Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 112 Preparation
When Ye Shuyun and Murong Ruyan came down the mountain to buy supplies, they passed by a bunch of odds and ends of thatched huts and broken wooden sheds, and couldn't help but twitch their lips.

Earlier, Ye Shuyun thought that his master's thatched hut was simple enough, but what she saw now was even more shabby.

But there was no other way. Because of the Immortal Destiny Conference, Emperor Murong Zhen of Xiao Kingdom even moved the entire court to Jingming Palace next to Xiao Mausoleum, which is only three hundred miles away from Baishi Mountain. They were just waiting for the Immortal Destiny Conference to start so that they could quickly get to Baishi Mountain a few days before it began.

The main problem is that he can't ignore the political situation; otherwise, he would have already taken the invitation and gone to wait!
Murong Zhen stroked the gold-embossed invitation again and again, thinking with satisfaction: It seems I'll have to reward my sixth sister with some more things later. It's kind of her to be so sensible, knowing to think of her brother when there are good things.

In preparation for the Immortal Destiny Conference, it was also noticed that more and more people were gathering near White Stone Mountain. Murong Zhen even sent the Shuntian Army to set up camp nearby to keep an eye on these unruly martial arts practitioners, so that they could respond to any emergencies.

Zhang Chengdao, on the other hand, had to consider the food and drink needs of so many people.

Since the Immortal Affinity Assembly has no registration fee, many people will naturally participate with a gambler's mentality. However, the trial array designed by Zhang Chengdao will take at least several hours to pass. Once passed, they will most likely become disciples of the White Stone Immortal Sect, which means they are one of their own. When the banquet is held after the trial array, they can't be left hungry, can they?

Zhang Chengdao had also made a special observation: if the tens of thousands of people gathered near Baishi Mountain all planned to try the trial formation, even if the probability of getting a high-level card was low, it would still be one or two percent, which would be hundreds of people!
Surely hundreds of people can't all eat steamed buns and peaches, right?

It doesn't have the appearance of a major cultivation sect at all!
Therefore, Zhang Chengdao would send several disciples down the mountain to purchase supplies every few days. He prepared tens of thousands of portions of various foods. Although most of the ingredients were produced by the Golden Finger, some seasonings and a small number of side dishes were always in short supply and had to be purchased from the county.

This wasn't the first time Ye Shuyun and Murong Ruyan had gone down the mountain to make purchases. Many people gathered at the foot of the mountain were used to it, and upon seeing the two, they would swarm towards them, only to stop a good ten feet away out of fear.

Last time, a martial artist, defying the superstition, tried to approach her and seek her guidance. He was instead sent flying by a single blow from that fierce and terrifying goddess, who resembled a demon mother. It was only thanks to the kind-faced Fairy Ye Xiao that he drank some elixir and survived.

Therefore, although everyone still yearned for the chance to become immortals, they dared not act recklessly again.

"Ye, little immortal Ye, what have you come down the mountain to buy again?"

Of course, because Ye Shuyun was always gentle and easy to talk to, some bolder people dared to step forward and strike up a conversation.

Ye Shuyun smiled and nodded to everyone, saying, "This time we're buying some iron, but if you cut down any bamboo or wood, we'll still accept it."

Because he was busy building the future residences for his disciples, Zhang Chengdao was always short of these materials.

Stones are relatively easy to collect, much easier than wood or bamboo. However, the few cats in the sect are simply not enough to handle wood and bamboo. Therefore, on Xu Ying's advice, Zhang Chengdao mobilized the people who came to participate in the Immortal Fate Conference to cut down trees and bamboo, and bought them at a price slightly higher than the market price.

Normally, the government wouldn't stand idly by while such large-scale resource extraction was being carried out, but...

This is exactly what the White Stone Immortal wants! Who dares to interfere?

Didn't you see that even the Emperor, who lives 300 miles away, has tacitly agreed to it?
As soon as Ye Shuyun finished speaking, many people around her excitedly shouted and brought out all sorts of wood and bamboo strips that they had been hiding.

After Ye Shuyun finished settling the accounts for these resources, Murong Ruyan used her spiritual power to lift them up in batches and send them to the other side of the Black Abyss, so that Zhang Chengdao could go and collect them whenever he had time.

After collecting the materials, the two hurriedly left the foot of the mountain and headed towards the Sword Forging Manor.

Tang Xiaoyu, who had just arrived at the foot of Baishi Mountain, hid in the crowd, watching the two walk further and further away, her brows furrowed as she pondered something. Zhu Ye gently waved her folding fan, remaining silent.

Huang Wu nudged Tang Xiaoyu's arm and said, "You're just a little girl, always frowning, you're so ugly! What are you staring at those two immortals for?"

"Humph!"

Tang Xiaoyu rolled her eyes, ignored Huang Wu, and instead pointed to the wide crack not far away, asking Zhu Ye, "What's that? How come there's something like that in White Stone Mountain?"

“That’s called ‘Black Abyss’,”

Zhu Ye didn't speak, but Huang Wu grinned, showing his big yellow teeth, and said, "It was cleaved by an immortal's sword. It has immortal magic; you can't get past it!"

"Can't get through!?" Tang Xiaoyu became even more curious: "Why can't you get through? Is someone holding you back?"

"Hey, you little girl, you don't believe me! If you don't believe me, go and try it yourself!"

As Huang Wu spoke, he revealed an expression of anticipation, crossed his arms, and leaned against the newly repaired wooden frame.

"Let's go down and try again."

Zhu Ye stopped the two from arguing and took the initiative to walk to Hei Yuan's side.

He first tested the waters with his paper fan and found that he seemed to have encountered something—like an invisible wall blocking his way.

Then, Zhu Ye reached forward again, until she just touched the edge of the cliff, where she felt a strange "membrane".

Then, the spot he touched rippled like a pebble thrown into water, creating waves, just like a transparent mirror.

This time, even Zhu Ye was somewhat stunned: "What is this?"

"Hehe, aren't you known as the 'Know-It-All'? How come you don't even know this!" Huang Wu picked his teeth with his black fingernails, tilted his head back, and boasted with his nostrils pointing to the sky, "This thing is called a 'barrier,' it's to keep out any troublemakers who dare to break into the immortals' abode and cause trouble! A few days ago, a martial artist with the cultivation of a fifth rank claimed that he could break this thing, hehe, he even broke his own bones. He wanted to ask for immortal medicine, and it was only because the little immortal Ye took pity on him that he gave it to him!"

As Huang Wu spoke, he picked his nose a few times, flicked it, and then continued, "If you ask me, that kind of person deserved it! What a load of rubbish they gave him! What a waste of a magic elixir! Luckily, Ye Xiaoshenxian's senior sister is powerful, otherwise he would have definitely been scammed!"

Zhu Ye asked in surprise, "Is there anyone who would dare to deceive Young Master Ye?"

Huang Wu immediately became interested and started gossiping excitedly: "How could there not be? There was someone who claimed to know Ye Xiaoshenxian, I think she was from some Yuan Shui Sect or Xuan Shui Sect, crying and shouting that Ye Xiaoshenxian had wronged her, that they were engaged, and so on. But in the end, it turned out that someone was impersonating Ye Xiaoshenxian..."

(End of this chapter)