Chapter Nine: Cultivation and Preparation for Exploration

At dusk, as the setting sun faded and the bright moon rose high, Yang Xuan returned to his room after spending the entire afternoon reading in the Scripture Pavilion.

After finishing the spiritual meal brought by a servant, he sat cross-legged on his bed and began his daily cultivation routine.

For cultivators, spiritual power was the foundation of their existence. Whether for spells or magical tools, without sufficient spiritual power, no amount of background or treasures would make a difference.

Therefore, if Yang Xuan wanted to live well and long in this world, his cultivation had to keep pace.

Yet, after only a few minutes of cultivation, Yang Xuan frowned and stopped.

There was no spiritual energy!

Yes, it was as frustrating as that. The prestigious Ninth-Rank Yang Clan, well-known throughout the nearby counties, resided on Yellow Maple Mountain, which shockingly lacked spiritual energy.

Or rather, it wasn’t that there was no spiritual energy at all. Rather, Yang Huaiyun had laid a Spirit-Locking Formation over Yellow Maple Mountain, concentrating all the spiritual energy at the three spirit nodes atop the mountain.

This meant that, aside from those three spots, the rest of Yellow Maple Mountain had only the faintest trace of spiritual energy, barely enough for cultivators at the Qi Refining stage.

For someone like Yang Xuan, who was at the Foundation Establishment stage, this meager amount was utterly insufficient. Just circulating his cultivation technique once would exhaust all the spiritual energy in his room, leaving nothing for a second attempt.

“It seems the original owner was right. After reaching Foundation Establishment, Yellow Maple Mountain can no longer accommodate him.”

Yang Xuan thought with a heavy heart.

Currently, Yellow Maple Mountain had three spirit nodes, occupied by Yang Huaiyun, Elder Li, and Yang Xuan’s elder brother, Yang Li.

As for these three: Yang Huaiyun, as the lord of the territory, naturally had a claim to a spirit node. Elder Li, though not of the Yang family, was a great benefactor; taking away his right to cultivate there would shatter the morale of everyone on the mountain. Yang Li, though not present, was the heir of Yellow Maple Mountain. The spirit node might be lent to Yang Xuan for now, but once Yang Li returned, Yang Xuan would have to step aside.

Some might suggest taking turns, each person cultivating for one day, but this was simply unacceptable. In the world of cultivation, one step ahead meant every step ahead; losing even a day’s worth of cultivation meant falling behind, and over time, one would lag far behind others.

This world was fast-paced. With faith as a means to accelerate cultivation, to be slower by even a step or two meant falling years behind.

Moreover, the spirit node belonged to Yang Li. No matter the brotherhood, when it came to the path of cultivation, there could be no concessions.

After some contemplation, Yang Xuan abandoned his cultivation and instead closed his eyes to ponder the divine art he had acquired that day: the Aura-Viewing Technique.

This divine art, designed to complement the Innate Merit Coin, was truly powerful. Even from the description alone, Yang Xuan could sense its might.

According to the information transmitted by the Innate Merit Coin, once mastered, this divine art would allow him to observe a person’s fortune, investigate their karmic burdens, and much more.

For Yang Xuan, just the abilities to observe fortune and investigate karma were of immense benefit.

In the future, if he wished to establish his own power, he could use this technique to select subordinates.

As for investigating karma, this was crucial to how much merit he could obtain—an extremely important matter.

Thus, even though this divine art was difficult to master, he resolved to dedicate himself to it. As long as he could reach the introductory stage, he could later use merit to enhance his comprehension.

…

Several days later.

At dawn, as the crimson sun rose, Yang Xuan was summoned by Yang Huaiyun to the Yang family’s medicinal garden.

The reason the immortal clans were called clans was because they controlled most of the resources of the human race. With resources and powerful martial strength, they could rise above others.

The Yang family was no exception. In addition to the rare Yellow Maple Wood, unique to Fuyao County, spiritual herbs were another key resource.

The Yang family’s medicinal garden was built atop one of the three spirit nodes on Yellow Maple Mountain.

“Your elder brother is still in Fallen Phoenix City and likely won’t return for years. From now on, you will take his place and oversee this place. The spiritual energy from this node is partially allocated to the medicinal garden, but the remainder should be enough for your cultivation.”

In the garden, Yang Huaiyun, dressed like an old farmer with his sleeves rolled up, scooped a ladle of spiritual water and poured it over a Green Spirit Blossom.

As the spiritual water showered down, the Green Spirit Blossom swayed as if alive.

Watching this, Yang Huaiyun couldn’t help but grin before turning toward Yang Xuan.

This garden occupied the spirit node that belonged to Yang Xuan’s elder brother, Yang Li.

After establishing the family’s foundation on Yellow Maple Mountain, Yang Huaiyun had built the garden here. When Yang Li broke through to Foundation Establishment, Yang Huaiyun had intended to relocate the garden for his son’s cultivation. But soon after, Yang Li was recruited by the Profound Heaven Sect, and the garden remained.

Yang Xuan said nothing but surveyed the garden.

It spanned about two acres, filled with rare and exotic flowers and grasses seldom seen elsewhere. Nourished by spiritual energy, these herbs were far superior to those found in the marketplaces.

This was the advantage of spiritual energy. Typically, a Ninth-Rank family had few spirit nodes, usually just enough for their Foundation Establishment cultivators. Rarely did a family use an entire node to nurture medicinal herbs as the Yangs did.

Because of this, the Yang family’s garden yielded an annual profit of five to six thousand spirit stones.

After a brief glance, Yang Xuan looked away and said to Yang Huaiyun, “Father, I read in the Immortal Gazette the other day that the Profound Water Palace plans to develop the overseas islands and is inviting clans and sects to participate. I intend to try my luck.”

The Immortal Gazette, published by the Alliance of Sects, was akin to a newspaper, reporting events of significance to the cultivation world.

The Profound Water Palace’s plan to challenge the Sea Tribe was a major event, and had naturally been featured in the Gazette.

Yang Huaiyun was not surprised by Yang Xuan’s ambition. Influenced by the Heavenly Court—or rather, the Alliance of Sects—it was common for Foundation Establishment cultivators to seek merit and establish their own legacy. He too had once done so in his youth.

What he hadn’t expected was for Yang Xuan to choose a place so far from Fuyao County.

“The Profound Water Palace is a hundred thousand miles from here, and the overseas islands are the Sea Tribe’s territory. As a cultivator of fire techniques, aren’t you just making things harder for yourself by going there?”

Yang Huaiyun frowned.

“Precisely because fire cultivators are at a disadvantage overseas, the Profound Water Palace is offering generous rewards to recruit them. According to the Immortal Gazette, any fire cultivator who joins will be granted a mid-grade magical tool as a subsidy. Together with the Palace’s superior merit system, I thought it was worth a try,” Yang Xuan replied.

This was indeed part of his reason for going, but the more important reason was that he knew, in two years, the Profound Heaven Sect would face a great calamity, and he wished to avoid it.

As for Yang Huaiyun and the others, he knew that even if he advised them to leave now, they would not do so. For now, he could only take things step by step.

Once he had established himself there, he could send word for them to bring people to assist him, or find some other way to lure them over.

“As you wish. This is your own path of cultivation.”

Yang Huaiyun shook his head, not pressing the matter further.

After a pause, he asked, “When do you plan to depart?”

“The sooner, the better,” Yang Xuan replied.

“Wait a few days. I’ll gather some supplies for you, and ask your sister and Qi Yunshan to give you some support, so you’ll have a better foundation when you arrive.”

Yang Huaiyun considered for a moment.

“Thank you, Father,” Yang Xuan said sincerely.

If his family, his sister, and Qi Yunshan were willing to help, he could quickly assemble a squad of Dao soldiers.

That way, he wouldn’t have to venture out into the frontier all alone.