157: Chapter 157 The Changes at Baiyun Temple!

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In the following years, Shi Jian spent his days in cultivation and breathing exercises, gradually discovering that carrying the Deputy Protector's medallion was truly useless.

Aside from looking nice, its only remaining function was as a symbol of status.

It wasn't that the position lacked actual power, but rather that the old Daoist Daoist Yun Du was too capable. He handled everything himself, from spirit tax collection to Family coordination, and from border patrols to Spiritual Vein planning, leaving absolutely no work for Shi Jian.

Shi Jian was more than happy to enjoy the leisure.

As a bear, he wasn't destined for a life of worry.

Rather than dealing with those trivial human matters, he preferred to sprawl out on Zixiao Peak to sunbathe and occasionally contemplate the Way of Thunder.

But despite the leisure, the events of these past few years forced Shi Jian to open his eyes and take a good look.

Because the entire Yunjian Mountain Range were truly changing...

It could be described as changing with each passing day!

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The first to change was the southern range of the Yunjian Mountain Range.

That old Daoist Daoist Yun Du had a stomach full of grand plans. He didn't waste a single one of the Spiritual Veins swallowed during the national war, placing them all into the Yunjian Mountain Range one by one according to pre-planned positions.

The Rank 3 Spiritual Vein of the Fenghe Sect was split into three segments, with the most elite portion integrated directly into the main vein of Yunjian Peak.

The results of this integration were immediate.

The original Rank 3 Medium Grade Spiritual Vein rapidly climbed in quality after absorbing the essence of the Fenghe Sect's vein, breaking through its limits to enter the Rank 3 High Grade tier in just two short years...

The improvement in the Spiritual Vein's quality brought about an explosion in the concentration of Spiritual Qi across the entire mountain range.

Nourished by the abundant Spiritual Qi, six of the original twelve Rank 2 spiritual mountains were the first to complete their transformation, ascending to Rank 2 Medium Grade.

Furthermore, Daoist Yun Du moved twelve Rank 2 spiritual veins from Fenghe County and Guling County, placing them at various nodes throughout the southern range, giving rise to twelve new Rank 2 spiritual mountains.

Twenty-four Rank 2 spiritual mountains now surrounded Yunjian Peak like stars in a constellation.

The number of Rank 1 spiritual mountains and lands exploded from over a hundred to one hundred and fifty-four; the mountains were like a sea of stars.

Individually, these Rank 1 spiritual mountains were nothing special, but when the one hundred and fifty-four were gathered together, the Spiritual Qi circulation network they formed could feed back into the entire main vein, allowing the quality of the Rank 3 High Grade Spiritual Vein to continue climbing.

It was a virtuous cycle.

That old Daoist Daoist Yun Du certainly had a few tricks up his sleeve when it came to strategic layout.

...

Beyond the Spiritual Veins, the Blessed Lands were the true highlight.

The southern range originally had a Sword Dao Blessed Land named the [Guiyuan Sword Tomb]!

That was the Legacy site left behind by generations of White Cloud Temple Sword Cultivators, containing Sword Dao heaven and earth qi. It was the Foundation upon which White Cloud Temple cultivated Golden Core Sword Cultivators.

And now, three more Blessed Lands had been added!

The first was a Cloud Dao Blessed Land: [Baifeng Cloud Gorge].

The formation of this Blessed Land was quite ingenious.

Daoist Yun Du selected a natural canyon in the southern range. On both sides of the canyon were over a hundred Rank 1 spiritual mountains, their peaks soaring into the clouds and shrouded in mist year-round, creating a distinct atmospheric phenomenon.

It was similar to the Lightning-Attracting Stone Forest excavated from the Qingfeng Mountains years ago.

Using his own Cloud Dao cultivation as a catalyst, Daoist Yun Du set up a Great Cloud-Gathering Array in the canyon. The Spiritual Qi emitted by the hundred-plus spiritual mountains was drawn and gathered by the array, forming a sea of clouds in the canyon that never dissipated.

As the sea of clouds accumulated day by day, it absorbed Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence. Finally, on a certain morning in the third year, a wisp of Cloud Dao qi aura was born deep within the canyon.

Though weak, it was a genuine embryonic form of a Blessed Land!

As the Cloud Dao essence and qi aura continued to condense, perhaps in a hundred years, or even two or three hundred years, this would become a true Cloud Dao Blessed Land.

The old Daoist Daoist Yun Du was extending his own Daoist lineage.

He did not want the Cloud Dao to end with him.

Shi Jian didn't say much about this. Increasing the heritage of White Cloud Temple was increasing his own. Daoist Yun Du had already lived half his Lifespan.

Even with a three-cycle longevity pill, Daoist Yun Du could only live for another three hundred years.

Meanwhile, Shi Jian still had seven hundred years of Lifespan left. Counting it up, he was only a little over a hundred years old now. His life was still very long, and in the future, White Cloud Temple would inevitably become his territory.

However, using all the Spiritual Qi from over a hundred Rank 1 spiritual mountains to sustain a single Blessed Land was a significant price.

But the return was equally generous.

With the Cloud Dao Blessed Land, there was a high probability that White Cloud Temple would produce a Cloud Dao Golden Core Cultivator every few hundred years. This was the fundamental basis for a Sect's Legacy to never be extinguished.

The second Blessed Land came from the Fenghe Sect.

The Fenghe Sect originally had two Fire Dao Blessed Lands named [Fire Cloud Cave] and [Chijiang Pool]. After they were uprooted by White Cloud Temple, the Fire Cloud Cave was placed in the southeastern corner of the southern range.

Setting up a Fire Dao Blessed Land was much simpler than the Cloud Dao one.

After all, it was already established; one only needed to find a place abundant in fire-attribute Spiritual Veins and replant the core of the Blessed Land.

Daoist Yun Du specifically carved out a volcanic underground palace in the southeastern corner of the southern range, burying the Fire Cloud Cave a thousand zhang deep underground to be nourished by earth fire.

Within ten years, this Fire Dao Blessed Land would return to its full peak.

The fire clouds born within it would also help Cloud Dao Cultivators increase their cultivation to some extent, serving as a mutual benefit.

The third one was the most interesting.

In the very center of the southern range, Daoist Yun Du had created a massive lake.

The lake spanned ten miles, its blue waves rippling. It looked unremarkable, but deep at the bottom were hidden two great treasures.

One was the Tianyi True Water Qi brought back from the Kunyuan Secret Realm years ago.

The other was the monster core of that Sea Ape Beast.

Using a secret method, Daoist Yun Du refined these two treasures into a Water Dao Spirit Pearl and sank it to the deepest part of the lake as the Foundation for this precious land.

With the spirit pearl emitting Water Dao spiritual essence day and night to nourish the lake water, in time, this lake would be able to breed Water Dao heaven and earth qi, forming a Water Dao Blessed Land.

Of course.

At the moment, it was only an embryonic Blessed Land. It would take at least several hundred years to truly take shape, but the seed had been planted.

Four Legacy sites leading directly to the Golden Core stage.

Sword Dao, Cloud Dao, Fire Dao, and Water Dao.

Four Great Daos, four paths to the Golden Core.

What did this mean? It meant that in the future, every generation of White Cloud Temple could potentially produce four Golden Core Masters simultaneously.

A few hundred years later, if White Cloud Temple could possess four or five Golden Cores, it would become a powerful Golden Core Sect, truly living up to the name of the Protectorate!

...

"This old Daoist has no small ambition."

Shi Jian lay on Zixiao Peak, overlooking the changes in the southern range, his claws tapping the stone platform rhythmically.

He didn't dislike Daoist Yun Du's ambition.

The stronger White Cloud Temple became, the better life would be for him, this bear.

He understood the principle that a rising tide lifts all boats.

Besides, no matter how much they tinkered with the southern range, it wouldn't interfere with his business in the northern range.

And speaking of the northern range, that was where Shi Jian's heart truly lay.

...

The changes in the northern range were even greater than those in the south.

Or rather, they were more savage and unrestrained!

First was Zixiao Peak.

The Rank 3 Spiritual Vein from Yinfeng Valley, plus the Rank 3 Spiritual Vein extracted from Guling County—Shi Jian had poured both veins entirely into the base of Zixiao Peak.

The effect was naturally extraordinary!

The mass of Zixiao Peak nearly doubled in size within two years.

The peak, originally several hundred zhang high, was now approaching a massive thousand zhang. The thundercloud layer surrounding the mountain expanded accordingly, with purple lightning interlacing and thunder rumbling incessantly year-round.

The quality of the Spiritual Vein climbed from near Rank 3 all the way to Rank 3 Medium Grade, faintly touching the threshold of High Grade.

But what satisfied Shi Jian the most was the Thunder Pool.

Stimulated by the explosion in Spiritual Vein quality, the Thunder Pool Blessed Land finally completed its final transformation and fully took shape.

The pool water expanded from six zhang to ten zhang, and its depth increased from three zhang to nine zhang.

At the bottom of the pool lay a thick layer of purple-gold lightning essence crystals, formed from the condensation of years of accumulated Way of Thunder spiritual essence.

More importantly—

After the Blessed Land took shape, the Thunder Pool gained the ability to autonomously breed heaven and earth qi.

According to Zixiao's estimates, every three hundred years or so, the Thunder Pool could spontaneously produce a wisp of Purple Cloud Golden Lightning Qi.

One wisp every three hundred years.

It didn't sound like much, but what was Purple Cloud Golden Lightning Qi?

It was a necessity for Way of Thunder Cultivators to form a Golden Core. Outside, a single wisp would trigger a struggle among countless Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Just like Daoist Yun Du, this was the Legacy Shi Jian was leaving for the Thunder Bear lineage!

"Three hundred years is still too slow," Shi Jian said, somewhat dissatisfied. "Zixiao, do you have any way to speed up the nurturing?"

"A greedy snake tries to swallow an elephant," Zixiao rolled her eyes in his mind. "Your broken pool just took shape, and you're already thinking about accelerating production?"

"Nurture this Spiritual Vein to Rank 3 High Grade first. By then, perhaps it can be shortened to two hundred and seventy or eighty years per wisp."

"When the Spiritual Vein is cultivated to Rank 4, it might drive your Thunder Pool to become a Medium Grade Blessed Land. At that point, it would take about two hundred years to condense a wisp of Zixiao Golden Thunder heaven and earth qi."

"Alternatively, you could find some Rank 4 Way of Thunder spiritual items to nourish this Thunder Pool."

Shi Jian snorted and said no more.

Two hundred years or three hundred years, it didn't matter. He had a long Lifespan and could afford to wait, and his Yao Race descendants could afford to wait as well!

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