.
Noticing that one of his fellow disciples was looking at him nervously, Ling Jun let out a shaky breath and unclenched his fist, attempting to calm down. He could worry about how to fix his current circumstances later after he had rested. Right now he wasn’t in the mood to think about it.
Besides, maybe when he woke up tomorrow this farce would all just be a ridiculous dream.
Ling Jun decided to distract himself while he waited for Elder Mo to appear by listening in on the nonsensical chatter of his supposed peers. Most of them were either introducing themselves to one another or socializing, but a few of his fellow disciples actually had the sense to ask questions that actually mattered.
“Senior Xue, are you sure you don’t know what the Elder wants with us?”
Ling Jun glanced at the girl whose question caught his attention. She looked to be about the same age as he did, which meant she was probably in the same batch of disciples as he was.
“As I have already said, I don’t know why the Elder has called for a meeting,” said Xue Chenying, the senior disciple who had escorted the female disciples to their lodgings. “In the six years that I’ve been in this valley, this has never happened before, so how should I know?
“Come on, can’t you at least guess? If you’ve been here for six years, then shouldn’t you have some kind of idea about what's going on?” said the younger disciple.
“How could I when I’ve barely spoken to Elder Mo more than a few times?” asked Xue Chenying, her expression beginning to show signs of annoyance. “Whatever this announcement is, I sincerely doubt that it's anything good.”
“You’ve only spoken to him a few times? But what about our training?”
“Elder Mo doesn’t care about our training, Yue Mei. Nobody in this sect does. The moment that you were assigned to this valley, you should have resigned yourself to this fact.”
The younger girl, whose name was apparently Yue Mei, considered the senior's words for several moments before appearing to shrug them off.
“Hmmm, you shouldn’t be so negative, Senior Xue! Maybe the Elder called for this meeting to announce something good!”
Ling Jun couldn’t help but agree with the older disciple when she huffed and rolled her eyes; the girl was far too optimistic for her own good.
Just as it looked like Senior Xue was about to respond, a commotion suddenly broke out among the gathered disciples. Ling Jun turned to see what had captured everyone's attention, only to be left baffled when he saw a large tree suddenly growing at an astonishing speed nearby. Several of the disciples started to draw their weapons in panic, but Ling Jun forced himself to calm down.
The sect’s formations should be more than good enough to keep out Spiritual Beasts, and there was no reason for anyone to attack a bunch of weak disciples. There probably wasn’t any reason for them to worry.
When an arm suddenly emerged from the tree’s bark, several of the disciples let out frightened gasps and Ling Jun was worried that he was about to be proven wrong.
Is the tree a Spiritual Plant? Does it want to strangle us?
Fortunately, it became clear that wasn’t the case once a face and a torso emerged from the tree. After a few moments, nearly every disciple was staring in surprise at Elder Mo as he brushed off pine leaves from his robes with an annoyed expression while the tree behind began to rapidly wither and die.
Ling Jun promptly began to think back on what he had been taught by his tutors in order to decipher what level of cultivation the Elder had reached.
I know that long-distance teleportation shouldn’t be possible for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Plus I noticed that he rapidly transformed his body completely from wood to flesh during the transportation. He has to have at least reached the Core Formation stage.
Although, that wasn’t particularly surprising given that the man was an Elder.
Ling Jun didn’t have much more time to speculate before the Elder turned to address his disciples with a stoic expression, causing the entire crowd to fall completely silent.
“Greetings, disciples. For those of you who are unaware, I am Mo Duan, the presiding Elder of Tranquil Garden Valley. I’ve brought you all here to inform you of some changes that I will be making to this valley. Changes that will affect you all significantly.”
Ling Jun looked around to see that everyone else looked as nervous as he felt.
“I believe most of you will appreciate these changes, as I intend to drastically increase the amount of time and resources I invest in this valley,” said Elder Mo, causing shocked and hopeful expressions to immediately begin spreading throughout the crowd. “This means that I will be focusing my efforts on nurturing the cultivations of my disciples, and transitioning this valley into a place you all would be proud to be a member of.”
As soon as he said that, the crowd quickly broke out into excited chatter while Ling Jun felt more than a little surprised. Even though the Elder’s tone had not changed during his announcement, Ling Jun considered himself to be fairly perceptive and he could see the sincerity in the man’s eyes.
It made him wonder what had brought about this change, but Ling Jun knew it wasn’t his place to question the Elder like that. Such a thing would be incredibly rude and disrespectful.
”Hey, does that mean you’ll be personally teaching us how to cultivate? Can you teach me how to read?”
Ling Jun turned and gaped at Yue Mei, who didn’t seem to realize how rude she was being by talking out of turn and speaking informally to one of the sect’s Elders.
Ling Jun honestly expected the Elder to send the girl off to wherever the sect handled punishments and discipline, but he was left surprised when Elder Mo merely blinked in apparent surprise and proceeded to answer the question.
“I do not have the time to train each of you individually outside of a short consultation, but I will be watching your initial lessons on cultivation. If you wish to learn how to read or write, the sect offers free literacy lessons in Spirits Rest Valley to every disciple in the sect.”
“Great!”
Ling Jun watched as the Senior who had gathered them all slowly raise his hand to draw the Elder’s attention, “Do you have a question, Xiao Li?”
“This one does, Elder Mo. What initial cultivation lessons are you referring to?” asked Xiao Li, causing the Elder to pause before responding.
“Are you all not given a lesson in cultivation after receiving your cultivation method?”
“No, Elder Mo. This one has never been given such a lesson.”
“I see…”
Ling Jun listened carefully as Elder Mo promised to personally give a lesson on the basics of cultivation to the entire valley, have individual consultations with each of them to help determine their future paths, and drastically improve the valleys facilities. He even announced his intention to begin submitting missions to the Hall of Administration that would be exclusively available to the members of his valley.
“I would hope that you all understand that what I am offering you is merely an opportunity. If any of you have an ambition of becoming a powerful cultivator, you will only succeed through your own efforts,” Elder Mo said to a crowd that was far more excited and enthusiastic than when he arrived. “For now, I recommend you either focus on your cultivation or prepare for the lesson that I will be giving in a few days. We will end this meeting here.”
After a few moments of the disciples excitedly expressing their appreciation and gratitude to the Elder for no longer ignoring them and their training, the gathered disciples began to return to their little village. Ling Jun moved to follow them, feeling a bit more hopeful and optimistic than he’d felt since he realized which valley he would be joining.
Unfortunately, that hope and optimism didn’t last for very long before being replaced by shock at Elder Mo’s next words. “Disciple Ling Jun, There’s a matter that I wish to discuss with you. Please follow me back to my home.”
Everyone who was close enough to hear the man’s words promptly turned their gazes to Ling Jun, while he turned to look at the retreating figure Elder Mo.
After a moment, Ling Jun let out a weary sigh before following behind the Elder.