Chapter 286: Sorting, Settling

Master Li's execution ability is astonishing.

That afternoon, he had already built a simple wooden house outside the small temple, fenced it in with a hedge, and moved everything from the courtyard beneath Hun Tian Peak over here.

Of course, he also brought Little Mouse and the little tiger cub along to get to know their new home.

"Junior Brother Li, what is this?"

Monk Dou Yue rushed over upon hearing the news; seeing Li Li Yuanzhong moving various pieces of furniture and belongings with the air of someone relocating, the corner of his eye twitched.

"Senior Brother."

Li Li Yuanzhong put down what he was holding and bowed respectfully:

"I thought moving here would bring me closer to Master, making it more convenient to seek his guidance."

"Is that so?"

Monk Dou Yue felt somewhat suspicious, suspecting Li Li Yuanzhong had been frightened by Chu Shan Xuan Kong's stabbing.

After all, according to the intelligence he had gathered, this junior brother had done the very same thing while at the Divine Weapon Valley.

Seeing the change in his expression, Li Li Yuanzhong knew what he was thinking and simply admitted it:

"To not hide it from Senior Brother, I have never engaged in one-on-one combat in all these years of practicing martial arts; my courage is truly a bit small, so I thought moving near Master would be safer..."

As expected!

Monk Dou Yue understood in his heart.

The Long Hu Temple naturally investigates the background and family circumstances of those it accepts as disciples; regarding Li Li Yuanzhong's intelligence, he had reviewed it many times.

Born into a small, declining household, skilled at blacksmithing, humble and gentle in character, never quarreling with others; in the intelligence reports, the number of times this junior brother has fought someone can be counted on one's fingers.

Thinking this way, Monk Dou Yue felt relieved in his heart.

But he still had a certain amount of doubt.

This junior brother has little courage and dislikes combat; how did he manage to master such a fierce hammer technique as the Long Hun Tian Hammer so quickly?

"Could it be that the sect has a rule forbidding the construction of houses here?"

"This, there is no such rule."

Monk Dou Yue's expression was complex; the rules of the Long Hu Temple's inner sect are that each disciple builds their own residence, but someone like Li Li Yuanzhong building on the back mountain of the main peak is the first.

"That is good."

Li Li Yuanzhong smiled and cupped his hands: "Would Senior Brother like to come in and sit for a while?"

"This, no need."

Monk Dou Yue waved his hand: "This brother still needs to make a trip to Hengshan City; when I return, we can talk then."

'Hengshan City? This means my previous warning worked.'

Li Li Yuanzhong's heart stirred, recalling the unknown strongman of the Xieshen Sect in Hengshan City.

Monk Dou Yue wore a Green Dragon kasaya; although he had concealed it, how could he ignore that Jin Guang, so dazzling?

Monk Dou Yue turned and left; Li Li Yuanzhong narrowed his eyes slightly. His warning back then had been exaggerated, yet he still dares to act, showing that this Third Senior Brother has great confidence in himself.

"After all, he was the number one on the Dragon List before Long Long Xinglie."

Li Li Yuanzhong felt slightly relieved in his heart.

Dou Yue's name is not prominent, but Long Long Xinglie is famous; his title of "Invincible for Sixty Years" was earned by his own hand.

He killed a Zang Refiner during his Form-Shifting phase and clashed head-on with a Marrow Refining martial artist when his Meridian Circulation was fully developed; judging solely by his battle record, it is far more dazzling than Old Han's.

Monk Dou Yue, who once suppressed him, is naturally no ordinary person.

"Huff!"

Li Li Yuanzhong turned around; at the entrance of the small temple not far away, Long Xi Xiang, whose face was younger than his own, was staring at him in a daze.

"Disciple Li Li Yuanzhong, paying respects to Master."

Li Li Yuanzhong ran up to pay his respects; Long Xi Xiang "Hmph"-ed once. It had been less than a day, so of course he had not forgotten who Li Li Yuanzhong was.

"Get going and practice martial arts!"

Li Li Yuanzhong hadn't even had time to speak before Long Xi Xiang swept his sleeve, turned, and returned to the temple; the qi force he stirred up made Li Li Yuanzhong stumble.

Why is this kid so clingy?

"Got it!"

Li Li Yuanzhong chuckled in agreement; this meant he was allowed to live here.

Within the Long Hu Temple, disciples' residences are free, but not just anyone can move opposite the Sect Master.

"Tsk!"

Inside the small courtyard enclosed by the hedge, the little tiger cub let out a scoff; with a turn, it vanished into the forest, and Little Mouse hurried to follow.

"I should be able to have some peaceful days now."

In the small courtyard, Li Li Yuanzhong smiled; with Chu Shan Xuan Kong's secret spying gone and having moved next to Old Dragon Head, he felt quite at ease in his heart.

Even a Grandmaster would not dare to act recklessly on the main peak of the Great Dragon Sect.

Glancing at Old Dragon Head's small temple, not far away stood a Dragon Stele; from tens of zhang away, Li Li Yuanzhong could still see his own ranking, his eyesight being exceptionally good.

Having fully mastered the Hundred Beasts Thunder Dragon and consecutively forged several qi meridians, his ranking was still thirty-one.

"So it seems true that one cannot enter the top thirty of the Dragon List without ascending the Long Hu Tower?"

Li Li Yuanzhong stroked his chin, feeling this was not a bad thing; reaching thirty-one in less than a year was already quite conspicuous, so it was good to settle down and accumulate.

As for the Long Hu Tower.

"I'll go take a look after the New Year."

Master Li pondered in his heart.

Using the simply built stove, Li Li Yuanzhong stewed a large pot of spirit rice, stir-fried a few side dishes, sent a portion to Old Dragon Head, and only then returned to eat.

Master Li felt he still possessed some Dao-nature; at least he could endure solitude, and secluded cultivation in the mountains did not feel bitter to him.

"Hmm, I only need a thatched cottage, a forge with a fire pit, enough spirit rice to eat, endless gold, inexhaustible incense, iron, spirit pills, and..."

Li Yuan calculated briefly and immediately felt a headache.

He felt that being a Daoist Priest was not easy; one at least needed a sect behind them for support. Alone, even the gods could not cover one.

"Even a Land Immortal needs to eat."

After eating and drinking their fill, Li Yuan hastily tidied up and returned to his room. Sitting cross-legged and circulating his internal Qi, he also began planning what he intended to do.

First was the mastery of the Black Whale Hammer. He currently had no clue how to deeply master this Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing; for now, he could only proceed step by step to comprehend the Black Whale Diagram.

Second was the spirit pills.

After experiencing the benefits of spirit pills, he could not bear to stop taking them himself, but their value was extremely high. Normally, he had an allowance of only three to five pills a year, and that included Wang Shan Xuan's share.

"I have some ideas on comprehending the Black Whale Diagram, but creating a martial art requires caution; I need to flip through the notes left by predecessors."

With the 'Eternal' grade talent bestowed upon him, Li Yuan's understanding of the Black Whale Diagram of the Splitting Sea had risen by more than one layer, and he already had a plan in mind.

Longhu Temple is a holy land of Wu Gong, filled with martial arts and various notes left by predecessors; this was a huge Wan Wan Zhuli.

"The troublesome part is actually the spirit pills."

Li Yuan sensed the Weapon Space in his palm, or rather, a censer within it, inside of which lay Chu Shan Xuan Kong's 'gift'.

As the Yintangfutang of the Dragon Roar Hall and a towering figure in Hengshan City, Chu Shan Xuan Kong's wealth was naturally extremely abundant.

In that unknown beast-skin bag, there were gold notes totaling three hundred and twenty thousand taels; this was a harvest that made even him stare in awe.

In addition, there were over ten taels of Jin Jing.

Chu Shan Xuan Kong, fleeing for his life, naturally carried only the most portable items; major assets like property deeds and mines were naturally impossible to have.

The spirit pills Li Yuan cared about most were not a single one present.

"They were all used on breaking through to Grandmaster, right?"

Li Yuan was not surprised; as far as he knew, wanting to break through the Grandmaster barrier required preparing a large amount of spirit pills and other things.

If the breakthrough failed, one would not fall back.

"Spirit pills, ah."

Li Yuan felt somewhat troubled.

The spirit pills currently on his person should support him in cultivating the Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon Thirteen Forms to the Seventh Layer without much issue, but after that, he would be completely out of spirit pills to consume.

There were not many ways to obtain spirit pills within Longhu Temple.

Li Yuan had previously inquired in detail; there were a total of three paths.

First was the position: Dao Master, Gate Master, Hall Master, Helmsman, and Deputy Helmsman all received a certain allowance of spirit pills every year.

The treatment of True Disciples was equivalent to a Deputy Hall Master, and the Dao Son was equivalent to a Deputy Gate Master.

Second was being named on the Longhu List, receiving an allowance of a few pills every year. Finally, naturally, there was contribution.

Those who contributed to the sect could receive rewards; whether pills, Wu Gong, or divine weapons could be exchanged, but this required executing a large number of missions.

"Either become a True Disciple, or forge supreme-grade famous artifacts and divine weapons. As for executing missions, forget it; the cost-performance ratio is too low."

Li Yuan pondered in his heart.

Executing missions was impossible; having joined the Star-Picking Tower for so many years, Daoist Li's mission completion count remained zero.

His thoughts scattered, and Li Yuan raised one idea after another in his heart, only to refute them one by one.

The more he thought, the bigger his headache became; he realized he had too many things to do.

Practicing martial arts, visualization, the Black Whale Diagram, preparing divine weapons, spirit pills, altering the bone structure, listening to incense sounds, the Thousand Spirits Saving People Stele...

"Take one step and see."

After a long while, Li Yuan finally let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and began visualization.

Knowing that visualization might be related to the Zhi Ming Shen Jing, his importance placed on visualization suddenly climbed several degrees.

"Huff!"

In the middle of the night, Li Yuan opened his eyes. Just now, he had taken a short nap and found he had not been pulled into that unknown Zhi Ming Shen Jing.

"Is it waiting for my Meridian Circulation to reach perfection? Or is it because Old Dragon Head is here?"

With a turn of thought, Li Yuan closed his eyes again. Following his intent, a cool sensation flowed out from between his eyebrows and traveled down along the Qi meridians.

With the support of the 'Eternal' grade talent, Li Yuan's understanding of all the Wu Gong he had learned climbed by more than one tier; even lacking the subsequent Bai Shen Fa, he now had some ideas.

"Seek the God!"

Inside his body, cold and heat opposed each other. Li Yuan seemed unaware, guiding his Spiritual Self downwards; soon, it had reached the left foot.

Voom~

It was as if a bronze bell had been struck beside his ear.

Li Yuan's spirit shook. In a trance, he seemed to see a 'heart' beating incessantly.

The 'heart' inside the left foot swallowed and exhaled internal Qi, beating slightly.

"Is this the 'God'?"

Li Yuan suddenly realized; this 'heart' must be the 'God' mentioned in the Bai Shen Zheng Fa.

"Does 'Seek the God' mean to include this 'heart' in the Qi meridian circulation as well? What is this 'heart'?"

"The Supreme Dao is not troublesome; truth resides in the essence; the Niwan and all hundred joints all possess a God... This heart, or rather 'God', should be an acupoint?"

Li Yuan murmured in his heart.

The final step of perfecting the Meridian Circulation was to turn the intersection of all Qi meridians into a 'Qi Sea'; the amount of internal Qi the Qi Sea could contain determined the strength of a Meridian Circulation martial artist.

It also related to the subsequent 'Internal Qi transforming into True Qi', the strength of the True Qi, and even the subsequent bone refining and blood changing.

"Cultivating the Chi Bai Shen Fa is equivalent to having two 'Qi Seas', right? No, the Divine Foot Sutra has two feet, so that makes three Qi Seas?"

Li Yuan felt he seemed to understand the terror of the Bai Shen Fa.

This peerless-grade Mo Gong was not just the Divine Foot Sutra; as far as he knew, there were more than ten branches. Just how many Qi Seas would that be?

"What a fine thing."

Li Yuan withdrew his meditated spiritual self; having already found the Spirit, the next step was naturally to 'trace the Spirit'.

According to his understanding, he would take this 'acupoint' as the 'Qi Sea', integrate it into his own internal Qi circulation, and after that, move to the left foot.

"The Niwan and all hundred joints possess a Spirit..."

Inside the room, Li Yuan opened his eyes, saw some light on the horizon, then yawned and lay down to sleep.

Early the next morning, Li Yuan took his hammer and went out; first he forged iron at Pure Gang Peak for half a day, then went to the Library to borrow a thick stack of various predecessors' notes.

As well as several Lower Cheng Wu Gong and Zhong Cheng Wu Gong; these were the ones he had carefully selected, half being lightness skills and footwork, half being various hammer techniques.

The bodily transformations achievable upon perfecting these Wu Gong could all be used to supplement the Hundred Beasts Thunder Dragon.

In the afternoon, Li Yuan did not forge iron; he either stood in meditation practicing martial arts or flipped through various books, preparing to comprehend the Splits-Sea Profound Whale Diagram.

Before nightfall, he steamed a large pot of spiritual rice, carried it to accompany Old Dragon Head, either chatting or asking questions, deepening his impression in the heart of his cheap master.

The forgetful Old Dragon, bordering on senile dementia, was the strongest opponent encountered by Daoist Li, who prided himself on being a professional at coaxing old men.

Forging iron, practicing martial arts, meditation, forging Qi meridians, comprehending the Profound Whale Diagram...

The turmoil stirred by Chu Shan Xuan Kong's death continued to spread, yet Li Yuan's life returned to its usual calm, dull, and regular rhythm.

With a millennium-class talent bestowed upon him, in less than three days, Li Yuan had forged the tenth Qi meridian, and the Dragon Zen Vajra Sutra also reached its peak.

The progress of the Dragon-Tiger Hun Tian Hammer was even terrifying; only three days after reaching its peak, it had already entered the fourth layer, a level comparable to the perfection of a superior secret transmission.

Occasionally, when stillness made him crave movement, he would wander around the Outer Sect, chat and share a meal with Wang Wang Peiyao, Gao Gang, and others, and spend a while beneath the Ancestral Master's stone plaque.

"These two ancestors won't let go of the eagle until they see the rabbit!"

Inside the mountain gate, Li Yuan shaded his eyes with his hand, gazing up at the stone plaque high in the sky.

Every time he came to the Outer Sect, he would swap out the Splits-Sea Profound Whale Hammer, but for that very reason, he could not gain the acknowledgment of these two Ancestral Masters.

"Shall we try tonight?"

The commotion of the Dragon and Tiger appearing together was too great; Li Yuan was somewhat hesitant, but then he thought of the eighth-rank incense within the Thousand Spirits Saving People Stele...

"The Dao Master will be returning to the mountain soon."

Li Yuan was prepared to hand over the Thousand Spirits Stone Stele, but he first needed to extract the incense.

"Let's try tonight."

Glancing once more at the mountain gate stone plaque, Li Yuan shook his head helplessly and turned to return to the mountain.

Whoosh~

Above the sea of clouds, the gang wind howled, strong enough to tear steel apart.

A golden eagle with a wingspan of over ten zhang soared within it, sometimes rising, sometimes diving; its speed was extremely fast, leaving behind trails that lingered undissipated wherever it passed.

The wind howled, yet it could not affect the eagle's back.

A layer of barrier, seeming to exist and not exist, separated the inside from the outside; the airflow, capable of tearing steel, could not shake it even a fraction.

Within the barrier, two people sat silently playing chess.

"Senior Brother, Shen Shen Qisheng has always been lax; he wouldn't even join the Sect. Why would he agree to the imperial court's invitation?"

The speaker held the black stones, wore a Daoist robe, and had beard and hair half white and half black; though very old, his complexion was as ruddy as an infant's, and his gaze was clear.

"There are few things in this world that can attract him; at this time, it is naturally for the Eight Directions Temple."

The one holding the white stones was an old monk draped in a kasaya, his face marked entirely by the traces of time; he placed a stone, yet his gaze drifted toward the sea of clouds:

"Pity. If even the Dragon Demon Daoist cannot enter that place, by what right can he?"