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Chapter 16: The Situation Takes a Drastic Turn
Every night, there were no shortage of Mu family cultivators coming to Fenyue Lake to "hunt birds".
Mostly young cultivators in the early stages of Qi-Refining.
The Mu family's capable adult cultivators were mostly stationed at the purple copper mine.
The fish hawks at their doorstep were only semi-spirit beasts, posing little threat to Qi-Refining cultivators.
This low-risk task that could earn contribution points was gladly taken up by family members, including some mortal martial artists.
However, these semi-spirit fish hawks were not easy to catch.
First, the shores of Fenyue Lake spanned hundreds of miles, and there were a limited number of cultivators, making it impossible to fully guard everywhere.
The fish hawks possessed a degree of spiritual intelligence and only acted during night.
Second, the fish hawks could both fly and dive underwater skillfully, with better eyesight than humans.
Although the fish hawks were no match for Qi-Refining cultivators, they only targeted the spirit fish in the lake.
Human cultivators would be detected by the fish hawks before getting close, making it difficult to catch them whether in the air or underwater.
"Let's split up to search."
Lan Chang'an paused at the lakeside and suggested.
"Okay! Let's see who catches a bird first."
Li Ergou was full of enthusiasm, plunging into the lake water with a "plop".
"No wonder he can't catch any birds."
Lan Chang'an did not enter the water, instead using a lightbody technique to circle around the shores of Fenyue Lake.
Occasionally, he would stop to observe the reedy areas by the water's edge.
With several hundred years of experience across two lifetimes, Lan Chang'an understood a little about the art of tracking.
After completing a circle, Lan Chang'an stopped under a shaded tree by the lakeside.
Leaning against the trunk, he cycled the Evergreen Technique, suppressing his aura. His presence was greatly reduced, as if he had become an extension of the tree's branches.
Half an hour later.
In the night, a brown-gray waterfowl with a thick neck and pointed beak silently descended from the sky.
This fish hawk looked around, preparing to dive into the water.
Swish! Smack!
A stone shot through the air like a thunderbolt, striking the fish hawk's belly. 𝒻𝑟𝑒𝓮𝔀ℯ𝓫𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝓸𝓶
The fish hawk screeched as its belly exploded in a bloody hole, falling into the lake.
"One."
Lan Chang'an walked on the water, picking up the fish hawk's corpse.
Using a water purification technique, he rinsed away the blood, sealed the body in a bag, and stored it in his storage pouch.
After finishing all this, Lan Chang'an changed locations again. Continuing to lie in wait like a fox stalking rabbits. Over the course of the night, Lan Chang'an caught four fish hawks. Li Ergou got nothing.
"Big Brother Lan, can you give me some pointers?" Regarding hunting birds, Ergou was completely convinced of Lan Chang'an's expertise.
"Can you do these three things?"
"First, analyze the fish hawks' living habits to find the best ambush spots."
"Second, can your hiding spot evade the fish hawks' eyes?"
"Third, can you attack fast, accurately, and lethally in one decisive strike?"
After hearing the three points, Li Ergou felt utterly dejected.
Leaving aside whether he could do the first two. In recent days when he luckily encountered fish hawks, his casting speed and accuracy were so poor that by the time he launched a fireball, the fish hawks had already fled far away.
Lan Chang'an dealt with the fish hawks by launching his concealed weapon with the martial art Flame Flick without aura fluctuations.
Over the next few days, every night Lan Chang'an could hunt down a few fish hawks.
The rumors of an "bird hunting expert" had just started spreading…when Lan Chang'an withdrew and lay low.
This kind of low-risk, high-reward activity was fine to do occasionally. Lan Chang'an feared that if he kept it up, he might provoke enmity from those commanding the fish hawks.
...
Each fish hawk could be exchanged for five contribution points. In just a few days of work, Lan Chang'an had exchanged over a hundred points.
"Adding the hundred contribution points I earned from extra talisman drawing over the past two years, I've accumulated over two hundred total. Enough to exchange for better quality magic weapons at the Refining Pavilion."
After returning to the family, Lan Chang'an calculated in his mind. Now that the dispute between the two cultivation families had resurfaced, it was important to prepare for the worst, to strengthen his self-defense capabilities.
Previously, when Li Ergou wanted to buy fish hawk corpses from Lan Chang'an to earn contribution points for bottleneck-breaking pills.
Lan Chang'an had refused. While he and Li Ergou were good friends, it wasn't to the point of being parents.
Since becoming a talisman master, over the past three years Lan Chang'an had lived quite comfortably in the Mu family. For the talisman drawing materials the Mu family provided him annually, he maintained a normal level of quality and success rate on the surface. Any excess materials became additional income for him. Every few months, Lan Chang'an would go to September Building to sell some talismans.
His financial situation steadily improved.
Now, Lan Chang'an had saved two to three hundred spirit stones.
This was because Lan Chang'an was cautious, fearing drawing too much attention. He had quite a stockpile of unsold talismans in his storage pouch that he had not fully liquidated.
...
Time rolled to the middle of the month again.
With ample funds, Lan Chang'an went to September Building.
September Building was just a small-scale trading venue within the family, not a high-end place. One could not buy mid-grade magic weapons there. For mid-grade magic weapons, one had to go to the family's Refining Pavilion and exchange contribution points.
Lan Chang'an spent a long time browsing at September Building before purchasing two relatively good low-grade magic weapons. One was a "Dark Gold Blade" and the other was "Seven Ingenious Needles".
The Dark Gold Blade was a standard offensive magic weapon made of a durable material, considered a fine product among the low-grade weapons.
The Seven Ingenious Needles was a set of seven needle-like artifacts, each as long as a chopstick but much thinner and sharper.
"Has the family conflict caused magic weapons prices to rise?"
For these two decent low-grade magic weapons, Lan Chang'an spent over two hundred low-grade spirit stones. Ordinarily, an average low-grade magic weapon would only cost sixty or seventy spirit stones.
...
The next day, Lan Chang'an went to the family's Refining Pavilion. He spent two hundred contribution points to exchange for a mid-grade defensive magic weapon called the Bedrock Shield.
The staff managing the Refining Pavilion repeatedly tried to dissuade Lan Chang'an:
"An early Qi-Refining cultivator will have difficulty controlling a mid-grade magic weapon. With those contribution points, you'd be better off exchanging for bottleneck-breaking pills."
This staff member made a fair point. Low-grade and middle-grade magic weapons corresponded to the Qi-Refining stage. Superior-grade and top-grade magic weapons corresponded to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Even at the middle stage of Qi-Refining, one could only control one mid-grade magic weapon or two low-grade magic weapons simultaneously. One's mana and spiritual doubly limited the restrictions of using a magic weapon.
Lan Chang'an insisted on exchanging for the mid-grade Bedrock Shield magic weapon, using the excuse that he was saving it for later use.
In truth, Lan Chang'an's spiritual sense was comparable to the late Qi-Refining stage, sufficient to control a mid-grade magic weapon. However, it could not be used for too long due to the limitation of mana.
....
Purchasing three magic weapon in one go, Lan Chang'an returned and refined them, greatly increasing his sense of security.
The handkerchief magic weapon he obtained from killing the Purple Rose Fairy back then had also been refined by Lan Chang'an previously using his mana.
Besides magic weapons, Lan Chang'an also stockpiled dozens of high-quality talismans! All were mid-grade or superior-grade first-rank talismans.
Even a late Qi-Refining cultivator would feel uneasy facing so many powerful talismans.
After finishing storing everything.
While continuing his cultivation, Lan Chang'an also monitored the situation between the Mu and Zheng family.
First were the fish hawks.
Over the past few days, the Zheng family had suddenly recalled the fish hawks. Reportedly, the Zheng family's losses from the fish hawks were quite large, making it no longer worthwhile.
The timing coincided with when Lan Chang'an, the so-called "bird hunting expert", stopped hunting them.
Next was the situation at the mines.
The mines were quite distant, located amidst the mountain ranges between the two family's territories. The information was not very accurate.
Lan Chang'an heard that the two family's younger cultivators were in a standoff in the mining tunnels, with more than one elder from each side overseeing them.
...
Several days later,
Li Ergou brought some good news.
His second son "Mu Ershun" had been tested and confirmed to possess a low-grade spiritual root.
Li Ergou was overjoyed. Among that batch of spiritual seedlings, he was the first to produce an offspring with a spiritual root.
Li Ergou's eldest son was named Mu Yifan and was already over seven years old, just an ordinary person. His second son Mu Ershun had just turned six.
He also had a three-year-old third son and a one-year-old daughter.
"Congratulations!" For this occasion, Lan Chang'an even attended Li Ergou's celebratory banquet.
"This fellow, he sure is capable." The other spiritual seedlings in attendance felt quite bitter about it.
Not long after, Li Ergou received a reward from the family head. A Pure Qi Pill - exactly the bottleneck-breaking pill he had dreamed of.
Being the first to produce an offspring, and the first to have an offspring with a spiritual root, Li Ergou reaped the rewards from both.
"This kid's luck is truly not bad." Lan Chang'an felt moved.
He had originally thought that since Li Ergou was held back by a bottleneck, he would use his advantage of re-cultivation to reach the middle stage of Qi-Refining first.
...
Ten days later.
Li Ergou emerged from seclusion, having advanced to the fourth layer of Qi-Refining, becoming one of the younger middle Qi-Refining cultivators in the family.
The newly advanced Li Ergou was full of vigor and confidence. He held another banquet celebration.
Those other spiritual seedlings felt vexed, having to bring gifts again. But they did not dare offend Li Ergou either. At the middle Qi-Refining stage, he was now a major figure in the family.
At the banquet, Li Ergou announced one matter.
He would be changing his name to "Li Changqing". This new name seemed inspired by Lan Chang'an's.
Being at the middle Qi-Refining stage, the vulgar name "Ergou" (meaning "second dog") was rather unbecoming. Everyone understood Li Ergou's thoughts.
"Li Changqing..."Lan Chang'an found it hard to get used to Ergou's sudden name change.
"Big Brother Lan, how do you like my new name?" The newly named Li Ergou was exhilarated, drinking heavily and getting quite drunk.
During the banquet, Lan Chang'an wanted to speak up but held back. He had intended to tell Li Ergou that immortal cultivator's real name and dao names could not be changed casually. This involved matters of luck and even fate.
Some names resonated harmoniously with the cultivator, like a fish in water. Names that didn't fit would have conflicting destinies.
...
Half a month later.
"Big Brother Lan..." Li came over, wailing loudly.
Lan Chang'an was alarmed: "What happened?"
After inquiring, Lan Chang'an learned some bad news.
Over at the mining area, the Mu family and Zheng family had clashed, suffering significant casualties. The Mu family urgently needed to replenish their manpower and was conscripting younger capable cultivators from the family. Targeting primarily those of the middle Qi-Refining stage.
Unluckily, Li had just recently advanced to the fourth layer of Qi-Refining and was drafted by the family.
"Big Brother Lan! If I die, I hope you can help look after my wife and children..."
Li begged through his tears and snot.