Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 29 Xu Ying is put to great use

For the next few days, Chang Ping'an cultivated even more diligently, almost day and night. Unfortunately, perhaps because the spiritual energy in this martial arts cultivation world was too thin, Zhang Chengdao had already advanced to the sixth level of Qi Refining, but Chang Ping'an was still hovering at the first level of Qi Refining, unable to make any progress.

Xu Ying was also suffering.

Although Zhang Chengdao did not accept Xu Ying as his disciple, he allowed Xu Ying to cultivate with Chang Ping'an. He even let Xu Ying copy the book "Elementary Qi Refining Book" to study on his own—of course, he could not take it down the mountain.

Xu Ying was unaware that Zhang Chengdao had done this on purpose in order to "make a free copy," and instead thought it was "the benevolence of the gods," and was extremely moved.

Unfortunately, despite his efforts for several days, just like Chang Ping'an had done, he couldn't get the hang of it no matter what.

What's worse than Chang Ping'an's situation is that he can't even "sense" the Qi!
Chang Ping'an specially comforted Xu Ying, saying, "Brother Xu, don't be discouraged. It also took me several days to guide my Qi into my body. Alas, people like you and me, with mediocre talent, can only make up for their shortcomings through hard work!"

“It’s not your fault,” Zhang Chengdao said with a sigh. “The spiritual energy here is thin, making it difficult to cultivate. Perhaps it will be better if we nurture ourselves here for a few more years.”

As he spoke, he planted a mulberry sapling that he had just obtained from his membership bonus in the yard.

Mulberry trees are a relatively rare tree species in the game. They are priced at 120 Peach Blossom Stones in the store and are of purple quality. Zhang Chengdao has never been willing to buy one.

Because the mulberry tree can be shaken once a day, it randomly drops varying amounts of silkworm eggs, honey, and resin. These three resources are all very important materials, and can be used after reaching a sufficiently high level and constructing the corresponding buildings.

In spring and summer, mulberry leaves can be harvested and used to raise silkworms in the silkworm rearing room, ensuring a stable production of cocoons. The cocoons can then be used to make various fabrics, including silk satin, brocade, and silk brocade.

Honey has a wide range of uses, but it's mainly used for making food. Resin, on the other hand, is much more precious. It's the only "light source material" in the game, used to make wax. Wax is mainly used to make various lamps and decorations, and it can also be used to make oiled leather clothing for wind and rain protection.

In addition, once the mulberry trees grow up, they can be felled to obtain timber. However, unlike ordinary timber, the timber obtained from felling mulberry trees is classified as "white wood," and the planks made from it are also "white wood," used to construct more advanced buildings.

Besides mulberry, there is another tree species called ash, which is cheaper and also produces white wood. Moreover, it is cheaper than mulberry in the mall, costing only 80 peach blossom stones, but Zhang Chengdao still couldn't bring himself to buy it.

In fact, Zhang Chengdao had been keeping the peach blossom stones he had accumulated over the past two days. Besides his hoarding tendencies, it was also because he had somewhat forgotten about the materials and buildings needed for the upgrade.

In the game, the buildings that need to be constructed in the early, mid, and late stages not only require a significantly larger quantity of materials, but also have vastly different types of materials.

Besides ordinary wood, there are many other types of wood, such as white wood, hardwood, nanmu, camphor wood, red wood, galangal, and machine wood.

Metal ores are also divided into many types, such as iron ore, hematite, lapis lazuli, black iron ore, and so on, too numerous to count.

Therefore, in order to prevent being stuck with materials, Zhang Chengdao decided to be conservative in consuming peach blossom stones, so that he would at least have enough peach blossom stones to buy when he needed rare materials to build buildings.

In addition to diligently cultivating and improving his cultivation level over the past few days, Zhang Chengdao also gradually built new upgraded buildings.

Two of the most important structures are the brine wells and the salt fields.

【Brine well】produces brine; 【Salt field】turns brine into salt.

In the original game, only one brine well could be built, resulting in extremely low production efficiency and a long recovery period. It took ten days to recover after each brine extraction, meaning his self-produced salt was insufficient to meet his needs, forcing him to purchase it from the mysterious merchant. In reality, while buying salt no longer requires waiting for the randomly appearing mysterious merchant, a new and potentially fatal problem has arisen.

In ancient times, privately mining salt...wasn't that illegal?
Chang Ping'an knew nothing about this, after all, one couldn't expect a child who hadn't received much formal education to know these things.

However, to Zhang Chengdao's surprise, Xu Ying spoke eloquently: "The Great Xiao Kingdom has seven Salt Commissioner Offices, each of which has a Sub-Commissioner Office and a Sub-Commissioner Office. Salt tax officials are also appointed at each salt field. Salt traders need to have three documents: paper money, permits, and official receipts, before they can sell. As for those who boil, sell, or steal salt among the common people, or those who report private salt but are not arrested, they will be sentenced to fixed years of penal servitude and caning, without being charged with redemption. Those who do not reach penal servitude will be punished with fifty canings."

Zhang Chengdao was a little confused—what was he babbling about?
However, he roughly understood the terms "folk vendor" and "fifty strokes of the cane," so he figured it was illegal.
Then all that brine well of mine is just sitting there, not really?

After Xu Ying finished speaking excitedly, he noticed Zhang Chengdao's silence and assumed he was dissatisfied with the government's control over salt. He hesitated for a moment before adding, "However, although that's what they say on the surface, some sects in the martial arts world will still produce salt for their own use if they don't sell it to outsiders..."

Zhang Chengdao was somewhat confused: "Didn't you say that even making your own food wasn't allowed?"

Xu Ying spread his hands: "We don't sell it, so there's no way to investigate this! Many poor families in the countryside still scrape toilet salt to eat, and they don't get punished for it!"

Seeing that Xu Ying knew so much, Zhang Chengdao suddenly had an idea.

He carefully examined the "blue card character" and asked, "Have you been to school?"

Xu Ying nodded: "I have read it. To be honest, Immortal Zhang, my family has a tradition of combining farming and studying. Both of my older brothers entered officialdom through the imperial examinations, so I have been studying since I was a child, and my studies are quite diverse."

Zhang Chengdao then asked, "But you seem to understand administrative affairs as well?"

"I know a little, but I don't like reading and I'm of average talent. My two older brothers have also considered having me take over the clan's affairs, but unfortunately, I'm unruly and prefer martial arts, which is why I've been away from home for so many years... Sigh..."

As Xu Ying spoke, she sighed sadly.

Zhang Chengdao asked again, "So now you love martial arts more, or do you prefer the path of immortality?"

Xu Ying frankly admitted, "Who wouldn't want to pursue the path to immortality? But my aptitude is truly lacking. In terms of martial arts, after many years at the Sword Forging Manor, I can only be considered to have entered the door. As for the path of immortality... I'm afraid I'll have to admit, Immortal Zhang, that I'm afraid I'll find it difficult to even begin to understand the path of immortality..."

"While the path of immortality does consider talent, it's not solely based on talent,"

Zhang Chengdao still remembered the records in the "Elementary Qi Refining Book," which were written very clearly.

Before Foundation Establishment, while innate talent and aptitude are considered, spiritual roots are not. After Foundation Establishment, spiritual roots begin to influence cultivation results. After Core Formation, cultivation no longer considers innate talent and aptitude or spiritual roots; instead, it focuses solely on temperament and comprehension.

"Although we are not related as master and disciple, I intend to ask you to take charge of my sect and assist Ping An in handling sect affairs."

Zhang Chengdao paused, looked at Xu Ying who was still standing there dumbfounded, and continued, "As for the treatment... the monthly salary can be compared with that of most sects in the martial arts world. In addition, the use of cultivation techniques and secret manuals will be the same as that of my disciples. There will also be a share of immortal food and pills. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)