639: Chapter 439 639: Chapter 439 Of course, there were some subordinates who reported to her for meetings, and this might be the place where she, or she and others, would live in the future.
Luo Yaxuan entered the construction site, accompanied by his chittering junior sister Liu Jiaojiao.
“Senior brother, did you guys go to a lot of places this time?”
In the past two days, Liu Jiaojiao had fallen head over heels for her senior brother, who had gifted her presents that made her very happy.
Her parents had given her things, but she still preferred wearing the jewelry her senior brother made for her on her body.
Her parents weren’t skilled in refining magical treasures; they only gave her the materials they obtained.
Her parents had returned with her senior brother, and while she was happy to see them, the dependency she once felt was no longer there.
She clung to Luo Yaxuan’s side instead, repeatedly discussing topics that she had already asked about countless times.
“Mhm, we were flying in magical treasures most of the time, then we went back home once, met with the elders, and followed everyone in the Saint Master’s magical treasure.
We weren’t much help with anything; those who could cook at least made meals for everyone, while I just used the time to practice making some jewelry.”
“Senior brother, does this jewelry I’m wearing have any functions?”
Liu Jiaojiao took out a hairpin from her hair.
“This piece of jewelry was one of the first I refined.
At that time, I had just learned the basics of magical treasure refining and hadn’t learned formations yet.
It looks pretty, but it’s actually just an ordinary piece of jewelry.”
Luo Yaxuan explained, thinking that if he mastered formations and learned talisman drawing, the magical treasures he refined would be even more powerful.
“It’s so beautiful, I really love it!” Liu Jiaojiao giggled, her smile infectious not only to Luo Yaxuan but also brightening her parents’ spirits.
Xiao Xiang felt a small sense of loss now that her daughter wasn’t clingy towards her, yet this also meant more time for cultivation and to be lovey-dovey with her husband.
Liu Yong felt a pang of heartache, his little cotton-padded jacket now belonged to someone else, and the sight of his young daughter no longer focused on them.
However, seeing their daughter’s happy smile, the couple was content as well and did not obstruct their romance.
Liu Jiaojiao later learned that the group had followed the Saint Master not just underwater but also to foreign countries; she regretted not insisting on going along.
“What’s the underwater world like?”
Luo Yaxuan smiled and said, “We could only see through the image recorder while inside the magical treasure; we couldn’t touch the water, just saw some fish, and once we reached the deeper parts of the ocean, there was no more water, and we even saw a Dragon Palace!”
As he spoke, he didn’t stop working.
He wasn’t sure if he would be working at this base in the future, but he felt he must contribute to the construction.
He also needed to build a house for his family, which was now their temporary residence.
Liu Jiaojiao, hearing this, paused her work and pointed at the people, asking:
“Why are these foreigners coming here?
Are they being sent over by their countries as immigrants?”
Luo Yaxuan glanced at the more than a thousand foreign men; their expressions no longer dull.
Perhaps they were hopeful about their future lives, their faces brimming with smiles.
From their arduous work, he could see the ordinary people’s longing for a better life!
“They are oppressed and suffering people whom the Saint Master helped rescue at a friend’s request, earning merit and recruiting some laborers for the base.”
“Oh, what can these ordinary people do?”
Liu Jiaojiao hadn’t spent much time outside the cultivation world and only knew a few Immortal Sects where there were no ordinary people, and these ordinary people were only in impoverished areas of lowly status.
As to what they could do, Liu Jiaojiao truly had no idea; she had never once worried about resources since birth.
With her parents around, they shouldered all her worries.
“They can farm, they can cultivate their skills; the Saint Master has already declared that the base will produce medicinal materials for ordinary people to use.
As for the food they eat, it also needs to be cultivated by people.”
Liu Jiaojiao nodded upon hearing this, realizing that the Saint Master wasn’t only focused on his enterprise but also blessed the ordinary people.
By Lai Jianlin’s side was Ding Ling; the moment he returned and saw Ding Ling, he gave her the magical treasures he had refined during his free time on the trip.
Among them were the two days he spent at home learning the basics of jewelry refinement, which only crafted ordinary jewelry.
Lai Jianlin explained to Ding Ling that, while those few pieces of jewelry looked beautiful, they actually had no special functions.
Later on, the jewelry he refined incorporated the formations he had just learned, slightly upgrading the pieces.
Ding Ling didn’t care much about these matters, whether the jewelry was ordinary or a magical treasure, as long as it was a gift from her beloved, she would cherish it well.
In her ordinary family, none of her relatives could afford such expensive jewelry.
Such pieces couldn’t be found in silver shops, and although not a magic artifact, the noble material alone signified the jewelry’s extraordinariness.
Ding Ling was not a vain woman, and she was simply happy to have such an outstanding man fond of her.
She endured the envious gazes of other women who worked with them, who looked at her with admiration, just like they did with other women favored by men.
Falling in love, Ding Ling grew alongside Lai Jianlin.
Upon learning that Lai Jianlin had mastered the basics of artifact refining and formations, she wanted her senior brother to teach her during their spare time from work.
Without any hesitation, Lai Jianlin gave Ding Ling two jade slips, which contained the foundational knowledge for artifact refining and formations.
Ding Ling, who was new to both fields, needed her senior brother’s guidance.
Lai Jianlin happily taught Ding Ling everything he knew.
He and Luo Yaxuan sparred with each other, though they only practiced the basics of formations and artifact refining.
But they had mastered the basics and were waiting for Jiang Tang to have time to teach them more advanced secret manuals.
Ding Ling, having never been exposed to such domains, studied hard, hoping to visit her home sooner.
She would only have the leisure and qualifications to return if she grew stronger.
She certainly didn’t want to be bullied and pursued over great distances like before.
Ding Ling didn’t think she was beautiful, especially when compared to the daughters of major noble clans, she fell far short!
She wasn’t inferior, though; birth didn’t define everything – hard work would surely pay off in the future.
She envied those who could visit home, as it had been many years since she had seen her family.
She dared not share these thoughts with Lai Jianlin, as their abilities were not yet high, and they might need protection when venturing outside.
Lai Jianlin was never idle, busy with work during the day, and aside from his cultivation practice at night, he sometimes needed to help out, answering Ding Ling’s questions on things she didn’t understand.
Sometimes, he sensed that Ding Ling was troubled, but then, who doesn’t have worries?
Everyone harbors personal concerns and secrets in their quest for strength.
Lai Jianlin understood that Ding Ling probably missed home.
At present, he couldn’t offer her a home, nor did he have the capacity to meet her parents.
If they were ordinary people, they would simply marry, but he carried the burden of his family’s responsibilities.
This mission was not just an opportunity for his clan to take flight – he had to seize some resources to improve himself.
Lai Jianlin knew his father had ambitions to make their clan first-rate.
They had always been a second-rate clan, so close to rising, but short of just a bit of strength.
As a son of his clan, it might have been easy for others to cultivate or enjoy life, but not for him.
Among his peers, he and Luo Yaxuan got along best.
Their families united, with the Luo Family ranked slightly higher.
Of course, Lai Jianlin wished for his own clan to become first-rate as well, which meant he had to become stronger and lead his clan to greater strength.
But now, he felt that even being a first-rate clan was not all that great.
As long as they followed Jiang Tang with abundant resources and high abilities, wouldn’t they become stronger and attain even higher status?
Since his clan had followed Jiang Tang, the younger generation had improved a great deal.
This time, returning home, they brought back many pills and cultivation manuals for their relatives.
The rise of their two clans, alongside the Jiang Family, had already made another clan, the Huang Family, feel the crisis.
Recently in Immortal Lord City, there had been mysterious incidents of outsiders being robbed or killed.
All the clans were investigating, but no evidence had been found yet to prove the Huang Family was behind it.
After learning of this, Lai Jianlin had no time to investigate; even during his two days back home, he was preoccupied with his own affairs.
When they later went out to procure magical treasures, they discovered some people sneakily following them.