Chapter 431: Taking Stone and Descending the Dashan (Thanks to the alliance leader

The weather at Nanshan is strange; cloudy, sunny, rainy, and foggy are almost evenly divided.

Grass grows on the mountain, called *Xunhua* grass; it blooms in the morning and withers by evening, so some say that the morning and dusk of Nanshan are also the boundary between yin and yang.

This mountain towers into the clouds, and the terrain is complex. In recent years, the imperial court's taxes have been heavy, and even if farmers constantly reclaim wasteland and work non-stop from the beginning of the year to the end, if they encounter a good year, they still cannot eat their fill, and if they encounter one or two of these conditions, people will starve to death. Therefore, commoners at the foot of the mountain often became bandits, and if there was any sign of trouble, they would hide on Nanshan, making it miserable for passing merchants and travelers.

It was just that the area around Nanshan had been peaceful this year.

Some say an Immortal came to the mountain and ordered the bandits on the mountain not to cause trouble and to go down the mountain to make a living.

Some woodcutters at the foot of the mountain say that when they were cutting wood on nearby hills, they happened to see the clouds and mist on Nanshan blown away by the wind, and faintly saw someone sitting in meditation at the top of the mountain, bathing in the glow and dew.

Others say that when they were traveling on the mountain road, they saw a huge white fox with six tails leaping in the forest, like a divine being.

There are also people who encountered danger in the mountain and were saved by the white fox.

And that man in the green gown went once every day, carrying food and water from the village up Nanshan to give to the *Zhenren* on the mountain.

At first, he was panting and his legs were weak and his eyes were blurred every day, but after that, perhaps he adapted, and gradually he was not so tired, and his physical strength clearly increased, but he was still becoming thinner day by day.

It should be because the nutrition of the daily food could not keep up.

After some more days, the green-gowned scholar was still eating those coarse grains, wild vegetables, and grass roots every day, but for some reason, his body did not continue to thin, but instead became full and ruddy day by day. Every day, climbing up and down the towering Nanshan peak once, he actually felt as if he had endless strength.

He, who had always been weak, never got sick again.

Telling his family, they all felt it was miraculous.

And even the elders in the family could not say why, only saying that he was likely close to the immortals and had been touched by the immortal aura of Master Lin.

The green-gowned scholar pondered and felt that it was probably indeed so.

He followed Lin *Zhenren*'s decree, sending water and food up for him every day, regardless of wind, rain, or thunderstorms, never having been negligent. And climbing Nanshan was a long process, also very exhausting. Every time he sent the food and water to the top of the mountain, he could not help but stop to catch his breath and rest for a while.

Just this process of climbing the mountain, just this brief rest at the top of the mountain, allowed him to see scenes rarely seen by people in the world, scenes that only exist in the most profound immortal stories.

Sometimes he saw a huge six-tailed white fox leap lightly from the foot of the mountain and rise with the wind until it reached the top.

Sometimes he could see a white heron with wings spread more than a *zhang* wide leading the birds in the mountain to fly to the top, circling the peak and singing together, truly like an immortal scene.

Sometimes he could see the white fox walking in the clouds.

Most of the time, he saw the light of the sun and moon flowing down like water, bathing Lin *Zhenren* on the peak, or the clouds and mist of the sky holding the glow to drape a colorful robe over Lin *Zhenren*, or the mountain wind rolling sand and gravel to spin into a dragon around Lin *Zhenren*, or the water vapor intertwining like silk.

Anyone who saw such a scene could not help but be stunned, could not help but stop and stare for a moment.

These sun and moon lights, clouds and mist, mountain winds, sand, and gravel also touched him a little.

Every time, there was a different feeling.

Sometimes a daze, a moment of distraction, only feeling that it lasted for an instant, but when he came back to his senses, the sky was already dark, and most of the day had passed.

Thinking carefully about the stories and rumors in the world, most are like this—

Someone specifically goes to the mountain to find an Immortal, offering some venison or meat porridge, and gains decades of longevity from the Immortal. Others encounter an old man by the roadside, not knowing he is an Immortal, and because of a little kindness valued by the Immortal, they are gifted a cup of water and wine by the Immortal, and after drinking it, they live a long life.

The green-gowned scholar knew in his heart that he had not come specifically, and he had even followed the villagers to be a bandit and outlaw; he was not a good person. Yet he had not expected that by accidentally touching this bit of immortal aura, he would actually benefit so much.

He only sighed that he was worthy of being Lin *Zhenren*.

Compared to the immortals in the stories, he was not a bit inferior.

He only sighed that the immortal stories in the world, which he originally thought were mostly fictional, were unexpectedly true.

And this sending lasted from summer to autumn, autumn to winter solstice, and spring returned again, passing another year.

The green-gowned scholar sent food and water every day, not getting much strangeness, but it made his body much better. It was precisely because of this that he could still send food and water up in the heavy snow of winter; otherwise, with his original physical condition, he would certainly not have been able to send it up, and I fear he would have long since fallen ill and exhausted.

The longer Lin Jue practiced here, the more insights he had in his heart.

At first, it was the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon, and the spiritual aura of mountains and waters. Later, it was the spiritual aura unique to Nanshan, and then later, every blade of grass, every tree, every stone, and every grain of gravel in the mountain was in his heart.

And finally, in harmony with the mountain, the spirit of the great mountain even appeared in his heart.

Famous mountains have spirits; this is indeed true.

This mountain has no mountain god, but it has a mountain spirit. It is the essence of spiritual energy that this mountain has absorbed and gathered for hundreds of millions of years; it is every blade of grass, every tree, every stone, and every grain of gravel in the mountain, and even every person who has come to the mountain and every event that has happened.

It is like a person, and like a book, like a stone carving, recording everything in the mountain, and also recording everyone who has sat in meditation, practiced, chanted poems, and composed songs on the mountain.

If you see it, the entire great mountain will unfold before you.

Your line of sight will pass through the separation of space and geography, able to see in front, able to see behind, able to see the tree holes of the large trees in the mountain, the cracks in the rocks inside the mountain body, and the deepest hidden corners.

If you see it, the past of the great mountain will also unfold before you.

Your line of sight will seem to cross the river of time and years, able to see many blurred figures, hear many blurred sounds, and perceive many blurred emotions.

Someone climbed to the top of the mountain with friends, with heroic feelings in their chest and mountains and rivers before their eyes, leaving behind eternal masterpieces in a few sentences; someone climbed to the peak with princes and generals, looking at the entire Qinzhou while pressing their swords, with the ambition to conquer the world and unify the universe; someone came to this mountain in times of peace, turning into a mountain stone, sitting for decades of bitter practice, finally ascending to immortality; someone lived in seclusion in the mountain during troubled times, yet someone heard of his knowledge and traveled thousands of miles to visit him several times, finally inviting him to leave the mountain.

There are also people who came to Nanshan, taking mountain stone to refine pills...

Lin Jue spent a year on this mountain, not only taking spiritual aura to nourish his body but also perceiving the spirit of the great mountain, thereby perceiving every blade of grass and tree in the mountain, and also thereby communicating across space with the famous people and immortal sages who had climbed the mountain throughout the ages.

Perhaps many years later, someone else will come here, feeling the mountain and harmonizing with the spirit, and will also be able to greet him across the time and years of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years.

This year of practice was naturally incomparable to being at the foot of the mountain.

... The fox's happiness this year was also incomparable to being at the foot of the mountain.

In fact, it had never had such a prosperous time—

There was a vast mountain;

There was a whole year of time;

No one came to manage it;

And there was nothing else to do.

In the past, if it was in the mountains outside the city, it mostly only stayed for one night, at most staying for two or three days. There wasn't much time to dig holes. It finally dug out a hole, and when it moved on in the morning, oh well, dug for nothing.

If it lived in one place for a long time, it was mostly in the city. It knew that even if it dug a hole, it couldn't dig into someone else's home.

Not to mention that the Daoist would also scold it.

The only time was in the Leopard Forest, where there was a great mountain and it stayed for a long time, but it had to hide to squat and guard the Leopard King.

Now it was simply free to dig holes!

It not only dug out a space with several rooms and halls in Nanshan, spacious enough to accommodate its true form, quiet enough to avoid wind and rain, and accessible from many places, able to enter from many places and exit from many places, perfectly conforming to the fox's nature of peace of mind, making it incomparably satisfied.

On weekdays, it divided its time into three parts—

One part was used to hide in the hole and sleep peacefully;

One part was used to jump and run in the mountain, playing freely;

One part was used to accompany the Daoist, either nesting in his arms, or walking on his body, or picking wild flowers from the mountain to put on his head, or picking wild fruits to put in front of him, watching him eat during the gaps in his meditation practice, very happily.

!

This was the life of an Immortal among foxes.

Without realizing it, spring, autumn, and summer came, and the four seasons cycled again.

The fox turned into the size of a fingernail, hiding in the hole it had dug. Compared to its current size, the mountain cave was like a vast world.

In front of it was a wooden carving, also much larger than it.

"Are you there?"

The fox's voice was clear and thin.

A wisp of white smoke emerged from the wooden carving, gradually condensing into shape, turning into a big-headed ghost.

"?"

The big-headed ghost looked left and right, not seeing the fox's figure, and very skillfully lowered its head, sure enough finding a bean-fox on the ground.

"Your Highness..."

"The moon is round! It's time for you to eat again!"

The bean-fox said, opening its mouth to spit, actually spitting out a silver ingot many times larger than itself, which fell to the ground with a *clatter*, a quite strange scene.

"Many thanks, Your Highness Fuyao!"

The Silver-Eating Ghost was terrified and received the silver.

*Crunch, crunch*, it swallowed the silver.

The Silver-Eating Ghost brewed for a moment, divine light permeating its body, and also opened its mouth to spit, spitting out a medicinal pill, respectfully holding it in its hands and handing it to the bean-fox in front of it.

"Your Highness!"

"Strange..."

"What is it?"

"Every time it is you spitting it out of your mouth, and then giving it to me to eat!" The fox's expression was serious, feeling that this was not good.

"?"

The Silver-Eating Ghost was stunned immediately.

Wasn't the silver just now spat out by you?

But it did not dare to speak.

After finishing this month's meal, it immediately drilled back into the wooden carving. Years of bitter life made it feel that hiding was the most peaceful.

The fox swallowed the pill and walked up the mountain.

Yet it saw that the Daoist had already stood up.

At this time, he seemed to have changed, yet it was difficult to perceive.

It only saw him standing still, as if perceiving something, pondering for a moment, and suddenly reaching out to spread his hands:

"Please lend me a mountain stone."

"Swish!"

The fox turned its head instantly, looking into the mountain.

Suddenly, from somewhere in the mountain, a stone flew over fiercely. It was the one where the spiritual aura of the mountain was most concentrated, flying directly into his hand.

"Many thanks for the gift.

"Many thanks for the hospitality."

Lin Jue's expression was respectful, bowing to the great mountain.

Seeing this scene, the fox could not help but have its expression freeze.

A thought flashed through its heart—

It's over! The hole I dug is going to be gone again!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 432 =====