Hermit in the Mountains

Zhang Tianhu turned around and ordered, "You all wait for me here."

"Yes, Chief..." The five men obeyed the order and responded in unison.

Zhang Tianhu turned around, a smile on his face, and raised his hand to indicate, "Brother Dashan, please lead the way."

"Stay behind me and don't wander off." After giving this instruction, Yang Dashan turned and strode towards the mountain path.

Zhang Tianhu walked behind, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He had read in the documents when Gu Changsheng planted the saplings. Wild plants grow faster due to spiritual energy, but the peach blossoms planted by Gu Changsheng were not growing quite right.

When the two reached the mountainside, Zhang Tianhu saw Yang Dashan stop ahead, so he also stopped and glanced at the surrounding bamboo forest.

He also noticed something unusual about the mountain: a mountain teeming with life, covered in lush vegetation, standing out starkly from the surrounding peaks.

He heard Yang Dashan's breathing become a little rapid, and he knew the other party's information by heart.

Yang Dashan frequently climbs this mountain and practices martial arts, so he shouldn't be out of breath.

Zhang Tianhu noticed Yang Dashan's unusual behavior. After calling out "Dahuang," Yang Dashan was swinging his arms and twisting his ankles. These were the same warm-up exercises they did before training and the way they relaxed after intense exercise.

He carefully examined Yang Dashan in front of him and noticed regular protrusions on the other man's wrists and ankles.

Practicing martial arts reminded him of weight training; only this explanation could explain why Yang Dashan was out of breath after climbing a short distance up a mountain.

He himself often practiced Baguazhang's "swimming body steps" with sandbags tied to his feet.

He was very curious about how much weight Yang Dashan was carrying and how strong he was.

However, he had more important things to do today, so he suppressed his curiosity.

The barking of the dog pulled Zhang Tianhu back to his senses. He looked ahead from Yang Dashan's left and saw a large yellow dog running towards him on the bamboo path.

The yellow dog was robust and half a meter tall, giving Zhang Tianhu a faint sense of danger, a sense of crisis even stronger than when he encountered adult wild boars during his previous training in the wild.

He stared intently at the agile yellow dog, trying to figure out why it gave him a sense of danger.

"Woof woof woof........." Big Yellow barked twice at Yang Dashan.

"Dahuang, this is the Peak Master's guest." Yang Dashan introduced Zhang Tianhu's identity behind him.

After saying that, he turned to Zhang Tianhu and explained, "Dahuang is the peak master's pet."

After confirming Zhang Tianhu's identity and memorizing his scent, Da Huang called out twice and turned to walk inside.

"Woof woof..." (Following up.)

A dog and two people walked through the bamboo forest.

As Zhang Tianhu stepped out of the bamboo forest, he was stunned by the scene before him. Directly in front of him was a grape arbor that was nearly a hundred meters long. To his left were fields of lush green vegetables, and to his right was a grove of trees a hundred meters away.

He looked up at the back of the mountain, and a neatly arranged forest came into view.

He walked through a hundred-meter-long grape arbor and came into view a simple wooden house.

He was also shocked to see the cow lying at the door and the rooster standing on the roof of the wooden house.

The cow's hair had a pale blue tinge, and its body was the size of an elephant. He thought to himself, "This cow must be the water buffalo that Gu Changsheng bought in Yingxian Town."

If he was somewhat prepared to see the water buffalo, the strange rooster standing on the roof shocked him.

Judging by its size, the rooster is over one meter tall with a wingspan of over two meters, clearly indicating that an unknown mutation has occurred.

Zhang Tianhu's heart skipped a beat when he thought of the connection between spiritual energy and this phenomenon. He realized a possibility: "Spiritual energy can cause mutations in plants and animals."

He felt a sense of urgency and knew he had to go back and thoroughly investigate whether any plants or animals in the area had mutated, so as to nip any potential dangers in the bud.

If plants and animals mutate, they become devoid of good and evil and may attack humans at any time. They are much harder to control than cultivators.

Yang Dashan led Zhang Tianhu to the door of the wooden house. He clasped his hands in greeting towards the house and said, "Peak Master, our guests have arrived."

He saw the peak master inside the room wave to him, nodded, and turned to leave.

Zhang Tianhu's eyes met Gu Changsheng's inside the house. In that instant, his heart skipped a beat, as if he were being stared at by a ferocious beast. Those eyes were deep and unfathomable, as if they could see right through people's hearts. He quickly looked away and greeted him.

"Mr. Gu, my name is Zhang Tianhu, and I come from the National Spirit Bureau."

"Mr. Zhang, please come in and have a seat." Gu Changsheng said calmly, gesturing with his right hand to the right side of the stove.

He casually picked up the kettle, poured a glass of warm water, placed it on the table, and gestured for the other person to drink.

"Thank you!" Zhang Tianhu plopped down on the cushion, adopting Gu Changsheng's sitting posture by crossing his legs.

He picked up his water glass, took a sip, put the glass down, and his expression turned serious in the blink of an eye.

Knowing Gu Changsheng's character, he didn't probe but directly stated his purpose, "Mr. Gu, is it true that you can refine pills?"

Gu Changsheng nodded in response and asked softly, "May I ask what brings Mr. Zhang here?"

"I came for the revival of spiritual energy." With each question Zhang Tianhu asked, he observed Gu Changsheng's emotional changes, but unfortunately he couldn't see anything. Gu Changsheng's face and eyes remained unchanged.

He continued, "The nation has established the Reiki Revival Administration to manage all matters related to Reiki Revival, and I am currently serving as the first Director of the National Reiki Revival Administration."

"The purpose of our visit is to invite Mr. Gu to join the National Spirit Bureau as its chief alchemy advisor."

Zhang Tianhu offered a perk: "Many cultivators have already joined the group, including Taoists, Buddhists, and practitioners of traditional martial arts. They can exchange skills and cultivation experiences."

"The bureau has a martial arts manual library, and chief-level advisors have the right to access 80% of the ancient books and materials in the library."

"Thank you for the invitation, Director Zhang, but I'm used to being free and just like staying on this mountain." Gu Changsheng declined the invitation with a single sentence, explaining his reason for refusal and making it clear that he had no intention of interfering in matters down the mountain.

Zhang Tianhu didn't give up and tried a different approach, "Mr. Gu, you can still live on the mountain if you join the bureau, and you won't need to go to work there."

Gu Changsheng shook his head and looked outside. "I like the unrestrained white clouds and gentle breeze. I can't get used to your environment."

Before arriving, Zhang Tianhu had prepared several plans. He sensed the persistence and ambition in Gu Changsheng's tone and extended a new invitation: "Mr. Gu, how about we cooperate? We'll provide the raw materials for alchemy, and you'll be responsible for refining the pills."

"We get 70% of the pills, and you get 30%."

"Cooperation is possible, but the alchemy fee is separate and must be in accordance with my requirements." Gu Changsheng had been waiting for the other party to propose cooperation in alchemy, and he agreed to the cooperation invitation without even thinking.

"I don't want the pills you've refined; you can have them all. Just pay me the pill-refining fee."

"I will tell you the cost of each alchemy session before we start. Once you have the necessary items as payment, we will begin the alchemy process. If you cannot find them, you will have to wait."

"You provide the formula and raw materials. I'm only responsible for refining the pills. I can't control the success rate. The refining time and quantity should be done according to my requirements."

Gu Changsheng set aside the alchemy fee separately so that the authorities could find the items he needed, and he could ask them to find whatever he was missing each time.

Some items can only be released by the official channels, and they are much more expensive than pills, but also more flexible.

Zhang Tianhu was prepared to argue back and forth about the distribution of the pills, but Gu Changsheng's simple "okay" threw him off balance. All his prepared arguments, national righteousness, and countermeasures became useless.

In the past, the cultivators he invited would not reply on the spot, but would wait a day or two before responding, all in order to maximize their own interests.

Now that Gu Changsheng agreed so easily, he felt a little uneasy and uneasy.

As a layman, Zhang Tianhu inquired, "Mr. Gu, could you tell me about the success rate, time, and quantity of alchemy?"

Gu Changsheng simply said, "The alchemy I have mastered depends on fate. Sometimes I can produce nine pills at once, and sometimes I can't produce any. It takes about ten days to produce a single pill."

"My method of alchemy is not fire refining. It is similar to the process of making pills in traditional Chinese medicine, but I have made improvements in the techniques and raw materials. You can try it yourselves."

"The medicinal materials are sourced from wild plants; they are crushed directly without drying to preserve their medicinal efficacy."

"Wild honey, combined with rootless water, serves as a binder."

"Mr. Gu, what is water without roots?" Zhang Tianhu asked as he listened to Gu Changsheng explaining the art of alchemy.

Gu Changsheng devised a new method of alchemy. As for whether the other party believed it or not, what did it matter to him? He just needed to add all sorts of harsh conditions. Anyway, his method of alchemy was not the traditional fire refining method.

"Water without roots is like morning dew. Note that it needs to be collected from the leaves of trees in the wild. Dew from artificially planted trees or trees in the city is useless."

"Every morning after the rooster crows and for an hour after sunrise, the prepared pills must be placed in the open air to dry."

"They are also placed in the open air to dry from sunset until midnight, allowing the pills to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"This process will continue for nine days and nine nights. When spiritual energy is generated inside the pill, it means that the pill has been successfully refined. Otherwise, it has failed. This is what I mean by 'it depends on fate.'"