Chapter Twenty-Nine: Fifth Layer of Qi Refining

Many thanks to Jianchen Zi for your reward, and to Shanghai Old Wooden Floor Recycling for your support as well. With a deep bow, Hong Yan conveys heartfelt gratitude; your affirmation is the driving force behind my continual updates. As for the matter of not accepting a female protagonist or collecting all beauties, Death Holy Water, your request has already been left far behind. Several hours passed, yet the wooden puppets continued their diligent clattering, busily constructing. The grand hall on Mount Hua was already half complete. Alongside the main hall, side halls, rear chambers, bedrooms, guest rooms, kitchen, and servants’ quarters were all rising simultaneously.

Madam Wu stood at a distance, watching as the Sect Master directed his peculiar creations in building. At first, she and Old Chen whispered among themselves, finding the new Sect Master’s actions increasingly bizarre. But as time passed and the hall began to take shape, both were left utterly astonished.

“Sister Wan, look! How tall and grand the building is!” From afar, Yun Ying stretched out her little hand, pointing excitedly at the main sect hall under construction. She and Tang Wan had just returned from the back mountain, and Yun Ying’s delighted exclamation filled the air at the sight of the towering new edifice.

Tang Wan stared in shock at the rising hall, utterly speechless. She’d watched the practice grounds being built, but compared to this, the main sect hall's construction was on an entirely different scale.

Dressed in plain robes, Tang Wan walked to stand beside Jiang Yan, her voice tinged with astonishment. “Senior Brother Sect Master, is this truly our sect’s grand hall?”

Jiang Yan chuckled, his spirit soaring. “Indeed, Junior Sister Wan. From now on, this will be our Mount Hua’s grand hall. Behind it—practice rooms, resting chambers, guest suites—everything you can imagine, our sect’s grand hall will provide.”

Mu Yun and Nanmen Luo were climbing up from the foot of the mountain. Seeing the dark silhouette standing atop the peak, Mu Yun blinked and said, “Junior Brother Nan, are we lost? When we descended earlier, the mountain didn’t look like this!”

Nanmen Luo looked up at the hall soaring into the clouds, a guileless yet sly smile flickering across his face. “Senior Brother Mu, I’d wager this is another masterpiece of our Sect Master.”

Catching sight of Jiang Yan standing proudly on the steps, Mu Yun hurried over, his tone respectful. “Senior Brother Sect Master, is this our sect’s grand hall?”

Jiang Yan glanced at Mu Yun’s round, astonished face and smiled. “That’s right, Junior Brother Mu. Henceforth, our sect shall have its own grand hall.”

Mu Yun’s mouth fell open, his gaze wandering over the unfinished structure as he mumbled incoherently, “Grand hall, grand hall…”

“Senior Brother Sect Master,” Nanmen Luo stepped forward and quietly addressed Jiang Yan, “I think those wooden puppets are running low on spirit power. Should we replenish them?” He’d noticed the green glow on the puppets’ bodies was fading.

Jiang Yan’s expression turned wry. He sighed inwardly—it was time to replenish their power yet again. This was already the fourth time! The puppets needed spiritual energy to function, and their consumption was astonishingly fast. In less than a day, with the hall not even half finished, he’d already replenished them four times. If not for the fact that he’d reached the fourth level of Qi Refining and the speed of Aoki Technique’s recovery was quick, he’d never keep up.

He replied offhandedly, “Yes, it’s time again. You all should redouble your cultivation and reach the fourth level of Qi Refining soon. That way, you can take over many of these tasks, like this one…”

“Senior Brother Sect Master, may I try replenishing the puppets’ spiritual power?” Nanmen Luo, with his ungainly features, stepped forward and sat cross-legged, preparing to channel his energy into the puppets.

“You?” Jiang Yan’s eyes flashed with surprise.

“Junior Brother Nan, have you broken through to the fourth level?” Jiang Yan couldn’t hide his amazement. In the morning, Nan was still at the third level, yet now he’d advanced? Jiang Yan focused on him, and a transparent information panel appeared before his eyes:

Name: Nanmen Luo
Sect: Mount Hua
Position: Disciple of the First Generation
Cultivation: Qi Refining, Fourth Level
Weapon: Lingering Sword, Basic Mortal Weapon
Technique: Aoki Technique, Grade One, Mid-tier
Merit Points: —

Nanmen Luo lifted his plain face, unable to hide his joy. “Yes, Senior Brother Sect Master. Thanks to the spiritual pill you bestowed, I have broken through to the fourth level.”

Jiang Yan made no attempt to conceal his delight. “Excellent, Junior Brother Nan. Let me teach you how to control these four wooden puppets.” He patiently explained the control mechanisms and the method of channeling spiritual power, guiding Nanmen Luo as he infused the puppets with energy.

Behind Jiang Yan, the chubby Mu Yun watched with envy as his junior brother received this attentive instruction, silently vowing that come morning he would take the Bone-Easing Pill, break through to the third level, and soon follow Nanmen Luo into the fourth…

…

High above Mount Hua, the moon glowed among sparse stars, the sky clear and clouds light. Radiant moonlight bathed the mountain peak in silvery brightness, rendering the sect’s grand hall—still under construction—clearly visible.

Thud—thud—the work continued. The four wooden puppets scurried tirelessly. Jiang Yan now sat cross-legged on a cushion at the foot of the grand hall’s steps.

He exhaled a long breath. The task of building the sect’s grand hall was truly exhausting. He had lost count of how many times he’d replenished the puppets’ spirit power—each time they exhausted their reserves, he would infuse them anew. Nanmen Luo had managed to do it just twice before collapsing from exhaustion, and Jiang Yan had quickly asked Mu Yun to help him down to rest.

Having restored his own spiritual energy, Jiang Yan rose and, by the moon’s glow, carefully inspected the nearly completed hall.

In the clear light, a massive building more than a dozen yards wide and several tall loomed before him. Though its walls remained pitch black, glimmering darkly in the night, it was unmistakably grand.

The roof was unfinished. The puppets could be seen shuttling back and forth along the sides, hoisting massive slabs of stone up the towering walls, their palms glowing with blue-green light as they fused the stones into the wall.

With a leap, Jiang Yan landed lightly atop the unfinished walls, hands clasped behind him as he surveyed all of Mount Hua.

Nearby, an open space marked the spirit beast garden that had sunk below ground the previous night. Beyond, the new spirit fields stretched across the rear slopes, with even more land left aside for second and third-tier fields in anticipation of future upgrades. As the sect advanced, so would its unique buildings—best to reserve space early.

Halfway up the mountain, the practice grounds lay shrouded in darkness, but Jiang Yan was confident few places in Linqing Prefecture could match their power to accelerate cultivation—perhaps only the third-tier Golden Flame Sect could boast such a facility.

Far below, out of sight, was the sect gate. Jiang Yan was certain that only his sect enjoyed such a concentration of spiritual energy, unless another had set up a protective formation. When founding a sect, the first priority is always security, after all.

Suddenly, Jiang Yan’s expression changed. His divine sense seemed to have expanded considerably. At the fourth level of Qi Refining, he could only sense within ten meters, but now, his awareness reached all the way to the distant spirit fields behind the mountain.

With a thought, he called up his transparent information interface. His own details appeared:

Name: Jiang Yan
Sect: Mount Hua
Position: Sect Master
Cultivation: Qi Refining, Fifth Level
Weapon: None
Techniques: Aoki Technique, Grade One Mid-tier; Aoki Archery, Grade One High-tier
Merit Points: —

“Fifth level of Qi Refining?” Jiang Yan’s mouth opened in disbelief as he stared at the screen. He’d only meant to check the status of the sect’s special buildings, yet found he’d somehow broken through without a single sign.

The breakthrough had come silently, without warning. Closing his eyes to look inward, he found an additional meridian, spiritual power now flowing steadily through a fifth channel.

“It really happened,” Jiang Yan muttered with a laugh, then returned his gaze to the information panel. The display shifted, presenting the sect’s current status:

Sect Name: Mount Hua
Sect Rank: Vassal Sect of the Golden Flame Sect
Location: Mount Hua
Buildings: Sect Gate (Grade One), Spirit Beast Garden (Grade One), Practice Grounds (Grade One), Spirit Fields (Grade One), Grand Hall (under construction)
Spirit Beasts: Howling Heaven Dog (Grade One, High), Spirit Earthworm (Grade One, Low), Golden-eyed Eagle (Grade One, Low), Soul Howl Dog (Grade One, Low), Moon Mink (Grade Two, Mid)
Number of Disciples: Five
Sect Techniques: Aoki Technique
Sect Merit Points: —
Hostile Factions: Tianshan Sect (Grade Two)
Sect Treasure: Sword Talisman (Grade One, High), upgradeable
Mountain Protection Formation: ** Formation currently auto-repairing