chsdbacks Chapter 257: Daily Life
Chapter 257: Daily Life
Jiang Qingya looked at the peach sapling in front of her, which she had just watered. In just a few days, it had already sprouted tender green leaves and was swaying gently in the wind. Her tense shoulders and back relaxed completely.
She turned her head and looked at the medicinal garden on the back of Bobo Mountain. Busy figures filled the woods; new disciples like herself were carefully tending to their spiritual plants, earnestly contributing to the sect. This peaceful yet vibrant scene suddenly brought a lump to Jiang Qingya's throat, a bittersweet feeling welling up inside her, a complex mix of emotions she couldn't quite describe.
Once upon a time, she escaped from that remote mountain village, leaving behind her violent husband and her young child, and ventured out alone, all in search of a way to live forever.
Immortality is something that is not so easy to obtain.
She had been a beggar begging on the streets, a maidservant in a wealthy household, risked her life for the sake of her human race for a little cultivation resources, and crossed most of the wilderness with caravans, teetering on the brink of death several times. It was through all this stumbling and struggling that she managed to cultivate to her current Refining Realm by relying on the meager resources she had earned through her own desperate struggles.
Among rogue cultivators who have reached this level, very few can still advance further, though some are not entirely without options. But Jiang Qingya is truly at her wit's end.
She was originally a female cultivator, and her appearance and figure were already outstanding. As her cultivation deepened and her blood and qi were nourished, she gained even more gentle and graceful charm. Along the way, she encountered countless malicious people who coveted her, and she was in danger several times, almost being violated and defiled.
For female cultivators, which is more important, cultivation level or physical health? Everyone has a different answer. But for Jiang Qingya, her purpose in cultivation, besides seeking a longer lifespan, is to truly control her own destiny.
If the price of cultivation is to compromise and be humiliated by others, then she would have been better off not leaving that small mountain village, not leaving that home that wasn't exactly happy, but at least provided a stable life.
Perhaps, those days of toiling in the fields weren't so unbearable after all.
Her chaotic thoughts drifted further and further away when a mountain breeze swept through the forest, dispelling the afternoon heat and bringing coolness to the grass and trees. Jiang Qingya suddenly snapped back to reality, offering a weak, self-deprecating smile.
"Now that I've joined the sect, I finally have a real place to settle down."
After resting for a while, she followed the markings assigned to her task to find the next pre-dug planting hole. She carefully took out the spirit herb seedling from the cloth bag on her back, gently planted it in the warm, moist spirit soil, covered it with soil, tamped it down, and watered it, her movements meticulous.
Repeating the cycle endlessly, without ever growing tired of it.
The task they were assigned to was to cultivate medicinal herbs. For each medicinal herb that was successfully planted and survived, they would receive ten credits.
Jiang Qingya knew exactly what academic credits were—they were just like contribution points in other sects, and could be exchanged for all the resources needed for cultivation within the sect, which was the foundation for survival.
……
"Wow! Our sect can exchange for so many things!"
Inside the sect's shop, several petite figures were clinging to the counter, staring wide-eyed at what was in front of them, letting out gasps of surprise.
The shop, as the name suggests, is a place within the Yin-Yang Sword Sect specifically for exchanging supplies. Zhang Ping chose this straightforward name to save trouble. Fortunately, there are many places in the Taihu Lake Region that call their shops "shops," so the disciples in the sect understood it immediately without any difficulty.
Luo Tianyi was exceptionally petite, barely reaching 1.5 meters tall, and had to stand on tiptoe to see the content at the top of the screen. She and two friends from the same town had completed several simple sect missions in a row, finally earning their first set of credits. She couldn't wait to drag them to the shop, eager to see what good things she could afford.
The shop was very spacious. On the innermost wall, a phantom light screen formed by an array floated in mid-air, like a huge spiritual mirror. All the redeemable items were clearly displayed on it, with the image, function, and required credits for each item clearly marked.
This thing was designed and made by Zhang Ping himself, based on the electronic screen from his previous life. Compared to the wooden plaques and jade slips filled with words from other sects, it was far more convenient and impressive. Of course, while it was convenient, this formation operated day and night, consuming spirit coins every moment, so the cost was quite high.
Luo Tianyi didn't care about any of that, since it wasn't her spirit coins that were being spent. At this moment, she was staring intently at the scrolling manuals and martial arts techniques on the light screen, her eyes practically drooling, her pupils sparkling.
"Tianyi! Look! There's actually a secret cultivation method for Qi and Blood that's only for Body Refinement Realm cultivators!" The female cultivator next to her suddenly grabbed her arm, pointed to the content that had just been refreshed on the light screen, and exclaimed in surprise.
Luo Tianyi glanced over immediately, her eyes landing on the price in the bottom right corner: 10000 credits.
She looked down at her identity token in her hand, which clearly displayed "Available Credits: 10". She deflated instantly, like a punctured balloon.
"This is too expensive..." She coughed lightly, trying to save face, "I'll buy it later when I have more credits!"
Although she herself was unsure when she would be able to accumulate enough credits.
The three little girls lingered in front of the light screen, looking at it back and forth for more than half an hour, flipping through everything on it, before reluctantly leaving the store together.
"Tianyi, I heard from the senior sister next to our eldest sister that the sect leader will be giving a public swordsmanship class tomorrow. It's the first public class since we joined the sect. Do you want to go?" Li Lili asked softly, affectionately linking her arm with Luo Tianyi's. The two came from the same city and joined the sect together, so they were very close.
"Go! Of course we'll go!" Luo Tianyi instantly perked up, patting her friend's shoulder with a clear and strong voice, "This is the Sect Master's first lecture, we have to go see! I want to see how a Grandmaster of the Divine Integration Realm teaches us swordsmanship!"
She clenched her little fists, her eyes sparkling: "I've decided! From now on, I'm going to major in swordsmanship and minor in formations. I'm determined to become an unparalleled master cultivator who roams the world!"
"...Okay! I'll go with you!"
……
At the mountaintop, the main hall of the sect.
Zhang Ping remained engrossed in his work, busy testing the talents of the demon beast parts. The demon beast materials he had collected during his previous training trips filled an entire storage bag, and he hadn't had time to sort through them all. Now that the sect had stabilized, he could take advantage of the free time to test and examine them one by one.
Unfortunately, the result was still unsatisfactory, and they still couldn't find any top-tier talent that could qualitatively change their strength.
He did come across quite a few useless talents that were neither useful nor worth discarding. Since he happened to have the corresponding materials on hand, he casually imprinted them all onto himself. These included talents that amplified the power of formations, those that allowed for precise control of flames, and those that granted him a natural affinity for spiritual plants—a wide variety of talents.
While these talents may not be overwhelmingly powerful, they are highly practical and applicable in various aspects.
For example, this fire control talent is like adding wings to a tiger when used in alchemy. What surprised Zhang Ping even more was that this fire control talent, combined with the concentration talent that he had unintentionally acquired before, resulted in an absurdly high success rate in alchemy. He could even successfully refine many unconventional pill formulas on the first try, and the quality of the pills was not low.
……
The Azure Ox Sect is located deep within its territory.
"Senior Brother Xu, Senior Brother Zhang... he's also dead!"
As night fell, the darkness became as black as ink, so thick it seemed impossible to see through.
The room was completely dark, with no lights on. Only a trembling voice, choked with sobs, echoed in the deathly darkness, carrying an undisguised fear.