Thirty Thousand Li Across from East to West and North to South

After a long while, Wu Chu finally shook off these wild thoughts and asked, "Yueling, just how vast is Purple Jade Mountain? Is it a thousand li across?"

"A thousand li? Calculated according to the unit of distance A Chu mentioned, it is far more than that! This was originally a small Blessed Land, spanning thirty thousand li from east to west and north to south..."

More, how much?

"Thirty thousand li?"

Though Wu Chu was shocked beyond measure, he looked as steady as an old dog on the surface. His tone was utterly flat, as though he were expressionlessly saying, "Oh, that's impressive."

Wu Chu had long guessed that the Primordial World was enormous, unimaginably so, but he had never dared believe that Purple Jade Mountain alone stretched thirty thousand li in every direction.

How vast an area was that?

More than two hundred million square kilometers!

How large was China on Earth? Only 9.6 million square kilometers.

What was Earth's total surface area? Seemingly only a little over five hundred million square kilometers! A mere small Blessed Land like Purple Jade Mountain was nearly half the size of Earth. This...

Wu Chu no longer dared imagine just how immense this Primordial World truly was.

Could it be that after undergoing those great calamities, the Primordial World had gradually shrunk until it became as small as Earth? That, that was impossible, wasn't it?

Or had the Primordial World completely collapsed after the Investiture Catastrophe due to the conflict between several Sages, shattering into countless worlds as large as Earth?

Could the cosmic starry sky containing Earth have been formed from that collapse?

Wu Chu was speechless, not knowing what to say.

But he quickly became happy again. Purple Jade Mountain could now be said to belong to them. They were super-rich landowners!

Oh! The Primordial World was too vast, so land was worthless too!

Wu Chu's emotions were like a roller coaster, rising and plunging wildly. Yet on the surface, he remained expressionless, as though none of this had anything to do with him.

Then Little Moon Spirit said, "I once heard Purple Jade Daoist say that some hidden realms exist within this greater world, each forming a world of its own. Some are even more than ten times the size of Purple Jade Mountain! By that measure, our Purple Jade Mountain is not actually that large."

By then, Wu Chu had gradually gone numb to it all.

After a long while, he suggested, "Yueling! How about we build our house on this Sacred Tree? What do you think?"

"This..." Little Moon Spirit hesitated. "Wouldn't that be disrespectful to Senior Sacred Tree?"

Wu Chu smiled. "Then we can ask the Sacred Tree for permission! Think about it: birds catch insects for trees and build nests in them, while the trees shelter them from the wind and rain. Each side gets what it needs! I carried back that bloody mud to use as fertilizer for it, and now I want to build our house on it. Isn't that also a mutually beneficial arrangement? I'll water and fertilize it in the future too!"

As Wu Chu spoke, he crouched down and patted a stump as violet as jade. "Sacred Tree, Sacred Tree, if you possess awareness and heard what I just said, then shake yourself if you agree. If you disagree, then just remain silent."

A fierce wind swept across the sky, whipping Wu Chu's long hair into a frenzy and stinging his face. Yet apart from that violent wind, everything around them remained silent.

Little Moon Spirit sighed softly. "A Chu, forget it. This is forcing the Sacred Tree into something difficult. I doubt anyone would be willing to let others casually stand on their head."

"How can this count as standing on its head? Once new buds sprout branches in the future, those new branches will be its head. This is, at most, part of its trunk." Wu Chu curled his lip and patted the stump again. "Sacred Tree! If you don't say anything, I'll take that as agreement! Don't worry. I'll definitely bring you Dragon Meat as nourishment later."

A gale swept past, and the great tree trembled faintly, as though even the myriad mountains were shaking.

"See? The Sacred Tree moved. It agreed." Wu Chu laughed heartily.

Little Moon Spirit covered her face with one hand and said in a low voice, "A Chu, Senior Purple Jade Spirit Crabapple is angry." Then she raised her voice. "Please calm your anger, Senior. We'll go down at once!"

The cloud drifted gently down along the Sacred Tree. Still unwilling to give up, Wu Chu said, "Sacred Tree, think this through carefully. If we build our house on you, then if someone tries to take you away in the future, won't we fight them to the death? After all, our house will be on you. Do you think someone carrying a Merit Supreme Treasure like me would be willing to risk his life for you?"

Wu Chu wore an expression that said, If you miss this chance, there won't be another, making Yueling feel that he was definitely threatening Senior Sacred Tree.

Was A Chu finally going to reveal his true abilities?

Little Moon Spirit seemed somewhat expectant, so she was not very afraid.

The Sacred Tree remained utterly still. Only after Wu Chu and the others reached the ground did it tremble again, as though a divine thought spoke in their minds: All right!

Wu Chu froze for a moment, then burst into laughter and patted the bark. "Pleasure working with you, Sacred Tree! From now on, you're family! Don't worry, dear. If anyone dares set their sights on you in the future, they'll have to get through us family members first!"

"A Chu, shall we start building the house now?" Little Moon Spirit had also received that thought of agreement from the Sacred Tree, so she asked.

"No rush. We need to prepare the building materials first." Wu Chu smiled. "Of course, that will depend on you, Little Moon Spirit. First, you need to shave the stumps at the top of the Sacred Tree flat. Then pull out that crown from the lake to use as building materials. As for me, I need to work out a design first. Yibao, come out and get to work."

"No problem!" Little Moon Spirit was brimming with energy, even more eager than Wu Chu. "Oh, right, A Chu, are you hungry? Should I cook some meat first?"

"Mm, cook that Dragon Tongue Meat. I'll go cut off some more Dragon Meat. I already promised Sacred Tree that I'd bring it Dragon Meat as fertilizer, so I can't go back on my word. We're honest people, after all." As he spoke, Wu Chu hoisted the bamboo basket onto his back and picked up the kitchen knife.

Yibao sat on Wu Chu's shoulder and asked, "Master, why did you call me out?"

"I called you out to work, of course! What else would it be for?"

"Master is so heartless!"

Yibao put on a fake crying act, and the atmosphere changed instantly.

"Ahem, stop fooling around! Now that we have a homestead, you'll have to work a little harder and help design our new home up there."

Upon hearing the words "our new home," Yibao stopped fooling around and asked, "Then what style of architecture does Master want?"

Wu Chu replied as though it were only natural, "Of course, an ancient landscape garden style! Otherwise, why would I have studied those mortise-and-tenon construction techniques? Besides, any other architectural style would feel completely out of place in the Primordial World. It would be too easy to break the immersion."

As Wu Chu walked, he discussed the building design with Yibao. Meanwhile, Little Moon Spirit had already begun lighting a fire to cook the meat, then used her magic to pull the tree crown from the lake.

Splash...