Deep within the Qima Mountains, between the outer cliffs, a clear, ten-meter-wide river, formed by the melting snow from the mountain peaks, flows through the area.
The river water was extremely cold, but surprisingly, fish lived in it. They were not afraid of the cold water and the extremely low temperature, and swam around leisurely.
Twenty meters above the river, there is a prominent, solid platform with an area of about forty square meters.
On the platform, two people sat, a man and a woman. Both were dressed in thin clothes, a stark contrast to the surrounding temperature of minus twenty degrees Celsius.
Behind the two was a cave about the height of a person. It was very irregular. From the outside, it was easy to mistake it for a naturally formed cave.
At this moment, rumbling sounds could be heard from inside the cave from time to time, without end.
Soon, a man emerged from the cave, carrying a large basket of earth and stones. He placed the basket, which weighed at least a hundred pounds, behind the cave entrance and then turned to leave.
The man on the platform chuckled, waved his hand, and easily grabbed the hundred-pound basket of earth and stones from the air. Then, the basket quickly fell down into the snow river below. When it reached the river, the basket turned upside down, and with a splash, all the earth and stones inside were filled into a place below the platform.
When someone brought soil and stones, the man disposed of them accordingly, and gradually a section of the platform in the snow river rose up, revealing the river surface.
In fact, this work had been going on for six days. Sometimes, the man struggled a little to control two or three baskets of earth and rocks at the same time. But after six days, he was able to control three baskets of earth and rocks at the same time with ease.
But the concubine was no longer able to take her place.
However, this does not prevent the honing of control skills. Two earthen and stone frames, each weighing around 100 pounds, can be stopped immediately during their descent, then flipped, swayed left and right like dancing, or the two frames can be controlled to perform different flips, drifts, and so on.
The difficulty can be gradually increased to three levels, or even more.
However, this will take time.
In six days, the excavated soil and rocks almost completely filled a large section of the snow river below the platform, creating a bulge four meters high and covering an area of several square meters. Even if someone were to leap down from there, they could still fish from there without any problem.
But the further you go, the less soil and rocks come out, and in the end, only a little bit comes out after half a day.
"How boring! Every day I just play with the fish and hone my control over my magic. Although I've made great progress, this life is just too monotonous!" This man was Zhang Guodong. His magic reached deep into the snow river, spanning over twenty meters, teasing the cold-resistant fish, catching them, releasing them, and so on. But this wasn't the life he wanted.
"Your cave dwelling isn't finished yet!" A clear, cold female voice came from behind. Xuan Qingban walked out, his forehead slightly sweaty, and his face looking much rosier.
She had just finished completing the cave dwelling she would need for her future cultivation. This mountain range was hollow in many places. Fortunately, it was solid enough that the small cave dwelling was nothing in this continuous and towering stone vein.
However, almost every cave has lighting; a beam of natural light shines through the cave ceiling and into each cave, making them much brighter. Cultivating medicinal herbs there wouldn't be impossible.
In some cave dwellings, the cultivator possessed star stones. He would embed a few star stones into them to compensate for the lack of natural light, thus enabling the cultivation of medicinal herbs.
Starstones are common and cheap lighting materials in the cultivation world, but they are not produced in the outside world at all. Many cultivators who descend to the outside world usually bring valuable items such as pills, but they rarely bring starstones.
This is a very common phenomenon.
Xuan Qingbo was just troubled by this. She had only brought a few star stones, about ten in total, which were all embedded in her cave.
The cultivation room, medicine room, weapon refining room, and bedroom are integrated into one building, covering an area of 400 square meters. Each room contains one star stone, with not a single one left over.
These star stones are estimated to last only two years before needing to be replaced. However, everyone except Zhang Guodong has completed their cave dwellings and begun simple preparations. They will be stationed here for many years, decades, or even centuries to come, so they are all taking it very seriously.
Zhang Guodong's cave dwelling, however, has not yet been opened.
"No rush, a cave dwelling can be completed quickly, no need to go to so much trouble! Besides, if I don't have one, I still have yours, right?" Zhang Guodong said with a slight smile.
Xuan Qinghui snorted and cursed under his breath as vulgar and shameless.
She would never agree to share her cave dwelling with Zhang Guodong!
"How many days have I been out?" Zhang Guodong suddenly asked again.
Xuan Qingban was taken aback and frowned.
"I've been away for quite a while now, I have to go back!" Zhang Guodong said, glancing at her at the same time. If it weren't for this woman, why would he have bothered running around like this, and doing all that hard labor for so many days?
Women are good, but Zhang Guodong dared not waste any more time. Three years had passed since the start of the Demon-Fighting Battlefield, and one year had gone by; two years remained, but they would pass quickly.
Besides, he had other things to take care of in the city, too many trivial matters.
Xuan Qinghui suddenly had the urge to try and keep him, a thought that startled her. Could it be that she couldn't live without Zhang Guodong? Impossible!
"Although this guy is despicable and shameless, he's very important to the Qingxuan Sect right now! These days, with Zhang Guodong around, Shi Kang and the others are full of confidence. The day he excitedly revealed Zhang Guodong's identity and some little secrets, it had a great effect on uniting everyone! Once Zhang Guodong leaves, it will inevitably affect everyone's beliefs!"
"You," Xuan Qingban said with a hint of coquettishness. She's becoming more and more like a woman.
"Want to keep me? Can't bear to part with me?" Zhang Guodong joked.
Seeing the woman's ears turn red again, Zhang Guodong was immediately pleased. This woman blushes so often these days!
"Hmph, who didn't stop you? If you want to leave, it's your own legs!" Xuan Qingbo said, feeling embarrassed. He then turned and went back to his cave.
Zhang Guodong laughed a few times and followed him inside.
In fact, setting up his own cave was very easy for him. Inside the Xinqingxuan Sect, a rustling sound came from within, and countless fragments of stone and sand flew out like an automated conveyor belt, landing on the pile of earth and rocks in the snow river.
This is a remarkable sight.
This left Xuan Qingbo, Shi Kang, and the others astonished, deeply moved, and filled with envy.
Life force could never achieve such miraculous power! Is this the magic it is?
"Senior Brother Zhang, your magical power is truly amazing!"
"That's multitasking!"
"If I could become a master, or even a near-master, I could also possess such miraculous magical power!"
"Don't disturb Senior Brother Zhang in setting up his cave. I think we should go back and prepare to set up the sect's grand formation. We need to increase the spiritual energy in this mountain cave by at least several hundred times. Otherwise, we won't be able to cultivate the medicinal herbs, and our cultivation will be greatly affected!"
"Yes, yes, let's ask Fairy Xuan about this. With our combined efforts, we should be able to set up the great formation within half a month. Even though the environment here is still harsh, it will be hundreds of times better than before."
Zhang Guodong never expected that his act of carving out a small cave next to Xuan Qingbo's cave would evoke such strong feelings and spurring from Shi Kang and the others. He truly hadn't anticipated it.
The materials for the protective array of the city were basically taken away by Xuan Qingying. Except for a few materials that need to be re-refined, the rest are basically complete.
Only when the protective array envelops this mountain peak can the New Qingxuan Sect be considered a sect.
With the Hundred Blade Seal Technique activated, two hundred magical blades instantly spun, drilling a large, regular opening into the incredibly hard rock wall. The soil and rocks were almost completely pulverized. These magical blades were much faster than a drill bit.
The dust and stones were all swept away by the magic power without a trace, allowing Zhang Guodong to multitask. An hour later, a small cave dwelling was completed, consisting of only two rooms: a bedroom and a cultivation room. The bedroom had a kang (heated brick bed) and a sculpted stone platform. One could rest there simply by laying down bedding.
He had no intention of opening up any alchemy room, herb garden, or weapon-refining room. Alchemy, herb cultivation, and weapon-refining could all be done in Peach Blossom Spring, so there was no need to pay too much attention to this place.
This place was just used by Zhang Guodong for temporary rest. He couldn't possibly act as the guardian of the Qingxuan Sect without even having his own cave dwelling, could he?
"The newly improved illusion array 'Thousand Truths' and the teleportation array are set up in the training room, which is the most central place. With the current power and coverage of Thousand Truths, even the bedroom is included, saving the need to set up a protective array at the entrance of the cave! With the current Thousand Truths illusion array, even a near-great master cannot break in, and a newly promoted great master will not be able to enter for several days! It is sufficient for now!" Zhang Guodong thought to himself.
The more Ji Guodong studied "Qianzhen" and the incomplete "Azure Heaven and Yellow Springs" formation, the more he gained. He vaguely sensed that "Azure Heaven and Yellow Springs" was far more powerful than he had estimated.
Take, for example, the "Thousand Truths, Illusionary Array" gleaned from the above recording. With continuous improvements, it becomes increasingly...
Alright.
At this moment, it did not rely entirely on the power provided by the crystal as the power of the formation, but rather it attracted something else, making the power of the formation as unified and even stronger.
But what exactly was involved? Zhang Guodong could only vaguely sense it, but couldn't touch it, much less comprehend it.
The teleportation array is readily available. This particular teleportation array was taken from the "First Restaurant," so it only needs to be placed in the cultivation room.
As for the "Thousand Truths Illusion Array," Zhang Guodong was now very familiar with it, and he completed the setup in the blink of an eye. Using over a hundred mid-grade crystals was quite a generous investment!
As soon as the Thousand Array and the teleportation array were completed, everyone sensed the spiritual energy in the air rushing towards Zhang Guodong's cave.
"Spirit Gathering Array!"
"Senior Brother Zhang actually possesses a Spirit Gathering Array!"
Xuan Qinghui was also surprised, but then his brows relaxed. He was naturally astonished at where Zhang Guodong got so many spirit-gathering arrays. After all, there were already three small spirit-gathering arrays at Peach Blossom Cottage! And two of them belonged to Zhang Guodong himself.
She felt that she should talk to Zhang Guodong and ask him to take over her small spirit-gathering array so that everyone could cultivate in a more abundant spiritual energy environment.
She sighed softly. Compared to this place, Peach Blossom Abode was truly a paradise, making her feel nostalgic. Unfortunately, it was too far away to travel back and forth between the two places.
After Zhang Guodong completed setting up these two formations, the spiritual energy in the caves of everyone else inside the mountain was increased to varying degrees.
However, the small spirit-gathering array was ultimately too small, covering too little area. Moreover, the spiritual energy here was two-thirds thinner than outside, so overall, the increase in spiritual energy was not significant.
Just as Xuan Qinghui left her cave and was about to enter Zhang Guodong's cave, a fluctuation of array power alerted her. This place had already been set up with an array.
So, Zhang Guodong's cave is inaccessible to ordinary people unless they break the formation!
"Blue spots? Come in!"
Just then, Zhang Guodong's voice rang out, and the formation in front of her suddenly parted, revealing Zhang Guodong sitting cross-legged on the stone bed.
After Xuan Qingban entered, the formation returned to normal.
"What kind of formation is this?" Xuan Qingban asked curiously, looking around. According to her knowledge of formations, she didn't seem to know of any such formation. She vaguely felt an extremely powerful pressure, and facing this formation, her mind wavered, feeling utterly disoriented!
This is a mesmerizing array, and a very powerful one at that!
“I named it ‘Thousand Truths,’ but it’s not a complete illusion array yet; it needs some time to be improved!” Zhang Guodong said with a smile. “Abandon Profound. I’ll be leaving soon.”
"Leaving today?"
“Yes, but I want you to come with me!” Zhang Guodong nodded and said.
"No!" Xuan Qingwei's face flushed slightly, but she resolutely refused. This place couldn't do without her right now! Thinking of her responsibility to the Qingxuan Sect, her resolve hardened once more.
"Haha, don't refuse so soon. Come on, I'll show you something that I guarantee you won't refuse so readily!" Zhang Guodong jumped off the stone bed, took her hand, and walked towards the cultivation room.
Xuan Qing was helpless and let him lead her. After all, Zhang Guodong had done this quite often these past few days. Of course, if Zhang Guodong wanted to go further, she would never agree.
"Another formation?" Xuan Qinghui naturally sensed another formation fluctuation in the cultivation room, but the fluctuation was so subtle that she couldn't guess what kind of formation it was.
As the two entered the cultivation room, Xuan Qingban exclaimed in surprise, "A teleportation array!? This, this, how is this possible?"
Even the Grand Elder only gave her the materials to build two teleportation arrays, which the Qingxuan Sect had accumulated over hundreds of years!
But she was quite surprised to find that Zhang Guodong had a teleportation array.
"Nothing is impossible! Let's go!" Zhang Guodong laughed heartily, waved his hand, and dozens of low-grade crystals were accurately embedded into the teleportation array. With a pull of the Xuanqing Fist, and a thought flashed through his mind, the two of them instantly disappeared from the cave.
Inside.
Meanwhile, in the master bedroom on the second floor of Taoyuan Xiaozhu.
A teleportation portal flashed, and two people appeared!
"Ah, this is... Peach Blossom Spring?!" This gave Xuan Qinghu another huge shock. Two teleportation arrays! There were actually two teleportation arrays! And outside, she immediately sensed that it was Peach Blossom Spring! For a moment, she was somewhat dazed.
Is this true?
She was familiar with every plant and tree in Peach Blossom Spring. Returning from her escape, she was somewhat moved.
We can see everything here again!
Zhang Guodong squeezed her hand and said gently, "Let's go downstairs. We can come here anytime! I set up this teleportation array a long time ago, but you weren't my woman before, hehe, but now you can know!"
"Yes!" Xuan Qingban's eyes welled up with tears. The two walked out of the room and downstairs. She was moved not by Zhang Guodong's words, but by the fact that she could see this place again.
Note: There will be one update every 4,000 words, but there probably won't be one today.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com