Chapter 126: Stocktake
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Master... How do you want to deal with the Lin Family?"
Out of the cells, Zhou Wenwu bowed and asked.
"Whatever you wish to!"
Fang Yuan waved his hands and gave a vague reply to Zhou Wenwu. He did not care one bit about the Lin's Family future.
"Also... You don't need to worry about Qinghe County. The Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master has the intention to insert county soldiers there and send a governor there... I have the right to recommend the first governor!"
As he ended his sentence, he could see the desire in Zhou Wenwu's eyes, which died out after awhile.
After a while, he realised that Zhou Wenwu did not plead him to recommend him as the governor, and nodded his head. "You know your own limits, and that's good..."
"I know that I can only do so much. It took me a lot of effort to take care of Qingye City already, so I know cannot take up this challenging role..."
If he said that he had no desires for the role of governor, that would be lying. It was just untimely!
With Zhou Wenwu's self-confidence, if he was given 20 years to develop in Qingye City, he could naturally become the next governor.
"Mm... Qingye City is yours, and Yu Xinlou will be your assistant! Zhang Sheng will take care of the secluded valley..."
Fang Yuan planned for his subordinate's future. "Also... The spiritual farm in Spirit Returning Sect is ours now, so hurry and send some people to take it over from the city, and Huang Fu Renhe will be in charge of this!"
Without further ado, without eating the dinner which Zhou Wenwu painstakingly prepared, Fang Yuan called for the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and disappeared into the sky.
...
"Everything that happened on Earth is a miracle..."
High above the clouds, Fang Yuan looked down at the city and had a different feeling from before.
When he came to the city for the first time, never would he know that the entire city, together with the neighbouring mountains and rivers, would be his property.
He returned to the secluded valley and told the excited Huang Fu Renhe about the spiritual farm, and instructed Zhang Sheng to take care of the secluded valley. Without stopping, Fang Yuan brought the Flower Fox Ferret along and arrived at where they held Shi Yutong.
In the cave, a sleeping beauty was in deep sleep and appeared shrivelled and skinnier.
"Alright, enough of pretending, Sect Master Shi!"
Fang Yuan scoffed. "You think you can hide it from me?"
At that moment, the sleeping beauty opened her eyes and her face glowed.
Even though she was in such a state, she still had an elegant vibe.
"Master Fang still remembers me...."
Shi Yutong sighed, and in her voice a little hint of resentment.
"Why? Is the location not good enough? Or not enough staples?"
Fang Yuan jokingly enquired.
He used a secret dream master technique to seal up Shi Yutong's elemental force, and this seal was extremely hard to break open.
As of now, she was just a normal lady, and could no longer escape the trap she once placed here herself.
If she did not rely on the staples and water provided, she would have died of hunger!
"I am already a prisoner, why would I dare to be presumptuous? That would be asking for more!"
Shi Yutong sighed again. "There is no moonlight or sunlight in the cave, so I felt a little lonely, please don't hold it against me!"
"Why not just come straight to the point. You want to hear about what happened outside?"
Fang Yuan had a cheeky smile. "Firstly... I can tell you that half a month have already passed!"
"Half a month?!"
Shi Yutong nodded her head and forced a smile. "I'm afraid that Qinghe County is now in war? Lu Renjia's disciple is captured, and his alliance member trapped. He will surely do something about it, and you have joined the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master's alliance?"
"Lu Renjia is dead, and there is no more Spirit Returning Sect..."
Fang Yuan sighed softly and observed Shi Yutong's expression.
"Lu Renjia... Dead?"
Her eyes were wide and she was in disbelief. "How is that possible? Master Lu has the protection of Tiancan and Dique and even recruited the Blood Demon. Including our three counties, he should be at the winning end!"
"Liu Yan's alliance and I ambushed him and took his life while he was deploying his people all around!"
Fang Yuan did not hide. "Based on logic... I thought that you would be more concern about Spirit Returning Sect..."
"When the nest is flipped, how will there be any uncracked eggs?"
To Fang Yuan's question, Shi Yutong shook her head. "Since Lu Renjia died in your hands, then Bone Melting Sect Sect Master and Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master would be no better, and the addition of Spirit Returning Sect would not do much..."
Even though it was as such, she was still reflective. "I cannot face the grandmasters of Spirit Returning Sect after its destruction."
Her attitude shocked Fang Yuan.
He thought that she would grief over the destruction of her own Sect as a Sect Master.
He did not expect Shi Yutong to look defeated, but still able to hold her emotions.
"What is Master Fang's intention for me?"
Shi Yutong raised her head and looked at Fang Yuan.
"Since you are my enemy, our feud cannot be settled just by a smile. However, I will also not be unreasonable and kill you, because that would be undeserving to a Sect Master. I can only have you stay here for a while longer. After all, a living Wu Zong would have more value..."
Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and noticed the shuddering of Shi Yutong's delicate body.
Even though this was not the cruelest way possible, but to her, it was definitely not a good thing.
Especially looking at Fang Yuan's progress, if he reached the corresponding stage in his dream master cultivation, he could use her as practice. By then, she would have preferred a quick death.
"I will replenish your food and water. Of course, before that..."
Fang Yuan took a few steps forward and took out a few golden needles. "I will periodically come back to strengthen the seal on your body!"
"Master is indeed an amazing doctor. I can do absolutely nothing with this seal on me..."
Shi Yutong forced a smile and appeared helpless. She did not resist but asked. "Other than the Main Treasures Vault in my Sect, I have another secret storage, and only I know about it. Are you interested?"
"Nope!"
Fang Yuan replied decisively, which almost made Shi Yutong choke.
...
"This lady...is cunning! She is still trying to turn things around even in a dire situation!"
As he approached Green Peak spiritual land, Fang Yuan touched his chin and there was a sinister look in his eyes. "If not for the high value of a Wu Zong test subject, I would have killed her straight away, as that would be most appropriate..."
"Chirp! Chirp!"
The Iron-tailed Black Eagle chirped and entered the white fog, and the Green Peak appeared in front of Fang Yuan.
"Flower Fox Ferret... While I was outside, you were lazy huh... Did you listen to my instructions and feed them?"
Fang Yuan approached the peak of the cliff and saw that the Red-eyed White Bird's nest were all empty. There were a few small bird corpse, as though they were starved to death.
"Keke!"
The Flower Fox Ferret tried to explain. Its paws were pointing here and there, as though it was describing that there was not enough prey to hunt.
Fang Yuan could only shake his head in disappointment. He knew that asking a spiritual beast to be a nanny was a little too much, and it was only normal that this would happen.
He intentionally down to take a look at the Red-eyed White King bird.
Even though the king bird was skinny like a bag of bones, it still had a little breath left, and Fang Yuan smiled. "This spiritual bird has a strong will to live..."
Since the most important king bird was still alive, then a few baby bird's death would mean nothing.
Fang Yuan returned to his straw pavilion and started to account for his spiritual plants.
Firstly, it was the Vermilion fruit. It was still a tiny shoot and did not grow much, which made Fang Yuan speechless.
The Questioning Heart Tea was filled with leaves, and had a little emerald glow around the entire tree; it was brimming with life.
Of course, there was the extremely important Flame Jade Rice. All of them germinated and looked like tiny flames. They greedily sucked the ground of spiritual energy.
If not for the nutritious ground in Green Peak spiritual land, they might not even be able to grow here.
Up to this point, Fang Yuan was rather satisfied. The Flower Fox Ferret was not completely lazy, as it did take care of these spiritual plants.
"However... it seemed that none of it evolved any special traits, I was thinking too much..."
After one round around the farm, Fang Yuan looked at the condition of the Icy Fire Jialan and the other single trunked spiritual plants and did not find anything special, which made him a little disappointed.
"What about the Sickle Grass and the Serrated Flower?"
He had high expectations for these two plants and specially planted them separately from the others to give them enough space to hunt for food.
"Keke!"
After a few steps, the Flower Fox Ferret seemed afraid and tried to explain that there was something scary that happened there.
"Eh?"
Fang Yuan became excited and walked even faster.
The Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower could hunt for their own prey, but the farm was empty with an occasional corpse lying around. These were the unlucky ones who were attracted here and ultimately offered their flesh as a sacrifice to become the fertilizer for these two spiritual plants.
"Wow..."
Seeing how the surrounding plants were greener than before, with plenty of wild fruits, Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief. "When did these two spiritual plants have the ability to nourish the farm?"
With the numerous fruits around, wild animals would be attracted here, like how a bait attracts fishes. Furthermore, they fed the animals until there were big enough before capturing them, and Fang Yuan was shocked as to how these spiritual plants would know such a concept.
"Wait for me here..."
Seeing how the Flower Fox Ferret was afraid to take another step forward, Fang Yuan instructed it to stay put as he used his Lightness skill and arrived at the original farm.
"Hu..."
As he looked far, it was a sight to behold.
Half of the hill was covered with a specific plant. This plant had a thick stem and silver leaves, and in the middle, brightly coloured flowers were blooming and from the flower there was a strong fragrance. He could see a large amount of nectar from these flowers, which made him salivate.
"This is..."
Fang Yuan had enough magical energy to see the horror behind the beauty!
Beneath the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower, there was a large number of flesh and bones decomposing to become fertilizer for these plants!