Past the lush forest was a small one-acre pond that was circular in shape with crystal clear water that made it easy to spot the different schools of fish floating about. The surface of the water had tricolored lilies. Their petals were made up of blue, pink, and white colors evenly distributed. The tricolored lilies were the ones responsible for the pond's crystal clear look as they had a purification ability and qi amplification ability.

Just as the carriage was about to go around the pond, a white streak flashed by heading straight at the pond. Before the streak reached the surface of the pond another figure flashed and pummeled that white streaked which then crashed into one of the trees.

"The nerve of you Ellie. Can't I have any good fish with you around? You already cleaned out my last batch before I had a taste, you didn't even spare the eggs. How greedy can you get? You've been hanging out with Feng Xin too much," Yang Qing said as he floated above the pond angrily pointing his finger at the cloud-swallowing kite that now had a swollen bump on its forehead as it stared aggrievedly at Yang Qing.

Screech!!

The cloud-swallowing kite cried sympathetically as it put its most pitiful look forward trying to draw compassion from Yang Qing.

"I'm hearing none of it," Yang Qing coldly snotted as he crossed his arms.

"You are banned from the pond for a month. If I find even a single egg missing I just might decide to have hot broth made from tender bird flesh. With the way you've been gluttonously feeding on the good stuff I bet I won't even have to add anything to the broth just boiling water will do," Yang Qing said as he flashed a malevolent greedy grin that sent the cloud-swallowing kite into a panicked frenzy as it tried to lower its head in apology.

Mmph.

Yang Qing turned as he floated next to the carriage. He knew despite the display of fear and regret from the cloud-swallowing kite at the moment it was only a matter of time before it ate his fish and disappear for a few months at the other inquisitors' abodes though it always avoided going to Feng Xin's place.

"Will you be sticking around or will you head to your abode first and come back later?" asked Yang Qing as he petted the dragon horses which narrowed their eyes in delight."I need to get a few things from my place first It shouldn't take more than a few minutes," Yi Jie said as he let go of the reigns and turned into a phantom blur disappearing from the carriage.

"He is already at the peak of the blooming stage slowly approaching perfection in his proficiency in the shadow void steps. He has always been rather gifted in speed," Yang Qing thought in admiration at Yi Jie's proficiency grade with the shadow void steps.

A proficiency grade was adopted within the southern continent when it came to grading a cultivator's familiarity with a particular cultivation art and they were as follows in ascending order;

Beginner- Emergent-Blooming- Perfection

However, it was believed that perfection wasn't the highest grade in mastery one could achieve in a cultivation art. There was a level above it and the cultivators who reached this level would be able to upgrade a cultivation art by a few grades once they reached that level in that particular cultivation art for example upgrading a red-grade cultivation art to a blue-grade art.

The creator of the shadow void steps had stumbled onto that level when he was studying the orange-grade art, the silent moon steps which eventually led to the evolution of the art into a gold-grade cultivation art.

However, reaching that level was easier said than done as pure effort and talent solely couldn't get you there. It was a combination of multiple factors some of which were timing, chance, and luck thus increasing the difficulty level of reaching that grade.

…

Yang Qing didn't get back into the carriage but decided to leisurely walk around the pond greedily admiring the pods of fish happily swimming about as he whistled.

He went past a few other trees and banana leaves before a small courtyard appeared a few hundred meters from him.

The courtyard was made from yellow dusk wood which made it look like the setting glow of the sun. There was a large extended porch next to the entrance. There were half-ring stone benches, brown rattan chairs, and wicker chairs all surrounding a neatly built fireplace in the center with dining chairs and tables spread about at the ends of the pouch. There were passion vines growing around the wooden beam poles around the courtyard extending to the green tiled roofing. Their purple flowers seemed to be glowing and almost lifelike resembling jellyfish as they swayed with the wind.

Though the courtyard and the porch looked picturesque and had some natural beauty to them, there were three objects surrounding it to the left, right, and back of the courtyard that made it hard to take in the view due to their unique presence.

To the left of the courtyard was an extremely tall tree about 700 feet tall filled with so many leaves that it looked like there were other trees growing from its branches. However, the strangeness of the tree wasn't the abundant leaves but the duality of the tree. The front half of the tree was pitch black which extended down to its leaves while its back half was pure white like the moon. This was the eclipse tree which despite its size was still at the juvenile stage.

To the right was a field filled with bamboo however unlike typical bamboo these were purple in color and they were surrounded by lightning. They were purple lightning bamboo, one of the best plants for tempering the flesh and also warding off evil spirits or fashioning a lightning element weapon.

At the back was a tree just about the same height as the eclipse tree however unlike the eclipse tree its crown, leaves, and top stem were all covered in green flames that gently swayed with the wind. This was the green flame tree the perfect nesting ground for avian spirit beasts due to its nurturing abilities. The flames also have healing properties and the leaves are as soft as crimson fox fur making them the best leaves to make a bed, pillows, and futons.

…

Yang Qing unharnessed the carriage by the front of the courtyard as the dragon horses went their way to other parts around Yang Qing's 'farm land' that was 1,000 acres in size which was the standard size given to all Order employees in the core formation realm despite what stage they are at.

Yang Qing went into his courtyard and headed to the kitchen section as he picked up a bunch of earth wooden bowls and chopsticks along with white ceramic wine pots and accompanying wine urns. Yang Qing kept busy packing and storing various things from his kitchen into his storage ring. When he was satisfied he had picked everything he needed he walked back out meeting Yi Jie who was already back with what looked like a hollowed-out tree trunk in his hands.

The tree trunk was as thick as a small elephant's body and reached half his height. It had golden sigils etched on it and the symbol of an ancient-looking giant tortoise that had mountains, rivers, and forests on its shell.

This was Yi Jie's monarch rank cauldron, the Ao cauldron, a cauldron ironically despite its rank was horrible at making alchemy pills it always seemed like the cauldron's spirit purposely sabotaged the pill creation process but when it came to wine brewing it was an excellent partner. Yi Jie's great strides in wine-making were in part due to the Ao cauldron whose budding spirit seemed to favor the wine rather than alchemy pills and potions.

"I take it you're throwing the party out here again as usual," said Yi Jie once he saw Yang Qing remove a large dining table from his storage ring as he placed it on one of the empty spaces on the porch.

"With so many people coming, the porch is the best location," Yang Qing said as he went on arranging their various utensils and unloading the various dishes he bought from the Thousand flavors restaurant.

"Aha and that is not because you're afraid of having things stolen from your house particularly food and those other trinkets in there," Yi Jie mockingly said as he poured a light brown liquid from a wine casket into the Ao cauldron.

"It's precisely why the porch is the best location," Yang Qing said as he took greedy side sniffs of the light brown liquid Yi Jie was pouring into the cauldron.

"I knew even the hundred-leaf sugarcane wine wouldn't fall short. I get to drink fine wine and have a quasi-palace stage coachman for the week. What could be better?" Yang Qing smugly said as he swaggered about.

"I don't know, maybe whatever Lei Weiyuan has in store for you soon to be BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS Yang Qing," Yi Jie gently said as his lips curled into a triumphant smile when he saw Yang Qing's body twitch repetitively.