Symbiotic panel, I am cultivating immortality in the world of immortality

Chapter 168 Rain and Fog Above the Ashes
After Li Ye went ashore, he basically recovered his magical powers.

He looked at the two emaciated figures and took out some food suitable for them from the Jianmu tree.

"Thank you for saving me."

"This is some food I've saved up. Please have a taste."

Food that Li Ye could keep inside the Jianmu tree was naturally all delicious, and for the grandfather and grandson who had been starving for so long, it was nothing short of divine food.

The grandfather and grandson looked at the food, but their eyes were full of wariness.

The old man even shielded his granddaughter behind him, keeping a close eye on Li Ye.

His short, hunched figure resembled an old wolf driven to the brink of despair, giving Li Ye a sense of danger.

Danger?

He feels threatened by ordinary people.

He had many ways to comfort her, but after thinking it over, he still chose the "compassionate melody".

The gentle music, carrying his goodwill, surrounded the grandfather and grandson.

Perhaps they had never heard such beautiful music in their painful past, and were soon drawn to it, even the barren land began to sprout tender grass.

The old man was still somewhat wary, but the little girl was already reaching out to touch the tender grass with a face full of surprise, her eyes reflecting a joy she hadn't felt in a long time.

Grandpa, look!

The girl exclaimed in surprise:
"This uncle can conjure up green grass, so can we grow rice now, like the golden rice that my mother used to feed me!"

Seeing this, the old man sighed slightly, did not answer, and tacitly approved of his granddaughter's actions.

Li Ye was still playing his instrument, the music reaching deep into the earth.

—This is an attempt that Li Ye is making at the same time.

He wanted to see if this land could respond to him; when he first learned geomancy, he used it as a kind of exploration spell.

The result was, to put it mildly, unsatisfactory.

Even the desolate land responded to him; apart from the river, there was basically no danger. The only problem was that the place seemed to be sealed off.

Surrounded by mountains on all sides—the mountains isolated the outside world and the detection of spiritual energy.

So the current situation is basically that we're trapped here.

Fortunately, he had brought many treasures with him, and the Jianmu tree also contained a lot of things, so he was able to remain calm even in the face of this situation.

This is the confidence that comes from strength and foundation.

Moreover, once he gets outside, even if he's no longer in the Eastern Region, he can still get a lot of help by using the Four Seasons Sect's influence.

"Ugh."

A long sigh drew Li Ye's attention back. The hunched, frail old man, resembling a helpless wolf driven from its pack, spoke:

"Our distinguished guest must be an immortal from outside... perhaps an immortal from the Four Seasons Demon Sect."

Four Seasons Demonic Sect?

That's quite an interesting nickname.

If it were some cultivators who were fanatical about their sect, they would probably be secretly thinking about how to plant people inside trees when they heard this.

"Why do you say that?"

"What exactly did the Four Seasons Demonic Sect do?"

Li Ye's voice remained gentle, showing no sign of being provoked or angry.

—It wasn't an act; he was genuinely curious about how the Hell Path planned to smear them, and he wanted to write it down to tell his senior brothers as a joke later.

However, the old man's words made him unable to calm down.

The old man pointed to the brightly lit but ghostly other side in the distance: "Those people are all people who once consumed the Four Seasons Demon Sect's Dawn Rice."

They will be stronger, have more opportunities and possibilities, and even work at home will be easier.

But we just didn't get to eat Xiguang Rice.

I get breathless even from simple chores, and all the effort I put into tending the rice paddies ultimately benefits only the same group of people.

Li Ye fell silent.

He could argue about everything else, but he couldn't resolve this one issue.

Even now, the Four Seasons Sect cannot possibly have enough resources to provide everyone with a sufficient amount of spiritual food.

He pondered for a very long time before asking, "So, crossing this river of suffering to reach the other side is your solution?"

"Yes." The old man smiled, his face full of wrinkles, as he watched his granddaughter slowly chewing a pastry.

"The suffering of the living is endless. We are born weak, so we can only find peace in the underworld—oh, and perhaps in that god."

As he said this, Li Ye clearly felt a fluctuation of willpower. Then he saw the old man hold that willpower in his hand, as if he had crushed a ray of rainbow light, which shattered like glass.

"Ok?"

That was clearly one of Li Ye's purposes in coming to Tianhe City: the method of controlling the power of will.

Moreover, judging from the old man's casual manner, it was clear that this was not the first time he had done this. How could such an ordinary old man be able to perform such special supernatural powers?
"Absorbing the power of wishes, in other words, is there any hope of obtaining the deity you worship in that brightly lit ghost town?"

“That’s what those guys say: we are born weak and can only find peace in the gods.”

"But I don't believe it."

The old man shook his head, a glimmer of hope suddenly appearing in his eyes: "Can you teach us how to grow Dawn Rice? It's a sacred rice that our ancestors have cultivated for generations."

If it can grow here, it will surely allow us to survive.

Li Ye stared at him for a moment and noticed the old man's lack of cooperation.

But it doesn’t matter.

He finally nodded: "Okay, but I need all the information here and your method of controlling willpower in exchange."

The old man nodded heavily, and led Li Ye and his granddaughter to the small village where they lived.

This is a village called Xiguang Village.

When Li Ye saw the stone tablet at the village entrance, the characters on it seemed to still shimmer with a faint golden light. The characters were delicate, and at the end there was a small trace of a pipa (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument).

Is it related to the ancestor of the Nine Heavens Palace?
Dawn Rice...

By this point, he was quite certain that he was not in any danger.

Some cultivators in the Hell Path wanted him to see another side of the Four Seasons Sect, or rather, they tried to prove the Four Seasons Sect wrong.

Simply put, it's about trying to corrupt his Daoist heart.

To corrupt his resolve?
Li Ye couldn't help but laugh at the thought of it—if he were really someone who lived here, he might actually have some doubts about that kind of distribution.

But he's from another time, so he's seen far too many things.

The world was so peaceful that it had exceeded his expectations, and his teachers were trying their best to increase production and variety.

Moreover, instead of dwelling on the past, we should think about the present and how to increase the yield of food crops to benefit more people.

……

We entered Xiguang Village.

Li Ye keenly observed that the land here was not as barren and desolate as the outside world; it was simply soil that resembled ash.

You can even sink your feet into the ground when you walk on it.

The soil, piled high with layers of ash, combined with the desolate winds and drifting ashes, resembled a deserted cemetery.

"Ugh."

The old man's sorrow seemed never to have faded. He sighed again, "Immortal, the land of Xiguang Village was all piled up from the ashes of a great tree that had once burned."

"We can't grow anything here." "That is indeed quite difficult." Li Ye bent down and picked up a clump of ashes. The moment it left the ground, it began to drift away, completely lacking the structure of soil and all the spiritual energy and nutrients that crops need.

Everything inside was destroyed, leaving only ashes and fire.

"But it's okay."

If it were someone else, they might have some reservations, since they wouldn't carry that much stuff with them. But Li Ye, who has a portable Jianmu space and a storage ring that's crammed full, has a solution.

He squatted down, then sat down, his fingers digging into the ashes.

A stream of clear water flowed from her fingertips.

The water flowed silently forward through the cracks in the ashes, and the water, moistened by the Jianmu tree and overflowing vitality, even made a "sizzling" sound when it came into contact with the ashes.

White mist then rose up.

The mist, carrying a refreshing coolness and vitality, slowly rose, attracting other villagers to gather around.

"What's wrong!"

"Has hell attacked?!"

"Who are you!"

The villagers were thin and bony, but they exuded a fierce aura. The pitchforks and hoes in their hands were very eye-catching, even gleaming coldly.

What's outrageous is that these "weapons" also contain the power of will.

If one were to be hit by these things, an ordinary cultivator would probably not be able to withstand it.

"Uncle and Auntie, this immortal uncle is helping us!"

Before Li Ye could speak, the old man's granddaughter bravely stepped in front of him, her short stature displaying remarkable determination.

"you……"

"Fairy?"

"Old Jiang, who exactly is this?"

Having lived together for so long, they still had basic trust in each other, but they still looked at the old man known as Lao Jiang.

Old Jiang nodded and said in an unquestionable tone, "Trust this immortal, he is... from the Four Seasons Demon Sect."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding villagers exchanged bewildered glances, but remained silent, standing there quietly, experiencing the mist and water flow that they hadn't seen in a long time.

It seemed that their withered bodies were eagerly absorbing the life force from the mist, suppressing the abnormal changes within them.

Seeing this, Li Ye said nothing more, but continued to use the water to nourish the earth, melting the ashes into soil—the vibrant water and the fiery aura of the ashes came into contact, and the rising mist condensed into clouds.

Lead-like clouds gathered, and then a few drops of rain began to fall, forming lines of rain.

"Crash!"

After the raindrops fall to the ground, they are evaporated by the heat and rise up.

This cycle is irrelevant.

It's as if the entire village has been put into a "steamer," and the warm, moist air has permeated every corner.

This is the first step.

The ashes here contain an extremely strong heat; if they aren't removed, they could roast seeds, let alone grow anything.

Li Ye patiently stood there guiding the spiritual water to cleanse the earth until the dusty ashes that would scatter in the wind were all transformed into somewhat sticky soil.

Then he began to remove the excess water, control the moisture level of the soil, and add some fertilizer and spirit stones that the Four Seasons Sect had researched to fertilize the land.

Fortunately, the village wasn't very large, only about a dozen acres, otherwise he wouldn't have had enough to carry.

Once everything was finished, he took off his inconspicuous natal magic weapon, which he always wore on his wrist, and threw it directly into the sky.

"Dingling bell~"

As the bell of dawn rang, the Sun and Moon Rings floated in mid-air, radiating thousands of golden rays from the rings and the bells, illuminating the land that had not seen sunlight for who knows how long.

The warm and gentle light stunned the villagers who had been watching the area.

"God……"

"That's the sun!"

"This land...the sun..."

Some people were so excited that they became incoherent, sometimes bending down to touch the vibrant earth, sometimes looking up at the "sun" that stung them.

The children rolled around wildly on the ground, their still-tender but already resilient bodies touching the earth and feeling its cool, warm touch.

But the elderly people looked serious.

Led by Lao Jiang, they stared grimly at the area outside the village: "This commotion is too big."

"Our relatives will definitely come back."

"Looks like it'll be up to us old folks to hold them off."

After a brief discussion, they quickly made a decision and, armed with their respective "weapons," silently set off across the vibrant land towards the edge of the village.

At this moment, some "people" dressed in brocade robes, but with ferocious faces and bodies covered in wounds, were approaching from outside the village.

Bitter river water flowed from their bare, pale legs, seemingly burning with a black flame that pierced the earth.

Li Ye was certainly aware of the situation outside. He was indeed overwhelmed, as controlling the sun and moon to illuminate this place had already consumed almost all of his mental energy.

At this moment, he was somewhat glad that he had accepted Senior Brother Qian's gift and asked for that guardian puppet.

In places where it's impossible to summon spirit beasts, puppets are indeed useful.

He released the puppet directly, and then, with a heavy heart, he forcibly broke off a small section of the Jianmu tree branch growing from his palm.

"Well……"

This was tantamount to breaking one's own finger, and even he felt pain.

"They're all from the Hell Path."

"If I catch you, I'll plant you all in a tree!"

After blaming Hell Path for this, he transformed the tree branch into a long whip.

Then he handed it to the puppet, diverting a sliver of his attention: "Go, go help them, and remember, leave no one alive!"

The tall, blindfolded puppet seemed to have a slight upturn at the corners of its mouth, and the runes drawn on its high nose were faintly visible. It nodded at Li Ye.

Then he turned and strode away, arriving outside the village.

By this time, the old men were already chatting enthusiastically with their "relatives"—Old Jiang wielded a hoe and swung it down hard, severing the head of a fat man. The man's face, contorted with obesity, still wore a smile.
"Hehe, Uncle Jiang..."

"Hehe, what kind of monster is hiding in your village..."

Before he could finish speaking, a branch burning with red flames came crashing down on him.

The head exploded like a watermelon in an instant, and the flint that burned on the tree branch, capable of warding off all evil spirits, rose up and burned the head and the soul inside to ashes.

"This……"

Old Jiang watched in shock as the towering puppet entered the horde of ghosts and fought, each swing of its branches turning a ghost into a torch.

When ghosts try to get close, they are blocked by illusory images such as Buddha's light, lotus flowers, and gourds, and the branches of the Jianmu tree shine brightly.

Even his simple clothes couldn't hide his god-like figure; his movements were swift and decisive, like chopping melons and vegetables.

Because of Brother Qian's pursuit of perfection, the muscles under the puppet's cloth clothes were just like those of a real person, and the muscles on its arms would bulge every time it waved a tree branch.

So much so that the elderly had no idea that it was a puppet, and thought it was Li Ye's "immortal friend".

For a moment, I was completely stunned.

(End of this chapter)