Cultivation: Starting with Farming in the Spiritual Pivot Grotto

Chapter 68 Encountering a Dispute

"When we go back this time, we still need to train some strongmen to help with the miscellaneous tasks. This will make it easier to collect spiritual items in the future, instead of having to do everything ourselves like we do now."

The last supporting rock broke, and the rope on the water suddenly taut.

With the buoyancy of the lake water supporting it, the Dragon Blood Tree remained stable and did not overturn.

Li Ya opened a cave at the bottom of the lake, completely engulfing the entire root.

Instead of immediately cutting the ropes, the ropes were gradually loosened, and the Dragon Blood Tree slowly fell.

The power of the grotto-heaven surrounding the Dragon Blood Tree slightly contracted and pulled, and the entire ancient divine tree slowly landed without the slightest disturbance.

Until the entire ancient and vigorous precious tree gradually disappeared into the void and was completely absorbed by the cave world.

The once vibrant cave instantly lost all its vitality, becoming completely empty.

Within the Spirit Pivot Cave, the Dragon Blood Tree landed steadily in the pre-prepared pit, and Li Ya immediately manipulated the surrounding spiritual soil to fill the gaps between the roots.

He created ditches to channel all the spring water gushing from the eye of the sacred spring to this place.

The surrounding spiritual energy began to gather and surround the treasure tree. The Dragon Blood Treasure Tree accepted everything that came and swallowed it all.

The dark red, glass-like branches and leaves swayed, scattering specks of blood-red light that fell to the ground.

Li Ya lay down casually, not caring that he was covered in dirt.

The ancient wood spirit child, who had worked hard alongside him all day, didn't ask for any reward. Instead, he moved all his belongings to the Dragon Blood Treasure Tree.

Li Ya was completely confused when Ling Pei explained:

"Master Qi, they are the happiest people to have you bring this precious tree back. They love to make their nests in the sacred tree."

"So, I brought them back a huge mansion with multiple courtyards!"

"Not just any palace, it's a royal palace!"

"I see!" Li Ya chuckled softly. "Don't call me 'Master' anymore, it sounds too old-fashioned."

This left Lingpei puzzled; that's what they call it in the storybooks.

"How is the master?"

"No, no, that's not close enough!"

Intimacy? Ling Pei's face immediately turned red. What was there to call her that? Did she have to call her...?

"Let's call him Young Master!"

Upon hearing this, Ling Pei breathed a sigh of relief and then softly called out, "Young Master!"

"Eh!"

……

After searching the cave one last time, and seeing that there were no more valuable spiritual items, Li Ya took down the jade bottle used to collect earth milk and left with peace of mind.

When Li Ya returned to the bottom of the Blackwater Pool, a savory, metallic taste exploded in his mouth.

The Yin Hua Sect cultivator who had just died was now dead, his body floating on the water.

Two gray-robed cultivators appeared on the shore, clearly having changed out of their sect's attire.

"Senior Brother Lin, this fool has set up this big fishing rod here. There must be some rare spirit fish underwater. Why don't we wait here? If we catch one, wouldn't that be another good profit?"

One of the two, the younger one, carefully examined the sturdy fishing rod, looking somewhat eager to try it out.

"snort!"

"You idiot, we brothers took him down together. Even he had to be treated with such caution. Now you're wondering if the fish below is a spirit fish or a ferocious fish?"

"Even if we manage to catch it, how will we subdue it? If we make such a commotion, it might attract a fierce creature. Tell me, which of us brothers will stay behind to cover our retreat?"

The older cultivators were clearly much more composed, and soon they removed the fishing rod and put it in their pockets.

After the two left, Li Ya did not leave the water. Instead, he enveloped his body with the Cold Stream True Qi and, like a swimming fish, floated upstream with the current.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to go downstream, but once the smell of blood spread, it would definitely attract a lot of things downstream, so it was safer to go upstream.

"Even in Zhongzhou, which considers itself the righteous path, in places where the sun shines, with Bai Yujing's iron-fisted methods, things can still be peaceful and harmonious."

"But once you get to the unrestrained Valley of the Fallen Dragons, those rules are completely abandoned, and all principles give way to interests and human nature."

Li Ya's mind was in turmoil. He had enough wealth and pills to sustain his cultivation for a long time to come, so there was no need to take the risk in this place.

But when he thought of his senior brother Lingji and his master, he felt he had to come. For a moment, two conflicting thoughts were fighting in his mind.

After all, crushing others and killing other cultivators is an extremely satisfying thing.

However, it would be extremely unpleasant to be crushed by others and become a cultivator who is killed.

After struggling for a while, Li Ya could only admit that he was a living glutton. Although he was afraid, thinking about all the treasures in the world, and that there were many more treasures like the Dragon Blood Tree, his greed began to take over.

The initial mentality of seeking stability has also begun to change.

"If I hadn't come, it would have been fine. But since I'm here and have seen them, if I do nothing, it will be a huge flaw in my Dao heart."

Even though greed began to dominate his mind, Li Ya didn't lose his mind. He didn't rush along the way, but paid attention to the underwater situation. While constantly scavenging fish, shrimp and spiritual plants, he also kept an eye on the aquatic environment.

Not long after that, he noticed something was wrong.

"Is my luck a bit strange? It's only been a few days, and I've already encountered three groups of people in this huge Fallen Dragon Valley."

Before setting off, Li Ya memorized the map of Fallen Dragon Valley perfectly, from still life to animals, from water to land.

After a few falcons skimmed across the water, Li Ya continued swimming.

This handmade "ghillie suit" was really useful; it fooled those little falcons.

This fallen dragon bone is dark and damp, so how could birds live here? It's obvious that it was brought by outside cultivators.

"Looks like there are quite a few smart people here, knowing to use the Falcon to scout the way. The Falcon's eyesight is several times better than a human's."

But not long after, he saw two groups of cultivators facing each other. One of them looked very familiar; they were cultivators from Fallen Valley.

The sects that command ghost soldiers and generals mostly rely on this for their combat power, but in this Fallen Dragon Valley, the ghost soldiers and generals' strength is largely suppressed.

Now, with their superior numbers, they've deterred the other side from making any rash moves.

The people on the other side were dressed in brightly colored clothes, and several spirit falcons had just perched on their shoulders, so they seemed to be a group of cultivators who controlled spirit beasts.

The two sides were facing each other across the river, and there didn't seem to be any spirits around. How did they end up clashing?

At this moment, the group of cultivators from Fallen Valley were all eager to fight, showing no signs of weakness.

"Senior Brother, we are missing four of our guardian spirits. It's like a pillow being delivered when we're sleepy. We must not let them get away today."

The leader of the Fallen Valley cultivators sneered, "Look at them, they're all beast-taming cultivators. They must have quite a few spirit beasts at their disposal. Even if we don't give our junior brothers a taste of meat, using them to refine their Yin Spirits would be a good idea."

"Senior brother's insight is brilliant!"

The group from Luopo Valley slowly deployed their formation, intending to surround the cultivators before them.

Below Fallen Dragon Valley, there are truly not many spiritual materials that Fallen Valley can use.

But why are they so eager to go down into the valley every time? It's all because they treat cultivators from other sects as spiritual materials.

It is forbidden to extract the souls and flesh of mortals to refine the Yin spirits. In the past, they used the blood and souls of beasts from the mountains, but the effect was definitely not as good as that of humans.

The spiritual blood and soul of cultivators are of course the best, but Fallen Valley has not yet reached the point of dominating a region. Even the Fragrance Sect is superior to them.

If they dare to indiscriminately kill cultivators and refine guardian spirits, the other sects will naturally be happy to eliminate the demons and protect the righteous path.