Chapter 180: Chapter 171: Sword Immortal Missing

After subduing the nine individuals, Shen Chongming looked at the people of the Western Wilderness kneeling on the ground below the valley.

After a moment of contemplation, he smiled and clasped his hands towards Qi Dashan and Luo Yao, saying: “Two seniors, I plan to migrate these Western Wilderness people to Yunshui Town.”

“Then I will draw a batch of clan members from Yunshui Town over to mine the ore veins…”

The current population of Yunshui Town is just over ten thousand, far from saturation. The Western Wilderness people in this valley number two to three thousand, and they are all young and strong.

Migrating them to Yunshui Town, dispersing them, and distributing them to each village for gradual assimilation, within a few years, once they marry and have children, they will be fully integrated.

“Alright, young fellow.”

“For the mining matter, you Shen Family don’t need to send people.”

Qi Dashan chuckled, “I know that your Shen Family doesn’t have many people, but there are people in Tao County under our Vajra Sect.”

“Later, we will have disciples escort some commoners over to mine.”

“However, their food and drink might require your Shen Family to provide.”

“Can you make that decision?”

Upon hearing this, Shen Chongming smiled and clasped his hands: “It’s a good thing that seniors are looking after us, and I dare to agree.”

Qi Dashan nodded appreciatively.

“Then it’s settled.”

“Fairy Luo, I still have to return to Jinghe Market, so I leave this place to you.”

“Fellows, guard this ore vein well and follow Fairy Luo’s arrangements. If anyone causes trouble, I’ll break your legs!”

Qi Dashan spoke to a group of disciples from the Vajra Sect.

“Rest assured, Elder!”

The disciples from the Vajra Sect responded cheerfully.

Guarding an ore vein is indeed a lucrative task for them. Normally, every spirit ore has associated spirit crystal fragments.

The sect’s unwritten rule is that these spirit crystal fragments are distributed among the disciples guarding the ore vein.

Now that Vajra Sect has allocated sixty percent of this ore vein’s revenue, the spirit crystal fragments naturally account for sixty percent as well.

These spirit crystal fragments can provide them with a considerable amount of cultivation resources each year.

Shen Chongming and three others followed Qi Dashan, leading the nine subdued barbarian cultivators and those barbarian people out of the valley.

When they arrived at the mountain opposite, it indeed startled the villagers of Black Stone Village closest to Hidden Dragon Mountain.

More than two thousand short-haired, tattooed barbarian people suddenly appeared outside the village, and many villagers thought the Western Wilderness Barbarians had broken through the mountain defenses and attacked.

It was only when the steward of Black Stone Village, Liu Fang, hurried over with people that they discovered these barbarian people were of both genders and held no weapons.

Each of them looked around with confusion, curiosity, and a faint sense of timidity.

Liu Fang saw Shen Chongming among the crowd and hurriedly approached, clasping his hands, “Young Clan Leader, these are…”

Shen Chongming smiled faintly and said, “Prisoners we’ve captured. Clan Leader Liu, go inform Ah Die to summon the stewards of all the clans for a meeting at the ancestral hall.”

Twelve-year-old Shen Chongming had grown up cultivating with Shen Yuan, and he already displayed a certain mature demeanor.

Liu Fang was slightly taken aback, then clasped his hands and hurried towards the Shen Family Manor.

The physique of the barbarians is inherently stronger than that of Yu Country people. After the resurgence of spiritual qi, many of these young and strong folk had reached the Body Tempering Realm, though they had not undergone systematic cultivation.

Yunshui Town has ten villages and a town. After thoroughly dispersing the over two thousand people, each village would have over two hundred people.

For safety, Shen Wenxing selected all the Body Tempering Realm martial artists and those robust men from among them, gathering a thousand people to form a clan army for preliminary training.

The remaining one thousand two hundred were distributed to each village and household to serve as tenants.

After the stewards of each clan had taken their allocated people, they all left.

Shen Wenxing and his son approached the nine barbarian cultivators.

Due to the spiritual oath, all nine respectfully clasped their hands, saying, “Leader.”

“Leader is what you barbarians call it. From now on, call me Patriarch.”

The nine nodded and changed their address: “Patriarch.”

Shen Wenxing nodded and said, “What are your names?”

He looked at the leading barbarian cultivator of the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer on the left and said, “State your names and cultivation levels.”

The middle-aged barbarian cultivator clasped his hands, saying, “Reporting to the Patriarch, this subordinate is Wu Licao, at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer.”

The others followed suit, stating their names, and Shen Wenxing frowned deeply after listening.

The names of these barbarian people were peculiar, difficult to remember, and awkwardly pronounced.

After some thought, he said, “Since you have submitted to my Shen Family, you shall change your names as of today.”

To avoid trouble, Shen Wenxing decided after a moment to use “Wu” from “Wu Licao” as their surname, giving them the names “Wu Yi” to “Wu Jiu” successively.

This didn’t bother the nine of them, as barbarians didn’t traditionally have surnames.

Once they remembered their new names, Shen Wenxing continued:

“You should all know some combat skills. From now on, the thousand barbarian folks will be trained by you nine.”

“Later, I will teach you the Cloud Formation and Rain Skill, and in your spare time, you need to cultivate spirit rice.”

“The simple Breathing Technique can also be taught to them.”

“If you do well, do not worry about magical artifacts, elixirs, or techniques.”

Upon hearing this, the nine were all visibly excited.

As loose cultivators in the Western Wilderness, they had almost never come into contact with the items used by true cultivators.

Before coming here, they had heard that the Eastern Shen Family was favored by the Immortal Sect and was very wealthy, owning many immortal destinies.

Upon hearing Shen Wenxing say this, any small discontentment in their hearts quickly dissipated.

As loose cultivators like them, it was all the same whom they pledged their allegiance to.

Follow Hundred Beasts Mountain, and apart from a simple breathing technique and a few who obtained a magical artifact, they had never seen spirit crystals, spirit rice, or elixirs.

“Alright, take them away now.”

“Keep a close eye on them. Later, I will send a teacher to teach them reading and writing, and explain the Shen Family’s clan rules.”

“In the future, if anyone dares violate the clan rules, don’t blame me for being harsh.”

Shen Wenxing waved his hand, instructing a member of the Shen Clan to lead them away.

After everyone had left, Shen Chongming came forward proudly and said, “Ah Die, did I do it right?”

Shen Wenxing smiled and nodded.

His son had learned quite a bit following his father over the years.

With the Cloud Smoke Stone Vein being seized, Hundred Beasts Mountain couldn’t swallow this grievance.

But as Luo Yao predicted, Hundred Beasts Mountain had always been arrogant and domineering, having a bad reputation among the major immortal sects in Qishan, even harboring grudges with immortal sects like Qiyun Valley.

For several months now, his family’s ancestor had been deep in Qishan, seizing the Female Essence Wisdom Pearl.

Terrifying battles would erupt from time to time in the mountains, and the higher-ups of Hundred Beasts Mountain were constantly on edge, fearing their ancestor might fall in battle.

If this truly happened, the myriad immortal sects in Qishan would certainly not let the opportunity slip away.

Western Wilderness.

Hundred Beasts Mountain’s chief disciple, Yang Xun, had just ended a message exchange with his master, looking quite gloomy.

The sect was unwilling to send a Fetal Breathing Realm expert to handle the issues in Yangnao Land, instructing him instead to be cautious and wait for the sect’s ancestor to return before making any moves.

No matter how much anger Yang Xun harbored now, he could only choose to endure.

Hundred Beasts Mountain had backed down, giving the Shen Family’s defenses in Hidden Dragon Mountain a moment to catch their breath.

Black Water Pool Manor.

Shen Yuan stood in the backyard, watching a few little ones playing and showing a smile.

In the family now, Shen Chongming was in the mountains, with his cultivation having reached the peak of the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.

Shen Chonghong in recent days also succeeded in sensing spiritual qi, entering the Qi Cultivation Realm.

The Shen Family currently possessed only two Immortal Dao Cultivation Techniques.

The “Mist Flood Dragon Nourishing Vein Technique” and the “Moonlight Pine Mountain Technique”.

Shen Chonghong ultimately chose the “Mist Flood Dragon Nourishing Vein Technique” as his cultivation method.

The little chap had a fire attribute spirit root, and although the “Mist Flood Dragon Nourishing Vein Technique” didn’t align well with his spirit root, fortunately, it originated from the Dragon Tamer’s Mansion and wasn’t as stringent in its requirements for spirit root compatibility as techniques from major immortal sects these days.

Young girl Shen You had also just reached Qi Cultivation and was clamoring daily to surpass her brother Shen Chonghong, much to Shen Yuan’s headache.

Cultivation is inherently a painstaking process, requiring patience and attention.

One cannot be so impulsive and impatient.

Besides them, there was also the youngest, Shen Chongxu, who had just started his training this year.

Shen Yuan found that this youngest grandson, despite being mischievous and playful in ordinary days, displayed formidable determination in cultivation, rivaling that of Shen Wen’an’s youth.

In fact, he considered that Shen Wen’an, as a child, was merely earnest, unwilling to engage in anything other than cultivation.

But Shen Chongxu was different; the little guy was nearly self-torturous in his cultivation.

The three having just finished their cultivation, were playing in the yard, naturally accompanied by the big black dog.

The big black dog had been living with the Shen Family for nearly ten years, showing no signs of aging, its coat glossy like satin.

Shen Yuan always wondered if this animal had transformed into a demon beast.

However, the big black dog had no trace of demon essence on it, merely being quite intelligent.

Not far away, Hu Yufen was holding He Zhongyi, who was seven or eight months old, while Shen Wenping sat quietly in the pavilion, staring blankly at a nearby weeping willow.

Ever since He Zishi’s mishap, she had been like this.

The once lively and cheerful nature was gone, yet she no longer cried and fussed, spending her days coaxing the child or sitting in the yard daydreaming.

Seeing that the kids would likely play for a while longer, Shen Yuan moved into the pavilion.

After teasing He Zhongyi, he sat down next to Shen Wenping.

Shen Wenping turned to look at him, softly calling, “Dad.”

Shen Yuan nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, “Your brother mentioned a few days ago that the He Family sent someone over.”

“They want to set up a spirit tablet for your grandfather in the ancestral shrine and asked whether we should place Zishi’s spirit tablet with the He Family or with the Shen Family?”

Shen Wenxing had mentioned this matter for several days, and he was unsure how to broach it with his daughter.

He feared mentioning it would sadden her.

Sorrow flickered across Shen Wenping’s face, and tears suddenly trickled down her cheeks.

She sobbed slightly, wiping the tears from her face, and looked at the babbling He Zhongyi in Hu Yufen’s arms.

“Zishi originally planned to renovate Yunshui Town after the baby was born, together with his daughter.”

“He had drawn many blueprints of the small town, finally realizing what he loved over the years.”

“He wanted to transform Yunshui Town into something he loved…”

The gentle breeze lightly swirled around as Shen Wenping stared quietly into the sky, conjuring the image of He Zishi’s face once more.

She reached out, then lowered her hand forlornly.

“Both Zhongyi and I are in Yunshui Town; Zishi certainly wouldn’t want to stay in the Commandery City, separated from me and the child.”

Shen Yuan nodded, already understanding his daughter’s intention.

“Alright, I’ll have someone inform the He Family.”

“Girl, look ahead; Zishi would not want you to be like this every day.”

“You still have Zhongyi.”

Shen Wenping nodded, got up, and took the baby from her mother’s arms.

Seeing the familiar features in the little one’s eyebrows, she felt a bit comforted in her heart’s sorrow.

With a slight sigh, Shen Yuan left the backyard.

As he reached the front yard, he saw a guard leading Immortal Wei Qiuling with a solemn expression coming toward him.

“Elder Patriarch, Immortal Wei has arrived.”

Shen Yuan waved his hand, and after the guard left, he saluted Wei Qiuling.

After returning the courtesy, Wei Qiuling directly spoke:

“News from Danzhou; Lingshan Sword Immortal attacked deep into Qishan over a month ago. For unknown reasons, he encountered a Golden Core Perfection Realm demon beast. After a fierce battle, Lingshan Sword Immortal is now missing.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan furrowed his brows.

Pei Zhao had once said that Hundred Beasts Mountain refrained from pressing for death last time and chose to compromise because the old ape feared Lingshan Sword Immortal.

Now that Lingshan Sword Immortal is missing… Will Hundred Beasts Mountain make any new moves?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep