Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

The Immortal Realm, Green Wood City.

This immortal city, standing on the eastern border, has walls built of massive, heavy blue granite blocks, inscribed with faint spiritual runes that gleam with a cold, eerie light under the sun. The city gates are ten zhang high, guarded by two celestial soldiers clad in black armor and wielding long spears. Their auras are steady, their eyes sharp as eagles, scanning every cultivator entering or leaving the city.

Leaving Qingmu City from the east gate, heading east through dense primeval forests and across rushing rivers, after about eight hundred li, there is an inconspicuous barren mountain.

This mountain is indeed not high; its main peak is only about a thousand feet high, making it seem like a dwarf compared to the surrounding sacred mountains that are thousands of feet tall. However, its terrain exudes an indescribable magnificence. The exposed rocks are sharply angled, as if cleaved by a giant axe. Several not-so-wide ridges extend in all directions, forming a landscape of overlapping peaks. Although not large in scale, it possesses its own unique grandeur.

Halfway up the mountain, a flat, open area of ​​about a hundred acres miraculously appeared. Standing here, the view was exceptionally expansive, revealing a winding river in the distance and the outline of Qingmu City further away. This open area was in an excellent location, surrounded on three sides by relatively low mountain walls, forming a natural barrier. Only directly in front was a gently sloping hillside, at the end of which lay a deep, emerald-green pool lying quietly.

A crystal-clear stream gurgles from a crevice in the rocks at the mountaintop, like a silver ribbon winding its way down the mountainside, its babbling melody echoing all the way before finally flowing into this emerald pool. The pool's water is as green as a giant piece of jade, and sunlight filters through the sparse leaves, scattering shimmering reflections on its surface. Upon closer inspection, several small, palm-sized fish, their bodies glowing with a faint ethereal light, swim leisurely in the pool, occasionally leaping out of the water and creating a trail of sparkling droplets.

He Damin stood in the center of the open space, dressed in a plain blue robe. He was of medium build and of average appearance, the kind of person who would easily blend into a crowd. But his eyes were bright, carrying a calm and sharp quality born of experience. At this moment, he stood with his hands behind his back, slowly surveying his surroundings, a satisfied smile on his face, and nodded slightly.

"This is it," he said softly, his voice low but carrying a sense of certainty that everything had finally settled.

He spent a full three months searching for this place. During those three months, he traversed almost every mountain and river within a thousand-mile radius of Qingmu City, crossing countless mountains and fording countless rivers. The Immortal Realm was vast, and the immortal mountains were as numerous as hairs on a cow, but they were either pitifully devoid of spiritual energy, remotely located with inconvenient transportation, or already occupied by others.

The mountain before them wasn't large, and its spiritual energy wasn't particularly abundant, but its location was perfect—eight hundred li from Qingmu City, neither too close nor too far. Too close, and it would be easily disturbed by the city's noise and entangled in various troubles; too far, and purchasing cultivation resources and gathering information would be inconvenient. Most importantly, while the spiritual energy here wasn't top-tier, it was pure and stable, and, most importantly, this mountain was unclaimed!

In the Immortal Realm, any decent immortal mountain would have long been divided up by major sects, powerful families, or highly skilled rogue cultivators. The reason this mountain remains empty is primarily because its spiritual veins aren't strong enough to attract the interest of those powerful forces. For He Damin, this is perfect. He dislikes dealing with those sects and forces; peace and quiet are far better.

To buy the mountain, he made a special trip to the Immortal Register Office in Qingmu City. This was an official agency specifically managing the ownership of land and mountains surrounding the immortal city, and its officials were all arrogant and condescending. He Damin didn't bother arguing with them and simply tossed out 50,000 low-grade immortal coins. That was a considerable sum, enough for an ordinary Celestial Immortal cultivator to live frugally for decades. Upon seeing the immortal coins, the officials' attitude immediately changed completely, their faces beaming with obsequious smiles. They quickly completed all the formalities for him and even provided a detailed map of the mountain range.

"Brother Damin, we...we really have our own mountain now?" A gentle female voice sounded from the side.

Chen Xueru stood beside He Damin, wearing an elegant white dress, her long hair simply tied back, revealing her smooth forehead and delicate features. Her eyes were large and bright, fixed intently on the land before her, which, though still barren, was brimming with hope, her gaze sparkling with excitement, like a child who had received a beloved toy.

"Yes." He Damin turned around, took her slightly cool hand, and looked at her gently. "From today onwards, this will be the foundation of our He family in the Immortal Realm. Although it looks desolate now and there's nothing there, it doesn't matter. We'll take it slowly and build it up little by little. It will get better."

"Yes!" Chen Xueru nodded emphatically, gripping his hand tightly, her face filled with determination. "I'll help you!"

Just do it.

The first thing He Damin did was solve the housing problem. With a thought, the Yin-Yang Space gate in his sea of ​​consciousness opened, and streams of light shot out from it, landing on the open ground. These were various building materials he had prepared in advance—incredibly hard green nanmu wood brought from the cultivation world, white jade stones that could slightly gather spirit energy purchased from the Earthly Immortal Realm, and some array flags, array plates, and spirit stones for inscribing arrays.

He made hand seals and chanted incantations, and the building materials seemed to come alive, automatically assembling themselves. "Boom... Crack..." After a series of soft sounds, one after another, simple and elegant courtyards rose from the ground.

At the very center stands a main courtyard, with blue bricks and gray tiles, upturned eaves, and two wooden pillars carved with auspicious cloud patterns, exuding grandeur and stability. Beside the main courtyard are several side courtyards, serving as bedrooms, living rooms, and studies respectively. Further out are buildings of various functions: in the alchemy room, a third-grade alchemy furnace, sourced from the treasure pavilion and covered with flame runes, is already in place; in the weapon-refining room, a dark weapon-refining platform stands quietly, with common weapon-refining materials piled beside it; the array hall and talisman hall are relatively simple, mainly consisting of spacious rooms and shelves for storing array diagrams, talisman paper, and cinnabar. Not far away, a not-too-large library has been built, already displaying some basic cultivation techniques and miscellaneous notes collected by He Damin. Finally, at the edge of the open space, a neat row of disciple dormitories has been built, currently empty, but prepared for future disciple recruitment.

In just one hour, the once empty open space was transformed into a well-arranged cluster of buildings.

He Damin wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Chen Xueru led a group of people to begin another task—land reclamation. These people were all descendants of the He family who came from He Damin's small world, numbering about several dozen. The oldest was already at the Foundation Establishment stage, while the youngest was only at the Qi Refining stage. Looking at the immortal mountain before them, they were all extremely excited and full of enthusiasm.

Chen Xueru directed them to first clear away the weeds and rubble around the building, and then take out the spiritual flower and herb seeds they had bought from Qingmu City. These seeds were carefully placed in jade boxes, emitting a faint spiritual aura. They carefully planted the seeds in the open space around the courtyard, and then fetched water from the pond to water them.

Next, they went to a gentler slope at the foot of the mountain and began cultivating the spirit field. Although the soil there was fertile, it didn't yet meet the standards for a spirit field. Chen Xueru took out some "Spirit Cultivation Powder" she had redeemed from the system shop and sprinkled it evenly on the soil. Then she directed everyone to use specially made farm tools to turn and level the soil. After several days of hard work, a spirit field of about several dozen acres was finally cultivated. They planted spirit grain seeds they had bought from Qingmu City, as well as some common low-grade spirit herbs, such as Spirit Gathering Grass and Qi Condensation Flower.

As the days went by, the sacred mountain gradually came to life.

The spiritual flowers and herbs around the courtyard sprouted, growing tender green leaves, with a few early-blooming flowers dotting the landscape and emitting a faint fragrance. In the spiritual fields below the mountain, the spiritual grains also sprouted green seedlings, a lush expanse swaying in the breeze. The stream and the clear pool became the place where everyone fetched water and washed themselves, and occasionally a few teenagers could be seen playing by the pool, startling the spiritual fish into scattering in all directions.

Looking at this vibrant scene, the younger generation of the He family all had happy smiles on their faces.

But He Damin knew that all of this was just the surface. What is the most important foundation of a true immortal mountain? It is a powerful spiritual vein and a stable protective array. Without these two things, no matter how beautiful the houses are built or how well the spiritual fields are cultivated, they are just castles in the air, which can be taken away at any time.

He had already investigated the mountain's spiritual veins; they were too weak, insufficient to support the long-term development of a family. They had to be transformed!

That morning, just as dawn was breaking, He Damin arrived at the mountaintop alone. The summit was flat, with only a few huge rocks. He stood on the highest rock, took a deep breath, and the fresh air, carrying a hint of grass and the faint fragrance of nature, filled his lungs.

He closed his eyes, and his powerful divine sense surged forth like a tidal wave, piercing the surface and probing underground. The soil of the Earth Immortal Realm was much more solid than that of the Cultivation Realm, making it more difficult for his divine sense to penetrate. His divine sense traveled downwards, passing through thick layers of soil and hard rock... At a depth of about three hundred feet underground, he finally sensed the spiritual vein.

It was an extremely thin spiritual vein, only as thick as an adult's arm, emitting a faint and thin spiritual energy, like a malnourished little snake slowly wriggling.

"You're indeed very weak." He Damin frowned slightly, then relaxed. "But it's alright, with me here, I can make you strong."

He sat cross-legged on the rock, his hands forming a mudra, and began to circulate the "Five Elements Creation Technique." This was his fundamental cultivation method, incredibly profound, capable of mobilizing the power of the five elements between heaven and earth.

A yellowish-brown light emanated from him, and a thick earth elemental force surged forth, seeping into the ground and carefully guiding the delicate spiritual vein, making it flow more smoothly. Next, red flames surged forth, like magma from beneath the earth, melting some of the hard rocks around the vein that were obstructing the flow of spiritual energy. Then, golden metal elemental force transformed into countless small shovels and drills, carving out new channels underground and guiding scattered, weak tributaries of the surrounding earth veins. Following this, blue water elemental force, like a clear spring, nourished the parched soil and the spiritual vein, making the flow of spiritual energy more complete. Finally, green wood elemental force, like tender shoots after a spring rain, nurtured the spiritual roots deep within the vein, giving it new life.

He Damin sat motionless on the mountaintop, neither eating nor drinking, neither sleeping nor resting. His face sometimes turned ashen yellow, sometimes fiery red, sometimes shimmering gold, sometimes a clear blue, and sometimes a vibrant green.

Time passed little by little, one day, two days, three days...

Five whole days and five nights!

When the first rays of sunlight shone on He Damin on the morning of the sixth day, he suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

"It's done!"

His divine sense probed the ground once more, and this time, he clearly sensed a spiritual vein, more than ten times thicker than before, flowing joyfully beneath the immortal mountain! This new spiritual vein was already as thick as an infant's arm, radiating a rich and pure spiritual energy that continuously spread in all directions. The concentration of spiritual energy throughout the entire immortal mountain instantly increased more than tenfold!

The younger generation of the He family who were cultivating in the courtyard were pleasantly surprised to feel the change in spiritual energy. They all stopped cultivating and showed expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"The spiritual energy... the spiritual energy has become much denser!"

"Yes, yes! I feel like my cultivation speed has increased quite a bit!"

Chen Xueru also sensed it. She raised her head and looked at He Damin's figure on the mountaintop, her eyes filled with admiration and love.

But He Damin did not stop there. The spiritual vein was there, but it still needed an array to protect and utilize it.

He descended from the mountaintop and began selecting sites across the sacred mountain to set up an array. The array he intended to establish was a "Primordial Five Elements Grand Array," a system he had comprehended from the *Five Elements Creation Technique*. This array, based on the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, forming a mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining, ever-flowing energy cycle. The array not only gathered surrounding spiritual energy, making the sacred mountain's spiritual energy even more concentrated, but also formed a powerful defense against invading enemies. Furthermore, it possessed the ability to conceal the sacred mountain's aura; unless one's cultivation far surpassed that of the array's creator, it would be extremely difficult to detect.