Cultivating a family of immortals

Fang Shouzhou entered the courtyard, and Xu Wanghe prepared tea. The two then sat down.

On two prayer cushions in the courtyard, a young boy and girl were practicing meditation.

Xu Wanghe asked curiously, "Immortal Master Fang, what is your role in the outer sect?"

"Just like Senior Brother Wu before, I will be stationed at the spiritual fields at the foot of Huaxue Mountain." Fang Shouzhuo picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

"Oh? Which exit are you stationed at?"

"Next to Brother Wu is the Zi Chou exit."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Wanghe slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Ouch!"

"Is Master Fang stationed at the exit between the Chen and Wang families?"

"How did Patriarch Xu find out?" Fang Shouzhuo asked in surprise.

"I was originally a tenant farmer in the spiritual field next to the Chen family's house..." Xu Wanghe explained.

"So that's how it is. This must be fate," Fang Shouzhou exclaimed.

The two then discussed the matter of the spirit fields. Xu Wanghe inquired about the current situation of the Chen family. He heard that the spirit seedlings that his old neighbor had cultivated had all withered and died, and that the deacon Lin Qingheng had severely punished him by deducting three months' worth of allowance. The Chen family was living a very tight life.

Xu Wanghe smiled slightly, as this was within his expectations.

Fang Shouzhou was also extremely bold and forthright; once he started talking about this, he couldn't stop, and even complained:

"Senior Brother Lin Qingheng has been in charge of the spirit fields for many years and there has never been a problem with the spirit seedlings. Why did a problem occur that time? And the responsibility was even placed on the tenant Chen family. If you ask me, some disciples in the inner sect are utterly wicked. It is obvious that someone tampered with this matter, withholding the good spirit seedlings and making the tenant family take the blame with the rotten ones."

"The tenants are fined a few months' wages, which is just ordinary silver, but those spirit seedlings, once resold, are worth glittering spirit stones..."

Xu Wanghe quickly interrupted him.

"Master Fang, please be careful with your words."

Fang Shouzhou snapped out of his daze and burst into laughter.

"It's alright. We're far from the sect, what's there to be afraid of?"

As the two were talking, another spirit boat suddenly appeared in the sky and sailed by at an extremely fast speed.

In the blink of an eye, the spirit boat landed at the entrance of the Xu residence.

Just as the two got up, the spirit boat stopped at the door, and one person jumped off the spirit boat.

The person who arrived was Lin Wan.

"Senior Sister Lin..." Fang Shouzhou was taken aback and said weakly, thinking, "No way? We just mentioned the inner sect, and Senior Sister Lin Wan has already arrived..."

Lin Wan entered and stood in the courtyard, but frowned and asked, "Hmm? What are you doing here? Where's Junior Brother Wu?"

"This morning I received orders from the sect to come and replace Senior Brother Wu, who went to carry out a mission," Fang Shouzhuo answered honestly.

"What mission does he need to carry out? Forget it, this matter is not important," Lin Wan looked at Xu Wanghe and said solemnly, "Patriarch Xu, the sect has ordered you to lead people to guard the Mochuan River and forbid anyone from the Zheng family from going to Qingping Mountain."

The Mochuan River is located at the foot of Qingping Mountain. It is a large river, and the Zheng family's territory lies on the river.

If the Zheng family wants to go up the mountain, they can either go from Qingping Mountain Village or go up the Mochuan River.

That place is the border between the two villages.

Xu Wanghe was taken aback, and Fang Shouzhou was also shocked:

"Senior sister, is there a battle going on?"

Lin Wan didn't try to hide anything and said directly:

"The spirit mine on Qingping Mountain has produced tens of thousands of spirit stones, and they all need to be transported back to the sect this time. This is only to guard against the Zheng family. If they have any ill intentions, they will naturally notify the Chaoyang Sect. Our Immortal Sect has also made arrangements... Since Wu Yuanzuo is going to carry out the mission, you should go with Patriarch Xu and lead the people there."

Xu Wanghe cupped his hands and said, "Yes, I will gather the men here."

After giving these instructions, Lin Wan took out a letter from her sleeve, handed it to Xu Wanghe, and then turned and left.

"Master Xu, I'll go ahead and scout the situation. Please bring your men here immediately."

"yes!"

Upon receiving the letter, which bore the inscription "Observe," Xu Wanghe's brows relaxed.

Only Fang Shouzhou stood by, indignantly saying, "I wondered why Senior Brother Wu was suddenly transferred away. Turns out it's because of war! Senior Brother Wu actually has connections within the inner sect? I'm so angry..."

Hearing this, Xu Wanghe shook his head with a wry smile.

He immediately ordered Li Jinglei to summon Sun Erzhu and have him lead the local militia to Mochuan River.

Unexpectedly, the recruited local militiamen, upon hearing that they were to confront the Zheng family, came to the Xu family with high spirits, received their weapons, and were ready to fight.

Xu Wanghe then went alone to Li Rongping to discuss the matter, and finally said:

"Since you are stationed here as a member of the Haoran Immortal Sect, you should obey orders. I just didn't expect this day to come so soon. You, Chang Le, and Xing Yao should hide in the secret room and not come out on your own. If... I don't come back, have Chang Le patiently cultivate until she reaches the Qi Refining stage, and then deal with that villain before you can see the world again..."

Li Rongping knew the gravity of the situation and that there was no other way but to speak out, so she immediately went to hide in a dark room.

After the local militia had finished getting ready, Xu Wanghe personally led his men on their way.

On the way, Sun Erzhu explained the reason.

"Every household in Qingping Mountain Village has a grudge against the Zheng family. Going back three generations, which family hasn't had a relative die at the hands of the Zheng family? It can be described as a blood feud."

Xu Wanghe smiled bitterly, thinking to himself, "May the immortals above protect us and ensure this is just a standoff, and that war never breaks out. Otherwise, how many people will die here?"

………………

Wu Yuanzuo steered the spirit boat towards the spirit fields at the foot of Huaxue Mountain.

Fang Shouzhou's order was for him to wait at the Zi-Chou exit to receive his mission.

The exit of Zi Chou was the one guarded by Fang Shouzhuo.

The spirit boat landed, and there was no one around except for a pavilion standing quietly in the snow.

"Zi Chou, Zi Chou, pitch black, the darkest time of day, an ominous sign. Junior Brother Fang guarding this exit is driving people crazy."

Wu Yuanzuo chuckled to himself, then disembarked from the spirit boat and waited in the pavilion.

The snow stopped early this morning, but it has started falling again now.

Looking out, in the white paddy field ridges, the tender green shoots of the seedlings peek out. When the wind blows, snowflakes fall softly onto the leaves and buds, rolling into tiny snow beads, making the green color even brighter.

Wu Yuanzuo had long been tired of the snow scene and found it utterly uninteresting. Just as he was about to sit down and cultivate for a while, a voice suddenly rang in his ears.

"You've arrived."

Wu Yuanzuo turned around, but what came into view was not a figure, but a sword.

The sword tip was incredibly sharp, imbued with powerful spiritual energy fluctuations.

With a soft "pfft".

The sword pierced Wu Yuanzuo's chest.

A snowflake blooms.

It blooms under the pavilion, and it also blooms in the snow.

The snowflakes rolled on the buds and leaves, turning into snow beads.

Blood droplets also dripped down and congealed into blood beads.

The blood droplets fell to the ground and congealed into a pool of dark red. When the cold wind blew, they instantly solidified into ice crystal-like blood ridges, the edges of which quickly turned black and froze into hard scabs, like a piece of agate embedded in the snow.

Wu Yuanzuo's eyes trembled in shock, his muscles tensed, his back arched, his eyes were bloodshot and wide open, and his teeth were clenched so tightly that he could not utter a scream.

The swordsman, expressionless, drew his sword.

As if a huge boulder had been lifted from Wu Yuanzuo's chest, he was finally able to speak.

"Why...?"

The swordsman did not answer, sheathed his sword and plunged it into the ground, watching Wu Yuanzu kneel on the ground, clutching his heart in agony, his life rapidly slipping away.

The snow continues to fall.

Suddenly, a medicinal herb was bent over by the weight of the snowflakes and completely buried in the snow.

Beneath the pavilion, a man, a sword, and a corpse stood silently in the heavy snow.