Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 334 A Teacher Has Great Use

"Go and go!"

Under the long-standing oppressive influence of White Wolf and Black Wolf, who were the clan leader and his elder brother from the same father and mother, White Wolf left the ancestral home reluctantly, cursing under his breath.

Meanwhile, in a grove of trees twenty miles away from Guangning Prefecture, Zhang Chengdao, along with his two apprentices, stood in front of a thick apricot tree, lost in thought.

If he remembers correctly, apricot trees usually bloom in February or March, right?

How come this apricot tree is still in bloom even though it's already June?
Even though the Liaodong region is bitterly cold...

It doesn't have to be this bitterly cold!
Zhang Chengdao first carefully examined the apricot tree in front of him for a while, then walked around the apricot tree, and finally saw the black soil hidden under the messy weeds that he had cleared away while walking around.

"impossible!"

Zhang Chengdao blurted it out almost instantly.

Even if he's bad at geography, he knows that there's no "black soil" in western Liaoning. The so-called "Northeast black soil" should be concentrated in a small part of western Heilongjiang and eastern Inner Mongolia!
Zhang Chengdao, who doubted life but not himself, immediately squatted down and shoveled a small clump of dirt with his hand.

It's definitely not black. It just looked black because it was under the weeds and the light affected it.

Looking at it now, it is clearly brownish-black.

Of course, that's not the point. The point is that when I subconsciously used my spiritual power to explore this small clump of soil, there seemed to be a faint "resonance"!
If Zhang Chengdao hadn't already reached the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage (ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage) and been able to perceive the extremely subtle differences, he would have almost thought it was his imagination!
So he simply covered his hands with the soil and drew upon the spiritual energy once more.

This time, he was sure he wasn't imagining things.

This land beneath our feet truly possesses spiritual energy!

Although it is extremely faint and almost imperceptible, it can be considered negligible compared to the concentration of spiritual energy in Baishi Mountain. However, spiritual energy does exist, and it is dozens of times higher than the concentration in the air under natural conditions!
Could it be that the water cycle brought the spiritual energy of the Baishi Mountain area here?
Zhang Chengdao dismissed the idea as soon as he thought of it.

Let alone the fact that the water cycle couldn't possibly be that fast, even if it were, it should at least have increased the spiritual energy concentration in the entire Baozhou and Yan region before it reached Liaoxi.

that……

What is the reason?

Zhang Chengdao was completely baffled, so he immediately took out an octagonal silver mirror—

"He Yu! He Yu! He Yu!"

He called out He Yu's name three times in front of the octagonal silver mirror, and the mirror surface suddenly rippled violently, as if a small pebble had been thrown into a lake.

Then, after the ripples in the silver mirror disappeared, a tired-looking He Yu was revealed.

This octagonal silver mirror is a magical artifact that He Yu crafted using spiritual materials borrowed from Zhang Chengdao. It is roughly equivalent to a "visual intercom," allowing him to communicate in real time with cultivators whose divine consciousness has been imbued in the mirror. It is called the "Name-Summoning Mirror" and is a very common communication artifact in the cultivation world—the cultivation world of He Yu's original world. It is expensive but widespread.

Of course, the threshold for using it is relatively high, requiring a Core Formation stage cultivation level (if the spiritual materials are abundant and more suitable, He Yu claims that he can refine a "Calling Name and Shadow Mirror" that can be used by anyone at the Foundation Establishment stage). It is said that He Yu put in a lot of effort when he refined this magic weapon, and Zhang Chengdao wanted to replicate it - so that the efficiency of information exchange within the White Stone Immortal Sect could be improved by another level!

Unfortunately, it didn't work. But even if it had, I'm afraid no one but Tang Xiaoyu would use it.

Sigh, I've gone off on a tangent...

In short, after Zhang Chengdao showed He Yu the so-called "soulful soil" and raised his doubts, he unexpectedly received a ridiculous answer.

"Oh, you mean the Northeast? The Liaodong Peninsula, right? I think that's what it's called now. I know that place. When I disintegrated my physical body, I threw my arm over there. The soil you mentioned contains spiritual energy, which must be the spiritual power that dissipated after my physical body disintegrated and nourished it..."

As he spoke, He Yu sighed and remarked, "I never imagined that after so much time, only a tiny bit of spiritual energy would have been cultivated there!"

Zhang Chengdao originally thought that He Yu, who had lived longer than him and had experienced the systematic cultivation civilization teaching system, would surely know something about him since he didn't understand. He was quite helpless when he got such an answer.

However, he asked curiously, "But I see this apricot tree, it's already June, yet it's still blooming, which seems a bit abnormal? But it doesn't look like it's been demonized. Fellow Daoist He, do you know why this is?"

As Zhang Chengdao spoke, he turned the Name-Calling Mirror upside down and pointed it at the apricot tree in front of him so that He Yu could see the strange apricot tree.

"Oh, it's probably close to becoming intelligent and spiritual, and has developed its own will. For example, whether it blooms or not, whether it bears fruit or not, or when it blooms and when it bears fruit, all depends on its own mood. It's not yet a spirit. To reach the level of a 'demon,' given the spiritual energy content in the soil you described, it would need to be nurtured for at least another thousand years..."

"Well, didn't you say you were planning to renovate that place? If it could have 30% of the spiritual energy concentration of White Stone Mountain, it would at least reduce the speed to only a hundred years or so."

"Moreover, I think this apricot tree is actually starving to death. It must have been lucky when I was about to die that I swallowed a mouthful of spiritual energy, which is why it has survived for so many years. It's also thanks to the slow cultivation of flower and tree spirits."

"By the way, with this apricot tree, there might still be some little demons or monsters in that area who accidentally embarked on cultivation because of the spiritual energy I generated when I disintegrated. However, after so many years, without anyone to teach and guide them, they've probably died long ago. But their remains and bones can all be considered spiritual materials. Look carefully, don't waste them. You might even find a bone from my arm, which is an 'immortal bone,' a top-quality spiritual material for refining magic weapons!"

He Yu rambled on and on, and the more Zhang Chengdao listened, the brighter his eyes became.

After further investigation, Zhang Chengdao learned that He Yu's physical body was scattered in eight directions—east, southeast, west, southwest, south, northeast, north, and northwest—as well as in two rivers in the Central Plains. He carefully noted down the locations He Yu mentioned and resolved to explore these places when he had the chance. Only then did he "hang up" the Name-Calling Mirror.

The conversation between Ye Shuyun and Murong Ruyan and the cultivator in the Name-Calling Mirror was blocked by the magic spells inherent in the magic weapon. They could not hear the specific content, but they could only vaguely see that their master seemed to have communicated with someone using a magic weapon.

“My disciples,”

Zhang Chengdao stood up, looked at the two of them with a kind expression, and said in a friendly manner, "There is a sect mission that is rather urgent, but it is not that urgent. It is a long-term sect mission."

Murong Ruyan immediately cupped her hands in greeting: "I will obey your orders, Master!"

Ye Shuyun also bowed respectfully.

"Hey, don't be so nervous, it's nothing serious,"

Zhang Chengdao added with a smile, "These days, you should inquire around in Liaodong and see if there are any folk tales or ancient legends. As long as they are related to immortals, gods, monsters, and demons, write them down and then summarize them for your master. They will be of great use to me!"

……

(End of this chapter)