Chapter 40: The Last Refuge
Chapter 40: The Last Refuge
Near noon, Li Si returned with thirty Aberrant Wood Husks. He put ten of them inside his Storage Pouch, and carried the other twenty on his back and in his hands.
He was not modest at all.
His intention was also very clear. Now Xu Shen had become the real decision-maker of the Floating Cloud Sect, especially with his Foundation Building Stage strength. This was a good thing.
But Li Si also had to prove his own value.
He did not plan to compete with Xu Shen for power within the Floating Cloud Sect. He just wanted the right to go outside freely every day.
When he reached the village entrance, Li Si saw Xu Shen setting up a Formation Array there. Shanwazi, Little Girl, Little Bean, and Little Vegetable Root were following him, while Jiang Ying watched nearby.
Clearly, Xu Shen was teaching these junior members of the Floating Cloud Sect the ways of Formation Arrays.
For a cultivation sect to survive in the world, many conditions were needed. But one of them had to be the passing down of knowledge.
Just from the pleased look in Senior Sister Jiang’s eyes, one could tell that Xu Shen’s actions had completely won her approval.
As for Ji Chang, his tasks had clearly increased today. Besides repairing the Stone House, he also had to tidy up the dilapidated houses in the village. All the foundation stones were dug out and piled up on one side of the Stone House.
Without a doubt, Xu Shen wanted to expand and build another house.
After all, it was not ideal for everyone to be crowded into one Stone House.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What a guy. Before Li Si could even start his own plans, Xu Shen had already taken action.
When she saw Li Si returning with so many Aberrant Wood Husks, Senior Sister Jiang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Then she glared at him and scolded angrily, “Junior Brother, you are too reckless! You were supposed to patrol around the village, but instead you ran four or five miles away!”
“Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister. I am fine, just very hungry!”
Li Si grinned and put down the many Aberrant Wood Husks. He took out the others from his Storage Pouch. “Senior Sister, please go quickly and cook a pot of Great Soul-Returning Broth for me. I will keep watch here for you.”
“Alright then. I will store these for you. They all count as your merit. But you must not run around outside anymore.”
Jiang Ying agreed but still reminded him. Hunting Alien Trees would accumulate Aberrant Corruption. Yet these things were the most important materials for restoring Magic Power and the foundation for the Floating Cloud Sect’s normal operation. So she felt conflicted—happy about Li Si’s harvest but worried about him.
“Perhaps when there is time, I should ask Master if there is any solution?”
Jiang Ying thought to herself. Now that Xu Shen was finally taking charge, with him leading, it would not be easy for Ji Chang to hold them back. The little ones were so sensible, and Junior Brother Li Si was so outstanding. If he died young because of accumulated Aberrant Corruption, it would be too pitiful.
How she wished to see the bustling scene of the former Floating Cloud Sect before she died.
Watching Jiang Ying’s figure go away, Li Si made a funny face at the little ones. Then he turned to the sharp-eyed Xu Shen and chuckled, “Senior Brother Xu, continue. Between us, there is no need for formalities.”
Li Si’s words had a double meaning, and Xu Shen naturally understood. Based on Li Si’s performance this morning, not only could he move within four or five miles around the village, but if well-prepared, he could even fetch water alone.
However, Xu Shen had his own considerations.
“Junior Brother, you know I cut down my Inner Demon, tempered my will into steel, and became immune to all evils. I have reached the first great realm that we Cultivators dream of—Dao Heart Purity. So, if I kill Evil Entities, the Aberrant Corruption I endure will be two-thirds less than before. Do you understand what this means?”
“I know your idea of going out to hunt Alien Trees. You are a good kid. But from now on, this kind of task can be left to me. Unless you only want to live another three to five years!”
“In the past, I saw you as a little fool and used you without any burden. But now, as the senior brother of the Floating Cloud Sect, I must take responsibility for all of you.”
Xu Shen spoke calmly, his gaze sincere. Now his words came from the heart, honest and straightforward. If Li Si did not have the Fate Forge, he might have agreed.
Unfortunately, he could only reject this kindness with unreasonable stubbornness.
Smiling slightly, Li Si became serious.
“Senior Brother Xu, did Senior Sister Jiang not tell you? Master said I am a cultivation genius that appears only once in ten thousand years!”
Xu Shen frowned. “The Evil God’s corruption will not go easy on any cultivation genius!”
“That is true. But we Cultivators are not powerless either. You have immunity to all evils, and I have my Heart Cleansing Curse. Every time I go out to hunt Alien Trees, I maintain the Heart Cleansing Curse at all times. This way, I can at least reduce the Aberrant Corruption by half.”
Li Si spoke very seriously and quickly calculated in his mind. He could not afford not to go out and roam. Without going out, how could he gather Little Mushrooms and accumulate resources?
Xu Shen was doing well now. But precisely because of that, he had to share some of Xu Shen’s burdens.
If he left the task of hunting Anomalous Weeds and Alien Trees to Xu Shen, Xu Shen might be fine in the short term, but what about over time?
In short, if Xu Shen could live a few more years because of this, it would be a great help to the Floating Cloud Sect.
Not just Xu Shen, but including Ji Chang, Jiang Ying, and everyone else. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to live together?
Exempting two-thirds of the Aberrant Corruption was nothing. He exempted ninety percent and did not even say anything.
“You must be joking. How come I never knew the Heart Cleansing Curse had such a good effect?” Xu Shen was indeed shocked.
“Maybe because you are too dumb!” Li Si said bluntly. “Anyway, that is the fact. You cannot take on everything just because you feel guilty and want to make up for past mistakes. The Floating Cloud Sect is not yours alone. This is my home too.”
After saying this, Li Si turned and left, not giving Xu Shen a chance to nag. Anyway, he had laid his cards on the table and absolutely would not compromise!
Xu Shen frowned and finally shouted helplessly, “Why are you running away? Don’t you want to learn the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array anymore?”
“Haha, Senior Brother, you should have said so earlier!”
Li Si came back grinning, but then Xu Shen added, “Junior Brother, in the future, you still need to be more careful when going out. I do not ask for much, but at the very least, you should get married and have children. After that, you can do whatever you want. If I still stop you then, I will give you my position as senior brother!”
Li Si was speechless. What could he say? For the sake of learning Formation Arrays, he had to endure it.
Fortunately, Xu Shen did not say more. Instead, he led them outside the village, digging a large pit every certain distance. The pits were about three meters deep, and underneath was rock—very flat rock with strange patterns.
It was clearly not natural.
“Under the entire village are such Demon-Sealing Stones. There are three thousand six hundred in total. Our Master buried them four hundred years ago, just to have a fallback plan.”
“Back then, Master chose ten refuge locations. But over the past few hundred years, pushed back step by step by the Evil God’s power, this has become the Floating Cloud Sect’s last refuge.”
“Below these Demon-Sealing Stones is a Great Demon-Sealing Array, which can suppress and weaken the erosion of the Evil God’s power to the greatest extent. Inside the Great Demon-Sealing Array, there is also a Heaven-Simulating Array. This Heaven-Simulating Array is not for attack or defense. Its biggest feature is that it can lower the requirements for setting up Formation Arrays.”
“Because Master considered back then that as the Evil God’s power erodes this world on a large scale, materials suitable for setting up Formation Arrays would become increasingly scarce. So the Heaven-Simulating Array serves this purpose—it can reduce the cost of setting up Formation Arrays by more than seventy percent.”
“Now, what I am demonstrating to you is how to set up the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array. Because of the Heaven-Simulating Array, setting up this Formation Array is very easy. The required materials are also easy to find. Even the most crucial array eye can be forged using existing anomalous stones and some other materials.”
“But what you really need to pay attention to in this Formation Array is the Spirit Gathering Talisman that powers it. Normally, that Dark Mist would not easily break through the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array. But once exploited by scheming Evil Spirits or Evil Entities, danger arises. The Dark Mist can increase our Aberrant Corruption. Inside the Dark Mist, there is also an invisible Mist Demon that can devour our lifespan.”
“From now on, disciples of the Floating Cloud Sect are not required to be good at everything, but each must have a specialty. For example, if you are in charge of Formation Arrays, he must be in charge of making talismans. If someone is responsible for fighting outside, someone else must learn to brew various soul-returning broths. No one should think about relying on others for everything. We are one family. We represent the last of the Human Race. We must share the pressures and disasters together.”
When he said this, Xu Shen specifically glanced at Li Si. Since cutting down his Inner Demon, regaining his Foundation Building cultivation, and especially gaining fifty more years of lifespan, he was truly full of ambition.
Because this was the Floating Cloud Sect’s last chance to rise. If they messed it up, their all-powerful Master truly had no other means to let them start over somewhere else.