Chapter 180: Xuan Miaozi Arrives in Person

However, Wei Yuning's original goal was only to solve the laborers' work problem; profit was not on his mind. In any case, the land is now in his hands! Who knows what it will look like in fifty years! For him, there's plenty of time!

Just thinking of the twenty‑year pact that Qiu Hu submitted with the task, he has little confidence in the sect's future. If the situation turns bad by then, he may already have gone to the Immortal City.

Fearing that long nights bring many worries, he immediately had Fei Niao contact Hong Zhi to settle the matter.

While waiting on Lotus Peak, Hong Zhi expected Wei Yuning to haggle, but was surprised by his decisiveness! He immediately consulted several rotating elders and issued Wei Yuning's decision.

Acting sect leader Tai Heng's expression wavered; he did not expect Qing Mo to agree to such harsh terms.

In the end, the matter was settled.

So they got to work; that afternoon, over two thousand laborers were assigned tasks. For the three‑square‑kilometer plot, at least ten meters of fill was needed, and with various losses, at least fifty thousand cubic meters of earth and stone.

To be safe, Wei Yuning decided to fill the area with sixty thousand cubic meters of earth and stone.

In the end, each laborer was assigned a task of thirty cubic meters.

Everyone immediately began work; this was the moment to show their abilities.

Thirty cubic meters of earth and stone is neither too much nor too little; even a mortal could finish it within three days provided they have proper tools.

Laborers with connections could borrow large‑sized Dry‑World bags or spatial rings, and finish the task in about two trips.

But that was a special case; the vast majority of laborers could only transport the material honestly.

Those with some contacts could borrow Spirit‑Stone‑powered mine carts, some used mechanical beasts borrowed from the forging hall, others borrowed strong beasts from the spirit‑beast hall; however, most laborers lacked any background and could only rely on their hands and feet.

Fortunately, the laborers were not weak; a one‑cubic‑meter stone weighed just over two thousand jin, and with spiritual energy assistance, two laborers could easily lift it.

There were no restrictions on quarrying or soil‑transport sites; as long as they were outside the Cloud‑Hidden Sect's mountain‑guard formation, most laborers chose quarry points at mid‑mountain.

Wei Yuning was not idle either.

He summoned the returning mountain‑patrol cultivator Man Niu, and the two went to scout the new area. He was mainly concerned with the edge near the cliff; if there were steep slopes, they would have to be dealt with.

Man Niu was responsible for using a binding spell to make the land soft and level, while Wei Yuning controlled a batch of plants to grow on the cliff edge, preventing collapsing earth and stone from sliding into the valley.

The laborers' big move in the pill‑refining hall immediately attracted a crowd of onlookers within the sect; elders and higher‑ups who were unaware of the matter began inquiring about the details.

For a time, Qing Mo's name became widely known within the sect.

This hectic situation lasted two days, and the laborers' earth‑and‑stone transport task was essentially completed. A brand‑new plot of land appeared above the clouds.

Wei Yuning named the new place "Fei Lai Peak", meaning "appearing out of thin air".

Between Fei Lai Peak and Ke Lai Peak lies a connecting ridge bridge, about a hundred‑plus meters wide, also filled up to the clouds, located over three hundred meters northwest of Ke Lai Peak's external affairs building.

Traveling west along the ridge bridge for over five hundred meters leads to Fei Lai Peak.

Today, Fei Lai Peak is an uneven large plaza, only about seven meters below the clouds of Jiu Yun Peak, lower than Ke Lai Peak's Flowing‑Cloud Plaza, with white clouds often drifting overhead.

It is roughly oval, wider north‑south and narrower east‑west. Along Fei Lai Peak's perimeter, dense pines two‑plus meters tall grow uniformly, encircling the peak; this not only provides safety but makes it look far more orderly than other mountains.

With the new plot, the highest priority remained these laborers; the cramped gathering scene in the Hundred‑Flower Garden was still vivid in memory.

That evening, Wei Yuning and the over two thousand laborers held a bonfire party on Fei Lai Peak; there was plenty of beast meat—though not spirit‑beast meat, the sauce, a hundred‑flavor blend personally crafted by Wei Yuning, tasted better than many spirit‑beast dishes.

Halfway through the feast, Wei Yuning took out a Retaining‑Image Stone and played the "Dew‑Light Film".

The film was an old one: Monk Cheng Xin battling the Corpse Demon, and Monk Cheng Xin battling a demonic black‑backed water buffalo. However, for the laborers, these two films were new.

The male protagonist Cheng Xin, though sharp‑witted, remained strikingly handsome; as he shouted each powerful Daoist technique name, dazzling Buddhist arts surged toward the Corpse Demon and the towering black‑backed water buffalo, producing excellent visual effects.

These unestablished laborers had never seen frontline material of battling demonic cultivators; they watched with extreme tension and blood rushing, constantly cheering Master Cheng Xin, their voices echoing across half the area.

In the peripheral view of the second video, figures such as Hong Zhi, Yun Yan, and Qing Fu appeared; most laborers knew Hong Zhi the steward and couldn't help discussing the battle locations, and the viewing experience received excellent feedback.

Wei Yuning also watched intently from the side; although everything was his own experience, seeing it suddenly from a third‑person perspective still shocked him. It was a fully real combat documentary, with no crowd actors.

"It's been a long time since I've seen Monk Cheng Xin; I wonder how that fellow's been," Wei Yuning muttered to himself while brainstorming a new film.

"Ha ha, this is good, fun, interesting!" Wei Yuning felt a sudden stiffness on his left side, turned his head, and saw a handsome, scholar‑type middle‑aged man sitting beside him.

A brown gourd hung from his waist, and a massive brush was strapped to his back.

"Senior Xuan Miaozi!" Wei Yuning quickly bowed.

"You are Qing Mo?" Xuan Miaozi withdrew his gaze from the film, smiled, and asked.

"Indeed, junior!" Wei Yuning replied.

"Good, good, not bad, not bad. Just returned to the sect and already heard several people mention you, ha ha, truly unique; compared with the other junior sect disciples, you're quite a strange one!" Xuan Miaozi laughed.

"…" Wei Yuning was speechless, thinking to himself, "Is that a compliment? Does it mean I don't fit in?"

"I heard Hong Zhi you plan to build a… what kind of workshop here?" Xuan Miaozi looked around, asking curiously.

"Yes, junior intends to construct a mechanical puppet workshop, a spirit‑herb cultivation base, and an alchemy chamber!"

"The Dao Ancestor above is indeed real! By the way, do you really intend to sell these mechanical puppets to mortals?" Xuan Miaozi exclaimed.

"Of course, they're the simplest mechanical puppets; even if I tried to sell them to cultivators, they wouldn't buy them!" Wei Yuning said matter‑of‑factly.

"…" Xuan Miaozi paused, then asked, "Why sell them to mortals?"