Chapter 252

Longyuan Village hasn't been this lively for a long time, and a crowd gathered at the village entrance.

Qingwei Daozhang of Shangqing Temple and his disciple, some monks from Xiguangsi, Xie Yixuan, and Zhao Guonan, who previously went with the weasel to steal the British Museum.

With so many people gathered together, even the spacious ground felt a bit crowded.

The village head saw their arrival and showed an enthusiastic smile, saying, "Qingwei Daozhang, you've come."

Looking at the village head's face, unchanged after ten years, almost no difference from when they first met, even Qingwei Daozhang couldn't help but sigh, "Wuliang Tianzun, it's been a long time, but the village head's spirit is still this good."

The village head's smile grew even warmer, "Daoist priest, you're the same as well."

Most of these people were familiar faces, having met before, so nobody was a stranger; they exchanged greetings.

The village head patted his head, "Look at me, I got so excited just standing outside the village entrance—let's go inside, the Sect Leader is still waiting for you."

Everyone nodded and followed the village head into the village.

Upon stepping into Longyuan Mountain's range, I felt refreshed and invigorated; even the air here was somewhat fresher than elsewhere, and my spirit improved greatly.

Especially the monks from Xiguangsi, who had come from afar across Yunling, were originally weary from travel, showing fatigue on their faces, but after a brief rest their complexion quickly turned rosy and recovered.

Normally everyone has their own affairs and cannot often visit Longyuan Village; but now that we've learned Longyuan Immortal Sect has been established and is recruiting disciples, even if we learn nothing here, staying a few more days is beneficial to the body.

When the village chief led a large group over, Hu Xiaocao had already been waiting for a long time at the Mountain God's temple.

Inside the temple, the snake statue was mighty and extraordinary; the girl's delicate features, with a hint of coolness, created a strong visual contrast, giving an ethereal feeling not of the mortal world.

Although everyone present was older than Hu Xiaocao, some even of her grandfather's generation, yet nobody showed a look of contempt.

The village chief even bowed with clasped hands to Hu Xiaocao, saying, 'Sect Leader, they have already been brought over.'

Hu Xiaocao nodded, her gaze falling upon everyone's faces.

'Thank you all for your trust in me; now that you have joined Longyuan Immortal Sect, from now on you are my sect's disciples. The Mountain God is our sect's patriarch; you must show reverence to him, and after you have achieved something in your studies, you must not rely on your own strength to oppress other humans.'

Hu Xiaocao does not like elaborate formalities, but the necessary procedures cannot be omitted; mainly it is to introduce the sect rules, and additionally to offer incense to the Patriarch, that is, the Mountain God.

After listening to her admonition, once everyone had finished offering incense in succession, the initiation ceremony was considered complete.

'We will certainly obey the Sect Leader's teachings, inherit the Patriarch's will, and absolutely not do anything that brings shame to the sect or tarnishes the Patriarch's reputation!'

The incense smoke curled and drifted far away, accompanied by the voices of the crowd; not far off, a gentle breeze swayed, as if the Mountain God were responding to them.

Nowadays, Longyuan Immortal Sect is still in a reclusive phase, secretly established, and has recruited some familiar people as chief disciples.

But in the future, when Longyuan Mountain emerges and the Earth begins to change, Longyuan Immortal Sect will certainly come to light and expand its influence.

But for now, they have already entered the regular stage, yet they still need to gradually accumulate strength.

……

Under the azure sky, the verdant mountains resemble a huge, translucent piece of jade floating among the cloud layers; the surrounding spiritual mist curls like silken ribbons, like silver bands, truly a harmonious sight.

Ye Qin had just stepped into Longyuan Mountain, without deliberately concealing his aura, and was quickly sensed by other monsters.

'Roar!'

An earth-shaking tiger's roar, a brownish-yellow shadow like a whirlwind quickly came to Ye Qin's side, 'Master, you've finally returned; how did things go?'

Ye Qin nodded, 'The secret realm entrances at Changbai Mountain and Huashan have been completed; you will later be able to meet and cultivate inside the secret realm.'

The Northeast Tiger's beast eyes flashed with confusion, 'If it went smoothly, why was so much time delayed?'

According to Ye Qin's ability, flying to Changbai Mountain and Huashan would take at most half a day, but this time he took over half a month to return, causing the monsters to still be somewhat worried, thinking something had happened.

After setting up the secret realm entrance at Changbai Mountain, Ye Qin remained there to begin preaching to the local beings, helping the golden eagle to expand quickly, expanding Changbai Mountain's strength, before leaving for Huashan, which was similarly done, thus causing the delay.

Ye Qin's preaching surpassed even the Great Sage Monkey King; with his help, the beings of both places made great progress, allowing him to leave with peace of mind.

The Northeast Tiger suddenly understood and nodded, 'Now I see.'

Having opened a small world, all monsters can cultivate here; even those outside can gather, so Ye Qin intends to quicken his pace.

'Now the golden eagle and the monkey king have already established a foothold outside; it's time to dispatch the second batch of animals.'

Upon hearing this news, the monsters quickly erupted in excitement; who wouldn't want to be like the golden eagle and the monkey king, to go out and achieve great deeds, dominate a region, and become a demon king?

When the Monkey King initially led all the animals of Huashan to pay homage, that spectacle made many people envious; so many little brothers exclaimed they had been outshone by the Monkey King and wished to replace him.

Now that we have this opportunity, how could we not be excited?

The Northeast Tiger cracked his knuckles, 'This time, no matter what, it should be my turn as the Tiger King; if I go out, I will definitely surpass the golden eagle and the monkey king! After all, tigers have always been the rulers of the mountains.'

The fox's eyes shifted, flashing a sly light, 'King of the mountains? If you have the ability, say that to Master's face.'

The weasel stood up, hands on hips, looking very self-important, 'It should be me, Huang Daxian, after all humans can respect us; sometimes relying solely on fists and brute force cannot achieve great things.'

It said this with some implication; the nearby brown bear, not liking to hear it, glared and said, 'What do you mean by that? Fists and brute force—what's wrong with them? With your build, I could knock out five with one punch.'

The old turtle came out to mediate, 'What's the use of arguing here? In the end, it's still up to the Master to decide; I believe which senior brothers are sent out, the Master must have already decided.'

The monsters' eager gazes fell upon Ye Qin; he didn't keep them in suspense, quickly announcing the list of the next batch of monsters to go out.

Some monsters rejoiced, some grieved.

The monsters whose names were called were excited and thrilled, almost wanting to set off firecrackers to celebrate; those not called drooped their heads, dejected, as if mourning their parents.

The monsters going out this time are the great turtle, brown bear, wolf, fox, weasel, etc.; under the envious gazes of the other monsters, they quickly prepared to leave the mountain.

This batch of outgoing monsters is quite large, and among them the great turtle is especially notable, for it is also carrying a fishing rod, which is not a specially refined Dharma Implement, just an ordinary fishing rod.

Many monsters found it both laughable and exasperating, couldn't help but tease, 'Old turtle, you're shouldering a heavy responsibility this time; you're not just going out to fish.'

Besides cultivation, the old turtle spends all other time fishing; sometimes a single session lasts all day, often losing track of time; if one day you can't find it, just look by the riverbank and you'll surely find it there.

The fishing rod never leaves its hand; it can be said to be its second life, carefully maintained every day, so smooth that it can reflect one's silhouette.

'You don't understand; without this fishing rod, I feel restless, lacking energy in whatever I do; I must always carry it with me.'

The great turtle has even already planned: when it goes out to find a territory, it must seek a place with both mountains and water, so that fishing and cultivation can proceed without conflict.

Among all monsters, the great turtle loves fishing the most; other monsters either lack that patience or simply cannot sit still, so they completely fail to understand.

'Is this the idea of the fishing enthusiast—go wherever and fish wherever?'

'Um... This is hard to judge; I have good reason to doubt—other brothers conquer the world, while the great turtle sits unmoving like a mountain, fishing.'

'Thinking about it that way, it's not impossible—great turtle, I think you'd better just stay here and give up your spot to the other brothers.'

The big turtle shook its head like a rattle drum, "This won't do; I've pretty much fished out all the fish in the mountains, and it's time to see the outside world."

It rubbed the fishing rod in its hand, "Old buddy, today I'll take you out for a good stroll."

Watching the big turtle and other demons leave, the other monsters weren't discouraged either, after all, maybe next time it'll be their turn.

And the big turtle also embarked on a journey to find a place with mountains and water; it originally wanted to go to the Island of the Immortals, because earlier it had heard Ye Qin mention that he had once visited the Island of the Immortals for travel, and there was a segment of that journey in his memories.

The Island of the Immortals has mountains and water, and rich mythological legends, making it an ideal location in the big turtle's mind.

Holding its fishing rod, it traversed mountains and waded through water; while turtles are commonly seen as slow in people's impressions, the big turtle is different—it has spiritual energy infused, making its movements in the water much swifter.

First it arrived at the Beipan River, then headed south all the way, landing and crossing mountains, along the way it also passed the Min River, Blackwater River, and Wu River, finally merging into the main flow of the Yangtze River and entering the Donghai.

Looking at the boundless sea before it, the big turtle usually only caught river fish when fishing, never having tried sea fishing; moreover, here there are all kinds of varieties, enough to make its eyes dizzy.

Fishing and catching shrimp, playing with the surrounding marine life, it wasn't in a hurry to rush on; by the time it came to its senses, it could no longer find the way back.

Gazing around, the azure expanse of water like a giant sapphire, the sea breeze gently blew, raising several ripples, blossoms of waves bursting on the surface; occasionally a seabird swooped by, making it appear so tranquil and harmonious.

The sea turtle scratched its shell, its eyes showing a hint of bewilderment, "Where am I?"

It wandered for most of the day, the scenery before it unchanged, the vast, boundless sea seeming impossible to escape from.

Finally it realized a fact: it was very likely lost.

After searching for most of the day, the only thing that came into view was a lone island; the big turtle could only go ashore to check the situation, looking at the surrounding azure waters, it couldn't help but begin to doubt its turtle existence.

Who is it?

Where is it?

What place is this?

Which direction is the Island of the Immortals again?

Gazing at the azure sea, the big turtle sat on the lone island, listening to the gentle sea breeze, waves lapping the shore, its gaze gradually turning weathered.

The big turtle considered everything, except the fact that it itself could actually get lost.

The sky vast and expansive, the water rippling, inexplicably a feeling of indignant sorrow arose; gazing at the distant endless sea, the big turtle kicked a stone away with one foot.

"There's an MMP I don't know whether to say or not."

"As a freshwater turtle, it's normal for me to get lost in the sea."

It tried to console itself, but the more it thought, the angrier it became.

Surely those brothers who came out with it at this moment have already secured their turf and are developing their own underlings, while it got lost here—doesn't that mean it's falling far behind everyone else?

Although the big turtle usually acts laid-back, it still has a competitive spirit; it can almost imagine that if the other demons learned of this, they would definitely mock it for getting lost at sea.

"Forget it, maybe this is just fate."

The big turtle gazed at the boundless ocean, feeling an itch in its hand, and flung the fishhook out, "Don't panic when something happens; first catch a fish, then talk."

Anyway, since it's already lost and things have come to this, being anxious is useless; moreover, having come all this way, it can't return empty-handed.

Thinking this over, the big turtle instead became calm, casting the fishing rod—one could say it was sitting firmly on the fishing platform.

Not long after, it felt something tugging at the fishing rod.

The big turtle's eyes lit up, "Nice partner, there's actually a big haul here."

Worried that the big fish would escape, it sharply lifted upward.

"Whoosh!"

The sea drew a white trace, faintly visible as something was hauled up from the sea surface, tracing a parabola in midair before striking the rock behind the big turtle.

Seeing this scene, the big turtle's face darkened instantly, "What the hell, I thought it was a big fish, but it's just a lump of iron?!"

The key is that this lump of iron keeps making a sound, continuously emitting a piercing "dit dit dit".

The big turtle disliked the iron lump being in the way, kicked it far away with a foot, "Really unlucky."

It cast the fishing rod again, and what it hauled up was still a black iron lump.

"The first one"

"The fifth one"

"The tenth one"

……

"What the hell! Is it toxic? Why are they all just iron lumps?"

"Who can tell me what kind of lousy place this is, pulling out nothing but these things?"

A roar echoed across the lone island; although the big turtle had a good temper, seeing the iron lumps piled up almost like a mountain nearby, it couldn't help but curse.

It wondered if it had stumbled upon the nest of these black lumps, otherwise why would every catch be this kind of weird thing.

Just as the big turtle was throwing the black lump aside.

At the same time, the naval fleet of the Divine Illumination State conducting military exercises in the Glazed Ball Sea also let out a frustrated roar.

"Bah!"

"Who again destroyed our underwater detectors?!"

"With such high-speed precision detectors, how could we lose so many in just one day?"

"What on earth is going on?"

At the edge of the Glazed Ball Sea, in the core of the command bridge of the destroyer Mulberry, came several angry shouts.

"With so many people, you can't even keep an eye on a few detectors—are you all rice buckets?!"

A thin-built man with a dark scowl face, constantly shouting there, his name is Chuan Dao Feng, the captain of the destroyer Mulberry.

The entire fleet command deck was utterly silent; everyone ducked their heads, not daring to take a breath.

Do you know what these detectors represent?

Each one is worth hundreds of millions of dollars; you could say they're astronomically priced!

Now that so many have disappeared, it means we've lost five billion dollars! Even selling you all wouldn't cover the loss!

Chuan Dao Feng stood before several cruiser‑level captains, who were currently bowing at a ninety‑degree angle, continuously apologizing.

His face darkened: "I don't want apologies; you guys quickly think of a solution for me!"

What could go wrong? It was the detector that malfunctioned.

It turned out that the Divine Illumination State was conducting a military exercise in the Glazed Ball Sea, deploying nearly sixty percent of its naval strength and fleet.

This military exercise had two objectives.

First, to demonstrate the Divine Illumination State's strong naval power and deter other nations; second, to take this opportunity to secretly survey the waters surrounding Great Xia.

Recently, strange phenomena have been erupting one after another in Great Xia, causing quite a stir—for example, a golden meteorite fell on the Wu Mountain Range; the teams sent by various countries returned empty‑handed, and in the end the meteorite's whereabouts remained unknown.

Then came the outbreak of purple mist on Splendid Mountain, still a mystery to this day; furthermore, numerous beasts fled the mountains, forming a huge beast tide that reached Long White Mountain, and there were even rumors that the Tsar suffered heavy losses in the vicinity of Long White Mountain.

With all these events linked together, it's hard not to speculate; other countries also caught wind of it and dispatched their own means to gather intelligence, and the Divine Illumination State was naturally no exception.

Thus they wanted to use this naval exercise as a pretext, and precisely for that reason the superiors gave them several highest‑precision undersea detectors to deploy in the Great Xia sea.

Even to let them scout, the entire exercise began to gather here, merely to provide cover for the Supporting Mulberry destroyer.

With all these conditions helping, the mission wasn't difficult, and indeed it was so at the start.

Now Great Xia is preoccupied with domestic affairs; most of its attention and sight are drawn to land matters, leaving its sea defenses lax—this is a good opportunity for them to strike.

Moreover, this undersea detector is the Divine Illumination State's highest technology, possessing extremely strong anti‑detection capability, able to shield against countless probes, which is why it could sneak into the Great Xia sea without anyone noticing.

In a short time they had completed half of the survey, which could be said to have gone as smoothly as possible.

Yet no one expected that, at this final critical moment, a problem would arise!

One detector after another vanished without any warning.

Dozens of detectors were lost, ten of them outright!

This left Chuan Dao Feng dumbfounded.

You should know these detectors are top secret, also the crystallization of the Divine Illumination State's technological core strength; though small in volume, their mass is enormous.

They are of the most perfect streamlined shape, capable of underwater travel at speeds exceeding 2,500 km/h at any time.

Furthermore, there are ultra‑high‑frequency detectors that, while conducting reconnaissance scans, can guarantee their own safety.

It's no exaggeration to say that, against such detectors, unless one employs a carpet‑like fish net or a super‑large‑scale depth charge, they absolutely cannot be intercepted! (End of chapter)