40: Chapter 40 Establishing a Family

There was a river at the foot of Baili Mountain.

The river wound halfway around the mountain. Its water looked whitish, and the bottom was filled with gravel. When it reached the shallows, the ripples splashed against the gravel, making a fine, dense sound. The mountain was desolate and uninhabited, so the nearby villagers mostly called it Baishi River.

Baishi River split into three streams under Baili Mountain.

One headed north. The stream was narrow but flowed all year round, sandwiched between two slopes of Baili Mountain, and the water contained a faint trace of Spiritual Qi.

One headed toward the western hollow. The hollow was damp, and many semi-spiritual, semi-Mortal grasses and trees grew in the crevices of the rocks.

Another wound around to the southeastern gentle slope, which had relatively fertile land suitable for farming.

The White-browed Mountain Boar led Jiang Chengning and the others to see all three places.

The Mountain Boar's cultivation had gradually increased; its stature was twice as large as an ordinary wild boar, and the white patch on its forehead was extremely striking.

It could not speak human language, but it could read.

Chen Baisheng stared at this for a long time, his eyes wide.

Later, Jiang Shoushan explained that the White-browed Mountain Boar had accidentally eaten a spiritual object years ago, which had originally fallen beside a deceased Cultivator.

After it gained intelligence, it hid the few remaining books left by that Cultivator in its cave. At first, it couldn't understand them, so it often snuck into the villages at the foot of the mountain, eavesdropping on people's conversations and stealing books. After several years, it had actually learned to recognize some characters.

"Even a pig can read," Chen Baisheng said in a low voice. "I got beaten for reading when I was a child."

The White-browed Mountain Boar didn't understand this sentence; it just used its nose to nudge the ground, then dragged a thin booklet wrapped in animal skin out of the cave.

The edges of the thin booklet were gnawed and pitted, but the handwriting inside was still legible.

《Mountain and River Covenant》.

This was one of the techniques left behind by the deceased Cultivator.

Both sides swore an oath using the Spiritual Qi of the mountains and rivers. Those who broke the oath would suffer a backlash of their Qi and die on the spot.

When Jiang Shoushan last negotiated with the White-browed Mountain Boar, he had taken an oath using this covenant method.

Now that the Jiang Family was bringing the Chen and Sun families into the mountain, they also added a covenant.

The conditions of the White-browed Mountain Boar were very clear.

Baili Mountain still belonged to it as its habitat; the three families could not hunt it or harm the young beasts in its nest. After the three families calculated their annual harvest, they had to give it spiritual resources equivalent to one-tenth of the value. It was not restricted to any specific spiritual resources, as long as it could assist its cultivation.

At first glance, the conditions seemed lenient, but if you really calculated it, this one-tenth was not light.

Farming requires planting crops, cultivating the fields requires Spiritual Qi, the herb hollow requires protecting the herbs, and the water veins require using spiritual objects to guide them slowly. The harvest doesn't come for free. After deducting seeds, medicinal fertilizers, spiritual resource cultivation, and the Cultivator's Qi maintenance, what remains is the family's foundation.

Jiang Chengning had no objections.

"It brought us into the mountain, and it helped us find the path. Without this covenant, we wouldn't even have a place to stay."

Sun Changshui was silent for a moment, then nodded.

Old Crow Chen snorted coldly.

"It's rare that a pig is more principled than a human."

Hearing the word "pig," the White-browed Mountain Boar looked up at him, seemingly dissatisfied.

Old Crow Chen looked back.

"What are you looking at? You don't understand anyway."

The White-browed Mountain Boar used its hoof to scrape the word "understand" into the mud.

Old Crow Chen shut his mouth.

Once the families settled down, the first thing was to divide the land.

The Sun Family had few people.

Sun Changshui brought Sun Jingxiu and two younger brothers. One was named Sun Changhe, and the other was named Sun Changtian; both were Mortals. Of the Sun Family's Jing generation, only Sun Jingxiu remained as a male, and the rest were mostly women and a few young girls.

The Sun Family had lost two children who could enter the Dao in the past few years, constantly depleting their root Qi. Being able to escape now was already considered saving their lives.

The Sun Family was also grateful for the Jiang Family's help. Whether it was Jiang Yuhe eliminating the Zhou Family Cultivator blocking their path down the mountain or the people sent by the Zhou Family in the middle of the night to settle scores, these were life-saving favors. Now, they had recognized the Jiang Family as their masters, just like the Chen Family.

They chose the stream on the North Ravine; this was also a place they had communicated with the White-browed Mountain Boar to help them identify.

The Sun Family had originally guarded water outlets, so this could be considered their old trade.

The stream on Baili Mountain was narrow, and the Spiritual Qi was thin, but its advantage was that it emerged from the belly of the mountain and flowed all year round. Sun Changshui looked around and decided to build houses above the stream mouth, pile stones into a small dam at the bend of the stream, and then slowly guide the water to nurture Qi.

Sun Jingxiu squatted by the stream, pressed his palm into the water, and said in a low voice:

"It's a pity that it's much lighter than before."

Sun Changshui sighed:

"We should be satisfied that we have it at all."

Sun Jingxiu nodded.

The Chen Family had more people.

Old Crow Chen led the three households of Chen Baisheng, Chen Baisong, and Chen Baihuai, as well as the women and children of the Chen Family.

Chen Baisheng had two children; the older one was five, and the younger was only four. His two younger brothers also had young children. In this generation of the Chen Family, only Chen Xiaoyan could absorb Qi, and she had now joined the Jiang Family. Although the Chen Family seemed to have many people, their cultivation roots were still thin.

They went to the western hollow.

That place originally had several spiritual materials growing. They were mostly low-grade medicinal herbs, mixed and messy; some were mixed in with Mortal grasses, and some had been half-eaten by mountain beasts. Old Crow Chen frowned, but this was the only place with medicinal Qi.

"Fence it off," he said to Chen Baisheng. "Move what can be moved, and protect the roots of what can't be moved."

Chen Baisheng nodded.

Old Crow Chen looked deep into the western hollow again.

"If we can cultivate this for three years, it will be enough for the Chen Family to survive."

The Jiang Family went to the southeastern gentle slope.

This place was very open, close to the end of a small stream, with flat terrain, thin soil, and thin Spiritual Qi. If they were still in Qingsang, the Zhou Family wouldn't even bother to look at such land during their mountain patrols. But in Baili Mountain, being able to find such a piece of flat land, Jiang Chengning was already very satisfied.

He squatted down and grabbed a handful of soil.

The soil was mixed with gravel, and it crumbled when rubbed with his hand.

The Jiang Family used to have Rulu Mulberry Roots, which could slowly nurture fields. Now, having escaped the mountain in a hurry, the mulberry roots had long since dissolved into the field soil and could not be brought out at all. If they wanted this land in the southeast to become spiritual fields, they could only rely on the Cultivators to nurture it slowly.

Fortunately, the Jiang Family now had Jiang Yuhe.

Her Late Stage Grain Rain Qi, combined with the Catalyzing Green Technique, was enough for one person to cultivate twice as many spiritual fields as the Jiang Family had before. Jiang Chengning measured the gentle slope, and the land he marked out was much larger than everyone expected.

Jiang Xingchuan looked at the desolate white gravel slope.

"Father, this is too big. Can we manage it?"

Jiang Chengning looked at Jiang Yuhe.

Jiang Yuhe squatted at the edge of the field, pressed her hand against the ground, and closed her eyes to listen for a while.

"We can manage it."

She opened her eyes.

"It will take shape in one season."

When these words were spoken, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

When the Zhou Family used Foundation Establishment to cultivate spiritual fields, they could clear Spiritual Veins out of wasteland in a few hours, then supplement it with spiritual objects to set the fields. The Jiang Family had no Foundation Establishment, nor did they have the Zhou Family's spiritual objects; they could only use Grain Rain to nurture it slowly. One season was already extremely fast.

Jiang Chengning said:

"Then for this year, Yuhe will focus on nurturing the fields. Everyone else in the family will focus on cultivation first."

His voice deepened.

"Xingchuan, Shoushan, Suwen, and I must reach the third level as soon as possible."

The third level allows for stabilizing patterns and perfecting the first companion technique.

Jiang Xingchuan had Thunder Bud, Shoushan had Sound Concealment, and Yuhe already had Listening to Rain, Catalyzing Green, and Rain Screen of Perception. Lin Suwen and Jiang Chengning practiced Start of Spring; their Cultivation Technique grade was low, and they had no companion techniques, so they had to learn others.

The Sun and Chen families each had some techniques. Although they couldn't be considered profound, they were enough to cope with if they learned one.

The reason Jiang Chengning was eager to improve their cultivation was because of the Sun and Chen families.

He knew clearly that half of the reason the Chen and Sun families were willing to recognize the Jiang Family as their master family was due to sentiment, and the other half was due to Jiang Yuhe's cultivation. Yuhe was in the Late Stage of Qi Refining and had helped both families a great deal. When the three families escaped, the path through Baili Mountain was also opened by the Jiang Family first.

But the Jiang Family did not have Foundation Establishment yet.

Without Foundation Establishment, the status of the master family could not be maintained for long.

If Jiang Yuhe failed to reach Foundation Establishment or even died in the future, the Sun and Chen families might not remain as convinced. This thought was inauspicious, and it seemed mean to the two families, but as the head of the family, Jiang Chengning had to consider everything.

Therefore, although Jiang Chengning accepted the status of the Jiang Family as the master, in reality, he still acted according to the original neighborly mutual assistance in the mountains.

In major matters, the three families had to make judgments together, but the Jiang Family's opinion took precedence. At least the Jiang Family needed one more Middle Stage Cultivator to handle the future situation.

This was why Jiang Chengning was eager to raise everyone's cultivation. At the same time, with companion techniques, it was much more convenient to nurture spiritual fields.

Thus, on this day, the three families erected three wooden plaques on the southeastern slope of Baili Mountain.

The Jiang Family resided in the center.

The Sun Family was at the water outlet on the North Ravine.

The Chen Family was at the medicinal field in the western hollow.

The heads of the three families were silent in front of the plaques for a long time.

They had escaped from Qingsang Main Peak, losing their original well-field water outlets, but they had also gotten rid of the knife that had been pressed against their necks at the Main Peak.

Now that a path to survival had just begun, there was finally hope.

In the next few days, no one on Baili Mountain was idle.

The Sun Family built a dam, guiding the stream water into a shallow pool. Sun Jingxiu sat by the water every day, trying to adapt the water-measuring method from Beijian Mouth to be used here.

The Chen Family cleared weeds, fenced off the medicinal hollow, and surrounded every spiritual material they could identify with stones. Old Crow Chen taught the Chen Family members to recognize herbs during the day and personally checked the roots at night.

The Jiang Family opened fields.

Jiang Xingchuan and Jiang Shoushan cleared stones and slopes, Lin Suwen led the women to sift the soil, and Jiang Yuhe performed the Catalyzing Green Technique on the gentle slope every day. Where she walked, the originally dry white gravel soil slowly began to show a hint of moisture.

A few days later, a layer of extremely fine green buds actually emerged at the edge of the field, and the children curiously gathered around to watch for a long time.

Xing Shi squatted at the edge of the field and asked: "Are these spiritual sprouts?"

"Not yet," Jiang Yutao said seriously.

"Then when will they be?"

"When Auntie says they are."

Jiang Yuhe heard this and couldn't help but smile.

At night, Jiang Chengning often sat outside the temporarily constructed wooden shed, watching the lights of the three families.

The Jiang Family side was the most prosperous; there were many women and children, and the lights were messier, but there was a sense of human life.

The White-browed Mountain Boar occasionally came down from the hillside and looked from afar. Jiang Shoushan sent it spiritual rice and medicinal powder accumulated by the Chen Family as agreed. It sniffed, seemed satisfied, and returned to the mountain.

Jiang Shoushan did not return to the shed.

He was responsible for the early warning on the outer edge of Baili Mountain and often practiced beside the mountain path. That place had a crooked pine tree with an excellent view, from which he could see the ferry of Baishi River at the foot of the mountain and the small path leading to the outside villages.

In the middle of the night, Jiang Chengning heard footsteps.

Jiang Shoushan returned from the night, covered in dew.

He stood outside the wooden shed, his voice very low.

"Brother Chengning."

Jiang Chengning looked up.

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Shoushan said: "A demon has come down the mountain."

Jiang Chengning's eyes narrowed.

Inside the room, Jiang Yuhe also opened her eyes.

Jiang Shoushan continued: "It is likely intelligent and knows how to avoid people. It didn't force its way in, but stopped by Baishi River."

"It said it wants to see the master of this mountain."