Chapter 47: The Secret of Danxia

In early October, a mountain gate stood on the mid-slope of Danxia Mountain, its large plaque reading "Tianxing Sword Sect" gleaming brilliantly; the "Shen Merchant House," which had once changed its name and hid in fear, became history in less than a month.

The buildings on the mountain were re-planned, mimicking the original Tianxing Sword Sect model, dividing into various halls, the Scripture Pavilion, and various trial grounds; sword qi crisscrossed the mountain, finally beginning to take on the semblance of a Sword Sect.

The area with the most intense earth fire was designated as the Sword Casting Hall; the Hall Master had already begun forging Grade Five flying swords—the Danxia Gang's warehouse still held quite a reserve of forging materials; a local gang's accumulation over so many years had a solid foundation... In fact, to acquire these, Shen Tang had paid Liu Yan'er quite a lot of money.

It remains unknown whether Liu Yan'er's intelligence is sufficient to keep them safe.

Money is a small matter; such a gang foundation is truly too convenient, with a newly rising Sword Sect visibly taking shape.

The medicinal herbs originally planted all over the mountain had been uprooted because they were replaced with Cold Glowing Grass a few days ago; nothing new had been planted for the time being, which turned out to be convenient this time, as the new planting was unnecessary, and the territory was divided for use by the various halls of the Sword Sect. Only a fairly large medicinal garden was retained, still managed by the disciples originally responsible for planting for the Danxia Gang; the original alchemy apprentices all moved to nearby residences, becoming the Sword Sect's Alchemy Hall, responsible solely for the sect's internal use.

Lu Xingzhou theoretically held no sect position, serving only as a Guest Elder, but in reality, everyone in the Alchemy Hall reported everything to him; he was essentially a Hall Master.

Oh, not even a Hall Master; as a Guest Elder, he didn't even draw a salary, yet he could take whatever he wanted from the warehouse freely.

The people of the Tianxing Sword Sect felt this was somewhat inappropriate, always feeling this didn't look like a Guest Elder... but they could say nothing, because their Lord Sect Master reported matters to Elder Lu more diligently than the Alchemy Hall disciples, and even the planning of each hall was based on his opinions.

Uncle Zhong and others privately complained, saying that if one were to define Lu Xingzhou's position, he was no Guest Elder, but rather resembled the Sect Master's Lady...

The Lady didn't even live on Danxia Mountain; he lived in the back mountain of the Huo residence, having built a bamboo hut himself to live with A'nuo, while the Sect Master still ran there every day.

Dugu Qingli pushed her wheelchair up and down the mountain every day, a distance that was deathly far, her face set as hard as iron.

Actually, when no one was watching, Shen Tang had already been trying to walk on her own; from initially needing Dugu Qingli's support to no longer needing it, it took only three days.

"Your foundation is truly good; your recovery is much faster than I expected." Lu Xingzhou watched Shen Tang slowly walk away from the wheelchair, his eyes revealing a rare hint of jealousy. His own severed tendons had only just begun to show signs of healing, and the rest was far worse.

Shen Tang stood before him, offering a slight bow: "It is because you have recently continued to brew medicines to strengthen tendons and bones to assist me; relying on myself alone, it would be impossible to recover this quickly."

Lu Xingzhou said nothing.

In the days since the two met, the atmosphere was awkward beyond words; Shen Tang almost dared not see him alone, always having to bring Little Bai Mao by her side, while Lu Xingzhou didn't dare send A'nuo out to buy soy sauce, forcing him to squat aside.

The two accidentally made eye contact, then both quickly averted their gazes.

That day's wheelchair play was simply too advanced...

Looking at this dialogue now, they were actually being polite... Dugu Qingli felt her brain must have a hole; the Imperial Scripture of the Supreme indeed was no good cultivation method.

She really didn't want to listen to these two fake-politeness, and couldn't help but interrupt: "Why do you live on this mountain peak? It is so inconvenient."

Lu Xingzhou said, "There is earth fire on Danxia Mountain, but not here; the Huo family enclosed it as an ordinary back mountain... I feel that since it is embraced by Dragon and Tiger, if there is fire on that side, this side should also have its own peculiarity that needs research."

"Then what results have you researched these past days?"

"Theoretically, it should be the union of water and fire; the scenery here with clear streams and springs is indeed better, but I feel it is not enough." Lu Xingzhou asked in return: "What results did you get from arranging personnel to observe the sunrise at different positions these past days?"

Shen Tang said, "It is quite a coincidence; looking at the sunrise from the highest building of our former merchant house towards this direction, the sun rising looked exactly like a pill jumping out from the middle of the two mountain valleys. This indicates that even earlier, the Huo family building a house in that position had meaning; they just later found it useless, so they abandoned it to Liu Qingcang."

Lu Xingzhou's face turned very ugly: "In other words, Liu Qingcang was actually responsible for observing changes in the mountains on behalf of the Huo family in his early years."

"It should be."

Lu Xingzhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "He died too early!"

The two were momentarily confused, staring at him blankly.

"Forget it, he is dead, and I am not so boring as to whip a corpse." Lu Xingzhou didn't explain this, and added: "Although this terrain is not man-made, it must have been used by an extremely powerful immortal to refine pills; the cauldron was originally hidden in the mountain valley, but later, due to some unknown situation, it jumped out. In other words, the spiritual energy of this place was completely absorbed by this person's pill refining, degenerating into the current thin state, causing Xiazhou to be downgraded."

Shen Tang felt some shock in her heart: "Absorbing the earth veins of an entire city, causing Xiazhou to be downgraded..."

"Hmm... The Huo family obtained the cauldron, thinking there were no more secrets, but I believe otherwise. Logically, before this person set up the layout, the terrain here itself contained great fortune, which is why he chose to borrow it, correct?"

Shen Tang pondered for a moment and nodded: "Correct."

Lu Xingzhou stated decisively: "Therefore, segmentation actually breaks down into two matters. This person's layout must have also created a covering effect; if my guess is not wrong, there is likely an immortal secret realm hidden here!"

Shen Tang and Dugu Qingli exchanged a glance; if there was a secret realm, the level of this secret realm might be very high.

Lu Xingzhou lightly tapped the wheelchair armrest, murmuring to himself: "Using the mountains and rivers as a sacrifice to refine the sun and moon into a pill... I wonder who this person was; what magnificent spirit... but where did he go, and why did he make no reaction even as the cauldron was taken away?"

Of course, no one could answer this question.

Dugu Qingli considered for a while and said very seriously: "If this is a cover set by a person of this level, our abilities cannot break it; either I send a letter to my master to have my master provide guidance."

Lu Xingzhou said nothing. Actually, he didn't really want the Holy Land involved in this matter, because once the Holy Land took an interest, that thing would mostly not be his share. But Dugu Qingli was right; if this was a restriction set by a person of this level, everyone's abilities might not be able to solve it... besides, even if solved, would there not be some dangers inside that everyone could not handle?

If it cannot be solved, it cannot be given to the Holy Land... Lu Xingzhou frowned and pondered, Yuan Muyu's pretty face flashing through his mind.

Should I find her?

Just as he hesitated, he heard Shen Tang say: "For now, don't ask your master; let us try to solve it ourselves first; if it really doesn't work, we'll talk then."

Dugu Qingli also seemed to see their thoughts and nodded. Actually, what she wanted to ask her master was to help Lu Xingzhou; if it was for personal cultivation, obviously there was no reason to ask her master about everything.

For personal cultivation, solving such a puzzle is a very valuable cultivation experience; Dugu Qingli also wanted to try it herself, so she said: "Then shall we try arranging a illusion-breaking array between the two mountains?"

Lu Xingzhou pondered: "Analyzing from the Ancestral Admonition, if an array is needed to solve it, then the array core is very likely unrelated to the mountain itself; the observation point where the sunrise looks like a pill is more likely the true eye, otherwise that Admonition would have no meaning."

Everyone's hearts moved: "Reasonable. The Huo family couldn't find the trick, likely because they focused their minds entirely on the mountains."

"The array core and the entrance could be two different things; the entrance is more likely still in the center of the valley embraced by Dragon and Tiger." Lu Xingzhou continued: "Therefore, we need two arrays: first, a Spirit-Gathering Array to gather a large amount of spiritual energy to the array core, only then can we 'unlock'; second is the Illusion-Breaking Array, set between the two mountains. As for whether our array power is sufficient, that is another matter; trying first is never a problem."

The two women nodded; this idea was very reasonable. Precisely because it was complex and misleading, the Huo family gained nothing.

"Additionally, just these things are certainly incomplete. It is impossible for me to be the only person in the world who can think of these; the Huo family over so many years didn't just produce fools; the reason they still gained nothing must be that a condition is missing... I think it could be the water element problem of this back mountain; this place absolutely should not have only ordinary clear springs. Corresponding to the Danxia earth fire, there should be a spiritual spring or a spiritual pool here."

The two women stared at him blankly; is it our lineage or you...

A'nuo sat aside eating sweet potatoes, unsurprised.

The momentum of the mountains and rivers, the way of arrays; Sister Yu is truly formidable. I wonder where she got her lineage; in any case, she absolutely shouldn't be a lone little demon girl; I don't know why she "ran away from home" to build her own power from scratch.

But these things, knowledge is one thing; solving the puzzle also requires enough intelligence; Master is certainly very smart, though not as smart as A'nuo.

Lu Xingzhou wheeled himself outside, looking at the layered clouds accumulating in the sky: "This weather, it will snow soon."

Shen Tang walked to his side and said softly: "Today is Li Dong."

"Li means establishment and beginning; Dong means end, when all things are stored. On a certain day of Li Dong, supreme virtue lies in water." Lu Xingzhou murmured: "Do you think the return and storage of this spiritual spring is related to the season?"

Shen Tang was startled, and Dugu Qingli shivered all over.

It is indeed possible. If an array was set by an ordinary cultivator, perhaps one shouldn't think of the level of heavenly timing, but since it is judged to be related to immortals, the possibility involving heavenly timing is actually extremely high.

Merely utilizing terrain, lacking the interaction between heaven and earth, what kind of immortal are we talking about?

Since the return and storage happens on the day of Li Dong, then going to solve it on the day of Li Dong will inevitably make it easier to discover clues.

It sounds hard to unravel, but under Lu Xingzhou's scattered prompts, the mountain's secret seemed about to lift its veil.

(End of chapter)