Chương 71: A New Home by the Lake

Descending into the lowland along the path, An realized that the only inhabitants left here were wild small spirit beasts. The moment he approached the first plot, he saw small colorful heads, very similar to cats with long rabbit ears, that popped out of the bushes everywhere. Only upon seeing the frightening man and the huge feathered ball, all the beasts dove back into the bushes and scattered around, squeaking like mice passing information along the chain to each other.

Passing by intact but faded and dry houses and abandoned servant plots, he felt no presence of anything living inside. Walking farther, past the disciple plots, he was surprised that the formations on most of them were simply absent, also abandoned to be ravaged by time, like all the other structures around. Only a few of the plots had intact formations, but again by their appearance it was clear that there was nothing and no one inside them.

Slowly walking along the central wide sandy road, An reached the end of the village and stopped before a plot, built partially on the adjacent lake, which was a pool fed by the nearby river. Approaching the formation, he took out his plaque and left his mark on the formation.

"Don't fall behind." Turning his head sideways, he hurried Baldi, who was running beside him, closely examining everything around. Entering the formation and passing through the arch without any gates, he found himself before a huge two-story mansion. Everything was made of wood, in light, soft yellow and brown tones, with a red tiled roof. The mansion itself stood on a grey stone-paved floor, which covered almost the entire front part of the plot.

An stood and looked at the window shutters overgrown with vines and cobwebs, at the faded floor around the mansion and its roof, at the dried-up wooden panels that made up the walls of the house. Shaking his head, he understood that this plot had only survived thanks to the constantly active formation, otherwise, it would be no different from the houses and plots that filled this abandoned and forgotten village.

Entering the mansion, he counted more than ten spacious rooms and the master bedroom, with a bed that could fit more than ten people. After walking through all the rooms, he found nothing interesting, and approached the door leading to the back of the plot. Pushing the door open, he immediately turned his attention to a small wooden pier leading to a pergola right on the lake shore. On the right and left sides of the back part of the plot, stood structures, very similar to small storage sheds.

Almost at the water's edge stood a stone well. Stepping outside, he first approached the well and looked inside, but he was disappointed as it was completely filled in, only the upper stonework remained in place.

"I think you'll be perfect as a new stove." Without thinking long, he activated his Qi and enveloped the well. The rooster running nearby, hearing his muttering, began nodding his head, fully agreeing with him. Lifting the well into the air, An moved it closer to the shore, slightly to the side of the pier, with direct access to the water. After installing it, he narrowed it slightly, removing a few boulders.

Only after finishing, Baldi immediately jumped onto the new stove, and, staring intently, began checking if everything was in order. After a thorough inspection, making sure the new stove satisfied him, Baldi turned his head to An and began clucking. Almost rolling his eyes, An took out the fishing rod from his pouch and threw it to the rooster. Catching it with his wings, the bird immediately rushed to the shore.

Standing on the shore and watching for a bit, he headed straight for the roofless pergola on the water. Stepping onto the pier, he hadn't expected the structure to still be so sturdy, not even making a single creak. Slowly, he headed toward the pergola, walking along the bridge connecting the two structures, he looked into the crystal-clear water and saw many different kinds of life, from small crustaceans to huge fish, two to three meters long, and this was only the shore of this lake.' Ho!

If such fish live in the shallows, then what lives in the very center.' Just the thought of catching some kind of water dragon began to stir his blood. Even though he had never been a fan of fishing in his first life, having found himself here and tried it, he had truly come to love it, realizing that it was very distracting and relaxing.

"Baldi! Don't cast too far, start by the shore first!" Shouting, he saw out of the corner of his eye that the fish had grown so unaccustomed to danger from outside the water that they didn't even react to loud sounds." Cluck! Bak!" Digging the ground in search of bait, Baldi raised his head and after nodding a few times, continued digging.' I think this will become my new favorite spot!'

Finally reaching the pergola, made of two layers: the lower one, a huge stone pillar driven into the bottom of the pond, and the upper one, a platform covered in soft but dense wood. Standing in the middle of the structure, he immediately fell in love with the view before him: in front was a large lake, beyond which lay forests and mountains, with the blazing sun setting behind them. Around the structure, many water-lily-like plants had settled, becoming home to many small beasts, both aquatic and not.

Standing for some time, admiring the view, he took out the pillow he had taken from the master bedroom of his new mansion from his pouch, and placed it at the edge of the pergola. Sitting on it under the setting sun, he began his first cultivation cycle as an inner disciple. …. On the peak of a mountain, right between the dense clouds and the black starry sky, a small and cozy balcony was situated. In its center stood a handcrafted table with many elegant engravings.

Several people sat at the table, drinking something resembling juice from neat and miniature cups. All these people were the Leaders of their own Sects. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"The Sacred Land of Devil Bo is finally opening! In just two months, we'll be able to explore those lands." The Leader of the Heavenly Soul Sect, Gu Bai, turned to the others at the table.

"How did the Demonic Alliance react?" Wu Xin, the Head of the Primordial Purity Sect, the only woman among them, with her face covered by a veil, held a folded fan in her hand.

"How could they react, when we Four Sects threatened to attack one of them simultaneously! Even an idiot would understand the danger of such a statement!" Wei Leo, the Head of the Five Sacred Lives Sect, spun and examined a ceramic mask in his hands." Hahaha! Gu Bai's plan is, as always, top-notch! By the way, brother... are you ready to send your new disciple?" Black Marcus, the Head of the White Dragon Sect, struck his chest with such a clang that the trees around lost a good amount of their petals." Oh?

The one who finally managed to find the last part of the inheritance within the territory of the Beast Lands?" Wu Xin, putting away her fan, ran her hand along the edge of the cup, raising a drop of juice to her fingertip.

"He will become one of the main targets inside the Sacred Land, but that's a reasonable price for the privilege of having essentially a ticket to the very center of Devil Bo's tomb!" Gu Bai only nodded.

"Sister Wu is right. He's one of the three disciples from our side who managed to obtain a partial inheritance of Devil Bo, or as we know him, the First Devil." Wei Leo turned the mask toward himself and began tracing hieroglyphs on it with his finger.

"Correct, even though we only have three inheritors among our Sects, the Demonic Alliance has seven, and those are only the ones we know of, through our many spies..." Gu Bai raised the cup and took a small sip.

"It's going to be a slaughter..." Wu Xin shook her head.

"Knowing this, are you really ready to send your new disciple? What's his name, Ma Fan or..." She looked Gu Bai in the eyes.

"Mo Fan, that's his name. And yes, I'm ready to send him into this hell-hole. The risk justifies the gain, besides, I believe in him." Gu Bai turned his head and threw his gaze through the thick clouds, toward the Outer Floating Island." Heh! Brother Gu! It's been a long time since I've seen you so confident in anything! Haha!" Black Marcus, as always, began to gloat with laughter.

"What about you, Marcus? Your new junior brother... I heard your master decided to send him too. Hehe!" Wu Xin suddenly asked, looking at Marcus whose face was becoming more and more dragon-like." Eh, Sister Wu, you're right. My master said that this opportunity could be a good way to gain experience..." As his smile faded, Marcus suddenly sighed heavily.

"Experience is good, if you're still alive..." Wei Leo's face suddenly took on a grim smile.

"That's why we're sending hundreds of disciples, who will shield with their bodies the important and necessary inheritors of our Sects..." Wei Leo continued and placed the mask on the table, having finished covering it with ink from his very fingernail.

"Brother Wei is right." Marcus nodded and glanced with furrowed brows at the mask, specifically at the runes on it.

"Then we begin preparations. We need at least a few hundred people from each Sect. That way, you'll have a better chance of reaching the real inheritance, and besides, the more disciples we allocate, the greater the chance that someone will return with something worthwhile." Gu Bai waved his sleeve and stood up from the table, walking to the balcony's railing. All three exchanged glances. Immediately, their bodies began to sparkle, and a moment later, small wooden dolls appeared in their places. ….'

The First Step of Body and Qi pills is starting to lose its effect on me... The cultivation cycle has increased to fifty minutes, whereas at the beginning it was only eight… And instead of a double daily effect, I'm only getting a forty percent boost.' Lying on his back, recovering his mind after the strain of cultivation, An held a flask with several pills above himself.' I think it's time to develop a second-rank pill recipe specifically for myself.

Several drafts have long been formed in my head, I have all the necessary ingredients, all that remains is time and patience...' Clenching the flask, he placed it on a small half-meter shelf resembling a nightstand, which he had found in one of the rooms inside the mansion and eventually installed on the pergola. Placing the flask next to the others, he stood up and walked to the new stove, where Baldi was already sitting and cooking a huge three-meter catfish." Bok-bok!"

Seeing the human approaching him, the rooster, with joy anticipating the meat, rubbed his wings together, barely holding himself back from pouncing on the still sizzling pieces.' Oh, I completely forgot, I need to transfer all the spirit plants I dug up from my previous plot into the soil here. I also need to prepare a place for wine storage and production.' Thinking about wine, he looked at the two storage sheds standing not far from him. Crunch!

Lowering his gaze, he saw Baldi using his beak to tear off pieces of fried meat from the fish, and with greedy eyes devouring it, occasionally sucking in cold air to avoid burning himself.' Hmm, why not make a pill similar to Eternal Ice for the production shed? The brochure indicated that alcohol was best made in a warm room.' Crunch! Reaching for the fish, An tore off a large piece of meat with his bare hands, along with the skin and bones; putting it into his mouth, he began chewing everything together." Cluck…"

The rooster rolled his eyes at how this strange man easily ate bones as thick as human fingers and skin as thick as tree bark. With irritation, but mostly envy, the rooster continued to carefully gnaw on the piece of fish in his wings, carefully tearing out only the meat and trying not to burn himself.

"I was thinking of naming the new pill Eternal Fire. What do you think?" Chewing, An muttered while looking at the bird. Ignoring him, Baldi continued eating the fish..." Bok…" Lying on his back, unable to even move from his bloated belly, Baldi could only make sounds from his unclosing beak. Standing up and dusting off his hands, An snapped his fingers, and the remains of the fish were enveloped in Fire Qi. In just moments, all the remains turned to ash and scattered with the wind.

Approaching the first storage shed, he began to check it. Making sure everything was fine, he took out a flask covered in ice from his pouch, inside which lay a completely white pill. Taking out the pill, he enveloped it in his Qi and buried it under the floor, several dozen centimeters underground. Immediately, the entire floor and the bases of the walls were covered in a layer of ice, and the upper parts of the walls and ceiling in frost.

After checking everything, he began taking out the bottles of monkey wine and arranging them in rows. Having laid everything out, he took out one bottle of his own wine and placed it slightly apart from the others. After checking everything once more and making sure everything was in order, he left and closed the door. Walking just a few steps, he entered the other storage shed, which he decided to use as a room for wine production.

Opening the door and looking inside, it turned out that both sheds were identical, each was only a five-square-meter area. Without any frills, they consisted of only four walls, a roof, and a door. Seeing that there were many forgotten things in this shed, he activated his Qi, and converting it to Fire Qi, he started a controlled fire. Raising the temperature to several thousand degrees, he destroyed even the metal tools inside this shack.

After everything had burned, he waved his hand, and all the ash flew out along with the smoke. Taking his pouch in his hands, he began laying out a huge number of bottles and several large barrels, which he had managed to buy on the central street of the Abodes. Placing next to all this a wooden box filled with corks, he left and closed the door.' Now all that remains is to come up with the recipe for the Eternal Fire pill, and I'll be able to make wine! Ugh!'

With a smile on his face, he pushed off and began to hover toward the pergola without any technique, relying only on his Qi.