CHAPTER 157: CHAPTER 156: RETURNING TO OLD HAUNTS

In the remote mountains six hundred miles away, even in summer, one can see snow on the mountain tops.

Shen Wang led his family, avoiding people along the way and erasing traces as much as possible, to Kunyu Mountain, from which they had once fled in disgrace.

Crossing over eight peaks, he stopped with the group in front of the ninth hidden peak.

Ensuring there were no pursuers trailing them, Shen Wang exhaled a breath.

He had not gone to the bustling city or the mountain villages, but had returned to this rarely-trodden remote mountain.

More precisely, it was the site of an ancient sect relic protected by arrays.

This was where the Void Sect was located three thousand years ago, known for employing natural arrays by harnessing the power of heaven and earth through the mountains and rivers.

The precision of such arrays was somewhat lacking, but they required few materials and could utilize what was readily available.

That’s precisely the effect he needed.

Changes came too quickly this time, and he had nowhere else to go for the time being.

If he went elsewhere, he couldn’t ensure that someone wouldn’t leak their whereabouts or that no accidents, like conflicts with others, would happen.

Few knew of this location, and most importantly, he could make modifications based on the original array.

In this way, even if the Black Death Blade King came with the stone talisman, it wouldn’t work.

"Let’s go, this time the place we’re going to will have much more space."

Shen Wang waved his hand, causing the air in front to distort, and a mountain path suddenly appeared, instead of the previous cliffs.

"Husband, is this an array?"

Paper Kite marveled.

"Yes, affix these talismans, and follow me closely once inside. Don’t wander off."

Shen Wang took out talismans again, made from stone talismans, serving as protective talismans to enter the array without being attacked.

Entering the opened entrance, the scene before them was completely different from last time.

Outside it was summer, but inside the array it was lush with greenery, bursting with flowers, where the grass on the ground was fluffy, and small animals hopped around, creating a paradise-like atmosphere.

Inside was vast, the entire peak towering over hundreds of feet, with mountain slopes extending for miles. It could accommodate not just a few people, but even thousands without feeling crowded.

"Wow, it’s beautiful here."

Lan Kui looked at the slope with a dazed expression, falling in love with it at first sight.

"Beautiful, beautiful."

His son, Lixia, mimicked with babbling sounds.

The daughter, Shen Chuxue, held by Paper Kite, examined the surroundings and thought to herself, "There are traces of Daoist nature here, suggesting that the heritage is of an authentic Daoist sect lineage."

"Husband, will we live here from now on?"

Jia’Er joyfully inquired while holding her son.

"Barring any unforeseen events, we’ll be staying here from now on."

Shen Wang took a deep breath, the fresh scent of vegetation was refreshing.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi here did not match that of major sects, yet it was much better than their ancestral home.

He surveyed a few cave mansions on the mountain, assessed the array power’s situation, and chose the safest spot.

Protected by talisman power, the group smoothly crossed the slope and arrived at a cliff-side cave mansion where they formally settled.

Shen Wang set Liu Shan to clear the weeds, while he set up a defense array nearby and then wandered through the mountain.

Last time, he had only visited part of the area; in fact, much of this peak had not been traversed. After half a day’s exploration, he took in the entire state of the Void Sect.

The mountain gate was situated atop the ninth peak of the Kunyu Mountain Range, with the valley between the eighth and ninth peaks at its base. The elevation difference to the mountain top was only about two hundred feet.

From the valley to the mid-mountain, it was relatively gentle and lush, with a small stream flowing through the valley. Above the mid-section, it became much steeper, where various cave mansions and courtyards were located.

Further up were some wooden houses, seemingly unremarkable, yet housing the strongest array powers, forming the core of the entire peak.

He tried once but didn’t succeed in entering, and could only move around the mid-section cave mansions.

Shen Wang wasn’t in a hurry, planning to first utilize the peripheral arrays before considering the core ones.

Liu Shan had come to the cave mansion where the Black Death Blade King had resided before leaving it. This cave mansion was formed inside a large tree, with the original array barrier still intact, left unbroken by the Black Death Blade King upon leaving.

However, most of the items inside had been taken, leaving it empty, yet Shen Wang still carefully observed and studied the natural array it contained.

The green array barrier was even thicker than last time, due to the thriving pine tree, where the wood attribute power was most concentrated and powerful.

This time, his array skills had improved to a high-level grandmaster level, and observing the array, he found it not hard to break.

Taking out the White Crane Sword, he made a forceful slash, and the array that had been difficult for several people to break was easily cut open under his sword.

Shen Wang entered and simultaneously held his breath, sealing his nose and mouth.

Inside the cave mansion was just a meditation cushion and several ancient books. After confirming there was no poison, Shen Wang opened one of the books, finding it to be an array formation manual.

"Wood Array."

Shen Wang mumbled, reading along, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

This array was actually set up by planting trees.

For example, a single tree could be used to set up the special array currently present, or multiple trees could be used for a larger array setup.

The array’s power was average but the principle was quite interesting, being low cost and accomplished by mobilizing the life force of vegetation.

Most crucially, the stronger the vegetation, the stronger the array would become.

A concept of nurturing the array system sprang to mind.

After thousands of years, the array’s power could withstand Foundation Establishment attacks, which seemed mediocre.

But this was just an ordinary pine tree, after all—if a Spirit Wood were used for the array formation, it would naturally be incomparable.

Shen Wang continued to browse, but there was no further content at the bottom. The other two ancient books were tattered and contained experiences in tree planting and flower cultivation, which Shen Wang only skimmed without delving deeper.

He hurried to other cave mansions, discovering other types of natural arrays in the process.

Apart from the places visited last time, he discovered a stone array constructed from stones on a large rock.

This was a defensive array with normal power but notable stability.

Upon opening it, the inside was empty, not even a trace of anything.

Feeling a bit frustrated, Shen Wang moved on to search next for another cave mansion. Passing a sunny spot, he paused and murmured an exclamation.

He glanced at his own shadow and then the bare mountain hollow nearby, sensing something amiss.

Casting a stone casually, the air rippled, and the stone vanished.

"Interesting, there’s actually an array."

He couldn’t help but laugh and, after breaking the array, found it was an illusion array set up with fire attribute objects.

This thing almost tricked even Shen Wang at first.

Within the hollow was also a cave mansion, where he found some notebooks.

The notebooks were written in an ancient script, bearing the name of the Fire-Burning Daoist Child.

He reckoned they were left by a disciple of the Void Sect who didn’t take them when leaving years ago.

The contents of the notebooks mainly covered basic topics of alchemy and array formation.

There were also some diaries documenting daily events and mentioning the name Zou Fugui, a rather rustic name, originating from the village below the mountain.

Shen Wang could only smile and continue studying the various arrays.

As time passed, after half a month, Shen Wang made rapid progress in natural arrays and adjusted all the peripheral arrays before going outside to sell talismans and purchase supplies.