At first, Yu Linglong was frightened by Mu Jinyu's stern voice, but then, warmed by his gentle explanation, she knew he was just concerned about her.
"I understand," she responded.
Yu Linglong looked up at Mu Jinyu apologetically and carefully stood up from the ground.
Mu Jinyu scanned the nine women then turned his attention to the medicine field, beginning to select the appropriate Spiritual Medicine for each woman based on their physique and cultivation.
Soon, Mu Jinyu stepped into the medicine field and picked dozens of Spiritual Medicines, distributing them to each of the women.
"Here, this is for Xiyan..."
"This one's for Linglong!"
"This one's for Wen Rou..."
"This one's for Aunt Mu!"
"This one's for Ruyan..."
"..."
Quickly, Mu Jinyu had finished distributing the Spiritual Medicine suitable for each woman's constitution.
After the distribution, Mu Jinyu clapped his hands and said, "These Spiritual Medicines should suffice for a few weeks of cultivation. Once you've used them up, call me, and I'll pick others for you."
"All right," they nodded in unison.
Jian Ruyan also didn't refuse Mu Jinyu's kindness.
After all, the many elixirs she had brought with her were almost entirely spent except for the Fasting Pill and other elixirs, and though these Spiritual Medicines weren't as effective as the elixirs for aiding in cultivation, they were better than nothing.
"Thank you."
Jian Ruyan held the ice-blue Spiritual Medicine and thanked Mu Jinyu.
"Thank me for what? If you really want to thank me, break through to the God Realm soon; otherwise, I barely have a few people I can use," Mu Jinyu said with a laugh.
"Yes, I'll do my best," Jian Ruyan nodded solemnly.
Mu Jinyu, finding it rather dull, waved his hand and said, "You all go and cultivate. Aunt Mu, you stay, there's something I need your help with later."
"Yes, of course," Mu Hongchen nodded.
Gu Xiyan and the other women glanced at Yao Liangbi and others, then nodded without saying much, and walked toward the bamboo houses by the pond.
"There are too few bamboo houses; we need to build more later," Mu Jinyu murmured as he looked at the bamboo house he once lived in.
Originally, there was only one bamboo house here, which belonged to Young Master Mu.
Later, when he and Xiang Mantang went up the mountain together, two more bamboo houses were built, totaling three. Now that ten of them had come, three houses were clearly insufficient.
Thinking this, Mu Jinyu didn't immediately discuss matters with Mu Hongchen, but turned to the newly acquired servants and ordered:
"You, go to that bamboo grove, chop down the bamboo, and build seven more bamboo houses next to those three."
"What?"
The bearded man had initially fantasized that since they had just been taken as servants by Mu Jinyu, who controlled their lives, he might treat them well by offering them some Spiritual Medicine to aid in their cultivation!
Why else would Mu Jinyu have called them in?
Little did he expect that Mu Jinyu had brought them in simply for hard labor.
"What, you don't want to do it?" asked Mu Jinyu.
"No, no, no..." the people hurriedly shook their heads and said with a forced laugh, "We'll get to work right away..."
"Keep it down, and don't disturb my mother and wives in their cultivation," Mu Jinyu cautioned.
The crowd: "..."
Fine, we didn't manage to get the spiritual medicine for you and had to toil anyway. Who made us your servants.
But you're even asking us to work quietly, not to disturb their cultivation. That's asking too much of us.
Everyone knows how sensitive cultivators' hearing is. Unless they're in a deep state, any little noise can startle them.
Mu Jinyu's request was indeed somewhat unreasonable.
But since they were only servants, no matter how difficult the request, they had no choice but to follow it and do their best to fulfill it without the right to argue.
Watching the bearded man and others obediently head to the bamboo forest nearby and cut bamboo as quietly as possible, Mu Jinyu withdrew his gaze and looked at Mu Hongchen.
"Aunt Mu, what do you think of this place?" Mu Jinyu asked.
Mu Hongchen nodded without hesitation, "It's very good. The spiritual energy is extremely abundant, comparable to those Heaven Cave Blessed lands!"
"Then, is it suitable for the new headquarters of Dragon King Hall?" Mu Jinyu asked.
Mu Hongchen thought for a moment and hesitantly said, "It could be suitable, but I always feel like the spiritual energy here seems to have a hint of evil qi. I wonder if it's just my imagination."
Mu Jinyu said, "It's not your imagination. The feng shui here indeed isn't very good. Look at those nine mountain ranges."
With that, Mu Jinyu raised his hand and pointed at the nine mountain ranges that encircled the secluded valley.
Mu Hongchen looked up and vaguely saw a phantom dragon shadow hidden within those mountains.
"Is that the Dragon Vein?" Mu Hongchen murmured to herself while observing.
Then, she saw one of the mountain ranges, unlike the others that housed a phantom dragon shadow, emanating a strong aura of resentment and evil, slowly diffusing!
For a moment, Mu Hongchen thought she saw a blood-red dragon, its body torn in half, roaring skywards within the mountain range.
"Is... is this the source of the evil qi?"
Feeling the overpowering force of the resentful evil qi, Mu Hongchen couldn't help but pale, her footsteps involuntarily retreating!
She nearly fell.
Mu Jinyu promptly supported Mu Hongchen.
After she had steadied herself, he began to explain, "Aunt Mu, I don't know if you know this, but the original headquarters of Dragon King Hall was actually planned to be located here at Yinlong Mountain. The reason for abandoning it later was due to the severance of the Dragon Vein in Yinlong Mountain and the dragon soul's resentment and overwhelming evil qi, making it uninhabitable for long."
Hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Mu Hongchen's panicked eyes suddenly showed a hint of realization.
She seemed to remember that there was indeed such an issue, but she didn't know the specific reasons or the mountain range, and hadn't delved deeper into it.
So it turned out to be this place?!
"But…"
Mu Hongchen looked at Mu Jinyu, hesitant and unsure how to ask.
Mu Jinyu, seeing what she wanted to ask, smiled and said, "Aunt Mu must be wondering, since one can't stay here long, how did I grow up here?"
Mu Hongchen slightly nodded, curiously watching Mu Jinyu.
Mu Jinyu explained, "Although the spiritual energy here is mixed with resentful evil qi, it is still a Heaven Cave Blessed land after all. My master, Mu Shao'ai, took a liking to it and with astonishing measures, set up an extraordinary Mountain Protection Array to isolate that evil qi and sealed a massive amount of spiritual energy, making this secluded valley as pleasant as the four seasons and no less than other Heaven Cave Blessed lands!"
Speaking, he sighed lightly, "Unfortunately, it's still impossible to completely seal it off, just like controlling flooding, blocking isn't as good as dredging, endlessly blocking the resentful evil qi is not a good solution…"
Mu Jinyu then thought of Xiang Mantang, known for their cruel temperament, and his own somewhat unruly behavior when he first came down from the mountain, likely influenced by these evil qis.
Shaking his head slightly, Mu Jinyu said, "Just now, the Mountain Protection Array of Yinlong Mountain was nearly destroyed by those people. Although it wasn't completely broken in the end, many parts were damaged, and now that evil qi is beginning to seep back in. I presume that in some time, the spiritual energy here will no longer be suitable for cultivation.
Therefore, I plan to rearrange the Mountain Protection Array and find a way to repair the Dragon Vein. If successful, this place would be very suitable as the new headquarters of Dragon King Hall."
"What do you think?" Mu Jinyu looked at Mu Hongchen.