Li Yan took note of one thing: "Soul Lamp." What was that? He was just about to ask about the Soul Lamp.
"Little Junior Brother, not far ahead is where we live. I heard that there used to be many houses here, but a hundred years ago, some disciples who joined Little Bamboo Peak only wanted to get the cultivation resources of Little Bamboo Peak. When they started to show some promise, they were no longer willing to do these miscellaneous tasks on Little Bamboo Peak and later all went to the other four peaks to specialize in cultivating spirit insects, formations, or alchemy. In a fit of anger, Master sealed the peak and closed the gates, only occasionally accepting disciples. As a result, the original houses here became too many. Master later used his magical power to demolish seventy to eighty percent of them. Now those places are used for cultivating spiritual plants or other purposes, leaving only twenty to thirty percent of the houses."
Before Li Yan could ask, Lin Daqiao had already slowed down and pointed to a large, dark cluster of houses in front of them.
Only then did Li Yan realize that they had unknowingly arrived in front of a cluster of houses. The spiritual energy here was surprisingly dense. The air felt faintly heavy, several times thicker than the place they had just come from down the mountain.
This cluster of houses was also built entirely of dark bamboo. They looked like individual small courtyards, each spaced about five or six hundred meters apart. Between these adjacent courtyards were dark green bamboo leaves swaying in the wind, with green light spots slowly flowing and flickering, making it impossible for people outside to see any situation inside the courtyards. It seemed so secluded and quiet. And in some places, mist lingered in the air, obscuring that space.
Li Yan, standing in the dark bamboo grove, couldn't help but feel refreshed and relaxed, as if his heart was swaying gently with the waves of bamboo.
"Little Junior Brother, there are still more than fifty empty courtyards here. You can choose any one you like. In the future, that courtyard will be your residence," Lin Daqiao's words broke the tranquility here, bringing Li Yan back to his senses.
"Oh, good, good. Then I'll have to trouble you, Seventh Senior Brother," Li Yan replied quickly.
So the two of them said no more and began to weave through the dark bamboo forest, occasionally opening a courtyard gate to go in and have a look.
After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Li Yan and Lin Daqiao were standing in another courtyard. This was a relatively remote place in the entire cluster of houses, located on the northwest edge of the cluster. Although each courtyard was about a li apart, and the dark bamboo forest in between made it impossible to see each other, Li Yan still chose this more remote courtyard. There was no one else living in front, behind, or to the left of it. To the right was the edge of the housing cluster. Outside the courtyard was an endless sea of dark bamboo. He was very fond of the seclusion here.
Li Yan looked around the courtyard and was very satisfied. He decided that this was where he would live. He thought that when he announced his decision, this Seventh Senior Brother would have something to say, because the place he had chosen was too remote. But Lin Daqiao showed no sign of surprise, which surprised him a little. He later learned that most cultivators did not like to be too close to others. On the other peaks, it was only because there were too many disciples, and only disciples at the Foundation Establishment stage and above had the right to live in such single-courtyard houses. The other Qi Condensation disciples could only live in single rooms adjacent to each other in large building complexes. This was a clear difference between Little Bamboo Peak and the other peaks' disciples.
However, a hundred years ago, Little Bamboo Peak also had a large building complex specifically for Qi Condensation disciples to live in. These courtyards were also reserved for cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above. It was just that the great Peak Master Wei later demolished those houses, leaving only a few dozen of these courtyards.
The courtyard Li Yan chose occupied an area of about forty zhang, which was very large. The courtyard wall was also made of densely woven bamboo fences over two zhang high. The house was also built of dark bamboo, with a total of five rooms. The courtyard was spacious and quiet, with only a stone table and four stone benches in the middle. The sky above was half-hidden by bamboo leaves extending from outside the courtyard. And in the southwest corner of the courtyard wall, a small garden had been cultivated, in which grew many blue flowers that Li Yan did not recognize. The flowers were about a foot high, with slender green leaves, and the flowers themselves were emitting a clear, orchid-like fragrance, adding a trace of quiet orchid scent to the air here.
Li Yan was examining the bamboo courtyard when Lin Daqiao reached out for Li Yan's storage pouch. With a casual pat, a white light flashed, and an object appeared in his hand. It was the waist token that was not quite gold and not quite iron. He recited a spell and shook the waist token in his hand. A dark light shot out from the token and landed on the bamboo fence wall. Immediately, a cloud of mist rose from the bamboo fence wall. The mist continuously billowed and spread, but it only formed a circle along the fence wall, without a single trace seeping into the courtyard. In a short while, it had enveloped the entire bamboo courtyard.
Li Yan stared blankly at this scene. He didn't know what his Seventh Senior Brother was doing.
"Alright, you just need to drip your blood on this waist token to claim ownership in a moment," Lin Daqiao said, patting his shoulder as he looked at Li Yan's dazed expression.
"Each bamboo courtyard is protected by a set of formations. This waist token has the immortal art to control this formation engraved in it. As long as you drip your blood on this waist token to claim ownership, you can control this protective formation. But one waist token can only activate one set of formations. For example, the waist token on my body, although it also has the immortal art to control this bamboo courtyard, it can only control the set of formations that it activated itself, which is the bamboo courtyard I live in."
"The waist token has other uses as well. The entry identification mark for the entire sect's protective formation is also engraved in it. Otherwise, if you rush in recklessly, the great formation will attack on its own. Our sect's protective formation is not like those of other sects that only have a few methods like illusion, protection, and direct attack. The unknown poisonous insects, poisonous gas, and poisonous mist hidden inside are the most terrifying. Even a Nascent Soul stage old ancestor would be wary of it." At this point, Lin Daqiao seemed to remember something, and his slightly dark skin turned a shade paler.
"Ahem, in short, you must keep this waist token safe. If you lose it and have to get a replacement from the Hall of Deacons, you will be punished. Hmm, these protective formations of our bamboo courtyards are just ordinary magical formations. They are used to prevent others from rushing in during daily cultivation, serving as a warning and for protection. This protection can probably resist a full-force attack from a master at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, which is extremely powerful. A full-force attack from a master at the early stage of Foundation Establishment could probably destroy a small mortal town. But in this sect, no Foundation Establishment stage master is idle enough to attack someone else's protective formation. It's completely sufficient."
"Hmm, if you feel it's not enough in the future, Little Junior Brother, you can go to your Sixth Senior Sister or the martial uncles of Four Symbols Peak and ask them to set up a new formation for you. That will naturally be much better than this one."
Lin Daqiao briefly introduced the protective formation and the sect's protective great formation. When Li Yan heard him mention his Sixth Senior Sister at the end, he couldn't help but think of the tall, short-haired cold beauty with wheat-colored skin. He couldn't help but ask, "Sixth Senior Sister also knows formations?"
Lin Daqiao patted Li Yan's shoulder again, which made Li Yan quite speechless. He muttered to himself, "We just met, okay? Why do you keep patting me?"
"Little Junior Brother, our Little Bamboo Peak is a general store. Although we do logistical and miscellaneous tasks, the cultivation techniques we learn are also diverse. Sixth Senior Sister is not only good at formations; her individual combat skills are also formidable. Even Second Senior Brother is unwilling to fight with her too much. The martial uncles of Four Symbols Peak have wanted her to go over more than once, but she herself is unwilling to be like those on the other peaks, only delving into one path. She's afraid that if she goes to Four Symbols Peak, her other cultivation techniques will be delayed, even though formations are unpredictable when used against an enemy."
"Formidable in individual combat? Second Senior Brother looks more like the one with formidable combat power." Although Li Yan remembered the explosive figure hidden under the short-haired beauty's long robe, he still couldn't imagine her fighting against the bear-like Second Senior Brother.
"Little Junior Brother, let's go inside. There are still many things to tell you." Lin Daqiao seemed unwilling to say more and walked towards the few bamboo houses, pointing at them and introducing them as he went.
"These few houses are generally enough for you. They are divided into a rest room, a practice room, a breeding room, an alchemy room, and a living room. Unless you have more hobbies, you will need to open up a separate bamboo house in this courtyard yourself. Building a house is not very difficult; you can learn it in about half a day. It's just that you need to be careful about the materials used for building."
"Hmm, although handyman disciples come to clean these uninhabited courtyards and take care of the spiritual plants in the courtyard, they don't come often. You see, there is still some dust. Let your senior brother clean it up for you." Lin Daqiao said to himself. Seeing that the bamboo courtyard was not very clean, he waved his sleeve forward. The doors of several houses opened at the same time. Then he quickly formed a seal with both hands in front of his chest and shouted softly, "Go!" A white light flashed out and immediately transformed into several slightly damp whirlwinds, which swept towards several rooms and the stone table and benches in the courtyard. The movements were light and casual, with a certain otherworldly flavor. A soft "woo woo" sound immediately rang out in the courtyard, and after a few breaths, it fell silent.
"Alright, hehe," Lin Daqiao clapped his hands and smiled, then walked towards one of the rooms in the middle.
Li Yan's eyes lit up as he looked at the stone table and benches in the courtyard. The little bit of dust on them from before was long gone, and they had been wiped so clean that they had a slight sheen.
"This is immortal art. It's not just for flying and killing." Li Yan's curiosity about immortal arts grew even stronger. When he turned his head again, Lin Daqiao had already stepped into the middle room. He quickly followed.
This was a room about five or six zhang wide, very spacious. There was a bamboo table with a tea set on it, a few tall bamboo chairs, and the four walls were a pale green-white color, without any decorations hanging on them. Two large bamboo windows were opened to the outside. It was extremely simple.
"This is the living room. The layout of the other rooms is also simple, basically just a bed, a meditation cushion, and the like. We cultivators don't have high requirements for worldly possessions, especially Master, who doesn't like those luxurious things, hehe," Lin Daqiao said, pulling a chair and sitting down.
Meanwhile, in a room in another bamboo courtyard ten or twenty li away in this bamboo forest, a young man and woman were talking. "This new disciple of yours is not honest. He's very careful in his actions. He attributed most of the blame for killing that strategist to that marshal and his junior brother. I deliberately asked a few questions, and it was obvious that he answered after thinking about it."
The beautiful woman in the white palace dress looked at the chubby young man, her large eyes blinking.
This young man and woman were the master and martial mother whom Li Yan had just paid his respects to.
"Alas, yes. From the investigation results of the disciples from Spirit Insect Peak and the investigation of his background from the subordinate sect, it should be mostly a trap he set up. He also delivered the final blow. But today, he didn't tell the truth, attributing it all to others. For a young boy to be like this... I thought about it, and it might be related to his experiences. He has become distrustful and wary of others." Wei Zhongran shook his head helplessly.
"Then how much of what he said about his cultivation is true? And how much is false? Is there something hidden, or is it all a lie?" the woman asked, blinking her beautiful eyes at her husband.
"There are probably reservations, and maybe most of it is false. But does it make a difference? It's been hundreds of millions of years. The sect has studied it for so long, generation after generation, and we still can't figure out the reason for this constitution's formation. If we used a soul-searching technique, we could get the information from his mind, but that's not the result I want. Everyone has their own opportunities. He's a mortal boy who fought for his life to get a sliver of a chance to live. Why should it be taken away by someone else? That's why I wanted to take him in. Otherwise, his fate might have been very miserable. In the future, when he feels a sense of belonging to the sect, I think he will tell us."
At this point, a bitter smile appeared on his lips. "Zhi, my dear, maybe I'm not cut out for cultivation. Master entrusted me with this huge Little Bamboo Peak, and in the end, this is how I've managed it. Seeing this child's experience, I actually felt a sense of pity. Cultivation, cultivation... I really can't take that step to sever mortal feelings. Maybe I'll never be able to form a Nascent Soul in this life."
A pair of white, soft hands slowly reached out and held the chubby hand. "That's why I like you. Because you have feelings, you have your own bottom line." The woman's eyes shimmered with tenderness. The next moment, she let out a slightly playful snort, like a mischievous young girl.
"Hmph, besides, you weren't some soft-hearted person back then either. It just depends on the person and the matter. Back then, you..." The woman rested her chin on her other hand, seeming to be lost in memory.