Chapter 7 (1/2)

Instead of planning to eradicate the pests in the spiritual lands, Shiao Tianren talked to Lin Xun about things that had taken place more than one hundred years ago.

Lin Xun listened silently, in spite of the queer feeling rising in his heart.

“There used to have nothing, and no one could survive here. One day, a spiritual tattooist from Donglin Town stumbled across a small lode of Feiyun Fire Copper on his way through…”

According to Shiao Tianren, several miles behind Feiyun Village located Smoking Mountain at that time, inside which buried a lode of Feiyun Fire Copper. It was an excellent spiritual ingredient to make spiritual weapon, thus it was expensive. A small piece of it, such as the size of an infant’s fist, could sell for three imperial silver coins in the city.

That copper vein had no doubt been worth a great fortune.

So the distinguished practitioners from Donglin Town had flocked here to mine the Feiyun Fire Copper, together with lots and lots of slaves they had captured.

It had taken them a good ten years to dig out all the copper, and then they had returned to Donglin Town fully loaded.

When they left, they had not bothered to take those slaves, who were abandoned and left in the empty mine on their own.

The village head, Shiao Tianren, was one of the survived slaves, and all the other villagers were the descendants of the slaves.

That was also why the village was called Feiyun.

After hearing this, Lin Xun couldn’t help but sigh. As someone who had lived in a dark mine prison since he was an infant, of course he knew how miserable a life the salves led. Their lives were as cheap as dirt and their fates were in the hands of others.

He was also surprised and a bit admired when he heard that one of the slaves who had survived could make his way to be the village head.

To build a village as thriving as Feiyun from a deserted mine and help the descendants of the slaves to settle in and flourish, one must have extraordinary capabilities and courage.

As if he had sensed what was on Lin Xun’s mind, Shiao Tianren waved his hand and said in a self-deprecating way, “I am not as capable as you think. Feiyun Village is what it is today all because of the spiritual tattooist who used to live in this cottage.”

Seeming to get a little emotional, he continued, “It was the spiritual tattooist who excavated the spiritual land and taught us how to plant the spiritual grain in it. Otherwise, all of us would have starved to death in the wild.”

Lin Xun blurted out, “Why didn’t you leave since the conditions were so harsh and unfavorable?”

Shiao Tianren shook his head, “Leaving is easier said than done. Feiyun Village is located deep in the thousands of mountains at the southwest border of Ziyao Empire, which is known as a natural moat since long before. The nearest city is five thousand miles away, and the way to it is full of dangers like ferocious beasts and poisonous insects. No one could survive the journey without the protection of a powerful practitioner.”

Only then did Lin Xun understand that it was far more difficult than he had expected to get to a populated city from here, even though he had already been in the territory of Ziyao Empire.

But he was not worried about it. As long as alive, dreams would come true one day.

At this moment, Shiao Tianren suddenly laughed. He patted the shoulder of Lin Xun, and said, “Young man, I know you will not spend your whole life in Feiyun Village. But I give you my word, as long as you stay here, we will treat you as one of us.”

Lin Xun earnestly nodded his head, “Please rest assured, Uncle Shiao. I will also see you as my own.”

Shiao Tianren gave a hearty laugh, “That would be great.”