Mo Xuan distributed the brand-new farming tools to the Kong clan free of charge, and the praise came in waves.
Reclaiming the spirit island became even smoother!
The first-grade spirit fields had already been fully opened up; now everyone was busy with the second-grade fields. The two families competed openly, working in a blazing fervor.
With nothing urgent to handle, Mo Xuan took things easy and focused on raising fish.
The spirit carp in the lake ate a lot and grew fast.
The spirit ribbonfish in the sea ate less, because the bay constantly drifted in plankton. The ribbonfish found those far more nutritious than spirit grain—and grew even faster.
Mo Xuan was delighted. Eat from the mountain if you live by the mountain; eat from the sea if you live by the sea! An Immortal Garden or an immortal realm couldn't raise fish like this; even an Immortal Heaven had limits, and sea fish were hard to keep.
Cultivation required massive resources, and these spirit fish were excellent resources. Many Earth Immortals and Heaven Immortals were willing to pay high prices—very lucrative.
Mo Xuan had stumbled into it by accident: he had been forced to invest, and the result was even greater profit!
The spirit seedlings too—already robust and thriving—while the Kong side had only just begun to see sprouts from seeds. By the time the Kong family harvested, the Mo family would have harvested twice. Compared like this, buying seedlings outright actually earned more!
And Longevity Water was a top-tier long-term treasure basin: bit by bit it accumulated. In under fifty years it would pay back its cost, and after that it was pure profit.
The hot spring pool was extravagant—but soaking in it was truly comfortable, and it benefited the Mo clan's bodies greatly. Mo Xuan was even thinking that once he returned from void work, he'd bring Grandpa, Grandma, and his parents to the island for a few days—soak in the hot spring and improve their constitutions again.
Mo Xuan had an epiphany: Li the old immortal hadn't cheated him—he had helped him. A petty mindset couldn't accomplish great things. If you wanted returns, you had to be willing to invest.
Those many arrays weren't redundant either. First, the island's security was guaranteed. Second, arrays all had the effect of gathering and concentrating spiritual energy. With so many layered together, the island became springlike year-round, and the spirit plants grew absurdly fast.
Worth it. So worth it.
Mo Xuan decided he must bring Li the old immortal several more jars of good wine and properly show respect.
Truthfully, worldly wine would never impress someone like Li. But Mo Xuan had been coming to write debt IOUs every month for two hundred years—he'd become familiar. That was why Li was willing to chat a little and even help pack purchases neatly. For other immortals—even Earth Immortals—Li couldn't be bothered to speak.
Though Li always looked half-asleep, everything that happened in the Grand Academy was actually within his sight. Mo Xuan treated people generously, never looked at others with prejudice, and was always polite.
Clearly talented, yet always low-key. Always diligent.
Li had seen countless people over hundreds of thousands of years. Someone as open, sincere, and straightforward as Mo Xuan was rare—and people like that never had ordinary destinies. Li was sharp, and his gaze was long-term.
Time slipped by unnoticed in the mountains—and on the spirit island as well.
In a blink, the annual Grand Examination was near.
The island reclamation was nearly complete. The once-wild islet had been utterly transformed!
More than thirty thousand mu of spirit fields were divided into blocks, neat and orderly.
In total:
180 mu of Earth-grade spirit fields
17,000 mu of First-grade fields
15,000 mu of Second-grade fields
If that amount of spirit land appeared in Qing Shan Commandery, every noble house would go red-eyed. Not to mention Earth-grade fields—many of them didn't even have a few mu of first-grade fields!
Along the clear lake stood eight hybrid human-power and wind-power waterwheels, with irrigation pipes branching everywhere, easily watering the entire island.
Two rows of refined courtyard homes ran like twin dragons along the lake: the "dragon head" was a storage spirit pool, the "dragon tail" the hot spring, and the spirit well—the dragon pearl.
A perfect Twin Dragons Playing with a Pearl.
Not far from the villages stood a large square wooden enclosure, divided into five sections. Many birds and beasts lived inside—the island's original inhabitants, forcibly relocated to their "new home." At first they had been noisy and restless, but after eating delicious spirit grain and drinking spirit water every day, they gradually settled down.
A gravel road over ten meters wide crossed the island from end to end, leading all the way to a massive dock on the beach. The broad, thick wooden platform allowed fast loading and unloading.
On the green mountain, gold shimmered.
Watered often with cooled hot spring water, the Golden Thunder Spirit Bamboo had grown as thick as bowls and over eight meters tall. The leaves looked like pieces of gold. When the sea breeze passed, the whole mountain glowed—seen from afar, it looked like a mountain of treasure.
Three hundred spirit tree seedlings had been planted in a ring around the island. Nourished with spirit water, they grew vigorously. But to become towering giants would take time—there was no rushing it.
The sea ribbonfish had grown fatter and fatter. The biggest one was already over ten meters long. Mo Xuan caught it and brought it back for his family to taste. He also caught several plump spirit carp from the lake. In truth, spirit carp were quite beautiful—almost suitable as ornamental fish.
Mo Xuan rode Xiao Ba up into the sky and looked down on the island. Everything was harmonious, prosperous, and thriving. He nodded in satisfaction, and Xiao Ba shot off toward the Mo family's base in Huanxi Village, Qing Shan Commandery.
But Mo Xuan believed it wouldn't be long before the spirit island became the Mo family's true new headquarters.
Mo Xuan returned to the Mo household.
Mo Que'er had already set off for the commandery capital some days earlier—partly to avoid suspicion. Traveling by carriage would take around six days. After three months of cultivation, her spirit and vitality had been completely transformed, so it wouldn't be too exhausting.
Mo Xuan stayed home for several days. Eating fresh spirit fish every day helped him recover a little immortal essence, but even after nearly three months of recuperation, the immortal essence he had spent still hadn't restored much.
In the small immortal realm, immortals were not allowed to sit and absorb the world's spiritual energy at will. In the void, one could meditate, but the void was empty—how much spiritual energy could there be? The key was still an Immortal Garden: digesting meteor cores was incomparably faster than meditation.
Mo Xuan had spent so much immortal essence only to secure the family's spirit island. Now he could only recover slowly. Even Kong Jian, after expending too much in a battle with void beasts, had needed years of recuperation—and still hadn't fully recovered.
So energy-saving mattered. Even immortals had to conserve their precious immortal essence.
Qing Shan Commandery — South Suburb of the Commandery Capital
Outside the southern gate, on the fifty-pace-wide official road, ox carts and horse carriages packed the way, forming a long line waiting to enter the city. These were all this year's examinees.
Two squads of soldiers guarded the southern gate, inspecting each vehicle with zero leniency.
Mo Que'er sat in one of the carriages. Though this was her second time taking the exam, she still disliked the endless waiting and the noisy crowds. She sighed quietly. If only I'd come with Great-Grandfather… Her daily half-hour cultivation time had already been used up, and with the exam so near, reading felt dull.
With a slender finger, she hooked the curtain open a crack.
In the distance, the Grand Canal came into view—sails upon sails.
Ships packed with goods and grain arrived from upriver and downriver, some even transferred from the sea. They entered South Lake and delivered spirit vegetables, spirit grain, the dates of Anyi, the oranges of Jiangling, the lacquer of Chenxia, the hemp of Qilu, ginger and cinnamon, coarse grain, silk and cloth, fish and turtle and abalone, salt and vinegar and fermented paste, rice and wheat and mixed cereals—flowing into the commandery capital by waterway.
The living roar of commerce could be heard even ten li away.
"Behold the markets of the Immortal Realm—wealth gathers to form a city.Prices are weighed and set; rows are ordered and stalls made fair.The riches of the Five Capitals are exhausted; the goods of the Nine Provinces are gathered."
Qing Shan's prosperity was obvious—and Qing Shan was merely one small commandery of An Prefecture.
Mo Que'er's bright eyes shifted, and she couldn't help but be shocked at the power and flourishing of Qing Yuan Small Immortal Realm. Though the three Dao Lords strictly limited cultivation quotas—crushing the hopes of countless candidates longing for longevity—it also benefited all living beings.
Heaven and earth had a scale.
And the common people were the counterweight.
The three Dao Lords sacrificed personal convenience to bless the masses—truly worthy of awe and respect.
The Mingyu County examinee convoy stayed together. Many candidates kept glancing at Mo Que'er's carriage, eyes filled with shock and envy.
A few months apart, and everything had changed.
Mo Que'er had always been dazzling. Many candidates had fallen at first sight; matchmakers had come again and again, only to sink like stones.
Now the Mo family's status was towering—completely unreachable.
And when they had glimpsed her again a few days ago, she was even more stunning—like a celestial maiden.
Some candidates grew fearful: Did Mo Que'er secretly cultivate? Was she seeking death? Unauthorized cultivation was a capital crime—one that could implicate the whole family. Even immortals could be punished by association.
Those with insider information already knew the Mo family possessed three cultivation slots, and the Mo family kept it quiet. Outside of a few noble houses, ordinary people had no idea.
Mo Que'er noticed the suspicion but didn't bother explaining. She was already a preselected academy student, cultivating three months early. They were destined to remain mortals. Their intersection would last only these few days—after this, they might never meet again. Why bother with closeness?
She thought of Great-Grandfather. Her cherry lips curved gently. Only he was the person who would accompany her closest through life.
After waiting a full six hours, Mingyu County's convoy finally entered the commandery capital. The night was deep.
They quickly moved into the wide "Grand Examination Street," specially established for candidates each year. Duty staff assigned lodging and meals—men and women strictly separated. Exhausted, everyone drank a little porridge, washed up, and slept.
Mo Que'er wasn't sleepy at all. She leaned by the window, looking at the moon, quietly rereading Quiet Night Thoughts. Her anxiety faded, replaced by warmth.
The next morning, the Mingyu County instructor led the candidates to register at the examination grounds, line up, and receive exam numbers. By the time it ended, it was already noon.
Mo Que'er did not go with them to eat at the famous Champion Tower. She returned alone to her quarters and began cultivating.
Midday cultivation brought her the greatest gains. The tiny ember of Phoenix fire essence in her soul—nourished for three months—was still small, but no longer lifeless. Like a tiny heart, it pulsed with joy, becoming the hub of her spiritual meridians.
Candidates could not cultivate, but years of reciting Dao scriptures made them faintly sensitive to spiritual energy.
Wang Wu, wearing a green jade pendant engraved with the character "Supervisor," was eighty-six this year—a seasoned veteran among candidates, now holding the office of clerk-in-charge of maintaining order on Examination Street.
In recent years, candidates' moods had been decent. Even when they formed cliques, they behaved. Wang Wu's job was easy.
He strolled leisurely down the broad street, watching waves of youthful examinees coming and going, feeling wistful. Over two hundred thousand candidates sat the Qing Shan exam every year, yet the Grand Academy accepted only the top three.
Many spent ten or more years—only to remain candidates forever.
Wang Wu had seen through it early. After three attempts, he stopped. Step by step, he rose from village head, and now had a stable footing in the commandery capital with real authority. In his clan, he held weight.
Eighty-six was still young. He had room to rise. He maintained himself well, looking only forty-something: energetic, steady, trusted by superiors.
Wang Wu was ambitious, eager to achieve more.
Suddenly—
He froze.
He felt a strange shift in the world's spiritual energy, rushing and gathering toward a certain place.
Wang Wu stood stunned, disbelief flooding his face.
In broad daylight…
Someone dared to cultivate in secret?!