Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Is Chapter 1209 Spring?

A month later, the village chief of Niubei Village returned with three carts full of goods, including food, but mostly cloth.

After the village chief returned, he convened a general meeting of the villagers, requiring everyone to attend.

In the afternoon, more than 300 people gathered in the village square. Children played games and chattered on the periphery. The weather was still a bit cold, so the village chief had several bonfires built.

The village chief cleared his throat and said, "Fellow villagers, we want to thank Old Li and his family today. Without Old Li, we wouldn't have been able to bring so much stuff back."

The villagers all looked at Old Li with gratitude.

The village chief continued, "The wine that was taken out has all been sold. It sold for ten taels of silver per jar. Our wine is good, so the price is a bit higher. After deducting the five hundred taels of silver used to buy the goods, there are still thirty-nine thousand five hundred taels left. The silver notes are with me. I would like to ask everyone's opinion: should we divide it among ourselves, or should we use it to settle the village's overall accounts?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the villagers erupted in a flurry of opinions, but the most common idea was that everyone should divide the spoils and each family should take control of their own property.

Kova listened for a while but then got annoyed. He was the one who made the alcohol, and the village chief never mentioned it. Kova was getting a little frustrated and wanted to study the stone.

Kournikova tugged at Grandpa Li's sleeve and said, "Grandpa, I'm going back now. Don't bother me about dividing the money."

Grandpa Li was taken aback, realizing that Kova was angry, and said, "If you want to go back, then go back. Actually, you should have taken the lion's share of the money."

"Don't say that. The villagers have it tough too. I don't need the money much," Kournikova said casually.

Grandpa Li glared at Kova and said, "You won't say that once you get into the martial arts academy. I know what to do. Go back now. It's not good for me to talk to you here."

Kournikova nodded, then turned and left.

The next morning, as usual, the four brothers began their workout. First, they ran around the perimeter of Niubeishan Mountain until sunrise, and then they practiced horse stance. Because the three of them were in good physical condition, Kournikova immediately increased the intensity for them.

After morning exercise, Grandpa Li approached Kuva and said he had managed to get him ten thousand taels of silver the night before, which was currently with him and would be returned to him once he entered the martial arts academy. Kuva didn't take it seriously at all. He was already at the peak of the Spirit Refinement stage, the pinnacle of martial arts; why would he need money to go to school?
But the village chief's return without any outsiders following him was not a good thing for Kova, as he had no chance to go to the martial arts academy.

Kournikova needs to recover from her injury as planned. Grandpa Li has already warned her that if she doesn't recover soon, she'll have to go back to farming.

Kournikova lived in the east wing of the Li family's inner courtyard. During the day, when everyone was busy, Kournikova would look at the stone and wonder how she could open up her own little world.

Kournikova climbed onto the rock and sat on it. Her internal energy circulated naturally, and suddenly spiritual energy emanated from the rock, flowing through her body. The spiritual energy eventually returned to her dantian, but her small world absorbed a portion of it.

Logically speaking, he should have been in the Spirit Transformation stage before the teleportation, but now it seems like he's starting all over again. The difference is that he is now absorbing spiritual energy from the spirit stone, and the small world is also absorbing spiritual energy.

Kova is currently unable to communicate with the small world and can only hope that the Natural Scripture will improve so that she can reach the Spirit Transformation stage and open the small world.

Kova circulated the Natural Scripture again, absorbing spiritual energy from the spirit stone time and time again. After nine major cycles and eighty-one cycles of the Natural Scripture, the spiritual energy within her body reached its peak. The spiritual energy began to surge towards her dantian, and as Kova circulated the Natural Scripture once more, her dantian seemed to break through a barrier, doubling in size.

Kova knew that he was now at the early stage of Qi Refining and his divine sense had been restored. Kova was very excited and wanted to look inward and use his divine sense to explore the small world, but he failed. However, Kova was very excited because he could already sense the location of the small world.

Kova used her divine sense to probe the storage space in her hand again, and opened it immediately. Everything inside was there. Kova was now full of confidence because there were still spirit stones that Da Ben hadn't taken out last time.

Since reaching the early stage of Qi Refining, Kova has become diligent. She gets up before dawn, finds the place where she appeared, places the spirit stone there, and practices on it day after day.

Grandpa Li knew that Kova had started to get busy with her own things, so he told the three boys not to bother Kova unless necessary.

A few days later, Kournikova broke through. At this time, the small world fed back spiritual energy to Kournikova, which greatly benefited her. In the darkness, she felt the power of nature. She could communicate with plants and trees and merge into the earth. This meant that she could move freely underground. Kournikova herself also reached the low level of the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

The spiritual energy within the spirit stone has less than half of its original amount, and Kova doesn't know what level she can reach after absorbing it all. Kova is currently reliant on the spirit stone and wants to ask if the Wu Kingdom currently practices immortality cultivation. She can only ask Grandpa Li, whose answer is that he knows nothing about it.

When she had free time, Kournikova would use her divine sense to explore the objects around her and the ground to see if she could sense any spiritual energy, but each time she was disappointed. Kournikova tried going underground and walking underground. The Three Immortals' inheritance included the art of earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic that allows one to escape underground), and Kournikova practiced it constantly.

They didn't find any spirit stones, but they did come across quite a few graves, which Kournikova avoided.

Time passed slowly, and Kova had been in the mountains for three months. With the help of the spirit stones, he had reached the peak of the mid-stage of Qi Refining. According to the description in the Natural Scripture, he needed to establish a connection with all things in order to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining. He needed an opportunity.

Gradually, his cultivation stagnated. He only absorbed a small portion of the spiritual energy brought by the spirit stones; most of it was absorbed by the small world.

Since Kova couldn't resolve the issue with the cultivation technique for the time being, she had no choice but to return to Niubei Village.

As soon as he entered the village, Kuwa scanned the area with his divine sense and found that Dashan was practicing boxing at his home. He seemed quite diligent. It was only noon, and the sun was shining warmly on Niubei Village.

Kournikova strolled into the village, where the villagers greeted him warmly. They held him in high esteem because he had brought about significant changes to the village.

The village looked like it had been renovated, with every household having a small courtyard house, with a yard in front and a garden in the back, all arranged in neat rows, as required by the village chief.

Kova went to Grandpa Li's house on the north side of the village, but Grandpa Li wasn't there. Only Dashan was diligently practicing his skills.

Grandpa Li was at the village chief's house when the second steward of the mayor of Hongniu Town arrived. The steward had come to ask for a method of brewing wine.

The village chief's face darkened, and he hurriedly said that he couldn't make the decision on this matter and that he needed to gather several clan elders in the village to discuss it.

The second steward wasn't in a hurry; he just drank his tea and waited. The village chief summoned several clan elders and explained the purpose of the second steward's trip.

Grandpa Li heard this but didn't say anything or agree. He told the village chief, "This matter can only be agreed to by the second steward if my grandson Kova agrees. I'll go back and ask."

The second steward frowned and looked at the village chief, who quickly explained, "This brewing method was Kuva's idea, and it really did require Kuva's approval."

The second steward said, "Alright, I'll wait one day. I'll stay here tonight. Thank you, Village Chief Wu."

The village chief quickly arranged for the second steward and the accompanying guards to stay.

Grandpa Li frowned, his hands behind his back, and slowly walked home. He was thinking about how to deal with the second steward tomorrow. He didn't know where Kova was.

As soon as he reached his doorstep, a familiar scent wafted into his nostrils. Grandpa Li was delighted; it was Kournikova returning.

I quickly walked a few steps and pushed open the door, and saw Kova instructing the Great Mountain Heavenly Net Fist Technique.

"Grandpa, I'm back. How are you feeling?" Kournikova quickly ran to Grandpa Li.

"Good, all good. We were all so worried about you for the past three months," Grandpa Li said with a smile.

Kournikova was also very happy. He truly regarded Grandpa Li as his own grandfather and Dashan as his own younger brother.

Dinner was cooked by Kova. After Kova went into the kitchen, Dashan lost his focus on practicing his skills. But Kova said that he might have to leave Niubei Village, and if his skills weren't up to par, he wouldn't be able to take him along anymore. So Dashan hurried back to practice.

After Grandpa Li returned, dinner began. The three of them sat down and started eating without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)