Immortality and cultivation begin with full comprehension.

Chapter 19 Raising Barge
"Yes! The spiritual energy in our place is so abundant, so raising our cultivation level doesn't seem to have anything special about it, right?"

Li Yunjing nodded, saying it nonchalantly.

"Too!"

Ma Xingyuan nodded in sudden realization.

At this moment, he simply thought that Li Yunjing had been stuck at the first level of Qi Refining for a long time.

This time, thanks to the treasure of the "Miscellaneous Service Hall", they were able to break through to the second floor in one fell swoop.

Ma Xingyuan would never have imagined that Li Yunjing would advance from the beginner level to the second level of Qi Refining in just four days.

If this news gets out, it will definitely cause a huge uproar.

There are probably very few people in the entire "Shenxiao Dao Sect" who can cultivate so quickly.

The two walked and talked along the mountain path, encountering many menial disciples and outer disciples along the way.

These disciples also traveled between various mountain peaks and halls to complete sect missions.

However, disciples above the inner sect level rarely appear.

Clearly, the status of inner disciples in the "Shenxiao Dao Sect" has undergone a qualitative leap.

Both of them were highly skilled cultivators, and they moved with incredible speed, crossing the eight mountain peaks in just three hours.

Before them appeared a mountain peak thousands of feet high, but this mountain peak stood alone in a vast, empty place.

There were no medicinal gardens, exotic flowers and herbs, or magnificent buildings around.

"This is Qiongze Peak? It really lives up to its name—it's so poor!"

Ma Xingyuan muttered to himself, somewhat disappointed.

"Hehe! Just think, what kind of good place could a place for raising barbed horses be?"

Li Yunjing chuckled lightly; he wasn't disappointed at all.

In his past life, he had seen farms before, and the smell... tsk tsk...

It's not surprising that Qiongze Peak stands alone amidst thousands of mountains.

What the two did not know was that once they crossed this mountain peak, they would be out of the "Shenxiao Mountain Range".

This is the westernmost part of the "Shenxiao Dao Sect".

The Shenxiao Dao Sect is divided into five major mountain ranges: east, west, south, north, and center.

The center is naturally the core area, where important figures and key internal institutions of the sect are located.

Of the other directions, the east is considered the most auspicious, as it has the richest spiritual energy, and most of the true disciples reside there.

The North and South are next, each with its own strengths.

The western peaks, relatively speaking, have the weakest spiritual energy.

Although various organizations of the sect have established branches in the west, the forces they send out are basically limited to the Foundation Establishment stage.

The entire group of miscellaneous disciples and outer disciples, except for those transferred to other peaks for missions, almost all lived in the west.

There are 72 peaks in the entire western region, and "Qiongze Peak" is one of the dozen or so worst peaks.

"Sigh! I never imagined that I, Ma Xingyuan, would one day be doing this kind of work!"

Ma Xingyuan sighed softly.

He mingled among rogue cultivators, and although he didn't achieve anything remarkable, he still managed to thrive in the mortal world thanks to his status as a cultivator.

He truly had no ordinary people among his entourage; wherever he went, he was always a guest of officials, wealthy merchants, and prominent families.

Now that he's gone to feed the horses, how could Ma Xingyuan not feel melancholy?

"Let's go!"

Li Yunjing chuckled to himself, "Who isn't?"

This wandering knight roamed the Ming Dynasty, living a carefree and idyllic life.

Even in his dreams, Li Yunjing would never have such a dream. The two began climbing the mountain path, and along the way, there was a faint, strange odor in the air.

This confirmed Li Yunjing's suspicions.

"who?"

When they reached the middle of the mountain, two Taoist priests in gray robes blocked their path and asked them questions.

"Senior brothers, we are new disciples of the 'Miscellaneous Service Hall' and have been assigned here to take care of the barges."

Knowing that these were patrol personnel from the mountains, Li Yunjing smiled and handed over his identification token.

"Ok!"

The gray-robed disciple guessed their purpose from their attire, but still checked their identities as usual.

After confirming that everything was correct, the man smiled and said, "Junior Brother Li, Junior Brother Ma, come with me."

"Yes!"

Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan responded and followed the two in front, continuing up the mountain.

Before long, the four of them reached the top of the mountain and saw a palace.

At the palace gate, disciples were constantly coming and going, most of them gray-robed menial disciples, and very few blue-robed outer disciples were seen.

Above the palace plaque are written these three large characters: "Qiongze Peak".

This mountain is mainly used by the "Shenxiao Dao Sect" to raise some low-level spirit beasts.

The pecking horse is one of them.

Two disciples from "Qiongze Peak" led Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan into the hall.

A middle-aged, burly man sat on a high chair at the head of the hall, looking down at Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan.

This man exuded an extremely imposing aura; his muscles stretched his blue Taoist robe so bulging.

This man had sharp eyes and exuded a strong sense of pressure. He glanced at Li Yunjing and the other man.

The man frowned slightly, seemingly somewhat dissatisfied with Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan.

These two newcomers are too weak. Although one is at the second level of Qi Refining and the other at the third level, it is obvious that they have not undergone any systematic training and do not even show any signs of having mastered magic.

At a glance, the middle-aged man knew that these two newcomers were utterly useless.

"With such cultivation, they can only raise barges. It seems that even if we want to exploit the two of them and make them do more work, we won't be able to."

Hou Boyan looked displeased.

After thinking for a moment, Hou Boyan said coldly, "I am Hou Boyan, the manager of 'Qiongze Peak'. The rules are all in the 'Divine Firmament Jade Book', so I don't need to say more. You two will go and take charge of feeding the barbed horses. Here is the token!"

As he spoke, Hou Boyan flicked his hand, and a streak of gray light flew toward Ma Xingyuan.

Ma Xingyuan grabbed the token in his hand. The token was engraved with winding runes, which seemed to have the function of controlling formations and restrictions.

The person in charge was impolite, and Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan had no choice but to comply.

The two weren't particularly worried and followed the person from before, leaving the main hall once again.

In any case, the rules of the "Shenxiao Dao Sect" are extremely strict, especially regarding contribution points. As long as they do things well, they will not worry about this person deducting their contribution points.

This is the sect's bottom line.

Of course, if you receive contribution points but fail to retain them, then it has nothing to do with the sect.

The two quickly arrived at their "territory".

The task was handed over to the original person in charge, and the supplies, the number of barges, and whether there were any casualties or diseases were counted.

After everything matched the records, the two settled down completely.

The place where the barges were kept was halfway up the mountain, in a shady spot.

The terrain here is a huge three-mile-long platform. A ring of animal pens has been built on the entire platform. The pens are covered with runes that crackle with electricity.

(End of this chapter)