Chapter 8 Yuheng's Help

After silently grumbling for a while at the entrance, Li Chang'an clicked into Weige, a network platform commonly used by people from Xia.

However, he did not find his name on the trending topics list.

It seems that this "attention from many people" is not yet at the level of trending on social media.

Or perhaps it was already trending on social media, but the peak of discussion has passed.

Li Chang'an then went to check out "Fangcun," a platform frequently used by cultivators.

Compared to the myriad functions of WeGe, Fangcun is very simple, with only three functions: a homepage for cultivators to communicate, a cultivation news section where you can find messages from the official accounts of various sects, and a scripture pavilion containing basic cultivation techniques and the history of the Cangxuan Realm.

Li Chang'an saw his name floating on the homepage.

[The new master of Xuanling Immortal Mountain: Li Chang'an.]

Clicking on it revealed his personal profile.

Fortunately, it was the kind of information that can be easily found online.

Li Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief.

He scrolled down to read the monks' discussion.

In reality, most cultivators appear to be unapproachable or detached from the mortal world, but online, they are actually no different from ordinary netizens.

Li Chang'an was born with a solitary fate, devoid of relatives and friends. He was destined for poverty, a life without wealth, and a short life. Yet, such a wretched destiny managed to gain the favor of the sacred mountain.

Perhaps he accumulated great merit in his past life, and this is his reward in this one. Has anyone calculated his past life?

[What a joke! With such a lack of spiritual energy, what fortune teller could possibly predict past lives?]

[Is Tianxuan Star Lord any good? He's at the seventh level of the Golden Core stage, cultivates arithmetic, and as one of the Seven Stars of the Alliance, he can also utilize the power of constellations.]

Even if we could foresee it, given Tianxuan Xingjun's temperament, he would never tell us.

Li Chang'an didn't continue reading, figuring it would all be the same: surprise, dissatisfaction, and doubt.

If he didn't know he was the reincarnation of a god, he would also wonder how he was the one who inherited the immortal mountain.

He then clicked on the cultivation news and saw the pinned news about Xuanling Immortal Mountain.

Has the spiritual energy of Xuanling Immortal Mountain been lost?

Li Chang'an's eyes widened slightly.

Cultivation relies on spiritual energy, and if the spiritual energy here is scarce, how could he cultivate so quickly?

The golden particles in the basic manual told him that he was now at the second stage of Qi Refining.

Li Chang'an knew that the spiritual energy in the Cangxuan Realm was scarce. It would take cultivators two years to reach the second stage of Qi Refining, and even the most talented geniuses would need at least a month.

But he did it in just three days.

Li Chang'an didn't believe he was some kind of genius who could cultivate so quickly.

After all, he had no spiritual roots and couldn't even sense whether there was spiritual energy in the immortal mountain.

Therefore, this must be because he was the Boundless God in his previous life.

Let him inherit the sacred mountain, farm and raise pigs, and access the snow mountain cave that can only be entered after ascending to immortality...

Surely it's not about making him the world's number one cultivator, far surpassing all others, and then letting him put on airs, is it?

There may indeed be another hidden mission.

But so what? There's no going back now.

He always takes things one step at a time, and the distant future is not something he needs to worry about too much.

He just needs to farm and raise pigs to pay off his debts and be able to survive.

Li Chang'an put away his phone, took a long breath, and went back to the field to turn the soil with Hei Jian.

Since things have come to this, let's start farming.

*

After turning over three acres of land, Li Chang'an soaked the seeds in a fungal solution and picked out the empty, flat, and rotten seeds.

Before planting rice, the fields need to be soaked, and a considerable amount of water is required to soak one acre of land.

Li Chang'an looked at Ningjing River.

Between these thirty acres of land and the Ningjing River, there is a large stretch of rocky riverbank. It would take forever to fetch enough water by bucket, and digging a ditch would also take a long time. The only solution is to buy a water pump.

Since there was no electricity in the mountain, Li Chang'an bought a diesel-powered water pump.

He had just finished paying when he heard a shout coming from outside the entrance to the immortal mountain:

"Li Chang'an! I know you're inside. I'm a reporter from Weige. Would you like to be interviewed?"

"Li Chang'an, after so many years of bad luck, Xuanling Immortal Mountain has finally recognized you as its master. What are your thoughts on this? What do you plan to do on the immortal mountain?"

"Hey, what's wrong with your Qingfeng Sect? I'm not a bad person, and this Xuanling Immortal Mountain doesn't belong to you. Li Chang'an hasn't even said anything yet."

Li Chang'an couldn't see outside and didn't know what had happened.

But he guessed from the reporter's words that Xie Kuling had already sent people from the Qingfeng Sect to guard outside the immortal mountain, preventing those miscellaneous people from entering.

I didn't expect them to act so quickly.

Li Chang'an was lost in thought for a moment when the reporter's shouts came from outside again:

"Hey, don't touch my camera! Do you know how expensive this camera is? Is this how you Qingfeng Sect people treat reporters?!"

"I'm going to expose you all online, and see who dares to visit your Qingfeng Sect again!"

This shamelessness...

Li Chang'an knew what kind of people these entertainment reporters were. Even if the Qingfeng faction hadn't touched his camera, he would definitely find a way to frame him and then use subtle language to incite conflict online.

The Qingfeng Sect has helped him for so long, he can't cause them any trouble.

“I’m here,” Li Chang’an replied. “I did inherit Xuanling Immortal Mountain. I don’t have any particular feelings about it. I plan to farm and raise pigs here.”

"Huh?!" The reporter outside was clearly shocked.

Li Chang'an frowned again and said, "The questions you wanted to ask already have answers, enough for you to write about, right?"

The fact that he inherited a sacred mountain but could only think of farming and raising pigs was shocking enough, achieving the goal that entertainment reporters wanted to achieve in attracting attention.

"Uh, and also, those online discussions..."

The entertainment reporter's voice grew fainter and fainter; he was probably being dragged away.

Li Chang'an sighed.

He's gained popularity recently, and there will only be more and more entertainment reporters like him. It's not good to rely solely on the Qingfeng faction to keep an eye on things.

Just a few days ago, Li Chang'an would have been eager for him to gain popularity, since he was an actor and popularity meant he could make money.

But he's no longer in the entertainment industry, and this buzz will only cause trouble for him and the Qingfeng faction.

If only there were a way to restrict access to the entrance to the immortal mountain.

But after the mantis demon came that night, he asked the "Basic Manual of Xuanling Immortal Mountain," and the golden particles did not give him an answer.

Otherwise, why not try what Senior Blade Spirit said and send them all out?

Li Chang'an raised his hand and rubbed his temples.

——

That afternoon, the entertainment reporter went back and compiled the day's interview into a news article, which was then posted on Weibo.

Li Chang'an guessed correctly; his answer had achieved the effect the entertainment reporter wanted to achieve in attracting attention.

The phrase "Li Chang'an said he wanted to farm and raise pigs on Xuanling Immortal Mountain" quickly gained popularity.

Wait! What did Li Chang'an say he was going to do on the Immortal Mountain?

[Farming and raising pigs?! He used such a beautiful, sacred mountain for farming and pig raising?!]

[I thought he was going to develop real estate. I even had a name in mind: Fairy Mountain Garden. The scenery in Fairy Mountain must be beautiful, and it's located in a secluded paradise, so it could fetch a high price. I never imagined all he could think of was farming and raising pigs. His vision is as narrow as I expected.]

Li Chang'an is like a poor man who suddenly becomes rich; no matter how much wealth he has, he will eventually squander it all.

This starkly contrasting topic quickly climbed to the bottom of the trending searches thanks to spontaneous discussions among netizens.

On this small platform, someone also copied and pasted that press release.

What are your thoughts?

Even though the spiritual energy of Xuanling Immortal Mountain has been lost, it was once the most spiritually rich secret realm. Perhaps if we can find a way to restore its spiritual energy? So, we'll just farm and raise pigs...

[What a waste! What a waste! We request the Cultivation Alliance to reclaim the immortal mountain! If the Boundless God were alive, he would surely not tolerate his immortal mountain and cave dwelling being ruined like this by a mortal.]

Perhaps some relics of a deity remain in the Mysterious Spirit Immortal Mountain? Wouldn't it be better to have this mortal hand them over to the immortal mountain and contribute to the cultivation world?

Regardless of his past life's merits, his current incompetence is enough; why should the immortal mountain recognize him as its master?

[Uh, I was one of those people who entered Xuanling Immortal Mountain that day. Just a heads-up, Xuanling Immortal Mountain was originally supposed to be destroyed and disappear like other secret realms. It was only preserved because it recognized him as its master... In other words, if Li Chang'an dies, Xuanling Immortal Mountain will also disappear.]

We're not going to kill him, we just want to stop him from farming and raising pigs on the sacred mountain.

If they want to farm or raise pigs... they'll have to wait until they're sure there are no more spiritual creatures in the immortal mountain...

This is clearly the opinion of most cultivators.

For a mortal to inherit a sacred mountain and then merely use it for farming and raising pigs is undoubtedly a provocation to these cultivators.

More and more people were dissatisfied, and the voices that thought Li Chang'an's actions were inappropriate grew louder. By evening, many cultivators began leaving messages on the official account of the Cultivation Alliance, demanding that they come out and make a statement.

There are too many messages to ignore; the Cultivation Alliance cannot simply pretend they didn't see them.

Therefore, early the next morning, Yuheng arrived at the entrance of Xuanling Immortal Mountain.

——

Before Yuheng arrived, Li Chang'an was cutting pig feed.

The sword spirit, which had disappeared for three days, reappeared, and Li Chang'an asked the question that had been troubling him all day.

"Senior, is there any way to restrict access to the immortal mountain?"

He regretted asking the question immediately. If there really was such a method, the Sword Spirit senior would have told him long ago.

"No." As expected, that was the answer.

Li Chang'an looked disappointed.

The sword spirit then said, "After the gods and immortals who created these blessed lands fall, these blessed lands will, like other secret realms, open and close in cycles."

"How long is the cycle of Xuanling Immortal Mountain?" Li Chang'an asked.

“Xuanling Immortal Mountain should have disappeared, but it has been preserved because of your inheritance. Unless you die, Xuanling Immortal Mountain will not close.”

He glanced at Li Chang'an, who was frowning, and said, "However, we can set up an array outside the entrance to the immortal mountain. The array barrier can play a part in blocking the way."

An array was set up outside the immortal mountain... but he couldn't go out, and he hadn't learned how to set up arrays yet.

Li Chang'an frowned, silently tied up the pig feed, and carried it on his back.

Inside the pigpen, the three piglets were in much better spirits and were grunting and squealing.

Li Chang'an threw the pig feed into the pen and heard a sound coming from the bamboo grove:

"Mr. Li, Yuheng from the Cultivation Alliance has come to pay a visit."

Cultivation Alliance?

Li Chang'an patted the bits of grass off his hands and arrived at the entrance to the immortal mountain with some confusion.

"Please come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sword spirit slowly landed beside him, using the black sword as a chair, and sat down with an air of grandeur.

A bright, seven-colored light flashed at the entrance to the immortal mountain, and a young man slowly walked in.

Li Chang'an recognized him as the person at the very front of the group of cultivators when he arrived at the Immortal Mountain that day.

Yuheng clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Greetings, Mr. Li."

With a gentle smile on his face, he said, "It's been six years. How have you been?"

Six years...

Li Chang'an suddenly opened his eyes wide.

The figure in front of me overlapped with the figure backed by the firelight, except that the other person had long hair, while the one in front of me had short hair.

“It’s you.”

The sword spirit beside him glanced over: "You know him?"

"Hmm." Li Chang'an lowered his eyes. "We met once six years ago."

Yuheng said, "I recognized you the moment I saw you on the Immortal Mountain that day. It's just a pity that I didn't have a chance to speak with you."

He was then kicked out by the sword spirit.

The sword spirit stared straight at Yuheng without looking to the side.

Yuheng's smile remained unchanged.

Li Chang'an touched his temples somewhat awkwardly.

"I'm surprised you even remembered me."

Unexpectedly, this person was Yuheng of the Cultivation Alliance—a member of the Alliance's Seven Stars, whom the cultivators all called Star Lord.

It is said that the Seven Stars of the Alliance are chosen by the power of the stars, and in the Cangxuan Realm where spiritual energy is scarce, they are considered to have exceptional talent.

That's right, the only ones capable of sealing such a monster are probably the Seven Stars of the Alliance.

Li Chang'an then asked, "Is there anything I can do for you today?"

Yuheng paused, considering his words, "I came here to ask—are you sure you want to farm and raise pigs here?"

He told me about what happened last night.

"I'm really sorry, but your farming and pig raising business has had a huge impact. The cultivators want an explanation, and as the representative of the alliance, I have no choice but to make this trip."

I never expected that an interview by that entertainment reporter yesterday would cause such a huge chain reaction!

Li Chang'an's pupils dilated in shock, and he felt a sense of panic.

He hadn't expected the cultivators to react so strongly to his plan to farm and raise pigs, even though they knew he hadn't reacted this way when he inherited the immortal mountain.

Is it because they see farming and raising pigs as a waste of resources?

The intrusion of entertainment reporters had a certain impact on Qingfeng faction.

If the cultivators came to the Qingfeng Sect en masse, it would bring them enormous trouble.

The Qingfeng Sect members definitely couldn't stop so many cultivators.

But farming and raising pigs were the missions left to him by the Boundless God in his reincarnation, and he couldn't refuse to do them.

Li Chang'an swayed precariously: "Confirmed."

He had a bit of a headache: "I did it voluntarily."

Actually, no, the sword was already at his neck.

Yuheng remained silent, glancing at Li Chang'an and then at the sword spirit sitting beside him, who, though silent, possessed a strong presence.

However, why does Li Chang'an look like he's about to break?

“Okay.” Yuheng’s tone remained gentle.

He looked at Li Chang'an, who looked troubled, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Actually... since Xuanling Immortal Mountain has recognized you as its master, you can decide what you want to do in the immortal mountain."

The cultivators did that simply because they thought Li Chang'an, a mere mortal, was easy to bully, and they also coveted the spiritual treasures in the immortal mountain.

"Even if you don't intend to farm or raise pigs, ... a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

Li Chang'an looked at Yuheng.

How could he not understand this principle?

When he first learned that he had inherited the immortal mountain, his reasons for wanting to refuse were not only that he felt it was a waste, but also that he felt it would be troublesome.

Now, trouble is brewing.

But... if all the cultivators think that way, then he simply doesn't want to refuse anymore!

Li Chang'an clenched his fist tightly.

He stared at Yuheng, his expression serious. "Does the alliance think I should hand over Xuanling Immortal Mountain?"

Seeing his tense and ready-to-fight demeanor, Yuheng sighed inwardly.

He said gently, "No."

Li Chang'an was taken aback, and his fist loosened slightly.

Yuheng chuckled, "The meaning of the Seven Stars Alliance is that you have the final say."

Moreover, even if they wanted Li Chang'an to hand over the Immortal Mountain, the sword spirit beside him would not agree.

The other cultivators were unaware of the sword spirit's identity, but the Seven Stars of the Alliance were.

"Also, the reason I came here this time is actually to give you something."

Yuheng stretched out his hand, and a jade-green brocade pouch appeared in his palm.

The brocade bag was opened, and a small mirror, about the size of a palm, flew out.

"This item is called the Clear Mirror, and it can be embedded in the entrance to the Immortal Mountain. From now on, you will be able to see the scenery outside the entrance to the Immortal Mountain from here."

Li Chang'an was completely dazed.

He didn't expect that the Jade Balance Star Lord would come here not with malice, but also to give him something.

This caught him somewhat off guard.

The function of the clear mirror is similar to that of a peephole on a door, right?

Yuheng turned around and sent the Tongqing Mirror into the gate of seven-colored light.

The seven-colored light shone brightly, the ball of light expanded, and then the scenery outside appeared at its center.

This was the first time Li Chang'an had seen what the entrance to the immortal mountain looked like.

Unexpectedly, the entrance to the immortal mountain was located in the center of a clear pool, with people from the Qingfeng Sect standing by the pool.

No wonder the Qingfeng Sect members always had wet hems on their robes when they entered the immortal mountain.

We waded through the water, of course we got wet.

However, this Clear Mirror is truly a good thing; in the future, he will be able to see what kind of people want to enter the Immortal Mountain.

Seeing and not seeing are different. Seeing allows you to be mentally prepared for what comes in; not seeing is like opening a blind box, gambling on whether what comes in is human or demon, good or bad.

Li Chang'an smiled happily and bowed to Yu Heng with clasped hands, saying, "Thank you!"

This is indeed what he needs.

“But…” Li Chang’an paused, “I am currently unable to repay you, I…”

Should we give Jade Glory Grass to the Alliance?

Yuheng said, "Just because we are unable to repay now does not mean we will still be unable to do so in the future."

Li Chang'an was slightly taken aback: "You... trust me that much?"

Yuheng smiled and didn't hide anything: "The seven stars of the alliance all believe in the God's choice."

He put away the brocade pouch and took out a card: "Then I'll take my leave now. If you need any help, please feel free to contact me."

Li Chang'an thought of the formation the sword spirit had mentioned, his eyes gleaming: "Lord Yuheng, I really do have a request."

Now that we have a peephole, how can the "door" stay open all the time?