Hermit in the Mountains

Gu Changsheng returned the documents and the sealed bag to Zhang Yuanfu. Noticing the other man's hesitant expression, he casually asked a question.

"Yuanfu, is there anything else? Speak."

Zhang Yuanfu explained the situation clearly, word by word, "Reporting to the Peak Master, Zhang Tianhu of the National Spirit Bureau, together with Wang Jiuyang, the head of Chongyang Palace, plans to deal with the ghost incidents in Chang'an City tonight;"

"Zhang Tianhu would like to invite you to come out of retirement and take charge; you can name your price."

After conveying Zhang Tianhu's invitation, he cautiously voiced his suspicions, "Peak Master, Zhang Tianhu's invitation may have other motives."

A look of realization flashed across Gu Changsheng's eyes, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "It's alright. Pick me up at the valley entrance at six o'clock this afternoon, and we'll go there."

"I've never seen what a ghost looks like in my entire life, this is a good opportunity to broaden my horizons."

He turned around, took out five jade bottles from the drawer, and handed them to Zhang Yuanfu. "These are your rewards. Go back and prepare them."

"Yes, Peak Master, I will be waiting for you at the valley entrance before six o'clock sharp." Zhang Yuanfu took the jade bottle with both hands, carefully put it into his backpack, put away the documents, and stood up.

He stepped back to the doorway, clasped his hands in a respectful bow towards the inside, and said, "Peak Master, I will go back to prepare for my trip."

He saw the peak master inside wave his hand, take three steps back, and turn to leave.

Inside the living room, Gu Changsheng seemed lost in thought. How could he not guess that Zhang Tianhu's invitation was purposeful?

He is known to the outside world as an alchemist, and this time they probably want to test his strength and methods.

He could also take this opportunity to show off his skills, intimidate them, and establish his authority to avoid a lot of trouble and prevent anyone from daring to disturb his meditation in the future.

Another reason was that he was curious about what ghosts actually looked like and what they were made of.

The Xiangxi region is quite far; I'll go see the "zombies" with my own eyes when I have time in the future.

Moreover, "zombies" are physical entities that can be photographed and recorded on video, so he can see what "zombies" look like just by going over to them.

Ghosts are different; they exist on an energy level, invisible and intangible. The images of ghosts captured by equipment would likely only show static.

As for danger, it was not within Gu Changsheng's consideration. With his own cultivation, sword techniques, pure yang blood, and divine sense, he could easily kill a mere three-day-old 'fierce ghost' with any one of these abilities.

Given the immense pure Yang energy emanating from his body, the 'vengeful ghost' should have fled with its bucket; it wouldn't be foolish enough to fly into a flame like a moth.

On the other side, Zhang Yuanfu went down the mountain and entered the wooden house at the foot of the mountain.

"Grandpa." Zhang Yufu stood up to greet her grandfather when she saw him return.

Zhang Yuanfu's gaze swept over everyone, and seeing the three children looking at him with curiosity, he gestured for them to sit down.

He took out five jade bottles from his backpack and placed them on the table. "Dashan, these are Grade 6 Yang-Boosting Pills and Grade 6 Yuan-Nourishing Pills. They are the highest quality pills bestowed by the Peak Master today."

"We'll each keep one bottle to exchange, firstly for our cultivation, and secondly for the health of our three children."

"I need to use the remaining three bottles to exchange for the supplies that the Peak Master needs."

After saying that, he pushed the jade bottle marked with the rank of sixth grade in front of Yang Dashan. "You keep it safe for now. I still need to go to Wanshou Pavilion to assign tasks. Let's meet again tomorrow."

"Yu Fu, you stay in my room tonight and don't go out. I'll be back tomorrow."

Zhang Yuanfu looked at Yang Dashan, "Dashan, I have things to take care of tonight. I'll trouble you to look after my granddaughter. See you tomorrow morning."

"Old Zhang, you can go ahead and do your work without worry. I'll take care of things here." Yang Dashan knew that Zhang Yuanfu was busy helping the peak master collect resources and intelligence, unlike him who only needed to guard Changsheng Peak. He had no other distractions and could even focus on practicing martial arts.

Zhang Yuanfu once again instructed his granddaughter, "Yufu, listen to your Uncle Yang, don't run around."

"I understand, Grandpa." Zhang Yufu's mind was still foggy after hearing about cultivation, elixirs, and what she had seen and heard on the mountain. She nodded in a daze.

"Dashan, I'm leaving now." Zhang Yuanfu left these words and turned to go.

In front of the wooden house, Yang Dashan and the other three watched Zhang Yuanfu leave until his body disappeared down the path before they returned to the wooden house.

Yang Dashan began to teach the three children about spiritual energy revival and cultivation techniques.

The site of Wanshou Pavilion is the former Zhang Family Courtyard.

Zhang Yuanfu called Zhang Tianhu to inform him that the peak master would depart from Xiaohe Village at six o'clock and was expected to arrive at seven-thirty.

He hung up the phone and notified everyone in the Wanshou Pavilion chat group to start a meeting.

A dozen minutes later, all the members of Wanshou Pavilion who lived in various parts of Xiahe Village arrived.

Li Anlan walked lightly into the tea room carrying a stack of documents and distributed them to everyone inside.

After distributing the documents, she sat down and opened her notebook to take meeting minutes.

After Zhang Yuanfu and the others had reviewed the documents, he put down his teacup and grunted to signal everyone to be quiet.

"I have good news to share with everyone: the Peak Master has approved the establishment of the Longevity Pavilion. I hope everyone will work together to complete the task assigned by the Peak Master."

"The document you just looked at records the resources the Peak Master needs. This matter is being handled jointly by Li Jianguo and Fang Shouchang. They will collect these resources from both official and unofficial channels as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Master." Li Jianguo and Fang Shouchang nodded in response with smiles on their faces.

Zhang Yuanfu took out three jade bottles and placed them on the tea table. "The Peak Master has bestowed three bottles of Lesser Spirit Pills, one of which is a Grade 5 Qi Cultivation Lesser Spirit Pill, containing nine pills in total."

"One for each person, and the remaining three will be kept in the pavilion as rewards, to be awarded to whoever makes the greatest contribution."

"One bottle of Grade 4 Qi-Nourishing Pill and one bottle of Grade 4 Yang-Boosting Pill will be used for the expenses of this mission..." He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"If some supplies can be purchased with money, the remaining small spirit pills can be kept internally for rewards."

The people inside the room suddenly realized that the peak master's refined elixirs were of the highest quality, and they would definitely pay for any supplies that could be purchased with money first.

At worst, they could pay with half of the small spirit pills and the other half with cash, and no outsiders would know. That's why they desperately wanted to join Zhang Yuanfu's inner circle.

Fang Shouchang proposed a solution that was hard for everyone to refuse: "Master Shen and Abbot Shi can refine elixirs. When purchasing resources, why don't we use one-third money, one-third Vajra Pills and Tranquilizing Pills, and the last third the Lesser Spirit Pills bestowed by the Peak Master?"

Upon hearing this, everyone thought to themselves, "Wow!" and silently gave Fang Shouchang a thumbs up.

Watching the group of old foxes argue amongst themselves, managing to withhold two-thirds of the Little Spirit Pill's share, Li Anlan thought to himself, "They can do this too? I've really learned something. I'll write this down, write it down, write it all down."

This is the benefit of mastering core technologies. I set the rules, and I can change them however I want. There are plenty of people who want to cooperate. If they can accept it, we can cooperate; if they can't, I'll find someone else to cooperate with, and there will still be people vying to cooperate with me.

In Chang'an City, at the headquarters of the National Spirit Bureau, Zhang Tianhu received a call from Zhang Yuanfu, who told him that Gu Changsheng would be making an appearance that evening. He immediately reported this to the Zijing Pavilion.

Less than half an hour after Zhang Tianhu hung up the phone, some people got wind of the operation and applied to participate in the night's operation.

Previously, various factions had only heard of Gu Changsheng or knew him from documents. This operation, with Gu Changsheng participating, was the best opportunity for them to observe and assess his strength up close, and also an opportunity for them to get to know him.

They all knew that Gu Changsheng was exceptionally low-key. Since entering the Qinling Mountains for seclusion last year, he had only gone down the mountain five times: twice to Chang'an City, once to Yingxian Town, and twice to handle village affairs. On average, he only went down the mountain once every two months, and each time he appeared for no more than twelve hours.

If I miss this chance to meet Gu Changsheng, I don't know when I'll get another one.

This operation is not only the best opportunity to observe Gu Changsheng's methods, but also to deal with the unseen and intangible "ghosts and monsters".

Of all the information they have, Gu Changsheng has only demonstrated alchemy skills so far; his actual strength, methods, and techniques are all unknown.

If Gu Changsheng makes a move this time, they will be able to glimpse a mysterious side of him.