Hermit in the Mountains

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Gu Changsheng, who was meditating with his eyes closed, twitched his eyelashes and opened his eyelids with a swift motion. His gaze seemed to pierce through layers of obstacles and landed on Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu, who were climbing the mountain a kilometer away.

Gu Changsheng sat quietly on the cushion waiting for the two to arrive, and took out his phone to browse the latest news and trending events.

I had just scrolled through a few videos when another clip from the variety show "The Courtyard of Time" popped up, showing dozens of celebrities competing in a song-guessing game in the courtyard.

Gu Changsheng smiled slightly and quickly swiped up to switch to short videos. As expected, three out of the ten videos he scrolled through were clips from "The Courtyard of Years".

Each celebrity has a highlighter recommended to him.

He muttered to himself, "Interesting, they've really put in a lot of effort."

He happened to be free and decided to see what tricks Zhang Tianhu could pull. He deliberately lingered on a certain celebrity's video clip for a long time, and the recommended clips were indeed from that celebrity.

With nothing better to do, Gu Changsheng watched clips of every celebrity in turn. The backstage staff actually followed his recommendations and decided to stop acting altogether.

"Woof woof woof..."

Da Huang's barking drew Gu Changsheng's attention back, and he then exited the Douyin short video app.

Outside the golden bamboo forest, Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu looked at the big yellow dog, which resembled a fierce tiger, and their hearts trembled with shock.

The feeling that Big Yellow gave them was like encountering a fully grown tiger head-on.

In just a few days, Da Huang's physique had changed so much that the two of them almost didn't recognize him.

Yang Dashan couldn't believe it and asked in a low voice, "Are you... Da Huang?"

Big Yellow looked at the familiar faces, sniffed the air to confirm their scent, and barked triumphantly at them as it saw their stunned expressions.

"Woof woof woof........." (That's me, your brother Dog. Aren't you amazed by my physique?)

Big Yellow barked twice, signaling the two to follow it, then turned and wagged its tail as it walked into the bamboo forest.

Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu exchanged a glance. Seeing Da Huang's impressive presence, they smiled at each other, confirming that it was the same Da Huang they knew.

Yang Dashan shrugged, tightened the straps on his shoulders, and followed Dahuang into the bamboo forest.

Zhang Yuanfu picked up the two gift boxes from the ground and followed.

Big Yellow led the two to the door of the wooden house. It barked and bowed to the house. When it saw the owner inside waving to it, it turned around and continued its patrol of the mountain.

Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu put their belongings on the ground, clasped their hands in greeting to Gu Changsheng inside the house.

"Peak Master, Peak Master..."

"You've arrived, come in and sit down." Gu Changsheng pointed to the cushions on either side of the stove.

Yang Dashan carried the bamboo basket inside, placed it next to the stove, and then sat down.

Zhang Yuanfu carried two gift boxes to his usual spot, then slowly sat down and crossed his legs.

"Peak Master, I have brought all the items you asked me to collect," he said, taking out the wooden box and handing it to Gu Changsheng.

Gu Changsheng took the wooden box, opened it, and saw several glass bottles inside, each filled with cicada shells.

He took another box, opened it, and found several herbs inside.

Yang Dashan reached out and took the items out of the basket, and the wooden boxes were neatly arranged on the table.

Gu Changsheng opened the wooden boxes one by one to check the items inside, and they were indeed all the items he needed.

There were raw materials used to try to refine the skin-refining elixir;

There are raw materials to try to forge the Withering and Flourishing Sword.

He slowly slid his fingers across a meter-long piece of wood inside the box, feeling the faint 'power of decay' and 'power of flourishing' contained within the wood.

Inside the wooden box are three square wooden strips of the same length and width, each one meter long and ten centimeters thick.

The wood strip was taken from the heartwood of an ancient tree that had experienced death and rebirth, containing the "power of withering and flourishing," which perfectly matched his own magical attributes.

Unfortunately, the "power of decay and prosperity" contained in the wood is too weak, requiring him to nurture it with his magic day and night. It is already quite difficult to find raw materials that contain both decay and prosperity in the current environment.

The spiritual energy has only just begun to recover, so forget about spiritual materials; it's good enough if there are any usable ones right now.

The other wooden boxes contained three materials for forging magic swords: Earth Core Fire Copper, Sea Bottom Cold Iron, and Twin Lotus Flowers.

Gu Changsheng was very satisfied with the items Zhang Yuanfu had collected, and smiled as he promised the two of them, "I will try to refine Body Tempering Pills, and I will give you a few when the time comes."

Upon hearing about the Body Tempering Elixir, Zhang Yuanfu and Yang Dashan's eyes lit up, their faces beaming with smiles, and they repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

"Thank you, Peak Master, thank you, Peak Master..."

Gu Changsheng closed the wooden box, pressed his fingers together, and said, "Alright, as long as you do what I asked you to do, you won't be short of elixirs."

He looked to his left and handed Zhang Yuanfu a task: "Yuanfu, send someone to Shanghai to investigate my biological parents and other blood relatives, whether they are alive or dead. I need to know all their information."

"Yes, Peak Master." Zhang Yuanfu was startled. This matter involved Gu Changsheng's private files, and he had to ensure that nothing went wrong.

He dared not be careless and asked, "Peak Master, I would like to ask Fang Shouchang to handle this matter together. He has official channels and it will be easier for him to collect information."

Gu Changsheng agreed to the request without much thought. "Alright, you can handle this as you see fit. Give the other party a Grade 2 Qi Cultivation Pill as a reward."

"How's your cultivation going?" he asked casually, secretly using his divine eye to observe their bodies.

As the divine eye swept over them, it was as if a X-ray mirror was clearly reflecting the insides of the two people.

Yang Dashan's three dantians were tightly closed, but there was a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy in his upper dantian, which should be the result of the legendary cultivation.

The middle dantian is empty, and the innate qi has probably been eroded by the acquired turbid qi long ago;

When Gu Changsheng looked at Yang Dashan's lower dantian, he nodded inwardly. He then turned his gaze to the left and scanned Zhang Yuanfu's three dantians.

Like Yang Dashan, Zhang Yuanfu's upper and middle dantian were empty, but the innate essence in their lower dantian had not disappeared, which meant they still had a chance to cultivate.

Zhang Yuanfu could follow the Taoist internal alchemy method, and perhaps even succeed in the cultivation system.

Cultivation System: Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, Refining Spirit into Emptiness, Refining Emptiness into Dao...

Yang Dashan can follow the ancient martial arts system, including Ming Jin, An Jin, Hua Jin, Gang Jin, Bao Dan, and Wu Sui Xu Kong...

Gu Changsheng suddenly remembered that innate essence is the material basis of living beings. Does this mean that as long as a living being is alive, it has innate essence, just in varying degrees?

Zhang Yuanfu recounted his feelings, "Reporting to the Peak Master, I often feel a warm energy within my body nourishing me. Although it's not obvious, my physical condition is improving."

"My energy and spirit have improved a lot, and I've even grown a few strands of black hair."

After Zhang Yuanfu finished speaking, Yang Dashan finally spoke, "Reporting to the Peak Master, I also occasionally generate a force within my body, which should be the Ming Jin mentioned in ancient books, but I cannot control it."

"Keep practicing, you're on the right track. One day, the quantitative change will lead to a qualitative change, and you'll step into a new realm," Gu Changsheng encouraged the two.

"Come on, you two come with me down the mountain for a walk."

Gu Changsheng slowly got up and walked outside. At the same time, he sent a message to the blue ox in the cowshed and the big red animal on the roof, telling them to guard the house.

Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu didn't ask what they were going down the mountain for. They quickly got up and followed Gu Changsheng, trailing behind him by three steps.

Gu Changsheng walked to the door, casually took off the straw hat hanging on the wall and put it on his head, then strode out barefoot.

Along the way, Gu Changsheng walked lightly, his hands tucked into his wide sleeves, glancing at the changes in his surroundings out of the corner of his eye.

The vegetation on Changsheng Peak is indeed greener and more vibrant than the trees on the surrounding mountains.

The group arrived at the valley entrance, Gu Changsheng paused for a moment, and continued walking into the village.

He walked into the village and discovered that spiritual energy was actually spreading from the mountains and covering the village.

The three of them walked until they reached the riverbank. Gu Changsheng stood on the bridge and used his magical eyes to observe the surroundings.

The stream acts as a dividing line; the area towards the village is already covered with spiritual energy. If the spiritual energy concentration near the village is one, then the spiritual energy concentration in the mountains is two, with Changsheng Peak at around two and a half.

The area outside the stream remains unresponsive.

Gu Changsheng withdrew from his "Seeing Through the Law" state and looked towards the small courtyard 500 meters downstream. He joked, "Director Zhang went to so much trouble to build this stage; it wouldn't be right for me not to be an audience member."

"Let's go see Director Zhang's stage." With that, he strode towards the courtyard of bygone days.

Zhang Yuanfu had a rough idea of ​​what Zhang Tianhu was thinking, but he didn't say anything and silently followed.

Yang Dashan was completely confused. He knew Director Zhang was going to see Zhang Tianhu, and wondered, "Is the stage those celebrities?"

He shook his head, realizing he couldn't figure it out, and quickly followed after them.