The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Chapter 223 The Star-Picking Mansion Today
After decades of development, the small mountain village, which was once brought together by war, is now increasingly peaceful and tranquil.

With a fishing rod in one hand and several large fish strung together with straw rope in the other, Lei Zhan walked across the compacted dirt road toward his small courtyard with a bamboo fence.

Along the way, the villagers who came and went all looked at the pile of stones with goodwill.

"Wow! Old Stone, you're all so old, yet you still managed to bring back so many fish!" The man in plain clothes carrying a bundle of firewood had also aged considerably. Thirty years had passed, but he was just an ordinary person, and naturally, he couldn't resist the erosion of time.

Of course, in the eyes of the many villagers in the small mountain village, Lei Zhan and the withered grass and Wang Shu who lived with him were also old and inconspicuous, like a drop of water merging into a river.

The man in plain clothes looked at the large fish that Lei Zhan was holding, and his eyes lit up. "It's been decades, and your skills have only become more and more exquisite. The biggest one must be more than three feet long!"

"Hahaha." Lei Zhan laughed immediately. "They say old age makes one more skilled, and the older a person gets, the better their craft becomes. Did you leave me some firewood today? I just caught a big fish and I'm waiting for the firewood you cut down to make soup!"

"Soup? Take it! Take it!" The man smiled, sharing some of the firewood he was carrying with Lei Zhan, and also received a large fish. The exchange was a win-win situation.

"Let's go, let's go!" Lei Zhan shook his head and chuckled, brushing past the man in plain clothes. The bamboo fence courtyard in the distance became clearer, and he could even see the busy figures inside.

"came back?"

In the small courtyard with its bamboo fence, the withered grass resembles a wife waiting for her husband to return home, stepping forward to take the firewood and large fish from the stacked hands.

"You're back." Lei Zhan was used to their ordinary life as a married couple. "Where's Wang Shu? Is she tending to those flowers and plants in the back? They've died one after another, and she hasn't even tried to infuse them with any magic..."

"Hmph!" A voice rang out from inside the house. Wang Shu glared at Lei Zhan with a mocking look in her eyes. "You didn't use any magic or divine power to fish, and Sister Kucao didn't use any magic power to cook... So naturally I can't use any magic power to grow some flowers and plants either."

Wang Shu was also somewhat helpless. As a powerful figure in the Three Realms, he had been raising ordinary flowers and plants for decades, but none of them could survive for more than half a year.

"Haha!" Lei smiled. "If it dies, we can just raise it again slowly. There's only a bit of fun in integrating into the mortal world."

"Sister Kucao," Wang Shu smiled and shook her head, then looked at the withered grass beside her. "The dishes made from this big fish are incredibly delicious. Come on, let's clean up, we'll have fish soup again today!"

"Hmm." Kucao nodded, handed the firewood to Wangshu, and walked towards the kitchen next door carrying the fish in one hand.

Over the years, not only did Lei Zhan adapt to ordinary life, but the two women were also extremely satisfied with it. Like Lei Zhan, they integrated themselves into it, just like ordinary people.

Wang Shu and Ku Cao accompanied Lei Zhan in their seclusion in the mountains, occasionally drinking and making merry, sometimes fishing by the river, and sometimes discussing and exchanging ideas. With Lei Zhan's guidance, she found peace in her heart, and her understanding of the Dao grew rapidly.

Lei Zhan smiled slightly, looking at the scene before him, and felt an immense sense of peace in his heart.

"Mental strength is truly elusive," Lei Zhan muttered to himself. "My mental strength is at the fourth level of perfection, but I feel that I am not getting closer to breaking through to the fifth level. On the contrary, I feel that the distance between us has become much farther."

Mental strength is divided into six levels.

The first level, 'entry level,' is very difficult for practitioners. Without entering the first level, there is absolutely no hope.

The second layer is named 'Ice Heart', meaning a heart as still as an ice lake, unperturbed even if the sky collapses.

The third level is 'Dominion', which means dominating one's own heart and becoming the master of one's own mind. Upon reaching this level, one can become an extremely powerful archer throughout the Three Realms.

The fourth level, 'Mortal Realm,' is just as its name suggests: humble in nature, yet boundless in spirit. Without exceptional circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for Lei Zhan to reach this level.

As for the fifth level, 'Returning to Truth,' this is considered a very high level of mental strength among cultivators, and reaching such a state of mind is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Reaching this level has little to do with strength or mental state. It's important to know that many powerful individuals at the World Realm have experienced numerous hardships and possess excellent mental states, yet the vast majority have never reached this level, demonstrating just how difficult it is.

“Returning to the true nature… what exactly does it mean to return to the true nature?” Lei Zhan shook his head and sighed. He knew that it was very difficult for his mental strength to reach this level.

Furthermore, without the guidance of a method, reaching this level is even more difficult. But now that his mental strength has reached the perfection of the 'mortal realm,' he naturally has a strong desire for it.

As Lei Zhan pondered, he seemed to have a sudden realization.

"Hmm?" With a thought, Lei Zhan's boundless consciousness completely enveloped the entire Three Realms, and everything that was on the surface was clearly visible under his consciousness.

"Has the struggle for the Great World in the Three Realms... come to an end?"

"Well... more than a thousand years have passed, and the dust has finally settled."

"More than two hundred great worlds, more than five hundred celestial gods and immortals... Senior Brother Silver Moon, Hong Xue and the others have done a good job."

Lei Zhan thought to himself, "In the Three Realms, Zhaixing Palace has truly become a behemoth. Even if it can't compare to Buddhism and Taoism at the level of True Gods and Dao Ancestors, it has still lived up to the expectations of Daoist Sanshou for nurturing me when I was weak..."

Although the vast worlds he conquered, and even the celestial beings and immortals who followed him, are nothing to Lei Zhan now, this ending can be considered a fitting conclusion. It also marks a perfect end to the affairs of the Star-Picking Palace for Lei Zhan.

The deeper one's cultivation, the more reverent one becomes regarding cause and effect and destiny. Buddhism places the utmost importance on the concept of cause and effect and destiny. When he first became a disciple of his master, the Buddha, he was also taught the principles of cause and effect.

Although Lei Zhan had not delved deeply into the path of cause and effect, his own understanding of the fundamental power of cause and effect had unknowingly reached the second level.

Therefore, when Lei Zhan was cultivating and comprehending, he was consciously or unconsciously clarifying his own karma. Although he could not make his cultivation level increase rapidly, at least he did not let this karma become a constraint on him.

"In a few days, I should meet with Senior Brother Yinyue and Hongxue," Lei Zhan said softly, then stopped thinking about it. ...

Zhaixing Mansion.

Inside the ancient and majestic bronze hall, a large, dark mass of immortals and demons stood bustling about.

These immortals and demons stood in four distinct groups, and the aura emanating from each immortal and demon in each group was at the level of a celestial god or true immortal.

At the forefront of these four teams are the Red Snow God, the Silver Moon God, the Snow Scorpion God, and the Black Axe God.

"Red Snow, we have fought for a thousand years, and the number of great worlds we have conquered is more than two hundred! And the number of celestial gods and true immortals who have joined my Star-Picking Palace lineage is now more than five hundred..."

The Snow Scorpion Goddess, clad in black leather armor, possessed an alluring figure. She turned to look at the Red Snow Goddess and winked. "This achievement surpasses even the Star-Picking Palace's glory days in the ancient Pangu World! How do you think the Palace Master will reward us in the end?"

The Crimson Snow God was still clad in golden armor. A thousand years of battle had made his murderous aura even more intense, and even to the naked eye, one could see an endless sea of ​​blood-red light.

"A reward?" Goddess Red Snow shook her head. "I don't know either. But the Lord of the Palace is now recognized by many powerful figures as having the qualities of a leader. The Lord of the Palace's actions are beyond our comprehension."

"That's true! After Junior Brother became a True God Dao Ancestor, his strength became even more unfathomable. Five hundred years ago in the Thousand Islands Great World, in front of many powerful beings, he directly killed the true form of the Wujian Gate God King Buxiu." Silver Moon God sighed, "At that time, I was still fighting in the Tianfang Great World, and unfortunately I didn't have the chance to see Junior Brother display his supernatural powers."

Over the course of a thousand years of battles, including those fought by the gods and immortals of the Wujian Sect, conflicts inevitably arose.

After killing many Heavenly Gods and True Immortals of the Wujian Sect, the Silver Moon Heavenly God began to become more peaceful and gradually emerged from the shadow of the ancient war of destruction.

The Silver Moon Celestial God naturally gained many benefits in the process. At the same time, his Dao heart was greatly enhanced, and he can now faintly touch that threshold.

"Black Axe." The Snow Scorpion Goddess smiled as she turned to the disheveled man with an axe slung over his shoulder. "I heard you performed a great service back then, and the Lord of the Palace bestowed upon you a set of top-tier innate spiritual treasures..."

"That set of innate spiritual treasures..." Black Axe Celestial God turned to look at Snow Scorpion Celestial God, a hint of excitement appearing in his eyes. "That set of magic treasures is indeed incredibly precious; it's estimated that you'd be hard-pressed to find a second set in the entire Three Realms. Just that set of magic treasures alone directly boosted my strength by a significant margin. I imagine that after this war ends, the Lord of the Palace's rewards will certainly not disappoint us!"

suddenly.

"Hmm? The Lord of the Manor has arrived!"

"Lord of the Manor! It's the Lord of the Manor!"

"This is the Lord of the Mansion? This is the first time I've ever met the Lord of the Mansion since I joined the Star-Picking Mansion lineage!"

"Lord of the Manor! I heard that since he embarked on the path of cultivation, he has been cultivating for less than ten thousand years, yet he has already become a being at the pinnacle of the Three Realms."

"Shh! Quiet! The Lord of the Manor is a figure of such stature, how dare you speak of him like this?"

All the celestial beings and immortals stared intently at the black-robed youth who had suddenly appeared above them, their eyes gleaming with shrewdness. Whether they had seen him before or not, their eyes were filled with curiosity as they looked at Lei Zhan, whose aura had been completely concealed, making him appear like an ordinary mortal.

"Everyone!"

Lei Zhan stood above the main hall, his gaze sweeping over the rows of celestial beings and immortals, a gentle smile on his face.

Wow!
Instantly, all the celestial beings and immortals standing in the hall fell silent. Like an army, their commands were obeyed without question, and the entire hall became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"We pay our respects to the Lord of the Palace!" all the gods and immortals said in unison.

"Hmm." Lei Zhan nodded lightly, his gaze lingering on each face for a moment before settling on the four commanders standing at the front.

He was extremely familiar with all four gods, including the Red Snow Celestial God, his senior brother the Silver Moon Celestial God, the Snow Scorpion Celestial God, and the Black Axe Celestial God.

Over the course of a thousand years, the great world wars of the Three Realms subsided, and the Star-Picking Mansion lineage grew stronger like a snowball.

Besides the Ziyun Great World, Tianchen Great World, and Heiqiong Great World that Lei Zhan initially led them to conquer, he now commands a total of 237 Great Worlds.

And the number of celestial gods and immortals under his command has now reached more than 560.

After all, Lei Zhan's feat was too astonishing—slaying the God King Bu Xiu. Moreover, both his main body and his second primordial spirit were at the leadership level.

Such special cases are extremely rare, with very few exceptions found even after searching the entire Three Realms.

Therefore, wherever the Star-Picking Palace went, those celestial gods and immortals who did not have true gods or Dao ancestors behind them were willing to follow.

Lei Zhan, this avatar, travels through the Three Realms, occasionally keeping an eye on things. He is increasingly satisfied with the performance of the many celestial gods and true immortals under the command of the Star-Picking Palace.

Lei Zhan looked down and his voice echoed throughout the hall, "I have been watching your performance over the past thousand years. Now that the Great World War is over and the Three Realms have returned to peace, it is time to reward those who have made contributions."

"Our Star-Picking Prefecture adheres to the principle of rewarding merit and punishing wrongdoing. Those who have rendered meritorious service will receive the rewards they deserve..."

……

(End of this chapter)