Refining Ruins Cauldron

Outer gate of the Longevity Sect, miscellaneous service area.

Before dawn, the courtyard was already packed with people.

Gu Qingyun stood at the back of the crowd, his clothes were washed until they were almost white, and his cuffs were still covered in mud from when he was fetching water yesterday.

He kept his head down, clutching his identity token in his hand, quietly waiting to receive his monthly Guiyuan Pill.

Behind the desk, Zhao Long leaned back in his chair, one foot on the edge of the stool, slowly flipping through the roster.

He was the leader of the third shift of the handymen, but calling him the leader was less accurate than calling him the local tyrant of this handymen's quarters.

Food, medicine, work, and even whether someone can stay in the third shift all depend on his mood.

The first few servants received their pills, fifteen of each.

When it was Gu Qingyun's turn, Zhao Long didn't even lift his eyelids. He simply poured three pills out of the porcelain bottle and tossed them onto the table.

The three dusty Rejuvenation Pills rolled twice, one of them almost falling into the crack of the table.

Gu Qingyun looked at the three pills and remained silent for a moment.

He didn't reach for it immediately, but whispered, "Senior Brother Zhao, the sect register records fifteen."

The courtyard became quieter.

Several servants secretly glanced over, their eyes filled with the desire to see a good show.

Zhao Long finally looked up, and his lips twitched as if he had heard a joke.

"Fifteen?"

He tapped the table with his knuckles, the sound neither too loud nor too soft.

"Gu Qingyun, what are you doing with so many pills when you have mixed spiritual roots? Even feeding a dog will make it gain weight. What good will it do you?"

The two henchmen next to him immediately burst out laughing.

Gu Qingyun's knuckles tightened slightly.

But he knew he couldn't resist. As a mere first-level Qi Refining cultivator, he was no match for Zhao Long, a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator. Asking even a few more questions would have seemed ridiculous.

But he remained standing there, not immediately bending down to take the pill.

"What, you don't accept it?"

Zhao Long's smile vanished instantly.

"This disciple dares not."

Gu Qingyun raised her eyes, glanced at Zhao Long, and then quickly lowered them again.

After he finished speaking, he reached out and picked up the three Rejuvenation Pills one by one, putting them into his pocket.

Zhao Long found his attitude the most annoying.

Even though he was so down on his luck that he could barely afford to eat, he still acted all proud and arrogant.

"Stop right there!"

Just as Gu Qingyun was about to turn around, Zhao Long suddenly spoke.

Two henchmen immediately stepped forward and blocked his way.

Zhao Long raised his chin: "Open the bundle. I suspect you're hiding sect pills."

Gu Qingyun's expression changed slightly.

"Senior brother, I didn't. The bundle only contains my parents' belongings."

Whether it exists or not is not up to you to decide.

Zhao Long waved his hand lazily, and his henchman snatched the old cloth bag from Gu Qingyun's back and dumped it on the table with a clatter.

There's nothing of value inside.

Two old clothes patched and repaired, a piece of dry bread as hard as a rock, and an old wooden box the size of a palm.

Zhao Long's eyes lit up when he saw the wooden box.

"Wow, this box is quite exquisite!"

He reached for the wooden box, weighed it in his hand, and chuckled, "Gu Qingyun, you really have been hoarding sect pills, huh!"

Zhao Long opened the wooden box in front of everyone.

There were no spirit stones or elixirs inside, only a few old letters that had turned yellow.

The edges of the paper were fuzzy, and the writing was somewhat worn, but each letter was folded neatly, showing that the owner was very careful.

Zhao Long was instantly enraged upon seeing this.

"Hmph! You've been hoarding sect elixirs and are trying to fool me with these worthless junk! Tell me, what is your crime?!"

Zhao Long threw the letter aside and slapped Gu Qingyun across the face.

Gu Qingyun's face stung, but his gaze remained fixed on the letter on the ground.

Those were his parents' instructions, his most precious possession.

His parents passed away one after the other when he was eight years old, and he lived in a daze for many years afterward.

Not long ago, Meng Shucai, a close friend of his father, found him and spent spirit stones to pull strings and get him into the outer sect of the Longevity Sect.

Over the years, he has had no mentor, no support, and no one has asked him if he is cold or hungry.

As long as these letters remain, it's as if my parents are still by my side.

Zhao Long smiled when he saw that Gu Qingyun treasured the letter.

One of the table's legs was unstable, and it was usually propped up with a half-broken tile. So Zhao Long casually folded the letters a couple of times and stuffed them under the table leg.

Then he slapped the table and burst into laughter.

A burst of laughter erupted in the courtyard.

Gu Qingyun's eyes suddenly turned red, her fingers clenched so tightly they turned white, and she took a step forward.

Zhao Long raised his eyes: "What, trying to steal it?"

Gu Qingyun stopped and looked at the letter under the table, which was slowly soaked by mud and water. His throat felt extremely bitter.

After a long pause, he bent down and whispered, "Senior Brother Zhao, that's a letter my parents left me. It's worthless and it's no trouble for you."

"Now you know how to back down?"

Zhao Long stared at him, his smile growing even colder.

Gu Qingyun didn't reply. He waited until Zhao Long moved his foot before slowly squatting down and pulling the letter out from under the table.

The letter paper was already mostly wet and stained with mud.

He wiped it clean little by little with his cuff, then folded it again and put it back into the wooden box.

Zhao Long felt inexplicably angry when he saw his appearance.

He slammed the wooden box shut and threw it onto the cabinet behind him.

"If you want to go back, that's fine too."

Zhao Long pulled a black wooden plaque from under the table and threw it at Gu Qingyun's feet with a thud.

The wooden sign was engraved with the two large characters "-Reclamation".

"Clear the T-shaped wasteland behind the mountain within three days."

Gu Qingyun looked down at the wooden plaque, her face gradually turning pale.

The T-shaped wasteland is located next to a ditch in the back mountain. The soil is hardened, with boulders and roots, and it is very damp. Even the old handymen usually avoid it.

No one is ever willing to take on this kind of job.

Zhao Long laughed and said, "Once you've opened it, I'll return the box to you. If you haven't opened it, you won't get a single Guiyuan Pill next month."

The follower added, "And don't bother going to the cafeteria either. It won't kill you if you skip a few meals, since you have mixed spiritual roots."

Gu Qingyun bent down and picked up the wooden sign.

The wooden sign was cold, and the edges hurt my palms.

He gripped it tightly and whispered, "I'll go."

Zhao Long had originally wanted to see him beg for mercy, but he didn't expect him to answer so quickly, and his expression darkened.

"Gu Qingyun, you'd better remember this: in the third shift of the menial workers, whoever speaks has the final say."

Gu Qingyun didn't say anything, but turned around and quietly walked out of the servants' quarters.

It's very cold outside.

Gu Qingyun walked for a while before stopping and taking out the three Rejuvenation Pills from his pocket to examine them.

Three.

In one month, while others got fifteen, he only got three.

He carefully put the pills away again and glanced back at the worn wooden door of the servants' quarters.

Inside was his wooden box, old letters left by his parents, and the despicable Zhao Long.

Gu Qingyun neither cursed nor cried; he simply gripped the land reclamation sign even tighter.

He made a note of this debt.

The T-shaped wasteland behind the mountain is even more difficult to cultivate than rumored.

Gu Qingyun did not rush to start hoeing.

He first walked around the wasteland, squatted down and touched the soil, and then tried tapping it a few times with his spirit hoe.

The soil was as hard as iron. When the hoe hit it, it only left a white mark and the impact made my hand go numb.

There are old roots and gravel underground, so digging by force is definitely not an option.

Gu Qingyun looked up at the mountain spring not far away, then at the low-lying corner of the wasteland, and slowly an idea came to her mind.

He first dug a narrow ditch and gradually brought the spring water over.

The water flow was very small, and the immersion was slow.

But once the soil is softened by soaking, it will save some effort later.

He acted immediately; when his palms were worn raw, he tore off a piece of his shirt to wrap them up.

When the strip of cloth became soaked with blood and mud, he would replace it with another piece.

When he was hungry, he would take a bite of a hard steamed bun; when he was thirsty, he would scoop up a few mouthfuls of mountain spring water.

When he was too tired to stand, he would sit on the edge of the field to catch his breath, and then continue working with his head down.

He dared not stop, nor could he stop, because if he stopped, he would never be able to retrieve his parents' letters.

As darkness fell for the third time, a fairly well-maintained spiritual field was finally discovered in the T-shaped wasteland.

Gu Qingyun stood by the field, holding a spirit hoe. He looked much thinner, and his face was covered in mud.

He finished it, even though Zhao Long deliberately made things difficult for him.

But the last corner of soil hasn't been cleaned up yet.

Gu Qingyun took a breath, then raised his spirit hoe and slammed it down onto the hard clod of earth.

clang.

This sound is strange; it doesn't sound like stone.

He paused for a moment, then squatted down and used his hands to carefully remove the soil.

Beneath the mud layer, a small, dark cauldron was revealed.