I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

Chapter 118 Qinghe Lake [Please Subscribe!]

Ten days later.

Qingzhou, Chiyang County, Qinghe Lake.

Chen Qing stood with his hands behind his back by the lake, looked around, and nodded slightly.

Qinghe Lake is about one-third larger than Banyue Lake, with a circumference of seven or eight li. The lake is covered with lotus leaves, a lush green that stretches to the horizon, and is dotted with fist-sized three-aperture jade lotuses. To the east of the lake is a bamboo forest, through which a blue stone path winds its way to the lake. To the west is a gentle slope covered with lush green grass and a few wildflowers.

Nestled against the mountain to the south, a three-story bamboo building stands on the lakeside. It is much larger than the one at Half Moon Lake, and I wonder which predecessor built it. It has a rather elegant feel to it.

In front of the small building stood a small willow tree and a small pine tree, both taller than a person. The willow branches swayed gently, and the pine needles were emerald green—these were the trees that Chen Qing had transplanted from Half Moon Lake.

"This Qinghe Lake is indeed a wonderful place, worthy of being a spiritual vein that is close to the first-grade high-quality."

"In a few more days, my fish will be able to lay eggs. I hope it won't disappoint me and that a few mid-grade first-tier blue carp will appear."

Chen Qing gave a thumbs-up.

With a pat on the spirit beast pouch, fifty-seven blue carp broodstock flew out of the pouch in a flash of spiritual light, streaking through the air before splashing into the lake; then, he released a spirit sheep chicken from the pouch and placed it into the chicken coop that Qingtian and Danyu had just built.

Chen Qing clapped his hands and took out a token from his waist.

The token is entirely emerald green, with the character "lotus" engraved on the front and intricate array patterns on the back. As the spiritual light flows, a subtle sense of coolness emanates from the token.

It is the defensive formation of Qinghe Lake—the Qinghe Xuanshui Formation.

This first-tier superior formation is a cut above the "Azure Water Ring Spirit Formation" of Half Moon Lake. It can withstand the full-force attack of a Qi Refining Peak cultivator, and even a Foundation Establishment early stage cultivator can hold out for a while.

Of course, the premise is that you don't encounter a formation-breaking talisman like you did ten days ago!

Chen Qing probed the token with his spiritual sense, carefully sensing the range and strength of the formation. He nodded in satisfaction, put the token back into his waist, and then his gaze fell on the three-aperture jade lotus in the lake, his mind churning with thoughts.

Ten days ago, after leaving Half Moon Lake, Chen Qing thought long and hard and finally changed course to Lingjian Mountain in the neighboring Zhenyuan County.

However, after Chen Qing sent a transmission talisman outside the formation of Spirit Sword Mountain, he waited for a long time but no one responded, obviously Xiao Chunan was not inside.

Chen Qing then went to the Lin Yuan Secret Realm and found that the person in charge of the place was Zhang Yanshu, who was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

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Chen Qing has used all three communication talismans given to him by Zhang Yanshu over the past few years, and the one that Qi Xuan destroyed was the last one.

Chen Qing found Zhang Yanshu and told him that he had learned from the memories of a Qian Kingdom cultivator a few days ago that the Blood Soul Sect was gathering cultivators on a large scale and was expected to launch an attack within one or two days.

Zhang Yanshu reacted calmly to this. He had heard the communication talisman that Chen Qing had sent earlier, indicating that Lingyun Sect had already obtained this information.

Chen Qing thought about it again and realized that it was true. If even a Qi Refining stage disciple like him could know about this, how could a sect like Lingyun Sect, which had Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators, not know about it? Since the other party did not take it seriously, Chen Qing was powerless to do anything about it. He entered the Lin Yuan Secret Realm and searched for two more days. However, the secret realm was vast, and he sent out seven or eight communication talismans during that time, but still could not find Xiao Chunan.

Helpless, Chen Qing had no choice but to lead Xu Xian and the spirit beast on a long journey, day and night, taking five whole days to reach Lingyun Sect.

Chen Qing found Meng Yuanbai in the mission hall and bluntly said that he wanted to switch jobs in advance.

Meng Yuanbai did not refuse, but since it was almost ten days earlier, some details needed to be arranged at the last minute, so Chen Qing had to pay an extra 400 spirit stones as an "express fee".

It hurts to spend the money, but being able to leave that dangerous place sooner makes the four hundred spirit stones worthwhile.

After leaving Lingyun Sect, Chen Qing spent another three days traveling to Qinghe Lake.

When they arrived, the former resident disciple Song Yu had already left. The small building was clean and tidy, with a jade slip and an array token left on the table.

As Qi Xuan said, the day after Chen Qing left the Lin Yuan Secret Realm, the Blood Soul Sect cultivators crossed the Blood Spirit Abyss and launched a full-scale attack on the three northern states of the Martial Kingdom.

In just three days, the entire northern three states were completely occupied.

Lingyun Sect's response was almost exactly as Chen Qing had predicted. The Nascent Soul Ancestors and a group of top Golden Core True Monarchs had all gone to the fourth-tier secret realm in the southwest and had not paid any attention to the war in the three northern states.

Chen Qing secretly rejoiced that he had left in time.

Before leaving that day, he sent out four communication talismans: one to the Zhao family at Chiyan Mountain, and one to the Lin family at Qingxi Valley.

As for whether these two families would give up the spiritual land they had worked so hard to obtain from Lingyun Sect, Chen Qing was not entirely sure.

However, considering that both families had treated him with great respect during the three years he was stationed in Linyuan County, and would always give him an extra portion whenever they collected spirit taxes, Chen Qing didn't mind giving them a heads-up once.

The other two messages were sent to Qin Yun of Mingyuan County and Sun Wan'er of Cangyuan County, but Chen Qing did not know how they would react after receiving the messages. He could only hope that these two fellow disciples would be quick-witted.

In addition, his parents and siblings in Yunzhou City had been moved to Qingzhou City by Chen Qing three months ago and reopened a medicine shop there, so they were not affected.

Chen Qing pulled himself out of his thoughts and walked into the three-story bamboo building.

The bamboo house was a size larger than the one at Half Moon Lake, but the layout was similar; the first floor was the reception room, the second floor was the cultivation room, and the third floor was the bedroom.

Chen Qing went up to the second floor, took out a futon from his storage bag, sat down cross-legged, and then took out the jade slip left by Song Yu from his storage bag and stuck it to his forehead.

After a moment, Chen Qing put away the jade slip and nodded slightly.

The jade slip contains the planting method of the "Three-Aperture Jade Lotus" and the control formula of the "Azure Lotus Mysterious Water Array," as well as some of Song Yu's knowledge of the surrounding forces.

Chen Qing praised, "This Senior Brother Song is a good person. I wonder if I'll be able to meet him again in the future."

Three-aperture Jade Lotus, a mid-grade first-tier spiritual plant.

Every year, the lotus leaves need to be checked for pests. If the leaves are found to be yellow or have black spots, they need to be sprayed with a low-grade insect repellent powder mixed with spiritual spring water. At the end of the year, when harvesting, the mature lotus roots only need to be dug out and stored in a specially made spiritual jade box, and the disciples of the Danxia Peak sect will come to collect them.

In fact, the garrison mission in the heart of Qinghe Lake is quite different from the border missions like Banyue Lake.

In Chen Qing's view, border missions were more like guarding the gates, while also being responsible for collecting spirit taxes from small families within the county and managing the county's daily affairs and spirit veins. Because the area was located on the border, the power of cultivation families was generally not strong, so even though Chen Qing was only a Qi Refining cultivator, he had quite a status in the local area.

But Qinghe Lake is different.

This place is located in the heart of the Wu Kingdom, only three thousand miles away from the Lingyun Sect's mountain gate. In Qingzhou alone, where Chen Qing is located, there are many cultivation families, including more than ten Qi Refining families and two Foundation Establishment families.

Because their backgrounds mostly belong to Foundation Establishment True Persons within the Lingyun Sect, Foundation Establishment families usually don't give much face to resident disciples like Chen Qing.

Therefore, such missions of guarding the hinterland cannot actually be called "guarding," but rather taking care of the spiritual veins and cultivating designated spiritual objects for the sect. It would be more appropriate to call them "spiritual plant growers."

For example, at Qinghe Lake, Chen Qing has to hand over 500 catties of Three-Aperture Jade Lotus Root to Lingyun Sect every year.

Correspondingly, he does not need to collect offerings from the various cultivation families in Qingzhou—these families all belong to the Lingyun Sect's internal system and are directly managed by the sect's upper echelons.

According to Song Yu, this three-aperture jade lotus is not easy to cultivate.

Even though Song Yu, as a cultivator from the Spirit Plant Peak, was more skilled in the art of spiritual plants, and spent a considerable amount of time every day working on producing 500 catties of Three-Aperture Jade Lotus roots, the task at Qinghe Lake was still highly coveted by many disciples of the Lingyun Sect.

If Chen Qing hadn't followed Meng Yuanbai's path, he might not have been able to snatch it.

Chen Qing quickly began to calculate in his mind.

The Three-Aperture Jade Lotus needs spiritual energy to grow well. If he raises too many blue carp in the lake, the spiritual energy will be consumed too much, and the production of the Jade Lotus will definitely be affected. At Half Moon Lake, he raises more than 2,500 blue carp, and the spiritual energy is barely enough. The spiritual vein of Clear Lotus Lake is three points stronger than that of Half Moon Lake, and the lake surface is also nearly half the size. Theoretically, it should be able to raise more blue carp.

"At most three thousand tails. Any more than that, and the production of Three-Aperture Jade Lotus will probably be lost."

"But it's not bad. An income of nearly three thousand spirit stones a year is more than enough to support my cultivation to the Foundation Establishment stage."

Chen Qing nodded, stood up, and walked to the window to look out.

The lake water was emerald green, lotus leaves stretched out, and fish darted about. Qingtian and Danyu were still busy at the chicken coop, while Yinyue joined in the fun. Five-year-old Xu Xian squatted by the lake, her little hand reaching into the water, trying to catch a small fish.

Chen Qing withdrew his gaze, returned to the futon, sat cross-legged, took out the jade slip containing the "Condensing Yuan Technique" from his storage bag, and placed it back on his forehead, concentrating on reading it carefully.

The Condensing Yuan Technique is divided into three levels.

The first layer, "Gathering Flow," gathers and concentrates the scattered magical power within the body; the second layer, "Refining," repeatedly washes away the magical power with a specific Qi circulation route, removing the impurities and retaining the essence; the third layer, "Condensing Essence," compresses and solidifies the refined magical power, like steel being forged through a hundred refinements.

Chen Qing silently recited the entire text three times to confirm that it was correct, then poured out a Jade Spirit Pill from the bottle and swallowed it.

As the pill entered his stomach, the warm spiritual energy slowly dissolved and merged into his dantian.

Chen Qing closed his eyes and focused inward, following the Qi circulation route of the first level of the "Condensing Yuan Technique," drawing upon the magical power in his dantian and slowly guiding it along an unfamiliar meridian.

At first, it was quite sluggish, as if the magic power was crawling in a dry riverbed, and it took a lot of effort to advance even an inch; Chen Qing was not anxious or impatient, and urged the magic power to wash back and forth again and again.

Gradually, the meridians were widened, and the flow of magical power became smoother.

The originally somewhat loose magical power, after being repeatedly "filtered" through this special route, actually became more solid, as if it had been clenched tightly by an invisible hand.

Chen Qing was overjoyed and dared not be distracted, continuing to circulate his cultivation technique.

[Six thousand words for now, two more chapters tonight. Thank you for subscribing!]

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