Dongting Immortal Clan

Beside the reeds outside Baiyukou, there are five acres of sacred fields. The ridges are made of bluestone, which Chen Baiye built last year. The old man has been farming all his life and cherishes these few acres of sacred fields very much.

At this moment, the old man stood on the edge of the field, hands on his hips, looking down at two figures, one large and one small, on the edge of the field below.

Zhang Nianci played with her trouser leg, her bare feet stepping on the mud, while her hands formed a mysterious hand seal, sensing the spiritual energy wandering between heaven and earth.

"To practice compassion, one must not only perform hand seals, but also focus one's mind on the dantian and use one's spirit and intention to control magical power, which is called 'guiding qi with intention'."

Beside him, a slightly older girl patiently taught him.

It was Chen Qinghe. She was now twelve years old and her figure was gradually growing. She had been cultivating in Qingchi Villa for three years and had already cultivated twelve strands of magical power in her body. She was also on the verge of shedding her wooden body.

Chen Qinghe and Tian Hu were the two most talented disciples.

Unlike Tian Hu, she was quiet and didn't like to compete. Besides cultivating, she usually read books. Knowing that irrigating the spirit fields required manpower, she took the initiative to take on the task, which saved Chen Changhe a lot of trouble.

"Okay, Qinghe."

Zhang Nianci's face was quite serious. After mastering the Golden Light Technique, she ran to Chen Qinghe to learn the Little Cloud Rain Technique.

A stream of moon-white energy rose from her dantian, slowly gathering along her meridians to her palm. Before long, it condensed into a fist-sized cloud of mist.

Following the hand gestures taught by Chen Qinghe, Zhang Nianci made a hand seal with her left hand and gently pushed the water mist onto the ridge of the field with her right hand.

"go!"

At her command, the mist dispersed across the spirit field, turning into a light drizzle that sprinkled onto the dozen or so white jade valley seedlings nearby.

The dewdrops on the leaves trembled slightly, which was quite pleasant.

Seeing this, Chen Qinghe nodded slightly and said softly:

"You've mastered the basic technique and can summon water mist, but you disperse it too hastily. You should wait until the water mist reaches the center of the spirit field before slowly dispersing it. This requires some control and you still need to practice."

Zhang Nianci stuck out her tongue, found a clean patch of grass, and began to meditate cross-legged.

She had only been practicing for a short time, and the method she was practicing was the "Taiyin Lianxing Ganying Pian". Her internal magical power was limited, and she could only cast one spell at most.

After meditating for a while, she stood up again and cast the Lesser Cloud and Rain spell around the spiritual field once more. This time, the timing of the rain and mist dissipating was just right, and much less spiritual rain fell outside.

Five acres of spiritual fields, one acre requires about four uses of the Lesser Cloud and Rain spell to irrigate thoroughly.

Chen Qinghe possessed abundant magical power and handled most of the tasks by herself, while Zhang Nianci was there primarily to practice her magic.

"My uncle said that using spells more often is also beneficial to cultivation."

That's true.

After Chen Changhe forcibly opened his spiritual aperture, he was able to shed his wooden body by practicing basic spells day and night.

Upon hearing Chen Qinghe mention her father, Zhang Nianci smiled and was about to reply when she suddenly heard a gasp from the lake.

The sound came from the open water outside the reed marshes.

The two turned their heads to look, only to see that a fishing boat had capsized on the lake at some point, and a black dot was bobbing and splashing on the emerald green water.

"Someone has fallen into the water!"

The two exchanged a glance and saw the panic in each other's eyes.

Chen Qinghe frowned, withdrew her spell, and scanned the surrounding lake shore. She did not see any fishing boats moored there.

And they were at least a hundred feet away from where they fell into the water.

Although she can swim, it's inconvenient for her to wear a long skirt now, and also...

Chen Qinghe glanced at Zhang Nianci beside her; she couldn't leave such a young child alone by the lake.

"Nianci, stay here and don't move. I'll go find it—"

Before Chen Qinghe could finish speaking, the dark spot on the distant lake sank even further, its struggles becoming weaker and weaker.

The two little girls were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Just then, a sound suddenly pierced the sky.

Swish!

Followed by.

In Zhang Nianci's eyes, a streak of azure light rushed from the sky north of the lake shore, even leaving a trail of flame behind it, its speed astonishing.

In the blink of an eye, the blue light had reached the sky above the lake, then suddenly stopped, revealing a human figure.

The two had excellent eyesight and could clearly see the figure on the sword even from a great distance.

It was a young Taoist priest, dressed in a bright green Taoist robe, standing on a three-foot flying sword, the sword itself also emerald green, with a wisp of blue sword light hanging below the tip, somewhat like the tender buds of a willow tree in spring.

The Taoist priest looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, with a handsome face and bright eyes. After flying over the lake, he turned and swooped down, nimbly skimming the surface of the lake. With a flash of sword light, he pulled the person who had fallen into the water out of the water.

The person who fell into the water was soaking wet and had choked on some water. He was then carried in the hands of the green-robed Taoist priest as if he were a chick.

With a casual wave of his hand, a gentle magical force carried the drowning person to a dry rock by the lake.

The whole process took only a few breaths.

Chen Qinghe snapped out of her daze and quickly pulled Zhang Nianci away.

The person who fell into the water was a middle-aged man, dressed in coarse cloth short brown clothes, with a fish basket hanging from his waist. He looked like a fisherman from a nearby village.

He was quite choked by the lake water, and his face turned pale, but he was still conscious and struggled to get up to kowtow to the cultivator who saved him.

The green-robed Taoist waved his hand slightly, tapped his toes, and the flying sword automatically fell into the scabbard at his waist.

He landed slowly and steadily, without a single drop of water on his clothes.

Upon seeing Chen Qinghe and Zhang Nianci approach, the green-robed Taoist spoke gently:

"Whose children are you two?"

Chen Qinghe composed herself, pulled Zhang Nianci to bow to the Taoist priest, and then replied in a clear voice:

"Replying to Senior, we are disciples of the Chen family of Biyue, under the jurisdiction of the Taixu Immortal Sect."

"This is my junior, Chen Qinghe, and this is my cousin, Zhang Nianci."

The green-robed Taoist raised an eyebrow slightly, his smile deepening.

"Zhang Nianci..."

"So it's my second brother's child... He's grown up so much."

After muttering something to himself, the green-robed Taoist squatted down, his gaze sweeping over the two men, and said softly:

"My name is Chen Xiaohu. Have you ever heard of me?"

"You're my uncle!"

Zhang Nianci immediately opened her large, dark eyes and looked at the green-robed Taoist.

Chen Qinghe frowned, also observing, but dared not respond.

At this moment, Chen Baiye, who had been resting by the spirit field, also came over following the commotion. He saw two little girls talking to the immortals who had flown down from the sky and was momentarily hesitant to approach.

"Uncle Baiye?"

Suddenly, a gentle voice rang in Chen Baiye's heart. He looked ahead as if he were looking at a ghost, only to see the green-robed Taoist smiling and looking in his direction.

The figure seemed familiar to him, bearing a resemblance to Chen Changhe, though less serious and more gentle, as serene as the still lake.

"Who is this senior...?"

He mustered his courage and tentatively asked.

Zhang Nianci spoke first, exclaiming:

"Uncle, uncle, this is my little uncle, Chen Xiaohu!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Baiye trembled and looked at the green-robed Taoist. He could indeed see a resemblance to his former self in that handsome face.

"Is Chen Xiaohu... really Chen Xiaohu?"

"My Chen family's immortal has returned from his cultivation at the Immortal Sect?!"

Chen Baiye suddenly exclaimed and ran towards the Chen family's old house as if he had gone mad, shouting the same words as he ran.

Chen Xiaohu shook his head helplessly.

Zhang Nianci looked at him curiously.

She reached out and touched the scabbard at his waist, then looked down at her own little sword, and sighed:

"When I grow up, I'll ask Grandpa to make me an even bigger sword."

-

P.S.: Thank you for the donations and monthly tickets. Only one update today, I have to work overtime tonight.

I asked the editor, and the current readership is only around 80, which is a bit short of the minimum 100 required for publication. I'm thinking of publishing it at the end of the month, just in time to finish writing the Wulong Gorge chapter. After I finish these busy days, I'll start a burst of updates, guaranteeing at least 6000+ words. I hope everyone can help me by clicking on the readership ranking. Remember to click until the end of the chapter; only when the readership ranking pops up will it count.

ORZ