fairy family

Chapter 203 Constructing a Cave Dwelling, Bestowing a Surname and Establishing a Foundation

After the Song family left, the vast Millstone Peak returned to a state of relative quiet, with only the flames on the mountain still burning recklessly.

Yu Que withdrew his gaze from the Song family members and looked at the firelight on Millstone Peak, a longing welling up in his eyes:

"To be able to burn down a mountain in the blink of an eye—is this the power of a fifth-rank Divine Spirit?!"

Furthermore, the magical power contained within the True Transmission Imperial Carriage is only theoretically equivalent to a fifth-rank Divine Spirit, but in reality, it should be far inferior to a true Divine Spirit immortal.

The reason why this imperial carriage was able to break through even the ancestral peak formation of the aristocratic families was mainly due to the effect of true fire.

Coincidentally, Yu Que also possessed this True Fire Seed, but unfortunately, the power of this fire was only equivalent to his current realm, belonging to the eighth rank.

As he pondered this in his heart, Yu Que's emotions surged, and he thought to himself:

"Now that we have joined the Dao Palace, we must work hard and strive to reach the seventh rank as soon as possible, aiming to condense our evil energy!"

The lower three ranks of immortals are only equivalent to the "Qi Refining" realm compared to cultivators in ancient times.

Starting from the sixth-rank evil spirit, immortals can then connect with ancient cultivators. The sixth rank is the Foundation Establishment stage, and the fifth rank is the Core Formation stage.

As a true disciple of the Huangshan Dao Palace, Yu Que possesses the potential to form a core. For him, the "Qi Refining" realm is merely a starting point; the "Foundation Building" realm is the true beginning.

Suppressing the surging emotions within him, Yu Que calmly spoke:
"Go up the mountain."

When the strongmen around him heard his words, a rare hint of hesitation appeared on their stiff faces.

The flames on Millstone Peak are still raging, as if trying to burn the rocks to ashes. Climbing the mountain under such conditions would be tantamount to inviting suffering and certain death.

Even with the protection of the true lineage's imperial carriage, the group might be spared from being burned by the real fire, but once they reached the mountain, it would be difficult for them to do anything on the mountain.

"promise!"

However, Dao soldiers are born to obey the commands of the immortals.

Especially the Taoist warriors raised by the Huangshan Taoist Palace and bestowed with true teachings, even if Yu Que asked them to slit their throats on the spot, they would raise their knives without blinking an eye, at most worrying that the blood might splatter on Yu Que.

So the group of Daoist soldiers who had been separated returned to the sides of the imperial carriage, and exerted all their strength to protect Yu Que, so that he would not be burned by the true fire later.

The next moment, the group braved the threat of raging flames and stepped into Millstone Peak.

The remains of the Song family members who were burned to death turned to ash, leaving only charred marks that stood along the roadside to welcome them up the mountain.

To the relief of the surrounding warriors, although the True Inheritance Carriage had already been used by Yu Que once, its protective function still remained, ensuring that everyone around the carriage would be less likely to be burned by the true fire.

Even those seemingly frail maids and low-level disciples only felt their bodies become slightly hotter.

Under their careful protection, Yu Que felt nothing at all.

He was currently closing his eyes slightly, immersing his divine sense in the True Transmission Imperial Carriage. Relying on the carriage's power, he expanded his divine sense, searching every nook and cranny of the millstone and every vein of the earth.

Driven by Yu Que, many strongmen wandered around here and there.

And every now and then, Yu Que would order his men to bury the banners, scriptures, ritual objects, and other items they were holding on the millstone peak.

After walking around four or five times, when the Mopan Peak was completely bare of vegetation, the fire had subsided considerably, and Yu Que's eagerness to climb the mountain became clear.

Then, a cloud of mist rose up around the millstone peak and became dark and gloomy.

Yu Que gazed at the clouds and mist atop the mountain peak and shouted, "Fall!"

Pitter-patter, large raindrops fell, striking the charred millstone peak and extinguishing the remaining flames. The clash of water and fire stirred up thick steam.

Just now, while the fire was being cleared from the mountains and various energy sources were being exposed, Yu Que took advantage of the moment to set up the imperial carriage formation on Mopan Peak, so as to completely occupy all the key positions in this place.

After summoning the clouds and rain, he waited a few more breaths before ordering everyone on the imperial carriage to dismount and wait aside.

He himself sat cross-legged on the imperial carriage, bowing to heaven and earth, then prostrating himself towards Lotus Peak, and calling out:

"Disciple Yu Que, now in charge of establishing the Mopan Peak, has deeply benefited from the Dao's grace and will never forget it."

I will diligently cultivate myself, live up to the expectations of Mount Huang, protect this land, eliminate evil spirits, and promote the prestige of my Dao.

He recited a petition, then knelt down and respectfully bowed three times.

"Heaven and Earth, the Dao of Immortals, bear witness."

The moment he finished the ceremony, with a snap, the imperial carriage he was kneeling on spontaneously combusted without fire.

A fiery phoenix flew out from it once more, letting out a long cry, and circled and lay down in the clouds surrounding Millstone Peak.

In an instant, the earth's energy and spiritual essence of the entire Mopan Peak surged up, and golden aura descended from the horizon like a beaded curtain. Yin and Yang clashed, forming a five-colored rainbow on Mopan Peak, which spread for dozens of miles around.

Yu Que knelt in the flames, and when he stood up again, he was completely unharmed and looked radiant.

Yu Que looked up at the light and color on the mountaintop and was filled with emotion.

He stretched out his hand and gently lifted it in the air.

The ashes from the burning carriage drifted and landed in his palm, forming a crimson talisman on which the image of the fire phoenix from before could be faintly seen.

This talisman will be the array talisman for the future grand formation of Grinding Peak. Holding it will allow one to command the entire formation, stir up trouble, resist external enemies, and kill thieves.

Furthermore, the entire formation is directly connected to the earth energy of Mopan Peak, extending across the vast Huangshan mountain range. In addition, Mopan Peak also has its own spiritual veins, and the Dao Palace will also allocate its fortune to this place.

Maintaining such a formation that covers the entire mountaintop does not require Yu Que to spend a single piece of paper money.

He can now stay peacefully within the formation, managing it well and cultivating diligently.

And unless he dies or loses his status as a true disciple, this peak will always belong to him, and no one is allowed to force their way in!

Yu Que held the true-inheritance array talisman, pondering it, but secretly thought to himself:

"However, it's only nominally forbidden to force one's way in."

The protective array issued by the Dao Palace is only a sixth-grade array, capable of evading sixth-grade immortals.

"If the intruder possesses powerful talismans or has skillful methods for breaking formations, especially if a fifth-rank Grand Immortal arrives, this formation can only buy them a little time."

Although attacking the cave dwelling of a true disciple without cause is a major taboo in the Dao Palace, breaching a true disciple's cave dwelling without reason will directly attract the senior members of the Dao Palace.

However, Yu Que also understood that relying solely on this True Inheritance Formation to make a living in the future would not be entirely secure.

He will have to find a way to add some more methods to the True Inheritance Formation.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and thought of something else:

"This formation was ultimately bestowed by the Dao Palace. Apart from the formation talismans in my possession, the Dao Palace should be able to easily control this formation as well." Although the Dao Palace would not scheme against him, the people within the Dao Palace might be a different story.

To be on the safe side, Yu Que felt that if he were to acquire a new and powerful formation someday, it would be best to replace the entire mountain-protecting formation.

After all, as far as he knew, the formations of the ancestral peaks of those aristocratic families in the palace were all established by their ancestors, not bestowed upon them by the Dao Palace.

He also heard Xie Baiyu and Wang Qilin say that each family was on high alert when they repaired their formations, for fear of letting even a fly in.

It's unclear whether the powerful families are wary of outsiders or members of the Dao Palace themselves.

As Yu Que pondered this, he slipped the array talisman into his sleeve and then looked around at the scorched and muddy scene on Millstone Peak.

Thanks to the Song family, although they moved everything they could and destroyed everything they couldn't, the mountain was burned down by Yu Que himself, leaving not a single blade of grass.

However, they could not move the soil from the mountain.

There was quite a lot of soil here; a rough look revealed that it should be at least thirty acres.

This is located on a mountain peak, which is extremely rare and must have been created by human hands.

Furthermore, in Yu Que's divine sense, every inch of soil contained wisps of spiritual energy.

After being burned by true fire, the spiritual energy in the soil becomes even more pronounced. If some mortal seeds are sown in it, they might grow into spiritual seeds next year.

Yu Que immediately summoned the strongmen on his left and right, and said to the seventh-rank strongman:
"This sacred land must not be left to waste. Starting today, you should lead people to plan its development and plant it as soon as possible."

He paused, then said:
"You can decide for yourselves which spiritual herbs and medicines are suitable to plant and what seeds are needed. Once you have decided, tell me one by one and I will go and purchase the seeds."

The seventh-rank strongman thought for a moment and respectfully said:
"Reporting to Master, the terrain here is flat and the environment is excellent. It should be possible to grow many kinds of spiritual creatures here."

Regarding the spirit seed, it's included in the master's monthly stipend. The master only needs to give the word, and I'll collect it at the appropriate time.

Yu Que was slightly surprised. After a moment's thought, he realized that the true teachings and stipends that Su Wu Dao Ren had mentioned to him did indeed include seeds.

In addition, common birds of prey and beasts such as chickens and ducks are also included.

If the palace is doing very well in a particular year, it may provide the true disciples with some rare and exotic beasts for breeding.

"Very good."

Yu Que exclaimed in admiration, then asked, "What about manpower for farming? If there is a shortage, please let us know."

The seventh-rank strongman replied respectfully:

"Among us strongmen, we are divided into different categories: those who can climb mountains, those who can brave boiling water, those who can tread fire, and those who can work the Lu Ban style."

Farming can be done by a mountain-climbing strongman and a soup-watering strongman, one turning the soil and the other watering.

Fire-walking warriors and Lu Ban warriors can construct palaces, all without relying on outsiders.

The strongman's answer made Yu Que even more surprised.

Upon further inquiry, he discovered that among the true disciples' "clothing, food, housing, and transportation," not only were "housing and transportation" handled by numerous strongmen, but "clothing and food" could also be provided by the maids.

According to this person, as long as Yu Que's appetite is not too big, with them around, the entire True Inheritance Cave can be completely self-sufficient and hardly needs to rely on the outside world.

Upon hearing this, Yu Que clapped his hands and said, "Excellent."

He finally understood. No wonder there were rumors that if the true lineage were to be passed down, it would be a case of "even chickens and dogs ascending to heaven, and fish leaping over the dragon gate." Even a wild man from outside the city could form his own clan within the Dao Palace.

It turns out that the Taoist Palace had already made all the necessary preparations for the true disciples, just waiting for them to enter the palace so they could be carefree masters.

Yu Que looked at the seventh-rank strongman in front of him and suddenly asked:
"What's your name?"

"My lord, I have no name, only a palace number," the strongman replied, then bowed and said in a deep voice:
"We have no names, please grant us names, sir!"

Not only did this strongman bow and call out softly, but the other strongmen on either side also immediately spoke up.

The maids immediately curtsied sweetly.

"Please, sir, bestow names upon us."

Only the children watched the scene with curiosity, none of them asking Yu Que to bestow names upon them. For once names were given, they would become people of Millstone Peak, and such matters required careful consideration.

Upon hearing the crowd's request, Yu Que, maintaining his composure, pointed to the mountain beneath his feet and said:
“You have no names or surnames, and I happen to be establishing my residence at Mopan Mountain, so I will take ‘Mo’ and ‘Pan’ as your surnames respectively. The women will be surnamed Mo, and the men will be surnamed Pan.”

He used his inner energy and divine sense as a brush to outline the characters "墨" (ink) and "盘" (plate) in mid-air.

Finally, Yu Que pointed to the seventh-rank strongman and said:

"In my mansion, you will continue to be named according to your numbers. Starting with you, you will be called 'Pan Yi'. The rest of you will be arranged in order from smallest to largest according to your original numbers."

"In the future, if you have rendered meritorious service and worked diligently, I will then bestow upon you names."

Upon hearing this, the warriors and maids showed no displeasure, and all knelt down and kowtowed, saying:

"Thank you for bestowing this surname upon me, sir."

Looking at the sea of ​​heads in front of him, Yu Que did not feign concern and ask everyone to stand up and not kneel. Instead, he calmly nodded and accepted their obeisance.

Within a single mountain peak, there is still a distinction between primary and secondary areas, making it relatively stable.

After giving a few more instructions to everyone, Yu Que pointed out the location of the palace and then told everyone to get busy on their own.

He himself held the true inheritance array talisman in his hand, his figure flashed, and suddenly slipped towards the mountainside of Millstone Peak.

Strictly speaking, the place he went to was not halfway up the mountain, but rather where two huge rocks were stacked together, forming a valley embedded in the mountain peak.

According to Su Wu Dao Ren, the spiritual vein of Mopan Peak is located deep in the mountain valley.

Yu Que wandered around the mountain hollow, and following Ling Ji's guidance, easily slipped into a cave.

Soon, a "cave dwelling" came into view.

This cave, carved and sculpted, is about a hundred feet wide and filled with traces of human intervention. Right now, the interior is dark and the bricks and stones are cracked, resembling an abandoned cave dwelling.

After a moment's thought, Yu Que realized that this place must have also been burned by the true fire of the imperial carriage, which was why it was in this state.

However, appearance is secondary. Yu Que strode forward and walked to the center of the cave, staring intently at a pool that looked like yellow mud soup.

Streams of spiritual energy were rising from the pool and spreading over Yu Que, making him feel a chill.

This item is precisely the spiritual vein he lacked—the Netherworld Spring!

(End of this chapter)