Chapter Fourteen: Acquiring a New Residence

Spirit coins and spirit stones were of utmost importance. Cultivators absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to practice, but nowadays, most regions are thinly veiled with spiritual energy, and the higher one’s realm, the less these sparse energies avail them. Places rich in spiritual energy have long been occupied, with sects established upon them. The remaining sources are spirit mines, but those discovered by humans have already been claimed by the royal family and the great clans, nearly all of them. After extraction, they are unified into spirit coins, which are used to exchange for rare treasures, elixirs, and magical artifacts.

Unfound spirit mines lie either in secret realms or in perilous lands teeming with monsters. For independent cultivators, advancement becomes nearly impossible after reaching a certain stage. Those unwilling to become wandering thieves or bandits must either submit to great powers or risk their lives in search of spirit mines. Yet this Young Master Yang, it was said, acquired more spirit coins in a few days than others could amass in years of risking death. Truly, there was no comparison.

Lu Baichuan gazed at the figure of Young Master Yang ahead and could not help but sigh with emotion.

Yang Cheng instructed Old Yang to make arrangements for everyone and prepare the next supply in three days. He and Lu Baichuan followed Da Niu and Maozi to the estate they had inquired about.

This locale was called South Hill, nearing the outskirts of the southern city. Few lived here, and it appeared somewhat desolate. Those who did were generally people of some means, enjoying spacious grounds suitable for tending gardens and savoring a leisurely life. The central districts, by contrast, were expensive, home to nobles and families large and small, making it difficult to purchase anything suitable.

The estate faced south, its back to the mountain, with a road in front. The main gate was old but still imposing; it must have been the residence of a lesser clan. According to Da Niu, the former owners had offended a more powerful family and, unable to contend, fled overnight for their lives, leaving the property abandoned for years before it was reclaimed by the authorities.

After exchanging formalities with the government official sent for the handover, the group entered the estate. A few steps in, they came upon a broad lotus pond, crossed by an L-shaped path; on either side, pools now overgrown with weeds. The gardens flanking these pools were equally neglected. To both sides lay east and west wings, each with forty or fifty rooms, meant for servants and guards. Between the wings and the walls stretched open spaces, presumably for the daily life of servants and the training of guards.

Pressing onward past the pools, they reached the inner garden, where artificial hills and strange stones were arranged, now choked with wild grass. Winding paths led to secluded corners, shifting scenes with every step, until they arrived at the reception hall. The hall was grand, with a low table before the central seat, rows of cushions to either side, each with its own small table, extending all the way to the threshold.

Beyond the reception hall was the rear courtyard, the living quarters for the master’s household, even larger than the front. At the center stood the council hall, used for family meetings, furnished much like the reception hall but even grander and more spacious.

Next to the council hall were rooms for the family head’s rest and affairs, with quarters for the family to all sides, separated by gardens of varying size to ensure tranquility. There were about ten small courtyards, each with several side rooms, likely for the concubines.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with this place. It was not luxurious, but its size was ample, able to accommodate many people and serve multiple purposes. Moreover, the sparse population around meant the land price was low, fulfilling his needs, with room for future expansion. The price was set at eighteen thousand spirit coins, and after paying, he signed the deed.

He sent Xiao Wu back to find Old Yang, instructing him to take money to the labor market and select a hundred servants under contract. Many hands would be needed in the future, and those with signed contracts were easier to manage. Busy as he was, only Old Yang could handle this, being a legal commoner now. It was impossible to ask Lu Baichuan to help with such mundane tasks; besides, Old Yang was likely better at selecting laborers, and other servants lacked the status to participate in such large-scale transactions.

He also told Da Niu and Maozi to go back and send for people, leaving two to guard the estate. The rest were to visit relatives and friends at home and invite them as temporary workers to help clean and organize the new residence—a major undertaking. Yang Cheng and Lu Baichuan wandered the rear courtyard, inspecting the new estate and making plans for the future.

Yang Cheng was quite interested in the cultivation world, but his knowledge, gleaned from idle tavern gossip, was scant. Old Yang’s experience was limited, and powerful figures rarely bothered with him. Fortunately, Lu Baichuan was well-traveled, and as they strolled, they conversed.

This world, it turned out, had the Qi Refining stage, Foundation Establishment, Integration, and Golden Core. In Liuyun Country, with a population of ten billion, Integration stage experts were already rare, and Golden Core cultivators rarer still. Even the great sects had only a few dozen Golden Core masters.

A cultivator’s power derives from accumulated spiritual energy and cultivation methods. The Golden Core stage is vastly different from all previous realms; it requires tribulation by heavenly thunder, condensing a core within, marking the true beginning of the immortal path—enabling flight by sword and the merging of one’s weapon and self. Beyond this stage, none have witnessed further progress; achieving Golden Core is already arduous, and each breakthrough harder than the last. One either exhausts their lifespan or, one in ten thousand, comprehends the Dao and ascends to immortality. What happens after ascension is unknown; no one has ever returned.

Lu Baichuan himself had braved countless dangers to barely step into the mid-Golden Core realm. But even Golden Core experts are not omnipotent; royal families in every nation have measures to balance their power, such as the no-fly arrays in each city-state. These greatly diminish the advantages of Golden Core cultivators; unable to fly by sword, even the most skilled may fall to a dozen Integration stage masters. Of course, the arrays serve other purposes too, protecting each power’s privacy—if Golden Core experts flew overhead at will, feuding families would constantly be on guard.

Such measures are tacitly accepted by all, from top to bottom. In particular, the complexity of human nature means that if a ruthless expert were to slaughter innocents unchecked within a city-state, chaos would ensue, destabilizing the interests of the nobility. The upper classes care not for individual lives, but for stable profit.

Cultivators do not live solely to pursue the Dao; that is a privilege of the rare few who succeed. Most who reach high realms are not fools; they understand that only fortune allows one to grasp the Dao and ascend. Thus, cultivators also pursue longevity, power, wealth, or prominence—not merely the fighting and killing that Yang Cheng imagined.

Indeed, upon reflection, unless motivated by tangled interests, humans cannot escape the bounds of desire; if one truly had no emotion or want, competition would be even harder. Cultivation is a defiance of fate, strengthening the body and dispelling illness. At the Qi Refining stage, one gains a hundred-year lifespan; at Foundation Establishment, roughly a hundred and fifty years; Integration grants two hundred, and Golden Core reaches three hundred years. It may seem unnatural, but in this world, it is the natural order.