Chapter 13

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Yang Junshan, with a mulberry wood bow slung over his shoulder and a cold, gleaming short sword at his waist, hung two quivers of iron-feathered arrows on the back of a small pack horse. He was escorted by his father, Han Xiumei, his second brother, and his younger sister all the way to the outskirts of Tuqiu Village.

There, several other young people from the village, who had also been tested and found to have spirit apertures and needed to go to Baique Mountain to seek out immortal spirits, were gathered with their parents. When they saw Yang Tiangang arrive, they all greeted him warmly.

Yang Junshan's appearance clearly took everyone by surprise. Yang Tiangang was from the Yang family of Qingstone Town in Chenyu County, which was no secret in Tuqiu Village. In their eyes, the Yang family of Chenyu County was a prominent clan. Since Baique Mountain had already been plundered twice, the remaining immortal spirits should not be of much interest to them.

The villagers exchanged glances, wondering if the rumor from Chenyu County was true—that the Yang Tiangang family was indeed not favored by the clan, and that Yang Junshan, as a direct descendant, had not even been given a single piece of immortal spirit by the clan.

This thought flashed through their minds, but they still showed sufficient respect to Yang Tiangang, after all, his status was solidly established three years ago. Over the years, although Yang Tiangang was strong in Tuqiu Village, he was also fair in his dealings, and many people gradually came to respect him. This was also why the Yang family, as outsiders, could quickly establish themselves in Tuqiu Village.

The three young people who were going to Baique Mountain with Yang Junshan were roughly the same age as him. They were familiar with him. On the left was a slightly shorter but sturdy young man named Hao Zhuang, one of Zhang Huzi's followers. His gaze towards Yang Junshan was slightly fearful, clearly aware of the defeat of Zhang Huzi and his group by Yang Junshan and his brother the day before.

Another was a thirteen-year-old girl named Xu Jing, a member of the Xu family in Tuqiu Village. It was said that she had good potential, with three spirit apertures in her body, the same as Zhang Huzi, who had third-rate cultivation potential. However, one of Xu Jing's spirit apertures was reportedly behind her ear, which was quite rare.

The number of spirit apertures in the body determined a person's cultivation potential, but the location of the spirit apertures also determined the possibility of a cultivator being born with innate abilities. Spirit apertures located on the five senses had a very high chance of bestowing innate abilities.

Because of this, Xu Jing was quite proud in Tuqiu Village. Even Yang Tiangang, the son of the village chief, and Zhang Huzi, the son of a martial realm expert, were not in her eyes. Even Xu Lei, the son of the Xu family patriarch, had to give her some leeway.

There were even rumors that Xu Sanlang, the leader of the Xu family, had already arranged a marriage for her son with Xu Jing. Once they came of age, they would be married, the reason being Xu Jing's potential.

Xu Sanlang, although the only martial realm cultivator in the Xu family, had high prestige in the clan. However, her son-in-law was not a member of the Xu family, and Xu Lei, as her only son, was not very favored by the elders of the Xu family. Xu Sanlang wanted to pave the way for her son to control the Xu family in the future, and Xu Jing, being of Xu blood and having rare cultivation potential, was the perfect choice for her daughter-in-law.

Yang Junshan was naturally aware of this, and he also knew that Xu Jing's ambition was even higher than Xu Sanlang's expectations. Despite being engaged to Xu Lei, after this trip to Baique Mountain, she would attract the attention of the mountain guardians of the Hantian Sect. At that time, a small clan like the Xu family would no longer be in her eyes.

The third young man looked much older than Yang Junshan. Yang Junshan recognized him as Su Baozhang, who was three years older than him.

Originally, at his age, he would have missed the best period for summoning a spirit. However, Yang Junshan knew that Su Baozhang was poor and had clearly missed the opening of the Baique Mountain enclosure three years ago. This time, he had saved up an unknown amount of jade coins to obtain a qualification to go to Baique Mountain.

In fact, there were many similar cases. Although Su Baozhang had delayed for three years, he finally had this opportunity. Even for some people, this opportunity was extremely rare, and many, despite having cultivation potential, did not even have the chance to obtain immortal spirits. They could only accumulate spiritual energy in their bodies bit by bit with rudimentary cultivation techniques, and by the time they finally succeeded in summoning a spirit, much time had already been wasted.

The entire Tuqiu Village had about a thousand households, with a population of around five to six thousand. There were not only the four young people in front of them, but most of the other young people of the same age, after being tested, found it difficult to have cultivation potential. Even if they did, they could not afford the high jade coin fees to enter the immortal spirit enclosure.

Of course, for those like Zhang Huzi and Xu Lei, their families had already prepared immortal spirits for them, so they would not risk going to Baique Mountain. Originally, Yang Junshan did not need to go either, but in his previous life, he did not even consider the medium-grade immortal spirit yellow stone, so in this life, he naturally did not care.

In his previous life, Yang Junshan went to Baique Mountain with these four people, but after entering the mountain, they each went their separate ways. In the end, Yang Junshan returned in a sorry state, while the other three, except for Xu Jing who had some gains, Su Baozhang fared slightly worse than Yang Junshan, and Hao Zhuang even lost his life in the mountain.

Seeing that all the people from the village going to Baique Mountain were present, Yang Tiangang nodded and said, "Let's go, don't miss the time!"

In the Yu Prefecture, which included six counties and one prefectural city, each county had an enclosure where the Hantian Sect raised immortal spirits. These enclosures opened every three years, and each time they opened, the disciples of the Hantian Sect entered the enclosure for the first round of harvesting. The best immortal spirits that had been cultivated in the enclosure over the three years naturally fell into the hands of the Hantian Sect disciples.

After the Hantian Sect, the second wave of people to enter were the disciples of various large and small sects and noble families in the Yu Prefecture. After the remaining immortal spirits in the enclosure were plundered again, the third wave of people entered the enclosure. This third wave, in name, targeted young people under fifteen years old with cultivation potential in the county where the enclosure was located, and Yang Junshan and the others were the last group to enter the enclosure.

However, after two rounds of harvesting, the immortal spirits in the enclosure were already few. Even if some remained, they were mostly discarded by the first two waves, mostly low-grade immortal spirits. To obtain a medium-grade immortal spirit by chance could be considered a stroke of luck.

Even so, the competition for the third wave of entry into the enclosure was extremely fierce throughout the Yu Prefecture. Although the third wave of entry targeted young cultivators in the entire county, the Hantian Sect cultivators guarding the enclosure, citing the limited number of immortal spirits, privately limited the number of young cultivators entering the enclosure. Apart from the fixed quotas allocated to each town and village, the remaining entry quotas were exchanged for jade coins, with the highest bidder winning.

For example, Tuqiu Village originally had only three entry quotas. Apart from Yang Junshan, the other two went to Hao Zhuang and Xu Jing, representing the other two major forces in Tuqiu Village besides the village chief.

As for Su Baozhang's quota, it had to be exchanged for jade coins from the town. However, Yang Junshan knew that this quota was not something that could be obtained with jade coins, especially for a poor family like Su Baozhang's. It was because Yang Tiangang saw that Su Baozhang was already fifteen years old, and his family had saved up a sum of jade coins but had no way to obtain the quota, that he felt sorry for him and sought a way for him in the town, obtaining this quota for him.

In his previous life, Su Baozhang, out of gratitude, wanted to follow Yang Junshan to help him find immortal spirits on Baique Mountain, but was rejected by the ambitious Yang Junshan. In the end, Yang Junshan found a low-grade immortal spirit and was disappointed, while Su Baozhang, who also obtained a low-grade immortal spirit, was satisfied.

Tuqiu Village was about two hundred miles from Baique Mountain. If the pack horses ran at full speed, it would take only half an hour to reach. However, the entire village only had two pack horses, so the other three and their parents who accompanied them to Baique Mountain had to pay jade coins to hire a large pack horse cart in the town. This way, it would take at least two hours to reach Baique Mountain.

On the way, Yang Tiangang and his father slowed down to let the cart catch up, but the others in the cart were not so comfortable. Despite the high skill of the driver, after a two-hundred-mile bumpy ride, the people in the cart, even with some cultivation, would lose about a third of their energy. Fortunately, the enclosure of Baique Mountain opened in the afternoon, so they still had time to rest when they arrived.

On the way, they also encountered two or three groups of cultivators from other villages heading to Baique Mountain. Yang Tiangang was familiar with most of them, so they traveled together.

The Baique Mountain enclosure covered an area of thirty miles, centered around Baique Mountain. Inside, the mountains were undulating, the forests deep, and the valleys mysterious, with fierce beasts and poisonous creatures everywhere. It was usually surrounded by a great formation set up by the Hantian Sect. From the foot of the mountain, the entire mountain was shrouded in mist, and only when the formation was opened could one see the full view of the enclosure. Hantian Sect cultivators guarded the enclosure day and night, and it was only opened three times every three years for the three waves of cultivators to enter and exit.

Mengyu County had one city, five towns, and twenty-five villages, with an average of four to five young people aged twelve to fifteen in each village. Including the privately issued quotas, the third wave of young cultivators entering the enclosure totaled about two hundred.

These nearly two hundred young people gathered at the foot of Baique Mountain, along with the village chiefs and parents who accompanied them, making the total number of people almost four hundred. There were also some carts and livestock, making the foot of Baique Mountain unusually noisy.

Everyone got off the carts and horses and hurried to rest and regain their strength. Only Yang Junshan looked at the carved large bow hanging on the pack horse his father was riding.

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