Hermit in the Mountains

Zhang Yuanfu respectfully stated the support he needed for his plan, "In reply to your question, senior, I may need you to bestow upon me a Qi-Nourishing Minor Elixir."

After stating his request, he immediately added, "I will charge the full price for the Lesser Spirit Pills as usual; I will not give them away for no reason."

Gu Changsheng got up and went back to his bedroom to get two transparent plastic bottles. He returned to the living room and handed them to Zhang Yuanfu. "Nine pills each of the First-Grade Qi-Nourishing Pill and the First-Grade Yang-Boosting Pill. You can decide how to use them yourself. Consider this my start-up capital for building your intelligence network."

He understood the principle that "if you want a horse to run fast, you have to feed it well."

Seeing the casually packaged elixir boxes again, Zhang Yuanfu decided that he would have a batch of exquisite elixir boxes custom-made and sent to the mountain when he got back.

The senior doesn't care about these minor appearances, but he can't let down the style of the elixirs produced by the senior.

"Thank you for your strong support, senior. I will definitely put these little elixirs to good use." Zhang Yuanfu said his thanks first before extending both hands to accept the two bottles of elixirs.

Gu Changsheng sat back down on the mat cross-legged, his gaze turning to his right. "Dashan, you will be in charge of guarding Changsheng Peak. You will be responsible for receiving anyone entering or leaving Changsheng Peak in the future."

"To outsiders, you should say that I hired you to be a plant conservationist and mountain guard, responsible for taking care of the saplings on the mountain and patrolling the mountain."

"I'll transfer you 100,000 yuan. Find someone to build a wooden cabin at the foot of the mountain and at the mountain pass. Be careful not to use reinforced concrete, and to run electrical and internet cables to minimize worldly distractions."

"Yes, senior, I will definitely build the house according to your requirements." Yang Dashan didn't understand what worldly matters were; he just needed to do as he was told.

Zhang Yuanfu, standing to the side, secretly memorized the things of the mortal world: steel bars and cement, electrical wires, and internet cables.

Steel bars, cement, electrical wires, and internet cables are things that bring convenience to ordinary people, but in the eyes of the older generation, they are worldly things, and there must be some secrets they don't know about that they should reduce their contact with these worldly things.

He didn't need to delve into the secrets behind it. After pondering for a long time, he cautiously asked, "Senior, I have a small request."

After asking his question, Zhang Yuanfu stared intently at Gu Changsheng, afraid that he might miss Gu Changsheng's signal.

When he saw Gu Changsheng nod in agreement, he was overjoyed. "Senior, I also want to do my part for Changsheng Peak. I will pay for the wooden house that Brother Yang wanted to build. I hope to build an extra room so that I can stay for a few days from time to time and listen to your teachings."

He understood the principle of "being near the water tower allows one to get the moon first".

From the division of labor between the two of them by their seniors, he could tell that Yang Dashan was more important to them than him. In that case, he should first try to get along with Yang Dashan.

Even though Gu Changsheng guessed Zhang Yuanfu's little scheme, he didn't expose it. The two of them were originally positioned as one inside and one outside, and getting closer to each other would make things go better. "You two discuss the repairs, but be careful not to carry out large-scale construction and maintain the natural scenery at the mountain gate."

"Yes, senior." Zhang Yuanfu maintained a calm expression, but was secretly overjoyed.

After explaining everything, Gu Changsheng offered one last sweet treat, "If you two have any questions, I can answer one of them."

Yang Dashan was still completely bewildered, his mind blank, and he didn't know what to ask.

Zhang Yuanfu was knowledgeable and experienced, and he maintained a rational mind. He knew what he wanted, and he could think about which questions he could ask and which secrets he could not touch.

He began by recounting the health-preserving exercises he had cultivated for most of his life, and finally asked only one trivial question, "Senior, can I continue practicing my family's health-preserving exercises?"

"Continue practicing for a while and see if there are any other changes." Gu Changsheng has not yet deduced any Qi-refining techniques that can be practiced. He also wants to see which techniques passed down from ancient books can refine Qi.

He finally offered a small suggestion: "You could learn the Taoist method of meditation and breath regulation."

"Dashan, you can also read about Taoist meditation and breathing techniques, and learn traditional martial arts."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuanfu realized that Yang Dashan was indeed receiving better treatment than him, and that the senior had specifically reminded him to learn traditional martial arts.

Since his senior instructed him to only learn the Taoist meditation and breath regulation method, he obediently learned it.

If traditional martial arts are practiced incorrectly, they can cause physical injury and hinder the progress of health cultivation, resulting in more harm than good.

"Gu Xiao..." Yang Dashan's mind returned halfway through his sentence, and he quickly changed his form of address, "Senior Gu, which martial arts should I learn?"

"Go and find out what traditional martial arts are available, watch some videos, and choose the one that interests you the most to practice," Gu Changsheng said, not making a decision for Yang Dashan.

Zhang Yuanfu suddenly spoke up, "Brother Yang, I have connections with some people who practice traditional martial arts. I'll help you find some authentic traditional martial arts videos later."

"Thank you, Elder Zhang." Yang Dashan thanked Zhang Yuanfu across from him.

"You two can go back now. I'll contact you if anything happens." Gu Changsheng waved his hand, signaling the two to leave.

"Yes, senior. My phone will be on for twenty hours!" Zhang Yuanfu knew when to advance and retreat, clasped his hands in response, stood up, took three steps back, and then turned to leave.

"Senior Gu, I... I'll head back first too." Yang Dashan, still somewhat dazed, stood up, mimicked Zhang Yuanfu's gesture of clasping his hands in farewell, and turned to leave.

Gu Changsheng waved to the two people at the door, indicating that they could leave on their own.

The wooden house returned to silence, and Gu Changsheng sat alone in front of the stove, his eyes slightly closed.

He doesn't know or can't predict what the future holds for Earth; all he can do is make plans in advance.

One piece is placed outside to scout, and another piece is placed inside the mountains to guard them. This forms a double-layered frontline defense, preventing him from becoming blind and allowing him to detect external movements in advance and take appropriate countermeasures.

Secondly, the fact that Zhang Yuanfu and Yang Dashan were both his experimental subjects allowed him to try and collect more information on cultivation, thus improving the content of the "Principles" chapter.

He had even greater ambitions; he wanted to test whether the rumor that one could not cultivate without "innate spiritual roots" was true or false.

If one truly cannot cultivate without an "innate spiritual root," is it possible to find a new cultivation system, such as the "natal Dao seed method" he created?

If he succeeds on this path, he will master a heaven-defying secret technique, and at that time, the "Destiny Seed Technique" will have taken a few steps forward in becoming a self-contained path.

If only he can cultivate, it's not truly "creating his own path." Such a "path" is too small, too narrow, and too fragile.

His goal is to become a "pathfinder," a master of a path, not a "master of a solitary path."

If he creates the "Path of the Destiny Seed", he will enjoy 98% of the fortune of this path, and it would not be an exaggeration for him to call himself the "Ancestor of the Dao".

Such as the "Lord of Immortals - Hongjun Daozu", "Lord of Earthly Immortals - Zhenyuan Daxian", "Lord of Demonic Path - Luo Hou", and "Lord of Space - Yangmei Daxian" in the ancient Chinese novels.

Flying on a sword, ascending to heaven in broad daylight, and achieving immortality—how can these compare to becoming an immortal ancestor?

Becoming an immortal or an ancestor is the ultimate dream that every descendant of the Yellow Emperor cannot refuse.