Watching the Mountain

Chapter 38: Chapter 33: Array

Not long after Qing Xuan Master left, Xu Ran suddenly received a message from Yue Qingyu on his Communication Jade Talisman. It contained only a single sentence: ”Cultivate in peace.”

At first, he was a bit dumbfounded, unable to figure out why she would send such a message for no reason. ’Could it be that she thinks I haven’t been cultivating hard enough lately and wanted to remind me?’

It wasn’t until he went to the Spirit Medicine Garden that he understood what was going on.

As soon as he arrived at the Spirit Medicine Garden, Xu Ran sensed that something was amiss. It seemed much quieter than usual, and there were far fewer people than normal.

He pulled a disciple aside to ask and only then learned that Yue Qingyu had taken those people away.

The disciple recounted with great excitement, ”Senior Brother Xu, you didn’t get to see it! Senior Sister Yue was so commanding, so incredible... It was just too...”

The man stood with his mouth agape, seemingly searching for the right adjective. But after hesitating for a long while, he finally squeezed out a single phrase: ”Too beautiful.”

Hearing this, Xu Ran couldn’t help but roll his eyes and say irritably, ”Isn’t that obvious? When is Senior Sister Yue *not* beautiful?”

It was a universally acknowledged fact throughout the entire Sect that Yue Qingyu was beautiful; there was nothing surprising about it.

What was strange, however, was that Xu Ran seemed to have never heard of anyone, either inside or outside the Sect, who liked her or was trying to pursue her.

This was truly a bit odd. Although romance wasn’t a mainstream pursuit in the Cultivation Realm, the younger generation was still quite enthusiastic about spreading gossip, like which senior or junior brother was interested in a certain senior or junior sister.

He felt this was likely due to Yue Qingyu herself. Her beauty wasn’t just in her figure and face, but more importantly, in her aura.

Just when you felt she was close, you’d suddenly realize she was incredibly distant. And when you thought she was far away, she would be right before your eyes. She was like a flower in a mirror or the moon on the water—ethereal and elusive, causing people to shrink back in hesitation.

Hearing Xu Ran’s words, the disciple waved his hands, quickly refuting him. ”No, no, no, it was different! Back then, Senior Sister Yue had a completely different kind of beauty than usual. It was the kind where her face was frosty and cold, and the moment you saw her, your heart would tremble and you’d be too scared to speak... that kind of feeling. In short, she was just so commanding! You get what I mean, right?”

Xu Ran glanced at him and shook his head, not wanting to get further entangled in this topic. Instead, he asked, ”Do you know why Senior Sister Yue took them away?”

Hearing this, the man curled his lip in disdain and said, ”What else could it be? They felt our Profound Pure Sect was in decline and wanted to switch allegiances to find a better place for themselves. Ptooey!”

From the disciple’s explanation, Xu Ran finally understood. Apparently, some new varieties of Spirit Fruits and Spirit Medicines that had recently appeared in the Profound Pure Sect had attracted the attention of some outside sects.

Afterward, people from those sects began to secretly poach the Profound Pure Sect’s Spirit Plant Masters, hoping to bring those new varieties into their own sects right from the source.

And the people Yue Qingyu had taken away were precisely those who had already agreed to be poached by the outside sects.

As for why they hadn’t left the Sect after being poached and instead remained, Xu Ran understood the reason very well.

Because those new varieties of Spirit Fruits and Spirit Medicines had nothing to do with them—they were the results of his own research. The sects that poached them wanted the results themselves, not the people, so of course those people couldn’t leave yet.

Xu Ran took a look and realized that those who had been taken away were all Elders and Tributor Elders. Furthermore, they were all people who had been particularly friendly and enthusiastic toward him on a daily basis.

After all, only they knew a thing or two about his situation. The ordinary disciples who stayed in the Spirit Medicine Garden might have known a little about him, but not much.

Xu Ran shook his head. ’No wonder those guys were inviting me out every day to exchange insights and discuss the Dao, making it sound so incredible, saying how many Spirit Plant Grandmasters and Saintesses from various sects would be attending. So they’d already dug a pit and were just waiting for me to fall in.’

Too bad for them, he was never interested in such things. Otherwise, he really would have fallen for their trap.

After hearing the disciple’s account, Xu Ran finally understood. Yue Qingyu’s earlier message was her response to what he had told her some time ago—that someone was trying to harm him. She was letting him know that the crisis had been averted.

Xu Ran felt quite helpless about this incident. When he had first revealed those research results, he knew that many things couldn’t be hidden, no matter how low-key he tried to be.

Although his research was all conducted within the exclusive Spirit Field the Sect had assigned him, surrounded by Restrictions that prevented others from getting close, there were only so many Spirit Plant Masters in the Sect. Everyone was familiar with each other’s skill levels. After a process of elimination, the answer became obvious.

This kind of thing was unavoidable, so Xu Ran wasn’t too unsettled by it.

Since he was in the Cultivation Realm, how could there be a paradise completely devoid of danger? Comparatively speaking, he was already incredibly satisfied with his life in the Profound Pure Sect.

He didn’t dwell on it too much. ’I’ll just have to exchange for some Talisman Treasures and other such things for self-defense later.’

He then went to his Spirit Field and carefully inspected the growth of the Spirit Rice within.

The Spirit Plant Masters of the Cultivation Realm had always been researching ways to increase the yield of Spirit Rice and had consistently achieved some results. Xu Ran never had the slightest thought of looking down on the Spirit Plant Masters of this world.

In fact, his previous research results, whether it was the ”Heaven-Earth-Man Trinity Pest Control” or his subsequent achievements, weren’t strongly related to his knowledge from his past life. The most important factor was the achievements of this world’s Spirit Plant Masters.

The reason he was able to accomplish it, to use an analogy, was that the research system of this world’s Spirit Plant Masters had always followed a single straight line. No matter what angle or direction they tried, even if they made a turn, they never broke free from the confines of that line.

Xu Ran, on the other hand, had approached this line from another, different line. When the two intersected and merged, and after he had delved deep into this world’s knowledge of spirit planting and raised his own skill level, it wasn’t surprising that some unexpected sparks would be created.

Once enough time had passed and these unexpected sparks had all fizzled out, he would return to being ordinary, no different from the vast majority of Spirit Plant Masters in this world.

Even so, he was still very confident that his knowledge reserve in the field of spirit planting surpassed that of most ordinary Spirit Plant Masters. Because when it came to being a Spirit Plant Master, he was genuinely talented.

In all his time in this world, only the profession of a Spirit Plant Master had given him this kind of confidence, making him feel as though he, too, was a prodigy.

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After observing the growth of the Spirit Rice in his Spirit Field for a while and confirming that there were no issues, Xu Ran left.

On his way back, he suddenly remembered that the person who had warned him this time that someone was targeting him was none other than Senior Brother Ye Shan.

This brought that question back to his mind, ’How did he know? And why didn’t he just tell me directly, instead choosing to warn me in such a cryptic way?’

He pondered this all the way back but couldn’t figure it out. Just as he returned to his Cave Mansion, he saw Little Xiyue looking at him with a conflicted expression.

Seeing Little Xiyue, Xu Ran was slightly taken aback. A question popped into his mind. ’Shouldn’t she be with Ye Shan at this hour?’

As he was thinking, Little Xiyue clutched the corners of her clothes with her small hands, then raised her head as if mustering all her courage, and spoke:

”Master, could you lend me some Contribution Points? I want to go to the Scripture Pavilion to exchange for a Cultivation Technique.”

Hearing this, Xu Ran’s heart stirred. ’Could Ye Shan have put her up to this? Perhaps for a prerequisite Cultivation Technique for his Swordsmanship or something similar.’

”I will pay you back. After I finish my two years of study in the Instructor Hall and can accept missions, I’ll work hard to take on missions and earn Contribution Points to repay you.”

Little Xiyue clenched her fists, and it seemed as if saying these words had taken all the strength in her body.

Thinking of her proud nature, Xu Ran shook his head helplessly. He had originally wanted to say that it was perfectly normal for a master to teach his disciple a Cultivation Technique and there was no need to talk about ”lending” or ”borrowing,” but on second thought, he decided against it. That would only make her more uncomfortable.

Thinking this, he looked at Little Xiyue and asked, ”How much do you need?”

Hearing this, Little Xiyue let out a long sigh of relief. Perhaps it was because Xu Ran had agreed to her request to borrow the Contribution Points, or perhaps it was because he hadn’t offered to simply give them to her, which put her at ease.

She quickly held up a chubby little finger and said, ”One thousand Contribution Points.”

Xu Ran raised his eyebrows and looked at her appraisingly. ”That’s a lot. It’s equivalent to several years’ income for an Outer Disciple. Will you be able to pay it back?”

”I can do it.” Little Xiyue’s expression was firm.

Xu Ran nodded. ”Alright, then. I’ll give them to you now.”

”Thank you, Master.” Little Xiyue gave him a respectful bow, and after receiving the Contribution Points, she hurriedly ran off.

When she returned, she was holding a Jade Scroll. Carved on the scroll was a line of simple, ancient characters: *Profound Pure Sect Array Fundamentals*.

Seeing the words on it, Xu Ran was slightly stunned. ’Arrays? Shouldn’t it be Swordsmanship?’

He then shook his head. Though he was a bit curious, he didn’t ask. ’This is her own business. I’ll just let her be.’