Evening, Chen Mu’s cave abode.
Inside the abode, the rooms were arranged in a straight line.
From east to west, they were in order: the Alchemist Chamber, living and dining rooms, kitchen, bedroom, and the washroom at the very west.
Each room had windows on the south-facing cliff side, paired with the glowing algae lamps embedded into the walls, providing bright and clear lighting.
In the kitchen, Chen Mu hummed a tune as he swiftly tossed the bright green vegetable leaves in the pan with a wooden spatula.
The stove was waist-high, but there was no fire underneath it; it was just a solid platform carved from rock.
The pan was fan-shaped with a bright white interior, actually half of a huge shell.
The opening was broad enough to fit the external unit of a household air conditioner.
Chen Mu pressed his left hand against the edge of the shell, and mana streamed in, promptly causing heat to rise from the shell.
Although it wasn’t his first time using it, Chen Mu still found this giant shell pan to be very magical.Stay tuned for updates on empire
It was said to come from an Exotic Beast called Flame-Separation Shell, which naturally contained a talisman, making it a natural Magic Artifact.
After serving the still bright green vegetables, black smoke filled the shell pan, and he casually scrubbed it clean.
Holding the last dish of quickly-fried vegetables, Chen Mu came to the dining table, happy as could be.
Various dishes were already arrayed on the table.
In the center, a black Primordial Furnace bubbled with sound, stewing a pill furnace’s worth of braised Exotic Beast Meat.
Beside it were steamed pork ribs, honey roasted meat, blanched vegetables, fishball soup, and a flat bamboo basket piled into a small mountain of filled pastries from the old Qi Family.
"Time to eat!"
Like a whirlwind sweeping through leaves, the table full of food quickly went down his stomach.
After cleaning up, night had completely fallen; he hadn’t cultivated anything, so he washed up and went straight to bed.
After six or seven days of Alchemy, having eaten his fill, he wanted to do nothing.
...
The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight touched Jade Spring Mountain.
A strong biological clock had Chen Mu opening his eyes, spirited and alert.
"Being too physically enhanced isn’t great; recovering too fast means missing out on sleeping in."
Propping the pillow up, Chen Mu leaned against the headboard.
Through the large window, he gazed out at the continuous green expanse of Jade Spring Mountain, feeling refreshed.
Chen Mu’s gaze settled on a long strip of land at the foot of the mountain.
Lush trees had been chopped down, revealing the brown earth beneath.
From a distance, it looked like a long, narrow cut had been made into a green carpet.
If you looked carefully, you could even make out some dougong brackets and flying eaves.
According to Shang Huan, the Jade Spring District was being built right there.
"It seems it has expanded a bit more."
Chen Mu looked toward the distant, cloud-shrouded five great mountains, understanding in his heart.
The area around Jade Spring Mountain was vast and required more people to develop and guard it.
Cloud Bat Flying Boats frequently ascended and descended at the mountain’s foot, continually transporting people and goods to Jade Spring Mountain.
For the next few years, the main theme of Jade Spring Mountain would be massive development.
"More people is a good thing."
"With more people, the demand for Fasting Pills will rise, and I can earn more Daoist Cultivation."
Chen Mu’s speed at making Fasting Pills was too fast; if he let go and crafted without restraint, that Brother Qi wouldn’t even get a taste of the soup.
"I am a good person; I wouldn’t do something like breaking other people’s rice bowl."
How nice it was to live in peace as things currently were.
...
Chen Mu didn’t hurry to get up. While lying down, he checked the experience on the gray wall.
"Only practicing twelve thousand Fasting Pills a month, along with absorbing the essence of the Five Grains, it would take at most ten days."
"The remaining time is perfect for brushing up on various experiences."
Writing: 8908/10000/Second Rank;
Drawing: 5967/10000/Second Rank;
Culinary Arts: 8720/10000/Fifth Rank;
Pharmaceutical Technique: 7342/10000/Fifth Rank;
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 9071/10000/Eighth Rank;
Shape-shifting Technique: 8997/10000/Fourth Rank;
Planting: 6933/10000/Third Rank;
United Heart Curse: 6957/10000/Ninth Rank;
Fire Cloud Curse: 4386/10000/Second Rank;
Manipulation: 6736/10000/First Rank;
Triple Yin Slaying Demon Technique: 4228/10000/Third Rank;
Truthful Listening Technique: 1006/10000/Sixth Rank;
Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique: 3843/10000/Third Rank;
Five Qi Primordial Technique: 4096/10000/Second Rank;
Chen Mu carefully looked over every item from top to bottom.
"Only a thousand more experience points for the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse to advance."
"The Fire Cloud Curse and the Triple Yin Slaying Demon Technique have been placed aside for too long."
"The nurturing and strengthening of the inadvertently acquired Spirit Nourishing Curse also need to be cultivated."
"Hmm... Five Ghosts Moving Mountain is the focus; for the Spirit Nourishing Curse just allocate a bit of time daily. If practicing it becomes tiresome, give some of that time to the Triple Yin Slaying Demon Technique instead."
Chen Mu quickly made a plan.
Afterwards, he stayed in his cave abode, closed his doors, and diligently cultivated in peace.
...
Three days later, in the dead of night.
The autumn air was crisp, and the sky was cloudless.
Even the clouds that usually shrouded the peak of Jade Spring Mountain had been scattered by the mountain breeze.
The enormous, round moon hung in the sky like a jade plate.
All around was silence, occasionally broken by the faint cries of night birds as they crossed the sky.
Suddenly, a ghastly howl arose, sounding like the murmuring of a thousand people or the eerie shouts of ten thousand.
Immediately after, a large mass of black and red clouds, churning incessantly, streaked rapidly across the sky beneath the moon.
Out of control and curving like a comet, it plunged headfirst into the dense forest halfway up Jade Spring Mountain.
Boom!
Dirt flew everywhere, and a crater three meters in diameter appeared abruptly.
A gust of wind burst forth from the center, spreading rapidly in all directions.
Grass and tree leaves were instantly severed by the strong wind.
Amidst the swirling black smoke, Chen Mu leaped out from the bottom of the pit.
Ptui!
He spat out a mouthful of grass stuck to his lips and shook off the mud from his body.
"Lucky for me, I’m thick-skinned and tough-fleshed."
"Otherwise, that fall could have done some serious harm," Chen Mu exclaimed with lingering fear, as sweat beaded his forehead.
Chen Mu looked towards his gray wall experience.
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 71/10000/Ninth Rank;
After reaching perfection at Eighth Rank, the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse gained a new ability—the Five Ghosts Dark Flame Great Escape Technique.
Simply put...
He could fly now!
Even though he was battered from the fall, he was still eager to try again.
"Flying isn’t that easy; I have to practice gradually."
Taking a deep breath, Chen Mu barely managed to suppress the urge to try again.
He climbed up to the treetop, and with a slight grin on his face, he looked towards the mountain wall twinkling with scattered lights in the distance.
He wanted to suppress his grin, but the opposite happened—the grin grew wider instead. Despite his best efforts, his mouth stretched open to reveal a mouthful of shining white teeth.
He had first seen someone fly by their own power three years and eight months ago.
Back then, when he had just arrived at the Lower Courtyard of Jilong Road, he saw Song Wujie soaring through the sky as soon as he exited the travel pod.
At that time, he thought to himself that he must learn to fly.
Everything he did after that, like practicing the Void Cloak Technique and buying a flying kite, was related to that original wish.
The Five Ghosts Dark Flame Great Escape Technique finally realized that goal.
"I can truly fly now!"
"Hahaha... gulp..."
"Hey! What are you doing there!"
A stern voice suddenly rang out, startling Chen Mu so much that he jolted and quickly turned around to look.
He saw more than a dozen men in black, leaping like fleas, covering seventy to eighty meters in a single bound, rapidly approaching him.
Patrolling inspectors from the guard?
He couldn’t be caught; what if they mistook him for a spy from the Evil Path?!
The Inspection Courtyard had been cracking down hard lately, sweeping away exotic beasts and evildoers, seizing nearby territories with great aggression.
Chen Mu certainly didn’t want to fall into their hands.
He shrank his neck and stifled his laughter back into his stomach.
Cloaked in the Five Ghosts Black Smoke and invisible, Chen Mu immediately slinked away.
...
On the eastern side of the cliff where the Pill Treasure Pavilion was located, in a large cave dwelling that connected the upper and lower floors...
Qi Hui, in his thirties, dressed in a white inner robe and covered with a fiery red outer robe, walked out of the alchemist chamber into the receiving hall with a tired expression.
"Another Pill Master who refines Fasting Pills has joined the Pavilion? Impossible..." Qi Hui rubbed his temples and frowned.
"The news comes from Third Elder Zhu; the Pavilion Master personally verified it," Bai Xiuwen said respectfully and seriously.
"Why would the Upper Court send a Pill Master who can refine Fasting Pills at this time?" Qi Hui asked with a puzzled face, "Even if they were to send one, it shouldn’t be until after the harvest of the Yellow Bud Rice next year, right?"
"It’s said to be a person from Elder Song Wujie," Bai Xiuwen said cautiously.
"Oh, so it’s a country bumpkin from the Lower Courtyard," Qi Hui realized, "Then it’s nothing to worry about."
Bai Xiuwen’s eyes shifted as he tentatively probed, "Third Elder Zhu said he’s taken on quite a few Fasting Pill tasks."
"A lot?" Qi Hui’s eyebrows shot up.
"Twelve thousand pills."
"Has he gone mad, taking on so many?!" Qi Hui’s face darkened instantly.
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