The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 323 The Base Three Years Later
Three years later, Wu Chengyu drove his horse-drawn carriage alone back to Qingfeng Ridge from the main road of Ziwu Ridge.

This Qingfeng Ridge is no longer the mountain with the original stalactite cave; the original name was just something Li Geda came up with for fun.

The Qingfeng Ridge of today is the mountain where the secret cave is located. The lower part of the mountain is covered with dense forests, and the upper part is covered with dark boulders. It was officially named Qingfeng Ridge by Wu Chengyu.

The name Qingfeng Ridge evokes images of lush vegetation and beautiful scenery. However, the mountain's appearance is completely at odds with its name. Therefore, when the existence of Qingfeng Ridge is announced to the public, no one would imagine that it would be this inconspicuous and somewhat ugly mountain.

As for the small base that Wu Chengyu found, it was officially renamed Qianlong Cave. Three years was enough time for Qingfeng Ridge and Qianlong Cave to undergo fundamental changes.

First, the entrance to the tree hole of that giant tree has been completely blocked, and even the tree hole has been disguised, making it impossible to enter from the outside. However, with a little effort, it can be cleared from the inside, and this place has been turned into an emergency escape route.

The true entrance to the Hidden Dragon Cave is thanks to the fleeing descendants of the Li Tang family who pioneered this secret cave.

During the first winter that Wu Chengyu spent with the children in the Hidden Dragon Cave, all of Wu Chengyu's attention was focused on conditioning the children's bodies, teaching them the Heaven-Mending Technique, and rebuilding their foundations. This was a systematic project that required a great deal of mental and physical effort.

Unexpectedly, the twenty-odd servants and craftsmen brought him a great surprise.

When the craftsmen were repairing the Qianlong Cave, they accidentally discovered a sealed stone cave. They opened the cave, which led to a long passageway.

Every few dozen meters along the passageway, there are more than a hundred downward steps. After repeating this three times, the height of the passageway drops by about a hundred meters, and the end of the passageway is located at a height of about two hundred meters above the mountain.

In addition, the tunnels are generally two meters high and more than two meters wide, enough for five or six people to pass side by side. The load-bearing capacity and ventilation of the excavated cave must also be taken into account.

In the late Tang Dynasty, such a project was enormous, and it is unknown how much time, manpower, and resources were spent on it.

But the final result was that the road was impassable. According to Wu Chengyu's estimation, this tunnel was later built by people from that time, but for some reason it was not completed. When the people who came later wanted to leave, they sealed the entrance.

After being led to the cave by the craftsmen, Wu Chengyu immediately realized that the true passage to the outside world of Qianlong Cave had been found.

He unleashed all his inner strength, condensing it into a single line, and used a very special move from the Great Subduing Demon Fist to strike the stone wall at the end of the passageway.

What makes this punch special is that it doesn't aim to kill the enemy on the spot, but rather it's more like hitting a cow from behind a mountain. It can transmit internal energy into the enemy's body as much as possible, and then strike the enemy behind the opponent from the body.

Of course, the stone wall and the human body are completely different. Wu Chengyu's internal energy could not be sustained for long after being forcibly poured in, but his control over internal energy was absolutely extraordinary.

When his punches could no longer advance, he controlled his internal energy to spread outwards in a fluctuating manner until all his internal energy was exhausted.

At this time, the stone wall inevitably made sounds and subtle vibrations.

Then, using the same move, Wu Chengyu punched the stone walls on both sides of the passageway, producing the same sound and vibration.

Wu Chengyu used his extraordinary five senses to analyze the differences between the three places in detail. The thicker the mountain wall, the more muffled the sound would be, and the more difficult it would be for the fluctuations generated by his internal force to penetrate further, so the vibration would be smaller. This was the case with the stone walls on the left and right sides.

Only the stone wall directly opposite produced a more resonant sound and a more far-reaching vibration after a punch was thrown.

According to Wu Chengyu's understanding, the opposite stone wall was still very thick, but it was definitely not as immeasurable as the walls on the left and right.

Think about the craftsmen who carved this cave back then; they must have done professional measurements, and they certainly didn't just randomly chisel in one direction without any basis.

However, everyone has their own expertise, and Wu Chengyu didn't know their basis for their arguments, but he absolutely believed in the wisdom of the ancient working people.

Although he didn't know why the other party gave up in the end, Wu Chengyu recalled the scene he had seen on the mountaintop: a mountain with two parts and a deep valley in between. If this passage could be connected, it should lead directly to that valley.

Among the craftsmen in the Hidden Dragon Cave was a stonemason who confidently asserted that the opposite stone wall wouldn't be too thick, at most a few dozen feet away. He also said that it was a pity that the people back then were so close to completing the work.

But that's how life is, full of regrets, just like the stone cave on the Cliff of Contemplation in the original novel of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, where the ten masters of the Demonic Sect were trapped and died.

The Hercules used an axe to chisel through the wall, but he was exhausted and gave up when he was just one step away from breaking through. In the end, only a thin layer of stone remained, which Linghu Chong could easily break through.

In the dead of winter, there wasn't much to do, so Wu Chengyu immediately ordered all the craftsmen and servants to put down their work and work together to carve through the tunnel. He even made a special trip to the castle outside to have Nalan Zhuisong bring back a lot of tools.

After a whole winter of digging, the last few dozen feet of the tunnel were finally opened up. Just as Wu Chengyu had predicted, the outside was a valley even larger than the Hidden Dragon Cave. Most importantly, this valley was not sealed.

Between the two mountains lies a narrow valley entrance. Emerging from the valley entrance, one faces Youyan Ridge, a mere ten-odd li (approximately 5 kilometers) away. The subsequent plan was quite simple: Wu Chengyu ordered the craftsmen of Tang Kuo's family to construct a hidden mountain path from the Youyan Ridge castle, stopping about two li (approximately 1 kilometer) from the valley entrance, and then sending all the craftsmen back.

Then their own craftsmen were responsible for the last two miles of mountain road and widening the valley entrance to accommodate horse-drawn carriages.

The entrance to the Qianlong Cave was locked by a heavily fortified bunker, which was also equipped with traps. Under normal circumstances, it would be extremely difficult to attack the Qianlong Cave from the bunker.

At this moment, Wu Chengyu's carriage quietly turned onto this hidden mountain road, entered the valley, and arrived in front of the bunker.

The bunker was also disguised; unless you got close, you would only think it was a huge rock close to the mountain.

Wu Chengyu parted the vines, reached out and grabbed the rope in the crevice of the rock. He tugged it twice, and immediately the sound of a bell came from behind the crevice. Then a small hole appeared in the boulder. The person behind the hole saw Wu Chengyu and immediately opened the gate of the bunker.

The bunker gate was a thick wooden door covered with iron, extremely heavy, and camouflaged on the outside. It needed to be slowly pulled open from the inside using a winch, requiring at least three people.

As the wooden door opened, Wu Chengyu drove the carriage inside, where the same servants from before were present.

"Tell a few of those kids to come down; they need to bring the things in the carriage up."

The servant immediately pulled the rope on the wall, which had a bell every few meters, and the sound quickly reached the Hidden Dragon Cave.

Not long after, a dozen or so young boys came down from above. Each of them was about 1.6 meters tall and had the build of a young calf. The leader was Song Mu. When he saw Wu Chengyu, he immediately bowed and paid his respects, showing utmost trust and respect.

After three years of brainwashing with his persuasive skills, the effects are now fully apparent, and the people in the Hidden Dragon Cave are extremely loyal to Wu Chengyu.

"Chief, you're finally back."

“I’ve brought back some bastards from outside. They’re all utterly wicked. This is my gift to you. Take them all upstairs.”

After giving the order, Wu Chengyu left on his own, climbing the steps all the way up, and soon arrived at the Hidden Dragon Cave.

The Qianlong Cave has changed dramatically. In terms of personnel, there are now dozens of craftsmen, dozens of servants, and dozens of farmers who are responsible for all the logistics in the Qianlong Cave.

There are only seven or eight acres of farmland in Qianlong Cave, where vegetables are usually grown. All the grain is transported in from outside, and two huge granaries have been specially built for this purpose. Currently, the grain reserves are enough to feed everyone for a year.

In addition, there are five hundred children in the Hidden Dragon Cave, or rather, five hundred teenagers. The oldest, Xiao Lu, is 15 years old, and the youngest is 12 years old.

Wu Chengyu spent two years teaching them the Heaven-Mending Technique to rebuild their foundations. Now they are all strong and powerful, but they can't achieve the same level of strength as the Ox and Horse Stance, nor can they actually wrestle with giant bears like Aku who mastered the Bear Appearance Technique.

These are teenagers who will grow to be around 180cm tall, strong, with robust bones, unobstructed meridians, and exceptional talent for martial arts.

If these children were placed in other martial arts sects, they would have received special training and become pillars of society in the future. Who would have thought that three years ago, they were all weakened, sickly, and short-lived?

In terms of versatility and low resource consumption, the Heaven-Mending Technique can be considered a divine skill, far more practical than the Ox-Horse Stakes and Bear Appearance.

Wu Chengyu's teaching of them was different from what he had taught them at Wujiapo. Back then, he gave the Wu clan a complete martial arts system, including internal and external skills, fist and foot techniques, weapons, lightness skills, and hidden weapons. However, he only taught them low to medium level martial arts.

Originally, the plan was to wait until the dozen or so children had mastered their skills before teaching them more advanced martial arts. Who would have thought that Wu Chengyu would eventually leave the family?

The martial arts practiced by these children are more targeted, emphasizing powerful killing ability, and the system is completely unified.

For the first two years of practicing the Heaven-Mending Technique, they mainly focused on training, dietary supplements, and medicinal supplements. At the same time, they practiced the Quanxing Guiding Technique, which was taught to them by the old Taoist Zhenxiang in Suzhou.

This technique is of little use to Wu Chengyu, who has already mastered martial arts, but it can effectively relax muscles and improve blood circulation for children who are rebuilding their foundation, enhance the absorption of dietary and medicinal supplements, and also have the effect of calming the mind and focusing the spirit.

The following year, Wu Chengyu taught Yanqing Fist, which was the most suitable basic fist technique for training fists and feet.

But once their foundation was completely rebuilt, the kung fu taught by Wu Chengyu was very different from that taught at Wujiapo.

(End of this chapter)