Arrival, Shocking Everyone

"Yes. Matters of the mountain gate mustn't be neglected, so Senior Brother should leave first. We'll drink and talk when there's a chance another day."

"Until we meet again, Senior Brother." The other party cupped his hands, and Lu Qing returned the salute.

Chen Sheng gave him a complicated look, then turned into a streak of light and departed Spirit Terrace County.

With the new resident cultivator having arrived, it would be improper for the old one to remain.

One didn't slap a smiling face. As for what this place was truly like, Lu Qing couldn't care less. So long as it could meet its annual quota, he had no desire to meddle in trivial matters.

Lu Qing looked toward the people of the four great families.

Their expressions were stunned, but they quickly stepped forward to salute him, smiling broadly. "Welcome, Immortal Practitioner."

"No need for such ceremony."

This newly arrived Immortal Practitioner had an abyss-deep aura, yet his demeanor was mild.

Yet the Spiritual Power he used merely to lift them stirred alarm in their hearts.

They were raised without the slightest ability to resist.

For a moment, their eyes were filled with shock and lingering fear.

That simple gesture of lifting them had made them feel as though their entire bodies and minds were under his control.

Had it been a moment of battle, they feared they would already be dead without even a corpse left behind.

That one move made them understand completely.

This Immortal Practitioner before them was absolutely more highly cultivated than they were.

Thinking of Chen Sheng's expression earlier—

The four family heads couldn't help exchanging glances, seeing traces of shock and reverence in one another's eyes.

In the cultivation world, the strong were revered.

Young age and youth—none of those labels could be applied to this newly arrived resident Immortal Practitioner.

Lu Qing had no interest in that authority.

At the banquet prepared for him, he merely took a shallow sip of clear tea.

It was a perfectly good banquet, yet the atmosphere was hardly lively.

The few of them listed Spirit Terrace County's resources one by one.

"How should we address you, my lord?"

"My name is Lu Qing."

"Immortal Master Lu, then what about the previous arrangements?" someone asked doubtfully.

"Mm. Keep doing things as before from now on."

Lu Qing's expression remained calm. Hearing his voice, no one could tell whether this young Immortal Practitioner had truly taken their words to heart.

"Take me to where Senior Brother Chen cultivated before."

Just a few sparse sentences revealed this Immortal Practitioner's indifferent temperament. As expected of a disciple of an Immortal Practitioner sect, he had no interest in worldly power or wealth.

That was quite good.

That was what many people thought.

The Zhao Clan head smiled faintly. "Immortal Master, this way, please."

He thought Lu Qing intended to move in there.

Yet he didn't know that although Lu Qing had only just arrived, he wasn't entirely ignorant of Spirit Terrace County.

For a resident cultivator, the most important duty was actually vigilance—guarding against demonic beasts attacking the city.

Demonic beasts usually dwelled in deep mountains and ancient forests.

The flesh, blood, and Divine Souls of cultivators were rare delicacies to them.

Lu Qing flicked his sleeve, as though the stars had shifted and the heavens had turned.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the place Chen Sheng had previously guarded.

Seeing such a method, many were both shocked and delighted. With this Immortal Practitioner here, their safety would rise greatly.

Lu Qing looked at the elegant, weighty residence before him, its wealth and splendor pressing toward the eye.

Yet without stepping inside, Lu Qing's brows furrowed slightly.

The others brought along with him saw this, their hearts jolting as they recalled whether they had offended Immortal Master Lu anywhere.

"Immortal Master, what kind of residence do you require?"

Someone with sharper eyes quickly guessed at his thoughts.

Lu Qing had no objection to the manor itself, but this location was too bustling and too conspicuous. It didn't suit the low-profile cultivation he intended to undertake next.

Not to mention that the several formations he had purchased before leaving the mountain gate would inevitably attract the attention of interested parties if set up here.

Though in a place like this, Foundation Establishment cultivators were already illustrious great cultivators, and Purple Mansion Realm or Core Formation cultivators would likely only be encountered in a prefectural capital.

But in the cultivation world, accidents were the most common thing of all.

"This place doesn't suit me. I heard there are mountain residences on Spirit Terrace Mountain?"

The Bai Clan's county magistrate at the side immediately said, "Indeed. If Immortal Master requires one, why not let the Bai Clan disciples renovate it once more?"

The other three looked at the Bai Clan man with unreadable expressions.

"Mm, that will do."

Another day passed in the blink of an eye.

When cultivators joined forces, their speed was unimaginable.

In just one day—

On one of Spirit Terrace Mountain's peaks, a courtyard had already risen into existence.

The courtyard held a world within it. Koi swam through clear waters, strange rocks formed artificial hills, and behind it stood a vast grove of green bamboo, an expanse of jade-green tranquil elegance.

After moving in, Lu Qing didn't need them to set up any formations.

And he didn't trust others with such matters either.

Mountain peaks and great mountains were the most suitable terrain for the Cloud Mist Formation he had brought from the mountain gate.

He raised his hand, the formation disk floating roughly three inches above his palm.

Then streams of Spiritual Power flowed from his fingers. Countless formation patterns connected through the formation disk and his Spiritual Power. With a grasp, wisps of white mist that had originally drifted through the mountains instantly surged forth layer upon layer.

Clouds and mist rose from the deep mountains.

At a high platform within Spirit Terrace County, many people were extremely curious about the Immortal Practitioner who had arrived yesterday.

When they saw layers of rolling clouds and mist suddenly appear around that graceful mountain peak, seeming to connect with the vault of heaven, vast and boundless—

It blocked their sight, and it blocked Divine Consciousness as well.

"What a formidable formation. It looks utterly natural."

Someone stared at the stretching clouds and mist with bright eyes, praising them endlessly.

Lu Qing did not stop his alterations.

The Cloud Mist Formation wasn't only for concealment; it also possessed the power to attack.

With a thought from Lu Qing, the original Cloud Mist Formation continued expanding outward.

At the peak of the mountain, clouds and mist stretched endlessly.

Within the mountain, everything appeared unchanged.

But so long as someone approached, they would unconsciously wander in circles within it before leaving from another direction.

After activating the formation, Lu Qing glanced at the courtyard again.

Having roughly guessed his preferences, they had chosen this courtyard, raised from the ground in a single day, within the bamboo grove. A babbling stream ran at its side. It was truly a secluded place for cultivation.

Lu Qing didn't have them set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation.

Instead, he raised his hand himself. With his fingers moving, a large Spirit-Gathering Formation rapidly spread outward from the center of Green Bamboo Courtyard.

The spiritual energy from all around surged madly toward this place.

In an instant, Lu Qing felt the Spirit Liquid in his Dantian rise continuously, until even the lake became a rounded Flawless Body, only then did it stop.

A flicker of delight crossed his face. So the realm he had broken through to had been stirred, and was now beginning to be tempered.

The Spirit-Gathering Formation remained active until Lu Qing sensed the limit, whereupon he withdrew the Spiritual Power he had been continuously pouring out.

Lu Qing looked at Green Bamboo Courtyard, and a faint sense of satisfaction arose in his heart. Self-reliance brought abundance; now that these formations were under his own control and had been brought into reality, even his usually calm heart couldn't help gaining a trace of joy.

Back in Spirit Terrace County, upon seeing that wall of clouds and mist, they knew it was a grand formation.

"No wonder Lord Lu didn't need us to set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation."

So he was a formation master himself.

Thinking of that, someone thought again of his cultivation.

At such an age, looking only fourteen or fifteen, he would ordinarily be considered an immature junior in many people's eyes. Yet before this Immortal Practitioner, from yesterday until now, no one had treated him as a junior.