Chapter 134: Untitled

"Ah?"

Feng Jihu was bewildered by Cheng Xinzhan's sudden question. Didn't he tell him to get a good rest?

Cheng Xinzhan smiled and said, "Senior Brother, resting doesn't mean just sleeping all day. I previously saw how interesting it was when you cleared fields, planted herbs, gathered medicine, and made elixirs. I'd like to learn as well, to become an herb farmer, tend to plants, and absorb some of the herbal fragrance. What do you think, Senior Brother?"

Feng Jihu smiled and nodded, but then teased, "You surely aren't going to petition the Sect Master for a decree tomorrow to audit the lectures on the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon in my Azalea Valley, are you?"

Cheng Xinzhan laughed heartily, "This time, I'm only bothering you, Senior Brother!"

***

That afternoon, he arrived at Pine Green Lake.

He stated his purpose directly to Green Chi, explaining that he planned to bring a friend over tomorrow.

Upon hearing this, Green Chi instantly widened her emerald-green eyes.

Cheng Xinzhan sighed and said, "Friend Gu, I know it was wrong of me before to call you lazy and say you hadn't refined the transverse throat bone; I misunderstood you. Your throat meridian was injured, wasn't it?"

Green Chi still kept her eyes widened in a stare.

"Friend Gu, my senior brother is extraordinary, proficient in medical arts, and the direct descendant of an orthodox lineage. Let him take a look and see if there is a cure, a treatment tailored to the ailment."

Green Chi's eyes remained stubbornly wide.

"Friend Gu?" Cheng Xinzhan asked, somewhat puzzled.

As if waking from a dream, Green Chi shook her head repeatedly, refusing with every fiber of her being.

Cheng Xinzhan grew anxious, "Friend, one must not conceal one's illness from the physician!"

Green Chi just shook her head.

Pushed to her limits by Cheng Xinzhan, she finally tapped him with her tail.

Cheng Xinzhan was momentarily stunned, and said, "You want me to treat you?"

Only then did Green Chi nod.

Cheng Xinzhan gave a bitter smile, "Friend, although I intend to take up medicine as a pastime, who knows how long it will be before I'm capable of curing your condition!"

Green Chi didn't care; she only wanted Cheng Xinzhan to treat her. Unable to persuade her otherwise, he had no choice but to nod helplessly.

Upon returning to Carefree Cave, he mentioned it to Third Sister. She was much more obedient and readily agreed. He immediately scooped her up and took her to see Feng Jihu.

After examining her, Feng Jihu admitted it was a difficult case—a congenital defect that was hard to treat.

Cheng Xinzhan thought about it and realized it made sense; if it had been easy to cure, the person who sold the cat would have fixed Third Sister long ago to fetch a higher price. Aside from her eyes, Third Sister's traits were of the highest grade.

Nevertheless, Feng Jihu still prescribed a few formulas to clear the eyes, wondering if they might take effect over time, and taught the recipe to Cheng Xinzhan. Since the latter was interested, he could compound the medicines himself from then on.

***

A month later, at the start of summer.

The Water Green Bamboo Forest.

Well, it could hardly be called a bamboo forest anymore.

The large expanse of bamboo in front of Carefree Cave had been entirely cleared away, with even the roots dug up clean. Now, only the bamboo forest behind the stone wall of Carefree Cave remained untouched, along with two clumps left in front of the cave for decoration.

The work of felling bamboo and digging up roots had been completed by Bai Yongliang, the ginseng wood-spirit and white rat. Now, Cheng Xinzhan called him Old Bai; if he dared call him anything else, the wood-spirit protested that he couldn't bear such honor, claiming titles like "Little Bai" or "Wood Servant" suited him much better.

Old Bai was having an extremely comfortable time staying at Mount Mingzhi.

Cheng Xinzhan had made a few trips to register Old Bai's name in the Longevity Garden. Now Old Bai was a genuine, proper alien retainer of Mount Sanqing, holding the same status as Green Chi—truly a pheasant turning into a phoenix.

As for why he went to such lengths, it was because Old Bai said he wanted to read books.

Back in the mortal realm, Old Bai used to tunnel through the earth to steal books from people's studies; he certainly didn't have the guts to do that on Mount Sanqing.

However, if non-disciples of Mount Sanqing wanted to read the sect's scriptures, they had no choice but to become retainers. Once they did, they would be tied to Mount Sanqing, unable to come and go as freely as they pleased.

Old Bai, who had always yearned for freedom, agreed without a second thought.

Actually, what he craved wasn't freedom; it was safety. Moreover, within the vast expanse of Mount Sanqing, he didn't feel any lack of freedom at all.

As for becoming an alien retainer of Mount Sanqing, it was naturally no easy feat, and the conditions were extremely strict. Fortunately, the merits Old Bai had accumulated were substantial enough, his own cultivation realm was sufficiently low, his background was spotless, and he had few ties to the outside world, which made the matter manageable.

Without needing the Sect Master to step in, Cheng Xinzhan had asked his master to vouch for him, and the application smoothly passed.

From then on, Old Bai took up residence in Carefree Cave, getting along wonderfully with Deng Geer and Third Sister. Since her birth, Third Sister didn't even know what a rat was; besides, Old Bai was a wood-spirit, not a true rat.

Furthermore, Old Bai was an ancient sprite who had lived for many years, so guiding two little kids in their cultivation was effortless for him. By now, he had become the teacher of the two youngsters, and his status in Carefree Cave was second only to Cheng Xinzhan's.

***

Beyond that, Old Bai's favorite thing to do was to visit the Square Pond Library in Lesser Mount Wan. Immersing himself within it, he would pore over the freely borrowed books as if unearthing priceless treasures.

By now, many disciples of Lesser Mount Wan knew that a white rat was very fond of reading in the library—a knowledgeable new retainer of the mountain.

Every time he heard such remarks, Old Bai would smile from the bottom of his heart.

"If contemporary immortal sects were all like this, this old fellow would have sold his ginseng fruit pit long ago."

He often thought this, feeling that much of his time spent underground previously had been wasted. Yet he also knew that in this world, such a thing was impossible; if he hadn't encountered the Cave Master, he would only have been interrogated and then eaten.

He now addressed Cheng Xinzhan as Cave Master. In his heart, he knew he fell far short of being worthy of a Mount Sanqing retainer, but as a retainer of Carefree Cave, he felt he could strive to measure up.

Being able to live a life in such an immortal mountain was something Old Bai had never dared to imagine before. He knew that his fortunate encounter today was entirely thanks to the Cave Master.

Therefore, when the Cave Master came to ask if he could help clear the herb fields and categorize the plants, he agreed without the slightest hesitation.

Being an expert in this field, he took Deng Geer along and plowed up all the ground, taking the opportunity to teach Deng Geer the art of earth-tunnelling.

The only unexpected incident was when Cheng Xinzhan had once instructed Old Bai to be extremely careful while tunnelling through Mount Mingzhi because there were things hidden underground. Cheng Xinzhan wasn't afraid of what Old Bai might see; he was terrified that Old Bai would be vaporized by the subterranean defensive array before he even got close.

This scared Old Bai out of his wits, making him tread extremely lightly while digging, terrified of seeing something he shouldn't.

Finally, after more than a month of labor, the land beside the pool was all converted into herb fields. They weren't large, laid out plot by plot, totaling around eight mu.

During the layout, Cheng Xinzhan used the small pond as the center, arranging the plots in the shape of the Eight Trigrams. The ridges were of varying lengths, forming the eight trigram symbols.

Clearing these herb fields was no easy task. The soil quality of Mount Mingzhi tended toward the yin, and it had been completely taken over by various types of bamboo. To plant vegetation of other elemental affinities, the soil had to be altered and the five phases harmonized.

Under the guidance of Feng Jihu and Old Bai, Cheng Xinzhan bought quite a bit of spiritual soil, metallic essence, and rare ores, deploying them across the herb fields. After performing multiple rain-calling rituals to adjust the hydrological conditions, the fields were finally shaped into proper form.

Now, all that remained was to take a trip to Azalea Valley in a couple of days to purchase some saplings and seedlings together with Senior Brother Jihu, which would mark truly setting foot on the right path.

As for today, he had other arrangements.

One human, one sprite, and two little monsters stood by the small pond.

Since they were going to tend to the herb fields, this little pond must also be put to use rather than just keeping sea fish; the only spiritual plant inside right now was a single Nine-Hole Dustless Lotus.

Come to think of it, ever since he came here to establish his cave dwelling, he had never actually stepped foot into this small pond.

Today, he would go down to take a look, familiarize himself with the water, and see what kind of creatures would be suitable to raise in it.

He looked at the sprite and the two monsters.

Third Sister shook her head and took a step back. Fishing at the bank was fine, but going down into the water? She wanted no part of it.

Deng Geer swallowed hard, stepped forward, and put on a tragic, heroic expression. Old Bai looked utterly calm.

"Then Old Bai can accompany me down to take a look."

Hearing this, Old Bai stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "I am willing to accompany the Cave Master on this trip."

His bearing and speech carried a distinct air of dignity.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded, dived into the pool with a splash, and Old Bai followed closely behind.

Inside the pool.

Without any deliberate movement from Cheng Xinzhan, he naturally glided through the water.

Having meditated upon the Grand Yin Imperial Sovereign who commands all the water veins of the world, casting the Water-Averting Spell now naturally required no incantations or hand seals.

As for Old Bai, a cyan glow enveloped his entire body, isolating the pool water from him as he swam about leisurely.

The pool was currently filled entirely with sea fish, all sent by Eleventh Sister.

Ever since he helped Eleventh Sister at the Autumn Hunt, the frequency of her proactively writing letters had increased significantly. She often sent greetings, and as it happened, Cheng Xinzhan had indeed had much more leisure time lately, responding frequently.

Whenever Eleventh Sister was happy, she would send people down with fish, thoughtfully including some talisman paper, which usually had a sheet of letter paper tucked inside.

She was clearly terrified that running out of letter paper would cut off their connection.

The pool held all sorts of marine eels and clams. Whatever Eleventh Sister sent, he would temporarily release here, only transferring a batch to Pine Green Lake after some time, otherwise Green Chi simply couldn't control her appetite.

Many shellfish hung along the pool walls. These sea shells were bizarre in shape, emitting a faint blue glow that illuminated the underwater depths brightly. It was these shellfish that converted the fresh water into salt water, keeping the eels and clams fresh and tender.

When they reached the bottom of the pool, Cheng Xinzhan discovered that the Nine-Hole Dustless Lotus had actually rooted itself in the side wall; the pond was much deeper than he had anticipated.

At the time, he hadn't paid much attention when he tossed the lotus seeds in, and not long after, when the little lotus leaves poked out their tips, he left them completely alone.

"Cave Master, there might be a whole other world hidden beneath this pool!"

Old Bai had spent his entire life underground and had the sharpest judgment regarding depth. The two of them had been descending for a very long time, yet the pool showed no sign of a bottom, and the space only grew larger the deeper they went!

This small pond, which looked unremarkable from the outside, was shaped like a gourd—narrow at the mouth and broad at the belly!

As they went deeper, the presence of sea shells gradually dwindled, and the environment transitioned back to fresh water, the water color growing darker due to the lack of light.

Cheng Xinzhan cast a Light-Illuminating Talisman downward and continued to descend, making things rather interesting.

He knew that the absolute base of Mount Mingzhi was hollow. However, his Carefree Cave was still halfway up the mountain, a long way from the foot; he was determined to see just how deep this pool was and what lay at its bottom.

The two continued descending for a full two to three hundred zhang before light once again shone upward from below.

Old Bai grew somewhat faint of heart, terrified of seeing something he shouldn't, and said, "Cave Master, this pool must have reached the bottom; this old fellow will head back up first."

Knowing what he was worried about, Cheng Xinzhan believed that on Mount Mingzhi, nothing could possibly be unspeakable; if there truly were any secrets, there would certainly be restrictive formations protecting them.

"No matter," he said.

Old Bai then continued his descent alongside him.

Soon, the small pond finally reached its bottom, and both of them learned the source of the light.

The human and the sprite stared blankly at the pool bed, all four eyes dazed.

"Good heavens, is this a dragon palace?" Old Bai stammered as he looked at the bottom of the pool.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he cast a terrified glance at Cheng Xinzhan. He had said he shouldn't come down, didn't want to see things he shouldn't; now look at this—the Cave Master was benevolent and kind, but surely he wouldn't silence a witness, right?

The bottom of the pool at this moment was many times larger than the pond's opening above. The surroundings were pitch black and boundaries were indiscernible, but the central area was brightly illuminated, all because a crystal palace stood proudly there, radiating a pure white glow!

The crystal palace was neither too large nor too small, forming a square about seven or eight hundred paces across. It consisted of twenty to thirty halls, every single one crafted from crystal, adorned with coral and pearls, truly radiating precious light.

Placing such a palace inside Mount Sanqing might not amount to much, and in any city of White Jade Capital it would be utterly commonplace, but down here at the bottom of a hundred-zhang deep pool, encountering such a palace after prolonged darkness brought an overwhelming sense of shock.

Cheng Xinzhan continued to descend, eager to figure out what background this underwater crystal palace possessed: Who built it? When was it built? And why was it built?

At that moment, he noticed Old Bai hovering in place, unmoving.

"Come down and take a look, Old Bai."

Old Bai shook his head like a rattle-drum; this time, nothing could make him go down.

Knowing what worried him, Cheng Xinzhan said no more and descended alone.

Before long, he landed on the pool bed. It was extremely biting cold down here, and tiny streams of bubbles occasionally floated up from the bottom, *gurgle, gurgle*—this was still a living spring.

However, it was far too cold and deep here, so no aquatic plants or swimming fish were to be seen.

The crystal palace lacked boundary walls and city gates; he casually landed at an arbitrary spot on the periphery.

Looking around, the size and architectural style of these halls were largely similar to those on the outside world with no distinct differences, all following the style of the Han Chinese in the Central Plains.

He cautiously drew closer, worried about triggering some sort of restrictive array.

Stepping closer, stepping inside.

There were no arrays or spiritual restrictions whatsoever; only an occasional stream of bubbles welling up near his feet would startle Cheng Xinzhan.

Walking gradually inward from the outer perimeter of the crystal palace, he observed carefully until he finally noticed some clues.

The crystal palace looked harmonious as a whole, but moving from the outside inward, the styles between the halls differed somewhat!

The outermost halls displayed what was clearly a contemporary style; the roofs were ornate and elaborate, the interiors featured exquisite caisson ceilings, and the exteriors were lined with rows of ridge beasts.

Moving further inward, the murals and decorations on the halls decreased significantly, presenting an overall stricter and more solemn appearance with fewer pillars inside, making them appear more open and grandiose. This was the style of the Tang Dynasty.

Heading further toward the center, the halls were all built upon high terraces, connected by various steps and elevated corridors, resembling a palace in the heavens. This was the style of the Han and Jin Dynasties.

Strange, truly strange.

The strangest part was that as he inspected hall after hall, he found them all exquisitely crafted, yet completely empty inside, lacking any imagined treasures or dangers.

Just what kind of place was this?

His confusion grew stronger until he approached the centralmost hall.

This hall was built upon a high terrace, and he had to tilt his head back just to take in its full view—it was magnificent.

At the base of the high terrace stood a stone tablet bearing inscriptions.

He hurried forward; this was the first thing with writing on it that he had seen since entering the crystal palace.

The tablet contained several columns of text, which he inspected closely.

The moment he read the first column of characters, he suddenly froze, as if encountering something utterly beyond his expectations.

Up above, Old Bai watched as Cheng Xinzhan cautiously wandered about the palace, discovering nothing, and finally coming to a halt before a stone tablet where he stood motionless.

It drove him frantic, scratching his ears and cheeks.

"Hahaha! Hahaha!"

A succession of loud laughter suddenly echoed from within the crystal palace, giving Old Bai a fright.

"Cave Master?!" Old Bai called out, terrified that Cheng Xinzhan might have been enchanted by spellcraft.

"Come down and see for yourself, hahaha!"

Laughing heartily, Cheng Xinzhan beckoned Old Bai to come down.

Since the Cave Master had said so, there should be no danger. Overcoming his hesitation and no longer able to suppress his curiosity, Old Bai gave his tail a flick and sank downward.

Reaching Cheng Xinzhan's side, he looked up at the stone tablet and saw several columns of characters engraved upon it, each column written in a different handwriting. When he looked at the very first column at the beginning, it read:

*Wei Baoping, a third-generation disciple of Mount Mingzhi, yearned for the four seas in his youth and often dreamed of dragon palaces. After entering the mountain and attaining the Dao, he wandered to this pool, playfully built this palace to bring a smile to anyone's face, and leaves this greeting for future sages.*

*(End of Chapter)*