The younger generation

Each of the Great Red Three Mountains was different.

Green Luo was graceful and vibrant, Longbright lofty and imposing, White Stone rugged and steep.

Liu Xiaowen walked through the mountains with a sword on his back. The autumn day was bleak, fallen leaves rustled, and the occasional cry of a wild goose only deepened the desolation.

The spirit grain had ripened. Stirred by the pure spiritual energy, some of the mountain's wild beasts, which had yet to awaken their intelligence, were growing restless.

The mortals under their rule gathered a few hunters, and groups of two or three were enough to deal with these unruly creatures. They often brought back wild boars, elk, and the like.

Occasionally, a tiger or wolf fell into a trap and was hauled back to the village. At such times, the atmosphere would turn festive, with men and women, old and young, all laughing amid the bustle.

There were also monsters that had grown powerful enough to bide their time and strike. They would often steal into a village under cover of night, open a door or window, and devour an entire family before slipping quietly away.

Liu Xiaowen had once been terrified of such stories. At night, he would hide beneath his covers, imagining demons and ghosts beneath the bed, outside the door, and beside the window.

But ever since he had gone up the mountain to cultivate, he had never feared such things again.

What in this world was more frightening than the sword in an immortal's hand?

After witnessing his master's sword qi, these country ghosts and spirits could no longer alarm him. He had already ventured deep into the woods, where squirrels and rabbits occasionally scurried past his feet, seemingly unaware of his presence.

He gently stroked the [Fire Tiger Fang] at his waist. A tiger demon accompanied by a thrall ghost had been refined into this sword-a demon he had slain himself.

The forest suddenly fell still. Though Liu Xiaowen had suppressed his aura as much as possible, he had nevertheless disturbed something.

An eerie chill swept out of the woods. Blurred white shadows darted around him, and a woman's shrill weeping startled the birds among the trees.

"Laughable."

That was Liu Xiaowen's first reaction.

This monster possessed no great ability, which was why it played at ghosts and spirits, hoping to frighten Liu Xiaowen away.

Neither side acted rashly. They faced each other in silence.

The [Fire Tiger Fang] at Liu Xiaowen's waist trembled incessantly, and his presence surged with it. A solemn, grave expression appeared on his face as his aura gradually spread with the sword's ringing, enveloping the dense woods.

A white shadow flashed across the ground, drawing steadily closer. The monster finally exhausted its patience and struck first.

It possessed some intelligence and knew how to conceal itself, but Liu Xiaowen stood unmoving like a reef amid the waves, steadily gathering his momentum.

The trees before him toppled one after another, while a concealed aura veered around behind him. It could not escape his notice.

Excitement made Liu Xiaowen tremble all over. He was almost intoxicated by the sensation. The last tree before him fell, yet nothing emerged from behind the dust.

A foul wind swept toward him from behind. That mournful weeping sounded right beside his ear, sobbing as though pouring out its grievances.

Now.

The [Fire Tiger Fang] left its sheath. He turned and cleaved straight down, an utterly ordinary stroke without any outward sign of supernatural power.

Yet the monster stopped dead. A line of blood appeared down the center of its massive body, and its two halves fell to either side.

Warm blood splashed onto Liu Xiaowen's face. A genuine smile spread across the young man's features, like a small child who had received a new toy.

Only then did he carefully examine the monster before him.

It was a black spider the size of a calf, its limbs pieced together from human arms and legs. Its hideous head had split in two, yet it was still giving voice to mournful sobs.

Liu Xiaowen wiped the blood from his face. He felt he had begun to grasp the secret of sword momentum.

But this monster was rather strange. Liu Xiaowen had never seen anything so deformed and ugly in the mountains before. It exuded a demonic nature, as though someone had deliberately reared it.

Every year, the sect sent disciples into the mountains to slay monsters, killing creatures that had newly awakened their intelligence. Yet none had ever looked like this.

"There seems to have been some unusual change."

Liu Xiaowen abandoned the idea of venturing farther in and prepared to head to White Ridge. It was the autumn harvest, so he could also check on the village and visit his family.

Longbright had grown busy of late. Autumn was the season of harvest, and most of the spirit herbs were ready to be gathered.

Shi Yuanyu carried a basket and held a green ruler, lightly tapping the various spiritual flowers and herbs in turn. Each fell free without disturbing the earth's energy, while the remaining roots and stems turned into green qi and merged back into the earth veins.

Zhang Gaoxia followed behind Shi Yuanyu. Seeing this immortal-like Spellcraft, she was a little spellbound, though she still remembered to help gather the herbs.

Shi Yuanyu found it rather amusing. Even in her own sect, she had never seen anyone so interested in spiritual plants, and she teased:

"Gao Xia, you certainly take good care of these spirit herbs. I'm afraid quite a few of our outer disciples don't have half your dedication."

Zhang Gaoxia was still dressed in a green skirt, her eyes and brows bright with a smile. She answered as she worked:

"Senior, didn't you say I was destined to till the soil? Of course I have to take it seriously."

"What do you mean, destined to till the soil? Put it more elegantly! You're just like those immortal maidens in heaven who tend orchids, nurture blossoms, and bring harmony to the hundred flowers. If I held the office of spring, I'd certainly put you in charge of the mortal world's flowering seasons."

Shi Yuanyu gently stroked Zhang Gaoxia's head with playful reproach. Zhang Gaoxia blushed and bent down to busy herself with her work.

Shi Yuanyu had been at Longbright for quite some time. Though she had originally come at her father's command, with some intention of hedging their bets, she had expected life here to be unpleasant and had meant only to fulfill her duties as an Attendant.

Wen Si'an was much younger than her. Although she had a cool, reserved disposition, she proved easy to get along with once they became familiar. Longbright was free of turmoil, and Shi Yuanyu had no need to face the scheming of her fellow disciples on Rejuvenation Mountain.

Some people always felt that, as the sect leader's daughter and a direct disciple of Rejuvenation Mountain, she would inherit its foundations. They constantly crowded around her with their schemes.

The affection between fellow disciples had faded, replaced by hostility born of struggles for power and profit.

At Longbright, no one cared about her status. Instead, she rediscovered the long-lost pleasure of tending spiritual plants.

Especially with Zhang Gaoxia coming to ask her questions every day. The girl was articulate and considerate, and Shi Yuanyu had grown very fond of her.

"It's a pity she's already joined another sect. I can only teach her a few odds and ends."

Though Shi Yuanyu thought highly of Zhang Gaoxia, the boundaries between sects still remained.

From what she had seen during her stay, although the Great Red Abbey no longer possessed the vast prestige it had enjoyed while Wen Fufeng was alive, a flourishing vitality still permeated the sect.

Zhang Gaoxia, Liu Xiaowen, and Wang Qiyun differed in temperament and aptitude, but all were talents indispensable to the sect's development.

"Wen Fufeng was, after all, a renowned figure of the righteous path. These youngsters under him have all turned out well."

Thinking of the flies buzzing and dogs skulking through the petty intrigues of her own sect, then looking at the harmony within this one, Shi Yuanyu grew increasingly vexed.

"Come, Gao Xia. Let me explain the properties of this bright origin flower."

The girl in the green skirt came closer from behind her, wearing a lovely smile.

The magical artifact in Wang Qiyun's hands had reached its final stage. Holding a jade knife, he carved continuously into the blank, and lines of formation patterns emerged upon it.

He had used [scarlet blood stone] as the base material and fashioned it into a token, engraving a [Fire-Gathering Formation] and a [Spirit-Burning Formation] on its surface before finally adding a [Small Origin-Shaping Formation].

It was painstaking work. The positions and lines of the formations had to be precise. One wrong step meant starting over.

Wang Qiyun had lost count of how many blanks he had ruined over the past few days, but he felt no discouragement.

This could work.

He had carefully selected these three fetal breath-level formations from the Record of Cloud Garments and Splendid Regalia. First, he had spent considerable effort transcribing them, then correcting mistakes and testing their functions, before finally succeeding in making them operate on [scarlet blood stone].

He drew a wisp of earth baleful fire from the furnace and poured it into the stone token, which immediately lit up.

The [Fire-Gathering Formation] could compress and gather fire energy, while the [Spirit-Burning Formation] converted spiritual energy into earth baleful fire more efficiently. As for the final [Small Origin-Shaping Formation], it was extraordinarily complex. Its formation patterns outnumbered those of the first two combined, and it had cost him a great deal of painstaking labor.

The [Small Origin-Shaping Formation] could shape and control fire, allowing Liu Xiaowen to drive this earth baleful fire to the fullest with his middle fetal breath cultivation. He could attach it to his sword's edge or directly burn spiritual energy to refine his magical power for a short time, imbuing it with earth baleful fire energy before unleashing it.

The artifact's grade was not high, but actually making it was even more troublesome than refining a qi refining-level magical sword.

"I've heard that most great treasures used to anchor a clan's fortune and protect a sect are made through formation-artifact crafting. Their formation patterns are as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and they connect directly to the sect's great formation-like the Chen Household's [Mysterious Yellow Venerable Light Tower]."

When would his own sect be able to obtain such a treasure to protect its grounds?

With the terrain's advantage and the great formation linking everything together, the whole of Green Luo would become a single unified whole, like a magical artifact. Even a mighty foundation establishment cultivator would probably find it difficult to breach.

Looking at Green Luo's already somewhat dilapidated formation, Wang Qiyun shook his head.

What a headache. The things he had to worry about truly never ended.

At his will, earth baleful fire surged from the stone token, rose into the sky, and scattered like fireworks.