Chapter 4

Ming Yongnian spoke to the old man, "Old man, is there a place we could take shelter from the rain?"

He had heard the villagers' plight and decided that he might as well make it rain. He had turned the sky into grey, one step away from a downpour. But before he could make it rain, he needed to find shelter. He refused to wake his sleeping child.

The old man invited them to his house. The building itself looked like it was about to topple at any given moment, the beam supporting the house was rotten, eaten away by termites. The floor and walls were made out of soil. As there was no wood to cover the floors. Even the walls were made of dry mud.

Lan Jianhong observed the house intensely. He had used soil to build houses once, but rarely does he need to. This was a great opportunity for him to try it once more.

Not wanting to hurt the old man's feelings, Luo Huifang poked the man in blue. Snapping Lan Jianhong out of his thoughts

The cultivators stood inside the house like fishes displayed on the market.

Seeing this the old man who was already embarrassed with his own house, further embarrassed. Wu Jinjing convinced the old man that this was alright and sat down with the old man. Sighing in relief the old man sat down on the dirt floor, his poor back finally had the rest they needed.

Li Jiayi had a single glance through the whole village, it was close to the sea. But he was not seeing any fishing equipment, only farming equipment. "Old man, this village is close to the sea, but none of you seemed to fish."

The old man shook his head in a defeated manner. "It's impossible to fish when there's no fish left to fish. The waves are too high and dangerous for us to even sail. Forget it, for us mortals sailing in these waters meant sure death."

Hearing the old man's sad woes they could only sigh at these people's fate. Ming Yongnian was the last to enter the house, with a gentle sweep of his hand rain started falling down.

When it rains normally people would hide away in their homes, the villagers here came out of their house and carried buckets with them, raising it up to the sky catching water droplets. Some villagers were evidently emotional, their nose redden, the corners of their eyes moist.

"Thank you Immortal for sending us rain." The old man was about to stand up and thank Ming Yongnian properly.

But Ming Yongnian made the old man stay seated where he was and said it was nothing. He only made the sky cloudy so that it wouldn't be too bright for his child.

At the corner of the tiny house Li Jiayi conjured up books out of nowhere and placed them on the ground. There weren't exactly any tables that he could use in this house. He had placed all of the books in his possession under a preserving spell that would protect the book from being burnt, wet, or damaged in any way. Placing it on the ground should do no damage.

Wu Jinjing discreetly put up a privacy array around them, preventing their conversations from being heard by the old man.

Lan Jianhong approached a stack of books. He began opening them one by one. Each time he only skimmed through the pages. "These are all books on water and plants?"

"As you have heard, rain only falls once a month in this realm, which means there's a shortage of freshwater. If we want this whole realm to thrive with spiritual energy, without the need of sacrificial and spilling blood. We'll need life to thrive. Spiritual energy is tied closely to the existence of life. With no life there would be no spiritual energy. Without spiritual energy there would be no life. Plant life is the easiest to nurture and the most viable option. The first step in growing plants is a steady water source." Li Jiayi pulled out another stack of books.

"Water huh…" Jin Liwei started picking up books about water, and flipped through the pages.

Looking at the stack of books Luo Huifang groaned. "This will take ages." She commented. "Thankfully I'm here for something." The woman gathered her spiritual energy.

When Luo Huifang was about to summon one of the ghosts under her command, Ming Yongnian quietly told her, "Don't summon your ghosts here physically, we don't want to give the old man a heart attack."

"Eldest brother, you remembered those mortal details?" Luo Huifang peered at Ming Yongnian's emotionless face, and chuckled. "Alright I'll do as you say."

She should have known that Ming Yongnian still knew of those mortals' troubles, or perhaps a little someone had reminded him of what it meant to be a mortal. Her eyes landed on the bundle the immortal was carrying, her guess was that this child's existence was one of the reasons that drove Ming Yongnian to agree with Lan Jianhong's crazy idea of building a sect in the Barren realm.

Then again when this child quite literally blossomed into Ming Yongnian's life, everyone in this world had a premonition.

***

Inside of a white cave, a cultivator freshly ascended into immortality sat in the lotus position. This immortal was none other than Ming Yongnian. The man stared at the small pond in front of him with uncontested focus.

Floating in the pond was a bud of lotus flower. Unlike regular buds this one was far larger, larger than a five years old body. All the bud did was float in the still waters.

Time trickled by, no movements came from the bud. Ming Yongnian would close his eyes. Absorbing the abundant spiritual energy within the cave. Circulating it throughout his wounded meridians and body.

Several months ago, he and the Devil Venerable had fought against one another, to obtain an auspicious item that might help them break through and ascend into immortality. Neither one of them gained anything but wounds that day.