CHAPTER 134: 134- CULTIVATION CAVE [2]

Then, with a fluid motion that seemed entirely natural, Fang Yuan subtly focused inward, summoning the system interface only he could perceive.

To Felicia and Joshua, he simply paused, his gaze turning momentarily distant, a faint, knowing curve still playing on his lips.

The two attendants exchanged a brief, silent glance but remained respectfully still, accustomed to their Clan Head’s moments of contemplation.

Fang Yuan navigated the ethereal menus with practiced ease, bypassing stats and logs to land squarely in the Faith Shop.

His eyes scanned the options before settling on the item:

[Minor Resource Well] – 100 FP

Create a spiritual spring in designated land. Enhances cultivation speed in a small area.

Perfect. The missing piece for the clustered caves.

A slow, satisfied smile spread across his face, brighter and more purposeful than the polite one before.

He closed the interface and refocused on the skeptical elder.

"Come, come, Elder Joshua," Fang Yuan beckoned, his voice now laced with playful anticipation.

He gestured towards the dense cluster of cave entrances.

"Don’t just stand there looking like you’ve swallowed a particularly sour spirit plum. Let me show you why empty holes can be... profitable investments. Prepare for a little demonstration of black magic."

A glint flickered in Fang Yuan’s eyes, part challenge, part secret delight inviting Elder Joshua to bear witness as folly bloomed into foresight.

"Come. Follow me," he said, turning with casual authority as his robes stirred the dust.

A quiet smile tugged at his lips as he walked, recalling the shimmering figure glowing in his mind’s eye:

13,500 Faith Points.

A staggering sum.

It pulsed like captured starlight behind his gaze, radiant and heavy with possibility, as he approached the clustered mouths of the newly carved cultivation caves.

Felicia glided a precise step behind, her presence a silent shadow absorbing every detail.

Elder Joshua matched his stride, radiating a palpable aura of skepticism barely contained by duty, his thin lips pressed into a tight line.

As they rounded a large, moss-streaked boulder near the edge of the ravine, Elder Sun bustled into view, his round face crinkling beneath a wispy beard like a cheerful harvest moon.

"Clan Head! Joshua!" he called out, his voice booming with warmth and echoing faintly off the stone walls.

Reaching them with surprising energy, he spotted Felicia and brightened further. "Ah, it’s the little girl! How are you?"

Felicia offered a courteous smile, bowing slightly. "I’m well, thank you, Elder Sun."

He chuckled. "Good, good."

Then, with a glance between the others, he asked, "So, where are you all headed?"

Fang Yuan answered easily, "The cultivation caves. They’re finally completef so I’m going over to add the finishing touch."

"Ah, the ones old Joshua here kept muttering were a waste of resources," Elder Sun said with a grin, elbowing the other elder. "Mind if an old man tags along to see this so-called waste?"

He winked, mischief twinkling in his eyes and aimed squarely at Joshua, who replied only with a grunt and a beard-ruffling flick of his fingers.

"I’m sure you’ll have plenty to say," Joshua muttered under his breath.

Fang Yuan smiled, eyes glinting faintly.

"Of course, Elder Sun, you’re welcome to come with us."

They arrived at the central clearing, where the dense array of cave mouths yawned open before them, dark and still, like silent eyes watching from the stone.

The air here was cooler, heavier, thick with the scent of moss and still earth.

Fang Yuan came to a quiet stop, his gaze sweeping over the terrain but his mind turned inward.

He said nothing.

Without a word, he opened the system interface within his consciousness.

The familiar golden screen shimmered into view, welcoming him with that faint, almost divine hum.

His focus narrowed to the Faith Shop.

With practiced ease, he navigated the list, eyes locking onto the entry he wanted: Minor Resource Well.

He selected a location inside one of the caves, just deep enough for seclusion, yet close enough for convenience.

Cost: 100 Faith Points.

A single thought confirmed the choice.

Instantly, the points vanished and the air directly in front of the central cave entrance shimmered.

Not with heat haze, but with a sudden, viscous concentration of spiritual essence, thickening the light.

The earth itself seemed to breathe, a soft, subterranean sigh.

With a gentle pop like a cork releasing, and a rush of cool, ozone-scented air that lifted the hairs on their arms, a small, perfectly circular wellspring bubbled into existence.

Crystal-clear water, faintly luminous like liquid moonlight, welled up, filling a simple stone basin that hadn’t been there a heartbeat before.

A gentle, pervasive energy radiated from it, immediately thickening the ambient Qi into something almost syrupy.

"HOW?!" The raw exclamation tore from both elders simultaneously.

Elder Sun’s jaw dropped open, slack as an unhinged gate, his eyes bulging.

Elder Joshua stumbled back a full step, his weathered face blanching bone-white beneath his tan, disbelief warping his features as he frantically scanned the unbroken ground where solid earth had just been.

"Clan Head! What... what manner of... sorcery is this?" His voice rasped, thin with shock.

Fang Yuan chuckled, a low, rumbling sound of deep satisfaction.

"Consider it a Fang Yuan secret, Elders," he said, his eyes glinting with dangerous amusement.

"One must always keep a few aces up the sleeve. Never know when someone might try to impeach a Clan Head over... say... building empty holes in mountains."

Elder Joshua’s face drained of every last drop of color so fast Felicia instinctively shifted her weight, ready to intervene.

"C-CLAN HEAD!" he spluttered, his voice cracking like dry kindling.

He waved his hands frantically before him, fingers clawing at the air as if trying to physically shred the very notion.

"Impeach you? Preposterous! Utter madness! Look!" He jabbed a trembling finger first at his own chest, then at the still-stunned Elder Sun.

"We’re barely scratching Qi Transformation! Dust beneath the chariot wheels! You stand at the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul realm! Who in their right mind...? Who would even dare...?"