Chapter 35

Meanwhile, the campsite's simple defense system was also under vigorous construction.

The defense system certainly wasn't meant to guard against powerful spirit beasts; aside from some forbidden zones, the strong spirit beasts near Nine Clouds Peak were either captured or killed by the Spirit Beast House, or had already been scared off to a distance of over a hundred li. The system merely aimed to prevent wild animals from wandering into the camp and disturbing everyone's rest.

The planned campsite was encircled by a ditch one meter deep and one meter wide, with a five‑chi‑high fence made of wooden stakes on its inner side. Earth‑spirit‑root disciples loosened the soil ahead while labor‑disciples followed behind digging, working with remarkable speed. The gaps in the wooden fence were also filled solidly by wood‑spirit‑root disciples using growth techniques.

When the hour of You arrived, disciples of the Overlord Blade House returned one after another, each carrying a thick log. The disciples sent out hunting also brought back three giant‑horned deer and five stone‑skinned boars.

Wei Yuning personally took charge of the barbecue, using the famous moon‑badger worm as seasoning. Although it had been diluted to the point of being indescribable, the flavor remained excellent, not inferior to ordinary spirit food.

With many hands making light work, and with Wei Yuning having drawn a simple schematic of the buildings, everyone followed the plan and managed to finish constructing a novel‑looking, fully functional campsite just before nightfall.

The new campsite was square, about forty meters wide, built on a gentle slope. At the lowest part of the slope stood a row of two thatched toilets, each accommodating twenty people, separated by gender, with a half‑person‑high low wall between each stall.

At the highest point of the campsite stood a row of six dwellings, all built on stilts with only pillars underneath, about half a meter high; the living space was on the upper level, to keep snakes and insects from crawling in.

The open space in the middle of the campsite served as the cooking and barbecue area, featuring a long, strip‑shaped earthen stove. A bonfire burned beneath it, allowing food to be boiled or grilled above, and everyone could sit together around it.

Above the stove was erected a four‑wall‑vented makeshift shelter, built to guard against rain. The vicinity of Nine Clouds Peak has heavy clouds and changeable weather.

After the third squad's members hung up the glowstone lamps, the campsite looked splendid in the twilight.

Originally, the disciples of the other two squads watched the third squad's antics with the attitude of watching a monkey show, thinking its captain was making a fuss over nothing—just an overnight stay in the wild; they felt a casual approach would suffice, so why go to all this trouble?

But when they saw the opposing side complete a nearly perfect overnight campsite at a speed visible to the naked eye, they were utterly dumbfounded.

Looking back at their own side, a dozen or so people gathered around a fire, scattered loosely across the meadow—it looked pleasant, yet why did the food they ate lose its fragrance?

The female disciples of the Azure Phoenix Sect from the first and second squads also lost their desire to chat, gazing enviously at the neat, beautiful campsite in the distance.

But they could only envy.

Steward Hongzhi and Immortal Yunyan, who had been observing the three squads' performance from the sidelines since early on, were also stunned by the third squad's campsite. After a brief hesitation, they walked straight into it, not wishing to camp out in the wild.

"What is this?" Along the sides of the long fire pit, the disciples sat in rows and began a self‑serve barbecue. Each disciple had a thick leaf in front of them, on which lay a clump of brown, sticky substance. Steward Hongzhi didn't recognize it, nor did Immortal Yunyan, but Hongzhi, always portraying a stern elder, felt embarrassed to ask a junior for advice, whereas Yunyan had no such reservation.

"This is a seasoning I made by grinding and mixing wild onion, spicy ginger, sugar, salt, wild chives, aromatic leaves, spices, purple fruit juice, moon‑badger worm, and mallow. It can be spread on food for grilling, used as a dip for cooked meat, or added while cooking to greatly improve the flavor," Wei Yuning said.

"I know sugar, salt, and moon‑badger worm, but what are the other things you mentioned? Are they herbs from the herb garden?" Immortal Yunyan asked.

"No, they're not herbs; you can think of them as wild grasses with a somewhat special taste. I just gave them random names myself, so don't worry about the names."

"Hey, this tastes good; with the seasoning, this venison is far better than spirit food." Steward Hongzhi had already dug in, took a bite, and couldn't help praising it on the side.

"Wait, senior brother, save this piece of meat for the junior sister!" Upon hearing this, Immortal Yunyan bluntly snatched a piece of meat.

As the night deepened, the male and female disciples of the first squad had eaten and drunk their fill, with no intention of returning to their quarters to sleep. They sat together, chatting casually about interesting tales from the cultivation world and their various experiences. Even though most of them had not yet found their ideal dao partner, this did not prevent them from becoming friends.

Steward Hongzhi and Immortal Yunyan were very pleased with the harmonious scene before them.

The ecosystem near Nine Clouds Peak is exceptionally well preserved, with dense vegetation. After nightfall, the coolness gradually intensifies, and combined with the night breeze, the day‑night temperature difference becomes extremely large.

Although cultivators tolerate cold and heat better than ordinary mortals, they are still flesh and blood. Gradually, some cultivators rose to seek warm, sheltered lodgings for rest.

Qiu E and the other female disciples of the Azure Phoenix Sect were very pleased with the campsite, especially the private thatched toilets, which they praised without cease. Thus line: Ye Ying kept clinging to Qiu E, leaving Wei Yuning and Qiu E little chance to interact. However, Qiu E doted excessively on Thus line: Ye Ying and merely pretended not to notice Wei Yuning's hints.

Wei Yuning had no choice but to sit and chat, bragging together with the three deputy captains of the Overlord Blade House—Maniu and Changfei, among others.

Late at night, most cultivators began to rest. Wei Yuning seized the moment when Thus line: Ye Ying left, pulled Qiu E to one side, and the two went to a corner of the dormitory, back‑to‑back, to exchange some private chatter.

The third squad had food, drink, and a place to sleep; compared to them, the disciples of the first and second squads gradually began to feel uncomfortable.

After the bonfire had burned for two hours, the firewood gradually ran out, and the original warmth was gone. All around was pitch black; nobody wanted to go look for more wood, so people clustered in twos and threes, sitting huddled together, preparing to endure the night as is.

"Oh no, there are bugs in the grass!" a female cultivator suddenly exclaimed.

The fire‑spirit‑root disciples hurriedly released fireball techniques; black, multi‑legged worms clung to the grass roots, crawling about. The night was deep, and it was their feeding time.

"Don't worry, we can rest up in the trees!" Qingcong's voice rang out.

"Exactly, exactly, the captain makes sense—up the tree!"

"The captain is mighty!"

"The captain's wisdom is unsurpassed!"

"Senior Brother Qingcong lives up to his name!" Considering the day's reward of two spirit stones, the first squad's disciples did not stint on their praises.

"Whoosh," "whoosh," "whoosh."

Soon, the tree trunks were packed with cultivators.

"No good, there are too many people—go over to that tree!"

"Why should I go, and why aren't you going?"

"No need to go—the second squad's people already treed this morning!" someone shouted.

"What… what are we to do?"

"What else can we do? Let's send some of us down to sleep standing up!"

"Let the female cultivators stay in the trees, and the male cultivators come down!"

"I… I can't sleep standing up either!"

"Isn't that the animal keeper's lodging over there? Why don't we go there?"

"I… forget it, that Wild Wolf Daoist looks fierce, so I'm not going. Besides, there's already someone in the lodging—should we drive them out?"

"It's so cold, the trees are freezing—I want to go down!" a female cultivator whispered.

"Go down! Aren't you afraid of the bugs?"

"I might as well beg my senior sister to let me stay in the third squad's campsite. Even if the lodgings can't hold us, I've seen the ground inside—it's smooth, surely bug‑free, and they have a fence, so there's no wind inside." said a female cultivator.

"I want to go too!"

"Hmm, me too!"

For a moment, the sound of warblers and swallows filled the air, and Qingcong's eyebrows jumped like ants on a hot pan.

"Exactly, our fire‑spirit‑root disciples could also scorch a clean patch of ground—why should we look at the third squad's face, and besides, they might not even let us in?"

"Exactly!"

"Who are the fire‑spirit‑root disciples?"

"Please, senior brothers and sisters, spare me—the barbecue has drained my spiritual energy, and I really can't move." A weak, feeble voice came from the grass thicket below.

Everyone fell silent.

Qing Cong said nothing, closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He and Feng Wu beside him occupied the center of the treetop, right above the main trunk, with an area of nine chi square, enough for two to rest. As for Qing Chou, he and another group of teammates were in a different cluster of bonfires.

Feng Wu felt anxious inside, but she had to act indifferent, closing her eyes like Qing Cong did; however, she did not lie down, but sat cross-legged, hands on her abdomen, passing the time with cultivation.

They argued for a long time but found no good solution; seeing that Captain Qing Cong no longer paid attention to them, they each went their own way and showed off their abilities.

After the female cultivators discussed it, they began to form groups and headed toward the campsite of the Third Squad; Feng Wu of course did not follow. The male cultivators mostly cared about face; they could not possibly go ask others over such a trivial matter, so they went down to gather some dry firewood again, lit another bonfire, expanded the bonfire area, and used torches to drive away the night‑crawling insects. However, all this hustle meant that most of the night was wasted gathering firewood.

The night passed without a word, and dawn arrived.

"Oh no, Hai Yan is missing!" A sharp scream shattered the peace of the Beast Garden.