Gu An put the Purple Cloud Goose egg into his storage bag. He had checked it already: it would never hatch, so it was safe to store there.
“Couldn’t it have given me a fertilized one?” Never quite satisfied, he imagined himself soaring across the sky on a Purple Cloud Goose.
I must buy a flying spirit beast in the future!
Preferably one I raise myself, loyal!
Hmm, and if something unexpected happens, it can provide me with some spiritual Qi. Two birds with one stone. Only under my care can this spirit beast truly realize its value in life!
Gu An called Bai Zhi over and instructed her to leave the island and return to Blackrock City. He told her to inform the Blackrock City Lord to bring all the Black-Pattern Iron tomorrow, and granted her half a month’s leave. Seeing Qingliu staring at him with eager eyes, he also granted her wish and let her go home as well.
The two women prepared lunch, took their leave, and together rowed a boat off the island.
Gu An ate at leisure, looking out over the rippling lake. As the breeze brushed his face, the tension within him finally began to ease.
After all, it was a late-stage Qi Condensation spirit beast. Although the misunderstanding had been resolved, being so close to it still made Gu An quite nervous.
After finishing his meal, Gu An went into the lake and fully exerted his Entangling Spell. Eight vines, like green pythons entering the water, flexibly wove through it, capturing all sixty-three Black Spirit Fish one by one and placing them into the spirit beast bag.
This spirit beast bag was not large; several dozen fish took up nearly half its space. He also drew some water into it to keep the Black Spirit Fish alive.
The next morning, just as Gu An finished his meditation, he heard movement outside the courtyard.
Walking out of the house and pushing open the courtyard gate, he saw the Blackrock City Lord, along with four black-armored soldiers, moving a box from the boat onto the lake island.
The single rosewood chest was not large, but all four men handled it with care.
The Immortal Iron requested by the Immortal Master must not be handled carelessly!
Seeing Gu An push open the gate and walk out, the Blackrock City Lord hurried over to greet him.
“Immortal Master Gu, Immortal Master Gu, this commandery has collected a total of thirty-two catties and seven taels of Black-Pattern Iron ore this year. It’s all here. Please take a look.”
As he spoke, he signaled the four black-armored soldiers to open the box.
The iron ore was entirely black-gray in color, its surface densely covered with spiderweb-like dark red natural patterns, resembling dried bloodstains. The patterns emitted a faint metallic luster under the light.
It was in angular, blocky shapes. Gu An knocked on it with his hand, and it emitted a dull hum.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed to exude a faint earthy smell, with subtle spiritual Qi fluctuations.
Gu An had seen this type of spirit iron in the texts of the Scripture Pavilion. It was classified as first-grade lower-tier, imbued with Earth Fiend Qi, and was commonly used in the refinement of many low-grade magical artifacts. These few pieces were raw ore; after refining, they would probably yield about three catties, worth around a dozen or so spirit stones. Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
The texts also recorded that in extremely rare cases, Black-Pattern Iron buried in Blood Fiend land could transform into first-grade high-tier spirit material, Blood-Pattern Iron. Blood-Pattern Iron was far more valuable, with a single catty worth several dozen spirit stones.
Recalling what he had read about the iron, Gu An swept it into his storage bag with a wave of his sleeve. “Well done, City Lord Zhang. I’ll see that your efforts are reported.”
The city lord thanked him profusely, visibly delighted. Yun Kingdom lay under the Qingyuan Sect’s influence. An official’s promotion or demotion depended less on keeping the peace and protecting the people than on supplying the sect with spiritual resources and winning the favor of its cultivators.
“I intend to return to the royal city to report on my duties. This trip will take at least half a month. City Lord Zhang, you must take good care of White Mirror Lake.” Gu An accepted the Blackrock City Lord’s thanks with a clear conscience and issued a warning.
After speaking, Gu An activated the Light Body Spell, walking on water like stepping on duckweed, graceful as a startled swan. In a few bounds, he reached the meadow outside the lake.
“Neigh.”
Something black came racing toward him. Gu An looked closer: it was Little Black, his Black-Scale Horse.
A year had passed. Although Little Black often grazed outside on its own, and Gu An only fed it a handful of ordinary grain and a few chicken eggs each day, it was still plump and strong, its scales glossy and shiny, nourished by the spiritual Qi of White Mirror Lake.
Stroking Little Black’s mane, Gu An said with a smile, “Little Black, let’s go.”
Then he mounted the horse, oriented himself, and headed towards the Red Maple Mountain Spirit Land.
..
“Second Uncle, with this year’s bumper harvest, has the clan leader said anything about increasing our allowance?”
“No. It’s only six hundred extra catties. Where would we get the spirit stones for that?”
“Couldn’t we at least get more spirit rice? I’ve been stuck at the second layer of Qi Condensation for four years.”
In the spirit field, two men chatted idly under the sun, occasionally picking up stray grains and ears of spirit rice left in the field and putting them into the storage bag at the waist of the middle-aged man.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came, growing from distant to near, gradually becoming clear.
What came into view was a young man riding a black horse, galloping towards the two of them.
The two men warily stared at the young man on the horse until he was close, and they saw the green cauldron embroidered on his chest. Only then did they let out a long breath.
“Are you members of the Lin Clan of Red Maple Mountain? I am Gu An of the Qingyuan Sect, stationed in Blackrock Commandery. I’ve come to pay a visit.”
The newcomer was Gu An. He had spotted these two from afar and sensed that the spiritual pressure emanating from them was only at the early stage of Qi Condensation. Seeing them picking up grains in the spirit field of Red Maple Mountain, he guessed they were members of the Lin Family and came forward to inquire.
The two exchanged a glance. The middle-aged man stepped forward and spoke, “We are indeed from the Lin Family. I am Lin Changfeng, and this is my nephew, Lin Qing’an. Greetings, Fellow Daoist Gu.” This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Gu An frowned inwardly. The Lin clan leader had visited him before and registered all the clan’s cultivators. Lin Changfeng was on the list, but he had never heard of Lin Qing’an.
Gu An pointed to the younger man. “Fellow Daoist Lu Ping visited me before. Why wasn’t this young man’s name mentioned?”
Hearing this, Lin Changfeng finally let down his guard completely. He stepped forward and cupped his hands, “Please don’t take offense, Fellow Daoist Gu. My nephew’s real name is actually Lin Qingsong.”
“Then why give me a false name?” Lin Qingsong matched the records, but that only made Gu An more curious.
“Forgive me, Fellow Daoist Gu. This was truly not our intention. Our Lin Family has always been utterly loyal to the Qingyuan Sect.”
“The reason we did this is that there were circumstances.”
“Our Lin Family..”
“Stop, stop, stop. I naturally do not doubt the Lin Family’s loyalty. However, I still have matters to discuss with your clan leader. Fellow Daoist Lin, please get straight to the point!” Gu An found Lin Changfeng’s rambling somewhat headache-inducing and hurriedly interrupted him.
“The clan leader said there have been robber cultivators recently.” Lin Qingsong, standing by, summed it up in one breath.
“Yes, yes, yes, there are robber cultivators. I heard they’ve already committed crimes in another commandery, wiping out a small family.” Lin Changfeng continued the conversation.
Robber cultivators. Gu An’s heart lurched as he recalled what the Qingyuan Sect had taught about evildoers.
Robber cultivators lived by theft and murder. Rather than producing anything themselves, they lurked outside markets looking for rich victims or laid traps to lure them in. The strongest attacked spirit lands outright, burning, killing, and looting. Their reputation could hardly be worse.
Such bandits needed strength to survive. Without it, they would only be handing their lives to their intended victims. Most cultivators who encountered them would be outmatched.
The Qingyuan Sect had taught that robber cultivators should be shown no mercy.
Memories of his past life had made Gu An mature early, and the sect’s lessons had never turned him into a crusader. Righteousness, evil—weren’t they mostly a matter of competing interests? He benefited from the Qingyuan Sect’s rule, so he might help if it was safe.
But now, he was merely a minor cultivator at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation. Even fighting against early-stage Qi Condensation cultivators seemed risky to him. Therefore, he only felt worry about this matter of robber cultivators.
“Just don’t let them come after me!” Gu An prayed inwardly.
Seeing that Gu An was interested in the matter of the robber cultivators, the two men spoke up, “We don’t know any more of the details. Fellow Daoist Gu, you can go into the mountain and discuss it in detail with the clan leader.”
Gu An nodded slightly and asked the two to lead the way.