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

Chapter 222 The search for wood has grown longer yet.

Xunmu was located where the original Peach Garden was. Perhaps because it was always growing, the master moved the Peach Garden to the Tianchi area, which became the current Tianchi Peach Garden.

Murong Ruyan flew to Xunmu like a gust of wind and saw her master meditating under the tree.

I never imagined that my master, who is already a true immortal on land, still has to cultivate so diligently!

Murong Ruyan was surprised.

Noticing Murong Ruyan's arrival, Zhang Chengdao opened his eyes, habitually putting on a kind smile, and asked, "It's Ruyan. What brings you here in such a hurry?"

Murong Ruyan hurriedly replied, "Master, Master! I saw a 'ghost' over in Xiangwu City!"

Zhang Chengdao was puzzled: "A 'ghost'? It shouldn't be able to beat you, right?"

With the revival of spiritual energy, it's not unusual for "ghosts" to appear! He was just thinking a few days ago about how to manage the increasing number of ghosts that would appear. He couldn't possibly build an underworld from scratch, could he? That would be too much of a project!

Moreover, given the temperament of "Emperor Ruyan," let alone ghosts, even a ghost king would probably get a couple of slaps on the head if he saw her!
Seeing her master remain unfazed even if the sky were to fall and the earth were to crumble, Murong Ruyan also calmed down. She took a breath and carefully replied, "No, Master, it's a ghost from a long time ago. Its clothes and appearance are not like those of today, and it's wearing a crown. I suspect... it's the 'King of Qin'!"

"King of Qin"?
Zhang Chengdao was taken aback upon hearing this.

What? Qin Shi Huang still exists in this timeline?
However, he quickly suppressed this inappropriate thought and instead remembered that his older fourth apprentice had mentioned in her "last will" that she was the tomb keeper of the Qin King's tomb...

The Qin king in this timeline should be the same Qin king from the Qin king's tomb...

It's an old ghost that's lived for thousands of years!?
Could it be that there is an underworld in this world?!
But I didn't notice!
In an instant, several thoughts popped into Zhang Chengdao's mind. Overwhelmed with shock, he calmly pressed on, "How do you know he's the King of Qin? Did he tell you?"

"Uh...no, that's not true..."

Murong Ruyan was stunned by her master's question.

He could only hesitantly explain, "It was because I noticed the style of his clothes and then saw him crawl into the statue in the Qin King Temple that I made this guess..."

Crawling inside the statues at the Qin King Temple!?

This sounds exactly like the City God, doesn't it?!
Zhang Chengdao couldn't help but frown.

Does the underworld really exist in this world? And does it have a City God?
Before he could ponder further, Murong Ruyan quickly added, "That 'ghost' seemed dazed and confused. I couldn't communicate with it, and it seemed completely unaware of us. Because it was afraid that if we attacked and scattered it, it would be even harder to investigate what was going on, it just kept chasing him until he disappeared into the statue. So... so I'm not sure if it's the King of Qin..."

Zhang Chengdao felt even stranger upon hearing this.

It's perfectly normal for ghosts to be in a daze; in fact, most ghosts are in a daze. There are only two kinds of ghosts that have a clear consciousness, can think, and can communicate: one is the classic villain "fierce ghost," and the other is the ghost messengers, ghost officials, Yama, judges, and the like in the underworld.

Those who cultivate to become immortals from a ghostly body are collectively called "ghost immortals," a type of immortal. Cultivating to become an immortal from a human body is much more difficult, hence ghost immortals are highly respected. However, those who performed great deeds in their lifetime or received numerous offerings of incense over a long period are called "incense gods," which is quite different from the path of cultivation for human cultivators.

These "common sense" things he had come up with while rummaging through the various books in the library these past few days—who knows how hard he had worked to quickly categorize the fragmented information from hundreds of books into jade slips containing cultivation techniques and magical abilities!

Zhang Chengdao pressed on uncertainly, "He really couldn't see you? And he didn't speak to you either?"

Upon hearing this, Murong Ruyan shook her head, her expression also puzzled.

Logically speaking, a ghost immortal is an immortal after all, and in a real sense, he is much more powerful than a half-baked Golden Core cultivator like himself. And when he encounters a weak Foundation Establishment cultivator like Murong Ruyan, he can easily defeat her with a flick of his little finger.

How could it be as Murong Ruyan said, that they were afraid of breaking the group up?
Scatter the ghost immortals? Does Emperor Ruyan have that kind of ability?

After torn between the two thoughts, "Empress Ruyan truly lives up to her reputation as the invincible and vicious female supporting character template who slaughters her way through the entire book; she can defeat a ghost immortal even at the Foundation Establishment stage" and "That thing isn't a ghost immortal at all," Zhang Chengdao ultimately chose to believe the objective facts.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator is definitely no match for a Ghost Immortal, so the "ghost" that Murong Ruyan refers to is probably not a Ghost Immortal at all.

This is strange. Although ordinary ghosts can possess objects, there are conditions. For example, their own memorial tablet, tombstone, or objects they used in life, as well as statues with a specific meaning—this is usually the way to become a deity.

Most importantly, if it is not something pointing at oneself, especially a statue or temple, it is almost impossible to possess or reside in it; otherwise, it is considered "theft," which is equivalent to a unique form of "possession" between ghosts and incense gods.

and so……

Could this "ghost" really be the King of Qin?

How did he survive for thousands of years?!
Unable to figure it out no matter how hard he tried, Zhang Chengdao decided to make the trip himself.

If there really is an underworld, then it's worth negotiating with them to see how they know how I "traveled" back.

Although this world allows for cultivation, he still misses the ordinary world with its ice-cold, sugary sodas. Of course, it would be even better if he could travel back with this cultivation system, so he could both cultivate and enjoy ice-cold sodas.

However, Zhang Chengdao had to wait a little longer before that could happen.

Because an hour or so ago, this wretched tree had been telling him it was hungry!
He had just finished filling the three pools with spiritual spring water for Xunmu and was making all the preparations, waiting for it to suddenly grow taller again!

“I am aware of this matter. Later, your master will accompany you to the Qin King Temple to see what is going on.”

As soon as Zhang Chengdao finished speaking, Baishi Mountain finally began to shake.

"Oh dear! Master!?"

Murong Ruyan cried out in surprise, then instinctively took to the air and flew up, looking at the swaying rocks in alarm.

"Don't panic, the wood is about to grow taller."

Zhang Chengdao sat calmly under the tree and reassured Murong Ruyan without changing his expression.

No sooner had he finished speaking than he felt something bump against his bottom, and then he was lifted up by a protruding root.

Murong Ruyan wanted to offer a word of advice, but after opening her mouth, she felt that her master was a true immortal on land and that she was making a fuss over nothing, so she shut her mouth and silently watched as her master was lifted half a meter high by a root of Xunmu before falling back to the ground with a thud.

That sounds pretty painful...

The root of the tree that was searching for the tree had just grown, so it only emerged from the soil for a short while before falling back down and burrowing into the ground.

As the trunk of the Xunmu tree grew thicker and thicker, Zhang Chengdao had no choice but to stand up. He barely managed to maintain the composure that a master should not be impatient or flustered under any circumstances, and slowly walked away. Only then did he watch helplessly as the Xunmu tree grew more exaggeratedly than before, more than twice its original size!
The White Stone Immortal Sect's location on White Stone Mountain was lifted even higher by Xunmu. The overwhelming feeling of being lifted caused many of the sect's disciples to panic. It wasn't until a quarter of an hour later that the sensation of the ground rising gradually stopped.

At this moment, looking into the distance, one could actually see leisurely white clouds drifting among the many buildings of the sect, creating a scene reminiscent of immortals!
This is practically a natural special effect!
Zhang Chengdao suddenly found Xunmu much more pleasing to the eye and no longer cared that it had drained him of several "Crane Lantern Reflecting the Moon Pool".

By this time, the Xunmu tree had grown as thick as a mountain peak. The soil it had planted in was cracked and looked about to collapse, making Zhang Chengdao very worried that if the white stone mountain couldn't hold on, or if more and more people came, it might fall back to the ground with a "thud"...

【Won't……】

The moment this thought arose, a deep voice appeared in his mind.

The voice was very familiar; it was Xunmu, who had just been yelling at him that he was hungry!

How can you talk inside my head?!

While feeling relieved, Zhang Chengdao was also somewhat conflicted. Could it be that this Seeking Wood could detect his thoughts anytime, anywhere?

This is so insecure and shows such a lack of respect for my privacy!

Thinking about it this way, Zhang Chengdao heard Xunmu say again:

My physical body resides within your spiritual abode, thus enabling me to communicate with you through divine consciousness. If you wish to do so, you may choose to close your spiritual abode yourself…

After reading numerous books, Zhang Chengdao had long since figured out what the "Spiritual Abode" was, and he no longer mistakenly thought that cultivating one's divine consciousness within the Spiritual Abode was some kind of "golden finger space" or other such joke. However, controlling the Spiritual Abode to close...

Well, Zhang Chengdao tried it, but felt he couldn't do it.

Looking at the 62 membership red envelopes he had accumulated in his backpack, Zhang Chengdao wondered if he should stop saving up to 100 and open them early to see if he could gamble out a "Beginner's Guide to Elixir Acquisition".

After all, he had been stuck at the Core Formation stage for several months. Even knowledge about spiritual mansion and divine sense was something he had to figure out on his own with only a superficial understanding. It was too difficult!

However, from another perspective, communicating with Xunmu using divine sense is quite convenient.

After all, it's just a tree!
'Then why is your physical form inside my spiritual abode?'

The Spirit Palace should be a very private place, right? How did you manage to sneak in?
You were the one who sent me in there, and then you took me out and planted me here. But since it's safer inside, I left my original body inside...

Me? Myself? I sent you in!?

If it weren't for his second disciple, Murong Ruyan, being right beside him, Zhang Chengdao would have been completely baffled!

(End of this chapter)