Chapter 598: 青涟剑，行道尺

Chen Mobai read another layer of meaning in Zhuo Ming's words. Perhaps, in her view, being able to cultivate peacefully within the sect, tending to fields, was already the envy of ninety-nine percent of cultivators in the East Barrens, and there was no need to ask for more. Yet, what she herself hadn't realized was that after establishing her foundation, she harbored a hope of venturing out of Giant Wood Ridge to see the world.

"Master, is that really possible?"

As expected, as soon as Chen Mobai spoke, a hint of surprise appeared on Zhuo Ming's face, and she asked with disbelief. She also understood her own importance; if her Divine Ability of All-Embracing Rhino Horn were to spread, even the Divine Wood Sect's power would likely be shaken for a while. It was precisely for this reason that she had obediently stayed within the sect when Chen Mobai instructed her to. Of course, this was also partly due to her own poor combat skills. Back then, she had only managed to pass the Sect Grand Competition and obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill by cultivating the Nine-Layered Dharma Body, which provided strong defensive capabilities.

"Next month, I will be heading to Yan Country to attend the first graduation ceremony of the Longevity Academy. If you wish to go out, you may come with me." Chen Mobai said with a smile to Zhuo Ming. With him personally accompanying her, her safety in the East Barrens would certainly not be an issue.

"Thank you, Master!" Zhuo Ming hugged the civet cat and nodded repeatedly, even beginning to murmur. "My junior brother is in charge of Longevity Academy, isn't he? Last time he came, he gave me twelve kinds of spiritual rice seeds collected from Yan Country. He was very polite."

"If I go this time, as his senior sister, shouldn't I prepare some return gifts?"

"What should I give him...?"

Listening to Zhuo Ming's muttering, Chen Mobai couldn't help but shake his head and directly made a decision for her. "Prepare two jars of good wine, a bag of spiritual rice, and also bring those two freshly ripened fruits from the Immortal Peach Tree."

After hearing this, Zhuo Ming had a look of realization, finding these items indeed very suitable.

"The main reason I'm taking you out this time, besides seeing the world, is that Yan Country possesses the most ore veins in the entire East Barrens. You should be able to collect enough ores there to smelt into the Myriad Virtue Cauldron." Chen Mobai then explained his other intention. Of course, if the opportunity arose, he could also take Zhuo Ming to see the field of merit, where she might achieve enlightenment and form her Golden Core in the future.

Zhuo Ming listened with a face full of gratitude. It was precisely because of Chen Mobai, a rare and exceptionally good teacher who genuinely cared for his students, that she was wholeheartedly devoted to cultivating on Little South Mountain.

The next day, Zhuo Ming went to find Wang Tingbo, the head of the Artifact Forging Department. As expected, she discovered seventeen types of ores there that she had not yet collected. Although a few of these ores were considered rare within the Artifact Forging Department, the person before him was the sect leader's disciple, and Chen Mobai had personally greeted him via the Sky-piercing Instrument the day before. Wang Tingbo could only reluctantly sell these ores to Zhuo Ming at the sect's standard price.

A month later, Chen Mobai returned from the Immortal Gate. During this period, he had crafted a Natal Artifact Embryo for his youngest disciple, Jiang Zongheng. While his feelings for his four disciples varied in depth, Chen Mobai was essentially fair regarding external possessions. Each disciple naturally received one Natal Artifact Embryo.

After crafting the Fire Jade Lotus for Luo Yixuan, he began collecting materials to design artifact blueprints for Liu Wenbai and Jiang Zongheng. His eldest disciple, who prided himself on inheriting Chen Mobai's sword cultivation lineage, had only one requirement for his Natal Artifact Embryo: "Just a flying sword!" Chen Mobai asked a couple more questions, but Liu Wenbai simply couldn't think of anything else, only stating: "Master can decide." This highlighted his obedience and simplicity!

There was no other way; Chen Mobai had to put in the effort to craft a water and wood dual-attribute flying sword for him, tailored to Liu Wenbai's cultivation. He named this flying sword the "Azure Ripple Sword." The materials used were also very carefully chosen. If Liu Wenbai could form his Golden Core using the Two-Phase Art in the future, the wood-attribute sword body of the Azure Ripple Sword would completely absorb the invisible flowing blade spiritual water within its blade, upgrading it to a third-tier flying sword. After receiving the flying sword, Liu Wenbai cherished it so much that he was unwilling to put it into his storage bag. He continuously refined it day and night, and it finally achieved sentience not long ago, establishing a connection between the Natal Artifact Embryo and the cultivator.

After Liu Wenbai, it was his youngest disciple, Jiang Zongheng, who was involved in education. As the most cultured among the four disciples and the one whose thoughts were closest to Chen Mobai's, he quickly understood the importance of the Natal Artifact Embryo. When he came to retrieve the Longevity Tree Sap, and after failing to find the spiritual tree from his childhood fortune with Chen Mobai back in their hometown, he deliberately spent seven days in Giant Wood Ridge contemplating this matter. He eventually drew a sketch, imitating Chen Mobai's blueprints, and annotated it with notes, his own requirements, and future expectations.

This Natal Artifact was a ruler! It was seven *cun* and four *fen* long, slightly over five *fen* thick, and one *cun* wide. Two characters were engraved on its front, a name given by Chen Mobai: "Xingdao" (Path of Conduct)!

It was unknown if all artifact crafters were like this, but at least Chen Mobai always felt an inexplicable urge to name an artifact embryo after crafting it, much like naming a child. The name "Xingdao" for the ruler also embodied Chen Mobai's expectations for Jiang Zongheng. He hoped Jiang Zongheng would steadfastly walk his own path, maintain a true heart, and never waver or give up, no matter what difficulties or trials he faced in the future.

For this ruler, Chen Mobai went to Little South Mountain and cut down the most exquisite section of a third-tier Pure Bamboo. Of course, he did this without Zhuo Ming knowing. Although she wouldn't say anything even if she knew, Chen Mobai inexplicably didn't want to see her expression of reluctance. Chopping it down first without informing her was Chen Mobai's greatest tenderness as a master.

That day, when Chen Mobai arrived at the teleportation array in Giant Wood Ridge, he saw Zhuo Ming already waiting there, her face beaming with smiles, a storage bag in hand. Besides her, there was another girl with a cool demeanor and snow-white skin: Zhou Bingyan. Upon asking, he learned that she had become friends with Zhuo Ming when she came to deliver Life-Breath Stones previously. Hearing that Zhuo Ming was collecting different kinds of ores, she had specially gathered an entire bag of them from Xiao Country and personally delivered them. Among these, twelve types did not overlap with Zhuo Ming's existing collection, significantly advancing the progress of her Myriad Virtue Cauldron. This happened while Chen Mobai was back at the Immortal Gate crafting the "Xingdao Ruler." Zhou Bingyan had heard about the first batch of students graduating from Longevity Academy and wanted to accompany the master and disciple duo to visit.

"Greetings, Sect Leader. My grand-uncle recently wished to establish a Holy Purity Academy in Xiao Country, modeled after the Longevity Academy. He sent me to observe the graduation ceremony and learn about the academy's advanced systems, so I happen to be traveling with you." Zhou Bingyan, seeing Chen Mobai and accompanying Zhuo Ming, cautiously explained.

"Very good!" Chen Mobai merely nodded and uttered two words. After observing Zhuo Ming's cheerful expression, he led the two girls into the teleportation array.

Amidst flashes of silver light, the three had already passed through several market towns. Some places were simply too far and lacked teleportation arrays, so Chen Mobai, a Golden Core cultivator, used his Five-Colored Cloud Aura to carry them across the sky.

Soon, the three arrived in Beiyuan City.

"Greetings, Sect Leader!" Outside Beiyuan City's teleportation array, Foundation Establishment cultivators such as E Yun, Yu Lian, Qi Rui, Jiang Zongheng, and Ding Ying stood at the forefront, leading the Divine Wood Sect disciples in a salute to Chen Mobai as he emerged.

"You may all rise. You've all worked hard these past six years." The last time Chen Mobai left Beiyuan City was when the Longevity Academy had just been established. At that time, while Beiyuan City already showed a trend of vigorous development, it was, overall, comparable to a small county town near the Immortal Gate. However, upon his return, he found that Beiyuan City's scale had suddenly expanded threefold, almost rivaling any blessed land city within the Immortal Gate.

Chen Mobai looked at the spirit vein cave dwellings spread across the mountains, but he felt a sense of desolation and emptiness. He couldn't help but frown slightly. E Yun, standing nearby, looked embarrassed and began to explain the situation. After experiencing the sweetness of selling properties, E Yun, as the Yan Country Guardian, had enthusiastically developed and sold cave dwellings over the past six years. Cultivators built houses incredibly fast; the key factors were the land itself and the spiritual qi from the spirit veins supplied by Beiyuan City's main array control. Therefore, with no production capacity constraints, E Yun had developed nearly half of Beiyuan Mountain into cave dwellings.

The reason he only developed this much was not because he had earned enough spirit stones. Rather, it was because Chen Mobai's original planning map for Beiyuan Immortal City only allowed this much land to be developed into residential cave dwellings. In other words, over these six years, E Yun had developed all the real estate cave dwellings permitted by the regulations. However, this was somewhat over-developed, as Chen Mobai had initially designed Beiyuan City's scale based on its role as the center of the entire East Barren Plateau. Furthermore, there was a cooldown period for enrollment slots in first and second-tier cave dwellings, and cultivators with spirit stones among rogue cultivators were, after all, a minority. Lacking experience, E Yun's over-development resulted in nearly half of the cave dwellings remaining empty. He had considered lowering prices, but this had provoked strong resentment from previous buyers, leading to the desolate and empty scene Chen Mobai now witnessed.

"Sect Leader, would you like to visit the commercial street? It generates nearly a million spirit stones in annual revenue for the sect." E Yun, wanting to make amends, spoke of Beiyuan City's largest source of spirit stone income besides property sales. Although the cave dwellings were over-developed, Beiyuan City, with the allure of direct access to the Divine Wood Sect through Longevity Academy, still attracted the largest number of rogue cultivators and aristocratic families from the East Barrens to settle there. These individuals, in turn, drew in even more cultivators, and even martial arts masters from the mortal realm. The commercial street, however, was not over-developed. With tens of thousands of people in Beiyuan City, every shop was extremely valuable and highly sought after. Between annual shop rents, transfer fees for cave dwellings, property management fees, spiritual qi usage fees, and other charges, E Yun could effortlessly earn a million spirit stones each year.

"No need. Let's go directly to Longevity Academy." Chen Mobai now had little interest in a million spirit stones, and compared to the Immortal Gate, the commercial street here was merely ordinary. After his calm refusal, he led the group directly to Longevity Academy, located on the outskirts of Beiyuan City.

The graduation ceremony was scheduled for tomorrow, so Chen Mobai rested for a day in the room arranged by Jiang Zongheng.

"Here, try it and see if it fits your hand." Once only the master and his two disciples remained, Chen Mobai handed the Xingdao Ruler to Jiang Zongheng. Jiang Zongheng respectfully received it with both hands, tested it with his Longevity spiritual power, and quickly revealed a joyful expression.

"Thank you, Master." The Xingdao Ruler not only perfectly met Jiang Zongheng's requirements but far exceeded them. He had never encountered an artifact so perfectly suited to him.

"Huh, Master, could the material of this ruler be...?" At this moment, Zhuo Ming finally realized something. Her eyes widened, and she asked with a hint of suspicion.