Is It Reasonable for Me to Start a Sect at 12?

In the following days, besides cultivating, Lin Xiao and his companions were busy selling and buying goods in the county town.

Since the three of them were still young, they were cautious not to attract too much attention by selling too much expensive pine soot ink at once, lest they tempt thieves. They disguised themselves and specifically sought out the back doors of large households.

They didn't sell directly to the masters of the house but rather to the stewards or managers. With the county exams in full swing and plenty of scholars in town, their high-quality ink, produced by the system, sold without issue.

Of course, they only sold one or two ink sticks at a time, pricing them slightly lower than what the bookstores offered. Seeing the superior quality of the ink at a more affordable price, people were more than willing to buy from them.

The three of them gathered around the table, beaming at the pile of silver coins in front of them, which amounted to over twenty taels.

They were rich!

The next morning, Lin Xiao, Tuzi, and Fuzi went out shopping. With the county exams coming to a close, their time in the town was also nearing its end.

After entrusting Jiang Youfu and Liu Yunan with the task of buying daily necessities like blankets and tableware, Lin Xiao headed to the blacksmith's shop alone.

He intended to purchase some farming tools. While they couldn't sell iron, surely buying farming tools would be fine!

So, Lin Xiao, feeling wealthy, spent nearly ten taels of silver on several hoes, spades, plows, and sickles.

He wanted to buy more, but the blacksmith became suspicious, looking at him warily. "Tell your family to bring your household registration if you want to buy more!"

The blacksmith even seemed ready to reclaim what he'd already sold. Lin Xiao wasn't about to let that happen and quickly made his escape.

The blacksmith was astonished as he watched the young boy dart away, carrying a heavy load of farming tools as if they weighed nothing.

But Lin Xiao didn't have time to worry about that. He hurried to a secluded spot and stored the tools in his private stash.

After finishing his shopping, he met up with Fuzi and Tuzi, and the three of them returned to their small courtyard.

Back at the courtyard, Lin Xiao sent his friends to their rooms to cultivate while he sat in the yard and opened the system store.

He had plans for when they returned to the village: after completing the remaining tasks, he wanted to prioritize developing agriculture within the sect.

Food is the foundation of life.

Although they were all cultivating now, and Elder Liao had mentioned that making Bigu Pills (Fasting Pills) was easy, Lin Xiao and the others had no intention of giving up food entirely in favor of such pills.

One of life's greatest pleasures is enjoying delicious food. Giving that up would make life quite dull.

Not only did he not plan to make Bigu Pills, but he also wanted to develop more delicacies to share with everyone in the sect.

But to make delicious food, they needed ingredients.

So, Lin Xiao started browsing the store, looking for seeds.

As expected, the recommended section was filled with various food-related seeds.

From all kinds of vegetables to fruit trees, everything was available.

Surprisingly, these were all spiritual plants.

Lin Xiao felt excited. Once these crops were grown, they would be able to enjoy spiritual meals every day!

Seeing the reasonable prices—about one or two spirit stones per packet, with fifteen seeds per packet—Lin Xiao, feeling wealthy, spent most of the spirit stones he had left, leaving only ten.

His private stash now contained dozens of types of seeds. Spirit Cabbage, Spirit Sugarcane, Spirit Watermelon, Spirit Pumpkin, Spirit Winter Melon, Spirit Radish, Spirit Apple... In short, they were all common fruits and vegetables, but with the prefix "Spirit," highlighting their unique nature as spiritual plants.

Lin Xiao guessed that these things were cheap because they probably didn't contain much spiritual energy. But that didn't matter; they were after delicious food, not spiritual energy!

Gazing at the seeds, Lin Xiao, who had eaten bland farm food for over a decade, couldn't help but drool.

Of course, no good meal is complete without meat!

Lin Xiao hadn't forgotten this, but given that the sect had few people, managing both farming and livestock might be too much. They couldn't afford to cut down on cultivation time for this.

Moreover, he was concerned that raising animals like chickens might not sit well with Xiao Luan. Wouldn't it be awkward to slaughter and eat them in front of it?

After all, they were all sect members; he had to consider Xiao Luan's feelings.

So, he decided to postpone any plans for raising livestock.

Three days later, the county exam results were announced.

Sun Yigao achieved the top spot.

Since it was results day, Landlord Sun and his wife had come from the village early in the morning. Confident in their son, they had even packed for the trip to the prefecture for the next round of exams.

When they learned that their son had indeed passed the county exam and had taken first place, Landlord Sun generously took the four young men out for a meal.

After lunch, it was time to say goodbye.

Sun Yigao would continue on to the prefecture for the next round of exams and, if successful, would keep advancing.

But the prefecture was too far away for Lin Xiao and his friends to accompany him. Since the prefecture was quite distant, Landlord Sun and his wife planned to travel with him.

After packing their things at the small courtyard, Lin Xiao and his friends bid farewell to Sun Yigao and his family, including Tuan Tuan.

Thanks to the Peach Blossom Gathering Array, Tuan Tuan no longer needed the spiritual stone mine as urgently. It wanted to stay with its master.

It never wanted to experience the pain of returning after some time away, only to find that everything had changed.

Cultivation could wait; a master was irreplaceable.

So, Lin Xiao and his friends left the small courtyard and started their journey back to Xiushui Village.

Meanwhile, Sun Yigao, holding Tuan Tuan, traveled with his parents to the prefecture.

The midday sun shone brightly on the two groups, who were temporarily parting ways, making them glow with brilliance.

When Lin Xiao and his friends returned to Xiushui Village, they noticed an unusually lively atmosphere.

At the village entrance, several villagers were gathered under a large tree, enthusiastically discussing something, occasionally pointing toward North Mountain.

Lin Xiao was puzzled by this.

Most villagers rarely ventured far up North Mountain, only gathering firewood or foraging at its base. Could it be that they had noticed the sect on the mountain?

However, when Lin Xiao listened more closely, he heard them talking about things like, "The Lin family is so lucky to get two strong workers, and they don't even have to house them—just send them up the mountain," and "That young guy's so eager, always taking on all the hard work."

This left Lin Xiao even more confused. The Lin family? Could they be talking about my family? There aren't many families with the surname Lin in the village.

And what's all this about two strong workers and an eager young guy?