Chapter 306: The Hundred Thousand Mountains

"Merit power?"

Tong Yao and Yan Zhenzhen both looked at Hua Changxi.

"Merit power is very hard to accumulate. Making the Star Observation Tower reappear must require a huge amount of merit power. How did you accumulate it?"

Even Jing Liao was full of curiosity. After all, it took the joint efforts of several generations of abbots at Xiangguo Temple to cultivate a single Merit Golden Lotus.

Hua Changxi: "...Do more good deeds?"

This answer left Tong Yao and the other two looking at each other in bewilderment.

If you said that doing good deeds could accumulate merit, they undoubtedly believed it, but among the four of them, the one who had done the most good deeds was probably Jing Liao, the compassionate monk.

Could Jing Liao make the Star Observation Tower reappear?

Tong Yao and Yan Zhenzhen doubted it, and even Jing Liao himself lacked that confidence.

Therefore, simply doing good deeds should not be enough to accumulate a large amount of merit.

Although Tong Yao and the other two were still puzzled about accumulating merit, they did not continue to press Hua Changxi.

As for Hua Changxi, she did have some guesses about why she possessed merit. Perhaps it was because she had done things that promoted the development of the Four Spirit Realm?

Because she had done things that aligned with the trend of the times, benefiting everyone, she had reaped a massive wave of merit?

Seeing that Tong Yao and the others were no longer asking, Hua Changxi did not elaborate. "By the way, do you know who the master of the Time Building is?"

Yan Zhenzhen: "Why did you suddenly ask about that?"

Hua Changxi: "I just saw three people at the Star Observation Tower. Two of them were the Heavenly Department Minister and Pavilion Master Yuan. The other person was most likely the master of the Time Building, but I still don't know his name."

Yan Zhenzhen: "The Time Building also has another name, the Time Pavilion. Successive leaders have all come from the Shi family. The current master is Shi Yishi."

Tong Yao added: "Among the noble families in the capital, there are a few that even the imperial family does not provoke easily. Among them are the Yuan family and the Shi family."

"The Yuan and Shi families have never had their traditions broken. Successive heads of the Yuan family have always served as the Director of the Imperial Observatory, while the Shi family has always been responsible for compiling historical records."

Hua Changxi nodded in understanding. No wonder Pavilion Master Yuan and the Heavenly Department Minister were so familiar with each other; both came from such prestigious backgrounds. "You really know a lot."

Yan Zhenzhen laughed: "It's not that we know a lot, it's that you know too little."

Hua Changxi smiled sheepishly. Her information was indeed somewhat limited.

Yan Zhenzhen smiled at Hua Changxi: "Actually, you have already had dealings with the Yuan family."

Hua Changxi was full of question marks: "I don't know about that?"

Yan Zhenzhen: "Yuan Tianchou of the Medical Department is Yuan Qi's direct son."

Hua Changxi looked surprised: "So Yuan Tianchou is from the Yuan family."

Yan Zhenzhen: "The network of relationships in the capital is very complicated. Not only are there many imperial nobles, but there are also countless children from powerful families. You should pay more attention in the future."

Hua Changxi nodded, chatted with Tong Yao and the other two for a while longer, and then the four of them parted ways.

On her way back to the Medical Department, Hua Changxi remembered the three Infant Transformation demon beasts she had hunted at the East City Gate. She was about to start cultivating the fifth chapter, the Blood Refining chapter, of the Nine Transformations Mystic Art, which required demon beast blood.

Hua Changxi returned to the East City Gate to collect the corpses of the three demon beasts, but unfortunately, the corpses were already gone. Upon asking, she learned that the Demon Suppression Army had taken them away.

After learning this, Hua Changxi did not directly confront the Demon Suppression Army. Instead, she turned back to the Medical Department, planning to ask Huo Yunxiao for help in retrieving the demon beast corpses.

Hua Changxi found Huo Yunxiao at the Number Three Medical Hall. After explaining her purpose, Huo Yunxiao agreed without hesitation.

"Go back and wait. I'll have the demon beast corpses delivered to Danyuan Peak tomorrow morning."

Hua Changxi looked at him suspiciously: "Why are you being so agreeable this time?"

Huo Yunxiao gave a helpless smile: "I've always been agreeable."

Hua Changxi: "Then I'll trouble you to make the trip. I'll give you some demon beast blood then."

Huo Yunxiao chuckled: "Forget the demon beast blood. Can you tell me what you did at the Star Observation Tower tonight?"

Hua Changxi let out a 'hmph' and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Huo Yunxiao craned his neck and called out, "Just a casual chat!"

At the same time, deep within the vast mountains of the Ten Thousand Mountains, a snow-white demon beast with a dragon's head and a lion's body lay prostrate on the ground, with streaks of bright red blood at the corner of its mouth. Its unstable aura caused the surrounding mountains to shake and the birds and beasts to scatter.

After a long moment, the depths of the mountain range fell silent.

"Lord Demon Master..."

The chieftains of the Dragon, Phoenix, Qilin, Tiger, Tortoise, Snake, Bird, and Fox tribes all looked anxiously at the white beast.

A dazzling white light flared, and the dragon-headed lion-bodied beast transformed into a handsome, white-haired man dressed in white robes.

Bai Li wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth: "Chieftains, do not worry. It was because the Snake tribe agent sent to the capital activated a forbidden art and drew upon some of our妖族's karma power. I suffered a bit of backlash."

Hearing this, the faces of all the tribal chieftains present changed color.

Dragon tribe chieftain Long Teng looked displeasedly at the Snake tribe chieftain: "What is your Snake tribe doing? If you were going to activate a forbidden art, why didn't you inform us beforehand?"

Snake tribe chieftain Teng Liu shot Long Teng a sidelong glance and sneered: "Your Dragon tribe is so powerful, yet I haven't seen you dare to go undercover in the capital?"

Long Teng's eyes blazed with anger. The Dragon tribe truly did not wish to go undercover in human settlements.

There was no help for it—to humans, every part of a dragon was a powerful tonic. The moment humans encountered a dragon, they would go mad as if possessed, wanting to pounce and take a bite.

The Dragon tribe had indeed tried going undercover before, but unfortunately, every time was like throwing a meat bun to a dog—gone forever.

Just as the two were about to start arguing, Bai Li spoke up.

"I suspect something has gone wrong in the capital. The Green Snake I sent was likely pushed to a dead end and had no choice but to activate the forbidden art."

Although Bai Li came from the Lion tribe, he carried the bloodline of the Bai Ze, and his bloodline was highly atavistic. He had inherited the Bai Ze's divine ability to understand yin and yang and divine all things, granting him a very high status in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

As soon as he spoke, both Long Teng and Teng Liu fell silent.

Bai Li looked at the Snake tribe chieftain: "I need Chieftain Teng to investigate carefully what exactly happened in the capital and why the Green Snake activated the forbidden art early."

Teng Liu agreed readily: "Rest assured, Lord Demon Master, I will definitely send someone to get to the bottom of this."

Bai Li nodded and looked at the eight great tribal chieftains: "Ever since the flourishing of humanity in ancient times, the Ten Thousand Mountains have been humanity's best training ground."

"With the establishment of the Demon Prison, humans have directly trampled the Demon race underfoot."

"After the Great Extinction, spiritual energy revived, and everything started anew."

"Right now, the Ten Thousand Mountains are still in a sealed space—this is both protection and restriction. Once the seal is lifted, we will have to face humanity head-on."

"Between the Demon race and humanity, either the Demon race overwhelms humanity, or humanity overwhelms the Demon race."

"Conflict between the Demon race and humanity is unavoidable. Chieftains, you must not slacken in training the demon soldiers and demon generals. Whether the Demon race can restore the glory of the Primordial Era depends on this moment."

Hearing these words, the eight most powerful tribal chieftains in the Ten Thousand Mountains all wore solemn expressions.

Bai Li said: "Nanxiang City is about to appear. Whether the Demon race can suppress humanity and become masters of the Four Spirit Realms hinges on who gains control of Nanxiang City."

"Everything is fine on my end. Chieftains, go back and attend to your tribes' affairs."

After the eight chieftains left, Bai Li gazed up at the stars, a deep, unshakable melancholy on his face.

To split humanity apart, he had not hesitated to draw upon the Demon race's karma power, but his plan had gone awry midway.

Tonight, the stars of the Zhou constellation were manifest, yet the one who could trigger them was not of the Demon race. Could it be that this era would still see humanity thriving?