Chapter 423

Above the territory of Qiuluoye, a brilliant light suddenly flared, illuminating the entire land as if it were daytime.

Shui Yongquan shouted: "Heaven's Light! Hide quickly!" Then he transformed into a ghostly flame and slipped into the nearest wooden hut.

The "Heaven's Light" he referred to was clearly not the gentle kind from the New Land, but the fierce Heaven's Light of the Proper Land—any cultivator, regardless of level, risked grave danger if exposed to it even once.

Qiuluoye also ducked into the wooden hut. Could a wooden hut block Heaven's Light?

It couldn't block it completely, but it was far better than being exposed directly.

Li Banfeng carried He Yuxiu in one hand and Ma Wu in the other as he entered the hut.

Lu Chunying dragged Xiao Yeci into the hut.

Juanzi shouted loudly: "This isn't Heaven's Light!"

Yang Yanzheng brought Chu Er into the hut.

Zuo Wugang brought Cao Zhida into the hut.

Laohu hugged Shi Tou and rushed into the hut.

Xiaoshan yelled desperately: "This really isn't Heaven's Light!"

It didn't matter—he shouted, but everyone nearby had already hidden, except for the three heads, who were most familiar with Heaven's Light.

This isn't Heaven's Light—it's noon sunlight.

This isn't Shui Yongquan's fault, nor Qiuluoye's—they hadn't seen sunlight in too long, and the New Land shouldn't have sunlight at all.

The dark, thick fog suddenly dispersed, and a vast stretch of land was instantly bathed in sunlight—far stranger than Heaven's Light; even Li Qi and others who normally lived in the Proper Land, in their panic, couldn't tell the difference.

Xiaoshan chuckled: "Let's go get Seventh Master out!"

Mengzi frowned: "What are you laughing at? Making fun of Seventh Master?"

Seventh Master isn't like us—he sees Heaven's Light all the time. When you meet him, don't you dare laugh!"

Juanzi, controlling her body, was about to enter the hut and call everyone out when the ground trembled violently, and she stumbled and fell.

Boom boom boom—

After a bout of shaking, the three heads collapsed one after another.

They were fine, but Li Banfeng and the others, crammed inside the hut, were tossed back and forth, rolling around as the earth shook; several people hit their heads and bled.

Li Banfeng steadied himself with his Foundation Establishment base, feeling an eerie familiarity—it reminded him of his time in the Outer States.

How had that Heaven's Light appeared?

And now, what caused this earthquake?

Li Banfeng looked around; everyone huddled with their heads down, swaying violently inside the hut, many with external injuries, others vomiting.

Creak creak—crack!

The hut's main beam was about to snap.

The roof was collapsing—just as everyone was about to be crushed, He Yuxiu leapt onto the ceiling and held the beam steady with brute strength.

Even as the shaking continued, He Yuxiu struggled to stand; Li Banfeng leapt behind her and steadied her.

Other wooden huts had already collapsed—boom boom boom—multiple crashes echoed as countless structures tumbled.

The earthquake lasted nearly twenty minutes; there was a brief period of relative calm with only mild tremors, but just before it ended, the ground lurched violently, nearly knocking Li Banfeng off his feet.

That jolt reminded Li Banfeng of his experience in the Outer States.

It felt like a subway train suddenly braking hard.

Everyone tumbled in disarray; He Yuxiu shouted: "Go! The hut's falling apart!"

Go?

Outside, Heaven's Light still blazed. Everyone inside had cultivation—wooden debris might injure them, but exposure to Heaven's Light could make them explode.

Juanzi called from outside: "Seventh Master, everyone—this isn't Heaven's Light, really it isn't! Come out!"

He Yuxiu glanced at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng gave a slight nod.

He trusted Juanzi—Heaven's Light was common to her.

Li Banfeng stepped out of the hut first; the others followed.

Standing outside longer, Li Banfeng realized this truly wasn't Heaven's Light.

In the panic earlier, he hadn't noticed—but now, calm, he could tell the difference.

He had experienced Heaven's Light before—it was far brighter than this.

The light before him was roughly the same as noon sunlight in Lüshuicheng.

Noon sunlight…

Li Banfeng looked toward Shui Yongquan and Qiuluoye, who had just stepped out of the hut.

Qiuluoye glared at Shui Yongquan: "Old Shui, you scared the hell out of us! What's this, Heaven's Light? It's just the sun rising!"

But come to think of it—how long has it been since we saw the sun?"

Shui Yongquan looked up—and there, indeed, the sun hung in the sky.

"Qiuluoye, the sun's out?"

Qiuluoye fell silent for a moment, then turned to Shui Yongquan: "Yes—why is the sun out?"

One by one, the others emerged from the huts, covered in wounds.

Xiao Yeci wiped blood from her face, looked up at the sun, and said to Li Banfeng: "Master, sunrise means the land has become Proper Land. According to the texts, this land has turned into Proper Land."

Turned into Proper Land?

How?

Doesn't it require ten thousand people to settle permanently?

There aren't even ten thousand people here now, let alone permanent residents!

Li Banfeng hadn't figured this out yet when Qiuluoye burst into loud laughter: "Sunrise means Proper Land—I get it! My land has become Proper Land!"

Shui Yongquan was delighted: "Old brother, congratulations!"

Qiuluoye quickly bowed back: "Same to you, same to you!"

Shui Yongquan chuckled: "You're right—it really is mutual joy. I need to check my territory. If you've seen the sun, mine must've caught some of the light too."

"Sure! With a sun this big, maybe your land lit up too—let's go check together!"

The two old friends happily set off, for the last stretch of wasteland had been assigned to Qiuluoye by Shui Yongquan, and their border was extremely close.

In an instant, they reached the border and saw a quiet little village.

The villagers, shaken by the earthquake, stood along the boundary, peering over at them.

Shui Yongquan and the villagers stared at each other for a moment, then he whispered: "Where's my home?"

Qiuluoye stroked his beard: "Yes… where did your home go?"

Shui Yongquan grew frantic—he didn't know who these villagers were, but clearly, the other side of the border wasn't his land.

He was about to cross the boundary when Qiuluoye stopped him.

"No—you can't go. This looks like the border of Proper Land!"

Qiuluoye was right—just a few meters beyond the border, not a blade of grass grew.

On his side, many plants had vanished too.

This was the hallmark of a Proper Land border.

Shui Yongquan sprinted along the border, searching for his land—but found nothing, only a rabbit standing dazed beside the boundary.

Shui Yongquan grabbed the rabbit: "What did you see just now?"

The rabbit looked terrified: "I saw the other side moving—moving fast. I don't know what happened."

"Moving?" Shui Yongquan, in his panic, still didn't understand. Qiuluoye's land had become Proper Land—but why had his home moved?

Qiuluoye suddenly realized: "Old Shui—it's not you who moved. It's me."

Those words snapped Shui Yongquan awake. They hurried north to the northern border—Qiuluoye's old neighbors were gone, replaced by a forest.

All other neighboring territories had vanished; signs of Proper Land borders surrounded them. Only the southeast corner led to the New Land—and even that stretch was unfamiliar to Qiuluoye.

What was going on?

Qiuluoye looked at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng looked at Xiao Yeci.

Xiao Yeci shook her head: "I… I don't know…"

This truly exceeded Xiao Yeci's understanding. Li Banfeng circled the entire border—none of the surrounding scenery was familiar to him.

He slipped into his Portable Dwelling and asked his wife.

Chit chit~

His wife pondered a moment: "Beloved husband, I've only heard of shallow land turning into Proper Land. You turned deep land into Proper Land—I've never heard of such a thing. Could it be… that the deep land moved itself, and drifted next to Proper Land?"

The Portable Dwelling should know best—but Li Banfeng asked several times, and it gave no reply.

The phonograph spoke to Li Banfeng: "Master, don't disturb Old Master right now—he seems to be thinking deeply. Two urgent matters now: first, find out who your new neighbors are. A land suddenly squeezed in might not be friendly. Second, check how many strange creatures remain on your land. Some low-level ones have never seen sunlight—they'll cause trouble."

Li Banfeng stepped out of the Portable Dwelling, about to find Qiuluoye, when sudden roars echoed from the forest.

What could be making such a racket?

Li Banfeng rushed into the woods—other areas could wait, but this forest must not be damaged.

Qiuluoye arrived too, searched the woods briefly, and found it was a bamboo insect.

What's going on, making this much noise?

Li Banfeng hurried to the forest; other places were one thing, but this grove must not suffer any mishap.

Qiu Luoye also rushed over, searched the forest for a moment, and found it was a bamboo insect.

This stick insect wasn't large—just over a meter long—and in the New Land, it was considered a gentle anomaly. Today, for the first time exposed to sunlight, it suddenly grew violent, frantically gnawing at the ancient tree beneath it.

Qiu Luoye, angered, stepped forward to tear the stick insect apart, but the ancient tree, wounded by the insect's gnawing, also grew furious; its roots surged violently, nearly entangling Qiu Luoye.

The ancient tree's roots encroached upon the roots of other trees, and several other sentient trees grew agitated, their roots spurting outward in competition.

Amid the entangling roots, some subterranean creatures could no longer survive; a swarm of guinea pigs, snakes, earthworms, and salamanders burst forth.

These creatures had never seen sunlight; hidden underground, they were harmless, but now under direct sunlight, they lost all reason and began swarming around Qiu Luoye, biting.

The scene spiraled out of control; Qiu Luoye lost patience.

Wuuu~

He immediately transformed into an elephant, determined to level this entire forest!

Li Banfeng quickly blocked him. "This forest can't be destroyed—it lies above my station."

"Big Brother Qiu, trouble seems to be breaking out over there—go check it out first. I'll handle this side."

Several dog-headed dragonflies had gone mad, charging into the farmland. Qiu Luoye gritted his teeth. "We should've dealt with them long ago—these things are all curses!"

This wasn't really Qiu Luoye's or Li Banfeng's fault; they'd assumed ten thousand people would be hard to manage, and there was still plenty of time to handle the anomalies.

If all else fails, we could consult Old Shui and send these mindless anomalies to his territory—they won't rebel against Qiu Luoye, won't become threats later, and Old Shui should be able to take them in.

Who knew that right after the land was cleared, the New Land became the True Land? Now we don't even know where Old Shui's territory lies.

Food is vital for survival; Qiu Luoye abandoned the forest and rushed toward the farmland.

In the forest, anomalies of all sizes still raged. Li Banfeng was pondering how to calm them when something suddenly brushed against his pocket.

It was an object he rarely used—the music box given to him by Ling Miaoying.

This object had never been clearly classified; Hong Ying called it a spirit object, while his wife believed it possessed consciousness and should be counted as a magic treasure.

The music box could move on its own, clearly exhibiting traits of a magic treasure, yet it had never spoken.

Li Banfeng pulled out the music box and wound its spring.

The tiny figures inside began to turn; since Li Banfeng hadn't specified a direction, the soothing melody spread in all directions.

Soon, the forest gradually calmed; all living things fell into deep slumber.

Only Li Banfeng remained unaffected—he heard a different melody.

But merely putting these anomalies to sleep wouldn't solve the core problem. When they woke, they'd resume their chaos—and if this continued, the station would be exposed.

Li Banfeng touched the raging stick insect; it slept deeply, as if dead.

This gave Li Banfeng a bold idea.

He looked at the music box.

The tiny figure on the music box looked up at him, smiling confidently.

PS: What idea did Banfeng have?

(End of Chapter)