The morning sun cast long shadows as Li Xuan and Qing'er emerged from the secret vault. Qing'er, her arm still slightly stiff but no longer contorted in agony, carried a small, empty water bottle from the system's provisions. Li Xuan had already had his modest breakfast, the System's bread surprisingly filling, and felt a surge of renewed energy. His Qi Condensation was slow but steady, a faint warmth in his Dantian confirming he was still diligently practicing the Lesser Qi Gathering Manual. He was still far from a breakthrough, firmly in the Body Tempering Realm (Stage 1), but he could feel the subtle shift.
"Alright, Qing'er," Li Xuan announced, looking at the overgrown expanse of the sect's outer grounds. "Today, we start the farm."
Qing'er nodded, her young eyes wide with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. "But... we don't have any hoes or shovels, Sect Leader Li Xuan," she observed, stating the obvious with a practicality that grounded Li Xuan's grand plans.
Li Xuan sighed. Right. Basic farming tools. He couldn't just summon them from the System, it wasn't that generous. He needed to find them, or make them. He pulled up the Basic Farming & Gathering Manual in his mind. It showed diagrams of simple wooden plows, crude shovels, and even basic rakes made from branches.
"You're right," he admitted. "First, we need to find some suitable wood for tools. And maybe some metal if we're lucky." He scanned the immediate area. The surrounding forest, while dense, had a lot of fallen timber. "Let's head towards the edge of the forest. We need strong branches, maybe even some large roots."
They walked towards the southern perimeter of the sect grounds, where the forest began to merge with the overgrown fields. The ground was uneven, covered in thickets and thorny bushes. Li Xuan kept an eye out, not just for materials, but for anything edible. He was still worried about when the System's weekly food supply would run out.
As they approached a cluster of particularly thick, ancient-looking trees, Li Xuan spotted something. Half-buried in the damp earth, covered in moss and leaves, was a dark, rusted lump of metal. He knelt, scraping away the dirt with his bare hands. It was heavy, and cold, and distinctly man-made.
"What is it, Sect Leader?" Qing'er asked, peering over his shoulder.
He pulled it free. It was a crude, heavy hoe head, made of thick, dark iron. Rusted, certainly, but solid. And next to it, partially visible, was another one. And then a dull, metal blade, shaped like a small shovel. Someone had clearly abandoned these tools long ago, perhaps fleeing the sect during its decline.
"Bingo!" Li Xuan exclaimed, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. "This is what we need! A hoe, and a small shovel head! Just needs some handles."
He looked around, and not far off, lying perfectly straight amongst some tangled vines, was a sturdy, thick branch, roughly the length of a shovel handle, and another, slightly shorter but equally strong, that would serve well for a hoe. Luck, it seemed, was still playing a minor role in his new life.
"Qing'er, can you help me clear some of these smaller branches away?" Li Xuan asked, picking up the shovel head. He still didn't have a knife, so fashioning the handles would be tricky. He tried to chip at one end of the thicker branch with the sharp edge of the hoe head, but it was awkward and ineffective.
"System," he thought again, a little exasperated. "Any suggestions for basic crafting? Or a 'Basic Woodworking Manual'?"
The blue box shimmered.
[New Task Generated!]
[Objective: Craft 3 Basic Farming Tools (Hoe, Shovel, Rake).]
[Reward: Basic Forging & Crafting Manual (Common Grade), 10 Low-Grade Iron Ore.]
Li Xuan's eyes widened. "Seriously? You're rewarding me for doing what I was going to do anyway?" This was brilliant. The System was anticipating his needs and guiding his progression path. And a Basic Forging & Crafting Manual would be invaluable. That meant making his own tools, and eventually, maybe even weapons or armor.
"Okay, Qing'er," he said, turning back to the girl. "New plan. We need to find a way to sharpen these, and attach them to these handles. And we need to make a rake." He pointed to the thick branch. "But first, we bring these back."
They gathered the rusty tool heads and the sturdy branches, and headed back towards the sect. Li Xuan decided the safest place to work on them would be the vault. It was secure, and quiet.
Back in the main hall, Li Xuan looked at the stone tablet, then at the entrance to the vault. He still had his Verdant Qi Pill and Falling Leaf Spirit Sword in his Sect Inventory. He was itching to try the sword, but he knew he wasn't strong enough. He needed to progress through the Body Tempering Realm and into Qi Condensation before he could truly wield its power. His cultivation was a slow burn, a steady internal process, not a sudden burst. He knew he needed to reach Body Tempering Realm (Stage 2), then Stage 3, and so on, before reaching the Qi Condensation Realm. The thought of that being a 'breakthrough' reward was intriguing.
He spent the rest of the day in the vault, with Qing'er often cultivating quietly beside him. He retrieved the Basic Forging & Crafting Manual into his mind. It was filled with schematics, techniques for shaping wood, working with basic metals, and even rudimentary blacksmithing. It detailed how to make charcoal for a hotter fire, how to create a basic anvil from a large stone, and how to use friction to generate heat for hardening metal. This was incredibly practical.
He couldn't do any serious forging yet, as he lacked a proper forge or materials beyond the tool heads, but he could certainly start shaping the wood. He found a rough stone from the courtyard and used it to abrade the ends of the branches, slowly shaping them to fit into the rusted tool heads. It was painfully slow work, his hands growing sore, but with the detailed instructions from the manual, he was confident he could make them work.
Qing'er, after a few hours of cultivation, roused herself. The jade glow from her arm was now almost imperceptible, but she moved with less stiffness. She was clearly making progress. "Sect Leader Li Xuan," she said, her voice clearer now, "I feel... stronger. And less tired."
Li Xuan grinned. "That's the Qi, Qing'er. You're building your foundation. How about we work on the tools together?"
He showed her how to use the rough stone to scrape the wood, guiding her small hands. She was surprisingly quick to learn, her nimble fingers adapting to the task. Together, they slowly began to make progress.
As darkness fell, Li Xuan looked at their rudimentary tools. The hoe and shovel heads were now firmly, if imperfectly, attached to their wooden handles. He'd even managed to whittle down some smaller branches and tie them together with tough vines to form a crude rake, following the manual's instructions. They weren't pretty, but they were functional.
[Objective: Craft 3 Basic Farming Tools (Hoe, Shovel, Rake) Complete!]
[Reward: Basic Forging & Crafting Manual (Common Grade), 10 Low-Grade Iron Ore acquired!]
The chime echoed in his mind again, a welcome sound. The Basic Forging & Crafting Manual was now fully ingrained, and he had 10 Low-Grade Iron Ore in his inventory. This was the first raw material he'd received from the System, a crucial step towards making better tools, and potentially even weapons.
"Alright, Qing'er," Li Xuan said, a genuine sense of accomplishment in his voice as he looked at their handmade tools. "Tomorrow, we begin the farm. We'll clear a small plot, near the stream I think. And we'll use that Basic Farming & Gathering Manual to its fullest."
He looked out from the main hall towards the dark, silent expanse of the dilapidated sect grounds. The air was cool, carrying the scent of damp earth and distant, unknown foliage. He was still in the Body Tempering Realm (Stage 1), barely strong enough to swing a hoe properly, but with Qing'er making swift progress and a functional set of tools, his grand vision for the Falling Leaf Sect felt a little less impossible. The journey from gamer to sect leader was definitely a grind, but the rewards were starting to feel incredibly real.