Chapter 94 Sacrificing to the Mountain God

After the broadcast ended, Li Chang'an took the mushroom essence and other ingredients and started packing them.

Tianxuan quickly printed out all the delivery slips. With a wave of his hand, the sword spirit drew a guiding talisman or a location delivery talisman. In addition, an invisibility talisman was drawn on each delivery slip.

The spirit-concealing talisman can hide the spiritual energy on the vegetables inside the package. To anyone other than the recipient, it appears to be just an ordinary package.

This talisman was originally used by cultivators to conceal their whereabouts. It is a mid-level talisman, and the higher the level of the talisman drawn, the greater its effect.

The sword spirit did not deliberately control its spiritual power when drawing the talismans, so the talismans on these delivery slips would never be recognized in the current Cangxuan Realm.

This also protects the safety of buyers.

After packing several packages, Li Chang'an realized with dismay that his speed was far too slow without the ability to use spiritual power.

They've already packed dozens of mandrills and mushroom essences, but he's only packed a few.

"Sigh." Li Chang'an sighed.

He didn't plan to stay here and cause any more trouble, so he took the black sword to the bamboo forest, cut down a few bamboo trees, and tried to make a bamboo raft following the instructions on his phone.

Black Sword helped cut the bamboo into several sections of uniform length. Li Chang'an found the waterproof nylon rope he had bought earlier at home, drilled holes at both ends and the middle section of the bamboo, and then threaded the rope through to wrap and tie it tightly.

Then, two "crossbeams" were added to each end of the bamboo raft for fixation.

The steps aren't many, but without spiritual power, it takes an exceptionally long time to complete.

After the bamboo raft was made, Li Chang'an first tested it in the shallow water and was able to paddle it normally.

He nodded in satisfaction and placed the bamboo raft on the riverbank.

The next day, after delivering the goods, Li Chang'an took the sacrificial items from Jiarong Mountain and rowed alone on a bamboo raft to the other side of Ningjing River.

The river was flowing slowly and the surface was calm, so he barely felt any resistance while paddling the bamboo raft.

The river was 300 meters wide, and it only took a few minutes to paddle to the other side.

With the riverbank and Jiarong Mountain behind it both behind the sealing wall, the bamboo raft had to stop on the river.

Li Chang'an looked up at the sealing wall in front of him.

Familiar golden runes flowed slowly and quietly across the wall.

Li Chang'an raised his hand and touched the wall, where the golden runes affectionately swirled around his fingertips.

He withdrew his hand and arranged the sacrificial items.

Five catties of spirit tea leaves, five catties of celestial grains, and two jugs of celestial rice wine.

Finally, the spider demon's core floated slowly above the other offerings.

Li Chang'an took out the immortal artifact talisman brush, his eyes gleaming with golden light, and began to draw the mountain-opening talisman.

Although he can no longer use spiritual power, drawing the mountain-opening talisman is merely a way of showing his sincerity to the mountain god, and he can draw it without spiritual power.

"On the 23rd day of the 8th month of the 6027th year of the Cangxuan calendar, we offered sacrifices to the mountain god of Jiarong Mountain with grains, fine wine and fragrant tea."

As the words of the sacrificial ceremony faded, the final stroke of the mountain-opening talisman was completed.

The offerings on the bamboo raft disappeared, the runes on the sealing wall flowed rapidly, and the golden light shone brightly. From the direction of the distant snow-capped mountains, a long and sacred bell rang out again.

"Thump—"

Li Chang'an was too close to the sealing wall, and the golden light made his eyes throb and hurt.

He raised his hand to shield his eyes, and saw the talisman fly backward like a stream of light, gradually revealing the green mountain after it swept across a large open space.

The mountain slopes gently and is covered with various trees; the entire mountain is no more than 100 meters high.

From the mountainside up, a milky white mist lingers in the air, and sunlight shines through the mist, faintly revealing a pale golden hue.

The rocks were all of jade-like quality, and the rocks and trees seemed to radiate a soft glow. The higher the golden light went, the more special spiritual trees could be seen, and a flock of vermilion birds flew along with the golden light.

The golden light was no longer so dazzling. Li Chang'an put down his hand, rowed the bamboo raft to the shore, and walked to the open space.

A wisp of smoke rose slowly from the foot of the mountain, and Li Chang'an saw a large blue water buffalo slowly emerge from the smoke.

The blue ox had bright, piercing eyes and large, upward-curving horns. Looking through the smoke, it seemed to be filled with a mysterious aura.

Is this the mountain god of Jiarong Mountain?

Just as Li Chang'an was about to clasp his hands in greeting, he suddenly noticed that there was a child of about six or seven years old sitting on the back of the blue ox.

The child was dressed in a blue cloth robe, his hair was simply coiled on top of his head like a round bun, and he was holding a wine pot in his hand, drinking rice wine directly from the spout.

The fact that the offering was placed on the child indicates that He is the mountain god of Jiarong Mountain.

Li Chang'an snapped out of his daze and quickly clasped his hands in greeting: "Greetings, Mountain God."

The mountain god had finished the last sip of this pot of wine.

He tilted the cup to make sure not a single drop spilled before smiling at Li Chang'an: "So you are the reincarnation of the God?"

His face was very young, and his voice still had a childish quality, but his smile was very kind, like that of an old man.

Li Chang'an nodded: "My name is Li Chang'an."

“Not bad, not bad.” The mountain god raised his hand, and another pot of wine appeared in his hand: “I remember you just finished offering sacrifices to Mount Wolu not long ago. You have already met the requirements of my mountain so quickly. It seems that what the deity said is right.”

Li Chang'an asked in confusion, "What did he say?"

The mountain god grunted and said, "You'll find out later."

"Come on, come on, let me show you my mountain and my cave."

After the mountain god finished speaking, he patted the blue ox below and said, "Jingjing, turn around."

The blue ox flicked its tail and took the lead, heading towards Jiarong Mountain behind it.

The mountain god sat upright on the back of the blue ox and turned back to wave at Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an quickly followed.

When looking at it from the riverbank, Li Chang'an didn't realize how tall or big Jiarong Mountain was. However, once he was inside, he discovered how vast its area was.

There were no roads built in the mountains, but wherever the mountain god walked, the spiritual plants would consciously move aside to make way.

“These stones are the spirits of the earth,” the mountain god said, pointing to a piece of “jade” beside him.

Li Chang'an was taken aback. He touched the rock and found it to be very smooth and moist, with a slightly cool feel. It looked no different from the finest jade.

Is this the Earth Spirit?

In this way, he would have water spirit, wood spirit, and earth spirit, which should allow him to grow more immortal rice.

“There used to be many such earth spirits on Jiarong Mountain, but there aren’t many left now. If you ever need them, feel free to take them,” the mountain god said again.

Li Chang'an was somewhat puzzled.

He turned his head and found that there were such "jade stones" everywhere on the mountain. Could it be that some of them were not real earth spirits?

The mountain god smiled, noticing Li Chang'an's question, but offered no explanation.

As they continued their ascent, Li Chang'an saw many more exotic flowers and plants, and even a spirit tree whose entire body was like jade. When the wind blew, the leaves collided and made a sound like pearls colliding.

There are many streams in the mountains, flowing slowly. Each stream contains many crystal-like stones, and when you pass by the stream, you can hear a clear and ethereal sound like that of a harp.

On the way, the mountain god would occasionally take a sip of rice wine and talk to Li Chang'an: "Among the four mountains in Xuanling Immortal Mountain that are protected by the gods, I am the weakest mountain god among them."

"But the deity took a liking to the climate and scenery of my mountain and took me in."

Li Chang'an: "Take them in?"

“Yes, the real Xuanling Immortal Mountain—” the mountain god pointed to the distant snow-capped mountain range, “is actually just that place.”

“The other four sacred mountains here were all later acquired by the God. Living here, we have received his protection.”

As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance of a cave, from which a river flowed out and into the distance, eventually joining the Ningjing River.

Many dense vines hang down from the top of the cave, slightly obscuring the entrance.

"This is my cave dwelling. The entrance is made of spirit vines. Although they are only low-level spirit plants, they are very useful."

After the mountain god finished his introduction, he waved towards the entrance, and the vines automatically parted to make way.

Once inside the cave, Li Chang'an followed the mountain god along the riverbank.

The cave was not dark. The ceiling was made of glowing, crystal-like stones, and the cave walls were covered with spirit vines. However, unlike those at the entrance, the spirit vines inside the cave had small golden flowers that emitted a light that was enough to illuminate the entire cave.

After walking for a few minutes, before reaching the bottom of the cave, the river made a slight bend. At this bend, Li Chang'an saw a huge jade stone engraved with runes.

The green ox carried the mountain god directly to the jade stone, runes flowed, and the figures of the god and the ox disappeared.

Li Chang'an paused for a moment, then walked up to the huge jade stone and reached out to touch it.

The moment his hand touched it, ripples spread across the surface of the jade, engulfing his hand.

It turns out that this jade stone was the entrance to the barrier, and behind it was a new space.

Li Chang'an felt relieved and went inside.

The interior space is brighter and larger.

The ground was a flat grassy area, dotted with many colorful little flowers that shimmered with a soft glow.

There is a cave entrance on the mountain wall diagonally above, through which you can see the blue sky and white clouds, and a beam of sunlight shines in from the cave entrance.

The blue ox lay not far away, and the mountain god leaned against its belly, half-lying down and occasionally drinking wine.

"This is my true cave dwelling," the mountain god said, looking at Li Chang'an with a smile.

Li Chang'an walked over and sat down beside him.

As soon as he sat down, he noticed a drop of water on his head.

Li Chang'an touched the top of his head and looked up. He saw that there were glowing, off-white stalactites on the cave ceiling, and the water was dripping down from the stalactites.

The mountain god looked up and laughed, saying, "This water is a good thing."

He took a sip of wine and continued, "It's called Jade Dew, and legend has it that drinking just one sip can make you ascend to immortality. Of course, the actual effect isn't that exaggerated, but it's an absolute treasure for aiding cultivation and alchemy."

"The injuries to your soul can also be healed with this. However, the quantity is very small; you might only be able to get one bowl a month."

The mountain god gestured with his hand, saying, "This bowl is so big. Drink from it five or six times, and your soul will be completely healed."

The size He indicated was like a regular-sized teacup.

Li Chang'an was taken aback, then looked at his damp fingers: "Then this drop was wasted."

The mountain god laughed, then poured out the wine jug again, only to find it was already empty.

His eyes held a hint of regret.

The mountain god put down the wine jug, stood up, clapped his hands and said, "Alright, now that you have completed the sacrifice at Jiarong Mountain, as agreed, I will bestow upon you the mountain god's blessing: abundant life and auspicious protection."

Li Chang'an turned to look at Him, and vaguely understood something.

In his vision, the mountain god's figure gradually transformed into cyan particles and slowly dissipated.

The mountain god smiled and said, "The mountain god of the next mountain prefers strong liquor, so don't brew your rice wine anymore. Use some sorghum instead."

With his hands on his hips, he said, "If it weren't for the fact that all you know how to do is brew this rice wine, and that you've worked so hard to cultivate this divine glutinous rice, I wouldn't even want to acknowledge you."

Li Chang'an, who was initially feeling somewhat heavy-hearted, couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.

As the mountain god's voice faded, his figure vanished completely.

Looking in the direction where He disappeared, Li Chang'an felt a strange sense of loss and sadness, and suddenly felt a sharp headache.

He clutched his head and collapsed backward, exhausted. The next second, he suddenly opened his eyes and saw the vast sky. He sat up and found himself still on the bamboo raft, as if he had just fallen asleep and had a dream.

Turning around, the once lush and ethereal Jiarong Mountain now appeared gray and dull, no different from any other mountain.

Even the jade-like earth spirits that were everywhere were completely invisible.