Immortality begins with upgrading buildings

Chapter 289 Lingtai Fangcun Mountain [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Lingtai Fangcun Mountain

Once his natal magic weapon had a true name, Ji Yuan immediately discovered a mysterious connection between himself and the weapon, a connection that felt extremely intimate.

It was as if this Fangcun Mountain was a part of himself.

With a little perception, Ji Yuan immediately had a complete understanding of Fangcun Mountain.

"out!"

He brought his left index and middle fingers together in a sword-like gesture, pressed them against the joint of his right hand, and then thrust them forward. Fangcun Mountain immediately spun and flew forward, finally landing on the ground in front of Ji Yuan, transforming into a divine mountain about knee-high.

Ji Yuan felt it was still not enough, so with a thought, Fangcun Mountain grew several times larger until it became as tall as the house.

The ground was also pressed down by an inch.

This is only because Ji Yuan did not activate it. If he were to inject spiritual energy to activate Fangcun Mountain, it could instantly transform into a heavy mountain and sink straight into the ground.

As for now...

Ji Yuan took a step forward and then slowly disappeared into this small mountain.

As the saying goes: "A divine mountain within a square inch of the mind, a grotto heaven of every size."

Fangcun Mountain serves as Ji Yuan's "Cave Heaven" building, containing space that will eventually accommodate countless other buildings, thus allowing Ji Yuan to enter.

As his figure disappeared into this small mountain, the once towering mountain, which was as tall as a rooftop, began to shrink rapidly.

In the short span of a single breath, what was originally a small hill became the size of an ant on the ground, and then continued to shrink until it merged into the thousands of dust particles on the ground, which was when it reached its limit.

Ji Yuan was standing at the highest point of Fangcun Mountain, sensing everything that was happening.

"It seems that I have another way to hide in the future. And it is indeed a [Cave Heaven] magic treasure. With this, I will no longer need to carry any [Cave Abode] when I go out, because Fangcun Mountain is my Cave Abode."

"I just don't know what level of cultivator's investigation this Fangcun Mountain can withstand."

Ji Yuan sensed that Fangcun Mountain, which had turned into dust, was now a level 1 building, comparable to a magic weapon in the Golden Core stage. So, it should be no problem to hide it from the Golden Core stage's detection, right?

For Nascent Soul cultivators, that's another story.

Ji Yuan planned to try it out in front of Hua Yaoyue the next time he went back.

As for now... Ji Yuan's mind sank into the interior of this Fangcun Mountain.

Fangcun Mountain may look like a sacred mountain on the outside, but its interior is a chaotic mess. However, this chaos is divided into two levels, the purpose of which is naturally to facilitate Ji Yuan's placement of buildings.

For example, his cave dwelling is currently on the upper level.

Ji Yuan naturally understood that as the [Cave Heaven] continued to upgrade, more layers of Fangcun Mountain would be unlocked.

Now, let alone opening two layers, even opening twenty layers wouldn't help.

Because the containment building requires Void Stones, and Ji Yuan currently doesn't even have a pound of Void Stones.

Being able to accommodate the [Cave Abode] is already considered a benefit from the [Cave Heaven].

However, Ji Yuan also had some ideas about the layout of Fangcun Mountain.

At that time, Fangcun Mountain will definitely be like a pagoda, with its internal space divided into several layers, forming its own world.

The bottom floor is naturally intended to house buildings such as the mass grave and beehives. If possible, pigsties and chicken coops will also be placed on the bottom floor.

The second floor will be used to house the [Heavenly Craft Workshop], where alchemy and weapon crafting will take place.

Because this thing still needs to draw in ground fire, being closer to the ground is more convenient.

The third floor should be the middle. Ji Yuan plans to place things like the cave dwelling and fishpond here. This is the living area, and he doesn't want to make it too stressful.

Further up are the Enlightenment Room, Meditation Room, and Scripture Repository.

These things that increase your understanding should be considered on a higher level.

Ji Yuan felt increasingly pleased with himself.

But upon closer reflection, it really is a case of "though one may have a thousand words on one's pen, one has not a single plan in one's heart."

No matter how wonderful the idea is, it can't accommodate the buildings right now, so we can only stare helplessly at it.

But then a flash of inspiration struck Ji Yuan. He seemed to have thought of something, and he once again looked inward at his dantian while he was in the cave in Fangcun Mountain.

The nine flying sword embryos still existed, and were now quietly hovering in his ice-type spiritual energy dantian.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that the sword embryo is still there. Ji Yuan was worried that the newly appeared [Cave Heaven] building would take over the position of his natal magic weapon, and that the flying sword embryo would disappear.

If that's the case, then what should be done with these nine flying swords?

They aren't your own natal magic weapons, so how could you possibly create them and store them in your dantian?

As he was thinking, the panel seemed to sense something, and it vibrated slightly. At the same time, a flash of light appeared on the panel, and a new building appeared.

[Sword Hut: lv1 (cannot be upgraded)]

[Effect: Can accommodate all swords in the world; Sword Mastery +10%.]

[Upgrade Requirements: 10000 Medium-Grade Spirit Stones; 5 Sword-Type Spirit Weapons; 50 Sword-Type Magic Weapons. (Cannot be upgraded)]

A new building is coming out already?!

Ji Yuan was just worried about what to do with the nine flying swords, but now the panel has provided a solution.

【Sword Lodge】

It seems that even if these nine flying swords are successfully forged, they can be housed within the [Sword Pavilion] building, and then the [Sword Pavilion] will be incorporated into the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain.

perfect!

Ji Yuan could already imagine the scene of him facing enemies when he reached the Golden Core stage in the future, and the first thing he would naturally face was these nine Canglan swords.

If these nine Canglan swords can defeat the opponent.

That goes without saying.

If it were nine Canglan swords, even the combined power of the nine swords wouldn't be enough to defeat it.

"Then congratulations, you've finally earned the right to see my natal magic weapon!"

When the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain appears, it will either suppress, smash, or destroy, and every move it makes will carry immense power.

If two magical treasures in a row fail to solve the problem, and the opponent gets closer...

"Well, I'm sorry, but actually my strongest technique is... body cultivation!"

When you're in full physical condition and your punches land hard, you should be able to beat your opponent into pieces, right?

"However, this means that I, as a body cultivator, am actually lacking a suitable magic weapon."

Ji Yuan couldn't help but think of the bright silver spear with red tassels that Hua Yaoyue had used last time... How come it looks so much like the one I lost?

I indulged in a blissful fantasy for a while.

Ji Yuan's gaze fell back on the panel.

"Sword specialization +10%", he understood what that sentence meant after a little thought.

In short, anything related to swords will receive a 10% bonus.

Whether it's a long sword or a short sword, or the sword techniques or swordsmanship that sword cultivators talk about.

Both can receive a 10% bonus.

Moreover, this bonus includes not only an understanding of the sword, but also enhancements to various sword-related techniques such as magic.

The effect is incredibly powerful.

Therefore, it is understandable that a mere level 1 building would require so many resources.

Having figured out his natal magic weapon, and with the remaining nine flying sword embryos to which he had devoted a great deal of effort now having a place to go, Ji Yuan's anxious heart finally settled down completely.

Located deep within the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, he summoned the control panel again.

He wanted to see what effect this level 2 [Cave Heaven] would have.

【Cave Heaven (Native Magic Weapon): lv2 (Cannot be upgraded)】

[Effect 1: Power comparable to a Nascent Soul magic weapon. Note: The more containment structures there are, the greater the power.]

[Effect 2 (Sumeru Mustard Seed): After shrinking to its maximum size, it can prevent detection by cultivators of the same level.]

[Effect 3 (Mountains Carrying Mountains): When the body size is enlarged to the extreme, it can be like mountains carrying mountains, weighing down thousands of feet.]

[Upgrade Requirements: 200000 mid-grade spirit stones; at least 5 buildings to be contained; 5 fourth-tier demon cores; 1 Nascent Soul magic weapon. (Not met)]

Ji Yuan: "???"

After reading it, his eyes widened in disbelief. Was this level 2 natal magic weapon already this powerful?

Whether it's these three special effects or the upgrade requirements, they're all excellent.

Moreover, the effects are also different; although on the surface there are three effects.

However, if we combine the current level 1 [Cave Heaven] with the absorption of Void Stones and the spiritual effect of containing the building, it will be effective.

So this level 2 [Cave Heaven] actually has 4 spiritual effects.

In this light, the upgrade requirements seem a bit outrageous.

20 mid-grade spirit stones would take 2000 days of production from the [spiritual vein] even without eating or drinking... wait, that doesn't seem like a very long time.

After all, these level 2 natal magic treasures can only be used when one reaches the Nascent Soul stage.

At the very least, one must reach the peak of the Golden Core stage.

The spirit stones shouldn't be a problem then; the difficulty lies in the later conditions.

Five buildings, that would take a lot of Void Stones.

You need five fourth-tier demon cores, and even a Nascent Soul magic weapon as an upgrade requirement.

It can only be said that there is a reason why one's natal magic weapon is so powerful.

Having witnessed the spiritual effects of this Level 2 [Cave Heaven] and learned about the future strength of his natal magic weapon, Ji Yuan was in a great mood.

He immediately tried to use his divine sense to lock onto the [Heavenly Craft Workshop] outside, and chose to contain it in an instant.

Immediately, text popped up on the panel.

[Consume 40 catties of Void Stones to house the "Heavenly Craft Workshop"?]

40 pounds.

Upgrading a cave dwelling to level 4 only requires 10 jin of Void Stones, but nowadays it takes 40 jin of Void Stones just to house a building.

Why don't you just rob it!

Ji Yuan first disabled the building effects of [Tian Gong Fang], and then replaced the building with [Cang Jing Ge].

[Consume 30 catties of Void Stones to house the "Scripture Pavilion" building?]

Thankfully, I lost 10 pounds.

Ji Yuan then tried the [Enlightenment Room] and the [Meditation Room].

The [Enlightenment Chamber] also weighs 30 jin (approximately 15 catties).

The Meditation Room, a core building for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, weighs a whopping 50 kilograms! That's insane!

As for the other buildings, they weren't nearby, so it was difficult to try them out.

So for the next few days, Ji Yuan didn't go out again and stayed in Fangcun Mountain to cultivate. Unlike when he was cultivating outside, he felt extremely safe and secure while cultivating in this tiny, dust-like Fangcun Mountain.

He gave it a try.

The question was whether it was possible to absorb the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain into the Dantian. The result was a failure; otherwise, it could have exploited a bug.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Before Ji Yuan could wait for Li Changhe to return, and before he could go out to build the new building [Sword Lodge] to upgrade the sword-type spiritual weapon, he received that message again from Huang Richeng's storage bag.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, how about it? Time has passed now, you can't go back on your word again, can you?"

Ji Yuan withdrew from his cultivation state and then left Lingtai Fangcun Mountain. When he reappeared in the room, he even felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

Or rather, it feels like a lifetime ago.

He looked down at the ground, but there was nothing unusual about it.

But hidden within this vast expanse of dust lies his natal magic weapon, the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain.

With a thought, Ji Yuan caused a speck of dust to rise and eventually sink into his dantian. He then retrieved the communication talisman from the Ice and Fire Elder and spoke:

"Senior, that person has sent me another message."

The old man of ice and fire did not reply, but after only a breath, a sound came from outside his dwelling.

"Hey kid, open the door."

Ji Yuan quickly put away the two arrays and turned off the rest of the building effects. Then the figure of the Ice and Fire Elder appeared in the courtyard.

He was still the same hunched old man, the Ice and Fire Old Man.

He nodded as he entered. "The formation is quite good."

Ji Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then quickly bowed before replying, "This was a gift from my master, so it's quite effective."

"Hmm, what did that person say?"

The old man of ice and fire did not delve into this issue, but instead got to the important matter at hand.

"He asked me to go see him."

Ji Yuan took out the communication talisman.

"Then let's go. I'll go with you."

As the old man spoke, he tucked his right index and middle fingers into his sleeve and pulled out a... talisman. Judging from the patterns on the surface of the talisman, its original form should have been a mask.

It's somewhat like the kind worn during Nuo opera performances.

The Ice and Fire Elder poured spiritual energy into it and then threw it towards Ji Yuan.

He instinctively leaned back.

Don't panic.

The old man of ice and fire said something reassuring, and Ji Yuan stopped moving, letting the illusory mask summoned by the talisman land on his face.

As a multicolored spiritual light enveloped his entire body, he saw the Ice and Fire Elder make several hand seals.

As the light around him faded, he transformed from Ji Yuan into... Huang Richeng.

...The process is complicated and requires the use of talismans, but the effect seems to be even worse than his own shape-changing talisman.

However, Ji Yuan only dared to think these words in his heart. On the surface, he still had to put on an exaggerated expression, "What kind of talisman is this? Its effect is so powerful!"

"hehe."

The Ice and Fire Elder put the remaining talisman, which could be used one last time, into his storage bag. "Good stuff, use it as you like. Remember, don't use your full strength. Once you use your full strength, the effect of this talisman will dissipate."

"Yes……"

Ji Yuanxuan immediately infused the communication talisman with a trace of spiritual energy, and when he opened his mouth again, it naturally became Huang Richeng's voice.

"I've prepared the elixir. Tell me, where shall we meet?"

"Excellent, excellent!" the person behind laughed heartily. "Let's go to the usual place then."

...The usual place? Does anyone know where the "usual place" you're talking about is?

Ji Yuan paused for a moment before replying:

"No, the alchemy workshop is now under the control of the Ice and Fire Elder. He is incredibly powerful and has many tricks up his sleeve. I'm worried that the old place has already been exposed and is not safe... Damn it, I've suffered a lot of trouble from him lately."

Ji Yuan imitated Huang Richeng's tone of voice.

Little did they know that the old man of ice and fire behind them couldn't help but stroke his beard and nod upon hearing these words, looking quite pleased.

"Heh, life's tough these days. I didn't expect you to actually be so cautious. So, where are we going to meet?"

A voice sounded from within the communication talisman.

In Ji Yuan's mind, the voice of the Ice and Fire Elder echoed, "Qingjing Mountain."

Qingjing Mountain is located north of Wangcheng Mountain, and it is not far from Zhuixing River. Ji Yuan had only heard that it was a good place to view the river.

"Qingjing Mountain".

Ji Yuan gave an answer.

"Alright, then see you at Qingjing Mountain in three days."

"Two days later, I'm busy here, and I'm worried that if I'm gone for too long, the Ice and Fire Elder will find out."

Ji Yuan was not led by the nose by the other party.

As for being exposed, he wasn't worried. If he were exposed, he would simply ignore it.

"Two days it is, damn it, you're such a busybody."

The communication ended there, and Ji Yuan put away the communication talisman.

"Let's go. Who knows what other tricks they might use? Let's go over there and see what happens."

When the old man of ice and fire spoke, Ji Yuan could only reply, "Yes."

Then, he was taken by the Ice and Fire Elder, and his body transformed into a beam of light, heading straight to the north.

On their way here, Ji Yuan transmitted his voice to the Ice and Fire Elder, asking, "Senior, your visit to our alchemy workshop must be more than just a simple matter, right?"

This is also something that Ji Yuan has been wondering about during this period.

Placing the Ice and Fire Elder in this small alchemy workshop is somewhat of a waste of his talents.

"Did Li Changhe tell you?"

The old man of ice and fire did not answer directly, but in a way, he gave Ji Yuan a kind of answer.

Things are indeed not that simple.

"No, he didn't tell me anything."

Regardless of whether Li Changhe actually didn't say it, even if he did, Ji Yuan couldn't admit it; he couldn't betray his teammate.

"He probably didn't know that even if Li Gang cared for him a lot, he would never have told him about this."

"So... what exactly is going on?"

Ji Yuan lowered his voice and asked.

The Ice and Fire Elder chuckled, "Heh, even someone with a Golden Core cultivator as their father wouldn't dare tell him. Do you think I'd tell you, given our relationship?"

"Of course, if you are truly my son, I will tell you."

"Li Gang can't withstand it, but I'm barefoot, so there's nothing I can't withstand."

Ji Yuan chuckled upon hearing this.

But he only dared to chuckle to himself; outwardly, he could only smile and say, "Senior is joking."

...If you don't want to tell me, fine. I'll find out when I get back and ask my master, or I can just ask Kong Xifeng.

Ji Yuan still has some connections.

"Alright, you can go the rest of the way on your own. I'll keep an eye on you from a distance. As long as the other side doesn't have a Nascent Soul cultivator backing them up, there shouldn't be any problems."

The old man of ice and fire disappeared into a dense forest.

Just a few breaths later, Ji Yuan piloted Huang Richeng's crocodile-shaped flying boat northward, finally landing on a mountain in the far north.

As for why it's the northernmost point, it's because further north lies the turbulent and rushing River of Falling Stars.

As soon as he landed, that familiar voice rang in his mind.

"Brother Huang, you've arrived quite quickly."

(End of this chapter)