Chapter 124 Everything at Home

Nearly a year later, Chen Li returned to Black Magpie Mountain.

Under the spirit jujube tree, the sign at the entrance that read, "Seeking Immortality and the Dao, This Tree Awaits," was still there. There was no commotion outside the mountain; everything was peaceful.

Chen Li entered the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, the spirit rice paddies were still verdant, the rice ears undulating with the wind, and the Spiritual Plant field beside it was fragrant.

In the Formation Comprehensive Building, on the third floor, Chen Songli heard the bell ring from the early warning hall on the second floor. She hurried downstairs to check and found that Chen Li had returned, so she rushed out to meet him.

She had just come out of seclusion for the year, raising her cultivation to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining, the Late Stage Qi Refining.

With a Four Spiritual Roots, and not yet twenty years old, reaching the Late Stage Qi Refining was something unimaginable in other families.

Chen Songli brought Chen Songmei to fly over and see Chen Li. Chen Songli saw that Chen Li was in a good mood.

"Congratulations, Father, on your safe return."

Chen Songmei also said happily, "Father, I'm at the Third Level of Qi Refining!"

"Not bad. Where are the others?" Chen Li asked, as a sweep of his Divine Sense revealed only Chen Songli and Chen Songmei active on the mountain.

Chen Songxuan was inside his Immortal Cave consuming Medicinal Pills in seclusion, likely having raised his cultivation to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

"Mother took Songyan and Songxiao to the Boundless Forest to practice the Wind Shadow Evasion Technique!" Chen Songli replied.

"Oh, alright. Let's go back to the hall and chat for a while!"

Inside the Concentric Heart Hall, Chen Li observed Chen Songmei. In nearly a year, Chen Songmei had grown a little taller. With an ample supply of Medicinal Pills and various spirit foods this year, Chen Songmei, with her Dual Spiritual Root, faced almost no Bottleneck in the Qi Refining Stage.

"Father, Mother will take Songyan in a while to look at some female Cultivators from the Qi Refining Immortal Clan families," Chen Songli said.

"Oh? Which families are there?"

Chen Songli listed the names one by one; they were all from the Prefecture.

Chen Li nodded and smiled, asking Chen Songli, "What about you? Have you found a suitable partner?"

Chen Songli immediately replied, "Haha, Father, I'm not planning to find a partner right now. We'll talk about it later. I will always be a member of the Chen Family!"

"Good, Father supports you!"

Chen Songli was very happy to receive Chen Li's support, although she had long known her father would surely back her.

Chen Songmei chimed in from the side, "If Sister isn't looking, neither will I."

Chen Songli quickly laughed and chided her, "You are still young. Make your decision when you are older."

"Songli, have there been any problems at home this past year?" Chen Li changed the subject.

"Father, everything at home is as usual, peaceful and safe."

"Good."

Chen Li also asked a few questions about the news in the Prefecture and the area around the Beast Hunting Sect.

Chen Songli told him that the Lu Family and the Zhu Family could no longer hold back and had sent their Late Stage Qi Refining disciples to sign up for that infiltration mission.

In Liangxi County, the Yun Family's Old Ancestor, Yun Tiancheng, had still not returned, nor had any news come back; his life or death was unknown.

The Cultivation Market of the Beast Hunting Sect had seen some prices rise again recently. Zhu Lingyue and Chen Songli had visited the Market together and gathered quite a bit of information.

Recently, the prices for Magical Artifacts, Medicinal Pills, Talismans, and Formation Arrays in this area had increased quite a bit, likely related to the infiltration mission. Many people needed to buy items for self-defense, and even their own Formation shop in the Prefecture had raised prices following the market trend.

However, there was no particularly special news regarding the Golden Core Luo Family or the Yang Family; these two families hadn't caused any trouble.

Chen Li took out a pile of captured Storage Pouches and asked Chen Songli to help count them. These were all items taken from some Robber Cultivators he had killed on the road, and some were obtained by Chen Li's Incarnation when posing as a Robber Cultivator.

"Wow! So many! Amazing!"

When Chen Songli saw so many Storage Pouches, she knew he must have killed quite a few people. Among them were some Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques.

Chen Li recounted some of his experiences on the road to Chen Songli, letting her feel the treachery of the human heart and the cruelty of Demonic Path Cultivators, advising her to be more cautious when going out in the future.

Chen Songmei now had to eat one Spirit Chicken every few days. She excitedly said, "I know how to make spicy Spirit Chicken soup. I'll make it for Father tonight, how about that?"

"Haha, sure. Let's see how your cooking skills are?"

Chen Songmei took out a sound transmission stone and said, "Brother Li Chun, bring over three Spirit Chickens later."

"Yes, Young Miss Songmei," a respectful voice instantly returned.

Chen Li heard Li Chun's voice. He hadn't paid attention to those Non-Clan Cultivators for a long time, so he asked Chen Songli about the situation.

"Father, Song Xuan promoted Li Chun to be the steward for the Non-Clan Cultivators, managing some basic miscellaneous affairs for them, such as how Non-Clan Cultivators should accept missions, how to carry out their duties, and so on.

Now the Family recruits a batch of ten-year-old Mortal children every year to test their Spiritual Roots. Two more entered the mountain this year. Thirteen people are currently trying to guide Qi into their bodies, and a total of eight Non-Clan Cultivators have successfully guided Qi.

Most of them are at the Qi Refining First Layer; Li Chun and Luo Anyue are at the Qi Refining Second Layer.

Their main tasks are breeding, planting, guarding shops, processing Ore, etc."

Chen Songli understood the situation clearly, being very well-informed about the Family's affairs. After she finished speaking, Chen Li felt very reassured.

"Good, I know."

Chen Songli smiled sweetly, "Father, tell Songyan to hurry up and marry, and have a few more children, haha."

"You, you, I know.", Chen Li laughed.

"Oh right, call me out later. I need to go into the Immortal Cave to handle some things. And we're eating chicken tonight!"

"Yes, Father."

... Inside the Great Sun Seed Cultivation Cave Mansion, it had been almost a year since he checked on those accelerated-ripening Spiritual Plants.

As soon as he entered the Immortal Cave, the fragrance of medicinal herbs was extremely rich. Those hundred-year-old qi overflowing grass had long matured, and many seeds had already fallen, which had then sprouted into another wave. Among them, many five-hundred-year-old and thousand-year-old ones had matured.

Chen Li began harvesting: there was hundred-year-old qi overflowing grass, five-hundred-year-old 'Mirror-Breaking Grass' (a placeholder translation for a specific type of Spiritual Plant), and thousand-year-old 'Spirit-Calming Flower,' one of the three thousand-year main ingredients for golden core formation that had been auctioned at the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.

Chen Li harvested another batch of Vajra Wood and iron essence wood used for making Formations. These were all four hundred years old and above, capable of crafting fifth-grade Spirit Trapping Formation and Defensive Formation Array, suitable for the Late Foundation Establishment Stage and above.

After harvesting these spirit woods, Chen Li observed the ripening progress of the Crimson Sun Spirit Fruit. He noticed that the fallen branches had regrown leaves marked with patterns.

This tree should be about to flower. It had been accelerated for over a decade; logically, the hundred-year flowering cycle should be approaching soon!

The thunder bamboo had been accelerated for another year. Before, it released green lightning, but now, with an age of a thousand years, faint purple lightning could be vaguely seen being released. Moreover, many new shoots had sprouted from the base.

Chen Li planted another batch of Spiritual Plant seeds and specially developed a small plot of land to Cultivate the seeds he had brought back.

Chen Li then upgraded the watering Formation slightly. Underground water was transported to a reservoir, allowing direct sunlight to hit the reservoir, and then the Great Sun Seed Jade was immersed in the water.

The water in the reservoir would be transported daily to the prepared water area, and different amounts of spirit water would be transported according to several different planting zones: the Spiritual Plant area, the spirit wood area, the thunder bamboo area, and the small plot he newly opened up. The twenty-plus seeds for golden core formation would be checked after they grew to see which ones were genuine.

After Chen Li finished everything, it was almost evening. Chen Songli reminded him that Chen Songmei's soup was ready.

Chen Li emerged. Zhu Lingyue, who had gone to the Boundless Forest to Cultivate, had also returned. During the day, she had taken Chen Songyan and Chen Songxiao to the Boundless Forest to practice the Evasion Technique, and they returned in the evening to Cultivate their own things.

Seeing Chen Li return, the group gathered in the Concentric Heart Hall.