The valley did not welcome them.

  By the time the sun climbed toward its highest point in the sky, that truth had become impossible to ignore.

  The land was dry........yet it was not completely barren. It felt unwilling rather than lifeless. The soil cracked beneath their steps, not because it had been ignored for centuries, but because it had been exhausted. Sparse vegetation clung stubbornly to survival across the uneven ground. Thin weeds and tired herbs stretched their roots into the dirt as if they were desperately searching for something that was no longer there.

  It was the kind of land that made experienced cultivators uneasy.

  Something had taken more from this valley than it had ever returned.

  At the center of that silent terrain stood Lui Ming.

  He did not move much. Instead, he quietly observed the surroundings while allowing the others to conduct their own inspections.

  Behind him, the eleven elders spread across the valley floor.

  Each of them examined the land in a different way.

  Some crouched down to inspect the soil directly, letting the dry dirt fall slowly between their fingers. Others extended their spiritual senses, probing the flow of spiritual energy beneath the ground. A few simply stood where they were, studying the valley with careful, suspicious eyes.

  The longer they observed, the more doubt appeared on their faces.

  Finally, one elder straightened from where he had been kneeling.

  “This place…” he muttered with obvious dissatisfaction. “It is even worse than it looked when we observed it from the mountain ridge.”

  Another elder clicked his tongue in irritation.

  “The soil structure is terrible. Even if we attempt to plant crops here, the yield will likely be extremely poor. At best we would harvest barely enough to sustain ourselves.”

  A third elder added his own observation after closing his eyes and withdrawing his spiritual sense.

  “It is not only the soil that concerns me,” he said slowly. “The Qi flow here is extremely thin. It is not simply weak......it is unstable. The energy seems to scatter instead of gathering.”

  Several of the others nodded quietly.

  The land had a feeling of imbalance.

  Throughout the conversation, Lui Ming remained silent.

  He listened to every comment without interrupting.

  Only after the elders finished sharing their initial impressions did he turn slightly.

  “Report your observations in order,” he said calmly.

  His tone was not commanding, yet it carried quiet authority.

  Zhou Liu stepped forward first.

  The older cultivator had already gathered several small samples of soil in his hand.

  “I believe the soil structure has been damaged through repeated draining over a long period of time,” Zhou Liu explained. “The condition does not appear to be natural erosion. Something has repeatedly extracted resources from the land.”

  One of the other elders frowned immediately.

  “Drained?” he repeated. “What kind of activity would cause that level of exhaustion?”

  Zhou Liu shook his head slowly.

  “At the moment I cannot determine the exact cause,” he admitted. “However, the pattern suggests deliberate exploitation rather than natural decline.”

  Lui Ming nodded once, acknowledging the report.

  Then he turned his attention toward another elder.

  “Elder Bai.”

  Bai Tusu had already knelt near a small patch of vegetation. Her fingers moved gently across the ground as if she were greeting the plants rather than examining them.

  After a moment she carefully lifted a small cluster of herbs from the soil.

  “They are still alive,” she said softly.

  She brushed a bit of dirt away from the roots before continuing.

  “However, their condition is extremely fragile. They are not growing in any meaningful way. Instead, they appear to be conserving energy simply to remain alive.”

  Her rabbit ears twitched slightly as she looked up.

  “If this continues much longer, even these herbs will eventually disappear.”

  A quiet silence followed her words.

  Lui Ming shifted his gaze again.

  “Elder Lin.”

  A short distance away, Lin Yue stood with her spear planted lightly into the ground beside her. Unlike the others, she had not spent much time studying the soil.

  Her attention had remained fixed on the horizon.

  “There are no immediate threats nearby,” she reported. “I have scanned the surrounding terrain and I cannot detect any obvious beasts or hostile cultivators.”

  She paused briefly before adding,

  “However, the atmosphere here is unusually quiet.”

  Her eyes narrowed slightly as she surveyed the distant hills again.

  “Places like this tend to make me uneasy. When a location is too quiet, it often means something has frightened everything else away.”

  Lui Ming acknowledged the observation with a small nod.

  Then he looked at the group as a whole.

  “What do you all think about this valley?”

  The question surprised them.

  Not because it was difficult.

  But because it invited open judgment.

  For a brief moment, no one spoke.

  Then one voice broke the silence.

  “This land is effectively dead.”

  The statement was blunt.

  The speaker stepped forward confidently.

  Chen Guo.

  Among the elders, he was known for being direct and practical. He had little patience for romantic ideas or philosophical discussions.

  “This is not a situation that can be solved simply through effort,” Chen Guo continued. “The valley has already been exploited to the point of exhaustion. Even if we decide to remain here, we will gain very little from this land.”

  Several elders nodded.

  Another spoke up.

  “If we remain here too long, we may waste valuable time and resources. It might be wiser to relocate while we still have the freedom to do so.”

  A third elder added thoughtfully,

  “There are other regions nearby that appear far more promising. If we continue traveling for another few days, we may find land with stronger Qi flow and better soil conditions.”

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  Gradually, the discussion began to lean toward a single conclusion.

  Leave.

  Find better land.

  Start somewhere else.

  Throughout the entire conversation, Lui Ming listened quietly.

  He did not interrupt.

  He allowed every elder to express their opinion fully.

  Only after the discussion slowed did he ask a single question.

  “Why do you believe we should leave?”

  Chen Guo frowned slightly.

  “What do you mean by that question?” he asked.

  Lui Ming clarified calmly.

  “Why do you believe leaving this place is the correct decision?”

  Chen Guo folded his arms.

  “The answer is simple,” he said. “This valley offers no meaningful value. It cannot properly support cultivation, it cannot produce reliable resources, and it offers no natural defensive advantages.”

  He gestured toward the cracked earth.

  “In the cultivation world, those factors determine whether land is worth occupying.”

  Lui Ming nodded slowly.

  “I understand your reasoning,” he said.

  Then he asked another question.

  “And what happens if we find land that does possess value?”

  Chen Guo looked confused by the direction of the conversation.

  “Then we would establish ourselves there,” he replied.

  “And when other sects discover that valuable land?”

  A brief silence followed.

  Chen Guo answered honestly.

  “They would attempt to claim it.”

  “And how would we respond?”

  Chen Guo hesitated.

  “We would defend it.”

  Lui Ming looked at the elders calmly.

  “You leave this valley because it has no value,” he said. “You would move to another location precisely because it has value.”

  He paused slightly before finishing the thought.

  “And once you arrive there, you would inevitably need to fight others who wish to take it.”

  The elders exchanged glances.

  Lui Ming continued.

  “So I ask again. How is that situation fundamentally different from the countless conflicts that already exist throughout the cultivation world?”

  No one answered immediately.

  The logic was difficult to dismiss.

  Lin Yue eventually smirked.

  “So what you are suggesting,” she said slowly, “is that we remain here specifically because this place is worthless.”

  Lui Ming shook his head.

  “That is not what I am saying.”

  He turned and looked across the valley again.

  “We remain here because this place is already broken.”

  That answer caught them off guard.

  Zhou Liu’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

  “I would like to hear your reasoning,” he said.

  Lui Ming gestured toward the exhausted land around them.

  “This valley has already been drained. Whatever resources once existed here have been taken.”

  He continued calmly.

  “The land has been abandoned, ignored, and dismissed by anyone who passed through the region.”

  Then he looked back at the elders.

  “That means something important.”

  No one interrupted.

  “It means no powerful sect is watching this valley closely.”

  A subtle shift passed through the group.

  “It also means that no one currently cares enough about this land to defend it.”

  Lin Yue’s smirk slowly returned.

  “And I suppose that leads to your real point,” she said.

  Lui Ming nodded.

  “Yes.”

  He finished the thought.

  “No one expects anything from this place.”

  The valley fell quiet again.

  This time the silence felt different.

  Not dismissive.

  But thoughtful.

  Lin Yue let out a soft laugh.

  “Well,” she said, adjusting her spear slightly, “I must admit that is a perspective I had not considered.”

  Chen Guo still looked skeptical.

  “Even if that is true,” he said, “it does not solve the fundamental problem. This valley may be ignored, but it is still exhausted land.”

  Lui Ming answered immediately.

  “That gives us time.”

  The word changed the conversation.

  Time.

  Zhou Liu exhaled slowly.

  “…Now I understand what you mean.”

  Not agreement.

  But recognition.

  Bai Tusu smiled gently.

  “If no one is competing for the valley,” she said thoughtfully, “then we could attempt to restore it gradually without interference.”

  Lui Ming nodded.

  “Exactly.”

  Chen Guo still looked unconvinced.

  “And if the land cannot be restored?”

  Lui Ming met his gaze without hesitation.

  “Then we will confirm that through careful testing.”

  No exaggeration.

  No illusion.

  Just a process.

  And strangely enough, that honesty made the argument harder to reject.

  For a short moment, no one spoke.

  Chen Guo still looked dissatisfied, but he was no longer dismissing the idea outright. The difference between stubborn skepticism and thoughtful resistance was subtle, yet important.

  Lui Ming did not try to force agreement.

  Instead, he simply continued explaining the next step.

  “We do not need to decide everything immediately,” he said calmly. “At this stage, the most important thing is not forming conclusions but gathering reliable information.”

  Lin Yue tilted her head slightly.

  “You mean you intend to investigate the land before deciding whether it is worth keeping,” she said.

  “Exactly,” Lui Ming replied. “Many cultivators make decisions too quickly. They either claim territory based on its apparent value, or they abandon it based on superficial observations. Both approaches often lead to mistakes.”

  He gestured toward the exhausted soil beneath their feet.

  “This valley may indeed be beyond recovery,” he continued. “However, we should not assume that conclusion without verifying it carefully.”

  Chen Guo crossed his arms again.

  “And how exactly do you intend to verify something like that?” he asked. “The damage here appears extensive.”

  Lui Ming raised one finger.

  “We begin with a controlled test.”

  Lin Yue raised an eyebrow.

  “A test?” she repeated.

  “Yes,” Lui Ming said. “Instead of trying to restore the entire valley at once, we focus on a small section of land. A limited area where we can carefully observe how the environment responds to restoration efforts.”

  Bai Tusu’s eyes brightened slightly as she listened.

  “That approach makes sense,” she said. “If we begin with a small controlled environment, we can experiment with soil enrichment and spiritual energy stabilization without wasting excessive resources.”

  Lui Ming nodded.

  “That is precisely the idea.”

  He turned toward her.

  “Elder Bai, I would like you to choose an appropriate section of land for the test. It should not be too large. Ideally it should be small enough that we can monitor every change that occurs.”

  Bai Tusu nodded immediately.

  “I understand,” she said. “I will search for an area where the remaining vegetation still shows signs of resilience. If the land has any capacity to recover, it will likely appear in places where life has not completely disappeared.”

  Her fingers gently brushed the herbs she was still holding.

  “With proper soil restoration and balanced Qi nourishment, there is a chance we can stimulate natural growth again.”

  Lui Ming looked satisfied.

  “Good.”

  He then turned toward Zhou Liu.

  “Elder Zhou.”

  The older cultivator stepped forward.

  “Yes.”

  “I would like you to analyze the spiritual energy flow around the area that Elder Bai selects,” Lui Ming said. “Specifically, we need to determine how Qi moves beneath the ground.”

  Zhou Liu nodded slowly.

  “That may take some time,” he said thoughtfully. “The energy here is extremely unstable. It flows irregularly, almost as if something disrupted the natural circulation patterns.”

  “That is exactly what I want to understand,” Lui Ming replied.

  He continued calmly.

  “If the land was drained intentionally, then the Qi pathways may still contain traces of that disturbance. Identifying those patterns may help us determine what happened here.”

  Zhou Liu stroked his beard slightly.

  “I will do my best,” he said.

  Lui Ming then turned toward Lin Yue.

  “Elder Lin.”

  She grinned.

  “Finally,” she said. “I was beginning to wonder whether my role in this grand agricultural experiment was simply to watch everyone else study dirt.”

  A few elders chuckled quietly.

  However, Lui Ming’s next instruction caused her expression to shift.

  “I would like you to secure the perimeter of the valley.”

  Her grin faded slightly.

  “…Perimeter?” she repeated.

  “Yes,” Lui Ming said.

  He looked at her steadily.

  “If something truly drained this land repeatedly over time, then there is a possibility that the cause has not completely disappeared.”

  The humor vanished from the group.

  Lin Yue slowly tightened her grip on her spear.

  “You believe something might still be here,” she said.

  “I do not know,” Lui Ming replied calmly. “However, it would be unwise to assume that the danger has passed simply because we cannot see it.”

  Lin Yue nodded once.

  “That is a reasonable precaution.”

  Her voice carried a sharper tone now.

  “I will conduct a full sweep of the surrounding terrain and maintain watch for any unusual movement.”

  The remaining elders shifted slightly.

  The situation had changed.

  What had initially seemed like a simple agricultural problem now carried the possibility of hidden danger.

  Lui Ming addressed the entire group again.

  “For now, we will not expand our activities beyond the selected testing area,” he said. “Our goal is observation and understanding.”

  He spoke slowly so everyone could clearly follow the plan.

  “We observe the land. We analyze the Qi flow. We attempt restoration on a small scale.”

  Then he added quietly,

  “And we watch carefully for anything unusual.”

  Chen Guo let out a long breath.

  “I will admit something,” he said reluctantly.

  Several elders looked at him.

  “I still believe this process is slow and uncertain,” he continued. “However, I also recognize that rushing forward without understanding the situation could create larger problems.”

  He glanced toward the valley.

  “If this land truly was drained intentionally, then identifying the cause may be more important than abandoning the valley immediately.”

  Lui Ming nodded.

  “That is exactly my concern.”

  Chen Guo looked slightly less resistant now.

  “Very well,” he said. “I will assist with the structural evaluation of the land. If the soil can be stabilized in even a small area, then that would be useful information.”

  Bai Tusu stood and gently brushed the dirt from her hands.

  “I will begin selecting a test location immediately,” she said.

  Zhou Liu followed.

  “I will map the Qi circulation in the surrounding region.”

  Lin Yue lifted her spear from the ground and spun it lightly in her hand.

  “And I will make sure nothing unpleasant decides to interrupt our work.”

  One by one, the elders began moving across the valley.

  Some walked toward the sparse vegetation where Bai Tusu had noticed signs of life. Others began examining the ground more closely with renewed focus.

  They were not fully united.

  Some still carried doubt.

  But they were moving forward.

  And that alone was enough for now.

  Lui Ming remained where he was.

  He watched quietly as the elders dispersed across the valley floor.

  However, his attention was not entirely focused on the land.

  He was observing the people.

  Their reactions.

  Their decisions.

  Their willingness to act despite uncertainty.

  Those small choices revealed far more about them than words ever could.

  For a while, nothing unusual happened.

  The wind moved gently across the valley. Dust drifted lazily through the sunlight. The distant hills stood silent and unmoving.

  Then.....

  A faint disturbance.

  So subtle that most cultivators would never notice it.

  But Lui Ming did.

  His gaze shifted slightly toward the far edge of the valley.

  There, where the terrain dipped into a shallow shadow between two rocky ridges, the air seemed to ripple for a brief moment.

  Not wind.

  Not an animal.

  Something else.

  The movement lasted only a second.

  Then the valley returned to complete stillness.

  Lui Ming’s expression did not change.

  But his eyes sharpened slightly.

  “…So you are still here,” he murmured quietly.

  His voice was too soft for the elders to hear.

  He was not speaking to them.

  Nor was he speaking to the land itself.

  He was speaking to whatever had been watching.

  The wind passed through the valley again.

  Gentle.

  Harmless.

  Yet beneath that quiet moment....

  Something had begun to shift.

  Not growth.

  Not yet.

  But awareness.

  And in a place that had been ignored for a very long time......

  That alone was the beginning of change.

  End of Chapter 2