As Qian Chen chatted casually with Cui Dan about the state of affairs in the cultivation world of the Central Lands, he learned that Cui Dan had traveled all this way to take up an appointment in Jiuzhen as a county magistrate. For a scion of an aristocratic clan like him, serving in officialdom came with a host of aides and retainers to manage administrative affairs. His primary responsibility was actually to socialize with the prominent clans of Jiuzhen Commandery.
Jiuzhen bordered Nan Commandery in Jing Province, and Cui Dan's mother, Lady Wu, was related to the prominent Lu clan of Jing Province.
With that connection, Cui Dan would have substantial support during his tenure in Jiuzhen. Moreover, aristocratic clans always held vast resources in their hands.
Their philosophical salons, tea parties, floral gatherings, social outings, literary assemblies, and discussions of scripture and the Dao were all essentially avenues for exchanging resources. The local renowned mountains, great rivers, blessed lands, and medicinal herb fields were all under the control of these clans. Beyond supplying what their own lineages required for cultivation each year, they would distribute portions to local Daoist abbeys, district officials, and scions from clans in other regions who traveled for study.
Such resource exchanges often carried an element of testing and appraisal.
This was an unspoken consensus among the aristocratic clans. Deep rifts separated them from cold-door clans, prominent local gentry, and ordinary mortals, and the aristocratic clans shared an understanding to suppress non-aristocratic powers. Among themselves, however, they were relatively open-minded. When an exceptional talent emerged from an aristocratic clan, the prominent families would collectively endorse and promote them.
When such a figure traveled the world and entered the domain of other clans, they would inevitably face tests and trials, intentional or subtle. If they were bested, the local clan's outstanding youth would step over them, using them as a stepping stone to rise in prominence. But if they withstood the trials, they would reap immense benefits.
Being granted access to the local clans' resources was just one example.
Thus, as aristocratic scions traveled for study, meeting all kinds of people and winning over the brightest youth of other clans along the way, the most brilliant among them would make their mark, drawing upon the resources of clans everywhere, building networks of connections, and rising to become the future pillars of aristocratic power.
Only in this way could the prominent clans continually preserve their vitality, preventing their younger generation from succumbing to rot and decay through a lack of competition.
Jiuzhen lay in the southern barbarian lands, so the scions' social gatherings were steeped in martial vigor. They would venture deep into untamed wilderness and forests to hunt beasts and barbarians, explore local blessed lands and secret realms, and even indulge in all manner of games tinged with gambling. During their so-called spring outings, summer pastimes, autumn hunts, and winter expeditions, they would not only pit their cultivation attainment, spells, insight, and learning against one another, but also bring along warriors and guards to hunt demonic beasts. Even their retainers and house guests engaged in quiet competition.
It was an all-encompassing contest, one that occasionally involved interaction with outstanding disciples from local sects as well.
Naturally, those sect disciples were themselves scions of cultivation clans within the sects.
Traveling to take up an official post, Cui Dan would face all sorts of trials from the local clans. Had he been in Shandong or Longxi, the local families would still have shown some deference to the Cui clan of Qinghe, and the so-called tests would largely have been a formality. But in a remote border region like Jiuzhen, the local clans naturally harbored ambitions of knocking a Cui from Qinghe down a peg.
The competition Cui Dan faced would come from truly outstanding aristocratic scions.
Yet Cui Dan was well aware that he was hardly an exceptional clan scion. Instead, he was the sort of frivolous dandy seen all over the imperial capital, racing roosters, fighting dogs, and causing trouble wherever he went. If he wanted to avoid humiliation, he needed people to back him, or an eminent elder to guide him. Consequently, his words subtly hinted at an invitation for Qian Chen to accompany him to Jiuzhen for a sojourn, where he could play the host.
The old servant, quick on the uptake, chimed in at just the right moment. "Sir, since you are searching for Earth Baleful Yin Veins to refine pills, you likely have no fixed destination anyway. Why not accompany us to Jiuzhen? Not only are there lineages of the Daoist orthodoxy in Jiuzhen, but there is also the Jiuzhen Great Marsh. Spanning millions of mu, its waters are treacherous and shrouded in mist, hiding countless rare treasures, strange beasts, barbarians, and fiendish demons. Its wealth of resources makes it a truly wondrous realm.
"Among its many spiritual mountains and grand rivers, never mind a single Earth Baleful Yin Vein—one could find thousands.
"Before long, it will be the Dragon Boat Rite of the southern barbarians in Jiuzhen. When the time comes, the southern clans and prominent gentry will pilot dragon boats through the rivers and the great marsh, hunting malevolent draconic beasts. At high noon on the fifth day of the fifth month, the yang qi of Heaven and Earth is at its peak, and yin vermin and toxic creatures grow restless. Draconic yin beasts such as snakes, insects, turtles, frogs, flood dragons, and fish are suppressed by the scorching yang qi, leaving them muddled and frantic."
Cui Dan smiled and added, "When that day comes, the major clans and sects of Jiuzhen will surely take dragon boats into the Jiuzhen Great Marsh to hunt malevolent flood dragons and draconic serpents. That will be the ideal time to search for Earth Baleful Yin Veins. Besides, the Jiuzhen clans explore the marsh every year during the Dragon Boat Festival; to say they don't hold plenty of information on baleful qi would not fool even a barbarian.
"Going there would surely give you far clearer leads than wandering aimlessly across the world, would it not, Sir?"
Qian Chen pondered silently. *Aside from those born of earth qi, most Earth Baleful Yin Veins are formed when rare beasts, great demons, or mighty gods and devils die, their remains nourished by earth qi until baleful qi naturally condenses. In a vast marsh like that, where dragons and serpents are innumerable, the bones of countless great demons and flood dragons must have settled over the ages. Once such demonic corpses sink into the waters and receive the nourishment of the earth veins, they can easily give rise to baleful qi.*
*Even if most are of mediocre quality, my chances are still far better than searching blindly.*
*What's more, my host body was born into wealth and nobility and is entangled in the missions of the Reincarnation Lands. He was likely a member of an aristocratic clan. If I ask around among the clans, I might uncover this body's origins. Miaokong destroyed its original spirit sense. While I don't care much about that, having taken this body, I ultimately have to settle this karmic debt.*
*I must first uncover his origins before deciding how best to repay this Karma.*
*I certainly have no patience for playing someone's son. Even the Taishang Dao Ancestor might have to call me an Old Grandpa Golden Finger! I stand on equal footing with Taishang himself—who would ever catch me calling a stranger 'Father' or 'Mother'? The only parents I acknowledge are back on Earth. In this world, no one is worthy of that!*
Having had nowhere in particular to go, Qian Chen had temporarily settled in Wukang.
Now that he had refined the weak Earth Baleful Yin Vein beneath this desolate manor into a primordial dan, he was free. Since he had crossed paths with Cui Dan and received an invitation, making a trip to Jiuzhen sounded fine. After all, he possessed no roots or background in the Central Lands and had virtually no ties to its cultivation world; gathering information and finding lodgings were both inconvenient.
Although Cui Dan was also an outsider there, he had established origins and far better access to news across the Great Jin than Qian Chen did.
If Qian Chen wished to refine a superior-grade primordial dan capable of withstanding Miaokong, he would need Cui Dan's assistance.
Having made up his mind, Qian Chen smiled and said, "Since Jiuzhen Commandery may indeed harbor the earth baleful qi I need for pill refining, I will certainly pay it a visit. In any case, a poor Daoist like me makes the four seas his home and carries nothing of great value, so traveling light suits me well. But I travel alone and swiftly; I have no patience for waiting on others.
"How about this: I shall scout out the Jiuzhen Great Marsh first. Once you arrive at your post, Cui Dan, burn this talisman to call me.
"The moment I know where you are, I will come knocking!"
With that, Qian Chen inscribed two talismans and handed them over, smiling. "For gathering information on Earth Baleful Yin Veins on my behalf, I have a reward for you as well." He picked out three spirit pills and continued, "These are the Jade Spirit Pill, Scarlet Yang Pill, and Longevity-Extending Pill. They can consolidate the crucible of the body's apertures, bolster cultivation, purge foul and turbid yin qi, slough off old casings, and prolong lifespan. I give you one of each."
He then selected two more pills from those Miaokong had left behind.
"These are Strongman Pills, used by the Daoist orthodoxy to train muscle-bound laborers. They bolster physical strength and temper bones and sinews of steel, mostly employed by Daoist seniors to maintain Dao soldiers, though of no benefit to personal cultivation. Dissolved in water, these two pills can nurture roughly thirty strongmen, each possessing the strength of a thousand jin and capable of fighting wolves and tigers with their bare hands. Take them to train your subordinates."
Cui Dan hurriedly thanked Qian Chen. Qian Chen asked him for a map, then gave a final instruction: "Lingzhi will soon sprout throughout this manor, making it suitable as a cultivation room for them. You can hand it over to the local Daoist abbey and have those priests locate the original owner to offer some compensation. That way, my stay of several dozen days will not have been in vain.
"You have a large entourage, and your carriages will travel too slowly, so I shall take my leave ahead of you!"
Accepting the spirit grain the old servant hurried to deliver, Qian Chen cupped his hands in farewell to both of them. With a flick of his sleeve, he mounted a cloud, vanishing into the distance in an instant—heading toward the Jiuzhen Great Marsh.
Chapter 47