38: Chapter 38 One Year Later

Mo Shoutian looked at Mo Dashan and Mo Xiaoshan, nodded, and said nothing more.

This meal of wine lasted until late into the night.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone received forty-five taels of silver each.

Mo Xiaoshan counted the silver twice before carefully tucking it into his chest.

Mo Mancang drank until his face was flushed red, and as he was leaving, he said:

"Our future days have something to look forward to."

Mo Changlin glared at him.

"Then you must keep your mouth shut tight."

After saying that, Mo Changlin turned to the people who were about to leave and said:

"Everyone, remember clearly what Shoutian said today. Especially regarding Xiaochuan's Cultivation, no one is allowed to speak of it outside."

The crowd agreed one after another, and only then did they leave Mo Shoutian's house in twos and threes.

Mo Xiaochuan stood at the doorway of the house, watched the crowd walk away, and then lowered his head to glance at his left hand.

Just now, in order to show off in front of the crowd, he had absorbed the Spiritual Qi from an entire Spirit Stone.

"Master, when will I be able to unleash the kind of power from just now without the aid of a Spirit Stone?"

The Dragon pattern on the broken jade moved slightly.

Qingli's voice came from inside.

"Once you enter the Zhoutian layer, the Spiritual Qi within your body can circulate on its own, and you won't need to temporarily absorb the Spiritual Qi from an entire Spirit Stone like you did just now."

Mo Xiaochuan asked again:

"Then how much longer will it take for me to enter the Zhoutian layer?"

"If there are enough Spirit Stones, you can enter the Zhoutian layer within half a year. If you rely solely on that thin Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth, it will take at least a year."

Speaking up to this point, Qingli reminded him:

"The further you progress in your Cultivation, the more Spiritual Qi you will need. Without enough Spirit Stones, the speed will only get slower and slower."

Right at this moment, Mo Shoutian walked into the house.

He first looked at Mo Xiaochuan, then cupped his hands toward Qingli inside the broken jade.

"Thanks to Senior's help just now."

Qingli let out a laugh.

"What are you thanking me for? As long as you are willing to part with the Spirit Stones, Xiaochuan can show off in front of those people again at any time."

Hearing these words, the smile on Mo Shoutian's face stiffened for a moment.

However, he still said:

"That is still entirely thanks to Senior's guidance."

Qingli glanced at him.

"You came over specially, it shouldn't just be to express thanks, right?"

Mo Shoutian was made somewhat awkward by her words and gave a light cough.

"Indeed there are two matters I wish to discuss with Senior."

"Speak."

"The first matter is, I want to teach the Breathing Technique that Senior previously passed down to me to Uncle Changlin and the other ten people. I wonder if Senior agrees."

Qingli said indifferently:

"That is just a most basic Breathing Technique. It cannot allow people to truly Cultivate, it can only regulate Qi and blood and strengthen the body. You can teach it to whoever you are willing to, no need to ask me."

Mo Shoutian nodded.

"Many thanks, Senior."

"What about the second matter?"

Mo Shoutian glanced at his son, then said:

"I would like Senior to help take a look and see if there are any children with good Aptitude in Mo Family Village."

"If there are any, I want to pick out a few so that they can follow Xiaochuan in Cultivating in the future."

After hearing this, Qingli waited a moment before saying:

"I am originally just a remnant soul, and it is not easy for me to show myself. After Xiaochuan reaches Foundation Establishment, these matters can be done by him."

Mo Shoutian did not understand Cultivation, nor did he know how far Mo Xiaochuan was from Foundation Establishment, so he asked:

"Then Senior, when can Xiaochuan achieve Foundation Establishment?"

Qingli thought about it and said:

"I said a long time ago that Spiritual Qi is the foundation of Cultivation, and Spirit Stones are of great use to those who Cultivate."

"As long as there are enough Spirit Stones and combined with Xiaochuan's Aptitude, there is hope to achieve Foundation Establishment in about a year."

Mo Shoutian nodded upon hearing this.

"I understand, Senior."

Just as Mo Shoutian was about to leave, he suddenly remembered the Medicinal Pill that Zhou Chengan had mentioned, and stopped his steps to ask:

"Senior, do you know about Medicinal Pills?"

Qingli let out a light hum.

"Naturally I know. A suitable Medicinal Pill has an even greater help to Cultivation than Spirit Stones."

Hearing this, Mo Shoutian cupped his hands once more.

"Many thanks, Senior."

After saying that, he left Mo Xiaochuan's room.

At this time, Liu Chunmei had already carried the sleeping Nannan back to the main house.

Looking at the three hundred and fifty taels of silver placed on the ground, she asked:

"Are all of these ours now?"

"Yes, but very soon they won't be."

Mo Shoutian then told Liu Chunmei about his plans.

He prepared to open a restaurant in Qingshi Town and hand it over to Mo Dahu and his wife to manage. He also prepared to let Xu Qiuniang go to Qingshi Town to open an apothecary, specializing in purchasing medicinal herbs from nearby villages.

After hearing this, Liu Chunmei did not object, but asked with some worry:

"What if we lose money?"

Mo Shoutian did not explain too much, only telling her to rest assured.

The next day at dawn, Mo Changlin and the others pulled horse carriages loaded with five heavy crossbows, taking those who signed up from the village to the west end of the village to start practicing with the heavy crossbows.

Hearing that Mo Changlin and the others had each received forty-five taels of silver last night, the newly joined people practiced even harder one by one.

Mo Shoutian rode on horseback to watch from afar for a while, then hurried off to Qingshi Town.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed.

Six carriages that had finished selling their goods returned from Jiuzhou City, entering Mo Family Village along the mountain road.

Sitting on the frontmost carriage were Mo Changlin and Chen Wanshan.

Over this past year, Chen Wanshan had already become the backbone of the Mo family in charge of the business in Jiuzhou City.

Every time they sent large beast Materials and medicinal herbs to Jiuzhou City, he would personally follow along to be responsible for tallying the goods, and then negotiate prices and deliver the goods with Qiu Wansheng.

The five carts of large beast Materials and one cart of medicinal herbs brought this time had all been completely sold, and the goods on the carriages had been unloaded, leaving only a few wooden boxes covered with straw mats, inside which were the silver obtained from selling the goods this time.

Before the caravan even reached the former entrance of the village, quite a few new houses had already appeared along the roadside.

Some had just finished building courtyard walls, while others were still putting up roof beams.

Several bare-chested men stood on the roofs, and seeing the caravan return, they shouted out to Mo Changlin from afar.

Mo Changlin raised his hand in response.

Chen Wanshan looked around at both sides of the road and said:

"We've only been out for half a month, and the village has gained several more households."

Mo Changlin sat on the carriage shaft and said:

"They are all hunters and herb gatherers from nearby villages. Since they can find work here and earn more than before, they simply moved over with their families."

The carriage continued forward, and from a distance came the sound of heavy crossbows releasing arrows from time to time.

On the open space at the west end of the village, dozens of people were surrounding several heavy crossbows for training.

Mo Dashan stood to the side, and seeing someone being slow in loading the arrows, he opened his mouth and cursed a few times.

Mo Xiaoshan led a dozen people carrying heavy crossbows back and forth to change positions, each of them sweating profusely from exhaustion.

Someone saw Mo Changlin and waved at the caravan.

Mo Changlin did not let the caravan stop, only shouting out:

"Practice well, don't just watch the commotion."

Further ahead, small carts pulling beast meat and beast bones began to appear more frequently along the roadside.

Several village women carrying two baskets of freshly portioned beast meat walked out from a small courtyard nearby.

Inside the courtyard wall, a few newly peeled beast skins were still hanging, and the air was filled with a stench of blood.

Chen Wanshan glanced into the courtyard.

"Did another beast-hunting team return today?"

A man nearby who was moving beast meat heard this and said:

"Yes, Shopkeeper Chen. They just came back this morning, having hunted a total of three large beasts."

The caravan passed by and soon encountered several ox-carts entering the village again.

What was loaded on the carts were all medicinal herbs just harvested from the mountains.

Now the village had already specifically cleared out a courtyard for receiving medicinal herbs.

After Xu Qiuniang went to the Mo family's apothecary in Qingshi Town, the receiving and drying of medicinal herbs in the village were all handed over to the few people she had previously brought out to manage.

Every day, people from nearby villages sent over medicinal herbs.

After the medicinal herbs were sorted and dried, they were uniformly stored in the warehouse.

Along the way, people greeted Mo Changlin and Chen Wanshan from time to time.

Some were original villagers of Mo Family Village, and quite a few were unfamiliar faces who had moved here within this past year.

After the carriages traveled for a while, they finally arrived in front of Mo Shoutian's house.

Two horses were tethered to the wooden stakes at the entrance.

The few earthen houses that previously belonged to Mo Shoutian's family were gone, and in their place, a large grey-brick mansion with three courtyards front and back had been built.

On the main seat in the main hall of the grand mansion sat Mo Shoutian.

He was wearing a dark cyan padded robe, draped with a black fur coat on the outside, and a leather belt cinched around his waist, as he lowered his head to look at the ledger in his hands.

Sitting on the left side were the two brothers, Mo Dahu and Mo Xiaohu, who had just rushed back from Qingshi Town.

The two brothers were now both dressed like shopkeepers.

Mo Dahu wore a dark brown long robe, while Mo Xiaohu wore a cyan-grey long robe, both looking much more respectable compared to a year ago.

Mo Dahu spoke up:

"Brother Shoutian, this month our Mo family restaurant has had seven Immortals come and go."

"Among them, three ate the large beast meat and then bought over three hundred catties more. In the end, instead of giving silver, they directly settled the bill with three Spirit Stones."

Mo Shoutian nodded upon hearing this.

Just as Mo Dahu finished speaking, Mo Xiaohu also said:

"The apothecary managed by me and Qiuniang also had good business this month. After deducting the expenses for purchasing herbs, transporting goods, and the shop, we net-earned ninety-seven taels of silver."

Mo Shoutian still did not raise his head, nodding just like before.

Mo Dahu glanced outside the main hall and then said:

"Brother Shoutian, there is one more matter."

"Yesterday, an outer sect Elder of the Xuanyang Sect went to the restaurant, saying to have you go see him in these past few days."

Mo Shoutian's hand holding the ledger paused.

He slowly raised his head and looked at Mo Dahu.

"Xuanyang Sect?"