Chapter 43: Senior Brother Lin, He’s in Seclusion!
“Why are you so agitated?”
Seeing Gu Zi in such a tearful state, Lin Mo was quite speechless.
“Senior Brother Lin, you have no idea!” Gu Zi said, wiping his tears with his sleeve. “That scoundrel Yuan Li hasn’t repented even after Senior Brother taught him a lesson last time.”
“He’s so obsessed with cultivation that he forgot to tend to the spirit fields. After the spirit fields suffered from pests, he burned down all the spirit fields in the back mountain to escape responsibility!”
“The back mountain spirit fields are not only the main food source for all the disciples of Azure Bamboo Peak, but also the source of income for Azure Bamboo Peak. Moreover, many senior brothers and sisters also planted spirit herbs in the spirit fields.”
“Yuan Li’s actions are simply pushing us outer disciples of Azure Bamboo Peak to our deaths.”
Lin Mo was not surprised that Yuan Li would repeat his mistakes.
To be honest, if not for the original owner frequently returning to the back mountain to tend to the spirit fields, those spirit fields would have long been ruined by Yuan Li.
What Lin Mo didn’t expect was that Yuan Li would be so bold as to commit arson.
“Senior Brother Ye clearly promised to supervise Yuan Li closely. If he hadn’t pleaded for Yuan Li, how could Azure Bamboo Peak be in this state now?”
Gu Zi became more and more angry as he spoke. “It’s Senior Brother Lin who has been wronged. You’ve been so dedicated to the disciples of Azure Bamboo Peak, yet Senior Brother Ye has caused you to be branded as ‘inhuman’ and ‘cruel to fellow disciples,’ ruining your reputation.”
Seeing Gu Zi so indignant on his behalf, Lin Mo felt greatly gratened.
Gu Zi continued to talk about many things that happened after Lin Mo left.
Most of the disciples of Azure Bamboo Peak now harbored resentment towards Ye Kai.
However, True Lord Yuehua and Shen Ke’er vehemently protected him.
And now, Azure Bamboo Peak was facing a major problem.
That is, there was no spirit rice to eat.
What’s more, it had been half a month since the end of the month when they were supposed to receive their stipends, and they hadn’t received their spirit stones yet.
The implication was clear: they were starting to default on spirit stones.
With no spirit rice to eat and no spirit stones to receive, how could the disciples of Azure Bamboo Peak cultivate?
No wonder Lin Mo saw those disciples looking dispirited and glum when he arrived.
However, Lin Mo was not surprised by all of this.
If not for the original owner who occasionally went to the Great Continent Mountain Range to hunt, providing spirit beast meat and spirit herbs, and even subsidizing Azure Bamboo Peak’s inventory out of his own pocket.
Azure Bamboo Peak would not have been able to live a life where they ate well and dressed warmly every meal.
Now that Azure Bamboo Peak had become like this, it had little to do with him, Lin Mo.
He had done his part. Did he have to be like the original owner, neglecting himself and working himself to death for these disciples who would shift their loyalties with the wind?
He was just the senior disciple of Azure Bamboo Peak, not their parents.
The more selflessly he contributed to them, the more they would unconsciously feel that it was deserved.
Lin Mo understood this was the ugliness of human nature.
He had to change this situation.
Let these junior brothers and sisters know that there were no fruits of labor that were obtained without effort.
Who Lin Mo wanted to be good to was his freedom.
If they angered him and still expected to gain benefits from him, they could dream.
Lin Mo took out a Profound tier cultivation technique he had previously plundered from his storage ring and handed it to Gu Zi. “You’ve worked hard here during this time, cleaning day and night. Take this cultivation technique to cultivate as a supplementary skill; it will help you quickly break through to Foundation Establishment and solidify your foundation.”
“Senior Brother, I can’t accept this…” Gu Zi said nervously. “There are rules in the Sect. Outer disciples who haven’t earned enough Sect contributions can only cultivate the Yellow tier cultivation techniques from the Scripture Repository.”
“This is not a Sect cultivation technique; it’s my personal property, so you can cultivate it with peace of mind.”
Lin Mo had given him pills and spirit stones, and now he was giving him a cultivation technique. Gu Zi was deeply moved.
He began to cry and snivel again. “Senior Brother, in this life, apart from my mother, even my father hasn’t treated me as well as you have…”
“Enough!” Lin Mo had no interest in being this kid’s father. “During this time, I will be in seclusion to form my core. As usual, I will see no one!”
…
News of Lin Mo’s return to Azure Bamboo Peak spread like wildfire.
They all unanimously believed that with Lin Mo’s return, their miserable days would finally improve.
But who would have thought that Lin Mo would directly refuse to see anyone and go into seclusion?
This made the disciples of Azure Bamboo Peak, from top to bottom, suffer again.
True Lord Yuehua was under immense pressure during this period due to the disciples not having food and not receiving their spirit stones.
“Master, we finished the spirit rice in the warehouse a few days ago. Many senior and junior brothers cannot get enough to eat, and we haven’t received our stipends for half a month…” a disciple reported the recent situation.
True Lord Yuehua asked, “How long will it take to replant the back mountain spirit fields and harvest spirit rice?”
The disciple sighed, “Originally it would be four months, but the fire damaged the spirit fields. With this delay, after the spirit fields are repaired, it will take at least a year.”
Hearing this, True Lord Yuehua became even more worried.
She then asked, “Didn’t our Senior Brother return yesterday?”
Although she had to swallow her pride, at this point, she could only seek help from her eldest disciple to think of a solution.
After all, Lin Mo usually managed all matters concerning Azure Bamboo Peak.
The disciple suddenly sighed, “He returned, but our Senior Brother has chosen to go into seclusion, saying he’s going to attempt Core Formation!”
Upon hearing this, True Lord Yuehua decided not to disturb Lin Mo.
Azure Bamboo Peak had not yet had a Core Formation stage disciple.
Lin Mo attempting Core Formation was a major event. If the quality of his core was high, it would also bring her glory.
It seemed that she couldn’t rely on her eldest disciple for the time being.
…
Two more days passed, and True Lord Yuehua was stunned by the meal in front of her.
Steamed buns and pickled vegetables?
Did she, a Nascent Soul cultivator, eat such things?
There was no spiritual energy here, let alone any richness.
The disciple delivering the food said, “Master, we have nothing left in our warehouse…”
He himself had been eating these things for the past few days.
Even the cleverest cook can’t cook a meal without ingredients.
If it weren’t for not receiving their stipends during this period, and the warehouse being truly empty, he wouldn’t have dared to bring out such food!
True Lord Yuehua asked again, “There’s no rice, so where did the spirit beast meat come from before?”
The disciple delivering the food told the truth, “That was all because Senior Brother Lin was afraid we wouldn’t eat well, so he went to the Great Continent Mountain Range to hunt every few days. And the spirit beast meat you ate was the best that Senior Brother Lin set aside for you; he himself ate the leftovers.”
The disciple delivering the food was also helpless…
Yuehua then remembered that a disciple had indeed mentioned some time ago that Lin Mo often went to the Great Continent Mountain Range to hunt to subsidize Azure Bamboo Peak’s expenses.
Thinking of this, she also felt a pang of guilt. She had been so focused on her cultivation that she hadn’t noticed such small details…
Such food lacked spiritual energy and required one to actively remove impurities.
She had been in Core Formation for many years and was now a Nascent Soul cultivator. Eating this was worse than abstaining from grains.
However, over the years, she had been pampered by Lin Mo.
She had eaten high-quality spirit beast meat and carefully selected spirit rice every meal. Now, not eating anything, she felt a bit uncomfortable.
Pondering this, she picked up the spirit tea on the table, preparing to sate her hunger.
The moment it touched her lips, she spat it out unceremoniously.
The spirit tea was cold and bitter, and the water had a fishy taste of mud and sand. It was simply unbearable to drink and made one nauseous.
“What’s going on with this spirit tea?”
The disciple offered a bitter smile. “Master, the spirit tea you drank before was all bought by Senior Brother Lin out of his own pocket. He fetched the water from the spirit spring in the Great Continent Mountain Range early in the morning. Now that the spirit spring water and spirit tea have run out, we’ve replaced them with mountain spring water and the leaves that the disciples drink…”
True Lord Yuehua: “……”
