74: information

The north wind swept over the walls of Qinglan, making the banners flap loudly.

More than half a year has passed since the battle at Black Mountain's Bone-Corroding Cave.

The scent of blood in the city had long been replaced by the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, yet occasionally, one would look up and see sword light and crane shadows streaking across the sky—sights that did not belong to the mundane world.

Only then would people suddenly remember that this world, after all, had become somewhat different.

The courtyard established by the Xuan Yun Sect in the west of the city had now become the hub of the "Supervisory Outpost," shrouded in Spiritual Qi, where ordinary commoners dared not approach.

Opposite it, on the former site of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in the east of the city, a plaque for the "Heavenly Engineering Pavilion" had been quietly hung.

Those entering and exiting were mostly Martial Artists with fierce auras carrying weapons, though occasionally, Cultivators wearing Divine Weapon Pavilion attire could be seen.

The pattern of co-governance between the imperial court and the Sect had already taken shape in this corner of Qinglan... Xuan Yun Sect, Outer Sect Utility Courtyard, West Mountain Medicinal Field.

A thin layer of early winter snow covered the ridges of the field, and the air was crisp and cold.

A dark-skinned, nimble youth dressed in dusty utility robes was buried in work, clearing away withered vines and fallen leaves from the corners of the medicinal field.

His movements were not fast, yet they were exceptionally steady; the depth and angle of every swing of his hoe were nearly identical, as if he were tireless.

Occasionally, an older utility worker would pass by and call out, "Pillar." He would only look up, give a simple and honest grin, respond, and then lower his head again.

This was the Death Warrior [157], now the Utility Disciple Pillar.

It had been more than three months since he entered the Xuan Yun Sect.

He was like a drop of water merging into the soil, completely unremarkable.

His daily task was to tend to this remote "Solomon's Seal Field." Solomon's Seal was merely the most common mundane medicinal herb and held little value to Cultivators, making it perfectly suited for a utility worker with his pseudo-Spiritual Root Aptitude.

The few people sharing a room with him were also of low Aptitude, dull-witted, or slippery characters; they didn't communicate much, which was exactly to his liking.

Working by day, at night he would silently circulate that pitifully thin Spiritual Qi according to the modified "Basic Qi Guiding Art."

Simultaneously, he would compress key information into simple symbols and transmit them through a safe method disguised as "talking to himself" or "sleep-talking murmurs" once a day.

The information was very trivial: the medicinal field manager embezzling small profits; a certain Outer Sect Senior Brother failing to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, damaging his state of mind.

Mountain-patrolling Disciples complained that the cold air in "Black Wind Ravine" to the north had been abnormal lately, suspected to be the breeding of a small Yin-attribute demon.

Occasionally, Inner Sect Disciples would fly past on their tools, their snippets of conversation being nothing more than Sect missions, resource exchanges, or how a certain Junior Martial Uncle had ruined another batch of Medicinal Pills... These fragments of information, filtered and pieced together by [3]'s intelligence network within the [Nest], could outline the daily ecology, resource flow, and personal relationships of the Xuan Yun Sect's Outer Sect and even parts of the Inner Sect.

Pillar even utilized his weak talent in [Basic Formation Perception] to faintly sense rune fluctuations that were nearly dissipated behind a rock wall covered by thorns while delivering medicinal dregs to the abandoned dump in the back mountain, suspected to be a discarded old Formation node or a secret chamber.

He carefully noted the location but did not act rashly.

Today, just as he finished clearing a section of the field and was about to take a breath, the medicinal field manager, Stout Manager Wang, waddled over, clutching a greaseproof paper bundle.

"Pillar, you're quite nimble."

Stout Manager Wang squinted and handed over the bundle, which contained a few pieces of hard, dry pastry.

"A reward for you. Don't worry about this side this afternoon; go to the Cold Pond in the back mountain and help Senior Sister Li look after her few stalks of ice thread grass.

She has to go listen to Inner Sect Junior Martial Uncle Zhao's lecture on the Water Condensation Art today and can't get away. Be careful; those plants are delicate—they can't handle being too cold or too hot."

"Yes, thank you, Manager Wang," Pillar replied simply, though information flashed rapidly through his mind.

Senior Sister Li, Outer Sect Disciple Li Yun, third level of Qi Refining, skilled in cultivating low-grade ice-attribute Spiritual Plants, seemingly a distant relative of a certain Junior Martial Uncle surnamed Zhao in the Inner Sect.

The Cold Pond was in a remote location, near the edge of the back mountain's Forbidden Ground... He bowed and scraped as he saw off Stout Manager Wang, silently finished the pastry, then shouldered his small hoe and a specialized jade shovel, heading toward the Cold Pond.

The Cold Pond was situated between two low peaks, shrouded in cold mist year-round, with icicles hanging from the surrounding rocks.

A few stalks of Spiritual Plants, crystal clear with leaf veins like ice threads, were growing in a small, simple Cold-Gathering Formation specially carved out.

Pillar's understanding of Formations was superficial, but he could see that this Cold-Gathering Formation was quite crude and inefficient, and a rune in one corner seemed somewhat dimmed by the erosion of the cold air.

He did not step forward immediately but first observed the surroundings.

It was quiet near the Cold Pond, with only the sound of the wind and the faint cracking of ice.

He walked to the side of the Cold-Gathering Formation, and instead of rashly touching the Spiritual Plants, he first checked the Formation nodes.

As expected, that dimmed rune affected the overall gathering of cold air, causing the tip of one ice thread grass leaf to wilt slightly.

Pillar pondered for a moment.

Repair the Formation directly? That might arouse suspicion.

Ignore it? If something went wrong with the Spiritual Plants and Senior Sister Li investigated, he, as the one responsible for looking after them, would not be able to escape blame.

He might even lose this relatively free utility job that allowed him to access more areas.

He crouched down, pretending to clear the ice chips and rubble around the Spiritual Plants, his fingers seemingly unintentionally brushing past the ground near the dimmed rune.

A wisp of warm aura, so faint it was almost undetectable and originating from the basic version of that special "True Essence" within him, seeped silently into the ground through his fingertips.

He wasn't repairing the rune, but rather lightly stimulating the Earth Vein node connected beneath it.

The Earth Vein node vibrated slightly; although it didn't change the rune, it allowed the weak earth Qi flowing through to become a bit smoother.

The overall effect of the Cold-Gathering Formation immediately improved by a negligible amount, and that wilted leaf seemed to... straighten by a fraction?

Pillar withdrew his hand, his expression normal, and began to diligently clear the ice chips as if he had done nothing.

He knew that this change, so subtle that even Senior Sister Li might not notice, was enough to let these few stalks of ice thread grass safely survive the day.

And he, having neither exposed any extraordinary means nor failed his task, might even leave Senior Sister Li with a vague impression of being "diligent in his care."

Just as he was concentrating on the cleanup, a crisp yet somewhat haughty female voice suddenly came from behind: "Are you the utility worker Manager Wang sent to look after the ice thread grass?"

Pillar quickly stood up and turned around to see a beautiful young girl dressed in the light blue attire of an Outer Sect Disciple standing not far away, sizing him up. It was Li Yun.

She seemed to have just returned from listening to the lecture, her brow still carrying a hint of contemplation; seeing the ice thread grass unharmed, her expression softened slightly.

"Yes, I am Disciple Pillar. Greetings, Senior Sister Li." Pillar bowed, his posture humble.

"Mhm." Li Yun responded casually, walked to the front of the Cold-Gathering Formation, and looked closely, especially at the stalk that had previously wilted. Her brow twitched slightly, as if she were somewhat surprised that they were in good condition.