Chapter 83 A typical day

Black Magpie Mountain. Ten days had passed since Chen Li entered secluded cultivation. Today, at the Zizai Pavilion, Chen Songli sat in the seat where her father used to sit.

She didn't like drinking tea, but she found sitting in this spot quite nice, as it allowed her to overlook the scenery at the foot of the mountain.

Chen Songxuan flew up, sat opposite her, and took out some kettles.

“I've made some tea drinks, not the kind father drinks. Eldest Sister, please have a taste.”

Chen Songxuan took out some herbs and began boiling water to prepare the drink.

“It has a very fresh fragrance; I'm looking forward to it,” Chen Songli said as she watched Chen Songxuan work.

The rice fields in the spiritual fields below were full of vitality, turning into a sea of green whenever the wind blew. The Weeding Puppets, performing their daily tasks, began their day's work.

Chen Yan was taking Songmei to sunbathe at the foot of the mountain. When they reached the fish pond, they could see small fish jumping, while a nearby Formation maintained a stable temperature for the pond.

Chen Songmei pointed at the fish pond and said to her Second Brother, “Second Brother, can we make fish for dinner tonight? I want to eat fish!”

Chen Yan shook his head and lightly pinched her ear. “This morning you said you wanted to eat Spirit Chicken, and now after a walk, you want fish. No.”

Chen Songmei muttered softly, “Alright then.”

Chen Songmei watched the fish pond for a long time, then picked one or two medicinal herbs that were several years old from the Spiritual Plant field to feed the fish.

Watching the small fish eat happily, Chen Songmei said excitedly, “Third Brother, they are so joyful. The little fish must be very happy.”

Chen Yan countered, “You are not a fish, how do you know the fish are happy?”

Hearing her Second Brother's rebuttal, Chen Songmei thought for a moment. “I can see it. To me, they look very happy.”

Looking at the freedom of the little fish, Chen Yan also smiled. “Sometimes appearing happy doesn't necessarily mean one is happy.”

Chen Songmei glanced at Chen Yan and asked, “Then Second Brother, are you unhappy or happy?”

Chen Yan didn't expect Chen Songmei to ask this and laughed. “Your Second Brother is naturally happy. You little girl are quite good at caring about people.”

Up on the mountain at the Zizai Pavilion, Chen Songxuan's tea drink was ready.

Chen Songli took a sip. “Not bad. It's fresh and sweet, it suits me. I like it.”

Chen Songxuan took thirty pre-prepared tea bags from his Storage Pouch. “Eldest Sister, if you like it, drink more of it.”

Chen Songli accepted them and replied with a giggle, “Thank you, Third Brother.”

“Eldest Sister, recently two more Non-Clan Cultivators have successfully induced Qi. What else do you think we can plan as tasks for them?”

Chen Songxuan asked. In the past two days, two more Non-Clan Cultivators had graduated from the Immortal Learning Tower, and they were preparing to launch the second version of the [Chen Family Task Contribution Point Acquisition].

Chen Songli said, “I assume you've thought of quite a bit, Third Brother. Why don't you speak first, and I'll see if there's anything I can add?”

Chen Songxuan took out a notebook containing the ideas he had listed.

Chen Songli took it to read; there were several points in total.

First, expand the breeding farm. The hatching of Spirit Chickens and the breeding of Spirit Pigs on Qingfeng Mountain can serve as long-term tasks.

Second, continue expanding the spirit wood planting on White Stone Mountain and Pingtian Mountain, planting all the remaining saplings in the warehouse.

Third, simple cleaning of Ore. Some Ore has a particularly high amount of Impurities; they can be tasked with cleaning those Ores.

...

Chen Songli looked over these points and agreed with everything her Third Brother proposed. These Non-Clan Cultivators were still at the Qi Refining First Layer, so there was very little they could do.

She thought for a moment and said, “Their productivity is a bit low right now; we should wait a few more years. However, after father finishes his seclusion, I think we can buy a few shops in the Cultivation Market within the county specifically to sell Formations. We can let them act as shop assistants, and we only need to go and guard them occasionally!”

Chen Songxuan nodded, and they continued to discuss the planning within Black Magpie Mountain together.

Chen Songli had an idea to connect Qingfeng Mountain to the warning System of the Formation Comprehensive Building, but she encountered a difficult problem: the stability of long-distance signal transmission.

Then she planned to connect each mountain one by one; as long as the mountain was within the Chen family's territory, the periphery could be monitored.

Chen Songxuan's idea was to Fusion Puppets into the functions of the warning Formation. The two discussed for half the day, working together on the design blueprints.

At the Dao Seeking Platform, Songxiao was testing a crafted Tang Dao. The path of Artifact Refining interested him more and more. With sufficient Materials, as long as he kept trying and experimenting boldly, there would always be a plan that could achieve the goal—unlike Formations, where if you didn't understand, you truly didn't understand.

The saber technique he cultivated was one of several third-grade saber techniques his father had bought, named [Great Mountain Slash]. It was fierce and heavy, but its weakness was its slow speed.

However, he had already solved the problem of slow speed by learning the speed of sword-wielding from his Eldest Sister, which was how he was able to defeat her last time.

At Qingfeng Mountain in the afternoon, Chen Songxuan brought two Non-Clan Cultivators of the Qi Refining First Layer to be led by Li Chun and the others, and officially announced the second version of contribution point acquisition.

“Rest assured, Third Young Master, I will lead these two well!”

Chen Songxuan nodded and said, “The new task contribution points are also ready; you can choose as you see fit. However, you must also Cultivate a craft as soon as possible so that your value can be more reflected.”

Li Chun nodded. He had just entered the basic level of the Puppetry Art he was studying. Chen Songxuan had come to give him three lessons, which accelerated his progress; he should soon be able to refine some low-grade Puppets.

Chen Songxuan gave a few more instructions and then took out new Teleportation Tokens. The Teleportation Tokens were replaced every year, and the old ones became invalid immediately.

Li Chun took them. No wonder they had seen Young Miss Songli come to Qingfeng Mountain and tinker with that Teleportation Array for a few minutes; it was replaced in just a few minutes. Truly impressive!

After Chen Songxuan left, Li Chun took the two Qi Refining First Layer Non-Clan Cultivators up Qingfeng Mountain to teach them how to feed, hatch, and raise the chicks.

...

In the evening, inside the Concentric Heart Hall, the five of them were eating together at the table. Without Chen Li and Zhu Lingyue, they were even more relaxed.

“Third Brother, this chicken soup you made is fantastic!” Chen Yan gave a thumbs up.

“Of course, Third Brother's Spirit Chicken is much tastier than Second Brother's!” Chen Songmei said with her mouth full.

“Haha, when Songmei grows up, let her cook for us!”

“Haha, I think that works!” Chen Songli echoed.

After finishing their meal, they began to discuss. Chen Songxuan said, “Second Brother, do you need to enter secluded cultivation to Breakthrough to the Late Stage Qi Refining? If so, you should go ahead and do that first.”

Chen Yan knew he couldn't find an excuse to decline, so he could only say, “I'll go into seclusion in a few days and strive for a quick Breakthrough to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining.”

Chen Songli looked at Chen Yan and said, “Songyan, you're finally willing to go into seclusion. With your Aptitude, you should have reached the Late Stage Qi Refining long ago!”

Chen Songxuan nodded and said, “If Second Brother goes into seclusion, the three of us will take care of Songmei during this time!”

Chen Songmei was happy. “Then I can eat Third Brother's food often again.”

Chen Yan asked, “Fourth Brother, are you planning to enter seclusion?”

Songxiao shook his head and said, “Not yet. I want to research more Artifact Refining things. I've come up with many plans recently and want to refine a good saber!”

“Alright, Artifact Refining again? I'm the only one who doesn't know it. When I come out of seclusion, I'll go learn something too. If Songmei turns out to be a Genius Formation Master like father, I'll really be the last one!”

“Haha~” The group shared a knowing laugh.