Chương 14: New Home

It was only a few minutes later that Lin Yi and Zu Guo saw the mountain peak and its courtyard. The courtyard was located on level ground near the peak. At the front, a pathway led down and up among other peaks towards an intersection connecting the various mountain buildings, including the private and public platforms. Behind the courtyard stretched a forest further below, where small valleys opened. Water flowed between them, and they looked suitable for farming.

Lin Yi inspected the mountain peak and the distances to the private and public platforms. If I hurry on foot I may need half an hour to the private platform and another hour to the public. Lin Yi thought as he looked back in astonishment at the mountain peak and asked his senior brother a question he already knew the answer to.

"This is all for me, senior brother?" Zu Guo laughed lightly and replied.

"Hahaha, don't be surprised, junior brother. The Scripture Pavilion is not unpopular because of their housing, but because we don't pay well." He shook his head.

"In other divisions, there are many chances to gather more resources, to which the elders turn a blind eye. At the spiritual farms, you might take some surplus of their yield. In the alchemy valley, being bestowed inferior pills is the norm, and in the artifact division you keep leftover materials."

"These are just the obvious cases. In nearly every division, there are some ways to profit more." Lin Yi nodded and added.

"Only, in our division there are strict rules about who can access what." Zu Guo affirmed his words.

"Yes, any kind of immortal art is precious. There are strict requirements for who can look up what and the prices to borrow them."

"The only benefit is that we are near the source and can browse through all the free texts easily." He waved his hand over the mountain peak.

"Except our dwelling, that is. As I already said, because we are so few disciples, each of us lives on an independent peak, and we can set it up as we want."

"You can fell down the forest's trees or raise spirit beasts. In the valleys you can plant spiritual crops or even herbs. However, only the courtyard is protected by the formations. Either you set up your own formations, which is expensive, or plant the more precious herbs and move the better spiritual beasts into it."

"It has enough room after all." Indeed, as Lin Yi looked over the courtyard, he saw how massive it was. The building was even bigger than the courtyard in the Valley of Immortal Seedlings. It seemed intended for multiple whole apartments, not just simple living quarters. Which was logical. Proper cultivators who explored the immortal dao needed more than a single room. Many would dabble in various branches of the hundred arts.

Exploring and experimenting would require not just space but also a sturdy enough environment. The courtyard definitely looked like it could promise this. Not to mention the big inner garden. With the formation active, he couldn't look into it, but speculating from the size of the building, Lin Yi had enough space for anything he had currently in mind. Zu Guo controlled the flying boat into a descent, and they got off. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Before Lin Yi could open the courtyard, Zu Guo addressed him.

"I leave you here, Junior Brother Lin. The first time entering one's own cultivation abode is quite a special moment, and I wouldn't disturb you. Unless you still need my help? Lin Yi shook his head and bowed slightly.

"No, senior brother. Thank you for all the help!" Zu Guo smiled and bade farewell.

"Then, junior brother. Have a good day. If you need a ride and I'm free, let me know. It is much less expensive that way. You can find my contact in your sect tag, along with the other disciples of our division." With a wave of his hand, he entered the flying boat again and vanished into the distance. Lin Yi knew what he meant. Firstly, if a disciple wanted to go to another division, the journey would be long. Crimson Palace Stage cultivators had it easier.

Many immortal arts, such as riding clouds and wind, and elemental escape techniques, did exist. But Golden Cauldron cultivators had no magical power to fuel the spells. They could only ask a senior disciple to bring them along or pay the transportation division for a ride. Secondly, every disciple in the same division was contactable through the sect's communication system. This was mostly done for convenience.

If someone wants to contact disciples of another division, they either need to send a message request to the division or exchange information in person. Lin Yi turned back towards his new courtyard. His spirituality reached towards his sect plate where the formation key was placed. With a thought, he activated the key, and a connection formed between it and the courtyard's formation. Several kinds of information appeared in the sect plate.

They were instructions and functions for operating the formation and detailing its abilities. The courtyard was directly connected to a branch of the second-grade Spirit Vein that ran through the East River Mountain Range. This allowed the formation to operate automatically without the need for external resources. Only in the worst-case scenario, when the formation was pushed to its limit, the Spirit Vein branch would not suffice.

But this was unlikely, as the grand formation of the sect would already have been breached by outside forces, and enemies would have appeared on this peak, or Lin Yi would have made an internal enemy within or of the sect. The functions of the formation were relatively manageable. It had a Spiritual Qi Gathering Formation, which, as its name suggested, could gather the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth and store it.

A Hidden Spirit Formation, which prevented spying on and into the courtyard from all mortal and immortal techniques. At least, to a certain degree. Lin Yi experienced this firsthand earlier. Another sub-formation was the Courtyard Defense Formation, a defensive formation developed specifically for courtyards. Lin Yi could even control the formation so that it strengthens the defense of individual rooms.

Furthermore, there were other functions, like the opening, closing, and locking of doors, and even communicating with the sect if one's sect plate was unavailable. Using this mentioned function, Lin Yi opened the front door, or, to be more precise, the double-door front gate. Stepping into the courtyard, he had direct sight towards the grand garden. It was truly enormous, with an open pavilion at its center and a stone path leading towards the building, branching off to divide the garden into several areas.

I think my idea for raising spirit bees can be implemented here. Lin Yi thought. He would need to check the immortal texts at the Scripture Pavilion on how to raise them properly and, if they weren't public, likely even purchase an immortal art for insect taming, but the cost and effort put into this project would yield more in return. While it may take a while, raw spirit honey was not just a supplement for spiritual tea and alchemy. If eaten directly, it could boost one's Essence and Qi refinement.

He gazed back towards the pavilion at the garden's center. From the information he gained recently, he knew that the pavilion was the core of the courtyard's formation and densest point of Spiritual Qi. His future cultivation was to be done there. Like the courtyard as a whole, the open building had sub-formations for veiling, protection, Qi gathering, and communication. Lin Yi wandered through the courtyard and inspected the different rooms, or better to say converted apartments.

Some had supposed usages, like the kitchen, storage rooms, bedroom, and the bath. While Lin Yi, from a modern perspective, called it a bath, it was more like a room centered on the use of medical baths. The bedroom had only a simple bed and a wardrobe, while the kitchen had special magic tools for cooking, and the storage rooms had formations to sustain their contents longer. Other rooms were empty of any pre-installed furniture, but a few had signs of previous use. In one room, the floor was even scorched.

Likely someone practiced alchemy or artifact refinement. I can use the room for the same purpose once I reach a higher level of cultivation. Lin Yi thought. He returned to the entrance in his courtyard, closed and locked the front gate, and turned to the garden again. He felt excitement and some trepidation as his gaze wandered around his new home. In the next few decades, he would live here and tread upon the immortal dao in this courtyard.

He didn't know what the future promised, but he knew that as long as he stayed true to his heart, he would have no regrets even if he fell on the path of cultivation. After some time, he let out a sigh and accessed his sect plate to check the time. Nodding, he saw that the night was not as near as he thought. Lin Yi walked towards the open pavilion and prepared himself for another session of cultivation. He had an inkling that he might advance another step today.