allendalepharm Chapter 7 Cutting 2
Chapter 7 Cutting 2
At the top of Wujialing Mountain is a flat area of several tens of feet in circumference, called Wujiaping. The area around the flat area is covered with blood-patterned thorns. In the center is a small courtyard with two entrances and two exits, with only a huge mutated ginkgo tree in front of the door that catches the eye.
The tree was over ten feet tall, its canopy covering the entire area. Sunlight filtered through the dense foliage, creating a mesmerizing play of light and shadow.
The surrounding mountains are towering and picturesque; a single tree in the valley stands tall, its branches dappled with mottled patterns.
With such distinguished guests arriving, the mountain lord Xu Ping'an naturally came to personally entertain them, and the group took their seats at the stone table under the ginkgo tree.
The old steward was also visiting Wujialing for the first time. Upon seeing such a beautiful view, he couldn't help but feel a sense of joy and temporarily forgot the embarrassment of his trip.
Looking up at the ginkgo tree laden with fruit, he praised it even more, asking, "This ginkgo tree is so huge, it must be quite old, right?"
Xu Pingan replied, "He's only in his sixties."
Planted on the mountaintop and only over 60 years old, everyone knew at a glance that this tree must be Xu Ping'an's destined tree, and they couldn't help but take a few more glances at it.
The so-called "life seed" is a spiritual plant that cultivators nurture with their life essence and blood. This is a unique feature of Aolai. After the Seven Demons were quelled, the Heavenly Court severed the spiritual veins of Aolai Island as a form of punishment. The Aolai Mountains are now all lands without spiritual veins. To obtain a spiritual land that can sustain cultivation, one can only rely on spiritual plants to supply spiritual energy.
However, naturally occurring spiritual plants are extremely rare, and with so many mountain strongholds in Aolai needing them, the demand is far from being met. As a last resort, the cultivators of Aolai can only use their life essence to irrigate ordinary tree species and artificially cultivate spiritual plants.
This spiritual plant is connected to the life of the cultivator who waters it: if the cultivator dies, the spiritual plant will perish as well; conversely, if the spiritual plant dies, the cultivator will also suffer a great loss of vitality.
Considering the bloodshed in Aolai, and the fact that innate cultivators only live for a little over a hundred years and take the spiritual plants with them when they die, this method is truly a last resort.
However, being born in Aolai is a difficult situation, and everyone has gotten used to it.
Everyone praised it, but Chen Jinghai just curled his lip and said, "It's just a low-grade first-level item, worthless."
The old steward glared at him: "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!"
One sentence from him made Chen Jinghai cower and fall silent.
Xu Ping'an, however, did not take it seriously. Aolai was full of powerful bandits, and even more demons and monsters roamed around. He was the only cultivator in Wujialing, and could only grow some worthless spiritual plants.
Moreover, although ginkgo fruits are not valuable, this tree has a large yield, contributing three to four thousand spirit stones every year, making it the most valuable tree in Wujialing.
Xu Pingan took out a tea set and several dishes of dried fruit from his Qiankun bag and brewed tea for everyone.
"It's indeed worthless, but the taste is quite good, mellow and delicious, very different from ordinary apricots." Xu Ping'an took out a bag of roasted ginkgo fruits from his Qiankun bag, put them on a plate, and handed a few to the old steward. "These are from last year, please have a taste."
The group of people were enjoying tea, peeling fruit, and chatting idly, creating a harmonious and pleasant atmosphere.
Soon after, Chu Shanyun arrived with the child. She gave Xu Pingan a wink, then casually tossed Cai Fei aside, letting him sit on the ground and play with ginkgo leaves.
Then, turning directly to Chen Jinghai, he said, "The child was born, but you kicked a perfectly healthy person and turned them into a fool. How do you explain that?"
"You gave birth to a mentally challenged child?" Chen Jinghai was stunned. For the past three years, he had kept the name "Cai Fei" a secret. Hearing that the child was mentally challenged, he was taken aback. He looked at Chu Shanyun suspiciously, stood up and walked over, lifted the child's chin with his hand, and examined him carefully.
The child just stared blankly at him. His clothes were patched, he was covered in dirt, a filthy mud monkey, and most importantly—his eyes were glazed over, empty and lifeless, he didn't say a word, and there was even drool at the corner of his mouth...
"Is he really an idiot?" Chen Jinghai jumped up and moved far away from his son, glancing at his cousin Chen Jinglong who had come with him.
Chen Jinglong had already anticipated this, so he coughed, turned his head away, and ignored him.
Chen Jinghai looked at the two old men, Xu Pingan and Zhang Jingzhai, again. Xu Pingan was clearly a little confused. He had been greeting them yesterday, so why was he acting like a fool today?
However, given Chu Shanyun's meaningful glance, he understood somewhat and naturally wouldn't speak up at this moment.
Zhang Jingzhai was genuinely unaware of this matter. He was somewhat surprised, but recalling the situation back then, Chu Shanyun had been bedridden for three years after that kick, and it was understandable that the child had been knocked silly. He then glared fiercely at Chen Jinghai.
So it's true?
"Still don't believe me?" Chu Shanyun grabbed Chen Jinghai with her claws. "If you don't believe me, try making him say 'Mom' once. He's three years old, and your son can't even say 'Mom' yet! You still dare to ask me for money?"
Chen Jinghai refused to go over there, and waved his hand dismissively, saying, "I don't care if you're stupid or dull, you've given birth! Does a stupid son still have a son?"
"You kicked our perfectly healthy son so hard he's gone mad! I demand compensation!" Chu Shanyun grabbed his arm, trying to drag him towards where Cai Fei was sitting. "That's the child of two cultivators! Destined to enter the path of immortality, and you've ruined his brain! You owe me a cultivator!"
"You crazy woman!" Chen Jinghai shouted, forcefully throwing her away. "How can you prove I kicked her silly? Maybe she was always an idiot!"
Chu Shanyun was thrown to the ground by him, and she simply sat down and threw a tantrum: "My poor son, he kicked me so hard he's gone crazy..."
"Since you gave birth to him, you have to give Manman to me!" Chen Jinghai grabbed the old steward's hand and shouted, "I don't care if he's stupid or not, it's a written agreement, and you're the middleman, you have to stand up for me!"
"Alright!"
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, the old steward, being a Foundation Establishment cultivator, pushed with his hand and shouted, using a bit of his true energy, which made everyone present's ears ring. The noisy couple also shut up.
"The matter is simple. The agreement clearly states that the beast belongs to Chen Jinghai; however, the consequences of Chen Jinghai's kick are also obvious, and he can't avoid paying compensation," the old steward said to the two. "How about this, both sides compromise. Let's say the beast is valued at 100,000 spirit stones, and whoever wants it pays 50,000 spirit stones to the other party. What do you say?"
"Manman's is worth far more than 100,000!" Chen Jinghai said, unwilling to accept it.
"A cultivator costs far more than fifty thousand!" Chu Shanyun shouted at the old steward.
"Bullshit cultivators! The chances of having children from dual cultivators are only one in three, and you're treating it as one hundred percent? With your personality, if the boy resembles his mother, he might very well be born an idiot!" Chen Jinghai retorted, jumping up and down.
"If you say another word, I'm leaving!" The old steward turned to leave. "Aolai also has an enforcement department; you don't need to come to me!"
The Heavenly Court has an enforcement department in Aolai, located in the famous Huaguo Mountain. Any disputes can be resolved by going to Huaguo Mountain for a judgment. However, firstly, Huaguo Mountain is located at sea, making it inconvenient for Qi Refining cultivators to travel there, and secondly, the litigation costs are expensive, so generally no one goes there.
"Senior, don't lower yourself to the level of these two scoundrels!" Chu Huihui quickly stopped them, while giving Chu Shanyun a wink, meaning to know when to stop.