Azure Stone Mountain (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

The next day.

Ling Pengyun and the other five Peng Generation clansmen gathered at the General Affairs Hall. After collecting the Vein Protection Formation Control Array Disk for the spirit veins they were each to guard, five Tier 1 Middle Grade Spirit Talismans, one Tier 1 High Grade Thousand Mile Communication Talisman, the spirit plant seeds they would need to plant over the coming year, half a year's salary, and spare spirit stones for activating the Vein Protection Formation at their assigned spirit veins, they were ready to depart.

Afterward, Ling Ruda carefully instructed them in turn not to forget the descriptions of the Cultivation World's cruelty that they had learned in the Clan School as children; not to trust independent cultivators from outside lightly; not to leave their assigned spirit mountains without cause; not to underestimate their enemies in battle...

"Furthermore, the five spirit veins you will be guarding are territory the clan has only recently opened up. There may well be Demon Beasts nearby that slipped through the net and were not cleared out by the clan. Moreover, our An Yang County lies close to Serpent Dragon Lake, three hundred thousand li away, with only Huai River Market Town between us. In ordinary times, quite a few Demon Beasts are bound to sneak into clan territory. You must be careful while standing guard. Do not begrudge using the spirit talismans the clan has given you. If you cannot defeat an enemy, send word promptly and seek support! ..."

Ling Ruda was deeply worried about these five young Peng Generation clansmen. Afraid that they might meet with some mishap outside and lose their lives, he instructed them at length before finally letting them leave.

The five spirit veins Ling Pengyun and the others were to guard were actually not far apart. They all lay in the same direction, so they traveled together.

It was precisely because these five spirit veins were located close together that the clan had seized them back from the Demon Beasts during the same period.

The First Grade Middle Rank Spirit Vein Ling Pengyun was assigned to guard had been named Azure Stone Mountain by the clan.

Azure Stone Mountain lay more than two thousand li from Lingxiao Mountain. It was also the farthest of this batch of low-grade spirit mountains requiring guards, located at the border of An Yang County.

Even though Ling Pengyun's Light Body Technique had reached the Minor Accomplishment Realm and allowed him to travel a thousand li a day, it still took him a full two and a half days to reach Azure Stone Mountain.

As for the other clan brothers who had left the clan mountain with him, they had all parted ways along the road.

"So this is Azure Stone Mountain? That curtain of light should be the Azure Stone Mountain Protection Formation that Eleventh Great Grandfather mentioned—the Wu Earth Two Elements Formation!"

Standing at the foot of the mountain, Ling Pengyun looked at the several-dozen-zhang-tall blue-stone mountain enveloped by a massive yellow curtain of light. A trace of surprise appeared on his face as he muttered to himself.

Azure Stone Mountain lived up to its name. The entire mountain, dozens of zhang high, was like an enormous blue stone.

Of course, there were also quite a few smaller blue stones on Azure Stone Mountain, just relatively fewer of them.

Since there was little soil on the mountain, there was not much vegetation either. Yet any vegetation that grew there flourished under the nourishment of the mountain's spiritual energy.

When Ling Pengyun spotted numerous arm-thick holes on Azure Stone Mountain, he recalled something Ling Ruda had told him.

According to Ling Ruda, before the clan occupied this mountain, it had been a snake den, home to numerous Snake Demons.

Later, the Clan Head led the clansmen in surrounding the mountain. They besieged it for several days and slaughtered the Snake Demons within until none remained.

The several hundred sizeable holes in the mountain were clearly nests dug by the Demon Snakes that had previously occupied it.

As for the curtain of light shrouding Azure Stone Mountain, it was formed by the Wu Earth Two Elements Formation, the mountain's Mountain Protection Formation.

As long as restrictions were placed into the formation, it could remain activated indefinitely without anyone controlling it, provided it had sufficient spiritual energy. The Wu Earth Two Elements Formation was currently in precisely that state.

Before coming here, Ling Ruda had already explained the situation of Azure Stone Mountain's Wu Earth Two Elements Formation to Ling Pengyun.

This formation was a Tier 1 Middle Grade offensive and defensive formation. Its formation core consisted of two First Rank High Grade magic artifacts: the Rock Earth Bell, which specialized in defense, and the Heavy Earth Thousand Catty Hammer, which specialized in attack.

The formation could draw upon not only spiritual energy, but also the power of the earth veins' Wu Earth, unleashing astonishing might.

The Rock Earth Bell's purpose was naturally to rely on the formation and manifest the curtain of light.

The Heavy Earth Thousand Catty Hammer accumulated Wu Earth power and could attack nine times in succession. The first strike carried a weight of one thousand catties, then increased by one thousand catties with each subsequent strike. By the ninth strike, it could reach the force of nine thousand catties.

The power of every strike was beyond what an ordinary Qi Training Middle Stage cultivator could withstand. The final four strikes could even threaten, or outright kill, Qi Training Late Stage cultivators.

However, the Wu Earth Two Elements Formation was ultimately only a Tier 1 Middle Grade formation, corresponding only to Qi Training Middle Stage cultivators. To unleash such power, it needed time to accumulate Wu Earth power.

It required nine years to accumulate enough Wu Earth power for the formation to reach its peak.

The reason the formation had been activated now was simple: it was mainly to prevent Demon Beasts that had luckily escaped the Ling Clan cultivators' purge nearby from being drawn here by the spiritual energy and reoccupying this mountain, thus avoiding further trouble.

Beside Azure Stone Mountain was a small lake, which Ling Pengyun named Azure Stone Lake. Its water was exceptionally clear, clear enough to see the fish swimming within.

From time to time, birds would swoop down from the sky to catch fish from the lake.

Ling Pengyun observed Azure Stone Lake closely.

"This Azure Stone Lake has no upstream tributary, only a downstream tributary for drainage. Its water only flows out and never in, yet the lake water does not diminish. It must be connected to an Underground River!"

"The water quality is quite good, and there are many fish in it. The land around the small lake is all flat and can be opened into fields for growing grain, or used to build dwellings. It is a fine place to establish a village," Ling Pengyun said after careful consideration.

Although Azure Stone Mountain had previously stood within the Ling Clan's An Yang County territory, the Demon Beasts occupying it had prevented the Ling Clan's mortal clansmen from coming here to develop it.

Now that the Demon Beasts of Azure Stone Mountain had been eliminated, the clan would soon transfer a group of Ling Clan mortal clansmen from elsewhere to reclaim this land, making use of every stretch of territory within its borders and expanding the mortal population.

Mortal clansmen would likewise be transferred to settle and reclaim land near the other four First Rank Low Grade Spirit Veins that the Ling Clan had occupied alongside Azure Stone Mountain.

Seeing that the living conditions around Azure Stone Mountain were fairly good, Ling Pengyun felt relieved. If there had been no environment around Azure Stone Mountain suitable for mortal clansmen to live in, it would have been troublesome.

They might have had to establish a village several, or even over ten, li away from Azure Stone Mountain.

If the village were attacked by Demon Beasts in the future, Ling Pengyun feared he would have difficulty providing aid in time.

Like cultivators, Demon Beasts could sense the aura of spiritual energy. Quite a number of them often crossed into human territory from barren mountains and wild ridges everywhere, or even from the vast three-hundred-thousand-li territory of Serpent Dragon Lake, devouring mortals and attacking spirit mountains.

To ensure that no Demon Beasts were lurking around Azure Stone Mountain, Ling Pengyun deliberately searched the area within half a li of the mountain with great care.

That search truly led Ling Pengyun to discover a Snake Demon in the Innate Realm.

However, before determining whether this Snake Demon had any companions, Ling Pengyun did not kill it immediately. Instead, he pressed his aura down upon it, frightening it terribly and sending it fleeing in panic.

A Snake Demon in the Innate Realm had no real intelligence and was no different from an ordinary wild beast, save that it was stronger.

Thus, once Ling Pengyun frightened it, the Snake Demon hurriedly fled. In the end, it entered an extremely concealed thicket and slipped into a deep underground hole several feet wide.