ca-book #307 - My subordinates want me to make progress
#307 - My subordinates want me to make progress
In the forest being cleared, there was a patch of mist, a naturally formed spiritual energy array.
The array wouldn't actively attack, but it could easily trap people inside and release spiritual energy toxins.
Causing abnormalities in one's own spiritual energy.
Which is the so-called 'illness'.
If it's just a simple change, it's nothing much; a few days of rest would be enough.
However, if this 'illness' is not taken seriously and allowed to develop, it could lead to life-threatening dangers.
This place is similar to that.
However, dispelling the mist is not easy.
It requires many ordinary people and Qi Refining cultivators.
Using spells directly would affect the growth of the spirit trees.
There is also a certain procedure for how to dispel it.
Too fast or too slow is not suitable.
Reclamation is like letting the spirit trees adapt to a new environment.
Gu An simply looked around and found that there were many people here, not just inner disciples, but also some outer disciples.
They were all cultivators at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining.
As for the ordinary people, they were all hired from nearby.
They were given a large sum of money for their families, and whether or not they could return depended entirely on their fate.
Of course, for these people, the sect would give them a basic Qi Refining technique.
Being able to cultivate would be their opportunity.
At least before, they would spend money; now that they have become a demonic sect, it is unknown whether they will still spend money.
Looking at their energy and spirit, they didn't seem to have been suddenly captured.
Soon, Gu An met the person in charge here.
It was a middle-aged man with a perfect Nascent Soul stage.
He cultivated the sword and was from Sky Suspension Peak.
However, when he looked at Gu An, he didn't have any extra emotions.
He treated everyone equally, without any intention of taking care of someone from the same peak.
"There are sixteen directions for reclamation. You will lead people to supervise the third direction. Don't rush to dispel all the mist, focus on finding the core spirit tree," the person in charge said to Gu An.
"Yes," Gu An nodded respectfully.
Then, a token landed in his hand.
It was the team leader token for the third direction.
The person in charge looked at Gu An and said, "Work will begin tomorrow. Have the junior brothers outside take you to familiarize yourselves with the living quarters,
as well as the mission location. Remember that it's not easy to bring those people in, so try not to have any losses. There will be penalties if the progress is too slow.
The reclamation mission won't let you progress gradually; you must have at least ten zhang of progress each day.
and one spirit tree.
The people from Spirit Control Peak want to study how to better expose the trees completely, making them suitable for felling."
Gu An nodded.
Then, he retreated out.
Watching Gu An leave, the person in charge leaned back: "Why did the sect send this one here? Is this because they think my place isn't chaotic enough?"
As a disciple of Sky Suspension Peak, he naturally recognized this junior brother who had not been in Sky Suspension Peak for long.
In just a year or two, how many people had died because of him, and how many things had started because of him.
Regardless of whether he was truly reckless or falsely reckless, he had already been valued by some and was to be used as a knife.
He was in charge of a courtyard, despised by people, and even more so an unforgivable demon outside.
Not only that, he had come into contact with the Nirvana Dao Scripture, provoked people from various sects, and killed people from the Reincarnation lineage.
With such a person coming, his place would definitely not be stable.
Some people already felt that there was a big hand secretly driving the other party, disrupting the sect's interests.
Wanting to reshuffle the cards.
Finally, the person in charge sighed heavily: "I hope it's all just rumors."
After all, his place was for reclamation and there wasn't much profit to be made.
It shouldn't become one of those arenas for power struggles.
In addition, the other party's appearance, cultivation, and age all revealed strangeness.
A fifty-year-old late-stage Golden Core, this was undoubtedly a genius.
But how could a genius be so old at fifty-one?
"Is it a false report of age, or a late bloomer?"
As the person in charge here, he didn't care and wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for the other party.
He only hoped that everything would go smoothly.
But when has reclamation ever been smooth?
Sighing heavily, the person in charge stopped thinking about it.
After Gu An came out, he found a junior brother in the early stage of Golden Core to help lead the way.
"Senior brother, this way please."
Soon, the other party brought him to his residence.
It was just a simple house, one room per person.
"Reclamation will begin at dawn tomorrow. Some tools have already been given to senior brother.
Secondly, try not to have casualties among those with ordinary cultivation, otherwise it will greatly affect the progress.
In addition, there are rewards for being the first to find the core spirit tree.
Besides that, you can also encounter some spiritual herbs and demon beasts inside. Everything you get belongs to the team.
The market will open in the evening.
The forest is very large, so try not to fly with swords. It is unclear whether there are any dangers.
You also can't use spells to forcibly break open the mist."
The other party explained a lot.
Doing his best.
After Gu An and the others had no more questions, he left.
Here, you only need to complete the basic progress, and there are no other mandatory requirements.
If it is not completed, cultivation resources will be deducted, and the sect will be notified.
In addition, he also advised not to explore randomly, as it is easy to attract demon beasts.
After the other party left, Gu An asked the others to familiarize themselves with the surroundings.
He also strolled around nearby.
Although this place was a bit simple, it had basically everything it should have.
Talismans, pills, and magical treasures were all available for sale.
The same was true for food.
Some were people from the sect, and some didn't seem like it.
After inquiring, he learned that they were some rogue cultivators who knew about the reclamation here and came to try their luck to see if they could make a fortune here.
The sect didn't stop them either.
After just taking a stroll, Gu An felt that this mission might not go smoothly.
Many people here were hiding their cultivation.
The rogue cultivators were like that, and so were the sect disciples.
He didn't know what they were all here for.
He hoped it wasn't for him.
As for the Reincarnation lineage, he had simply looked for them, but hadn't encountered them.
He didn't know if it was because his strength was insufficient, or if they really hadn't come.
At night, there was a knock on the door.
Gu An opened the door, and it was a fairy wearing white clothes and a simple bun.
She had a late-stage Golden Core cultivation.
"Third team leader?" the other party asked.
"Gu An, may I ask who senior sister is?" Gu An asked.
Although they had the same cultivation, he still called her senior sister.
Lest the other party be dissatisfied, after all, normal late-stage Golden Cores should all be older than him.
"I am the second team leader, Ruo Yan. We are close to each other. I hope senior brother can take care of me then." As she said that, she handed over a bottle of spiritual medicine.
Watching the other party leave, Gu An checked the spiritual medicine.
He found that it was for improving Golden Core cultivation.
"Giving pills to curry favor?" Gu An was slightly surprised.
It was really rare.
Even the Foundation Establishment cultivators in his team disliked him.
This Golden Core actually wanted to befriend him.
Remembering the other party's name, Gu An returned to the house to read.
He was still reading Drawing the Ground as a Prison. He still needed to consolidate his foundation since he had just entered.
This place was not small, but if they fought, they would definitely be discovered.
With Drawing the Ground as a Prison, it should be safer.
And not easily noticed.
After midnight.
Gu An received feedback from the Ring of Fate.
【Yesterday morning, Lu Yan saw you and thought her luck was good. In her opinion, you are just someone who was pushed up to attract everyone's attention. Someone behind you has planned everything for you, and you don't even know when you became a chess piece.
Now, working under you will make things easier for her. This time, she came to reclaim mainly to find the core spirit tree, seize the fruit on it, and obtain the highest merit.
So, as long as you wholeheartedly work for the Core Spirit Tree, she will fully cooperate. However, she wants to obtain the fruit first. If you don't do your job properly, she doesn't mind letting you experience the cruelty of the men in black.
Also, she's here to kill a person named Ge Jing and is thinking about how to get rid of your sight at a crucial moment.
1
Looking at the feedback, Gu An was slightly surprised that the first feedback was from this person.
It seems that after wandering around, he didn't encounter any mortal enemies.
Furthermore, the other party's goal for the fruit doesn't conflict with his own.
The fruit is good, but it's not very meaningful to him.
What he wants is to cut down the Core Spirit Tree.
It's just a bit difficult.
However, the nearby trees can also be cut down.
Perhaps, there might be some gains.
At dawn.
Gu An heard the bell.
It was time to gather.
In front of the forest, Gu An led his men to the team in the third direction.
There were thirty ordinary people and twenty Qi Refinement cultivators.
Including the four of them, that made up a team.
Quite a few people.
The person in charge said a few words above, and then the reclamation officially began.
Gu An led his men to the third direction. Each direction would have a door to determine the location.
Ahead was a dense fog.
The fog was like a mountain, as if it were one, unable to be moved or dispersed at will.
What needed to be done was actually very simple: use talismans to break open the fog, then use techniques to guide the spiritual energy away from the broken fog, then place spirit wood to fix the two sides of the fog to prevent it from healing, and then stick a talisman on the spirit wood to help the spirit wood isolate the spiritual energy while the spirit wood absorbs the spiritual energy.
At that time, the spirit wood would be recycled for alchemy or other purposes.
Gu An looked at their steps and felt something was slightly strange.
It was like digging a hole in the mountain.
But the speed was faster.
But it was also quite cumbersome.
In addition to placing spirit wood, they also had to turn the soil.
Occasionally, they would encounter spirit trees that needed to be cut down.
The morning went smoothly.
The current progress was already five zhang.
Two zhang wide.
It couldn't be too wide or too narrow.
Too wide would affect the progress, and too narrow would affect entry and exit.
Fortunately, the trees weren't thick, so it didn't affect anything.
Cutting down a tree was simple.
Of course, it was better for him to do this himself.
Seeing Gu An take out an axe to cut down the tree, Lu Yan and the others were stunned.
"Team leader, what are you doing?" The amiable man asked Xiang Leiling.
"Chopping wood," Gu An replied simply, and then began to chop wood.
Although the spiritual energy of the wood here didn't seem like much, the traces of time should be quite rich.
They originally thought Gu An was joking, but they didn't expect him to actually start chopping wood.
This wood was quite hard.
And there was also a strange feedback, that is, a feeling of hammering the body.
Fortunately, his physique was good and he could fully bear it.
After a long time, a tree fell to the ground.
Although there was no warm current, there were a lot of gains.
Thus, Gu An continued to move forward and began to chop wood.
The distribution of spirit trees was quite dense, with one or two trees within a one-zhang range.
Half a day passed and it was five zhang.
Cutting down four or five trees a day.
Then Gu An really chopped wood for a day.
The progress of the mist also reached eleven zhang.
It was considered completing the task.
When the last tree fell, Gu An felt a change in his body, and a warm current appeared.
Technique +1.
This made Gu An quite excited.
Once a day?
This was still the periphery. If it was in the depths, wouldn't there be a chance to come out twice a day?
Even if it was really once a day, wouldn't there be a chance to improve his technique twice in three months?
Now that the technique was almost there, it would be possible to improve it in a few days.
When the team returned, Gu An found that Yao Caixuan and Xiang Leiling had slight smiles, saying that the team leader was really suitable for logging and that others could not cut it down, all thanks to the team leader.
Seemingly praising, in fact, hinting that Gu An was like a rustic woodcutter.
Gu An didn't care about this.
It was enough to complete the task and be able to chop wood, there was no need to create extra trouble.
As for Lu Yan, the other party was quite dissatisfied with him, especially after learning that others had already made thirteen zhang of progress.
However, she didn't say anything, but waited until tomorrow to talk about it.
Returning to his residence, Gu An waited for midnight to arrive.
As soon as midnight arrived, Gu An once again received feedback from the Ring of Destiny.
[Yesterday, Lai Chang, an undercover agent in Qi Refining, discovered you. He already knew that you would definitely come, so he accepted the order from Linghua Valley and decided to capture you alive.
Although he didn't know why, he had already thought about how to catch you.
He wanted to exchange teams with someone and come to your side. One Qi Refining cultivator changing teams wouldn't attract attention.
When he got to the depths, he would find an opportunity to release a demon beast to disperse the team.
He would severely injure you as soon as possible and take you away.
In addition, hearing that you know the Nirvana Dao Scripture, he decided to torture you to find out, perhaps there is an opportunity that belongs to him.]
"It appeared."
After reading the feedback, Gu An breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, there were other sect's undercover agents.
And people who were going to be detrimental to him.
However, why did Linghua Valley want to capture him alive?
For the Dao Scripture?
It didn't seem like it.
It seemed that Linghua Valley was hiding other secrets.
Gu An recalled it, it might be related to the demon that was captured at that time.
In this case, Linghua Valley had to be especially careful.
The next day.
The gathering began as soon as it dawned.
This gathering was a roll call.
After confirming that everyone had arrived, they began to work.
This time, just as Gu An was about to start chopping wood, Lu Yan said: "Team leader, your task is to command and make the team progress faster. Chopping wood is not suitable for you."
Hearing this, Gu An looked at the person in front of him and said: "Junior Sister Lu, what do you think should be done to make better progress?"
"Chopping wood, turning the soil, the interference of spirit wood is cumbersome, but it cannot be changed, you can start with guiding the Qi," Lu Yan said seriously.
Gu An interrupted the other party's words: "I think Junior Sister has a lot of attainments in this area. Now Junior Sister will go to the Qi guiding position to command, and the other two Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters will watch over the surrounding people to prevent accidents from happening."
Before they could say anything, Gu An asked them to get busy.
It was good to let her come, so that the progress would be faster, and she could also better snatch things.
Gu An didn't care about this.
He didn't need the things these people wanted.
It's just that before chopping wood, he looked at the busy people around him.
Finally, he found a man who looked to be at the fourth level of Qi Refining, about thirty years old. It was hard to say the exact age, but his cultivation was truly remarkable, his Primordial Spirit was perfect.
He was only one step away from returning to the Void.
For a time, Gu An felt a little dangerous.
To deal with a Golden Core, they had to send out a Primordial Spirit Perfection?
What if someone from another place came in the middle of returning to the Void to snatch the Nirvana Dao Scripture?
For a time, Gu An felt that he had to chop wood as soon as possible.
Enter the depths as soon as possible, and then cut more ancient and more spiritual wood.
Perhaps there was a chance to advance his cultivation within three months.