Choosing a Site for the Formation and Building a Tower (Please Follow, Please Bookmark)

Thousand Wood Temple's Inner Sect...

After years of development, the Inner Sect had formed a well-arranged complex of buildings halfway up the mountain. Going west from the Inner Sect and around a bamboo grove led to Daoist Yucheng's residence, while continuing straight toward the summit led to Wang Ping's small courtyard.

The Inner Sect's scattered building complex was divided into the Inner Court, Pill Court, Martial Arts Academy, Artifact Court, and Discipline Hall, respectively overseeing Thousand Wood Temple's Internal Affairs, pills and Spirit Fields, cultivation, artifact refinement, and the rewarding of good and punishment of evil.

The Inner Court was a three-story pavilion located at the very center. The Martial Arts Academy stood east of it, right beside the Inner Court. The Discipline Hall lay west of the Inner Court, a single-story courtyard. The Pill Court was farther west beyond the bamboo grove, situated amid a Spirit Field. The Artifact Court had only recently been established atop an eastern cliff, where it could use the fierce winds of the mountain ravine to guide Earth Fire.

At this moment, behind the Inner Court and along the eastern edge of the bamboo grove, Daoist Yucheng and the visiting Daoist Gu Heng each held a Feng Shui Compass and measured the area with full concentration.

"Right here—the place where yin and yang converge most clearly. It is also a Feng Shui treasure ground." Standing atop a Green Stone, Gu Heng looked at Yucheng and said, "I hope it truly succeeds!"

Since Wang Ping intended to set up the Yin-Yang Body Tempering Grand Formation, he naturally had to inform Daoist Yucheng first. The very next day, Daoist Yucheng had summoned Gu Heng to survey the Feng Shui.

"You do not seem very optimistic?" Daoist Yucheng asked.

"We have to give it a try. Though it is rather costly... then again, you people do not seem short on money anymore. Say, were those Power Pills sold these past few years really something your Disciple comprehended from the ruins in Shu County?"

"You went to see them?"

"Yes. They were things left behind by the ancient Demon Race. Just translating the words on them would take decades. Why would I bother?" Gu Heng casually flicked his Sleeve Robe, then said, "Still, this thing truly makes money. The royal family is buying them up like their lives depend on it, so after I saw them, I destroyed the mural!"

"What other discoveries were there?" Daoist Yucheng asked. By "other discoveries," he meant Sanhe Temple's research into the other murals within the ruins.

"Nothing important. The only valuable mural recorded them praying to another Saint, and it seemed they even received a response." Gu Heng let out a breath.

"The Great Heavenly Venerate of the Nine Heavens from Heaven Sect?"

"Yes!"

"Can you determine the age of the ruins?"

"No..."

Daoist Yucheng nodded. The discussion about the ruins ended there. He then turned and surveyed the surroundings, casually picked up four Withered Branches, and tossed them in four directions, marking out a plot of land. He beckoned to Zhao Qing in the distance.

"Master!"

Zhao Qing walked over and respectfully bowed.

Daoist Yucheng said softly, "Build a tower within the area I marked out. Its interior must be spacious enough, and there cannot be any pillars disrupting the structure of the interior space. Can it be done?"

Zhao Qing swiftly glanced over the boundaries Daoist Yucheng had drawn. It covered more than an acre. Building a pavilion with no interior pillars would be extremely difficult, but he still agreed at once. "I will make arrangements immediately!"

"Think before you answer. Can it truly be built? This is not inviting guests to dinner!" Gu Heng warned seriously.

This time, Zhao Qing did not answer immediately. He first looked at Daoist Yucheng, thought for several breaths, then replied, "In theory, it can be done. We merely need to make the framework large enough."

There was one thing he did not say aloud: a sufficiently large framework required sufficiently large construction materials, which would have to be purchased from Hushan Kingdom. The transport costs alone would be an astronomical sum.

"Discuss the rest with your senior brother."

After saying this to Zhao Qing, Daoist Yucheng looked toward Gu Heng. The two of them tacitly transformed into streaks of light at the same time and headed toward the Back Mountain.

Half a month later.

Zhao Qing brought a carpenter to Wang Ping and gave him a detailed introduction to the pavilion that was to be built, then named a price. "It will cost at least 1.2 million taels of silver."

Wang Ping did not feel too much pain at the words, because the Fire Crystals he had bought had cost the same amount.

"Not enough silver?" He saw Zhao Qing's hesitation.

"What is the tower being built for?" Zhao Qing could not hold back the question in his heart. 1.2 million taels of silver was enough to turn Thousand Wood Temple upside down and rebuild it twice over!

"Does the silver pain your heart?" Wang Ping asked.

At that moment, Yulian woke atop the eaves. She used a Cloud Soaring Technique, flipped twice through the air, and landed on Wang Ping. Then she rested her head on the table and said within Wang Ping's Spirit Sea, "I want tea too."

Watching Wang Ping pour tea for Yulian, Zhao Qing said quietly, "Although we have made quite a lot of money these past few years, still..."

Wang Ping cut him off before he could finish. "Are you envious of Yulian's Cloud Soaring Technique? I know you are very envious. If I told you that once this tower is built, you can continue your later cultivation, would you... still think it is expensive?"

Zhao Qing froze, then stared wide-eyed. After digesting Wang Ping's words, he muttered, "Not expensive..."

"Why does he look like he is about to go mad?"

As Yulian drank tea, she spoke in Wang Ping's Spirit Sea. Her pair of Vertical Pupils curiously examined Zhao Qing, seemingly waiting for him to go mad.

"He will not go mad!"

"But his emotions have already gone mad..."

When Zhao Qing left, his steps were swift, and he looked like a child. It left Liu Shuang and Yang Ziping, who were practicing the Thousand Wood Sword Art nearby, feeling rather strange.

This pavilion was indeed extremely difficult to construct. It took a full two years to complete. The foundation alone was rammed for more than half a year, and the later construction even required the Prefectural Office of Yongshan County to conscript six hundred Laborers before it could be finished within two years.

Wang Ping's Foundation Establishment had also just entered its tenth year. His progress in gathering qi had reached (50/100), while the spiritual energy density of the forest garden had reached (52/100).

The second day of the fourth month.

After urging his two Disciples to finish Qi Refining, Wang Ping tossed the Jiaobei and performed a divination.

Approved!

A good omen.

He then walked out of the forest garden and descended the mountain...

Arriving before the completed Towering Pavilion, Wang Ping noticed that the nearby bamboo grove seemed denser than before. A flight of white jade steps had also been built before the pavilion, and two Qi practitioners of the Inner Sect guarded the entrance.

"Strange Pavilion..."

"Master chose the name. He said it was based on Feng Shui." Zhao Qing hurried over from behind.

Wang Ping nodded. Just as he was about to enter the pavilion, he seemed to sense something and looked up toward the Azure Sky. Two streaks of light approached from afar, descending beside Wang Ping in the blink of an eye.

They were Daoist Yucheng and Daoist Gu Heng.

"Come on, let this humble Daoist see whether you have been bragging!" Gu Heng urged impatiently the instant he revealed himself.

Wang Ping, however, was in no hurry. He calmly bowed to his elders, then stepped aside to let them enter first...

As the heavy doors opened with a rumble, a soothing fragrance of wood drifted into their noses. Wang Ping saw a vast, empty hall. Looking up... more than a dozen enormous crossbeams interlaced with the pavilion's main structure in mortise-and-tenon joints, dazzling the eye.

"This money... I hope it was not spent in vain!" Even Gu Heng marveled at the pavilion's delicacy and grandeur. "Judging from this structure, it must have required at least a hundred ironwood trees over three hundred years old."

"One hundred and nine!" Zhao Qing replied with some pride.

Daoist Yucheng did not continue the topic. He instructed Zhao Qing, "Bring in all the prepared materials. We will enter Secluded Cultivation here for a time. During that period, no one is to disturb us."