Song Xian Guan had invited a hydraulic engineering expert from neighboring Hongfu Prefecture to make the Thousand Canals waterways construction faster and the river water clearer.
This news spread rapidly throughout Thousand Canals. By the time Tie Sanniu arrived at the riverbank, all work had stopped as everyone waited.
The "Chicken Delivery Four-Man Team" led the applause, with clapping echoing through the clouds from both banks.
Tie Sanniu was astonished: "What is this?"
Liu the Carpenter smiled and explained: "Everyone heard that you were willing to give up your prosperous life in Hongfu Prefecture to come to our Thousand-Ditch Prefecture and support our river construction project. They all welcome you warmly."
"Quite ashamed, actually there wasn't really a prosperous life..." Tie Sanniu felt embarrassed but even more moved: "Thousand Canals people are so enthusiastic!"
He had never witnessed such a scene in Hongfu Prefecture - everyone united in purpose, working together with full enthusiasm for a common goal.
Tie Sanniu couldn't help but wonder why people in such a poor place could be so joyful.
Within just half a day, the more he saw, the more questions arose in his heart. Although the river construction was rushing, there were no whips or clubs. Anyone who felt tired or hungry could go to the thatched shed anytime for cool tea or sour plum soup. Under such seemingly lax rules, no one cut corners or slacked off - everyone willingly wielded shovels under the scorching sun.
When lunch was served, steaming meat soup with stewed vegetables and large white steamed buns were provided until full, better food than even wealthy farmers ate in Hongfu Prefecture.
Holding a bowl of meat soup, Tie Sanniu struck up a conversation with the person beside him:
"Aren't you tired, working so hard with your head down?"
"Not tired. If I can earn a 'Canal Opening Pioneer' award and bring back two bolts of satin to the village, it would bring honor to my ancestors and make my whole family happy."
Tie Sanniu was taken aback. He knew Song Xian Guan had brought back silk satin from Hongfu Prefecture, but never imagined it wasn't for personal enjoyment - it was to be distributed to river workers.
"What is 'Canal Opening Pioneer'?"
"It's an award medal, an honor." The man beside him smiled honestly: "In one's lifetime, one needs something to strive for, not just working for food and sleep. Life used to be hard and muddled, but now that we have enough to eat, what else should we pursue?"
Biting into his steamed bun, Tie Sanniu slowly contemplated, realizing Thousand Canals was completely different from what he had imagined. Even ordinary river workers had higher aspirations.
"Those few performing cooling spells must be immortal masters with cultivation." Would immortal masters personally come to the river construction site?" he quietly asked Liu the Carpenter, afraid of causing offense.
"Of course, not only do immortal masters help at the river construction, but Song Xian Guan also personally works in the fields."
Tie Sanniu was shocked: "An Immortal Official working the land?!"
"Yes, Song Xian Guan enjoys using the Curved Shaft Plow for tilling and planting rice seedlings. The seedlings he plants are perfectly aligned, each small sprout equally spaced, more precise than if measured with a ruler. When he farms, he works with such focus and care that he can cultivate continuously for five hours without rest. If you talk to him during that time, he might not even hear you."
Tie Sanniu murmured: "My heavens."
Having been astonished throughout the day, Tie Sanniu suffered insomnia on his first night in Thousand Canals.
With myriad emotions filling his heart, he lit a lamp and began drawing diagrams, contemplating how to improve the Thousand Canals waterways. Before sleeping, he opened his journal and recorded the day's observations:
"...Thousand Canals is a miraculous place. Here you can see wind-blown sand, but also sprouting saplings. There are dry wells that yield no water, but also waterways being excavated. Every person living here, whether they're digging canals, plowing fields, or planting trees - you can sense boundless hope emanating from them.""Although Thousand Canals is poor, its people live happier and more dignified lives than those in Hongfu. With this hope and dignity, Thousand Canals will surpass Hongfu sooner or later."
"I'm very curious—what immortal arts does Song Xian Guan possess that can make grass regrow in Thousand Canals after three years without rain? How does he make so many people follow him without regard for their safety and revere him from the bottom of their hearts?"
After finishing his journal, he wrote a letter, deciding to send word to his relatives and fellow villagers in Hongfu.
Hongfu was prosperous, blessed with favorable weather. Yet the lives of poor farmers and tenants remained difficult. Though the river workers in Thousand Canals labored hard, they had enough to eat and drink—how could this not be tempting?
The next day, he asked Liu the Carpenter to introduce him to discuss with the immortal masters by the river:
"Immortal Master, I have several fellow villagers in my hometown who also want to come to Thousand Canals to work on digging the river channels. Hongfu suffered floods this year—the fields were submerged, the disaster relief funds allocated by the immortal officials have been delayed, and the tenant farmers are about to run out of food. They have nothing left in their villages, nothing to hold them back. They only have their strength and don’t ask for wages—just a meal will suffice."
Zhou Xiaoyun replied readily, "Just meals? We can decide this ourselves without bothering Senior Brother Song. Tell them to come."
Tie Sanniu was overjoyed.
Since the two prefectures' immortal officials had "established friendly relations," the gates in the high wall between Thousand Canals and Hongfu had been opened, allowing passage.
Zhou Xiaoyun thought to herself that it was just "a few fellow villagers"—sounding like a dozen or so people. Thousand Canals had plenty of wasteland, if nothing else.
A few more hands for reclaiming land wouldn’t be bad.
Without Song Qianji’s knowledge, over a hundred people from Hongfu moved with their families to Thousand Canals Prefecture to start a new and better life.
And this was only the beginning.
While waiting for an auspicious day to light the furnace, Song Qianji continued tending Song Courtyard and planting new crops. His only worry was his exposed cultivation level.
He needed his cultivation to control the Fountain of Immortality in the Pure Bottle but didn’t want to attract attention with unnatural phenomena like thunderclouds gathering.
If he achieved Core Condensation at fifteen, people would hail him as the top talent among the younger generation, surpassing even Ziye Wenshu. Azure Cliff Academy would certainly lose face, and it might even draw Xian Jianchen’s attention.
If half the Cultivation World came to Thousand Canals to gawk, it would seriously interfere with farming.
Fortunately, he had cultivated a method in his previous life that could conceal his realm and suppress his aura, making it impossible for others to gauge his depth.
"Spring Night’s Joyful Rain" was inherently gentle, so why was his cultivation growing so rapidly with the wind? Song Qianji faintly sensed something amiss and looked up at the sky in confusion.
Was someone messing with him?
After the sandstorms weakened, the sky was much clearer than when he first arrived in Thousand Canals. The sunlight was pure and bright, and white clouds floated like willow catkins across the azure dome.
If he truly had the power to see through the heavens, he would have witnessed the gathering of luck from all directions, transforming into a dense golden light brighter than the sun.
After that rainy night, the wisteria on the flower trellis withered completely.
Under the summer sun, the lotus blossoms in the large vats were in full bloom, stretching wantonly; crystal water droplets rolled among the lotus leaves, glinting intermittently.
The wind carried the fragrance of lotus buds throughout the courtyard.
It was an ordinary afternoon, seemingly unlikely to bring any extra disturbances.
Song Qianji diligently turned the soil, loosening it for two crabapple trees, enjoying a peaceful and pleasant time farming.
Until two familiar figures entered the courtyard—Meng Heze running ahead, Ji Chen chasing behind.
Song Qianji set down his shovel and stood to greet them.
But before Meng Heze’s figure arrived, his voice came first: "Senior Brother Song! Great news! While digging the southwestern river channel halfway, we uncovered a small Spirit Stone Mine—"
Song Qianji staggered, sinking into his lounge chair, staring blankly at him. "What did you say?"Ji Chen loudly interjected: "There's another piece of good news—we struck fire oil beneath the eastern canal, and the oil well is gushing straight up!"
Song Qianji instinctively hugged his small cushion tighter, murmuring: "Impossible, why?"
Meng Heze: "We originally thought the successive Immortal Officials of the Zhao Family had thoroughly combed through Thousand Canals with every detection method available! Who knew there were still such overlooked treasures. Senior Brother truly has luck bestowed upon him!"
Luck? A flash of lightning crossed Song Qianji's mind.
Yes, it's the luck that's gone wrong. Could someone have entered the God Temple behind my back?
He stood up, transforming into a shadow as he dashed out of Song Courtyard. Meng Heze and Ji Chen exclaimed in surprise and hurried after him.
Song Qianji ascended the numerous high steps, smashed the door lock, and pushed the hall doors open.
Inside, the hall was dimly lit, with a layer of dust accumulated on the windows and doors. There was no statue of him—the golden statues of successive Immortal Officials and Huawel Sect leaders and elders remained, exuding an air of lonely neglect.
Without the perpetual incense offerings, the golden statues had lost their luster. The once awe-inspiring oppressive aura had long since dissipated.
When you worship him, he is a deity. When you don't, he is merely a lifeless object.
Meng Heze and Ji Chen chased after him with all their might and soon entered the hall, only to see Song Qianji gazing up at the divine statues with a dazed expression.
The enormous divine statues looked down expressionlessly at the tiny human figures.
Ji Chen worriedly asked: "Senior Brother Song, what's wrong with you?"
Why wasn't Senior Brother celebrating happily, but instead running to the God Temple?
Meeting their confused expressions, Song Qianji thought since he was already here, it wouldn't make sense not to do something. He waved his hand:
"So much gold going to waste—melt it all down!"
Completely cutting off the path of luck enhancement, eliminating the problem forever.
Meng Heze suddenly grew excited: "What boldness!"
He had only thought of locking the temple doors before, but Brother Song casually waved his hand and destroyed the divine positions. The former pinnacle of power, the rulers of Thousand Canals would no longer reign supreme from on high.
"I'll do it," Meng Heze said.
Song Qianji gave him a strange look—this young man was quite energetic, even happy to do such work?
Since the God Temple wasn't the problem, where exactly was the issue?
Who was scheming against me behind my back?
...
A moonless, windy night.
Shadows of trees danced as two figures met in a dark alley.
One person lowered his voice: "I heard supplies are running short recently? My second uncle's family really wants to worship one, they've been talking about it for three days."
The other spoke even softer: "Old friend, given our relationship, even if supplies are short, I'll save one for you."
He then took out a small silk-wrapped bundle from his chest, unwrapping it layer by layer to reveal a palm-sized object.
The moon emerged from behind layered clouds for a moment, illuminating the faces of Liu the Carpenter and Tie Sanniu.
Tie Sanniu held the object in his hands, marveling: "The craftsmanship, the divine essence—it's so lifelike it could breathe with one puff of air. Only you could make this. It's just a pity—" he turned it over and over, "it's too small, way too small!"
Liu the Carpenter urgently replied: "Still complaining it's small? This is forbidden goods, we can't make them openly!"
"Right, right!" Tie Sanniu nodded, rewrapping the silk cloth while hurriedly expressing thanks.
The object made a breathtaking appearance under the bright moonlight—it was a painted wooden carving of Song Qianji, with distinct hair strands, vivid and lifelike.
Tie Sanniu tucked away the forbidden goods and hurried off with his head down.
Liu the Carpenter watched him go, sighing contentedly.
Everything in Thousand Canals was good, except worshiping Immortal Official statues had to be done like thieves.In the past, people visited the God Temple to pray for their own safety, happiness, and health. Now, hiding in their own homes and worshiping clay or wooden idols, they pray for the other party's cultivation progress and a long life of a hundred years. Only if Thousand-Ditch Prefecture never changes its Immortal Official can the lives of their descendants get better and better.
...
While the river channels were being constructed in a fervent rush, the saplings and crops drank their fill of rainwater and bathed in the sunlight, growing wildly.
The summer in Thousand Canals was no longer silent; finally, there were the sounds of cicadas chirping, insects humming, and birds singing.
The youths grew taller day by day. They ran under the blazing sun, passed through dense forests, lit bonfires to roast meat, and recklessly squandered their youth.
Song Qianji toiled in the fields, painstakingly hiding and suppressing his cultivation. He felt deeply helpless, thinking that on the day he could no longer hold back, the Thunder Tribulations for Core condensation and Nascent Soul formation would likely strike together.
Unnoticed, the oppressive heat receded, and cool breezes quietly rose. The fields transformed from fresh green to a bright, golden hue.
The bountiful autumn of Thousand Canals was about to arrive.
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