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

Chapter 292 Digging a River
Zhang Chengdao nodded upon hearing this, his expression becoming serious.

He crouched down, his fingertips lightly touching the petals of a forget-me-not, feeling the faint yin energy contained within.

If a normal daylily grows in a place with abundant yin energy, its petals should be a bright golden yellow, full and full of vitality.

If the malevolent energy is too strong, it will gradually turn red and black from the edges of the petals, eventually becoming a dark red like congealed blood.

For ordinary people, the dark-colored forget-me-not is highly toxic, but it can also be used in medicine and is considered a relatively rare medicinal material.

Zhang Chengdao carefully examined the forget-me-nots in front of him and found that they were not only pale in color, but their leaves were also thin and fragile, which was obviously a sign of insufficient yin energy.

The forget-me-nots in front of me are still a pale yellow color, with very little yin energy, let alone any evil energy—this shows that this so-called "yin realm" is truly in its "early stages".

"The place of reincarnation... Fellow Daoist, do you have any clues?"

Zhang Chengdao stood up, his gaze sweeping across the desolate land, his voice remarkably clear on the vast expanse.

In most worlds within the cultivation civilization system, places with reincarnation functions naturally arise, and are commonly referred to as "the underworld," "the netherworld," "the netherworld," etc.

Of course, the "reincarnation" function does not refer to the reincarnation settings in various film and television works and fantasy literature before Zhang Chengdao's time travel, but rather a special kind of "cycle".

In some worlds, there is no concept of reincarnation. Instead, people gather in extremely yin places after death and eventually give back to the earth.

In some worlds, people are "reborn" immediately after death, and there is no "underworld" at all.

There are also worlds with strict hierarchical classes and an overall corrupt atmosphere, which are extremely terrifying. After death, people may even become nourishment for powerful beings and "gods," and there is no "reincarnation" at all; they are simply "recycled."

Even in the early civilizations of China, there was no concept of reincarnation. Instead, it was said that "when a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a ghost; and when a ghost dies, they become a ghost." Later, this evolved into the idea that after a person dies, they have a "yin lifespan," and then it evolved into the idea that when the "yin lifespan" is exhausted, they can be reborn into the cycle of reincarnation.

However, Zhang Chengdao and He Yu had at least studied it carefully and found that the so-called "underworld" and "reincarnation" concepts passed down in Chinese civilization were relatively reasonable, but the operation was quite difficult and required a high quantity and quality of manpower.

But...

These things can be done gradually. It's certainly not advisable to try to get fat in one bite. But in any case, we should design them in a more reasonable and standardized direction. We can't be lazy and negligent in our governance just for our own convenience.

He Yu, who was looking exhausted, sighed when he heard Zhang Chengdao's question.

With a flick of his sleeve, several bronze mirrors rotated slightly, their beams of light weaving into a net that gently pushed back the souls attempting to drift out of range. Then, he shook his head and said, "Difficult! The laws of this realm are newly born and extremely fragile. Forcibly establishing the Six Paths of Reincarnation is beyond our current capabilities. The most urgent task is to stabilize these souls and delay their dissipation before devising further plans."

As he spoke, he pointed to the ground and added, "Although these forget-me-nots can nourish the soul, their effect is weak and insufficient. Moreover, the spiritual energy of this place is too thin to sustain the survival of ordinary ghosts. As a result, the ghosts cannot survive for more than a few days and completely dissipate. At this time, we have not even been able to establish a place for reincarnation, let alone put them into reincarnation."

Zhang Chengdao pondered for a moment and asked, "If we use an array to gather Yin energy, would that be effective?"

“It is effective, but a suitable formation…” He Yu shook his head with a wry smile and said, “Although I know several Yin-gathering and soul-soothing formations, the spiritual materials required are hard to find in this world. In particular, the object that serves as the core of the formation must be extremely Yang and intense, otherwise it will be difficult to suppress the entire formation. Such an object is something like a ‘phoenix feather’ or a ‘flame heart stone’, which is something that can only be encountered by chance and cannot be sought after.”

Zhang Chengdao wasn't particularly skilled in formations, but acquiring spiritual materials wasn't a difficult task.

and……

He rummaged through his backpack and suddenly found something he had forgotten about for a long time in the top shelf of the first page—[Bi Fangyu].

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Western Mountains Classic, states: "There is a bird that looks like a crane, with one foot, red markings, blue body and white beak, named Bifang. Its cry is its own name, and if it is seen, there will be a fire in the town."

Regardless of its appearance and call, the record means that the Bifang bird will cause strange fires to rise upon sight.

However, the "Records of Mythical Beasts" that appears when upgrading the library also records the Bifang, describing it as an extremely yang bird, whose feathers are indeed extremely yang. Furthermore, the book mentions that the claim in some worlds that it brings disaster is a misconception. Although this bird is a naturally born spirit, it is not very intelligent and finds it difficult to cultivate and attain enlightenment. Therefore, there are no records of Bifang originating from immortals or gods; at most, it helps guard the house or pull a cart, though its loyalty is quite good.

Although the Bi Fang Feather sounds much less prestigious than the Phoenix Feather, it is at least... an extremely yang object, right?

Thinking of this, Zhang Chengdao took out the Bi Fang Feather and asked, "I happen to have a Bi Fang Feather here. Although it is not as good as the Phoenix Feather, perhaps we can give it a try?"

He Yu took the Bi Fang Feather and carefully sensed it. A look of surprise appeared on his face: "Such strong Yang energy, even stronger than the Phoenix Feather! Although its grade is not as high as the Phoenix Feather, it is more than enough for at least a thousand years! Fellow Daoist, where did you get this? I'm afraid it's not from this world?"

"They are indeed from outside."

The fact that his cheat ability could "draw a lottery" was really hard to explain, and it was his trump card that couldn't be easily explained. So Zhang Chengdao said vaguely, "But I only have this one. I don't know if it's enough."

He Yu didn't delve into the matter upon hearing this, but pondered, "This has already solved the immediate crisis! As the saying goes, yin gives rise to yang, and yang gives rise to yin. With this [Bi Fang Yu], the great formation can become a yin-gathering formation. In this way, it won't be long before this place becomes a true 'underworld,' and it won't be a problem to maintain the 'yin lifespan' of ordinary souls for at least a few months!" In the "underworld" that Zhang Chengdao and He Yu initially designed, the most troublesome thing was the constraint of the scarce spiritual energy, which meant that even if the "underworld" and the "yang world" were separated, it would not be able to maintain the needs of the ghosts, and they could only be forced to consume themselves and gradually dissipate.

If the "Yin Realm" is completely transformed into a space abundant with Yin energy, the dissipation rate of ghosts that feed on Yin energy and spiritual energy can be greatly reduced. If a "Yin Realm River" or "Yin Realm Lake" is dug out using the "Crane Pool Reflecting Moon Lamp" to nourish the spiritual energy of the "Yin Realm," it is believed that the ghosts in the "Yin Realm" will be able to survive normally in a short time.

Zhang Chengdao then said, "In that case, I will trouble you to set up the grand formation. I will dig a spiritual water river here to nourish the spiritual energy here. After a period of nourishment, this 'Yin Realm' will become a true 'Yin Realm'!"

Without hesitation, the two quickly chose a relatively flat area after discussing it. He Yu began to roughly delineate the maximum range of the Yin-gathering array he could set up, and then took out eight array flags and planted them in the designated open space according to the Bagua directions.

These array flags were crafted by He Yu himself some time ago using the furnace and true fire that Zhang Chengdao had borrowed from the White Stone Immortal Sect. After all, he had regained consciousness, his own cultivation was limited, and his resources were almost exhausted, so he needed to acquire some things to protect himself and his life.

This was made from the limited spiritual materials given to him by Zhang Chengdao after he consulted He Yu about various cultivation common sense. It wasn't anything precious, just relatively more practical. At this moment, in order to set up the Yin Gathering Array, he naturally used whatever was on hand. Anyway, as long as he had the materials needed for the array core, everything else could be substituted at will.

These eight battle flags are quite exquisite, each embroidered with intricate patterns, and each representing a different direction.

The flagpole was made of lightning-struck wood, and it made a slight humming sound when it was stuck into the dark soil, like a muffled thunderclap.

Not far away, Zhang Chengdao silently took out a dull iron sword from his backpack, intending to use it to start digging the river.

What? You're asking why we don't let the disciples do this kind of rough work?
Stop joking. Those newbies who haven't even reached the Foundation Establishment stage, let alone digging soil that's as solid as iron, they're only slightly stronger than ordinary people when it comes to ordinary loess. How can they compare to Zhang Chengdao, a Nascent Soul stage "powerful being," digging soil faster and easier?

Each time, all you have to do is stick the iron sword into the soil, then gather your spiritual power and slash it around. The soil on the ground is cut open like tofu. The whole process is incredibly easy. You can dig at any angle you want. The only inconvenience is that the iron sword is made from the lowest quality spiritual materials and is easily worn out.

Zhang Chengdao had already thought of a name for the river used to nourish the spiritual energy of the "underworld"—

For convenience and to familiarize himself with it, Zhang Chengdao decided to call it "Naihe," which is the legendary "Naihe Bridge" and "Meng Po" (the goddess of forgetfulness) that has yet to appear...

The "Naihe Bridge" is easy to make; it's just a matter of creating a bridge. But the "Meng Po" is not so easy to replicate. Where can he find an old woman who is willing to feed people soup every day and be forced to call him "Meng Po"?
Moreover, not all procedures have to follow the settings of the myths and legends before one's time travel. For example, in the pre-Qin period, there was no legend of Meng Po or Meng Po soup!
But the "Naihe River" is a must.

The advantage of rivers over ponds and lakes is that they grow in a linear fashion, influencing the entire "underworld." Those living along the banks of the "Nai River" are nourished by its spiritual waters, reaping the best benefits.

The two worked hard all night. One had barely set up the Yin Gathering Array, only lacking some not-too-expensive and rare spiritual materials; the other had dug a river channel several tens of meters long, but had not yet drawn water into it.

In fact, with Zhang Chengdao's current Nascent Soul stage cultivation, digging a river wouldn't be so troublesome. He only needs a few strands of spiritual energy to form blades, which would easily flatten and round the rocks and land.

Unfortunately, the place where the river needed to be dug was not an ordinary place, but the "underworld".

The soil and rocks of the "Yin Realm" are also known as "Yin Soil" and "Yin Stone." As the name suggests, they are all beings with heavy Yin energy. If you use extremely Yang weapons or techniques to deal with them, it will be easier, but they certainly cannot be "kneaded" as easily as ordinary rocks and soil.

In fact, the excavation of the river channel was more difficult than Zhang Chengdao had imagined.

Not only is Yin soil hard, but it also has a certain "self-repairing" property. The edges of the newly dug riverbed will slowly close up. Even if Zhang Chengdao cuts the Yin soil directly by "cutting soil blocks", he must use spiritual power to maintain it at all times. Otherwise, even the widest riverbed will become narrower and narrower until it closes completely.

Therefore, during the digging of the river channel, Zhang Chengdao had to allocate three-tenths of his spiritual power to solidify the edge of the river channel and prevent the Yin soil from accumulating, which made the digging process even slower.

That's why Zhang Chengdao only managed to dig a few dozen meters of riverbed after a whole night of digging. Even then, he had to use an iron sword that had been tempered by the Yang Fire of the Six Jia to "cut" the riverbed out bit by bit, like cutting tofu!
Zhang Chengdao's progress is slow, while He Yu's progress is very fast.

As an old cultivator who had practiced for quite some time, He Yu had a deep understanding of various formations, even if he wasn't an expert. Therefore, for him, the biggest difficulty in setting up the Yin Gathering Formation was the materials needed for the formation's core. Once the materials needed for the core were available, everything else could be easily replaced.

Therefore, the Yin Gathering Array was successfully activated in just one night, and the souls trapped in the bronze mirror became more energetic.

In the very center of the great formation set up by He Yu, the crimson [Bi Fang Yu] was suspended above the formation's eye, emitting a warm halo.

The newly made eight array flags lit up, allowing Bi Fangyu's Yang energy to suppress the entire "Yin Realm" and gather the Yin energy outside the array into the array, making the Yin energy in the array several times more!
Specifically, even a Nascent Soul cultivator like Zhang Chengdao couldn't help but rub his hands together, his hair standing on end from the sudden surge of Yin energy.

As the formation was activated, the surrounding forget-me-nots visibly became plumper, and their color changed from pale yellow to golden yellow, clearly indicating that they had received ample nourishment from yin energy.

Seeing that He Yu's side had almost finished, Zhang Chengdao became a little anxious.

He didn't care whether the several dozen meters of river channel was too short or not. He simply found a secluded spot, set up the [River Pool Reflecting the Moon Lantern], and began to repair it.

However, as a decorative piece, the water in the [Crane Pond Reflecting the Moon Lantern] is very limited. In just a short while, the water in the pond flowed out and the entire pond dried up completely. However, in the river channel that is dozens of meters long, this water did not even cover the bottom.

Left with no other choice, Zhang Chengdao used even more of the "Crane Pond Reflecting the Moon" lamps—luckily, these ornaments require very few materials and are not expensive, otherwise such "sacrifice" would have bankrupted him!
(End of this chapter)