The next day, Ye Wuhen arrived at the Fairy Hall early in the early morning.
“Thank you,” she said, gazing at Li Mu in earnest.
She was thanking Li Mu for saving Wu Ming and taking care of Granny Ye before she came out of her closed-door training.
Li Mu smiled and said, “You don’t have to be so polite. When you risked your life to save me at the table peak, you nearly fell into eternal doom… In my hometown, there is a saying that good faith is mutual. Whoever is good to me, I will be good to him or her.”
A rare smile appeared on Ye Wuhen’s face, which was as bright as the sun in spring.
In the blink of an eye, the core members of Mount Shu had all gathered in the Fairy Hall.
Ye Wuhen’s expression became calm and composed again. She led the crowd to the hidden arsenal left behind by Li Bai.
After opening some secret passages that even the heads of the major branches did not know, in the belly of the White Emperor Peak under the Green Lotus Pool, a large library gate was opened by Ye Wuhen with some secret technique. A huge separate world slowly unfolded in front of everyone. Inside it were all kinds of ores, armors, weapons, ordinary gold and silver jewelry, as well as categorized secret tactics and secret books. These things piled up like small mountains, which made people raise their heads to look at.
Also, streaks of light and shadows were flashing in the void. They were the projection of all kinds of martial arts movements and cultivation methods.
Everyone’s eyes were dazzled by the light.
“Oh my god.”
“I never knew there was such a place.”
“Incredible!”
Even though Dragon the Fifth and the others from the Dragon King Ridge had been in charge of the White Emperor City for so many years, they never noticed that there was such a treasure vault under the White Emperor Peak.
They were totally unaware that they were in possession of a treasure mountain.
“If we had opened this treasury earlier, we wouldn’t fear the nine major sects so much. We would have wiped them out a long time ago,” Dragon the Fifth said excitedly.
With so many resources, Mount Shu could enter a period of rapid development in the future.
Mr. Shuiyue countered, “That may not be the case. If this treasury had been opened earlier, I’m afraid that we would’ve been wiped out by the extraterrestrial sects before we could digest it.”
Ye Wuhen nodded and said, “These are also the old Sect Master’s words. Before he left, the major branches of Mount Shu already fell apart and couldn’t cooperate with each other sincerely. Then, if the news of the treasure vault spread out, the major branches would fight each other for it. And that was not the worst case yet. If the news was out and the nine sects also took part in the fight, we wouldn’t even be able to keep the treasure.”
As soon as she said that, the heads of all the major branches blushed with embarrassment.
In the past, it was precisely because of their internal power struggle that Mount Shu was at a disadvantage. How awe-inspiring Mount Shu used to be! Back then, in front of Mount Shu, the nine major sects could only tremble in fear. But plagued by the internal strife and the suppression from the external, Mount Shu gradually declined. This time, if it weren’t for the sudden appearance of the new Sect Master Duan Shuiliu, Mount Shu would probably have become history, and they would all have become guilty to Mount Shu.
Li Mu was with this statement internally.
This time, the surging of the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus alone had aroused the covetousness of the nine sects and the extraterrestrial sects. One could imagine that if the news of the arsenal of Li Bai the Green Lotus Sword Whiz really spread out, it would have caused even greater waves. Given Mount Shu’s current strength, they would not be able to retain it at all.
“Li Bai the Green Lotus Sword Whiz” was still quite a deterrent and appealing title in the Brilliance Immortal Star Region.
Li Mu walked into the depths of the arsenal.
The strong Green Lotus Qi rushed toward him, and even the air had turned green.
“This is the Qi of the Earthvein. It’s erupting here.”
He made his way to the center of the arsenal and saw a nine-layered altar. On the floor and the walls about the altar were densely engraved with Chinese characters, all of which were Li Bai’s poems.
Each word of these poems contained the sword intent of the Green Lotus Sword Principle. This was a nine-story Altar of Green Lotus Sword Intent. It was about 10 meters high and was placed in the center of the arsenal to suppress the energy underneath. Below the altar was the gathering spot of the Earthveins. After going through the transformation in the Altar of Green Lotus Sword Intent, the luminous columns of green Earthvein Qi turned into the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus and squirted to the top floor of the arsenal. Passing the tactical deployment, they rushed all the way to White Emperor City.
The Earthvein Qi concealed under Mount Shu was so vast that even Li Mu was also shocked.
After being suppressed by the Altar of Green Lotus Sword Intent for a hundred years, the Earthvein Qi was like the magma accumulated under an underground volcano for a hundred years, which became vast and powerful to the extreme.
That was Li Bai’s means.
In the same way of keeping the underground arsenal secret, the power of the Earthvein was suppressed and converged. Only after Mount Shu was truly unified, the power of the Earthveins would be released to benefit the disciples of Mount Shu. In the past few months, the Altar of Green Lotus Sword Intent had been too strained to hold back the power of the Earthveins that had been gathered underneath. That was why there was an abnormal eruption of the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus, which then attracted the attention of the nine major sects.
By this time, the Qi of the Earthveins that had been suppressed underground had almost crystallized and become ore.
Once it was extracted, the Spiritual Qi in it could be absorbed by the disciples of Mount Shu. It was much more effective than the regular cultivating and meditating. In a short period of time, it could cultivate a large number of masters.
This was a blessing Li Bai left to Mount Shu.
Dragon the Fifth and the others began to sort out the slightly messy resources in the arsenal and register them.
Li Mu, however, opened his Third Eye to observe the entire arsenal again. Soon, he had some new discoveries.
“Sure enough, Li Bai’s means are more than that.”
He found that this arsenal was strewn with many “dormant” parts of a sword deployment, which even began to penetrate the mountain above and extended thousands of miles afar, almost enveloping the entire Mount Shu within thousands of miles. The dense sword marks were hidden subtly, which were extremely mysterious and ingenious, align with the mountains and the terrain.
Li Mu was privately amazed.
If it was not for his special means of searching, not to mention those in the Void-breaking Realm, even the masters in the Mortal Realm of the Life and Death Bridge and the experts in the Soldier Realm would not be able to detect the existence of this sword deployment.
“This actually saved me a lot of effort and time.”
Li Mu had planned to set up a superb deployment in Mount Shu in consideration with the local geomancy and the earth qi so as to create a backup base for the Mount Shu Sect. In the future, when being attacked by some ordinary extraterrestrial cultivators, they would have a place to retreat. Now it seemed that it was unnecessary, for Li Bai must have taken all this into consideration. Thanks to the existence of this sword deployment, this arsenal was kept hidden and had not been discovered by outsiders.
Li Bai’s preparation in the past was very detailed.
In the trance, Li Mu seemed to see himself in Li Bai.
In those days, Li Bai founded Mount Shu on the Bitter Star, while Li Mu founded Taibai City on the Divine Land. The two were different in approach but equally satisfactory in result.
Those who went beyond Earth were all working hard to fight for their own territory and cultivate the kindling of the earth’s civilization. They knew that sometime in the future, the power of the Great Way in the solar system could no longer stop the swords and flying shuttles of the extraterrestrial cultivators, the earth would be exposed to the universe. And when that time came, they hoped that their comrades on Earth would not be fighting alone, but could have “army comrades” in the universe who could fight side by side with them to defend the race’s right to survive.
Every figure who left Earth alone was carrying a heavy load whiling moving forward. They were romantic and hot-blooded.
Li Mu carefully observed the sword deployment.
The art of tactic deployments could be comprehended by analogy.
Li Mu had learned the general principles of the Taoist tactical deployment from the old faker. Although Li Bai’s sword deployment was a combination of what swordsmanship and tactical deployment were in common, there were still some things worth studying. Moreover, at the end of the day, Li Mu and Li Bai could be regarded as fellow disciples, as they were both disciples of the erratic old faker. Therefore, it was not that difficult for Li Mu to understand Li Bai’s sword deployment.
Li Mu sat on the floor of this arsenal for three whole days and three whole nights.
Ye Wuhen had been guarding Li Mu the whole time.
After three days and three nights, Li Mu got up.
He slowly climbed up to the nine-story Altar of Green Lotus Sword Intent.
The words engraved on the sacrificial altar began to shine, flashing with strange energy fluctuations.
Each word was dissembled. The strokes of these Chinese characters were sharp as knives, swords, and axes. The Green Lotus Sword Intent flowed out and then whizzed in different directions, merging into the mountain peaks, waterfalls, rivers, and valleys within Mount Shu…
The sword intent swirled.
The sword deployment had been activated.
At this instant, all the disciples of Mount Shu felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy. Then, they saw jets of sword light streak across the sky like divine dragons before disappearing into different places in Mount Shu. Then, the entire mountain region seemed to have changed. The place became hazy because of all the clouds and the fog, as though it was wreathed by the celestial mist. It seemed that in an instant, Mount Shu had transformed from the human world to the fairyland.
Standing on the nine-story Altar of the Green Lotus Sword Intent, Li Mu beckoned to Ye Wuhen.
Ye Wuhen was stunned for a moment, but then walked up to him.
Li Mu reached out to hold Ye Wuhen’s hand and said, “Feel this by heart.”
Instinctively, Ye Wuhen tried to withdraw her hand, but she immediately understood and closed her eyes at once, starting to run her Divine Consciousness. Then, she was led by Li Mu’s Divine Sense to a vast and empty sword deployment world.
In her mind, the world of the Green Lotus Sword Deployment emerged. Streams of sword light swirled and floated around Mount Shu. The trajectory of the sword light contained the wonder of the sword deployment.
Li Mu started to illustrate the wonders of this sword deployment for her and taught her how to operate it.
It took another 10 days and 10 nights for Ye Wuhen to basically take control of the Green Lotus Sword Deployment.
After all, she had zero knowledge of tactical deployments before. In the Moon Dao Sect, the most important thing to learn was broadsword-using methods. After becoming Li Bai’s disciple, she abandoned the broadsword and picked up swordsmanship, so it took a little longer for her to master the deployment.
There was a huge change in Mount Shu.
And everyone had noticed it.
The preparations had basically been completed as Li Mu planned.
Gradually, he started handing over the leader’s power to Ye Wuhen. The high-level members of Mount Shu all felt that Li Mu attached great importance and trust to Ye Wuhen.
And that did make sense.
Ye Wuhen had obtained the legacy of the old Sect Master. It could be said that she had become a member as senior as Dragon the Fifth, Mr. Shuiyue, and the heads of other major branches overnight. Her strength was strong enough as well. So, it didn’t take a smart brain to know that her future achievements would definitely go far beyond those of these old members. She would certainly be one of the pillars of Mount Shu. It was assured that she would take charge when the timing was right.
What was more, in the eyes of the members of Mount Shu, Ye Wuhen and Sect Master Duan Shuiliu were destined to be Taoist partners engaging in dual cultivation as if they were one.
Li Mu was also a little resigned about this statement.
He was indeed the imposter of the real future leader of the Fate-defying Sect.
Further, Ye Wuhen was now Li Bai’s disciple, while Li Mu was the successor of the old faker, who could be said to be Li Bai’s younger martial brother. In this way, Ye Wuhen could only be regarded as Li Mu’s martial nephew. Thus, Li Mu was one generation older than Ye Wuhen.
Li Mu reckoned he’d find an opportunity to tell the others the truth, to put things back to the right track. It would not be good to let the misunderstanding continue.
Well, it was better for the doer to undo what he had done.
Li Mu knew it had to be Ding Yi to straighten things out.
Just as Li Mu was about to go for Ding Yi, the latter took the initiative to come to him. He cryptically asked, “Sect Master, are you leaving?”
“Ah?”
“Are you leaving the Bitter Star for the Brilliance Immortal Star Region?”
“Er…”
“I can’t believe this guy has seen through me!”
Li Mu was very surprised.
“You can’t fool me. Can you take me with you?”
“Ah?”
“I, too, want to go out and have a look at the world outside.”
“Well… Let me think about it.” Li Mu stroked his chin.
Ding Yi said, “As long as you agree to take me with you, I will promise you anything.”
At that, Li Mu laughed at once and said, “Now we’re talking.”
