Lingyun sighed when he saw a flying sword coming towards him. He was currently drinking tea in the pavilion of his families' yard, barely having finished preparing the tea and about to drink it.
He took the sword, pressing it on his forehead to inspect the information. At this stage, he couldn't spread his spiritual consciousness. With the inspection, he quickly saw through and understood the news that was conveyed. Flying communication swords were fast and expensive tools, they could store energy and even spirit stones, so they can usually cross great distances.
The message conveyed to him was from his grandfather, he told him that the arrangement was completed and that he could leave for the mine at any time. His badge was already updated, and he didn't need anything else.
"Why did you sigh?" his mother came after putting the two girls to bed.
"Nothing, I thought it was bad news. Grandfather told me about the arrangement, I will be taking the position to oversee the black iron mine and also refine the ore into iron."
"What bad news could there be? Supervising the mine is a good mission, as for refining… well, you know best." Xuelin knew her son was smart, so everything he did wouldn't be wrong. She was confident the child who was sensible and smart from early on would be able to make the right decisions.
Liyun also arrived at this moment, flying on a small jade disc. The most common flying tools are jade discs and paper planes, fancier ones are flying carpets and swords, while the best ones are usually the natal weapons of higher-stage cultivators. Natal weapons are very all-rounder and usually have more abilities than just the common weapons.
Xuelin explained the situation, finally Lingyun answered "In fact, there shouldn't be any bad news, but there is always the danger. Who knows with the fickleness and inability to hold it on of the clan leader?"
"Don't speak of him like this" Liyun said, looking serious.
Lingyun just shook his head "What's the issue? We are among ourselves. Father, you don't need to shield the clan leader like this. Don't I know best? When I was young, how many times did the clan leader try to introduce main-lineage members to me, so I could be close to them?
I just turned a blind eye to this since I wasn't in the position to do anything, but now it's different. The two ancestors don't care about the family, they just cultivate all the time, even the main lineage has loose connections.
As long as we don't go aboveboard, they shouldn't get involved into these things. In my opinion, we, the branch, should stop bowing to them."
Liyun smiled wryly "In fact, the branch has tried two times to cultivate a foundation building cultivator. The first had good talents but failed because he had no foundation building pill, the second was slightly better and had a treasure that could help, but he also failed.
There's nothing we can do about it, the most talented of the branch were forcefully taken to the main lineage, over time, even if they had talent, they were corrupted or died."
Lingyun felt nameless anger in his heart, but he calmed down after a moment. He shook his head "Destroying the path of cultivation is like killing their parents. The main lineage… well, let's not talk about them for now, we will take care of them when we have time.
Taste this green bud tea. It's the mid-grade tea tree I replanted on my peak, although the spiritual power is weak, it tastes good."
The other two sighed inward then tasted the tea. After chatting, when the moon was high in the sky, Lingyun returned to his peak. At the end he still gave them permission to manage his peaks' array, so that they could take care of it while he was away.
He slept in his room. Cultivation at this stage is still too strenuous for the meridians, so one has to regularly take breaks. Sleeping is the best way to recover the body and mind.
…
The next day, Lingyun checked his yard to make sure he didn't miss anything. In fact, there wasn't much, so he just gave a cursory look before leaving. He took out a small paper crane from the spatial bag at his belt and threw it into the air.
The paper crane grew until it had a two-metre wide wingspan and enough space on the back to stand on. Lingyun jumped on the paper and flew down the mountain.
As a simple low-grade flying tool, its speed was basically the same as that of a cultivator sprinting with the wind-walking technique at the great success stage. Lingyun's own wind walking technique already reached that stage, the reason why he still took the crane was that it could fly, avoiding the many hurdles on the ground.
He flew out of the Bamboo Mountains where his family was stationed, flying southward for four hours until he arrived at a tall mountain, from above one could see the mining site. A large spiral-like crater could be found in the centre of the mountain, many different tunnels going into the mountain.
When he approached, a small film became visible above the mountain and a paper crane flew upward. A young man with a taoist robe bowed towards him, then asked "I wonder who the fellow taoist is? This is the clan territory of the Zhu Clan."
Lingyun nodded "Little brother, you don't need to be so cautious. I am Zhu Lingyun from the branch lineage, taking up the position of the black iron mine supervisor from now on."
"Ah, it's eldest brother Lingyun!" he exclaimed, then bowed again "I apologize for my rudeness!"
Lingyun waved his hand, then walked into the array, commanding it to open a small path. Seeing this, the young man was sure of the identity. Only those with commanding rights could open and close the path, he himself was send by the temporary manager, the leader of the local guard team.
The reason why Lingyun explained his branch background was that all guard teams were part of the main lineage, if another main lineage cultivator came, then this young man would suffer truly. Lingyun quickly saw by through him because he gained information from his grandfather.
The young man was Zhu Lingyi, a young talented weapon refiner of the family. Based on his position, he shouldn't be the one to greet people outside. It was clear that he was bullied.
A few moments later, they arrived at a small tower on the side of the mine. This was the supervising tower of the mine, usually controlled by the supervisor to inspect the state of the mine. There was a small map that would be updated all the time. Next to the tower, there were several other buildings, which were the homes of the miners.
When Lingyun arrived there, he saw a few people standing in front of the tower. One of them screamed at Lingyi when he arrived "How dare you invite outsiders into the clan land?" his weapon was already in his hand, ready to slash forward.
Lingyun frowned "Who are you to command the weapon refiner sent by the family?" his spiritual power flowed out, supressing the little guard that spoke and the other one that seemed equally eager to fight. He wasn't bored enough to listen to them talk before taking action.