I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

4:12 AM.

Lin Ye, Xie Hongyi, and Lu Zhixia have already boarded the private jet bound for Central China.

No one is going home.

Zangfeng Mountain has just been integrated, and the new terrain across the country is still being updated.

Every few minutes, a gray area appears on the electronic map on the wall.

The highway is cut off.

The river changed course.

The straight-line distance between villages and towns has changed.

In some places, where there was a mountain just yesterday, opening the window this morning revealed a whole new landscape of mountains and rivers behind the mountain.

The official surveying department has initiated the highest-level resurvey.

The old map is not invalid.

But it's no longer complete.

Lin Ye leaned back in his seat and finished reading the latest summary.

There are 28 areas in China that have been confirmed as permanent border boundaries.

Seventeen of these sites show traces of ancient human activity.

Six locations have been confirmed to contain living people.

The more than two thousand people at Cangfeng Mountain are no longer the largest number.

Most of them are heading to the Central China border region.

The initial area is 1,370 square kilometers.

The number of life signals is over 30,000.

And it's still increasing.

Lu Zhixia swiped down on the tablet.

"The sect's name has been revealed."

Lin Ye tilted his head.

"What?"

"Tai Xuan Dao Palace".

Xie Hongyi had her eyes closed.

Upon hearing those four words, he opened his eyes.

"Tai Xuan Dao Palace?"

Lu Zhixia looked at her.

"You know?"

"Know."

Xie Hongyi, sit up straight.

"Two thousand years ago, they were much larger than Cangfeng Mountain."

How big is it?

"Twelve peaks, thirty-six courtyards, and at least seven attached towns."

She paused for a moment.

"Back then, our Cangfeng Mountain fought with them for a spiritual vein."

Lin Ye perked up.

"Who's winning?"

Xie Hongyi remained expressionless.

"them."

"That's really big."

Xie Hongyi glanced at him.

I can't be bothered with it.

Lu Zhixia's lips curved slightly.

Lin Ye noticed it.

"What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing."

You just laughed.

"I think you're quite good at chatting."

Xie Hongyi suddenly said:

"Has he always been like this?"

Lu Zhixia nodded.

"It gets more troublesome once you get to know each other."

The two women reached a consensus for the first time.

Lin Ye decided to shut up.

Soon, the screen in front switched to the drone's view.

The Tai Xuan Dao Palace has appeared.

Twelve main peaks stretch across the land.

Palaces are stacked one on top of another on the mountainside.

The area at the foot of the mountain is not wilderness.

It's a town.

farmland.

workshop.

the way.

You can even see herds of cattle and sheep.

If you turn off the drone's time marker, it's a completely ancient region where people are still living normally.

However, this is outside of this region.

Just a few dozen kilometers away are highways, substations, and modern county towns.

The two eras are placed too abruptly.

It's like someone forcibly pressed two maps from completely different eras together.

The special plane landed just as dawn was breaking.

A temporary command center has been set up.

As soon as Lin Ye and his two companions got off the plane, they were taken to the conference tent.

The person in charge is surnamed Zhou and is in his fifties.

There was no small talk.

Show them the first situation report directly.

"Trouble has begun."

Lin Ye glanced at it.

"So fast?"

"Three hours after returning to the boundary."

Director Zhou zoomed in on the map.

"Disciples from the outer perimeter of the Tai Xuan Dao Palace descended the mountain."

"We first sealed off three newly formed roads."

"Then they detained the four of us surveyors."

Xie Hongyi frowned.

Why?

"They said those people were trespassing on the sect's territory."

Lin Ye asked:

"Is anyone injured?"

"no."

"Where are the things?"

"The surveying equipment was confiscated."

Director Zhou turned to the next page.

"besides."

"Part of the farmland of two nearby modern villages was incorporated into their original farmland during the integration process."

"The villagers want to go in and take a look."

"We were stopped."

That's the real problem.

It's not like Gu Xiu kills people the moment he appears.

It's not that modern people immediately went to war with them.

Instead, both sides felt they were right.

Modern Villagers:

That's my land.

Tai Xuan Dao Palace:

This land has belonged to us for three thousand years.

Guijie forcibly crammed two property rights systems onto one map.

Lin Ye suddenly felt that the sword slave was indeed much cuter.

At least the sword slave won't take the land deed.

Director Zhou continued:

"We've already sent someone to talk to them once."

"The other party's attitude wasn't bad."

"But I insist on one condition."

"What?"

"To have modern officials recognize that Tai Xuan Dao Palace has full autonomy over the original sect's territory."

There was a moment of silence in the tent.

This condition cannot be agreed to on the spot.

Xie Hongyi clearly understood what "complete autonomy" meant.

She asked:

"Who's in charge?"

"An elder from the Foreign Languages ​​Institute named Yan Shouzhen."

She thought about it.

"Never heard of it."

More than two thousand years ago.

Lu Zhixia said, "The people are no longer the same as the ones you knew."

Xie Hongyi nodded.

She accepted this very quickly.

Director Zhou looked at Lin Ye.

"Your mission this time is very simple."

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Such beginnings are usually not simple."

"Bring the four surveyors back first."

"We'll discuss other issues later."

This is indeed the most realistic goal.

Release them first.

We'll talk about the rest later.

Half an hour later.

Three vehicles drove into the new return territory.

The further in you go.

The fewer modern traces there are.

The road ended abruptly halfway through.

An ancient road appeared ahead.

The car can't get through.

Walking is the only option.

Xie Hongyi walked at the front.

Lu Zhixia changed into a pair of shoes suitable for mountain roads and carried a lightweight bag containing several ancient artifact testing tools.

Lin Ye glanced at her.

"Just say you're tired."

Lu Zhixia glanced at him.

"I've only been walking for five minutes."

"Pay attention in advance."

"Keep it."

Her gaze swept over Xie Hongyi in front of her.

You must be quite busy today.

Lin Ye understood.

But they didn't jump into the pit.

"My main responsibility is the work."

Lu Zhixia smiled.

They didn't expose it.

I walked less than three kilometers.

The first batch of disciples of the Tai Xuan Dao Palace appeared.

Six people.

They're all in period costumes.

Both men carried swords.

One person carries a bow on their back.

The leader was a man around thirty years old.

His cultivation level is not weak.

He is at least a step above the ordinary outer disciples of Cangfeng Mountain.

He looked at Xie Hongyi first.

He clearly sees her as one of his own kind.

Let's look at Lin Ye and Lu Zhixia again.

Finally, my gaze fell on the seven markings on Lin Ye's body.

"You've come again."

"Come pick them up."

Forest road.

The man shook his head.

"Those four people trespassed into the Tai Xuan territory and need to be dealt with by the elders."

"They are surveyors."

"Surveying what?"

"New map."

The man clearly didn't understand.

"The mountains and rivers are right here, why bother measuring them?"

Lin Ye looked at him.

"Because it wasn't here yesterday."

In a word.

The people on the other side fell silent.

The man's expression darkened slightly.

"Whether yesterday existed or not."

"The twelve peaks, seven cities, and three hundred miles of spiritual fields of Tai Xuan have all belonged to our sect since ancient times."

Lin Ye didn't argue with him about history.

Where are they?

"We can't let it go."

"Have you fought it?"

"no."

"Where are you locked up?"

The man's gaze sharpened.

"You're trying to kidnap someone?"

Lin Ye shook his head.

"I'd like to talk first."

The atmosphere relaxed a bit.

next second.

He added:

"We'll talk again if we can't reach an agreement."

Xie Hongyi turned her head to look at him.

Lu Zhixia also glanced at him.

The leader's face darkened completely.

Just as the two sides were at an impasse.

Suddenly, a quarrel broke out in the distance.

Not from the Seventh Division.

Several modern villagers are standing beside a newly integrated spiritual field.

One of the men, who was in his fifties, was so anxious that his face turned red.

"My family's ancestral graves are over there!"

"My parents are buried there!"

The Tai Xuan disciples guarding the fields blocked them from entering.

The villagers pointed into the distance.

"I was still able to burn paper money yesterday!"

"You're telling me today that this is your sect's land?"

Lin Ye stopped in his tracks.

Everyone around looked over.

There are no monsters.

There is no heretical practice.

There is no formation.

He was just an ordinary person who wanted to visit his parents' graves.

A monk who had just returned from two thousand years ago told him:

You cannot enter.

Lin Ye suddenly realized.

The first truly difficult war to handle after returning to the border.

It might not even start with a sword.

It will start with a piece of land.