Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 413 Monk
To prevent the loss of the medicinal herb, Li Xiangming stayed in Pushui Market for more than ten days.

During this time, a female cultivator named Liu Lingzhou came to invite the Spirit Serpent Merchant Guild to participate in an important gathering hosted by the White Dew Sect. It is said that all the well-known merchant guilds and shops in Pushui Market will participate, including Tengjiao Market and Lingluo Merchant Guild.

Li Xiangming would not personally intervene in such a matter.

However, this also reveals that Hua Lun and Bai Lu Men are willing to endorse the Ling She Chamber of Commerce.

With no worries left, he took Zhang Min and Xu Qingchi and planned to return to Pudong by boat.

"What a big boat!"

Upon arriving at Pufeng Port in the West Market, Xu Qingchi was filled with amazement.

What came into his view was a huge Fujian ship, its hull resembling a floating mountain, standing majestically on the water.

More than forty other boats of various sizes also docked with it.

This is a huge fleet!
"But the river is frozen over, will this boat still be able to move?"

After the initial excitement, Xu Qingchi quickly noticed something amiss.

Although the river water along the banks was clear, the river surface in the distance was a vast expanse of white.

"Of course it's no problem."

Li Xiangming smiled and said, "Mere floating ice is nothing to cultivators."

Sure enough, upon hearing the news of the departure, several cultivators flew out from the deck of the giant ship, wielding their weapons. Large areas of ice on the river surface cracked and sank, and the fleet set sail smoothly.

Seeing this, Li Xiangming patted Xu Qingchi's head and encouraged him, "Although it's a bit troublesome, cultivators are people who wield great power and can do what ordinary people cannot. You can do these things in the future too."

Xu Qingchi nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

But he quickly put all that behind him and ran around the ship excitedly, causing quite a few laughs.

Li Xiangming remained silent and did not stop it.

The cargo ships at Bailu Gate were indeed built to be large and long in order to carry more cargo, which was truly amazing.

However, this also means that the boats sacrifice flexibility, and once attacked by a river monster, they have almost no chance of escape.

Therefore, Bailu Sect specially hired monks to accompany each giant ship.

Moreover, in order to ensure smooth shipping, Bailumen has carried out a major crackdown on river monsters in the upper reaches of the Pu River and Dai River for more than ten years, and now the risk of cargo ship accidents has been greatly reduced.

"Master!"

Xu Qingchi jogged for a while, then turned back, panting, and said, "There are so many people in the cabin! They're all crammed together."

As he spoke, his expression became somewhat unnatural.

Zhang Min, who was standing to the side, frowned and asked a few questions carefully.

Seeing their discussion, Li Xiangming explained, "They all came here to reclaim the wasteland."

"Opening up wasteland?"

Xu Qingchi looked curious and asked, "Where are they going to clear land?"

"Daishan!"

Li Xiangming replied briefly.

The fleet was found by Jiang Liang through his connections with Bai Lu Men, and they were able to catch a favorable wind.

However, Jiang Liang also found out a bit about the fleet's original destination.

Why Daishan?

Zhang Min looked surprised, then a little angry: "Dai Mountain is currently at war, and I've heard that cultivators are sneaking away every now and then. Even cultivators don't want to linger, let alone mortals? What's the difference between Bailu Sect sending mortals over at this time and Shenfeng Valley sending herbalists into Suyun Ridge?"

"Senior sister, watch your words!"

Li Xiangming shook his head slightly, signaling her not to say anything out of turn.

Although Bailu Sect doesn't do many things very well, this is still Bailu Sect's territory. Some things are fine to say in private, but if you bring them out in public, you'll get into trouble.

Does Bailu Sect not realize that it is pushing those mortal pioneers into a quagmire?
Of course I know! Even though the battle between the Soul Suppressing Sect and the Victory Intent Sect doesn't outwardly involve mortals.

But that's only on the surface.

A battle between two cultivators could easily destroy a village or a field, causing multiple casualties.

Will there be compensation for these two cases?

impossible things.

On the contrary, the two sects would try every means to forcibly conscript their people into labor, making them undertake heavy tasks such as road construction, house building, and mining, and demanding their spiritual offspring, keeping them in captivity, and sending these children to the battlefield in the name of cultivating immortality.

Over the past ten years, the number of ordinary people under the rule of the Li family in Danggui Mountain has increased two or three times.

However, the number of mortals on Mount Dai did not increase but decreased.

This is the cruelty of war!

But Bailumen doesn't care about these things.

Or rather, in essence, Bailumen didn't want to send anyone to Daishan.

Because the two sects of Daishan, like the Li family of Dangguishan, do not absolutely submit to the rule of Bailumen, sending mortals to these forces undoubtedly has the suspicion of "aiding the enemy".

However, this was the order of Hengyue Sect, and they had no choice but to comply.

Why would Hengyue Sect specifically send someone to Daishan?

Zhang Min still looked puzzled.

"I don't know that."

Li Xiangming shook his head, then looked at the river and said softly, "Perhaps it's for the sake of the bigger picture! Puxian is the last piece of demon land to be developed. Not only are there few cultivators here, but there are also very few mortals."

"On the surface, cultivators seem to have a higher probability of having offspring with spiritual roots, but in reality, cultivators can't have many children at all. This is especially true for those with higher cultivation levels!"

"The cultivation potential of a region does not depend on the local cultivation sects, nor on cultivation families like the Li family, but rather on the number of mortals. With more mortals, the number of spiritual root seeds will naturally increase."

"The Hengyue Sect cannot see the conflicts in Daishan, nor can they see the fear in the eyes of those people who have left their homes, nor the various tragedies that occur along the way. What they want is a territory of Hengguo that can continuously produce cultivators and cultivation resources, not the demon land that people keep talking about."

"well said!"

Just then, a monk in a yellow robe staggered over, gulping down wine from his gourd as he walked, muttering, "Don't even mention that Daishan is in dire straits. Even if a million or two million mortals die in Daishan, Hengyue Sect will migrate people here in droves to fill the void. The reason is simple: Daishan possesses spiritual veins and is destined to be a key area for development."

Hearing this, Li Xiangming couldn't help but scrutinize the other person, feeling a sense of unease.

The man was about forty years old, with a fair complexion and no beard. A string of Buddhist prayer beads gleamed on his chest, giving him an air of great wealth. However, his straw sandals were tattered and worn, revealing mud-covered toes, which contrasted sharply with his luxurious upper body, making him appear somewhat comical.

None of these are the main points. The main point is that the other party is actually a Buddhist or Taoist practitioner!

In today's cultivation world, Taoism is the dominant religion. There are other sects, such as various cults, but if you trace the origins of these cults that are completely opposite to Taoist beliefs, you can still find the shadow of Taoism.

However, at some point in history, they completely deviated from their course.

Buddhism, on the other hand, is a truly ancient faith.

In ancient times, when Chen Zu proposed the theory of spiritual roots and the theory of cultivation, Taoism did not yet exist, while Buddhism had already spread widely.

Some rumors even suggest that Chen Zu was inspired by Buddhism, which led to his belief in cultivating immortality.

Regardless of whether the rumors are true or false, Buddhism did indeed flourish for a time.

However, during the medieval period, Qi Ren Tianzun founded Taoism. In addition to perfecting the Taoist cultivation system, he also unprecedentedly proposed the concept of immortals.

Since then, entering the Dao and cultivating immortality has become the highest pursuit of people.

The momentum of Taoism's development could no longer be contained, and it became the largest religion in the world.

Today, Taoism almost dominates the entire cultivation world; all cultivators come from the Taoist sect.

Buddhism, on the other hand, has completely declined and is now only found in small numbers in the secular world.

Having lived for at least thirty years, this was the first time Li Xiangming had ever met a Buddhist or Taoist cultivator. He couldn't help but politely ask, "May I ask how you are addressed, sir?"

(End of this chapter)