Hermit in the Mountains

When Gu Changsheng used the "Gathering Word Technique," he injected wind spirit particles, which formed a rotating airflow that began to pull the surrounding air.

His technique wasn't the mythical "Wind Summoning Technique," but rather a clever way to gather wind spirit particles to form an airflow. He didn't even activate the compression or fusion of Dao patterns.

He was using the "Gathering Technique" like a hairdryer, while simultaneously unleashing the immense power of his internal energy.

The heat from the overflowing pure Yang energy, combined with the increased wind speed around the body, gave birth to a completely natural hair dryer.

Gu Changsheng's wet hair and robes were quickly drying, the water droplets evaporating and turning into mist that returned to the heavens and earth.

He glanced at the location of the secluded cave, then turned and left.

Gu Changsheng strode swiftly toward Changsheng Peak, like a spirited deer darting through rugged mountains and forests, his clothes and long, loose hair fluttering in the wind.

Back at the halfway point of Changsheng Peak, the first thing Gu Changsheng did upon entering the living room was to open the cell phone in the drawer.

After the phone was turned on, the battery level still showed 60%, and the icons for missed calls, text messages, and WeChat were prominently displayed in bright red.

Gu Changsheng glanced at the date.

August 2, 2025

He went into seclusion in the mountains at the end of June, which means that he spent a full month in seclusion. He couldn't help but sigh at how quickly time flies.

"A day in the mountains is like a thousand years in the world."

He sent a message to Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu, asking them to come up the mountain.

After sending the message, Gu Changsheng washed up again and changed into a light blue robe made by Lingjin Pavilion.

In the living room of the wooden house, Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged on a cushion in front of the stove, boiling a pot of hot water.

After unlocking his phone and placing it on the table, he logged into TikTok and browsed various news lists to learn about what was happening in the outside world.

Just as Gu Changsheng turned on his phone, sent a message, and logged into Douyin to view information, an alarm sounded in a monitoring room at the Kyoto National Spirit Bureau headquarters, thousands of miles away.

The moment the monitoring personnel saw Gu Changsheng's name appear on the screen, they immediately dialed the secure internal phone number to report the situation to their superior, Zhang Tianhu, the director of the State Spirit Bureau.

Soon after, Zhang Tianhu arrived at the monitoring room. Looking at the information on the screen in front of him, Gu Changsheng finally made a move.

A month ago, after handing over the alchemy materials to Gu Changsheng, he waited a full ten days before calling Gu Changsheng, afraid of disturbing the other party's alchemy. As a result, the phone was switched off.

He could only call Yang Dashan to inquire about the progress of the alchemy. Knowing that Gu Changsheng was still refining the pills, he tried to find out from Yang Dashan when Gu Changsheng would finish refining the pills, but he returned disappointed again, unable to get any information at all.

He remembered what Gu Changsheng had said: it takes about ten days to refine one batch of pills, which is why he waited ten days before calling to inquire.

If he weren't worried about interfering with Gu Changsheng's alchemy, he would have called every day to inquire. It wasn't that he was impatient, but the situation forced him to do so.

One month after the establishment of the National Spirit Bureau, those with connections basically knew its responsibilities. The top and core levels also knew that a new energy called "spiritual energy" had appeared on Blue Star, and that "spiritual energy" could be used for cultivation.

As more and more people become aware of "spiritual energy," many top powers, families, and groups have begun to secretly make their moves.

They began to contract barren mountains and lease rural houses and land.

Some people have set their sights on rural collective land rights. They know that rural collective land rights cannot be transferred, there are risks involved, and it may even provoke crackdowns at the national level, but they still do it.

As various institutions conducted in-depth research, they discovered that "spiritual energy" only exists in sparsely populated mountainous areas, and there is no trace of "spiritual energy" in cities. Therefore, rural collective land became their target.

All forces, under the guise of tourism development, began large-scale construction projects, which were actually just legal land acquisitions to build residential areas for them.

The National Lingnan Bureau reacted the fastest, introducing a new land leasing policy as soon as signs appeared, and taking back the approval authority for land leasing in rural areas and mountainous areas nationwide to the National Lingnan Bureau.

Although the National Land Administration Bureau has reclaimed the authority to approve rural land leases, it is now composed of various factions (those who know, know)...................

Zijinge also held an internal meeting regarding this matter and decided to release a certain number of rental slots each day...

Zhang Tianhu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Gu Changsheng's phone had made a move on the screen.

He was under too much pressure lately. He couldn't contact Gu Changsheng, and the alchemy techniques Gu Changsheng had taught him hadn't progressed.

The National Spirit Bureau's internal research department attempted Gu Changsheng's alchemy method countless times, but all attempts ultimately failed.

The answer given by the alchemy research group was that Gu Changsheng's alchemy method had core processes that they did not know.

If it were just that Gu Changsheng's alchemy method had failed, Zhang Tianhu wouldn't be under too much pressure. But the Taoist fire alchemy method had actually yielded some results.

The Taoist Fire Refining Pill Team produced a pill with a faint spiritual energy. Although it only had half the spiritual energy of the pills that Gu Changsheng refined, it was still a breakthrough from zero to one.

No one else could produce a elixir comparable to the one refined by Gu Changsheng, otherwise Zhang Tianhu's position as bureau chief would be in jeopardy.

During this time, Zhang Tianhu pleaded and begged until he finally obtained four Grade Two Cultivation Pills from Zhang Yuanfu's stockpile, which relieved some of the pressure on him.

Zhang Tianhu looked at the message records sent by Gu Changsheng's phone to Zhang Yuanfu and Yang Dashan on the screen, as well as Gu Changsheng's browsing history on Douyin.

Instead of calling Gu Changsheng, he returned to his office, reported the situation, and after receiving a reply, began to implement the plan he had previously formulated.

Inside the National Spirit Bureau's conference room, Zhang Tianhu summoned the nine deputy directors to issue leadership instructions. His gaze fell on the last deputy director, who was in charge of publicity, "This is a golden opportunity. Inform the head of Huaying Film Studio to release the variety show trailer now."

"At the same time, accurately push this variety show trailer to Gu Changsheng; Gu Changsheng must know about the variety show that will be held outside Xiahe Village."

"The trailer for this variety show was simultaneously pushed to the villagers of Xiahe Village on Douyin. When they browsed Douyin, three out of ten posts were related to this variety show."

After the meeting, Zhang Tianhu went straight to a military base in the suburbs and boarded a private plane to fly directly to Chang'an City.

On Changsheng Peak, Gu Changsheng was unaware that the National Spirit Bureau had directly collaborated with the National Film Group, Douyin (TikTok), and WeChat News to set up a probing campaign against him personally.

Only the top levels of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television knew that this variety show was a test project initiated by Huaying Group, a leading entertainment company, with Douyin and WeChat only responsible for pushing it out.

At the same time, a heated discussion broke out on the Chinese Internet, with countless celebrities and media outlets sharing a slow-paced variety show called "The Courtyard of Time".

As soon as the guest list was released, the topic of "The Courtyard of Time" topped the entertainment charts in no time.

Nine out of the top 100 topics were about "The Courtyard of Time," simply because the guest list put together celebrities who would otherwise never be able to get together in one variety show.

For example, Hu Ge, Huo Jianhua, Peng Yuyan, Liu Tianxian, Yang Da Mi, Liu Sisi, and Tang Yan from the Legend of Sword and Fairy duo;

Such as Deng Jiu'er, Chen Chichi, Lu Paozi, Li Heiniu, Zheng Liebao, Song Yuqi, and Meng Tianmei from the Running Man cast.

The hosting team is also impressive, including veteran host He Jiong, billion-dollar box office star Shen Teng, national goddess Gao Yuanyuan, and rising star host Wang Xiaohua from Huaying Media.

The photography team consisted of Zhang Guoshi and Wang, the director of Running Man.

The entire variety show is so luxurious it's beyond luxurious. It would have been impossible to bring all these people together on a variety show without the National Spirit Bureau taking the lead and Huaying Group stepping forward.

Many laymen and insiders only focus on the lavish cast, while others are analyzing why China Film Group would go to such lengths to put together such a seemingly thankless event, and what their purpose is.

Behind the scenes was a scheme orchestrated by the secret National Spirit Bureau, and the purpose of such a large-scale scheme was to test someone's preferences.

This person is Gu Changsheng.

The higher-ups at the National Spirit Bureau didn't want to make such a big fuss, but Gu Changsheng had no weaknesses, and they couldn't use force. They could only use this to test Gu Changsheng's feelings.

Gu Changsheng had no relatives or friends. Zhang Yuanfu, Yang Dashan, and others were just people Gu Changsheng selected to handle miscellaneous matters, and they could be replaced at any time.

Other practitioners have weaknesses such as wives and children, families, friends, masters and disciples, resources, and cultivation methods, making them vulnerable and easy targets.

In terms of resources, Gu Changsheng has mastered the alchemy method and will not lack anything. Moreover, Gu Changsheng is backed by the Qinling Mountains, which stretch for 1,600 kilometers, so they cannot prevent Gu Changsheng from entering.

There are only a few cultivation methods available from the Legal Spirit Bureau, and they don't believe that Gu Changsheng doesn't have any.

The mountain that Gu Changsheng contracted for cultivation was for a term of ten years, and they would not take it back without a reason.

However, Gu Changsheng did not have these loopholes, so the only thing to do was to work on Gu Changsheng and his preferences.

If we knew Gu Changsheng's preferences, there would be many more things we could do.

The variety show guests are all people Gu Changsheng frequently follows, so the National Spirit Bureau can only organize this one event.

First, they wanted to show goodwill to Gu Changsheng and let him know that they would only use soft tactics to test him and would not take coercive measures.

Secondly, it was to test whether Gu Changsheng still had the desire to fulfill his childhood dream, and to see if Gu Changsheng would come down the mountain for this reason.

Once Gu Changsheng shows interest in a particular guest, they have a direction to deepen their relationship with him.

For Guoling Bureau, organizing such a gathering is just a matter of one sentence. As for funding, depending on the guest lineup, there are plenty of sponsors willing to scramble to provide it.

The higher-ups at the National Spirit Bureau were considering how Gu Changsheng would react, whether he would be interested in someone, and how to coordinate their subsequent interactions.