Star Peak Manor (2)

I stepped into my future estate first. As soon as I entered the main gate, a long stone bridge appeared before me. Below the stone bridge was a large man-made lake filled with aquatic plants. Around the lake were many rockeries and scattered stones. It was good, really good. The man-made lake and the long stone bridge alone were worth the price.

"Everyone, Lord Wen hired the previous Emperor to order the Imperial Guards to spend nearly a month digging this large man-made lake. It was a beautiful story in the Capital City back then, and many people wanted to buy this estate, but it was because of the back garden. I believe you already know about these things. Alas, Lord Wen really had nothing better to do. He used some formation to make an estate worth nearly a million taels sell for less than two hundred thousand taels!" the yamen runner said, explaining the history of the estate.

I was a bit puzzled. Even without the back garden, the man-made lake and the housing not far away were already worth two hundred thousand taels. Why hadn't anyone bought it? I said to the yamen runner:

"Excluding the back garden, it's already worth two hundred thousand taels. Why hasn't anyone bought it?"

"Ah! You don't know? Oh dear, it looks like I'll have to keep guarding this place!" The yamen runner immediately slumped, looking dejected.

"Don't be like that. My master said he wants to buy this estate, so you don't need to worry!" My eldest disciple was truly kind-hearted! He immediately eased the yamen runner's worries.

"Really? Is what you're saying true? Regardless, you will buy this estate?" The yamen runner was ecstatic, unable to believe it himself. It was understandable. He had gone from the mortal world to paradise outside the main gate, only to fall from paradise back to hell just now. But now he was back in paradise. Such a rollercoaster of emotions was too much for a small figure like him to handle.

"It's true. You should continue walking forward. My master and the others have already gone ahead," Li Da kindly reminded him.

"Oh, let's go, let's go." The yamen runner quickly hurried forward.

"Brother Wang, the architecture is still very good, and the overall layout is also excellent. This prince was indeed a formation enthusiast. Even the layout of the houses followed the principles of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams. Most importantly, he even connected this grand formation with the Eight Formations in the back garden, forming an unprecedented grand formation. It's truly remarkable!" I said, looking at the houses.

This Eight Formations was the formation array created by Zhuge Kongming, the chief strategist of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which had long been lost. It was divided into the Heaven Covering Formation, Earth Bearing Formation, Wind Raising Formation, Cloud Dropping Formation, Dragon Soaring Formation, Tiger Wing Formation, Bird Soaring Formation, and Snake Coiling Formation. The eight formations complemented each other, greatly increasing their power. It was precisely because of this formation that they were able to withstand the pursuit of Wang Tian, the leader of the greatest power at the time, allowing the founding emperor to make a comeback and establish the Great Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, with Zhuge Kongming's premature death, such an unparalleled grand formation disappeared. It was said that the Eight Formations Diagram was torn into eight pieces and its whereabouts were unknown. I never expected this formation to appear here.

"Young Master, because of this, out of the hundreds of rooms in the entire complex, only the outermost dozen or so are habitable. The rest of the rooms cannot even be entered. No wonder so many people have come to see this estate but no one has bought it. Who would spend two hundred thousand taels of silver to buy just these dozen or so rooms! Young Master, this grand formation has surpassed the power of the Eight Formations of that year. Do you really have the confidence to break such a formation?"

I smiled. Of course, I had a way to break it. No matter how brilliant the formations in this world were, they were still created by acquired power. Even if a master used Innate True Qi to set up the formation, with my spiritual sense after reaching the Golden Core stage, all secrets would be revealed. But how could I tell Brother Wang this? I would have to wait until Brother Wang also practiced cultivation techniques. I could only smile confidently at Brother Wang, showing my great confidence.

"Brother Wang, I've decided. Buy it for me immediately. I don't want any unexpected complications," I said to Brother Wang. I had already fallen in love with this estate and didn't want anyone to interfere at this moment.

"Yes, Young Master. I'll go and negotiate now and won't delay this matter. Young Master, you can wander around here. Ah Yu, come with me, let's go talk to the yamen officials." Brother Wang called out to Sister Yu, and they walked out together.

Alas, no one had ever entered this back garden or those rooms. I wondered if there were any treasures! As soon as I thought of this, I wanted to enter the formation to investigate. I couldn't bear my curiosity any longer. I looked at Zhang Yu and the others and said:

"You all wait here for me. I'm going in to take a look. You must not come in. Zhang Yu, you know how powerful the formations here are. Watch them for me and make sure they don't wander off. It would be bad if they got trapped inside and couldn't get out."

Zhang Yu had studied formations since he was young and was very familiar with the Eight Formations Diagram, knowing its power well. The formation array before him was much more powerful than the Eight Formations Diagram. He thought to himself: He couldn't even discern a single mystery of the formation array, yet Master was already saying he wanted to enter the formation to take a look, and he didn't seem to take the formation array seriously at all. Master was truly amazing, not only possessing formidable martial arts but also being a top expert in formations.

Ever since I revealed my transformation abilities in front of Zhang Yu, he no longer doubted any of my astonishing claims. In his heart, I was almost omnipotent. Zhang Yu looked at me and said:

"Master, you can go in and take a look with peace of mind. I will definitely watch them carefully and will not let any of them wander off."

I nodded, ignoring the pitiful gazes of Li Da and Li Er, and calmly walked into the formation array.

As soon as I entered the formation, everything around me turned white. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and my eyes were useless. I was stunned. This formation array was truly powerful. Suddenly, I felt the ground shaking, and countless amounts of soil rushed towards me, trying to bury me... I knew it was all an illusion, but I was still shocked by its realism. Although the formation array was powerful, it unfortunately encountered me. I circulated my spiritual power, and my spiritual sense began to spread outwards. In a short while, the entire formation array was under my control. Soon, I completely understood the mysteries of this formation array. Even in the Cultivation World, this formation array was quite powerful. However, the current formation array was mainly composed of Innate True Qi, so its power naturally could not be compared to formation arrays primarily composed of True Primordial Energy.

I did not destroy the formation's foundation but instead infused my True Primordial Energy into it to strengthen its power. Now, only experts in the Nascent Soul Stage could potentially break this formation.

My spiritual sense sensed the surrounding houses. Wow! There were nearly eight hundred rooms in total. I suddenly didn't know where to start searching, which was troublesome!

Suddenly, my spiritual sense detected faint fluctuations of a formation array. I was sure it wasn't a grand formation, but a formation protecting something. It was actually using a formation array to protect something, which meant it was a treasure!

Haha... I walked towards my destination triumphantly. A very ordinary room appeared before me. As I pushed open the door, which was already covered in dust, I circulated my True Primordial Energy, and a layer of energy shield immediately covered my body. Looking at the dust on the energy shield, I couldn't help but admire my foresight.

What was going on? I felt the fluctuations coming from underground, but there was no secret passage leading underground here! I searched almost every corner of the room but couldn't find a passage to the underground. I was stumped. Could my spiritual sense be wrong? How was that possible? How could spiritual sense be wrong? Unless there was a master whose cultivation surpassed mine, it was impossible to mislead me. There was definitely no one here, so what was the reason for this situation? I was confused...

"I am very pleased to be able to discuss matters with a generous person like Steward Wang. From now on, this estate belongs to Young Master Zhang Xingfeng. I shall take my leave now. If there is time in the future, I hope Steward Wang will invite me for tea and give me face." An official in a green robe said with a smile to Brother Wang, trying to build a relationship. Brother Wang, being a steward with special training from the Zhang Family, naturally knew the importance of maintaining good relations with officials.

"Lord Lin, please don't say that. I am just a commoner. If Your Lordship summons me, I will immediately come. This one thousand taels of silver is from my young master for Your Lordship's tea. We have just bought the estate today and have many arrangements to make, so I will not see Your Lordship out. I hope Your Lordship will forgive me!" Brother Wang also cared greatly for him. A thousand taels of silver just for tea? This tea was really not ordinary expensive!

Brother Wang watched the figure of Lord Lin disappear with a smile before starting to look for me to report the situation.

"My Lord, isn't his young master the Third Young Master of the Zhang Family, who was expelled from the Zhang Family, one of the Four Great Families? He is no longer a member of the Zhang Family, so why are you still so good to his steward?" An yamen runner asked Lord Lin as they walked back to the yamen.

"You don't understand this. Although this Third Young Master has nominally left the Zhang Family, he is less than seven years old this year. What great mistake do you think he could have made? Moreover, how could parents not like their own son? Do you think the head of the Zhang Family would let his beloved son suffer? They say this Third Young Master doesn't have much money, but look, as soon as he arrived in the Capital City, he bought this estate. Two hundred thousand taels! With my salary, I couldn't earn that in a hundred years. Look at the money he casually gives for tea, which is one thousand taels. That's almost my annual salary. You must understand that we can only curry favor with such people; we cannot afford to offend them. Sometimes, if they are happy, they might reward you with some silver, enough for you to use!" Lord Lin explained patiently.

The yamen runner beside him nodded like a pecking chick. This was truly golden advice! If only someone would reward me with a thousand taels of silver one day! The yamen runner secretly hoped.

"Zhang Yu, where is the Young Master? I have already bought the estate and was about to report to him. Where is the Young Master?" Brother Wang asked Zhang Yu, who was sitting on a chair. He looked strangely at Li Da and Li Er, who were standing motionlessly behind Zhang Yu with distressed expressions. Uncle Zhang suppressed a smile looking at the two lively fellows, but his eyes revealed his current thoughts.

"Brother Wang, stop looking. They wanted to enter the formation to play, which violated Master's orders, so I punished them by not allowing them to speak or move. Master has already entered the formation array, and he told us to wait outside and not to enter. You should wait here!" After speaking, Zhang Yu closed his mouth again and lowered his head to read the books about formation arrays he had brought.

Brother Wang had no choice but to sit on a chair with Sister Yu and wait for me to return. Sister Yu looked back at Li Da and Li Er, who had extremely pained expressions, and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha..."

Uncle Zhang could no longer hold back and also laughed heartily.

"Hahaha..."

The entire hall was filled with laughter, the sound echoing and lingering in the hall...

Li Da and Li Er, looking at all this, cried out in their hearts: Master, please come back soon...

.