Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate

Qing Hui brought Xia Yi into the sect, fellow apprentices greeted him on his way and looked at Xia Yi with curious eyes. Qing Hui thus introduced, “This is Xia.”

“Xia.” Those fellow apprentices rushed to greet Xia Yi.

While he was greeting them, Xia Yi wondered if his cultivation had started.

It won’t work, however great the cultivation world is, he has to get back, Zhu is waiting for him.

Thinking of Gu Wen Zhu, Xia Yi felt a pain in his heart. There was no way to know the situation over there, how would Cheng Ming explain his disappearance? Zhu would be so anxious and worried, he would definitely search for him everywhere when he discovered he was gone.

Qing Hui led Xia Yi through a quiet and beautiful bamboo grove, then they entered an archway and arrived at a fancy small yard, “You will live at the Wang Zhu Yard from now on. The fellow apprentices will bring some clothes and hot water here later, if there is any need, you can tell them.” He looked around after saying so, seeing that there should be sufficient provisions for Xia Yi at the moment, he left.

Only Xia Yi was left in the yard, he began to look around.

There were three rooms in the yard, all in ancient fashion, with red walls and green tiles and roofs high up. The ground of the yard was floored by bluestone, a few tall healthy green bamboos were planted in a small corner.

Xia Yi crouched and grabbed some soil, he used his fingers to twist the soil. This land is fertile, the soil is dark and shiny, and the humidity is just right. I don’t understand why they are planting bamboo. If they plant shallots and chilli peppers, and add a stand to plant some loofah, it would be splendid.

What a waste.

“Xia Yi.” A voice in a tentative tone rang behind him while he was thinking about this and that.

Xia Yi turned around sharply, words escaped from his mouth, “Liu SiQian?”

He could tell his level of cultivation was high by the elegant presence of this old man standing outside the archway with an aura and his sleeves swaying in the wind.

This was Liu SiQian.

“When Qing Hui reported to me, he mentioned the name Xia Yi, then I asked him more about you, judging from his descriptions of your appearance, I thought that it was you. When I asked for more details, he told me that you have two colors in your sleeve, so I hurried and came.” Liu SiQian said with a smile.

Xia Yi was surprised too, “I knew you were the Elder of Tian Ji.”

“Xia, how did you come?” Liu SiQian stepped in and asked curiously, “And you have become the son of Magistrate Xia and the apprentice of the master?”

Xia Yi answered, “I don’t know, I just arrived and Qing Hui started to call me that.”

Liu SiQian nodded understandingly, “Then he must have mistaken, your names are the same by coincidence. But it’s fine, as long as the real person is not here yet, you can borrow his identity for now.” He looked as if he had remembered something all of a sudden, then asked quickly, “Is Cheng Ming at your place? He has been missing for some days now, he left a few pieces of treasure in his bedroom.”

“He came over, he is now farming every day.”

He might even be lying in the station beside the land eating buns.

“Alright.” Liu SiQian gave a relieved sigh, then he said with appreciation, “Cheng Ming is such a good fellow, he won’t forget to cultivate wherever he goes. He can’t consume the spiritual energy at your place, so he cultivates the hard way. Good good.” Liu SiQian glanced at the sky and invited Xia Yi with enthusiasm. “It should be time for dinner. Come over to my place to have some, we can chat while eating, come come.” 

“Are you not practicing inedia?” Xia Yi recalled that Liu SiQian had told him about his years of practicing inedia.

“Yes, I had practiced that. But after the experience in utopia, it didn’t feel right to not eat since I was back.” Liu SiQian still felt some uneasiness when he was talking about what he had been through.

Xia Yi fully understood, “Go, let’s eat.”

Once they were out from the bamboo grove, Liu SiQian immediately showed a stern expression, he looked dignified and prestigious. The apprentices alongside politely greeted and called him the Elder of Tian Ji. Liu SiQian did not even look at them, he only nodded and made the faintest sound with his nose.

Xia Yi was imagining how far could Liu SiQian’s place be, then he saw him waving his hand in the air and a gigantic gourd appeared out of nowhere.

The gourd was the size of half a room, there was even a tassel tied on the beak, the gourd was floating up and down slightly in the air. Liu SiQian lifted his leg to step onto the first half of the gourd, he stood firmly on it. Wind was making his sleeves sway, he said to Xia Yi, “Come up here.”

This is a magical flying item.

It’s very stimulating…

Xia Yi was excited, he climbed onto the gourd with his arms and legs. He wanted to stand steadily like Liu SiQian but he found that there was no place for him to plant his feet on this smooth gourd.

While he was constantly switching his stance, the gourd ascended straight up without any signs.

Xia Yi almost had his heart jumped out from his mouth, he quickly crouched down and straddled on the gourd. He was at the last half of the gourd, it was round and smooth, he could not find a way to hold on tightly to the gourd. He felt that he was going to fall when his body tilted, so he quickly moved himself forward to the waist of the gourd.

You have to inform me before taking flight.

This gourd is smooth and not easy to sit on, it does not even have a handle, let alone seat belts. Can you choose something like an Arabian flying carpet to make your magical item? Even Qing Hui’s UFO is better than this.

The gourd headed straight towards a floating small island. Through the thin clouds, the green color and the red roofs on the island could be seen vaguely.

Xia Yi lied on the gourd with fear, he had no mood for the views. It was lucky that the distance they were traveling was not far, worthing only a few minutes, the gourd then halted above the small floating island and began to descend.

Only when the gourd stopped at an exquisite small yard did Xia Yi feel that he lived again.

Liu SiQian looked at him sliding off the gourd with a face as white as a sheet, he twirled his mustache and sighed, “Xia, that’s not good. You will have to ride your own magical item later for long trips, you need to train.”

Xia Yi waved in exhaustion, “What magical item? I have to get back quick, people at home are waiting for me.”

Liu SiQian brought Xia Yi to the dining room, the apprentices had already set the table and the food was on it. There was a bowl full of buns apart from the whole table of fish and meat.

“Let’s eat.” After seating, Liu SiQian gave himself a piece of pork leg with his chopsticks, then he served Xia Yi, “Tell me how you got here after eating.”

Xia Yi was not hungry yet, so he just had some, the leftover food was cleared by Liu SiQian.

After dinner, Xia Yi talked about how he transmigrated in detail.

Liu SiQian was thoughtful when Xia Yi finished explaining, “I have been looking on the island recently, I have been wanting to find the transportation magical circle if there is one. However, it was drawn by one with great power, I cannot even see any abnormalities. Cheng Ming was transferred there, and we don’t know when he will be back.” Liu SiQian looked distressed, “Even if he’s back, we have no idea who would be transferred to or from the utopia next.”

Liu SiQian used his finger to knock on the table thoughtfully, “Who on earth would cast such a spell? What’s the purpose of doing this? I can’t figure this out. I feel like there is someone against Qi Shan Sect planning a fearsome conspiracy in the shadows.” He gazed at Xia Yi, the light in his eyes flickering. “Even innocent people like you have been forced into this flow of the conspiracy.” 

“Right?” Xia Yi sluggishly responded, he thought in his mind, the bug that was created by these trash systems was disastrous. There was some turbulence brewing in the cultivation world because of this.

“And there is still no trace of our master, there may be some connection between him and this spell, he might have been transferred to somewhere in the utopia.”

“No, he has not been transferred, he is still here.” Xia Yi recalled what 179 had told him, no others were transmigrated according to the system check. Xia Yi stared into Liu SiQian’s eyes earnestly. “Believe me.” 

Liu SiQian observed Xia Yi for a while, then he nodded, “Alright, I believe you.”

“Right.” Xia Yi thought of something, he pulled out the pendant that he had picked up on his way, he gave it to Liu SiQian, “I picked this up when I came, have you seen this before?”

Liu SiQian took the pendant and looked closely, then he raised his voice in shock, “This is a pendant of the fallen devils, where did you get it?”

“Beside the stone stairs of the single plank bridge.” Xia Yi gestured when he was speaking.

“How did this pendant of the fallen devils end up here? When did they come? We did not even sense it.” Liu SiQian stood up and paced back and forth in the house, thinking. Suddenly he clapped his hands loudly, and said in a terrified voice, “It’s bad, our master must have been taken by the fallen devils.”

“No wonder I couldn’t find any trace of the master, he has been taken to the demonic world.” Liu SiQian said angrily. He murmured something and opened his palm. A petite paper crane appeared in his palm. Liu SiQian gave his orders to that crane, “Call the other elders to the TengYun Hall to discuss the matter.”  Then he swung his hand, that paper crane then turned into a crane and flew out, calling on its way.

Xia Yi was stupefied, this surreal cultivation world.