Chapter 261

After a while.

A knocking sound came from outside the door of the private room, followed by the manager's voice ringing softly.

"Proprietor, Young Master Yu declined the cave dwelling we carefully selected and sent."

"As for the courtesy of free expenses for the day prepared for Young Master Chen and his party, it was also politely declined by Young Master Chen."

Inside the room, Liu Xing fell into a brief silence.

"Understood, you may withdraw first."

Liu Xing sighed softly; she had already prepared the cave dwelling Yu Ke chose, but didn't expect it to be declined.

"Sister Youlan, what do you think?"

Although Yu Ke is only an outer disciple, if this Foundation Establishment goes smoothly, and he shines in the upcoming outer sect assessment, coupled with the help of a group of talents like Chen Jingqiu, Li Qingshui, and Beside Lan Yu.

His future will surely become a pivotal figure in the Profound Heaven Sect.

Xia Youlan's gaze suddenly fixed on the tea on the table, the position where Yu Ke had just sat, as if in thought.

Why would she care so much about Yu Ke?

Why was her mood so volatile today?

Perhaps it was because for too long, no one could easily ignore her existence.

Coupled with the accidental shattering of the Jade Pixiu, and Yu Ke himself is just an ordinary outer disciple.

It made her mentality unbalanced.

Liu Xing opened her vermilion lips slightly and continued: "Seeing Chen Jingqiu in person today, he is truly extraordinary in style, compared to the rumors, he is even better."

"If he steps into the outer sect assessment, I'm afraid the eight inner sect lineages will compete to snatch him."

"It's just this time, I'm afraid it will be difficult to befriend this first wind and rain of the Chen family."

There was a trace of regret in her words.

Upon hearing this, Xia Youlan couldn't help but pull Liu Xing's hand, her eyes full of guilt: "This time it was me, the older sister, who was muddled, letting my younger sister miss such a good opportunity in vain, I truly feel guilty."

"Sister, you are joking, there is not only Chen Jingqiu in the outer sect."

"There are several prodigies in the outer sect who are on good terms with my Hongyun Merchant House, I can introduce them to you, sister."

Xia Youlan was a bit curious; she didn't expect this dragon head of the Hongyun Merchant House to have already placed bets on people.

"Who is there? That can compare to Chen Jingqiu."

Liu Xing sighed in her expression: "This time Fairy Yunxiao opened the mountain to accept disciples, talents and prodigies from the three continents and even further away have come here for her name."

"They might not be as good as Chen Jingqiu, but they are also the most popular people in this outer sect assessment."

"The Third Prince of the Changying Divine Dynasty, Chang Huaji, just entered the Profound Heaven Sect's outer sect three days ago. When this person was born, a city was surrounded by fire clouds for three days without dispersing, and he had already mastered two types of fire-type Dao arts before Foundation Establishment."

"Cai Yingzhao of the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty was born with true phoenix feathers accompanying him, and even had a true spirit bathing in fire and being reborn to protect his path."

"Peng Chuan of Zhaoyao Mountain, had a dragon head preaching for him at the age of three..."

Liu Xing mentioned a few more people.

However!

Xia Youlan seemed a bit absent-minded, her thoughts drifting elsewhere, suddenly thinking of Yu Ke's early experience she had checked when she was in the outer sect.

Plain and unremarkable!

Born in a side branch of the Luoshui Yu family, stepped into cultivation at the age of six, with no outstanding events.

Entered the sect for four years, practiced diligently every day, but did not show his face among a group of outer disciples.

～

～

"Yu Shixiong Yu, in fact, accepting this cave dwelling is not impossible."

"Even if there is no need to live there for the time being, it can be rented on behalf, and the income will all belong to Yu Shixiong Yu."

Mi Die secretly felt a pity on the side; you must know that the value of a cave dwelling is comparable to a sky-high price.

Fairy Liu giving it away so easily is truly generous.

Yu Ke shook his head gently, secretly pondering in his heart.

Accepting such a heavy gift without merit is all a favor.

Everything in the world, free things are often the most expensive.

Rather than carrying this favor, he would rather owe that little rich woman fifty thousand spirit stones, which is more straightforward.

Mainly because he doesn't need a cave dwelling either, he has a house in the outer courtyard, he is just establishing his foundation here.

Xie Wanwan also agreed, knowing that favor debts are the hardest to repay.

Wang Yunxi's eyes flickered, thinking this was Liu Xing's plan to win over her cousin.

After Chen Jingqiu carefully explored the cave dwelling, he nodded slightly and said:

"Junior Brother Yu, there is no worry about establishing the foundation here, the time difference with the outside world is only half a quarter of an hour, and the laws of heaven are complete."

"And there is a middle-grade spirit vein hidden in the cave dwelling, and a spirit-gathering array is set up under the pond, which is enough for Foundation Establishment."

Upon hearing this, Yu Ke also carefully examined the cave dwelling.

The cave dwelling is about ten miles in radius.

In the middle stands a four-story antique small pavilion, with wind chimes hanging at the four corners, and when the breeze blows, it "dings" and rings, crisp and pleasant.

Under the pavilion, a pool of water is as quiet as a mirror, spirit fish swim in it, creating layers of ripples.

By the pool, the moss-covered rockery and green willows complement each other, swaying gently with the wind, showing even more vitality.

The climate here is pleasant, not feeling hot, only feeling refreshed.

"Thank you, Chen Sanzhong, for your trouble." Yu Ke said gratefully.

Chen Jingqiu asked with concern: "Junior Brother Yu, have you prepared everything you need for Foundation Establishment?"

Yu Ke didn't have the slightest carelessness; the spirit treasures and spirit medicines needed had all been purchased in the merchant house, costing a total of thirty thousand spirit stones.

Chen Jingqiu took an item out of his storage bag and said: "This is the Eight Views Palace Lantern, hanging in the cave dwelling, it can suppress luck and gather spirit energy, I'll lend it to Junior Brother Yu."

After speaking.

An apricot-yellow lantern appeared in Chen Jingqiu's hand, with Eight Trigrams patterns carved on all four sides.

Seeing this, Wang Yunxi's face changed slightly, and she was secretly shocked in her heart; her cousin actually gifted this kind of spirit treasure to Yu Ke, this is a heavy treasure bestowed by the Chen family ancestor when her cousin came of age, used for self-defense.

Yu Ke showed hesitation, but finally took it and bowed:

"Thank you, Chen Sanzhong."

Seeing this, Chen Jingqiu knew that the time was late, so he didn't stay any longer and turned to leave.

Mi Die also said goodbye:

"Yu Shixiong Yu, if you need anything, you can contact me through the communication jade talisman at any time."

"There is a big bell on the roof of the cave dwelling, if you encounter an emergency, just knock it with spirit power, and the guarding elder outside will hear the sound and come to open the cave dwelling."

After Yu Ke thanked her, Mi Die left with some reluctance.

At this moment, inside the cave dwelling, only Xie Wanwan and Yu Ke remained.

Yu Ke suddenly remembered that tomorrow is the day when Xie Wanwan and Beside Lan Yu's party step into the Immortal Hidden Land trial.

Xie Wanwan said softly: "I wish Yu Shixiong Yu a smooth Foundation Establishment, and a perfect success."

"Then I wish Junior Sister Xie, this trip to the Immortal Hidden Land, will surely return with a full load."

Yu Ke still had doubts in his heart, not understanding why Xie Wanwan was willing to take risks and resolutely step into that dangerous Immortal Hidden Land.

"Yu Shixiong Yu, goodbye!"

Xie Wanwan seemed to have something to say, but finally didn't open her mouth.

After Yu Ke sent Xie Wanwan away, he closed the cave dwelling passage and checked it carefully from top to bottom.

He didn't let go of the bottom of the bed in the third-floor quiet room, and opened them one by one to check.

Behind every door, he also searched thoroughly.

He even stared blankly at the fish in the small pond for a while, and didn't even ignore the grass outside the small pavilion.

The place of Foundation Establishment cannot be underestimated in the slightest.

At this moment, his cultivation is still shallow, and the distance of his spiritual sense from the Heavenly God Acupoint is limited, so he cannot directly sacrifice his spiritual sense to scan.

Only after carefully checking the ten-mile radius cave dwelling did he return to the third floor with satisfaction.

The third floor is the place where spirit energy is most concentrated.

He took out the "Eight Views Palace Lantern" that Chen Jingqiu had just gifted him from his storage bag.

This lantern is extraordinary, far from being comparable to ordinary spirit tools. The moment he took it out, Yu Ke felt that the surrounding space seemed to be much more stable, and it really had the effect of suppressing luck and gathering spirit energy.

However.

Yu Ke didn't intend to use this Eight Views Palace Lantern immediately; after all, he and Chen Jingqiu had only known each other for a few days, and their friendship was shallow.

Although the other party had helped him many times, he knew the truth that "one must have a heart to guard against others."

Just as he was about to put the palace lantern into his storage bag, the Kunxu Ding in his heart sea suddenly shook, and a stream of fantasy energy wrapped around the Eight Views Palace Lantern.

The originally bright and dazzling palace lantern began to dim slowly under the effect of this power, as if it had lost its past luster.

The Kunxu Ding chimed again.

"Clang—"

Rotating slowly in Yu Ke's heart sea, releasing an ancient and mysterious aura.

A phantom four-legged two-eared great cauldron flew out slowly and suspended at the very top of the cave dwelling.

Yu Ke witnessed this scene, and a trace of surprise surged in his heart; this was the first time he had seen the Kunxu Ding revealed outside like this.

The great cauldron was like a majestic king, patrolling all directions.

Finally!

The entire cave dwelling was shrouded in the aura permeating from the great cauldron.

Only then did the Kunxu Ding return to Yu Ke's heart sea with satisfaction.

～

～

Chen Jingqiu and Wang Yunxi were walking out of the Hongyun Merchant House, just boarding the carriage driven by the Lei Ze White Tigers.

At this time!

Chen Jingqiu suddenly had a strange expression, slightly stunned, as if he had sensed something.

Seeing this, Wang Yunxi asked curiously:

"Cousin, what's wrong?"

Today, her cousin even easily lent out that precious 'Eight Views Palace Lantern', which is a heavy treasure containing eighteen restrictions, having the divine effects of 'avoiding disasters', 'avoiding calamities', and 'guarding the house'.

Just by carrying this treasure, one's luck and cultivation can be hidden like a mortal, and even cultivators who have stepped into the fifth heavenly ladder find it difficult to see through.

It was lent out so easily, and it was a voluntary gift.

"Cousin, can you lend me the Eight Views Palace Lantern when I establish my foundation?"

Chen Jingqiu lowered his head and pondered: "It seems I was overthinking, Junior Brother Yu has a heavy treasure on him."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yunxi was a bit unhappy.

"Cousin, you didn't listen to me seriously again!"

Chen Jingqiu shook his head with a smile: "Cousin, one must have foresight. After Junior Brother Yu establishes his foundation, I'm afraid he will soar into the sky and achieve extraordinary things."

Wang Yunxi blinked and laughed:

"I understand, cousin, you value Junior Brother Yu's future potential, which is why you value him so much."

Chen Jingqiu shook his head again.

"Even if Junior Brother Yu didn't have this potential, I would still treat him like this."

"Why?"

"No reason."

Wang Yunxi watched her cousin walk into the carriage as if nothing had happened, and was so angry she wanted to stomp her feet.

In the end, who is your cousin.

～

～

It was late.

The time in the cave dwelling was a quarter of an hour slower than the outside world.

Inside the small pavilion on the third floor.

Yu Ke opened his eyes slowly.

The cave dwelling's self-contained world could even see the moon inside, which was no different from the outside.

He suddenly thought that inside the Kunxu Ding, there were also its own sun, moon, mountains, and rivers, and the operation of heaven and earth.

Could it also be a cave dwelling?

The four moons traveled to the middle of the sky.

The great cauldron in Yu Ke's heart sea mud-pill palace trembled, emitting a low and mysterious roar.

The hour of the rat has arrived!

The great cauldron trembled.

"Clang——"

Streams of hazy clear light and chaotic air currents surged, and the words on it appeared.

【Do you want to start the simulation?】

Yu Ke sank his mind onto the great cauldron.

Agree!

Simulation starts.

【This year you are ten years old.】

【This year, the Xie Mansion is having a hard time, especially the several main mothers of the Xie family, and the old matriarch of the Xie family, all of whom have worried expressions.】

【Throughout the mansion, whether it is servants or maids, they all walk cautiously, not daring to laugh or play easily.】

【The source of all this is because the eldest master of the Xie family, your father Xie Ling, was defeated in the battle against the Great Sui at the border.】

【The news spread back to the capital, and the Left Prime Minister Su Jing was furious, stripping Xie Ling of his title of Marquis of Dingyuan.】

【He did not change the commander before the battle, letting him make up for his crimes with meritorious service.】

【Su Jing even used his Yang Spirit body to travel tens of thousands of miles to Tiger Gate to supervise the battle in person.】

【In the summer of the same year, the Great Sui activated the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array at Tiger Gate to break the Great Qi again, killing thirty thousand people and burning Gaowang Slope.】

【The Great Sui also united with the Dragon Palace of Ze Lake, attacking from two sides, and captured thirty cities of the Great Qi.】

【In this war, Guo Xun of the Great Sui shone brightly; he not only severely injured your father Xie Ling, but he himself broke through to the Martial God realm of the "Xuan Dan Realm," and his momentum was unmatched.】

【The Great Master of the Academy that year, now the National Teacher of the Great Sui, brought four hundred thousand troops to descend like divine soldiers, breaking Xie Ling's Black Crow Army at Dingjun Mountain and annihilating Su Jing's Yang Spirit.】

【The Great Master even personally wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of the Great Qi, Su Jing.】

【"The pillar of the Xie family, broken walls and ruins; Su Jing's strategy, is nothing more than this."】

【Seeing this letter, Su Jing was extremely angry, and with a wave of his sleeve, the west wall of the Taihe Hall of the Imperial Palace collapsed with a bang.】

【By the end of the year, the Great Qi army retreated to Zhuya County to rest, having no choice but to cede a state of land.】

【The news of defeat was like snow filling the sky, spreading rapidly to every corner of the Great Qi.】

【In the capital Above Bianjing, the public sentiment was surging, and continuous petitions for war flooded towards the Academy and the Imperial Court.】

【The Great Qi, this central plains great country that has experienced a thousand years and sees itself as the orthodox heaven and earth, once inherited the brilliance of the Warring States, the Four Kingdoms, Yan, and Tang.】

【Ten thousand nations came to court, and foreign states admired it.】

【However, now it has been beaten back by the Great Sui, which was once regarded as a barbarian by the central plains, and even lost a state of land.】

【This is a great humiliation!】

【On the streets of Above Bianjing, many students marched angrily, swearing to wash away the shame.】

【Within the Academy, apart from teaching, the teachers analyzed the reasons for the defeat in this battle.】

【The fault lies with Xie Ling!】

【He was greedy for merit and advanced rashly, fell into an ambush during a night raid on the Great Sui at Si Shui Pass, and was trapped in the "Eight Gates Golden Lock Array," causing Si Shui Pass to fall.】

【The geographical advantage that could be attacked or defended instantly turned into a passive disadvantage.】

【The war situation changed rapidly; after the raging fire at Gaowang Slope, the army collapsed like a tide, Xie Ling was almost captured, and he lost important cities, eventually having to retreat.】

【The fault lies with Xie Ling, spreading through every street and alley, with overwhelming notoriety.】

【Xie Ling was demoted again, his reputation was swept away, and he even implicated the Xie family.】

【When a group of Xie family servants went out to buy things, they were all pointed at.】

【The original cultivation prodigy, the Marquis of Dingyuan with great military exploits, became "Xie Broken Walls" in the mouths of the people.】

【Another year passed, and your eyes were completely healed.】

(End of chapter)