Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 135 Hungry! (1.5 chapters combined)

Zhang Chengdao turned around, his gaze towards Chang Ping'an quite complex.

Why does this usually clever protagonist always make silly mistakes?

Chang Ping'an, however, was completely oblivious to his master's helpless look. He was excitedly saying to Murong Ruyan, "Junior sister, give it a try! The spiritual energy in this lake is even more abundant than that of the Spirit Pivot Pool! It's probably even stronger than the Peach Blossom Pool in the Peach Garden!"

As the senior disciple of the entire sect, Chang Ping'an now truly embodies the "professional ethics" of a senior disciple.

He always shared anything good with his fellow disciples as soon as possible, so when he tasted the lake water and realized it was extraordinary, he immediately pulled everyone over and pointed to the lake, saying, "You can come here often to fetch some water to drink; it's much better than the well water in our courtyard!"

Everyone turned around and looked at the lake that had also appeared suddenly.

Although the initial shock has subsided, the sheer size of this lake that appeared out of nowhere is so incredible, it's even more astonishing than the wonders of nature itself!

Zhong Hui had been wandering around for the past few days, and had seen the general scenery of Baishi Mountain several times, but he couldn't remember ever seeing a "lake" here.

Considering what her third senior brother had just mentioned about the sect leader wanting to dig a lake, she found it all even more unbelievable: "It seems... there wasn't a lake here yesterday..."

He Shilie suddenly nodded firmly and said, "It wasn't here just now. I passed by here this morning, and there was neither waterfall nor lake!"

Ye Hanxing also gasped, took Zhong Hui's hand, and asked softly, "Is the sect leader... that powerful?"

Zhong Hui lowered his voice and whispered back, "What do you think! The sect leader is a god! He can easily part waters and shake mountains!"

Ignoring the endless flattery from the new disciples, Zhang Chengdao carefully observed the area around the lake and said to Ye Shuyun, "Although the lake has been dug out, the surrounding area still needs some repairs. Shuyun, I'll leave this matter to you. Build a road down from the mountain near the main hall so that it will be convenient for the disciples to come here to cultivate."

Zhang Chengdao went through all sorts of trouble to create this "Spirit Water Lake" so that, in addition to nurturing the spiritual energy of the entire White Stone Mountain, he could provide these newly initiated disciples with a place with a sufficiently high concentration of spiritual energy to cultivate as quickly as possible!

Once these disciples have all established their foundations, I will be able to finally be freed from the position of sect leader. At that time, I can travel all over the world and see the sights!
Back then, before the Immortal Affinity Conference was held, Zhang Chengdao specially ordered Ye Shuyun to build more than a dozen suspended iron chain bridges to connect the main hall complex located halfway up the mountain with other main peaks, so that it would be convenient for newly initiated disciples to travel between the various mountain peaks.

Although these iron chain bridges are somewhat rudimentary, they have indeed made things much more convenient for everyone since they were built. For those in the sect who are mostly not yet at the Foundation Establishment stage, they no longer need to traverse mountains and valleys to reach other main peaks. They can simply walk across the iron chain bridges and reach each main peak in no more than half an hour.

However, this lake is located in a very low-lying area. Although there is a path leading down from the nearest mountain peak, it is still inconvenient. A new road must be built so that disciples who cannot fly can travel back and forth.

This is also where Zhang Chengdao needs Ye Shuyun the most—the buildings in his cheat system don't have things like iron chain bridges or stairs, so they can only be built by real craftsmen!

Ye Shuyun was in charge of this matter, and upon hearing Zhang Chengdao's instructions, he quickly clasped his hands in greeting and replied, "Disciple obeys."

Zhang Chengdao nodded, still somewhat concerned about Xunmu, and casually said, "Well, you all continue your cultivation here. I'll go check on how Xunmu is growing."

After saying this, without waiting for everyone to bow, Zhang Chengdao immediately rode the wind and flew towards the Peach Garden amidst colorful rays of light.

Watching Zhang Chengdao ride the wind and gradually disappear into the distance, Zhong Hui looked on with envy and pointed to the patches of rosy clouds on his sect leader's body, asking, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother! What's that on the sect leader's body?"

The so-called rosy clouds are actually a thin mist that covers the glow of the sunset.

The mountains were shrouded in mist, and Zhang Chengdao had risen on the wind. The wind swirled up the clouds and mist, which drifted around him, making it look like a colorful cloud chasing after him.

Zhang Chengdao had no idea that he was covered in the glow of the sunset on the lake, and had even unexpectedly become part of the sunset clouds.

Or rather, the glow of the sunset not only surrounded the lake and waterfall, but also enveloped Zhang Chengdao, though he was unaware of it.

Chang Ping'an scratched his head and replied awkwardly, "This... I don't know either, it was probably caused by some kind of immortal magic..."

“It must have been generated when Master created this lake. Didn’t you see the lightning just now?”

Murong Ruyan rolled her eyes at Chang Ping'an, wanting to say something sarcastic, but she held back because there were several new disciples around.

So she simply raised her head and said condescendingly, "The 'Heavenly Crafting Refinement Manual' mentions that if extremely precious spiritual materials are born in the world, or if any heavenly-rank magic treasure is created, a 'thunder tribulation' will occur. Only after passing through the 'thunder tribulation' will these things truly descend into the world, becoming treasures sought after by the world along with the afterglow of the 'thunder tribulation'..."

"Isn't this great lake just like that? It must have been something extremely precious when Master built this lake, which attracted the 'lightning tribulation'!"
"How could a deity like Master possibly take 'thunder tribulation' seriously? So those rosy clouds just now appeared because of the creation of this lake and waterfall!"

Murong Ruyan spoke with great certainty, which convinced everyone.

Even Ye Shuyun nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: "So that's how it is... I also remember that in the 'Elementary Qi Refining Book,' it seems to mention that if one sees a radiant glow in the sky, it means that a rare treasure has been born..."

With Ye Shuyun's interruption, Murong Ruyan's words no longer seemed sarcastic.

Moreover, Chang Ping'an couldn't tell at all. He even looked at Murong Ruyan with admiration and praised, "Junior Sister is indeed exceptionally talented, she even knows this!"

Murong Ruyan took a deep breath, feeling that Chang Ping'an's words, which were clearly a compliment, were incredibly infuriating. Yet, if she were to argue further, she would only appear unreasonable… "Senior Brother, you flatter me…"

Murong Ruyan practically spat out those words through gritted teeth, then glared fiercely at Chang Ping'an before turning around and using her shrinking-earth-to-inch technique to leave.

Chang Ping'an could tell that Murong Ruyan was angry. He looked at Ye Shuyun with a puzzled expression and asked, "Junior Sister, why are you angry again?"

Ye Shuyun couldn't help but smile, then shook her head helplessly and said, "Second Senior Sister is born a princess, so it's normal for her to be a little spoiled. Senior Brother, you don't need to take it to heart."

Chang Ping'an muttered helplessly, "Sigh, I'll bring her some food later..."

……

Meanwhile, Zhang Chengdao, who was completely unaware of the verbal sparring between his disciples, was squatting next to Xunmu, carefully observing the tree that shimmered with golden-red light.

As Zhang Chengdao approached the Xunmu Tree, he discovered that the tree was still growing at a very slow but visible rate.

But in fact, it is already quite large.

This tree occupies a third of the entire Peach Garden. At a glance, the trunk alone is so large that it would probably take more than a dozen people to encircle it.

Many peach trees in the Peach Garden were squeezed together by its oppression, and Zhang Chengdao even had to gather them up and prepare to move them to another place later.

The pond that was originally next to the Seeking Wood Tree, the Crane Pond Reflecting the Moon, which Zhang Chengdao named Peach Blossom Pond, was now squeezed into a small puddle. The water in the pond looked murky, and the Crane Pond was tilted to one side and looked like it was about to be ruined.

"It's fine if you want to grow, but don't grow this big all at once! This means my whole batch of peaches will go to waste!"

Zhang Chengdao said with some resentment, reaching out his finger to poke the trunk of the Xunmu tree.

But to his surprise, the moment his fingers touched the tree trunk, Zhang Chengdao suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an "alternate dimension"!

In this "alternate dimension," everything was pitch black except for a few points of light overhead.

For some reason, Zhang Chengdao felt that his thoughts had become very slow and stiff, as if it was difficult to "think", and he felt very "thirsty" all over his body, as if his throat and stomach were so dry that he was about to die.

Only around my ankles did I feel a cool breeze blowing, which made my somewhat stuffy legs feel refreshed.

'It would be even better if you showed a bit more leg.'

For no apparent reason, Zhang Chengdao had this idea, and then he tried to lift up his "skirt".

Wait, a skirt!?

Zhang Chengdao felt a wave of terror, followed by a dizzying sensation, and he collapsed to the ground—the earth had just shaken again!

Could it be an aftershock of the earthquake caused by the search for wood?

Zhang Chengdao guessed, then flew up again, only to find that the entire White Stone Mountain range had been raised by a full ten feet!
The "Black Abyss" that he had painstakingly carved out had all become ravines that were misaligned with the ground within the White Stone Immortal Sect!

Shocked, Zhang Chengdao suddenly had a flash of inspiration, turned his head, and stared intently at Xunmu.

Those strange feelings I just had were like...

It's as if he turned into a tree!

He transformed into Xunmu!

To confirm his guess, Zhang Chengdao landed on the ground and carefully touched the trunk of the Xunmu tree again.

As expected, compared to last time, Zhang Chengdao was able to consciously control his thoughts this time—at least he understood that when he touched Xunmu, he really became Xunmu!

No, strictly speaking, Zhang Chengdao did not become Xunmu, but could control Xunmu!

He could sense Xunmu's kindness towards him. Xunmu had handed over "control" of its roots, trunk, and crown to him, which was why when he "stretched his leg" and "lifted his skirt" just now, he accidentally caused Xunmu to grow a lot taller, resulting in the ground being raised a lot again.

Of course, Zhang Chengdao also sensed the message Xunmu was conveying to him—

hungry!
(End of this chapter)