After lunch, everyone chatted together for a while. Bai Yiling, Shen Ruobing, and Tang Xiuchuan rushed to the company for work.
Zheng Yixin and the other beauties busied themselves with tidying up the bowls and chopsticks before leaving.
Cheng Xiaofan chatted with Long Xingyun for a bit and learned that although the number of tourists to Nanshan Lake had slightly decreased recently, business at the Lakeside Hotel remained exceptionally popular.
Especially among those from the martial world, who would stay at Nanshan Lake for several days at a time.
They came here not only for the delicious food but also for fishing, hoping to catch some little dragon fish from the lake to absorb some dragon energy.
Legends about the dragon energy of Nanshan Lake had always circulated widely in the martial world!
Regardless, Cheng Xiaofan was happy as long as it brought income to Zhuxi Village.
As for selling earthworms, the peak season had passed, so Cheng Xiaofan had stopped doing it. He had only provided Long Xingyun with some medicinal pills to prevent anyone from losing their life due to a poisonous snake bite and being unable to find medicine.
The Nanshan Lake area had basically returned to normal.
However, only Cheng Xiaofan knew very well that as long as the underground river at the bottom of the lake existed, it would not be so easy to truly return to normal.
Some martial artists still appeared in the Nanshan Lake area because they sensed an unusual aura beneath the lake, and thus, they were still eager for a miracle to happen here.
It was just that with their cultivation realms, they could not glimpse the secrets hidden beneath Nanshan Lake.
After Long Xingyun, Jiang Xueyan, and Zheng Yixin and the others left, Cheng Xiaofan left Li Mingxi alone to cultivate in the courtyard and rushed to Baimang Lake.
Ye Shisan, shirtless, was still swinging a rake at the foot of the terraced mountain, clearing barren land.
Looking around, he had already cultivated over a hundred mu of barren slopes at the foot of the terraced mountain, all planted with a vast expanse of lush green vegetables.
The vegetables that could not be eaten were usually pickled by Ye Shisan.
"Meee!"
The Boer goats, under the watchful eye of the groundhog, were orderly grazing on the grass by the lake shore, occasionally bleating to showcase their very unique goat voices.
"Screeeech—"
The Sky-Breaking Eagle let out a long cry and slowly descended to the ground with Cheng Xiaofan on its back.
Ye Shisan heard the sound and looked up, placing his hand over his eyes and squinting at the sky. He spotted Cheng Xiaofan at a glance and immediately called out with a smile, "Mr. Cheng, you're here!"
"Yes, Old Ye, I've come to see you!"
Cheng Xiaofan also responded loudly and immediately leaped from the back of the Sky-Breaking Eagle, landing lightly beside Old Ye Shisan. "Old Ye, every time I visit, I never see you idle. Can't you rest for a few days!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Shisan chuckled and said, "Answering Mr. Cheng, someone like me, an earth-element cultivator, is a hard worker who deals with the earth. If I don't work in the fields for a day, my bones ache!"
Cheng Xiaofan patted his shoulder and said, "Old Ye, don't be too hard on yourself. Your body is your own; you must know how to cherish it!"
"Come, let's go inside and rest for a bit!"
Ye Shisan said with a hearty laugh, "Good, since Mr. Cheng is here, I naturally have to chat with you!"
Upon entering the room, Cheng Xiaofan said, "I've come here this time not only to see you but also because I've brought a large pile of jars and pots, enough for you to pickle many things!"
Saying this, he took out a pile of purple clay jars and pots from his spatial storage in front of Ye Shisan.
When Ye Shisan saw the jars and pots, his eyes immediately lit up, and he said, "Mr. Cheng, where did you get these jars and pots?"
Cheng Xiaofan smiled and said, "I got them from a cellar in a place called Lion Village in the Northwest."
"From your tone, are these jars and pots some kind of treasure?"
At that time, Cheng Xiaofan had spotted the purple clay jars and pots in the cellar when he was rescuing Tang Guoxing and Luo Cheng. Because they were exquisitely made and antique, he had immediately put them into his spatial storage.
He knew Ye Shisan liked to pickle vegetables and wanted to give them to him for storing pickled vegetables.
Also, he kept some for himself to store his homemade happy wine.
After hearing Cheng Xiaofan's words, Ye Shisan smiled slightly and said, "To others, these jars and pots might not be easily discernible, but to us earth-element cultivators, they are obvious at a glance."
"These are what are rumored to be 'Imperial Consort Jars' from the Tang Xuanzong period!"
"What are Imperial Consort Jars?" Cheng Xiaofan asked, a little taken aback.
Ye Shisan said, "Legend has it that Concubine Yang was fond of lychees, and transporting lychees from other regions to Chang'an every time was a costly and laborious undertaking."
"Especially since lychees are delicate fruits, and they spoil easily if kept for too long. Therefore, Emperor Xuanzong issued a proclamation, seeking skilled artisans from across the land to create preservation containers."
"Later, an artisan who called himself a 'Jar Immortal' accepted the proclamation and entered the imperial palace, specifically crafting three hundred and sixty-five jars and pots for Emperor Xuanzong."
"Miraculously, when fresh fruits and vegetables were stored in these jars and pots, they would not spoil no matter how long they were kept, even for years."
"Because these three hundred and sixty-five jars and pots were specifically for Concubine Yang's use, they were named 'Imperial Consort Jars'!"
Cheng Xiaofan was secretly shocked.
This was because he had coincidentally retrieved three hundred and sixty-five jars and pots from the cellar built by Yin Tie Jiu.
At that time, Cheng Xiaofan had not examined these jars and pots carefully when he retrieved them.
Now, as he carefully examined them, he suddenly noticed various flowing spiritual energies entwined around them.
Storing food in these jars and pots not only ensured the freshness of the food but also allowed it to continuously increase in spiritual essence.
At the same time, Cheng Xiaofan also discovered that the number of these jars and pots corresponded to the number of days in a year, and the shape of each jar and pot was different. Together, they formed a formation.
This formation corresponded to yin, yang, and the five elements, and could continuously absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
It turned out that the spiritual energy on these jars and pots was absorbed from nature.
He couldn't imagine how the artisan who called himself a 'Jar Immortal' had created these jars and pots back then.
Furthermore, how did Yin Tie Jiu obtain these treasures?
One thing was certain: although Yin Tie Jiu was a fire-element cultivator with eyes that could identify spiritual substances, he definitely had not seen the true depth of these jars and pots.
Otherwise, he would not have easily placed such high-quality jars and pots in his cellar.
"Mr. Cheng, thank you for your kindness. Using these legendary supreme Imperial Consort Jars to store pickled vegetables is truly a waste of precious resources!"
At this moment, Ye Shisan clasped his hands respectfully towards Cheng Xiaofan and said, "Please take these jars and pots back. Ye believes that these treasures were discovered by Mr. Cheng, and only Mr. Cheng can control them!"
Clearly, Ye Shisan had seen the hidden secrets within these jars and pots.
Not everyone could use top-quality treasures; if one could not control them, they might even suffer a backlash from the treasure's spiritual characteristics.
Cheng Xiaofan had no choice but to say, "Alright, Old Ye, if you truly don't want them, then I'll take them back."