Chapter 48

At the foot of West Mountain, almost all of the more than six thousand villagers of Earth Mound Village who could come today had gathered, turning the small flat area into a sea of people. In the middle of this human wall, a group of people could be clearly seen to be roughly divided into three groups, and at this moment, these three groups seemed to be facing off against each other.

In the center of this flat area, the group with the fewest people was actually occupying the best position. Strangely, the other two groups did not question the status of this group, as if their standing there was a matter of course.

The leader of this group was Yang Tiangang, the undisputed first expert of Earth Mound Village, a peak cultivator at the second level of the Mortal Realm, and also the village chief and the overseer of the village's spirit fields.

Standing slightly behind Yang Tiangang was a person who was extremely unfamiliar to the villagers of Earth Mound Village. However, the surging aura marking him as a cultivator at the Martial Realm made the villagers present quite surprised.

Behind this person stood two peak Mortal Realm cultivators, who were very familiar to the villagers of Earth Mound Village. They were Yang Qingniu and Yang Tieniu, the left and right arms of Village Chief Yang. Behind them were about a dozen spirit farmers from Earth Mound Village, including Su Baozhang.

On the left side of Yang Tiangang and his group was a group of two or three dozen people led by a woman in her thirties. This woman was the spokesperson of the Xu family, the largest clan in Earth Mound Village, and also the only Martial Realm cultivator of the Xu family, Xu Sanlang.

However, not far from the Xu family's side stood another cultivator on par with Xu Sanlang. The surging aura around this person was even stronger than Yang Tiangang's, clearly indicating that he was a peak cultivator at the third level of the Martial Realm, capable of transforming煞气 (sha qi).

However, although this person appeared to be with the Xu family, the distance he maintained from Xu Sanlang suggested that he wanted to maintain a superior position.

Behind the two of them were two or three dozen members of the Xu family, all of whom were spirit farmers with cultivation. Among them stood Xu Lei and Xu Jing, a young couple who had just become engaged. Both had reached the peak of the Mortal Realm, but the aura around Xu Jing was clearly stronger than that of Xu Lei, who kept his head down, seemingly lost in thought.

On the right side of Yang Tiangang was the largest group of the three, led by Zhang Tiesmith. However, what made Yang Tiangang wary was that Zhang Tiesmith had quietly advanced to the second level of the Martial Realm. Although his aura was unstable, indicating that he had just advanced, he was no match for Yang Tiangang, but the fact that Earth Mound Village now had another second-level Martial Realm cultivator had changed the balance of power.

Despite the large number of people in Zhang Tiesmith's group, they were clearly not as united as Yang Tiangang and the Xu family. The forty or fifty people gathered together were constantly whispering, the buzzing sound like a swarm of large flies, which was quite annoying.

Zhang Tiesmith represented the majority of the miscellaneous surnames in Earth Mound Village. Originally, they all followed Zhang Tiesmith, mainly to oppose the largest clan, the Xu family. However, after Yang Tiangang arrived in Earth Mound Village, he used various means, both soft and hard, and was himself a second-level Martial Realm cultivator. The success of the spirit field cultivation made many people in Earth Mound Village turn to the village chief's side, and many others, although still standing with Zhang Tiesmith, had already intended to defect, merely waiting for the right moment.

Zhang Tiesmith was well aware of the thoughts of these people. In the past, because Yang Tiangang was new to Earth Mound Village and his roots were not deep, Zhang Tiesmith could still rally the people to his side. However, with Yang Tiangang's series of actions, the overall situation of Earth Mound Village was completely under his control. Now, Zhang Tiesmith could only maintain his influence through past favors.

Originally, he planned to use the distant relative Zhang Chenghong to enhance his prestige in Earth Mound Village. Not only did Zhang Chenghong have a son who was a disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect, but he himself was also a skilled alchemist, capable of exerting influence in Earth Mound Village.

However, this person turned out to be more of a liability than an asset. His numerous misdeeds, such as fraud and deception, quickly spread throughout the village. If it weren't for his talented son from the Heaven-Shaking Sect, he would have been driven out of the village. Zhang Tiesmith, who had been focusing on advancing his cultivation, was caught off guard by this person's obsession with jade coins.

Fortunately, his cultivation had successfully advanced to the second level, giving him the qualifications to challenge Yang Tiangang and quelling the restless thoughts of some of his followers, temporarily maintaining their loyalty.

...

If an untrained person is like an uncultivated wasteland, then the first step is to develop water conservancy. In this sense, the first level of the Mortal Realm, which involves guiding spirit energy, is like digging irrigation channels in the wasteland. The second level, which involves summoning spirit energy, is like digging a reservoir in the wasteland. The third level, which involves opening the spirit orifices, is like filling the reservoir with water, allowing the wasteland to be irrigated at any time.

Whether it is the first level of the Mortal Realm, which involves guiding spirit energy, or the second level, which involves summoning spirit energy, although the meridians in the body are unblocked and expanded, and the spirit energy circulating in the body increases, this spirit energy is still like water without a source or a tree without roots. Apart from nourishing the body, any other use can quickly deplete the spirit energy stored in the meridians.

Therefore, cultivators at the first two levels of the Mortal Realm cannot use spells or control magical artifacts. They can only attach a small amount of spirit energy to weapons for combat, or use some spells, talismans, and other means that require only a small amount of spirit energy to activate.

However, when a cultivator opens the spirit orifices and advances to the third level of the Mortal Realm, everything changes. With the spirit orifices, cultivators can store excess spirit energy, avoiding the awkward situation of depleting their spirit energy with just a little use.

Of course, having spirit orifices like a reservoir does not mean that cultivators can cast spells out of thin air. The spirit energy stored in the spirit orifices is still limited, and even if Yang Junshan's spirit orifices are much larger than those of ordinary people, storing more spirit energy, it still cannot support the consumption of casting spells out of thin air.

The reason is that although cultivators have expanded their spirit orifices and stored spirit energy, this spirit energy still lacks a source. They still need to continuously absorb spirit energy from the outside and convert it.

In fact, cultivators can only truly cast spells when they reach the peak of the Mortal Realm and can cast divine spells. This requires cultivators to transform their opened spirit orifices into divine spirit roots, a process that is the fourth level of the Mortal Realm, the Foundation of the Divine Spirit.

Although third-level cultivators cannot cast spells out of thin air, they can use other means to cast spells, the most common of which is using talismans and magical artifacts.

Unlike first and second-level cultivators, who can only activate the spells sealed in talismans and magical artifacts, third-level cultivators with opened spirit orifices can use the spirit energy stored in their bodies to draw talismans and engrave magical artifacts. Although they cannot do it in one breath, they can prepare in advance, release them as needed, and control them freely, which is much stronger than first and second-level cultivators.

More importantly, third-level cultivators who have opened their spirit orifices already have the ability to control magical artifacts. Although many cultivators at this stage cannot skillfully manipulate magical artifacts, this does not apply to Yang Junshan. He not only has rich experience in controlling magical artifacts from his previous life but also has a much stronger and more resilient perception than ordinary people. More importantly, his spirit orifices have a vast space that can store much more spirit energy than others.

Of course, obtaining a magical artifact is not an easy task. Just look at Yang Tiangang, who, despite being a second-level Martial Realm cultivator, only has a high-grade magical artifact, a tobacco pipe. It is known that there are only four magical artifacts in the entire Earth Mound Village. In addition to Yang Tiangang's top-ranked high-grade magical artifact, Zhang Tiesmith's iron hammer is a medium-grade magical artifact, said to have been passed down from his master. Five years ago, Zhang Tiesmith used this hammer to forge the only magical artifact to date, but he eventually sold it to buy a medium-grade yellow jade fruit tree and a medium-grade divine spirit for Zhang Huzi.

The other two magical artifacts are in the hands of the Xu family. In addition to the medium-grade magical artifact, the decapitating sickle, held by the clan leader Xu Sanlang, there is another low-grade magical artifact that no one has ever seen.

Although Yang Junshan now has a piece of low-grade spirit material, Tian Huang Ni, it is not easy to refine it into a magical artifact. Moreover, with his current cultivation, even if he had a magical artifact, it would be like a three-year-old child carrying a gold ingot in a bustling market, simply inviting trouble.

After stabilizing his cultivation, Yang Junshan eagerly left the underground cave. Still immersed in the excitement of his breakthrough, he saw a large crowd of Earth Mound Village villagers gathered near the spirit fields at the foot of West Mountain, and the three groups facing off in the center.

Yang Junshan's heart skipped a beat, wondering what was going on. The spirit fields were not supposed to mature for another half a month, so why were they facing off now?

Hastily descending the mountain, Hu Nü seemed to sense Yang Junshan's aura from a distance and ran towards him, followed by Yang Junping, Yang Junxin, Yang Junhao, and other children shouting.

Before Yang Junshan could ask, Yang Junping loudly inquired, "Brother, where have you been for the past seven or eight days? We looked for you everywhere but couldn't find you, and Hu Nü wouldn't even talk to us!"

"Seven or eight days?" Yang Junshan was stunned. Had he been in the underground cave for seven or eight days? How could that be possible? A small cultivator at the second level of the Mortal Realm couldn't withstand the impact of spirit energy on the body for seven or eight days.

But then he thought, from refining the supreme divine spirit to reaching the peak of summoning spirit energy and opening the spirit orifices, he had only taken seven or eight days. Who would believe that?

"What happened? Why are so many people gathered here? The spirit fields aren't supposed to mature yet, right?"

"Brother, the spirit fields have matured. A few days ago, there was an earthquake, and the spirit fields at the foot of West Mountain not only matured early but also expanded by a full acre. More importantly, seven medium-grade spirit fields have appeared!"

---

There will be another chapter at midnight to boost the rankings. Please follow and click to support!