Watching the Mountain

Chapter 281: Chapter 172: Daily Life

After parting ways with Chen Chang’an, Xu Ran calmed himself down and began to wander aimlessly around the Sect.

’If I want to return to an ordinary state and break free from the Midsummer Realm, staying cooped up in my Cave Mansion definitely won’t work.’

So, he decided to walk around the Sect and observe the lives of his fellow disciples, especially the daily routines of those at the bottom.

He felt that the best interpretation of ”ordinary” was the atmosphere of everyday life, the scent of hearth and home.

He walked from Qing Xuan Peak to Spirit Stream Peak, and finally to the Chores Courtyard on Spirit Stream Peak.

He had visited the Chores Courtyard a few times before because of Xiaoque’Er.

The disciples of the Chores Courtyard were at the very bottom of the Sect. Compared to ordinary disciples, their lives were much harder.

The last rays of the setting sun slanted through the tall window lattices, cutting several warm pillars of light into the noisy dining hall.

The air was filled with the delicate fragrance of Spirit Rice, the rich aroma of stewed Spirit Beast Flesh, and the faint scent of sweat from the young disciples.

The clatter of bowls and plates, the sound of chewing, quiet chatter, and occasional bursts of laughter all wove together, composing the most vivid and down-to-earth symphony of the Profound Pure Sect.

Xu Ran carried a simple tray and found a corner seat by the window.

He had long since achieved Fasting, but Teacher Qing Xuan had said that cultivation must be integrated into life.

This bustling atmosphere of the dining hall was a part of that life.

He ate slowly, his gaze calmly sweeping over the boisterous crowd.

He saw a few disciples who had just finished high-intensity physical training, gobbling down their food as if they were about to swallow their plates.

He saw a young man and woman who seemed to be Dao Companions sitting face to face. The girl stealthily moved a piece of meat from her bowl to the boy’s. The boy froze for a moment, the tips of his ears turning slightly red. He whispered something, earning a playful roll of the eyes from the girl.

He also saw a disciple in a corner, wolfing down their meal while staring at a tattered copy of some Cultivation Method Notes, their brows tightly furrowed.

Suddenly, the sound of suppressed sobs reached him. Though faint, it was crystal clear to Xu Ran’s keen perception.

Following the sound, he saw a young disciple not far away, who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen with a boyish face. The boy had his head down, his shoulders trembling slightly, as he aimlessly poked at his nearly untouched food with his chopsticks.

He wore a faded, washed-out uniform of an ordinary disciple, the cuffs frayed.

A slightly older disciple next to him patted his shoulder and asked in a low voice, ”Junior Brother Zhao, are you homesick again? Or are you short on Spirit Stones?”

The young disciple wiped his eyes forcefully. He shook his head, then nodded, his voice choked with sobs.

”N-nothing... I just went to the Task Hall today and saw that there are fewer and fewer safe tasks suitable for the Qi Cultivation Third Layer. I might not have enough Spirit Stones to buy a Qi Gathering Pill next month... Senior Brother Wang, am I just too useless?”

The disciple called Senior Brother Wang sighed and moved an untouched piece of meat from his own bowl to the boy’s.

”Don’t worry, take it slow. I went through the same thing back in the day. Tomorrow, I’m going to the back mountain to hunt Low-Level Demon Beasts. If you help me process the materials, I’ll share some Contribution Points with you.”

”Thank you, Senior Brother Wang.” The boy tried to force a smile, but it looked worse than his crying.

Xu Ran watched this scene quietly. The Chores Courtyard had the largest number of disciples in the Sect, yet it received the fewest resources.

Precisely because resources were scarce, the competition in the Chores Courtyard was far more intense than in the Inner Sect or Outer Sect.

To witness such simple camaraderie among sect-mates in the fiercely competitive Chores Courtyard was truly a rare sight.

The beginning of the path of cultivation was often accompanied by such hardship and anxiety.

The heavy pressure and struggles that life must face in its early stages were like fruit on an autumn branch—seemingly full and ripe, but internally undergoing the final, most difficult process of accumulating sweetness.

The sound of the boy’s weeping made him feel a bit emotional. He wondered how far a person with such a temperament could go in the Cultivation Realm.

Without any conscious effort, a familiar, faint sorrow naturally began to spread from the bottom of his heart. Like a subtle, cool breeze on an autumn evening, it silently swept through this corner of the dining hall before drifting further outward.

As this aura appeared, the disciples present paused, and a tingle of sadness pricked their noses.

A young disciple shoveling rice into his mouth suddenly had large tears dripping into his bowl. He recalled the dried rations his mother had stuffed into his bag when he left home, and the taste seemed to merge with the Spirit Rice before him.

Someone beside him asked in a low voice, ”Junior Brother Zhao, are you homesick again? Or are you short on Spirit Stones?”

The boy shook his head forcefully, too choked up to speak, his shoulders just trembling slightly.

The emotion seemed contagious. More and more people’s eyes turned red, and low sobs echoed through the dining hall as homesickness enveloped everyone.

But this sorrow did not cause them to wallow in despair.

The Mental Realm quietly shifted. The desolation transformed into the abundance and security of a full granary, and a sense of resilience—of ”falling leaves returning to their roots to gather strength”—arose within them.

The weeping boy wiped his eyes abruptly, took a deep breath, grabbed his chopsticks, and fiercely shoved a large mouthful of rice into his mouth. The determination returned to his eyes.

The others also looked up one after another, exchanging slightly embarrassed smiles. Though their eyes were still moist with tears, the resolve to pull themselves together had already been ignited within them.

Hiding in the corner, Xu Ran watched this scene in silence before quietly departing.

*

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*

「Early morning, in the public Spirit Field area on the outskirts of Spirit Stream Peak.」

The first light of dawn was breaking. A thin mist, like gauze, shrouded the crisscrossing Spirit Fields.

Crystalline dewdrops condensed on the leaves, sparkling with tiny flecks of light in the morning glow.

The air was filled with the fragrance of soil and the fresh Spiritual Qi emanating from various Spiritual Plant seedlings.

For the past few days, Xu Ran had been coming here early every morning for a walk.

He didn’t have any Spirit Fields to tend to at the moment; he just enjoyed watching.

Today, he noticed four or five young disciples gathered around a newly cleared Spirit Field, chattering and arguing.

Most of them were in the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage, wearing the standard attire of Spirit Plant Peak disciples, their cuffs dotted with fresh mud.

”Junior Sister Li, your control over the range of your Little Cloud Rain Spell is still a bit unstable. Look, the water splashed onto the roots of the Moonlight Grass seedlings in this corner. The roots will rot easily!”

A round-faced male disciple said, pointing to a corner of the field.

”I... I’ll try again!”

The named female disciple blushed, took a deep breath, and formed the spell seal again. A small patch of cloud and mist condensed in her palm, and a drizzling Spirit Rain fell. Its range was more focused than before, but the landing points were still somewhat erratic.

”Ah, you’re too nervous. Relax. Feel the Spiritual Qi flow as naturally as breathing.”

Another, taller male disciple gestured beside her. ”Imagine you’re not Casting, but nurturing. Like this...”

He demonstrated, his movements fluid, the Spirit Rain falling evenly.

”Senior Brother Sun is right. I’ll loosen the soil for the Ningshen Flowers. Watch, the Soil-Turning Spell should be like this, gentle, so you don’t damage the fibrous roots...”

An even younger-looking disciple also joined in, brandishing a small, hoe-like Dharma Artifact. His movements were clumsy but earnest.

They weren’t completing some important task, just collaboratively tending to this small experimental plot that belonged to them.

The field was planted with Low Tier Spiritual Plants that required meticulous care. They had used their saved-up Contribution Points to exchange for the seeds, dreaming of growing them well to trade for some Spirit Stones to subsidize their cultivation.

Xu Ran stood on a nearby ridge between the fields, not disturbing them.

He watched these young disciples earnestly discussing and correcting each other over a single Spell or seedling. Seeing the fine beads of sweat on their foreheads and the pure light in their eyes, the corners of his mouth turned up unconsciously in a slight smile.

He recalled the scene of when he had just joined the Sect. He, too, had started his life in the Sect on this very same stretch of Spirit Fields.

A warm current, like a stream melting the ice in spring, flowed quietly through his heart.

The Spirit Field before him, filled with newly sown seeds and young seedlings, seemed to fast-forward.

Tender shoots broke through the soil, sprouted branches, unfurled leaves, blossomed, and formed ears of grain. In the blink of an eye, golden waves of grain swayed in the field, and a virtual wave of rich Spiritual Qi and fruity fragrance washed over them.

The disciples practicing their magic were all stunned. A female disciple cried out, ”Look! They’re ripe! Our Spiritual Plants are ripe!”

A few of them couldn’t help but reach out to touch the heavy ears of grain, only for their fingertips to pass right through. It wasn’t solid, but an illusion.

The illusion dissipated, and the Spirit Field returned to its original state, still filled with the same tender seedlings.

But the disciples’ eyes were now filled with unprecedented excitement and longing.

”Was that... what our field could look like in the future?”

”It must be! If we take good care of them, it’ll definitely turn out like that.”

”What are you standing around for? Let’s keep practicing! For what we just saw!”

They threw themselves back into their practice with renewed vigor, as if they had already tasted the joy of the harvest.

Standing on the ridge, Xu Ran watched this vibrant scene, simply smiled faintly, and then quietly left.

*

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*

「A few days later.」

Xu Ran silently walked out of his Cave Mansion. By this time, the aura around him had returned to its usual state.

His gaze was calm and leisurely, completely free of any trace of complacency.

The two previous times he had naturally expressed his Mental Realms after seeing the daily lives of the Sect’s disciples had given him a deeper understanding of the two realms, Autumn Sorrow and Warm Spring.

It had also allowed him to break free from the mindset of the Midsummer Realm and return to an ordinary state.

After leaving his Cave Mansion, Xu Ran overheard some disciples on the path discussing something.

”Did you hear? A few days ago, some senior in the Sect apparently went to the Chores Courtyard dining hall on Spirit Stream Peak, unleashed a Mental Realm, and made half the people there cry their eyes out.”

”Really? Who would do that? What a strange sense of humor, making people cry for no reason.”

”That’s nothing! I heard the same thing happened over at the Spirit Fields on Spirit Stream Peak. Some senior brothers and sisters said the Spiritual Plants they were tending suddenly ripened right before their eyes! It was a sea of gold, and the smell was incredible. Even though it was just an illusion, it really got their hopes up. Now those disciples are squatting by their fields every day, tending to them more carefully than their own Cave Mansions.”

”That happened too? These seniors must be really bored...”

Hearing the disciples’ discussion, Xu Ran’s expression stiffened slightly. He never expected that his casual actions would cause such a commotion.

”Martial Uncle, was the disturbance on Spirit Stream Peak a few days ago your doing?”

When he returned to his Cave Mansion, he saw Li Daoyi standing at the entrance, looking at him with a helpless expression.

Xu Ran nodded awkwardly.

Li Daoyi sighed and said, ”When I heard their descriptions, it sounded a lot like your Mental Realms. Could I trouble you to not casually unleash your Mental Realms in crowded places? It could cause a real mess. The Elders think some new prodigy has appeared in the Sect and are now searching everywhere for them...”

Xu Ran nodded repeatedly in agreement. He had no way of producing a few more prodigies to present to the Elders.

Seeing this, Li Daoyi didn’t press the matter and continued.

”I came to see you this time because I’ve also recently comprehended a new swordsmanship technique and would like you to critique it.”

Hearing this, Xu Ran gave him a surprised look. From Li Daoyi’s expression, he could tell that the swordsmanship technique he’d comprehended this time was likely no simple matter. This made Xu Ran feel a surge of anticipation.

Li Daoyi smiled slightly at Xu Ran’s reaction. ”It’s not just me. Fellow Daoist Chu and Fellow Daoist Qianxue also sent messages saying they’ve recently comprehended some incredible things as well.”

Hearing this, Xu Ran recalled how he had become complacent after comprehending ”Scorching Sun.” Even if it was due to the influence of the Midsummer Realm, he still felt a bit wistful.

He sighed. ”You young people really don’t leave any room for us old-timers to survive, do you?”

After speaking, he smiled slightly. ”But that just makes me even more excited to see what you’ve comprehended.”

He beckoned to Li Daoyi. ”Come on, let me see it.”

Hearing this, Li Daoyi raised his hand slightly in a salute. ”It would be disrespectful to refuse. Martial Uncle, please forgive my impudence.”