Fengyu’s following days passed by like a whirlwind. The hospital became busier because people started coming for every small ailment to always be in top condition, leading Fengyu to believe that many citizens already gained a part of the information - at least they should know that the Beast Tide would happen in a few months.

The specifics of this Beast Tide weren’t revealed, else Fengyu didn’t believe that so many people would stay in the city instead of leaving to hide for a year or two.

On the first day after he got the news, when he went to the hospital, the director also wanted to warn him and ask him whether he would be willing to stay in the hospital during the Beast Tide - and that the hospital would ensure his safety, etc.

Fengyu didn’t have to think for long before he rejected it. After all, who knew how safe it would really be? Rather than putting his safety into another person’s hands, someone who might even be among those saboteurs or opportunists, he’d rather protect himself against enemies.

The hospital director only asked Fengyu to come to the hospital right after the Beast Tide to help cure the barrage of people at that point.

Of course Fengyu wouldn’t reject this. As for his disappearance during the Beast Tide? Even if there’s a contract, it can be breached. Cultivators value their lives above all else. If the hospital really attempted to force his stay, then just tomorrow, hundreds of doctors would leave the hospital.

What need is there to stick to a place that doesn’t value your contributions?

...

A small paper crane arrived in front of Fengyu’s field, tapping the formation lightly to announce its entry.

"Quack?" Wind Claw quacked at the crane. Seeing it didn’t come down, he simply jumped, his steps extremely strong as they pushed him to the sky, where he grabbed the crane with his bill.

He rushed into the field with the crane.

Fengyu saw this scene when he was casually looking over the twins’ experimentation. Over the last few weeks, the twins’ obsession with understanding their inspiration grew. Now that they had an inheritance, their minds overflowed with various ideas.

"Hmm?" Fengyu looked at the crane, curious about what it was about.

Just then, when the crane felt his aura, it flew out of Wind Claw’s bill!

Its wings flapped into the sky, and yet with each flap it seemed to unfold. Finally, the whole crane became a piece of paper.

"What an ingenious creation," Fengyu exclaimed, reaching out to read the content on the paper. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

A moment later, he understood - this letter was sent by Liling, inviting him to the gathering today in the evening. He and one of the twins should come over so they could go together.

Reading this, Fengyu remembered once more... right... there was only one spot for the twins, not two. Then... who would go?

Never mind - he shook the thought out of his mind. The twins could decide it on their own.

"Ling, Ming, the invitation is here. Today we’ll go to the auction," he called out, pulling them from their reverie.

Ming nodded and stood up while Ling was still focused on the clouds.

"Oh? You’ll be going?" Fengyu asked in surprise. Wasn’t Ling the one always handling these matters? How come it would be Ming this time?

Ming explained right away, "Sister and I decided to change things a bit. From now on, she will take care of our field while I will handle trading and other matters..."

"Why is that?" Fengyu was curious about this sudden switch in roles.

"Brother was clueless the past few times when we discussed trading and other matters. Afterward he asked me to learn more, so he wouldn’t embarrass senior brother... later we realised that although being specialised is good, one can’t have no clue at all.

All this time, Ming fully managed our field, so I never really thought about it. When we switched roles, I gained more insight into this and realised that I could possibly use this insight for when I later specialise in trading," Ling explained her position.

"And when I started looking into trades, I got a better overview of the market, allowing me to make better plans for my management," Ming also told him of his experiences.

"That’s good - the proper way of cultivation is a balanced approach. No one says you have to be good at everything, but you can’t be bad at something. You can be good at planting, but you can’t be bad at selling your plants. After all, if you’re really bad at that, won’t that lead to you putting in twice the effort for half the reward? That would really be a waste of time."

Fengyu had his own insight into this. To be honest, the first time he suggested this division of labour, nearly thirty years ago, he didn’t think these two would take it so seriously and never switch. Later on he neglected it... after all, he wasn’t them, so how could he know everything?

Now it seems that meddling too much is not good. Just giving them directions and the tools to improve is the best way to teach someone... at least the best way to teach talented people.

Having taken care of this, Fengyu walked to the side and discussed with Ming their plan for this auction.

He told him directly, "This time I am planning to buy at least one secondary formation we can power with spirit stones. The field’s own formation is rather basic - defending against a few beasts would be fine, and against one or two waves would also be fine, but defending for the whole Beast Tide isn’t safe enough. My own budget is quite high - 500,000 spirit stones. So, if I get this formation, lending you some stones would be fine."

Except for the formation, he could also directly purchase gear for the ducks. After all, up to now, all his gear was only for himself while his ducks had to fight with their bodies.

Whether it would work and whether there were such items, he’d have to see. For now, his main goal would be the formation.