Mo Duan used some of his attention to enjoy the scenery as he walked quietly through Spirits Rest Valley, with none of the surrounding disciples paying him much attention. One of the benefits of being an Elder who the majority of the sect rarely saw was that there were very few people who would recognize him as long as he was the slightest bit discreet.
Despite already being familiar with the valley thanks to his memory, Mo Duan was still surprised to see many things that he would not have expected to find in a cultivation sect. He had always imagined sects to be rather… ascetic, with nearly every facility inside of it being dedicated to the purpose of advancing cultivation, but there were many places in the valley that counteracted that assumption.
Mo Duan had already passed by a small trading market, a restaurant that sold meals made from the meat of Spiritual Beasts, and a pavilion in which a beautiful young woman was playing the guqin to a small audience.
The contrast between his valley and Spirits Rest Valley was large enough that anyone could immediately tell the difference in status between the two. Whereas his valley only had a tiny village inside of it, Spirits Rest was so well developed that it made Mo Duan feel as if he was walking through a small city.
The valley’s focus on scholarly pursuits was made obvious to Mo Duan by its disciples, who were nearly all well-groomed, well-dressed, and walked with a poise and sense of confidence that his own disciples lacked. None of that particularly surprised him; from what he knew about her, Mo Duan could imagine that Elder Yuanlei placed a large emphasis on teaching her disciples how to properly hold themselves. In comparison, Mo Duan’s disciples mostly came from poorer backgrounds and were generally a bit… rough around the edges.
Even if I don’t care much about formality and etiquette, the majority of cultivators in the Celestial Jade Empire do, Mo Duan thought as he observed the surrounding disciples. I suppose I’ll need to teach them this kind of stuff as well.
To his surprise, Mo Duan could feel himself looking forward to it. During his first life, he had rarely helped anyone other than himself and hardly ever done anything besides pursue his own ambitions. The only thing he had gotten out of it was a well-paying job and a broken family.
Being given the opportunity to do something else for a change was a boon that Mo Duan had not known that he had wanted.
Mo Duan pushed these thoughts away and turned his attention back to the present. His past life was not something he wanted to think about right now, it was best to keep his focus on his future rather than his regrets.
Mo Duan could tell that he had almost reached his destination by the fact that the disciples around him seemed rather busy. After all, the disciples assigned to the Hall of Administration were known to be perpetually overworked.
It wasn’t long before he could see a large two-story building with several columns and a wide red-tiled roof. The Chinese characters for ‘Hall of Administration’ were clearly displayed on a sign near the front of the building, and the small paper cranes that cultivators liked to use to send their messages were constantly flying in and out. The Hall of Administration was a bustle of activity as disciples from every valley in the sect, along with several outsiders who had come to the sect for business, entered and exited the building.
“Honorable Immortal, is there truly no way to lower the escort costs for my caravan?”
“Mr. Li, the route you wish to take is exceptionally dangerous during this time of the year due to the migrating herds of Lifedrinker Deer. Our sect is not willing to send any escorts with a cultivation level less than Foundation Establishment. As a long-time member of the Azure Serpent Merchant Alliance, I believe that you understand this.”
Mo Duan stepped around the merchant that was negotiating with one of the sect’s older disciples and made his way into the Hall of Administration.
As soon as he stepped inside, Mo Duan could immediately tell that—through some kind of xianxia magic—the building was much larger on the inside than he would have expected.
Mo Duan took a moment to enjoy the interesting sights, his eyes lingering on a statue depicting one of the previous sect leaders before he began making his way to the receptionist area. Fortunately, it seemed like the Hall was well adjusted to the workload, which meant that it didn’t take as long as Mo Duan expected for him to speak with one of the receptionists.
“Good morning, Fellow Daoist. I am Disciple Qingqi of the Hall of Administration. How may I help you today?” asked the young woman behind the receptionist's desk, giving her best customer support smile.
Mo Duan could tell by the look in her eye that the receptionist was feeling cautious, likely because she was unable to sense his cultivation.
Smart girl.
“Good morning, Disciple Qingqi. I would like to submit a few missions and arrange for them to be exclusive to a specific valley,” Mo Duan said calmly.
“Of course, Fellow Daoist,” said the receptionist as she prepared a jade slip on which she would record the information. “May I have your full name, as well as the valley you wish to assign these missions to?”
“I am Elder Mo Duan, and I would like to assign these missions to Tranquil Garden Valley.”
He hid his amusement as the receptionist widened her eyes and began spluttering, “This one humbly apologizes for failing to recognize you, Elder Mo!”
“If I had cared about being recognized, I would have made an effort to inform you of my identity,” said Mo Duan, ignoring the eyes that were suddenly turning in his direction. “I would simply like to post these missions, Disciple Qingqi.”
“Of course, Elder Mo,” said the receptionist after taking a moment to calm down. “May I have the details of these missions and the rewards that shall be posted with them?”
Unfortunately, it took quite a while for Mo Duan to finish posting all of the missions that he wanted to offer his disciples, as there were quite a few of them. They varied significantly, from those that could be considered simple chores around the valley to more complicated missions that would send them venturing out of the sect. Mo Duan didn’t expect any of his disciples to take those ones up any time soon, but it would be good to have them posted so that they would have something to work towards. All of his missions came with ample rewards that Mo Duan had taken from his personal resources.
I’m starting to feel like some kind of quest-giver in a video game…
Mo Duan eventually ran out of missions he wanted to assign to his disciples and then moved on to ask what he would need to do to have some facilities built in his valley.
“Unfortunately, requesting such a mission will require the assistance of the Hall Master, Elder Mo.”
“Oh? Why is that?” asked Mo Duan.
“Any missions that would require us to hire labor from outside of the sect need to be reviewed before they can be accepted,” Disciple Qingqi explained patiently. “The facilities you wish to be built would require the collaboration of both builders from Emerald Forest City as well as the Hall of Formations in Mystic Glade Valley.”
That made sense to Mo Duan.
Unlike studying how to make formations, talismans, or weapons, architecture was not something that most cultivators in a sect could justify spending time to learn. Mo Duan would do it himself using his magical control over wood, but constructing a proper building fit for cultivators was not a simple matter and could not be done using mundane materials.
If he didn’t want any of his disciples to end up accidentally destroying his valley’s facilities with their supernatural strength, then they would need to be constructed with specially processed Spiritual Wood.
Not only that, but a few of his facilities would need expensive Formations placed inside of them as well. Mo Duan could already feel his personal wealth slowly disappearing.
How troublesome.
“Very well then, please inform the Hall Master that I wish to speak with him.”
Just as the receptionist was about to leave, she was interrupted by the voice of a woman calling out to them, “That will not be necessary, Elder Mo. I am able to handle this matter in the Hall Master’s stead.”
Mo Duan was not particularly surprised to see Elder Yuanlei walking toward him when he turned around. Unlike him, who had inherited his predecessor’s habit of generally hiding his presence, Elder Yuanlei was not making any effort at all to hide herself, so he had already sensed her coming.
Given that he had been focused on acting in character and paying attention to the Disciple Selection Ceremony the last time he had seen her, Mo Duan took the opportunity to study his colleague as she approached.
Mo Duan imagined that Elder Yuanlei could have been truly beautiful once, but her severe demeanor and the gruesome scar that covered half her face did a lot to detract from that. Despite this, everyone who looked at the powerful cultivator would immediately feel as if she exuded an air of scholarly elegance and refinement.
Elder Yuanlei was dressed in deep blue robes that were adorned with intricate gold embroidery and had her hair styled in a simple bun. She appeared to be middle age, with hints of wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, and held a sharp intelligence in her eyes that made Mo Duan feel incredibly tense.
Out of all of the Elders, she was the one that Mo Duan was the most cautious of. He would much prefer to avoid her completely but knew that doing so was not possible, unfortunately.
“Elder Yuanlei, I’m surprised to see you at the Hall of Administration,” Mo Duan said as soon as she was near. “Do you have any particular business here?”
“It’s my valley, Elder Mo. Everything that happens here is my business,” Yuanlei said sharply before turning to the receptionist. “What are you gawking at, Disciple Qingqi? Do you think it’s acceptable to lose your sense of decorum as soon as you see two Elders speaking with one another?”
The disciple, who had indeed been gawking, hurried out a few apologies that Elder Yuanlei ignored.
“Come with me, Elder Mo. We’ll discuss the facilities that you wish to add to your valley in a place where we won’t be distracting my disciples,” said Elder Yuanlei. Without waiting for an agreement, she turned around and began making her way further into the building as disciples hurried to get out of her way.
After a moment of hesitation, Mo Duan followed her. It didn’t take long for them to reach a room that was presumably the Elder’s office, given the bookshelf filled with scrolls and the large desk that was covered in documents.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“When you told us during the ceremony that you decided to actually start training your disciples, I thought that it would be a passing whim,” said Elder Yuanlei as she sat down behind her desk. “Yet here you are, actually deciding to spend your own Spiritual Stones on your valley. This seems very much unlike you, Elder Mo.”
Although Elder Yuanlei’s question worried Mo Duan, he did his best to keep his expression calm as he sat down in his own seat and responded, “Do you believe that you know me well enough to make that judgment?”
Despite the fact that his predecessor had been a Guest-Elder at the Verdant Valleys Sect for around six years, he wasn’t exceptionally familiar with his fellow Elders. As far as they were concerned, Mo Duan was just a reticent wandering cultivator who they had hired to provide a service. Given that six years was nothing to most high-leveled cultivators and his predecessor put most of his focus into his own schemes rather than making friends, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he and his colleagues hardly knew each other.
The most interaction that they had was during the meetings where they gathered to discuss sect business.
“I suppose I don’t,” said Elder Yuanlei after a tense moment of silence. “If not for the fact that we need you to fix the problem with the Vanishing Mist Woods, I would not allow for a cultivator we know so little about to join our sect. Things were fine when it seemed that you were going to leave as soon as our agreement was completed, but now that you intend to stay, I believe we should get to know each other. Don’t you, Elder Mo?”
Mo Duan was a bit startled by Elder Yuanlei’s bluntness, but he didn’t hesitate to respond taking a moment to gather his thoughts. “What makes you believe that I intend to stay with the sect?”
Yuanlei merely raised an eyebrow and looked at him as if he was an idiot. “Would you be investing in your own Spiritual Stones into your valley if you did not intend to stay? This is obviously about more than wishing to cultivate an assistant that can join you in the Vanishing Mist Woods.”
Ah. I suppose my actions do make my intentions rather obvious.
“You are correct, Elder Yuanlei. I have indeed decided that it would be in my best interests to stay here past the terms of our agreement if the sect allows me to do so,” said Mo Duan. They both knew that there was little chance of the Verdant Valley Sect sending him away unless he proved himself to be untrustworthy.
After all, powerful cultivators willing to join your sect didn’t exactly grow on trees.
“We may if you actually manage to do what you were brought here for,” Elder Yuanlei said evenly. “Have you actually managed to make any progress at all?”
“Of course,” said Mo Duan, only being slightly dishonest. “I’ve managed to push fairly deep into the woods and mapped the territories of the most powerful Spiritual Beasts. I’m fairly close to where I suspect the problem is originating from.”
In truth, his predecessor had already accomplished most of that during his first year in the sect.
Hearing his answer, Elder Yuanlei fell silent as her expression grew considering.
“Before the woods became impossible for most cultivators to navigate, there was a Three-Headed Venomous Storm Serpent whose territory our disciples were instructed to avoid,” said Elder Yuanlei after several moments. “Our most recent records place it at the Early Core Formation stage. Have you encountered the beast at all during your investigations?”
Mo Duan blinked in surprise at the question before answering truthfully, “I have, yes. Its territory is not directly on the path that I need to take, so I’ve simply done my best to avoid it. Why do you ask?”
“I will explain myself in a moment, but I have a question I would like to ask first,” said Yuanlei, watching him with a scrutinizing gaze. “Have you ever encountered any Jiangshi during your time as a wandering cultivator?”
Mo Duan barely stopped himself from snorting in amusement. His predecessor likely had more experience with Jiangshi than the vast majority of cultivators in the Celestial Jade Empire.
Jiangshi were creatures that could be loosely described as the Chinese version of a vampire, although in this world they were more like magical zombies that happened to drink blood. Unlike vampires, who multiplied by biting their victims, Jiangshi multiplied by killing innocent people and harnessing the resentment of the victim to create a special talisman. This talisman would then be placed on a recently dead corpse, and a Jiangshi would rise from the dead. The resentment in the talisman would drive them to be extremely malicious and aggressive toward the living.
Mo Duan’s modern sensibilities made it difficult for him to write off an entire group of intelligent creatures as evil, but that seemed to be the reality of the situation. His predecessor had only heard of a few isolated instances in which a Jiangshi was able to overcome the malicious urges caused by their talisman.
Nearly every righteous sect in the world went out of its way to kill Jiangshi as soon as they were discovered due to their capacity to quickly multiply. The fact that they were as intelligent as a human and that their strength grew along with the amount of resentment that they harvested meant that a Jiangshi was considered to be a particularly dangerous pest.
The only reason that the Jiangshi were not more of a problem than they already were was because their talismans were moderately difficult to create.
They were extremely common in the nation that his predecessor had been born in, but they were very rarely encountered in the Celestial Jade Empire due to the efforts of its sects.
“I’ve encountered them once or twice,” Mo Duan lied. “But they are not particularly common in this part of the world. Given that you are asking, I assume that a Jiangshi has been sighted within the sect’s territory?”
“If it was only a single one of the creatures, I would have simply had it killed and not bothered to bring the matter up with you,” said Elder Yuanlei. “We’ve recently had multiple reports of Jiangshi being sighted in the north. We suspect that a group of the monsters has recently grown to the point that they’re feeling brave.”
That’s… unusual.
“Does the sect suspect foul play?” asked Mo Duan. Creating Jiangshi in order to weaken an enemy sect seemed like exactly the sort of thing that demonic cultivators would do.
“The investigation is underway,” said Elder Yuanlei, waving her hand dismissively. “However, that is not why I raised this topic. Hall Master Gu of the Hall of Alchemy has made claims that he can create a poison that affects only Jiangshi. However, he needs the venom gland of the Three-Headed Venemous Storm Serpent to do so.”
Mo Duan could feel his eyes widen in surprise. When Elder Yuanlei had first pulled him aside for a discussion, he hadn’t expected that it was because she wanted his help in gathering ingredients for a poison.
“And what would I receive in exchange for acquiring this venom gland?” asked Mo Duan as he sat back in his chair.
“Is the chance to aid your sect and protect defenseless mortals from being murdered and turned into Jiangshi not enough for you?” Elder Yuanlei asked tonelessly.
In all honesty, that was indeed enough to convince Mo Duan, but he had no intention of saying so.
Although his cultivation was higher than the Early Core Formation stage, gathering the venom gland from the serpent would still be dangerous. Cultivators were not well known for being willing to risk their life for free, and Mo Duan was not in a position where he could afford to turn down compensation for his efforts.
“What you are asking me to do is quite dangerous, Elder Yuanlei,” said Mo Duan, keeping his response simple.
Yuanlei looked at him strangely for a moment before she forced her expression into something more neutral, “What kind of compensation are you expecting?”
“For a task like this, I would normally be content with receiving payment in Spiritual Stones, but I believe I would like two favors from you,” said Mo Duan. It was only thanks to his enhanced senses that he could see the tiniest amount of tension creep into Elder Yuanlei’s posture. “First, Spirits Rest Valley will offer free lessons on etiquette for my students, similar to the free lessons that you offer on literacy. Second, you will offer me your personal advice on how to build my valley, as well as your assistance in creating lesson plans for my disciples.”
Elder Yuanlei looked to be extremely surprised by his demands, but Mo Duan felt like it made perfect sense.
He would have plenty of opportunities in the future to gather artifacts and Spiritual Stones, but receiving the help of the most educated individual in the sect was a priceless opportunity. He barely knew anything about how to run a proper organization of cultivators, and he didn’t really know anything about teaching.
If he had the chance to gain the assistance of someone who actually knew what they were doing, why wouldn’t he take it? Sure, he would rather avoid Elder Yuanlei if he could, but since that wasn’t a viable option in the long term then why should he waste his time trying?
“Are you certain about your demands?” asked Elder Yuanlei once she composed herself.
“I am,” said Mo Duan, nodding firmly. “Opportunities to gain Spiritual Stones are abundant. Expertise is much harder to acquire.”
Yuanlei considered the proposal quietly before eventually agreeing. “Very well. Acquire the venom gland from the Three-Headed Venemous Storm Serpent, and I will offer you my… expertise.”
“I intended to delve into the woods as soon as I finished posting my missions. It should not take me longer than a few days to reach the serpent.”
“Good. The Jiangshi need to be culled as quickly as possible,” said Yuanlei with a satisfied glint in her eyes. “Now that we have resolved that matter, I believe we should discuss the facilities that you wish to build in your valley. If you can describe to me what you are expecting, then I should be able to give you an estimate of how much it will cost you.”
Oh, joy…
As Mo Duan settled in to discuss the costs of building proper infrastructure for his valley, a part of him began to regret asking for something other than Spiritual Stones. If his predecessor was still alive to see it, he would probably be crying tears of blood over how quickly his personal fortune was disappearing.
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Ling Jun let out a tired groan as he sat down on the ground and took on a meditation position.
One of the few good qualities of Tranquil Garden Valley was that it was empty enough that Ling Jun had no issue finding a decent spot to cultivate in. The small glade that he had found was completely devoid of dangerous beasts or noisy disciples.
A part of him wanted to immediately return to the peasant shack that he shared with several other male disciples and go to bed, but he pushed away that urge. It was only thanks to his superior training and physique that he was able to finish his chores before the other disciples his age, and he had no intention of wasting his free time.
Still, it would have been nice to be able to sleep without being kept awake by excited and noisy orphans who don’t even know how to clean themselves properly.
The past few days had been… eye-opening for Ling Jun. He could still remember the moment when many of his peers had begun crying tears of joy when they were told that they would be given free food and could bathe in the river whenever they wanted.
It left Ling Jun feeling awkward and uncomfortable whenever he looked at them.
Now is not the time to think about that.
Ling Jun turned his attention back to his meditations. He had not told anyone about the cultivation method that Elder Mo had given him, because why should he? Ling Jun was well experienced with how people tended to envy and resent those who were above them. It was better to simply keep the fact that he was more special than they were to himself.
Right now, the only thing that he needed to do was focus on his cultivation so that he wouldn’t fall short of Elder Mo’s expectations.
Ling Jun focused on his breathing and kept the initial steps of the Woodland Dominion Method in mind. He had been practicing every night since receiving the method, but he felt like today was the day that he would finally break into the first level of the Qi Condensation stage. It would almost certainly have taken most people much longer, but Ling Jun knew that he was talented and that many resources had been invested into preparing his body for this moment.
Ling Jun quickly found himself falling into a strange state in which he felt distant, yet completely aware of the plant life that surrounded him. He eagerly breathed in the surrounding wood Qi and cycled it through his meridians in the pattern demanded of him by the Woodland Dominion Method.
As someone with a single wood spirit root, doing so felt extremely comfortable and Ling Jun felt himself begin to lose track of time.
Before he could understand what was happening, he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his meridians. It did not feel as if he was suddenly breaking through some kind of barrier, as he had half been expecting. Instead, it felt like an unobtrusive transition as the Qi began to pass through his meridians with greater ease.
As Ling Jun realized what had happened, he quickly opened his eyes and began channeling his Qi into his muscles. After a few moments, Ling Jun reached the conclusion that he was able to channel nearly three times as much Qi as before.
Is this what breaking through feels like for everybody? I was expecting some kind of struggle or even pain, but that felt completely natural.
Ling Jun continued to examine the state of his meridians for several more minutes before he noticed that he could faintly sense the surrounding plants. He had known that the Woodland Dominion Method would allow him to sense plants from the moment that he broke into the Qi Condensation stage, but experiencing it for himself felt strange.
Eventually, Ling Jun realized that he had been cultivating for several hours and that the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. Despite not having slept, Ling Jun did not feel tired in the slightest. He knew that he should probably return to his lodgings, but Ling Jun made no move to do so.
It wasn’t every day that a person took their first step on their cultivation journey, so Ling Jun felt like he could allow himself to enjoy this moment. Instead of returning to his lodgings, he simply decided to lie down in the grove and enjoy the sunrise with a faint smile on his face.