With the Lingyun Mountain now settled, the floating island finally didn't look as barren and desolate as before. However, it was still far from vibrant or prosperous.
Lin Xiao initially considered moving the Guiyuan Mountain Residence to the floating island so that everyone could live there. But remembering that the residence was built directly on top of a spiritual vein, which provided better cultivation conditions, he decided against it for now.
As he thought about Guiyuan Mountain Residence, it suddenly occurred to Lin Xiao that he currently didn't have a personal place to stay. Each time he returned, he could only camp out in the main hall of the sect.
Looking around at the expansive floating island, he pondered. Why not build his new residence here? After all, he was the sect master now—it wasn't too much to give himself a proper living space!
Without hesitation, Lin Xiao got to work. His private vault was already stocked with various materials he had collected from the cultivation world, including a lot of high-quality wood.
Using the Item Synthesizer, building a house wouldn't be an issue at all.
For now, Lin Xiao wasn't too picky about what his new home should look like. After all, he didn't really need a place to live—he had places for cultivation and meditation. Still, it felt right to have a designated residence so that he didn't always have to hang out in the sect's main hall.
He quickly activated the synthesizer, combining a selection of spiritual bamboo to create a small bamboo house, which he placed at the top of Lingyun Mountain, near the waterfall's source.
Clapping his hands in satisfaction, Lin Xiao said to himself, "This will do for now."
If his requirements changed in the future, he could always upgrade the residence.
There wasn't a path leading up the mountain yet, so Lin Xiao flew directly to his new bamboo house. Standing in front of it, he admired the waterfall and the surrounding flowers and plants before pushing open the door to step inside.
The interior was slightly larger than it appeared from the outside, divided into two rooms with a total area of about thirty square meters.
Lin Xiao opened his private vault and pulled out a variety of furniture: tables, chairs, cabinets, and more. These were things he had been collecting during his time in the cultivation world, inspired by Elder Liao.
He was always amazed by how quickly Elder Liao had turned Guiyuan Mountain Residence into a cozy, fully furnished home when he first moved in. So, every time Lin Xiao came across furniture that looked nice and was reasonably priced, he made a habit of storing it away.
Now, he was finally able to indulge in the same behavior, furnishing his new home with all the items he'd collected.
After setting up the furniture, Lin Xiao added a large bed, hung curtains, and even placed various decorative jars and paintings on the walls. The bamboo house soon took on a cozy, welcoming feel.
The bed, in particular, was large enough to accommodate his father and brother whenever they visited.
With his new home complete, Lin Xiao descended the mountain and began planning the next steps.
Expanding existing buildings wasn't an immediate priority. First, he needed to construct facilities that the sect didn't have yet.
The first thing that came to mind was a proper kitchen for Fuzi, their chef. For now, Fuzi was still using the simple stove they had set up at the base of Guiyuan Mountain, which wasn't ideal.
But before building a new kitchen, it was best to consult Fuzi on what he needed.
Then there was the matter of completing the System's task to build a Library Pavilion. The vast collection of books in Lin Xiao's private vault needed to be displayed for everyone to access.
However, after synthesizing Lingyun Mountain, Lin Xiao's spirit stone reserves were depleted, so he'd have to gather more materials. The Library Pavilion had to be a substantial structure, and the materials in his private vault alone wouldn't suffice. He'd have to go out and gather more wood and stone.
But with the day drawing to a close and the tantalizing smell of dinner in the air, Lin Xiao decided to delay any further construction.
Dinner came first.
Without wasting another moment, he quickly left the floating island and headed down to the half-mountain settlement to join the others for dinner, completely forgetting that Elder Liao was still in the small world trying to clear space for his herb garden.
At dinner, the members of Lingxian Sect gathered around a familiar spread of Fuzi's meticulously prepared dishes. The moment they saw the food, everyone was deeply moved.
They had all missed Fuzi's cooking dearly during his absence, and even the meals prepared by his apprentice, Shengsheng, couldn't compare.
Liu Yunian, who had once joked about temporarily closing the Lingxian Restaurant in the village below just to keep Fuzi's meals for themselves, now felt that this idea had only grown more tempting in Fuzi's absence. Of course, he hadn't actually gone through with it, maintaining his professional duties as the sect's steward.
Despite Lin Xiao forgetting to summon him, Elder Liao appeared at the dinner table right on time, as if he had a sixth sense for when meals were being served.
At the table, Tietou held his bowl of food, tears welling in his eyes.
"Fuzi, I've finally tasted your cooking again!" he exclaimed.
The other sect members who had stayed behind during Lin Xiao's absence nodded in agreement, equally overwhelmed with joy.
Once Lin Xiao declared, "Let's eat," the dining hall turned into a chaotic frenzy, with chopsticks flying through the air like the wind as everyone dove into the meal.
Those with higher cultivation levels clearly had an advantage, their faster reflexes allowing them to grab more food from the table. Meanwhile, those with lower cultivation levels found themselves moving more slowly, forced to focus on one dish at a time while the others seemed to devour everything around them.
This stark contrast only fueled the resolve of the lower-level cultivators to train harder. Many made up their minds to head straight to the cultivation rooms after dinner.
As the meal progressed and the pace of eating finally slowed down, Lin Xiao turned to Liu Yunian and said, "Since we're about to start trading with the Yuan family, we'll need to increase production. Relying solely on the sect's current output won't be enough. When you have time, select a few of our common talisman-making techniques that aren't too critical and send them to the royal family."
He thought for a moment, then added, "It doesn't have to be limited to talismans. Any basic formations or medicinal recipes will do as well. You can refer to the data I provided on the items from the cultivation world and arrange them based on quality and importance."
Liu Yunian nodded in understanding, but after a pause, he asked, "Lin Xiao, are you sure it's safe to give them the methods for making these items? What if they pass them on to the sects behind them and stop working with us altogether?"