Longzang

Chapter 726 The horse is a good horse, but the man...

After surveying the human world and looking at Qingming, Wei Yuan felt as if he had overlooked something. So, following his own will, he possessed a Dharma Warrior and entered the medicine garden.

Upon entering the medicinal herb garden, Wei Yuan discovered that it had grown considerably larger, by at least three or four thousand acres. The old Taoist priest was expanding the garden at a pace closely matching Qing Ming's; if the priest hadn't recently added over two hundred assistants, Wei Yuan genuinely doubted whether he could manage.

The newly opened area has very ordinary spiritual energy, barely bordering on a spiritual land, but not by much. Master Chuhe has built several large sheds here and is currently directing cultivators to drive some cattle and horses into the sheds.

Both the oxen and horses were exceptionally good-looking; the horses were warhorses, but Wei Yuan couldn't recognize the oxen. He walked over to the old Taoist priest and asked, "Where did these oxen come from?"

Master Chuhe stroked his beard and said, “Those few blue ones have the bloodline of the Azure-Backed Divine Ox, though it’s a bit diluted. The dark red ones over there are descendants of the Douluo Zhuniu. These are the last of the spirit beasts; after that, they will become top-tier mortal beasts. But what I want are mortal beasts.”

With a large number of breeding cattle at hand, they can be mass-produced and then handed over to mortals to raise. Within five years, the Azure Netherworld will be teeming with cattle and horses, and everyone will have meat to eat.

The oxen were one thing, but warhorses were a vital resource for warfare. Master Chuhe bought oxen and horses from merchant caravans—carefully selected breeds—and planned to breed them himself. Once the number of superior warhorses increased, they could be sold elsewhere; these were even more sought-after commodities than armor.

Just as the explanation was being given, a warhorse suddenly neighed not far away, and a black warhorse reared up, spewing out swirling blue whirlwinds from its nostrils.

The old Taoist priest, disregarding Wei Yuan, rushed forward, snatched the reins from the cultivator's hands, and personally calmed the warhorse. Then he turned around and angrily demanded, "What's going on?! Why did you provoke it?"

The monk retorted, "This horse is both stupid and stubborn. I kindly tried to explain the ways of survival to it, but it insisted on arguing with me, saying that what I said was wrong. So I started arguing with it, but who knew that it couldn't win three sentences against me, so it tried to kick me!"

With a flick of his sleeve, the old Taoist priest sent the cultivator sprawling, and roared, "You dare to argue with it? Did I teach you the Beast Taming Heavenly Heart so you could argue? These oxen and horses are far more precious than trash like you! If you don't take good care of them, how can you expect to solidify your Dao foundation? How can you expect to advance further?"

The old Taoist priest grew angrier as he spoke, and with a swipe of his Taoist power, he unleashed a flurry of blows on the old man's face.

The cultivator repeatedly admitted his mistake, which calmed the old Taoist priest down a bit. Then he said sternly, "Go and apologize!"

The cultivator reluctantly approached the exotic spirit horse and apologized softly, but the horse let out a long neigh and turned its head to the side.

Wei Yuan, in his Dharma-image warrior form, asked the cultivators watching the commotion, "What is that horse saying?"

The surrounding cultivators, all of whom had achieved the Beast Taming Heavenly Heart, immediately said, "It says it can't hear you."

The cultivator had no choice but to loudly apologize, but Lingma said again: Is one apology enough?
The cultivator, enraged, shouted, "What else do you want?!"

The spirit horse stood upright and neighed loudly: "Look at his attitude!"

Master Chuhe's face turned ashen, and he was about to resort to private punishment again. The cultivator, being under the eaves, had no choice but to lower his head and apologize to Lingma in a humble voice. Only then did Lingma calm down and say, "Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier? Tell me, what were you really thinking when you were arguing with me just now?"

What were you thinking? Did I really need to explain what I was thinking? The cultivator finally couldn't take it anymore and yelled, "I don't care who it is! I quit!"

"Huh? You're quitting?" Wei Yuan heard the key point and his transformation instantly turned murderous, his gaze turning icy cold.

At this moment, the spirit horse raised one hoof and pointed at the cultivator, saying, "Hmph, see, you're not even pretending anymore, are you? From the first moment I saw you, I knew you weren't a good person..."

The monk roared, "You're no good horse either!"

"Scumbag!"

"Rotten horse!"

Wei Yuan stepped between the cultivator and the spirit horse, interrupting the argument. The spirit horse had initially intended to kick Wei Yuan, but upon sensing his presence, all its bristling fur instantly calmed down.

Wei Yuan looked at the cultivator and calmly asked, "You just said you didn't want to do this anymore? If you don't want to do this anymore, where do you plan to go?"

The cultivator sized up Wei Yuan and said, "And who are you? It's none of your business where I go! I'm a Foundation Establishment cultivator now. If I go out and find a small place to stay, everyone will call me Foundation Establishment Ancestor. Why should I put up with this bully's attitude here?"

Enraged, the spirit horse stomped on it with one hoof.

Fortunately, the surrounding cultivators were also practicing the Beast Taming Heavenly Heart. They quickly tamed the horse, some feeding it beans and others brushing its fur, and finally calmed it down.

Wei Yuan said calmly, "Your Dao Foundation was given to you by Qingming. You can leave if you want, but leave your Dao Foundation behind."

The cultivator was also stunned, and said with his neck stiff, "I cultivated my Dao Foundation myself, what the hell does it have to do with Qingming now! Besides, who are you to interfere in my affairs? I went through all the trouble of cultivating my Dao Foundation just to be inferior to others and humiliated? Is there no law in this world?"

Wei Yuan frowned slightly, not bothering to argue with him, and sealed his sea of ​​consciousness with his power, then said, "Destroy his Dao foundation and expel him from Qingming."

Another cultivator who practiced Beast Taming Heavenly Heart suddenly stepped forward and shouted, "Why won't you let him speak?"

Wei Yuan coldly replied, "You want to leave too?"

The monk was somewhat afraid, but he still mustered his courage and shouted, "I don't want to leave! But I will defend his right to speak! What law says that even speaking is not allowed?"

Wei Yuan said, "I have already made myself very clear."

The cultivator still stood in front of Wei Yuan, stubbornly saying, "No matter what he did, you can't silence him!"

"Get out of the way!" Wei Yuan had lost his patience.

The monk bit his lower lip and opened his arms, refusing to give way.

Wei Yuan finally looked at him and said, "He broke the blood oath. I was already being very lenient by not activating the curse. You know this and still try to argue. How much silver did the Zhao Kingdom give you to make you risk your life like this?"

"Zhao State?" The cultivator seemed somewhat bewildered. "Take him away and interrogate him carefully." At Wei Yuan's command, several on-duty cultivators rushed over and took the cultivator away as well.

At this point, Wei Yuan's good mood had completely vanished. He asked Master Chuhe, "Are there many cultivators like this lately?"

Master Chuhe sighed, "I've never heard of this before. Perhaps it's because there are too many people who have reached the foundation of the Dao, and their quality varies greatly."

Wei Yuan's divine sense swept across the entire herb garden, and the once noisy area suddenly fell silent. Many of the spirit oxen and spirit horses that were previously frantic suddenly became as quiet as cicadas in winter, and some even collapsed to the ground with their legs weak.

In the silence, the smile on the face of the Master Chuhe gradually faded.

Wei Yuan finally said, "Uncle-Master, you have always been kind and generous, spending more time with spirit beasts than with people. But no matter how cunning spirit beasts are, they are not as fickle as the human heart. Qingming's life is a little better now, but the situation is actually extremely precarious."

I cannot be fair to everyone, nor can I satisfy everyone. Now I must concentrate all my resources to strengthen myself as much as possible and win every battle I can win. Only in this way will we not regret not having tried harder when a powerful enemy comes knocking in the future.

Wei Yuan sighed and said, "I know that you want to plead for those two, but they did break the rules. Don't say things you shouldn't. Otherwise, everyone will think that they can do whatever they want just by hiding in the herb garden and behind you."

Chu He opened his mouth, then gave a bitter smile and said, "I'm just too easily swayed and have gotten used to being a pushover."

"It's alright, these cattle and horses are very precious, very good. There are already so many guinea pigs? Does that mean by the end of the year everyone will have one? Wait... in that shed over there..."

Upon hearing Wei Yuan's words, the old Taoist priest immediately perked up and said, "Those sheds are full of Brother Snake's descendants and relatives! Come on, I'll show you!"

Wei Yuan followed the hoeing worker into the shed, opened the door, and immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

The shed contains several types of terrain and climates, and is filled with snakes of all sizes, some of which are intertwined and even coiled into a giant snake ball.

Wei Yuan's expression turned somewhat strange: "These are also food?"

Chu He hurriedly said, "They're all related to Brother Snake, how can we eat them? I keep them here for several reasons. First, they shed their molts every year, which are all top-grade medicinal materials. Second, they produce a large amount of venom and venomous sand, which are also quite valuable. Third, snakes that haven't hatched aren't considered snakes, and those without life aren't either. So there are plenty of eggs to eat regularly. These eggs are very nutritious, and they taste especially delicious when fried!"

Wei Yuan nodded, indeed Chu He had unique insights into the planning of the spirit pet and spirit medicine industry.

However, Wei Yuan also had some questions. He couldn't understand why the old Taoist suddenly brought back so many spirit beasts to breed. Previously, he had only raised guinea pigs, which were only for himself and his adoptive fathers to use for hot pot.

Chu He replied that ever since the Immortal Dog's head fell into Qingming, the spiritual energy of the entire Qingming has surged dramatically towards spirit beasts. If these spirit beasts are raised long enough and given some good fortune, they might even be able to advance in rank in the future. The price of a spirit beast increases tenfold for each rank it advances.

Wei Yuan overlooked this direction, but fortunately, Master Chuhe noticed it.

Wei Yuan went to check on the spiritual herbs again and was about to leave when suddenly the spirit horse broke free from the cultivator and ran up to Wei Yuan, saying, "I want to be your mount!"

Wei Yuan was stunned, and the old Taoist priest Chu He was also astonished. The spirit horse's voice and tone were very strange, but it was indeed speaking human language.

Seeing that Wei Yuan did not answer, several cultivators tried to pull the spirit horse away, but the spirit horse became anxious and shouted, "Don't listen to that scumbag's nonsense! I'm a good horse, and I've never been ridden by anyone before!"

Wei Yuan and Chu He looked at each other in bewilderment.

Wei Yuan lowered his voice and whispered, "Uncle-Master, is this... your newly sworn godfather?"

The old Taoist priest said decisively, "How could that be! It's still a bit short of the Dharma Form; at most, it's a sworn brother!"

"Oh..." Wei Yuan nodded, then said to the spirit horse, "There are many cultivators in the Azure Netherworld, why did you specifically choose to find me?"

Lingma sighed and said, "Originally, I was interested in the Realm Lord. Although his reputation isn't great, at least he has a high position! But I waited for several days and he didn't come. Then I didn't meet any good people until I met you."

"To be honest, you're just average-looking, have ordinary aptitude, and your path to cultivation is cut off. Aside from that, you're pretty much perfect, better than those few who only have a basic cultivation foundation. I can't wait any longer; it has to be you."

Wei Yuan's current avatar is a Dharma Aspect Warrior, only at the initial stage of Dharma Aspect. Ling Ma's words are absolutely correct, but they just sound grating to him no matter how he listens to them.

With Wei Yuan's current strength, an ordinary spirit horse would be a burden. However, he is not in his true form now, but a Dharma Aspect Warrior, so it is barely acceptable for him to be paired with a spirit horse that has reached the peak of the Dao Foundation stage. Moreover, although the horse's cultivation is mediocre, its spirituality is frighteningly high, making it a rare breed.

So Wei Yuan nodded and said, "Alright, then you can be my mount from now on."

The spirit horse let out a long neigh, filled with joy and excitement.

Wei Yuan bid farewell to Chu He and left the herb garden alone on horseback. Wei Yuan then asked, "Can you fly?"

"Short distances are fine, but long distances are a bit strenuous."

Wei Yuan nodded, mounted his horse, and spurred it towards Ding'an City. The spirit horse leaped ten zhang in a single bound, easily clearing obstacles with lightning speed, much faster than the Dharma Aspect Warrior could fly on his own.

Halfway there, the spirit horse suddenly said, "It's settled then! From now on, you can ride me, and I will never let anyone else touch me! You mustn't be fickle and fall in love with every horse you see."

Wei Yuan didn't like having his personal mount used by others anyway, so he agreed immediately.

“If you ever really take a fancy to another handsome horse in the future, you mustn’t…” Lingma paused, then seemed to sigh, and changed her words, “Never mind, it’s better not to let me know. If you don’t come looking for me then, I’ll naturally know it’s time to leave…”

Wei Yuan found these words somewhat strange, but he didn't think much of it. He had other important matters to attend to at the moment, so he spurred his horse and headed straight for the high mountains outside Ding'an City.

(End of this chapter)