Chapter 5: Mujiao Town
There is a small town called Mujiao Town at the foot of Funiu Mountain, where nearly 10,000 mortals of the Song family live. Because the town has been garrisoned by the Song family monks all year round, it has been peaceful for a hundred years, and has also attracted many mortals of other surnames nearby to settle down. There is a wide street in the center of the town, with pedestrians coming and going in an endless stream. The streets are full of various shops, and all kinds of shouting are endless, full of prosperity and peace.
In the world of immortal cultivation, whether it is a high-ranking sect or a dominant family force, the huge number of mortals is their foundation, and they have been continuously injecting new blood and wisdom into the major forces of the world of immortal cultivation.
Among about 10,000 mortals, there will be two or three monks who have spiritual roots and can cultivate. If they are the descendants of monks, the probability of having spiritual roots is higher than that of ordinary mortals.
Ordinary mortals are too weak. In this world of immortal cultivation where monsters and beasts are rampant, it is difficult to survive and reproduce without the protection of monks. It is also because of this that the cultivation world pays more and more attention to mortals. Normally, there will be more or less cultivators to protect places where there are large numbers of mortals.
In order to strengthen themselves, the major sects in the cultivation world will choose to send their disciples with low talents to various places under their jurisdiction to manage mortals, and breed more disciples with spiritual roots for the sect. Over time, major cultivation families were born.
There are dozens of cultivation families like the Song family in Qinghe County. They are all attached to the Weiguo overlord Xiaoyao Sect. Each family has a large number of mortals. The mortals within the Song family's sphere of influence, including Mujiao Town and more than a dozen nearby villages, total more than 20,000 mortals, most of whom live in Mujiao Town.
The Song family has a relatively small number of mortals among the major Qi-refining families in Qinghe County. Several Qi-refining families with a relatively large number of mortals have more than 100,000 mortals. As for the overlord of Qinghe County, the Huang family, the foundation-building family, the number of mortals directly controlled is nearly 500,000.
These mortals gave birth to people with spiritual roots, which continuously enriched the major immortal cultivation families. Those with outstanding spiritual root talents would be absorbed by Xiaoyao Sect.
Most of the mortals in Mujiao Town are of the Song family bloodline, and some of them fled from other places. Through marriage with local Song family mortals, they gradually integrated into the Song family.
The family generally does not care about the surnames of mortals, but as long as they find people with spiritual roots, they will be taken to Funiushan to practice and renamed according to the generation of Song family cultivators.
Song Qingming was also found to have spiritual roots when his family tested mortals when he was ten years old. He was then taken to Funiushan by the cultivators in the family to learn and practice until now. Although the place of practice is not far from home, Song Qingming rarely goes home to visit his relatives.
This time, he received the family's garrison mission, and he didn't know when he would have the opportunity to come back. He went down the mountain early today so that he could have time to go back to his home.
In a mortal residence to the west of Mujiao Town, there is an ordinary house. Compared with the surrounding houses, it looks a little newer. The house is surrounded by an earthen wall, forming a simple courtyard, with a small door in the middle of the wall.
Song Qingming stood in front of the half-open wooden door and looked at the familiar courtyard in front of him. On a huge stone platform in the courtyard, a woman in simple clothes sat on it with a green bamboo basket. The woman slowly separated the golden bamboo shoots in the bamboo basket in an orderly manner and dried them on the stone platform.
As if she heard the sound at the door, the woman paused and turned to look at the door.
"You haven't been back for so long, what are you doing standing at the door? Have you become stupid from practicing immortal cultivation?"
Song Qingming was stunned after hearing this, and walked into the courtyard with a silly smile.
"Mother, is everyone doing well recently?"
"We have built a new house, and your brother and father have moved to the new house at the back. I still can't bear to leave this old stone platform. I dug some new bamboo shoots in the mountains a few days ago and brought them here to dry. When you come back next time, you can also bring some to the mountains to taste. You all loved to eat this when you were young."
Mother Song arranged the bamboo shoots and came to Song Qingming and said, "San'er, come home and see when you have time. Although immortals do not eat mortals, aren't the immortals in the mountains born from mortals down the mountain? How can the difference be so big?"
Song Qingming's original name when he was a child was Song San. He changed it to Song Qingming after he was taken to Funiu Mountain to practice. But now, except for his mother, no one calls him by this name.
The family stipulates that all cultivators are not allowed to return home at will before the age of 20, except for the specified few days of visiting relatives each year. Let these young people who have just come to the mountain gradually isolate themselves from the mortals below the mountain, get used to the boredom of practicing in the mountain as soon as possible, and not neglect their practice because of their greed for the warmth of the family in the secular world.
Song Qingming rarely returns home after entering the path of cultivating immortals. Now most of his childhood playmates no longer recognize him, and even the attitude of his family members towards him has changed a lot.
Every time he returns home, even if he eats at the same table, Song Qingming can feel that his father, sister and brother always keep a distance between him and immortals.
His father will no longer yell at him for sleeping in, and his second sister with a bad temper dares not call him "stinky boy" anymore. Even his younger brother, who always followed him to play when he was a child, now respects him more.
Song's father was originally an ordinary household in Mujiao Town. There had been no one with spiritual roots in his family for three generations. After living in the town for so many years, except for the early death of his eldest sister, his family had always been ordinary.
Later, Song Qingming was found to have spiritual roots, and the clan gave him a sum of gold and silver. His family's life gradually improved, and now he can be considered a wealthy family in Mujiao Town.
After the two chatted for a while, they returned to the newly built mansion. After the family of five had lunch together, Song Qingming left some silver for his family under his mother's reluctant eyes, and then left quietly.
Song Qingming is now away from home, and he doesn't miss it as much as before. Now only his mother is left in the family and still treats him as her own child, not an immortal.
——
Fifty miles east of Mujiao Town, there is a mountain hundreds of feet high. It was originally an unknown place. A hundred years ago, the Song family cultivated a small spiritual vein here and renamed it Lingyuan Mountain.
Lingyuan Mountain is not too far from Funiushan Mountain, and it is also the second spiritual vein occupied by the Song family in addition to the top-grade spiritual vein of Funiushan Mountain.
About a hundred years ago, when the senior monks of the Song family were hunting monsters here, they accidentally discovered a black iron vein here. After the second-generation clan leader knew about this, he led the monks in the clan to kill several mid-level monsters entrenched on the mountain and occupied the mountain, and moved some of the family mortals here to mine the black iron vein.
Black iron ore is also a common low-level ore in the world of immortal cultivation, which can be used to make some low-level magic tools. The black iron sword that Song Qingming has used for nearly ten years is made of this ore.
After nearly a hundred years of operation by the family, there are now hundreds of mortals living in Lingyuan Mountain. Every year, they can mine black iron ore worth about eighty spiritual stones for the family, which is also one of the important incomes of the family. Therefore, the family also attaches great importance to this place. Not only have they arranged two formations to guard it, but also two monks in the clan are stationed here all year round.
Go to Lingyuan Mountain to guard for three years. This is the family task that Song Qingming received in the Golden Pavilion yesterday.
According to the rules of the Song family, when the family cultivators reach the middle stage of Qi Refining, they need to complete some family tasks on time. Of course, these tasks are also rewarded accordingly.
After guarding Lingyuan Mountain for one year, the family will issue an additional ten points of merit. Although the spiritual vein of Lingyuan Mountain is not as good as it is, it is only a medium-grade spiritual vein, but it is enough to support two Qi Refining cultivators to practice. For Song Qingming, who is now in the middle stage of Qi Refining, his practice will not have much impact.
It does not affect his practice and can earn some spiritual stones. This task is also the most suitable family task for him at present. After taking this task, plus he usually draws some formations and formation diagrams, he can exchange for a medium-grade magic weapon in one year.
In the past, Song Qingming also went to Lingyuan Mountain to help transport black iron ore. When most of the cultivators in the family just broke through the middle stage of Qi Refining, they would be arranged to go here to guard for a few years. It can also be regarded as taking care of these cultivators who have just broken through the middle stage of Qi Refining. It is safer and will not delay the speed of practice too much.
The main task is to guard and supervise the family members here in mining ore. As long as they can hand over enough black iron ore to the family on time every year, it will be fine.