Chapter 25: Fruit

"Fruit?"

Li Xiangping raised his head and looked at Li Qiuyang, who was sitting cross-legged.

"Yes..."

Li Qiuyang appeared a bit uneasy, his hands tightly pinching the corners of his clothes. He had cultivated for a few nights and condensed a wisp of spiritual breath. He felt that the speed did not match the volume, and he was afraid that he had practiced the technique wrong, so he hurriedly took the technique to ask Li Xiangping.

When Li Xiangping heard Li Qiuyang's cultivation speed, he was so scared that he took the Qingyuan Wheel-Nurturing Method and read it again and again, pondering it carefully several times.

After a full cup of tea, Li Xiangping raised his head and asked him if he had eaten anything strange.

Thinking carefully, Li Qiuyang suddenly remembered a major event and hurriedly replied:

"A few years ago, several partners insisted on comparing courage, and agreed to climb the back mountain. In the end, I was the only one who went up the mountain. I didn't see my partners on the way, and I got lost without knowing it."

"As I walked, I saw a small emerald green tree with six or seven red fruits hanging on it. The fruits were red and shiny, looking delicious."

"I really couldn't help it, and picked a fruit to eat in a daze. I walked down the mountain in a daze. After I came back, I slept for three days, which made my father anxious and asked many people to come and see."

Listening to Li Qiuyang finish speaking, Li Xiangping couldn't help but be speechless. He patted Li Qiuyang on the shoulder and said:

"Now it seems that in just over a year, you will be able to condense the Xuanjing Wheel."

Seeing Li Qiuyang's hopeful look, Li Xiangping continued:

"But there is another important matter."

Li Qiuyang was stunned for a moment and looked at Li Xiangping.

"Take us up the mountain to find that spiritual root."

————

Li Tongya returned to the small courtyard in Lijing Village. Just as he crossed the stone steps in front of the door, he saw Liu Rouxuan sitting in the courtyard obediently, supporting her chin with both hands, counting the fruit seedlings in the spiritual field blankly.

Seeing Li Tongya enter from the door, Liu Rouxuan stood up from the stone stool, lowered her eyebrows and looked at Li Tongya, and said timidly:

"Immortal Master."

"No need to be so polite."

Li Tongya waved his hand, his eyes quickly swept over Liu Rouxuan's beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and said with a smile:

"I am only six or seven years older than you, just call me Tongya."

Seeing Li Tongya's easy-going appearance, Liu Rouxuan relaxed a lot, thought for a while and said:

"Brother Tongya."

Li Tongya nodded, got up and took a wooden slip from the wooden shelf in the room, and said to Liu Rouxuan:

"This is the technique for the breath realm, called 'Qingyuan Wheel-Nurturing Method'. You should memorize it in the courtyard first, and remember not to pass it on."

"Yes!"

Liu Rouxuan responded happily, took the wooden slip respectfully with both hands, and held it in her arms carefully.

"Someone will send meals at Chen time and Shen time every day. If you need anything, you can tell that person and ask them to send it."

Li Tongya took the teapot, said while pouring tea, poured two small cups of tea, and continued:

"I am not often in this courtyard on weekdays, but I will come to cast spiritual rain for this spiritual field at Chen time and Shen time. If you have any questions about cultivation, just ask."

Watching Liu Rouxuan nod repeatedly, Li Tongya smiled and asked softly:

"Have the utensils and clothes at home been sent?"

"They have been sent." Liu Rouxuan replied.

Li Tongya asked suddenly.

"I read some when I was young, and I also know some characters."

"Then you don't need me to teach you one by one. You read it through first, and if you have any questions, come and ask me."

Liu Rouxuan responded repeatedly, holding the wooden slip and reading it word by word.

Watching Liu Rouxuan bury her head to read the Qingyuan Wheel-Nurturing Method, Li Tongya sipped tea and thought about it:

"This child came to Lijing Village, is unfamiliar with the place, and is trapped in this courtyard. There is no need to worry about the technique leaking out in these few years."

Just as he was thinking, he heard a loud laugh, and someone pushed the door into the small courtyard.

"Third Brother, why are you here?"

Li Tongya asked with some surprise, but saw Li Qiuyang following Li Xiangping, looking uneasy.

Li Xiangping told about the spiritual root. Li Tongya was naturally surprised, and kept an eye on Li Qiuyang. The two calculated, took Li Yesheng and several strong men in the village, and went up the back mountain.

The season had entered late autumn, and the back mountain was desolate and scattered, with leaves falling. The wild beasts were fat and dormant, preparing for winter.

With the reed marshes that were rich in products and vibrant, the people of Lijing Village had never been interested in the back mountain. Fish and meat were supplied by the reed marshes, so why bother to fight with the wild beasts in the deep mountains?

So the small paths on the back mountain were overgrown with thorns and vines. Li Qiuyang couldn't remember the general road, so several villagers took firewood knives to open the way, and Li Xiangping and Li Tongya followed behind.

"Second Brother, I have some questions."

Li Xiangping took Li Qiuyang's hand and turned to look at Li Tongya.

"What?"

"You said that Si Yuanbai drew a boundary for my family. Outside this boundary is someone else's land. Before my Li family rose, that family only needed to send one breath-realm cultivator to this place. Who would dare not obey?"

"Then why has my Li family cultivated here for two hundred years, and no immortal cultivator is willing to come? Do they really despise these mortals?"

Li Tongya touched his chin, his expression solemn, and said:

"I have also pondered this matter. Listening to Senior Si Yuanbai's meaning, this place had no spiritual energy for hundreds of years, so there were no cultivation resources, so no immortal cultivator was willing to waste time here."

"Secondly, it is Mount Dali on the side, with mountains stretching endlessly. How many monsters and ghosts are there in the mountains? It is far less comfortable than the county city."

Li Xiangping nodded in agreement, his face a little ugly, and said to Li Tongya in a low voice:

"Brother, there is an even worse possibility."

"This Qingchi Sect is extremely powerful, but it only occupies a quarter of the Yue Kingdom. Are there no strong enemies around? I'm afraid that my Li family is on the edge of the Qingchi Sect's influence!"

"Two villages fighting for water, naturally no one is willing to plant crops on the edge, which is the same truth. According to Xu Wenshan, going south is the Wu Kingdom. Friction between Wu and Yue continues, and I am afraid the immortal sects behind them are not much better!"

Li Tongya felt a chill in his heart, his face also became ugly, and he said:

"I only hope that my Li family is not the crop that the Qingchi Sect planted on the edge."

Li Xiangping smiled bitterly, but heard Li Yesheng and several sweating villagers shouting in front.

"Immortal Master! What a big long worm!" ===== CHAPTER 26 =====

"Immortal Master! What a huge long worm!"