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

Chapter 169 Heavenly Pool and Strange Events
Since the peach trees had already been replanted next to the lake, Zhang Chengdao simply exchanged a dozen more peach saplings from the mall to replant them, and then designated the lake and the peach grove together as a "Peach Garden," leaving An Che Huaishan, the "owner," to take care of it.

The lake thus acquired a new name: Tianchi (Heavenly Lake).

The official name of "Taoyuan" was thus changed to "Tianchi Taoyuan".

For this reason, Zhang Chengdao even had a paper bird deliver a message to Xu Ying, asking him to commission a new plaque with the four characters "Tianchi Peach Garden".

After all, Baishi Mountain was lifted to the sky by Xunmu, so the Great Lake naturally followed suit. Hmm... how can this not be considered a "Heavenly Pool"?

Moreover, who knows why, even though it's in the sky, the water circulation is still excellent, and it hasn't dried up due to the inability to exchange with groundwater. Even the waterfalls that were "cut" out of the Crane Pond Reflecting the Moon are "operating" well.

Unable to understand it, Zhang Chengdao could only attribute it to "that's how the code is written."

After planting the peach trees, Zhang Chengdao finally had the leisure to go down to the foot of the mountain to take a look.

Baishi Mountain was raised by over a hundred meters, creating a huge crater.

The pit was dark and sweltering, with little spiritual energy. Apart from the occasional animal carcass that had fallen in, there seemed to be no living creatures there.

However, despite being called a giant pit, it wasn't actually that deep.

Because Baishi Mountain is a mountain in its original form, the parts that were raised by the wood were mostly exposed mountain slopes.

The part below the mountain is only a small section, a few tens of meters deep, which is about the depth of a slightly deeper lake.

Zhang Chengdao even planned to wait until the wood grew longer and then completely lift Baishi Mountain into the sky, and then simply transform this deep pit into a lake.

After carefully considering his options, Zhang Chengdao returned to his room to rest, satisfied.

……

The next day, Chang Ping'an, who was traveling with the Taiyue Sword Sect members, encountered a strange incident.

The group wanted to take a shortcut through Bailuquan to leave Xiao Kingdom directly from Weize Pass in Pingding County, but they were stopped by the village elders. Qu Zhiweng politely cupped his hands and asked, "Old man, why can't we take this road?"

The village elder leading the group, with a long beard, leaned shakily on his cane and advised, "I know you are all martial artists and are not afraid of bandits or villains, but you must not go to Pingding County!"

An impatient disciple of the Taiyue Sword Sect immediately pressed, "Why can't we go?"

"A while ago, a Yellow-Robed Immortal came to Pingding County. Not only did he demand that everyone in Pingding County worship him, but he also demanded that we send him tribute every few days! What's worse, any merchants who passed through were stripped naked and brought back. Forget about leaving Xiao Kingdom, if they just passed through Pingding County, they probably wouldn't even see Weize Pass!"

The old man sighed and said, "I'm doing this for your own good. That Yellow-Robed Immortal is incredibly powerful and has extraordinary abilities. A few days ago, a sixth-rank expert who was passing by went there specifically to rid the people of this scourge, but unfortunately, he still failed miserably and returned empty-handed. He was stripped naked, tsk tsk tsk, and he didn't even have a pair of shoes or socks left!"

Upon hearing the elder's words, Qu Zhiweng subconsciously glanced at Chang Ping'an. Pingding County was not far from Baishi Mountain, less than three hundred li away. With the martial artists' stamina, it wouldn't take them more than two days to travel there.

How could a demon have appeared so close to the White Stone Immortal Sect?
Upon seeing this, Chang Ping'an's face immediately turned bright red. He explained, "Perhaps it's because we're too close to Baishi Mountain and it's affected us, causing some kind of spirit creature to grow. We haven't had time to discipline it, which has led to this disaster. Please wait a moment at Bailuquan. I'll go to Pingding County to check the situation. If it's true, I'll deal with it immediately!"

In fact, upon closer examination, this was Zhang Chengdao's oversight.

The concentration of spiritual energy in Baishi Mountain has soared due to the search for wood and the Heavenly Pool, naturally affecting the surrounding hundreds of miles.

Back when the spiritual energy concentration wasn't so high, Sandy, the intelligent and powerful squirrel, was born naturally. Now that the spiritual energy concentration is so high, it's not impossible that some other animals have been affected and become monsters.

However, Zhang Chengdao hadn't thought about it in that direction. His mind was full of... cough, full of the construction of the sect. He hadn't had time to consider anything outside the sect.

In short, Chang Ping'an encountered such an embarrassing situation when he first went on a business trip on behalf of the Baishi Immortal Sect because he neglected the "ecology" near Baishi Mountain.

Fortunately, Qu Zhiweng did not have any inquisitive spirit about this matter. He only earnestly said, "If there really is evil spirits causing trouble, as the head of the Taiyue Sword Sect, I cannot stand idly by!"

After a moment of contemplation, Qu Zhiweng arranged, "How about this, Dai Liang and Fang Tang, you two take good care of your junior brother and sister. I will go with Chang Xiaoshenxian to investigate this matter."

The two Taiyue Sword Sect disciples whose names were mentioned quickly bowed and agreed. Chang Ping'an wanted to say that he could handle the matter himself, but then he thought that Sect Leader Qu meant well, so he did not refuse and nodded, saying, "Sect Leader Qu is too kind. Let's not delay, let's get going!"

No sooner had the two finished speaking than the village elder beside them stared wide-eyed, his face filled with shock, and asked, "Could you be the renowned Sect Leader Qu of the Taiyue Sword Sect?!"

Although Bailuquan is only about two hundred miles south of Baishi Mountain, the place is really remote and the news is out of reach. People only know that there is a Baishi Immortal Sect that is making a lot of noise, but they really don't know the name of the so-called "Chang Xiao Shenxian".

On the contrary, Qu Zhiweng was more famous because he had been famous for a long time and was also the head of the Taiyue Sword Sect next door. These village elders had heard of him.

Qu Zhiweng chuckled and stroked his beard, saying, "You flatter me. I am indeed the head of the Taiyue Sword Sect. This young immortal Chang is the eldest disciple of the White Stone Immortal of the White Stone Immortal Sect, and his abilities are even greater. Therefore, my fellow villagers, you need not worry about the matter of that 'Yellow Robe Immortal'!"

Chang Ping'an also cupped his hands and promised, "I will definitely give you all an explanation for my investigation into the 'Yellow Robe Immortal' this time, so please rest assured!"

"Hehehe, great! I didn't expect you to be a minor immortal from the White Stone Immortal Sect!"

The village elder breathed a sigh of relief, waved to the villagers to clear the way, and said, "With Sect Leader Qu and this... 'Little Immortal Chang' taking action, I am relieved. Sect Leader Qu, rest assured, I will have the villagers prepare some food. We will certainly not treat the heroes of Taiyue Sword Sect unfairly!"

Qu Zhiweng quickly stopped him, saying, "Elder, there's no need to be so polite. Our Taiyue Sword Sect has brought dry rations; we just need a few bowls of hot soup!"

The Taiyue Sword Sect has always adhered to the traditions established by the Sword Saint Tang Xingjian, acting with integrity and disdaining to exploit the people or seize benefits through martial arts cultivation.

Otherwise, the Taiyue Sword Sect, the number one sect in the Zhou Kingdom, wouldn't be unable to afford a carriage for its sect leader's travels and would have to walk to save money.

(End of this chapter)