A Martial Saint!
How could someone like that possibly exist in Jiangyin Prefecture...
This General Leader, who rose from the humble station of a Groom in Anning, was about to soar into the heavens!
It was said that the General Leader aspired to take the Prefecture Official Examination, and there was one scheduled for this very year. If he were to be promoted into the Great Xuan’s official ranks, earn merits, be granted a title for his achievements, and receive a Fief...
Then wouldn’t Anning County have a chance to become his Fief?
A Fief! It meant that from that day forward, the households, the mountains, the seas—every resource in the entire County—would serve this one person, this one family!
That was true success, a meteoric rise far beyond what a county Boss engaged in the business of Mountain Living, or even a Lineage Master in the Prefecture City, could ever compare to!
And by taking a Martial Saint as his Master...
For a country bumpkin from a rural county, this was something once as absurd as a fairy tale, but now, it had become a real possibility!
What an honor it was to serve such a man!
It was just a shame that his own family had produced such a disgrace.
At this thought, Song Chai took a deep breath. He drew a steel blade from the scabbard of a man beside him and, using it as a crutch, walked over to his young son. The boy had been fawning over the Wushan Mountain Lord, but upon Ji Xiu’s arrival, he had been struck with panic, his wits completely scattered.
The bright, gleaming surface of the blade made the vile son’s face turn pale.
"Father, I... I was forced into it! I even saved you! I didn’t let that Wild Deity take your life! I..."
SHLICK!
Fresh blood splattered, pooling on the ground.
Song Chai, holding the dripping blade, exhaled a ragged breath and forced a smile for Ji Xiu.
"General Leader, my family’s discipline is lax. I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you..."
"But as subjects of the Great Xuan, we are taught from the very beginning of our martial training, an ancestral decree: never bow to the Outer Dao or to Demon Fiends."
"It’s just that my own skills are shallow. I couldn’t resist the Wild Deity’s methods and was imprisoned. I am deeply ashamed."
In response, Ji Xiu, who had been gazing at the heavens, lowered his head. Seeing Song Chai’s string of actions, he gave a slight nod.
"Song Boss, you are decisive in your actions, a true hero among men. Do not let it trouble you."
"Tell me what happened at this Earth Dragon Cave. And also, the recent situation in the Eighteen Mountain Towns and Hunting Manors that surround it like a natural Barrier."
The commotion Xu Longxiang had caused by carrying a coffin across the sky meant that this matter was far more complex than Ji Xiu had imagined.
Hearing this, Song Chai gave a bitter smile and began to recount the changes at the Earth Dragon Cave, which had started over half a month ago.
"Not long after you left for Jiangyin Prefecture, General Leader, a thin white mist began to rise from this Earth Dragon Cave. It’s been preventing the mountain folk from our nearby Mountain Towns and Hunting Manors from entering the mountains."
"After all, we make our living from the mountains. If you live on the mountain, you eat from the mountain. If this goes on for too long, the entire towns and manors will have no food to eat."
"So I sent some men to investigate the situation. The investigation yielded a shocking discovery: the Spiritual Mechanism in the mountains had become more than ten times richer than before!"
Spiritual Mechanism is a type of resource that nourishes the Cultivation of Qi Cultivation Grandmasters and Daoist High Merits. It is also the key to nurturing Earth Treasures.
When Martial Artists cultivate Secret Skills or Divine Thoughts, meditating within a Spirit Land rich with Spiritual Mechanism can double the results with half the effort.
If a region’s soil is devoid of Spiritual Mechanism, it cannot produce Earth Treasures, nor can it ever evolve into a Blessed Land. In fact, over time, the remaining energy would grow thinner and thinner until the area becomes a dead land.
Even the worst of places have some trace of Spiritual Mechanism. If there were none at all, it would lead to shifting mountains and rivers, widespread tsunamis, and a re-enactment of the primordial elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, until no life remained.
In all of Jiangyin Prefecture, there were only a handful of places that could be considered Blessed Lands.
The Celestial Blade School’s Golden Turtle Island was the largest among them. Generations of the former Three Yang Sect had planted Earth Treasures there, and it was later further irrigated by Wang Xuanyang with resources plundered from other schools, allowing it to evolve to its current state.
Even so, if the Spiritual Mechanism of this Earth Dragon Cave could increase tenfold right from the start...
Ji Xiu silently made a calculation.
Then the grade of this mountain region must far exceed that of Golden Turtle Island. It might not even stop at being just a Blessed Land.
One day in the future, this place might meet the conditions for Celestial Materials to be born, becoming a Hidden Spirit Land of an even higher grade.
One must understand, Celestial Materials were truly precious ingredients!
The Great Medicine Treasure Pills of the Upper Three Grades all required such Spiritual Objects as their main ingredients to be refined. Each type was exceedingly rare, and it would be a colossal waste for even a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster to use them.
Only a Direct Descendant True Inheritance of a Celestial Pillar Mansion could possibly afford such an extravagant expense.
No wonder that whenever a Realm Gate opened, the great sects and schools would brave the incredible dangers and volunteer to stand guard.
If this was used well...
It was more than just an opportunity of a lifetime—it was an opportunity for ten thousand generations!
Listening to Song Chai’s account, Ji Xiu instinctively realized that if he and his Master, Xu Longxiang, came and crushed the Earth Dragon Cave, rendering the Divine Monarch Temple behind the Realm Gate helpless...
Then...
...someone would probably show up to reap the rewards.
’An Earth Dragon Cave whose Spiritual Mechanism has already increased tenfold, and this is only the beginning. Moreover, the first to arrive was the Dragon Elephant Martial Saint, a man who founded a sect and suppressed a Realm Gate before! Isn’t this the perfect unclaimed territory!?’
However, that was all a matter for later.
But Song Chai, unaware of what was on Ji Xiu’s mind, simply continued, "A tenfold increase in Spiritual Mechanism is naturally a good thing for Martial Artists like us, but it has also completely barred ordinary mountain folk from crossing the white mist and entering."
"After all, it means the Spirit Monsters and Demons within are several times more dangerous than usual!"
"Just as we in the Eighteen Mountain Towns and Hunting Manors were at a loss and about to report the situation to Anning to request an investigation from Jiangyin Prefecture..."
"...some Armored Warriors, bearing weapons, emerged from the white mist. They were neither Martial Artists nor Daoists."
"They claimed they were here to enthrone the Mountain and Earth Deities. From now on, they said, as long as we performed regular sacrifices and offered Incense and Candlelight from our people, we would be able to enter the mountains as usual. They also dispatched an ’Earth Deity’ to every Mountain Town and Hunting Manor."