Chapter Twenty-Six: The Return Journey

For three consecutive days, the men of Chen Yulou and Luo Laowai worked with feverish intensity. A constant stream of treasures was hauled up from the bottom of the ravine, leaving Luo Laowai grinning from ear to ear.

Though the men were exhausted, the sight of one treasure after another emerging from the mist gave them a seemingly endless supply of strength.

Lu Yan paid no heed to this, remaining seated on a distant bluestone in meditation, hoping to bring his state to its peak before consuming the precious elixir to advance his cultivation.

The others looked toward Lu Yan with awe, even softening their footsteps whenever they passed him from afar.

Two days prior, the carcass of the Six-Winged Centipede had already been hauled up. Upon learning that such a terrifying monster had been slain by Lu Yan, the men were filled with nothing but reverence for him.

Bottle Mountain was home to three great perils: the Six-Winged Centipede, the White Ape, and the Corpse King of Western Hunan. With the centipede now dead, the Corpse King and the White Ape remained unaccounted for.

Though a bit regretful, Lu Yan was on the verge of a breakthrough and had no desire to delay any longer at Bottle Mountain.

"Master, the goods are mostly cleared out. We can leave now."

Chen Yulou was indeed gifted; under Lu Yan's personal guidance over the past three days, he had already mastered the basics of meditation.

"Then let us go."

Lu Yan opened his eyes and, noticing that Chen Yulou's spirit and vitality were completely transformed from before, nodded in satisfaction.

With the return of the Xieling men, news of the events at Bottle Mountain quickly spread throughout the underworld.

"Hey, have you heard? The Xieling crew struck gold at Bottle Mountain. Their transport wagons were so heavy they sank the road by three inches."

"That's nothing! A brother of mine works for Luo Laowai; I heard that since returning, Luo has taken eight concubines, and even the bridal sedan chairs were made of solid gold."

"You're both wrong. My neighbor's cousin's brother-in-law is a local from Bottle Mountain. They say the mountain is built with walls of gold and floors of jade. The Xieling men just pried up a few floor tiles and made a fortune."

Rumors stop with the wise, but the denizens of the underworld were mostly uneducated. They blew Bottle Mountain up into a second San Francisco, and one after another, they swarmed toward the site.

Even the local warlords, hearing that a scoundrel like Luo Laowai had struck it rich, were green with envy. Feeling cheated, they dispatched troops to grab a share of the spoils.

However, the dangers of Bottle Mountain were unfathomable. If not for Lu Yan's assistance, Chen Yulou and his men would have suffered heavy losses in the original timeline; how could these greedy bandits and warlords hope to conquer it?

The first to arrive was the gang led by Liu the Pockmarked, a notorious local horse bandit. His men were elite and well-equipped. After kidnapping a guide and following Chen Yulou's route down the ravine, they were dissolved into yellow sludge by centipede venom the moment they reached the underground palace.

The subsequent groups, having learned this lesson, chose a different path, only to meet a worse fate. They encountered the White Ape and the Corpse King of Western Hunan; hundreds went in standing tall, but only a dozen fled, their wits scared out of them.

Several warlords who had just finished a campaign grew desperate. Like Luo Laowai before them, they chose to blast the mountain, riddling Bottle Mountain with thousands of pounds of explosives.

Seeing no results, Commander Long—who held the greatest grudge against Luo Laowai—dragged in a famous feng shui master to locate the barbican. The group was overjoyed, only to perish under the traps hidden within.

Once the news spread, the mere mention of Bottle Mountain made the underworld tremble, and they held the methods of Ever-Victorious Mountain's leader, Chen Yulou, in even higher esteem.

Yet, Chen Yulou, the center of everyone's attention, was currently pacing back and forth in the main hall, consumed by anxiety.

"Why hasn't Master come out yet?"

Chen Yulou glanced toward the direction of Lu Yan's seclusion, his folding fan tapping rhythmically against his palm, his expression restless.

"What day is it today?"

Chen Yulou looked at Red Maiden behind him and asked urgently.

"The fifteenth day."

Red Maiden was spinning a throwing knife in her hand. With one foot propped on a chair, she suddenly turned and flicked the blade.

Hua Maguai, who had just walked in, saw the knife fly past his head and couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat. He walked over tremblingly and urged, "My dear lady, I know you're anxious, but don't take it out on me."

He then reported to Chen Yulou, "Chief, a portion of the goods has been sold, and the grain we received is enough for the refugees. As for the rest, if we don't want the price to drop, we'll have to sell it slowly."

Chen Yulou waved his hand impatiently. "I'm in no mood to hear this. You handle it."

Hua Maguai helplessly put down the ledger and said sheepishly, "Old Master Chen wants to see you."

Chen Yulou frowned, then nodded. "Very well."

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Chen Yulou saw the old man sitting in a recliner, his ever-present opium pipe in hand.

"Father."

"Hmm. Your master still hasn't come out?"

Chen Yulou nodded anxiously. "Not yet. I am deeply worried about this."

Old Master Chen tapped his pipe against the leg of the table, squinting at Chen Yulou. "Your master is a man of true ability. He helped this old bag of bones recover the moment he arrived, which shows he truly treats you as his disciple. It is only right that you are concerned."

"But since you have taken up the mantle of the Ever-Victorious leader, you must be more mindful. Do not let personal matters interfere with your duties."

"Your master does not seem like a reckless man. Since he has gone into seclusion, he must be confident. You need not worry so much."

"Our Chen family has operated in the Xiangyin region for many years, neither rising nor falling. You have encountered a great opportunity this time; you must seize it well. Treating your teacher as a father is the bare minimum, and you must practice the skills he taught you diligently. Do you understand?"

Listening to his father's earnest instruction, Chen Yulou's restless heart finally calmed. He nodded. "I understand, Father."

"Then go."

"Maguai, put in more effort and assist him."

Old Master Chen waved his pipe and turned to give instructions to Hua Maguai, who was standing behind him.

"Yes, Master."

Hua Maguai bowed in response.

Elsewhere, in a sealed chamber, Lu Yan sat cross-legged on a stone bed. The precious elixir in his mouth grew smaller and smaller, yet the aura emanating from his body surged ever stronger.

Within his sea of consciousness, a complex magic array rotated slowly, radiating a glow of purple and crimson.

What Lu Yan was doing now was using this array as a foundation, employing his mental power to guide his magic in carving a second layer. This task was incredibly taxing; had it not been for the continuous medicinal support of the elixir, Lu Yan feared he would have been unable to sustain it.

After fifteen days and nights of ceaseless carving, only a single corner remained to complete the second layer. Sweat beaded on Lu Yan's forehead. His spirit had reached its limit, yet he gritted his teeth and pressed on.

The magic arrays inscribed within a wizard's mind were immensely complex, shifting constantly with the fluctuations of mental energy. A wizard had to accumulate vast knowledge to handle these variations in order to succeed.

The situation Lu Yan faced was even more arduous; not only was the second layer shifting on its own, but it was also constantly at risk of being pulled by the first. Lu Yan had to maintain absolute mental focus at every moment to respond to the slightest change.

At this critical juncture, Lu Yan swallowed the remainder of the elixir, stimulating its final reserves of power as the tomoe in his eyes rapidly spun into a Mangekyo.

Leveraging the formidable control of the Mangekyo Sharingan, Lu Yan's mental power danced through the arrays like a butterfly among flowers, filling in the final corner of the formation.

"Done."

The two layers of the array within Lu Yan's sea of consciousness resonated with one another, spinning rapidly in tandem as a vast amount of heaven and earth essence and spiritual energy were drawn in, replenishing his depleted mental power and magic.