Chapter 189 – In Search of a Place for Cultivation (1/2)
The exit was in a mountainous forest. As it happened to be the middle of autumn, the mountain had become dyed. Red, yellow, and green merged together to form a fluctuating landscape. As the brilliant sunlight landed on his eyes, he blinked, breathing in deeply to take in the fresh air of the surface.
As expected, he was much more suited for living on the surface. The Zombie Daoist’s dwelling was too deep underground, so he could not come out and get a fresh breath of air whenever he wanted. It would be best if he could find a somewhat obscure cave and build a house over it. Afterwards, he would be able to dive into the ground or come out and get some fresh air whenever he wanted. That would be the life!
Of course, it was not like the Zombie Daoist preferred it underground. Instead, he had decided on this after some consideration. If his dwelling was too close to the surface, it would be too easy for the Hawkwolf Guard to storm his base and arrest him. He paid peculiar attention to the location of his dwelling as well. When Li Qingshan cultivated there, he could feel his true qi move about much faster. He could sense that the spiritual qi of the world in the cave was much denser than other places through his Fengchi acupoint.
Spiritual veins riddled the underground. The dwelling must have been located above a certain spiritual vein, abiding to the need of a good environment out of the four crucial elements to cultivation—wealth, companionship, method, and environment. Although it was not on the level of blessed lands mentioned in the legends, it still brought great benefit to cultivation.
However, Li Qingshan had never been walking a path of cultivation where he was supposed to advance steadily, step by step. Instead, he relied on tremendous amounts of pills to forcefully push his cultivation forward. A special place for cultivation did not hold much significance to him. It was not like he would need one until he had finished all the pills he had on him.
Opening the mental map of the Green province, Li Qingshan confirmed his location. He was in a place a hundred kilometers south-east of Jiaping city. It was on the boundary of the region that the Hawkwolf Guard of Jiaping city was responsible for, which was exactly what he wanted.
Fifteen kilometers to the south was a small city called Salt Mountain city, as it was located on a mountain of salt.
The value of salt mines was no less than gold or iron mines. Although they were not enough to attract interest from Qi Practitioners, they were places that people of the jianghu would fight over. Whether it be claiming a salt mine or transporting the salt, it all required the protection of masters. It was a place where the tradition of martial arts was deeply ingrained. All the people on the streets carried blades and swords, moving about however they pleased. They all seemed imposing.
However, great hero Yu had his troubles. The troubles of everyone powerful were mostly related to encountering someone even more powerful. He felt helpless.
“Manor lord Yu, I’ll be taking those kids then,” said a middle-aged man. He wore a set of green robes and wielded a sword in a green scabbard. His collar and cuffs were embroidered with green vines. Surprisingly, the aura he gave off was at the third layer. Beside him stood four children around twelve or thirteen years of age. They were all excited but rather reluctant to leave as well.
Yu Shukuang smiled along. “Alright. Feel free to take them, brother Liu. These children will definitely have a better future in the Green Vine mountain.”
These children were all of his most outstanding young disciples. Two of them came from humble origins, so he even went as far as to keep them fed and clothed for several years, just so the Proud Sword sect could gain a few more masters in the future. However, he never thought they would just end up being poached away. These disciples of the Green Vine mountain came over, flapped their gums, and took them away. It was painful.
Cultivation sects required outstanding talents as well as new blood, but with the tiny number of Qi Practitioners that existed in the world, it was impossible for them to go from household to household in search of suitable talent. Instead, they would directly come to these larger sects and gangs of the jianghu, which became an extremely convenient and effective method. Many cultivation sects even created their own gangs and schools, just to expand their influence so that it would be easier to recruit disciples.
“Our Green Vine mountain obviously won’t take advantage of you. Here’s a Qi Gathering pill. It’ll be very beneficial for when you break through to the innate realm.” Liu Fengrui left behind an embroidered box, and all that was inside the box was a pitiful Qi Gathering pill. However, he acted like he had just done Yu Shukuang a great favour.
Yu Shukuang cursed inside. Do you really think I’m an ignorant bumpkin!? With his wealth and how common Qi Gathering pills were among Qi Practitioners, even buying several dozen of them would have been a piece of cake. It brought no benefit to his future attempts at breaking through to the innate realm at all. However, he acted like he was flattered. “That’s far too precious!”
At this moment, a disciple hurried over and reported, “Lord of the manor, someone wishes to see you.”
Yu Shukuang said furiously, “Can’t you see that I’m receiving a valued guest?”
The disciple said pitifully, “But he said he’s your friend, manor lord.”
Liu Fengrui said, “If that’s the case, I’ll take my leave then.”
Yu Shukuang stood up in a hurry to see him off. He constantly nodded and bowed his head along the way, but he sighed inside. Zijian, oh Zijian, don’t disappoint your father. You need to accomplish something with your cultivation so that you can back up your father when you return.
Sending him off at the front entrance, Yu Shukuang glanced from the corner of his eye and saw a figure as robust as an ox sitting on a long bench near the entrance. He wore a great big bamboo hat that obscured his appearance, and he had a large bamboo basket beside him. It was lidded, so it was impossible to tell what it was holding.
The disciple whispered, “Manor lord, that’s him!”
Yu Shukuang was confident that he did not have a friend like that, or he definitely would have remembered such a stature. No, he should say that he had never seen someone with such a figure in his entire life before.
The figure stood up quickly and arrived before Yu Shukuang. “Great hero Yu, long time no see.”
At that moment, Yu Shukuang basically felt his vision darken slightly. However, the sincere voice sounded rather familiar. “You’re?”
Li Qingshan lifted his hat slightly. Although his stature and skin tone had changed tremendously, such that even his face had become rather strange, Yu Shukuang still managed to recognise him with a single glance. He cried out, “It’s you!”
Liu Fengrui completely ignored Yu Shukuang. He directly boarded his carriage and departed. He had never taken great hero Yu seriously the entire time.
Yu Shukuang was no longer in the mood to lose his temper over that. The Tiger Butcher had come knocking, so what good could come out of that? He became temporarily stunned.