章 18: Chapter 18: Starting the Work

Lin Xiao said to the three of them, "Hey, Baldy, if you know anyone in the village or nearby villages who has a good character, feel free to talk to them and see if they're interested in joining us. But let me make this clear first: don't easily reveal that we can actually cultivate. If the wrong people find out, it could lead to trouble."

Qin Jianghe listened intently, while Tie Tou scratched his head in confusion. Liu Yunan, with a wave of his hand, confidently said, "Don't worry, Lin Xiao. We'll make sure outsiders think we're just playing around. We won't let anyone know we have the ability to cultivate. Is that what you mean?"

Lin Xiao nodded. "Exactly. In the eyes of others, we're just kids. Until we've truly made progress in our cultivation, we should keep a low profile."

Seeing Tie Tou's puzzled expression, Lin Xiao asked, "Tie Tou, is there something you don't understand?"

Tie Tou responded, "I get what you're saying, Lin Xiao. But I didn't catch what you meant by 'that whatever, what's that supposed to mean?'"

Before Lin Xiao could explain, Liu Yunan smacked his thigh and answered, "He said 'ulterior motives,' meaning someone who's hiding bad intentions. Got it?"

"Oh, oh, I get it now! Don't worry, Lin Xiao, we won't let anyone find out!" Tie Tou, finally understanding, enthusiastically pounded his chest in assurance.

At this moment, Qin Jianghe suggested, "I think it would be better if we find someone suitable to join us, we should bring them to you, Lin Xiao. That way, you can explain it to them directly, so we don't mess things up."

Everyone agreed this was a good idea and nodded in agreement, saying, "Alright, let's go with that!"

By this time, the sun was already past midday, and the sky had taken on the golden hue of late afternoon. After their discussion, Lin Xiao dusted off his pants and stood up, saying, "Alright, there's an important task we need to handle at the sect. Let's head back, and I'll show you around."

The three boys immediately perked up, excitedly following Lin Xiao out the door.

When they reached the halfway point up the mountain, the three of them were instantly captivated by the sight of the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Tree at the entrance to the sect.

"Lin Xiao, this peach tree is beautiful! I've never seen such a gorgeous tree, not even in Peach Blossom Village!"

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Youfu emerged from the grass hut nearby. Lin Yun had already left at midday to return to the Lin family's old house to learn carpentry from their grandfather.

"Tie Tou! Jianghe! Baldy! Haha, you guys came too!"

"Jiang Youfu! Hey, I heard from Lin Xiao that you've already started cultivating and reached the first level of Qi Refinement! Impressive, Jiang Youfu!"

Jiang Youfu sheepishly scratched the back of his head and humbly replied, "It's nothing. Lin Xiao is the real deal—he's already at the third level of Qi Refinement. He taught me everything I know."

The group gathered together, despite only being apart for a few days, it felt like they hadn't seen each other in years. The previously quiet mountainside was suddenly filled with lively chatter.

Lin Xiao, sensing the reunion might last forever, timely interrupted their catching up and led the new recruits on a tour of the sect's current facilities.

To be honest, there wasn't much to show—just the peach tree, the grass hut, the herb field, and the sect's protective barrier.

The sect's stone tablet was ignored by the illiterate among them. The tour was nothing more than a quick walk around, but Tie Tou and the others were still very impressed, expressing their awe at every turn.

After the tour, it was time to get down to business. Lin Xiao told them, "We have two tasks to tackle. The first is to build our sect's main hall."

Tie Tou immediately rolled up his sleeves and said, "I've helped my dad build houses recently, so I've picked up some skills! How do we build it? Just tell me what to do, Lin Xiao!"

The other three quickly chimed in, eager to get started.

Lin Xiao chuckled, "We don't need to build it ourselves. I have a way to handle that. We just need to dig up some soil and chop down some trees."

The others widened their eyes in surprise. A house that doesn't need to be built by hand?

Liu Yunan was the first to collect himself and said, "We're going to be cultivators soon, so we can't be so easily shocked. Think about it—what's building a house compared to the things we'll be capable of in the future? We'll be able to live forever and move mountains. This is nothing."

Hearing his words, the others quickly agreed, realizing that it made perfect sense. They suppressed their surprise and got back to work.

Qin Jianghe added, "Baldy's right. We can't embarrass Lin Xiao! We're going to be… what's the word?"

Lin Xiao smiled, "Cultivators."

"Yes, that's it! We're going to be cultivators! Our abilities will only grow stronger from here on out, right, Lin Xiao?"

Lin Xiao nodded with a smile. "Exactly."

He had already calculated the approximate amount of soil and wood needed for the sect's main hall. However, he didn't want to use regular soil—he wanted to find red clay, which is more durable.

Based on his previous experience with the spirit grass soil synthesizer, Lin Xiao guessed that the materials needed for the building synthesizer might follow a 1:1 ratio. For example, if he placed a certain volume of soil and wood into the synthesizer, the resulting structure would use those materials to their fullest extent, maximizing the building's size.

Lin Xiao didn't plan on making the sect's main hall too large—otherwise, the few hundred square meters of flat land on the mountainside wouldn't be enough. The current mission required a training room, and he suspected that in the future, there might be additional requirements for places like pill refining rooms or weapon forging rooms.

After all, the appearance of spirit fields and herbs hinted that alchemy couldn't be far behind. He needed to reserve space for those future buildings.

Therefore, in Lin Xiao's plan, the new main hall would only occupy about fifty square meters. That should be enough for their sect, which currently had fewer than ten members and wasn't likely to expand rapidly anytime soon.

If they eventually needed more space, he could always figure out a way to make the hall taller.

As for the training room, Lin Xiao had already made up his mind. Since all they needed was a quiet place for meditation and cultivation, he'd design it with a large open space and good soundproofing, then place the spirit-gathering array inside.

Lin Xiao had already calculated the amount of soil and wood required for the main hall. They would need about 60 cubic meters of soil and fifteen logs with a diameter of more than 15 centimeters and a length of at least three meters.

He then took out the large bamboo basket Lin Yun had brought up earlier and said to the others, "We need a lot of soil for the main hall. We'll need to carry back about a hundred baskets this size."

The others looked at the large basket, about the size of a person's arms when wrapped around it, and confidently assured him that it wouldn't be a problem.

Worried they might push themselves too hard, Lin Xiao quickly added, "The sect's main hall isn't something we need to rush. You all need to take care of yourselves so you can continue cultivating. Don't exhaust yourselves by overworking—let's just carry back a bit each day and spend the rest of our time focusing on cultivation!"