Chapter 191: Chapter 191: Revisit

It took several months of painstaking work.

Li Ping had finally finished crafting the Tier Two Upper Grade puppet.

He controlled the puppet, testing its attack, movement, and defensive capabilities in the courtyard. Overall, he was quite satisfied with it.

Once equipped with specially refined Attack and Defense Dharma Artifacts, the puppet could be considered the equivalent of a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator in Magical Combat.

The only thing that made Li Ping frown was the puppet’s Spirit Stone consumption.

A Tier Two Upper Grade puppet required at least Middle-tier Spirit Stones as a power source, and once a battle began, the consumption of these stones was extremely fast.

Li Ping tested it. While simultaneously operating a Tier Two Upper Grade Defense Dharma Artifact and a Tier Two Upper Grade Attack Dharma Artifact, a single Middle-tier Spirit Stone would be reduced to dust in about one hour.

One Middle-tier Spirit Stone was equivalent to one hundred Low-tier Spirit Stones.

’This isn’t Magical Combat, it’s just burning Spirit Stones!’

Fortunately, if it was just for maintaining daily activities without engaging in Magical Combat, the puppet’s Spirit Stone consumption was greatly reduced.

But despite the high cost of using puppets for Magical Combat, Li Ping still planned to craft a few more for self-defense.

After all, with his many High-tier skills, he wasn’t short on Spirit Stones.

...

Over the barren lands of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

WHOOSH!

A black Escape Light streaked across the sky, heading toward the Western Wilderness.

Within this black Escape Light was, of course, Li Ping’s Floating Shadow Shuttle.

A figure in a black robe stood at the tail of the Flying Shuttle, steering it forward, while Li Ping himself sat cross-legged, busy with Alchemy and Talisman-crafting.

The expressionless ’Cultivator’ in the black robe was the Tier Two Upper Grade puppet Li Ping had just crafted, which he had named Jia Yi.

In reality, aside from being unable to cultivate on its own, Jia Yi was no different from a normal Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator when controlled by a sliver of Li Ping’s Divine Sense.

Piloting the Flying Shuttle was naturally no problem for it.

Several days later, the Floating Shadow Shuttle came to a halt above Little Plum Mountain.

Li Ping put away the Flying Shuttle and Jia Yi, then flew directly downward.

Little Plum Mountain was originally a Low-Tier Spiritual Land, without even a Protective Array. However, Li Ping had later purchased a Tier One Array from the market, enveloping the entire mountain within it.

The commotion of Li Ping’s arrival immediately alerted the Cultivator on Little Plum Mountain.

A figure flew out of the Array in a hurry, calling out from a distance, "Uncle Li."

The approaching figure was none other than Ji Shuchen, the current Patriarch of the Ji family. Before passing away, Daoist Ji had skipped over his two sons and passed the position of Patriarch to him.

Li Ping swept his Divine Sense over him and found that after many years, he had already reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Ever since Daoist Ji passed away, Li Ping had rarely bestowed resources like Pills upon the Ji family.

Thus, Ji Shu Xuan, who was in the Immortal City, had reached the Qi Refining Ninth Level early on and was determined to go to the Yan Kingdom to fight for a chance at Foundation Establishment.

Meanwhile, Ji Shuchen, who was of similar age and aptitude, had only reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Of course, as the Patriarch, Ji Shuchen had to manage worldly affairs on a daily basis, which had also delayed his own cultivation.

While Li Ping was lost in thought, Ji Shuchen had already flown closer and bowed respectfully. "Shuchen greets Uncle Li."

"Shuchen, not bad," Li Ping nodded slightly.

As he spoke, a bottle of high-quality Pills beneficial for increasing the cultivation of Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivators floated before Ji Shuchen under the control of his Magical Power. "I see your cultivation is not far from the Qi Refining Ninth Level. I’ll bestow this bottle of Pills upon you. Cultivate well and break through soon."

"Thank you for the Pills, Uncle Li." Ji Shuchen was overjoyed and quickly put the Pills into his Storage Bag.

He then led Li Ping into Little Plum Mountain.

But just as they were about to enter the Array, Li Ping suddenly stopped.

After Daoist Ji passed away, his descendants scattered his ashes all over Little Plum Mountain in accordance with his final wishes.

From then on, he would slumber eternally on Little Plum Mountain, becoming the gentle breeze that watched over generations of the Ji family as they thrived there.

"Old Brother Ji, it’s been a long time."

...

The Spiritual Land of Little Plum Mountain wasn’t large, only about a hundred mu in total.

Due to the intermarriages between the Ji and Yan families, Cultivators from the Yan family who were later found to have Spiritual Roots were also sent to Little Plum Mountain to be educated alongside the Ji family Cultivators and learn the ways of cultivation.

Things were fine at the beginning, but after Daoist Ji passed away...

...the two families produced more and more Cultivators. Little Plum Mountain became insufficient to support so many of them, and the Underground Spirit Vein could not be exposed.

Therefore, following Li Ping’s instructions, Ji Shuchen rented a Tier One Spiritual Land from the Yu family of Bifeng Lake—one that was several times larger than Little Plum Mountain—for the two families’ Cultivators to practice and manage.

As for Little Plum Mountain, it had become a ’kindergarten’ dedicated to nurturing the younger generation of the two families.

Normally, only Ji Shuchen and an instructor responsible for teaching the younger generation resided here.

The other Cultivators from both families were all at the other Spiritual Land.

Li Ping saw that on the hundred-mu plot of land, aside from a few mu in the center planted as a Spirit Medicine Garden, the rest was covered with rows of exquisite houses.

According to Ji Shuchen’s explanation, over the years, the two families had produced a total of twenty-four Cultivators. Currently, only five Cultivators under the age of eighteen were receiving instruction on Little Plum Mountain.

The aptitude of the two families’ Cultivators was mostly average, with Four and Five Spirit Roots being predominant. Ji Shuchen was the only Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator.

However, although the Ji family’s own strength was average, they had a clan member with whom they were on good terms cultivating in the Crimson Flame Sect, and she had already reached Foundation Establishment.

Therefore, the many surrounding Cultivation Clans, including the Yu family of Bifeng Lake, did not dare to look down on the Ji family.

Once inside, Ji Shuchen invited Li Ping to sit down and served him Spirit Tea, while he himself stood respectfully to the side, chatting with Li Ping with a smile.

During the conversation, Li Ping asked about Yan Hengchuan.

Ji Shuchen quickly replied, "Elder Yan returned to the Jiang Kingdom two years ago. After he came back, he took great care of our two families..."

"Mm," Li Ping nodded as he listened.

According to Ji Shuchen, after Yan Hengchuan returned to the Jiang Kingdom, he did not act too flamboyantly.

After staying in the Jiang Kingdom for a while, he had intended to return to the Immortal City to cultivate.

But before returning to the Immortal City, he made a special trip to visit the Yu family of Bifeng Lake to lend support to the Yan and Ji families.

As it turned out, during the visit, he and the Yu family’s newly advanced Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Yu Peiling, took a liking to each other.

With the feelings being mutual, Yan Hengchuan gave up his plan to return to the Immortal City and instead decided to become dual cultivation partners with Yu Peiling and remain in the Jiang Kingdom.

After hearing this, Li Ping was slightly speechless.

’It seems what Yan Hengchuan said in his letter about wanting to spend more time with his elders was complete nonsense.’

’He was simply driven by lust, seduced by Yu Peiling’s beauty, and for that, he didn’t hesitate to abandon his original plan to return to the Immortal City.’

’It’s for the best. For a Five Spirit Roots Cultivator like him, reaching Foundation Establishment was already a stroke of immense luck. Staying in the Jiang Kingdom to develop and live an ordinary life is also a good thing.’ Li Ping nodded to himself, having no intention of interfering with Yan Hengchuan’s choice.

Finally, Ji Shuchen asked cautiously, "By the way, Uncle Li, should we tell Elder Yan about the Underground Spirit Vein on Little Plum Mountain?"

He had once promised Li Ping that he would not tell anyone the secret of the Underground Spirit Vein on Little Plum Mountain, including Ji Shuwen who had joined the Crimson Flame Sect.

This was mainly because Ji Shuwen was a Sect Cultivator, and she would marry one day, so she might not prioritize the interests of the Ji family.

Yan Hengchuan’s situation was different from Ji Shuwen’s; he was a family Cultivator.

For him, after himself, the Yan and Ji families came first.

That was why Ji Shuchen had asked. ree

"About that..." Li Ping thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Since there are no plans to use the Underground Spirit Vein in the short term, there’s no need to tell him for now. He’ll find out naturally when it’s eventually opened."

Although Yan Hengchuan was nominally a family Cultivator, he hadn’t received much ’family loyalty’ education before going to Fenglan Immortal City to cultivate with Li Ping.

In the Immortal City, he was like a Loose Cultivator and had developed the self-centered mentality of one.

Furthermore, he practiced a Demon Cultivator’s Cultivation Technique, and his personality was unknowingly being influenced by it.

Li Ping worried that telling him about this would cause unnecessary trouble.

The matter of the Underground Spirit Vein was of great importance; the less trouble, the better.

Hearing Li Ping’s decision, Ji Shuchen nodded repeatedly. "Uncle Li, I understand."

Next, Li Ping asked Ji Shuchen about the recent situation in the Jiang Kingdom and learned that it had also dispatched a large number of Cultivators to follow the Crimson Flame Sect to the Liang Kingdom to aid in the war.

The Yu family of Bifeng Lake had dozens of its Cultivators drafted, and even the Yu family’s Old Ancestor had personally gone to battle.

As for the Ji family, first, they were too small and their family Cultivators had little combat prowess. Second, Ji Shuwen had specifically put in a word with the Yu family, so none of their Cultivators were drafted.

Speaking of the war, Li Ping sighed inwardly and told Ji Shuchen about Ji Shu Xuan’s disappearance in the Yan Kingdom.

Hearing this, Ji Shuchen’s expression first went blank, then turned somber.

Ji Shu Xuan was his peer. They had grown up together and shared a deep bond.

Although they had rarely seen each other since Ji Shu Xuan went to the Immortal City to cultivate, creating a sense of distance, their blood connection could never be erased.

Now, learning that Ji Shu Xuan had gone to the battlefields of the Yan Kingdom to fight for a chance at Foundation Establishment and had most likely fallen, Ji Shuchen was overcome with grief.

After Daoist Ji, Ji Shu Xuan was the second Cultivator the Ji family had lost!

"You don’t need to be too sad. Shu Xuan is only missing; his body hasn’t been found. Perhaps he’s still alive," Li Ping comforted, although he himself didn’t really believe it.

Ji Shuchen nodded. "Uncle Li, I understand."

He knew this outcome was Ji Shu Xuan’s own choice and no one else was to blame.

In truth, a part of him even envied Ji Shu Xuan.

’If I weren’t the Patriarch, burdened with the family’s heavy responsibilities, perhaps I too would have answered the call to go to the battlefield and fight for a chance at Foundation Establishment!’

’What Low-tier Cultivator in this world doesn’t want to advance?’

’If there was a choice, who would be willing to resign themselves to a lifetime of struggling at the bottom of the Cultivation Realm?’

But Ji Shuchen knew that as the only Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator in the family, his position was indispensable.

If something happened to him, the Ji family might never recover.

Therefore, he could not take the risk.

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