Chapter 71

After the fire bird disappeared, it began to rain spiritual rain on Mount Wuzhi.

There was no help for it; the spiritual energy that had surged up earlier was too dense. Now that the giant monkey and the giant hand had both dissipated, the spiritual energy was overflowing and so dense that it turned into spiritual rain.

On Mount Wuzhi, clouds and mist surged, and five-colored spiritual light flickered between the mountain peaks. The grass and trees in the mountain seemed to have been given hormones, constantly growing taller and stronger.

On the outer perimeter, cultivators from all sides saw all this clearly, their faces full of shock.

"What was that fire bird?"

"In ancient times, there were the Four Spirits: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Zhu Que, and Xuanwu. That fire bird is one of the Four Spirits, Zhu Que."

"The Four Spirits guard the four directions, dispelling evil, avoiding disasters, and praying for blessings for the common people of the world."

The elders of Taisu Palace and Sanqing Palace looked at each other, their eyes somewhat complex. They had scoured the world for disciples with outstanding cultivation talent and cultivated them carefully, but they hadn't expected that the person who first summoned the Four Spirits would not come from their sects.

"Look, the people from the Asura Gate have entered Mount Wuzhi."

Someone shouted, and all the factions moved in unison, rushing into Mount Wuzhi.

As the spiritual rain fell, strange phenomena appeared frequently on Mount Wuzhi; there must be rare treasures emerging. If they didn't grab them now, when would they?

"Go. You've been here for so long, it's time for you to enter the mountain and gain some experience."

Taoist Qingyun of Taisu Palace smiled and instructed his disciples: "Remember, don't go too deep into Mount Wuzhi, and don't separate."

Senior Brother Liu Yiyun led the way, and the disciples rushed into Mount Wuzhi one after another.

At the back of the team, Chu Junmo noticed Hua Changxin's unusual behavior and asked quickly: "Seventh Junior Sister, are you feeling unwell? I see your complexion isn't very good."

Hua Changxin couldn't say exactly what her situation was at the moment. Just a moment ago, she had felt a fatal danger, as if she were about to die immediately, but now she didn't have that feeling anymore, only her heart was still beating a bit fast.

She was clearly fine, so why did she have the feeling that she was about to die?

Hua Changxin clutched her chest, recalling the scene where she first felt the threat of death.

It was a summer, and she was playing by the river with her sisters. She accidentally fell into the river, and Jiuniang saved her and brought her to the shore, but she herself was swept away by the river water.

At that time, she was also fine, but she felt as uncomfortable as if she were about to die.

Jiuniang...

Did something happen to Jiuniang?

"Second Senior Brother, after this training is over, I want to return to the capital."

"Return to the capital?"

"I haven't seen my family for a long time. I miss them. I wonder if they are all doing well?"

"Alright, I haven't been back to the palace to see my mother for a long time either. I'll go back with you."

"Hmm, let's hurry and catch up with the Senior Brother and the others."

At the location of the Demon-Suppressing Army and the Qingzhou Army, watching the cultivators from all sides rushing into Mount Wuzhi, Prince Dong'an and Chu Junyi did not stop them at all.

Prince Dong'an looked at Chu Junyi: "The commotion on Mount Wuzhi just now was too big; it can't be stopped. Even if the various factions agree on the surface to let the imperial court take over Mount Wuzhi, they will secretly sneak in."

Chu Junyi, wearing a Qilin mask, had an unreadable expression, but his eyes were very serious at this moment: "Mount Wuzhi... I'm afraid the imperial court won't be able to take it over."

Prince Dong'an's eyes flickered, and he suddenly thought of the excuse the Asura Gate spy used to incite him to enter Mount Wuzhi: capture the Mount Wuzhi mountain spirit and take Mount Wuzhi for himself.

Although he had his suspicions, Prince Dong'an still pretended not to know and asked: "Why do you say that?"

Chu Junyi shook his head: "A hunch."

Prince Dong'an narrowed his eyes, looking at this young commander of the Demon-Suppressing Army.

In fact, fierce beasts and demonic beasts had appeared a long time ago, but it had been kept secret. All along, any famous mountain or great river where demonic beasts appeared had been conquered by the imperial court, and the ones charging at the very front were the Demon-Suppressing Army.

The Demon-Suppressing Army should know about the existence of mountain spirits, right?

"How does Commander Yi see that great battle just now?"

Hearing this, Chu Junyi looked at the Demon-Slaying Sword still ringing in his hand. The moment the giant monkey appeared just now, he almost couldn't control the Demon-Slaying Sword.

"The momentum was terrifying, but not to be feared."

Prince Dong'an clearly hadn't expected Chu Junyi to be so dismissive of the battle just now.

Seeing Prince Dong'an looking at him in surprise, Chu Junyi thought of how Yan Xiaoyang had helped the Demon-Suppressing Army several times, and explained: "Whether it was the giant monkey or the giant hand, both were condensed from spiritual energy and couldn't be maintained for long."

Prince Dong'an: "But the spiritual energy on Mount Wuzhi is very dense." The implication was that the giant monkey and the giant hand could be maintained for a long time.

Chu Junyi: "But the giant monkey and the giant hand will consume each other."

Prince Dong'an: "The giant hand was blasted apart by the giant monkey."

Chu Junyi: "What the giant monkey blasted apart was only the giant hand condensed from spiritual energy. The giant monkey condensed from spiritual energy cannot break the true body of the giant hand. In the end, the giant monkey will definitely be wiped out by the giant hand."

Even if the true body of the giant hand were really broken, once the Demon-Slaying Sword came out, it could also slay the giant monkey.

Prince Dong'an was thoughtful: "No wonder you weren't worried earlier that the giant monkey would break out of Mount Wuzhi."

Chu Junyi didn't continue talking to Prince Dong'an but frowned as he looked at the Third Peak of Mount Wuzhi: "The giant monkey and the giant hand are just problems left over from the past and don't count as a threat. The real trouble is the person who can summon Zhu Que."

Prince Dong'an thought of the mysterious cultivator who used the fire lotus to save him on Mount Wuzhi and said nothing.

Chu Junyi looked at Prince Dong'an: "Your Highness, you still need to keep a close eye on the outside of Mount Wuzhi."

Prince Dong'an laughed: "What, does the Demon-Suppressing Army want to be lazy?"

Chu Junyi glanced at him: "I am about to lead the Demon-Suppressing Army into Mount Wuzhi."

Prince Dong'an immediately asked: "Are you going to capture the person who summoned Zhu Que?"

Chu Junyi: "The Department Head has given a death order: all cultivators who can summon the Four Spirits must be captured and put into the Heaven Department's prison."

Prince Dong'an frowned: "Why?"

Chu Junyi shook his head: "If Your Highness wants to know, go to the capital yourself and ask the Department Head." After saying this, he cupped his fists and turned to gather the Demon-Suppressing Army.

At the same time, in a cave at the foot of Mount Wuzhi, Jiang Guanyun looked into the depths of Mount Wuzhi with a gloomy expression. A successor of Zhu Que—that wild girl was actually a successor of Zhu Que!

Once the Four Spirits appear, it means the struggle for the destiny of the Four Spirits Realm has begun.

This was too fast, faster than he had expected.

Damn it, that wild girl really deserves to die.

If it weren't for her, the struggle for destiny in the Four Spirits Realm wouldn't have started so quickly, and the Jiang family would have had time to seize resources and lay a foundation. In the struggle for destiny, the Jiang family would definitely have had a place.

All of this had been ruined by that wild girl.

"Pfft~"

Thinking of his plans being ruined, Jiang Guanyun's anger surged, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, killing intent boiling in his eyes. Originally intending to return to the Jiang family as soon as possible to heal, he decided to stay.

He must kill that wild girl; the struggle for destiny shouldn't have started so quickly.

Throughout the entire Mount Wuzhi, the place with the densest spiritual rain was undoubtedly the Third Peak.

In the area where the monkey cave had been, countless fresh herbs, spiritual fruits, and spiritual plants emerged like bamboo shoots after a rain. Especially where Hua Changxi was lying, because the fire spiritual energy was dense to the extreme, it had directly washed out a pool of fire spiritual spring.

Hua Changxi floated above the spring pool, her body filled with red light.

By the pool, the mountain spirit stared with wide eyes at Hua Changxi, who looked as if she were asleep. Seeing the fire spiritual energy in the pool constantly merging into her body, it confirmed she was fine and let out a sigh of relief.

The Fairy is really amazing. It had already prepared itself for its spiritual body to be destroyed, but it didn't expect that at the last moment, the Fairy would actually summon Zhu Que.

No wonder the Fairy wasn't afraid of the Monkey King's domain.

Zhu Que—that is the supreme existence capable of suppressing all demons and evil.

The mountain spirit looked at Hua Changxi with glowing eyes, once again marveling at its good luck. It casually picked a spiritual fruit from the side of the spring pool and gnawed on it, so happy its eyes narrowed into slits.

Suddenly, the mountain spirit's bun-shaped face wrinkled: "Annoying, those greedy cultivators have entered Mount Wuzhi again."

Because of the previous battle between the Monkey King and the Buddha hand, the powerful spiritual energy impact caused some mountain features to protrude, and some shallow mineral veins were exposed as a result.

The mountain spirit wouldn't have felt anything about cultivators entering the mountain to pick spiritual plants and fruits or hunt demonic beasts, but those cultivators actually wanted to occupy the spiritual veins, which was something it couldn't tolerate.

Among them was actually the descendant of that bristly old Daoist who wanted to refine it.

"I'm so angry!"

It wanted to drive these cultivators out of Mount Wuzhi.

The mountain spirit stomped its feet by the pool in anger, looked at Hua Changxi in the pool, and suddenly said "Eh."

It seemed to be mentioned in the inheritance that as long as Mount Wuzhi became the Fairy's dojo, others could not enter or leave Mount Wuzhi at will without her permission, otherwise they would be punished.

The mountain spirit didn't care whether Hua Changxi really had the ability to punish those who trespassed on Mount Wuzhi; it was now convinced of Hua Changxi beyond measure.

The Fairy could even summon Zhu Que and solve the Monkey King in one go; solving those cultivators would be a piece of cake.

Thus, the mountain spirit opened its mouth wide and spat out the Mount Wuzhi mountain seal.

The mountain seal was condensed after the Monkey King's domain was destroyed; it was a miniature version of Mount Wuzhi, the size of a baby's fist.

"Fortunately, the Fairy spat blood earlier, and there are still bloodstains on the corner of her mouth."

The mountain spirit controlled the mountain seal to fly toward Hua Changxi in the pool, rubbed the bloodstains on the corner of Hua Changxi's mouth, and as the mountain seal emitted red light, it forced out a drop of its own essence blood and merged it into the mountain seal.

The two rays of red light merged, and the mountain seal 'whooshed' into Hua Changxi's dantian.

The dojo contract was concluded so hastily; Hua Changxi, while in a coma, had gained a dojo.

Seeing the mountain seal enter the Fairy's body, the mountain spirit smiled until its eyes narrowed.

At the same time, on Mount Wuzhi, all the demonic beasts and demonic plants that had gained intelligence, as well as all the cultivators who had sneaked into the mountain, looked up at the sky in unison.

Although they couldn't see anything, they could clearly feel an invisible force shrouding them.

When that force passed through their bodies, a voice echoed in their hearts: Mount Wuzhi has a master; without the master's permission, one may not sneak in privately. Violators will be severely punished.

Chu Junyi, who was rushing toward the Third Peak at high speed, stumbled and stopped his journey.

The premonition had come true; Mount Wuzhi had a master!

Was it the person who summoned Zhu Que who obtained Mount Wuzhi?

"Pfft~"

Jiang Guanyun, who had sneaked into Mount Wuzhi again, unwilling to give up, spat out several mouthfuls of blood again, his eyes splitting. It was just a little bit, just a little bit and Mount Wuzhi would have been his.

That wild girl deserves to die!

The cultivators from all sides were somewhat at a loss about this sudden situation.

"Should we continue?"

There were really too many spiritual medicines and spiritual plants on Mount Wuzhi; they really couldn't bring themselves to leave Mount Wuzhi and give these things up.

"How about we pick a few more?"

All the cultivators knew how precious cultivation resources were. Leaving just like this, they were truly unwilling, so they all tried to continue staying in the mountain.

Slowly, everyone discovered that nothing happened when they picked things, and then their courage grew larger and larger, and they frantically collected spiritual medicines and spiritual plants and dug for spiritual mines.

By the spring pool, although the mountain spirit could sense that those cultivators hadn't left, the Fairy hadn't woken up, so it was helpless.

"When the Fairy wakes up, I'll show them."

"Commander, should we continue to go deeper?"

Chu Junyi didn't answer immediately. The entire mountain had suddenly become someone else's dojo; this was the first time he had encountered such a thing.

A dojo...

There were many mountains under the imperial court's governance, but there wasn't a single dojo that definitely belonged to the imperial court.

Without a definite mark, those mountains, to put it bluntly, could still be contested.

Where on earth did that person who summoned Zhu Que pop out from?

Their appearance had caught everyone off guard.

Seeing Chu Junyi not speaking, another member of the Demon-Suppressing Army spoke up: "Commander, I feel like the situation in the mountain is a bit wrong."

"According to our speed, we should have passed through the Second Peak long ago, but now, we are still circling in the First Peak."

Chu Junyi also sensed this situation and frowned: "Mount Wuzhi has grown larger."

The Demon-Suppressing Army was no stranger to this situation. In the past, when fighting demonic beasts and seizing mountains, they had encountered similar things many times, so they weren't too worried.

Chu Junyi, however, sighed. He had wanted to take advantage of that person's weakness to go over and capture them in one fell swoop, but now that Mount Wuzhi had grown larger, by the time they reached the Third Peak, that person's injuries might have already healed.

Now that Mount Wuzhi had become that person's dojo, it would be difficult to capture someone inside Mount Wuzhi.

"No need to go deeper."

"Didn't we see an open-pit spiritual mine earlier? Let's go back and mine it now."

Hearing this, all the Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers were excited. Although they handled many cultivation resources, most of them were handed over, and the resources they finally received were just enough for cultivation.

Their daily lives could be said to be tight. As for the spiritual mine they saw earlier, if they dug it all up, given the Commander's character, he would definitely let them keep a little more.

Because Mount Wuzhi suddenly had a master, the cultivators from all sides no longer wandered around the mountain as they had before, but frantically searched for various cultivation resources.

Time flew by, and three days passed.

On the Third Peak, by the fire spiritual spring pool, the red light permeating Hua Changxi's body slowly converged. When the last trace of red light disappeared, Hua Changxi opened her eyes.

"Fairy, you're awake."

Seeing Hua Changxi open her eyes, the mountain spirit danced with joy.

Looking at the mountain spirit, Hua Changxi revealed a look of astonishment: "Fatty, how did you grow up?"

The previous mountain spirit was like a newborn baby; but at this moment, the mountain spirit was like a two or three-year-old child.

The mountain spirit's eyes curved: "Because I've become stronger. In order to suppress the Monkey King, Mount Wuzhi consumed a large amount of spiritual energy and was also suppressed by the Buddha hand. Now that the Monkey King's domain has been destroyed and the suppression has disappeared, I've become stronger."

Hua Changxi said "Oh" and looked up to look around: "The Monkey King has disappeared?"

The mountain spirit: "The Monkey King died long ago. What remained was just a trace of the Monkey King's aura, and this trace of aura has also been dispersed by you, Fairy."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi recalled the moment the Monkey King's fist smashed down.

At that time, she had already despaired, feeling that she would definitely die, but suddenly, the image of a small bird breathing and exhaling flashed through her mind.

Then, she felt herself turn into fire spiritual energy, and the small bird broke out of her body and flew out.

"Fatty, did you see a small bird?"

The mountain spirit was startled: "A small bird? Does the Fairy mean Zhu Que?"

"Zhu Que?" Hua Changxi was somewhat stunned.

The mountain spirit continued: "Yes, the Fairy summoned Zhu Que. Once Zhu Que appeared, it dispersed the Monkey King in one go."

Hua Changxi was speechless: "The small bird was actually Zhu Que..."

"Fairy!"

The mountain spirit suddenly shouted: "Fairy, hurry and deal with those greedy cultivators; they are snatching your resources."

Hua Changxi looked over, bewildered: "Who is snatching my resources? Snatching what resources of mine?"

The mountain spirit was very anxious: "Fairy, Mount Wuzhi is now your dojo. There are many cultivators in the mountain snatching spiritual plants and fruits, and even digging for mines. These are all yours."

Hua Changxi's mind stirred, and she felt that there was something extra in her Qi sea. With a lift of her hand, a miniature Mount Wuzhi the size of a baby's fist appeared in her palm.

"How did Mount Wuzhi become my dojo?"

The mountain spirit immediately claimed credit: "I helped you form the contract."

Hua Changxi was numb: "Fatty, you are really... good to me." Giving Mount Wuzhi to her for nothing.

The mountain spirit smiled shyly: "I was granted my title by the Fairy, so I'm equivalent to your child. Of course, I have to think of you."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi didn't know whether to laugh or cry; she simply didn't know what to say.

The mountain spirit: "Fairy, hurry and drive those cultivators out."

Hua Changxi held the Mount Wuzhi mountain seal and already knew that the current Mount Wuzhi could not be entered or left at will without her permission, otherwise they would be punished.

Punishment?

How was she going to punish those cultivators?

The only attack method she knew was burning them with fire lotuses.

Mount Wuzhi was very large. Hua Changxi could sense the general range of Mount Wuzhi, and there were many spiritual plants, fruits, and demonic beasts in the mountain. She didn't mind other cultivators coming in and taking a little.

However, since the rules were in place, they still had to be followed.

"Those who enter Mount Wuzhi at will without my consent will be burned by fire lotuses."

The power of the fire lotus depends on the cultivator's realm.

Hua Changxi didn't want to kill those cultivators; she just wanted them to leave Mount Wuzhi. The power of the fire lotus was only one-tenth of the cultivator's own cultivation level.

It wouldn't be fatal, but being burned by the fire lotus would also be very painful.

Soon, miserable screams rang out one after another on Mount Wuzhi, and the cultivators who had been lingering on Mount Wuzhi fled toward the outside of Mount Wuzhi one after another.

The Demon-Suppressing Army, who had been mining frantically, were also startled by the suddenly appearing fire lotuses. After quickly extinguishing the fire lotuses, they could still feel the burning pain of the fire lotus.

"Commander, should we continue?"

Chu Junyi looked into the depths of Mount Wuzhi: "Retreat."

He understood that the power of the fire lotus was not great now; it was just the master of Mount Wuzhi warning them. If they didn't retreat, the power of the fire lotus would increase, and they might not be able to withstand it then.