The five disciples selected to draft the construction plan also became the leadership team for the building task. After completing their plan, they showed the blueprint to all the new disciples.
The plan was simple: they would enclose a large courtyard on the flat ground near the Cultivation Hall. Inside, they would divide it into 22 smaller courtyards, each with six rooms and a deep water pool. Each room would be around 12 square meters, and each person would have their own room, ensuring that all 132 disciples would be accommodated.
As for the shared water pool in each courtyard, the six residents would take turns fetching water together. Given that they were on a mountain, digging wells would be difficult. Elder Hu had suggested fetching water daily, saying it would also help them train their bodies. Fortunately, there was a small pond nearby, so fetching water wouldn't be too exhausting.
Once the overall plan was set, it was time to begin the actual work.
The first step in construction was gathering materials.
With Hu Liang's guidance, the five-person team quickly learned how to calculate the required materials. They were smart and figured out the calculations in no time. Precision wasn't the main concern—they just needed rough estimates to get the work started. Fine-tuning could be done as the construction progressed.
When the material gathering tasks were assigned to the new disciples, they all set to work.
The group consisted of both young and old, but most were in their youth or early adulthood—the prime working age. Additionally, the Miscellaneous Hall had provided each of them with a storage pouch specifically for carrying soil and stones, making the material collection process relatively smooth.
The stronger disciples helped the weaker ones, while the younger disciples, though not as strong, had abundant energy and handled the running around. The older and frailer disciples contributed by managing communication and record-keeping.
Everyone was focused on doing what they could, and not a single person tried to slack off.
Liu Yunan, who had been using a concealment technique to observe from the sidelines, felt deeply impressed.
The new disciples selected through the Path of Heart truly had excellent character.
These disciples were in a different situation from him and Lin Xiao. They had grown up together, enduring trials for over a decade. But these new disciples had only known each other for two or three days.
While the new disciples were busy with construction, the more experienced members of the sect weren't idle either.
Every night, Jiang Youfu would prepare a delicious dinner for the new disciples. The meals were placed in large bowls and transported to the construction site using a flying basket. Liu Shengsheng would often help as well, distributing the food to each person.
After a long day of hard work, the new disciples would eagerly bring their cleaned meal boxes to receive their food, contentedly enjoying their well-earned meal.
Meanwhile, the increased number of mouths to feed put pressure on the spirit fields. Though their output had significantly improved over the past three years, the fields couldn't sustain unrestricted consumption. To conserve seeds, most meals still consisted of ordinary rice. Spirit rice was only served on special occasions or when everyone was present.
However, with the arrival of new disciples, it was important to provide them with better food. Lin Lao Ye (Old Master Lin) reluctantly allowed Jiang Youfu to mix spirit rice with ordinary rice for the new disciples' dinners. Though the elders were pained by the expenditure, they unanimously agreed that the new disciples should be fed well, at least for now.
As a result, the spirit field workers became even more diligent, even opening new fields to increase their yield.
To boost productivity, the Four Arts Halls were also busier than ever. Lin Lao Ye frequently visited, urging the disciples to produce more formation tools and talismans for farming. He also kept an eye out for any new developments that might help improve crop yields.
He even paid a visit to the Alchemy Room, where he patted Sun Yigao on the shoulder and said, "Sun lad, why are these pills only for people? How about you figure out something for the plants too?"
Sun Yigao, intrigued, began researching the idea, flipping through books and drafting a few simple pill formulas to experiment with.
When Liao Pantu heard about this, he hurried over to the Alchemy Room. Initially, he intended to tell Sun Yigao not to take Old Master Lin's suggestions too seriously. However, after seeing his disciple enthusiastically present his research, complete with a demonstration of a half-finished pill, Liao Pantu swallowed his words.
The two of them then holed up in the Alchemy Room, diving into their research. Even when it was their turn to lecture the new disciples, Liu Yunan had to go to the Alchemy Room to drag them out.
Aside from spirit rice, the second most-consumed resource was spirit beast meat. No one knew what Lin Lao Ye said to Xiao Luan, but the usually stingy Xiao Luan had become unusually generous when it came to providing meat for the new disciples' meals.
This surprised Jiang Chengtian, who normally had to negotiate for ages to get enough meat from the Beast Garden. He even tried to take advantage of Xiao Luan's good mood to request extra, but Xiao Luan, who had carefully calculated the amount needed for each meal, gave him no more than the exact amount required.
As expected, Jiang Chengtian's plan fell through.
Meanwhile, the Finance Hall remained as busy as ever. Lingxian Sect maintained steady trade relations with both the mortal and cultivation worlds. However, with the number of disciples increasing, future expenses would also rise. Qin Jianghe continued to secure their existing trade routes while exploring ways to expand their business.
He had been expecting a response from the royal family about reaching out to foreign nations, and though such things took time, he felt a reply should be arriving soon.
Anyone not currently engaged in other tasks was quickly pulled into helping either the spirit field workers or the Miscellaneous Hall. Even the usually idle Fang Tuantuan was brought in to help with farming.
For the first time, it seemed like no one in the entire Lingxian Sect had a moment to spare.
Even Lin Xiao, the sect master, remembered some unfinished tasks from before his recent seclusion after a few days of overseeing everything.
He locked himself in a small room in the Refining Hall, working nonstop for days. Even Lin Yun, who spent most of his time in the Refining Hall, had no idea what Lin Xiao was up to.
However, despite Lin Xiao not emerging from his workshop, he never missed a single meal prepared by Jiang Youfu for dinner.