bookrandom Chapter 85 The Land Beyond the Mortal Realm
Chapter 85 The Land Beyond the Mortal Realm
While the pangolin was digging its burrows, Lin Yue and Gong Yong left the dense forest and caves and returned to the government that owned the hillside. They purchased all the mountain land within a 50-kilometer radius at a high price. The families who had previously lived there could still reside there; Lin Yue did not exterminate the residents. The residents still owned their land, but while the land was previously allocated by the state, it would now belong to Lin Yue personally. The residents had to pay a commission when farming, and Lin Yue compensated them with a large sum of money during the purchase. Some residents were willing to move, while others wanted to stay. Because Lin Yue had purchased the property rights, they only had the right to reside, not ownership. They had the right to cultivate the land, but it did not belong to them; they could only rent and farm. Those who remained were mostly elderly. The younger members of larger families moved out according to Lin Yue's and the state's arrangements, building houses on new plots of land. The descendants of several elderly families also returned and were allocated plots of land elsewhere to build houses. There were also a few elderly families who did not want to leave and wanted to spend their later years peacefully. Lin Yue did not expel them; he signed agreements with the younger members and the government, stipulating that their houses would be demolished after the elderly passed away.
Having accomplished all this, Lin Yue purchased the entire area within a 50-kilometer radius of the mountain, rich in natural treasures, including the recessed cliffs and valleys—all becoming the private property of Lin Yue and Gong Yong. Lin Yue publicly declared that this place would be developed into a scenic spot, but not open to the public; it would only serve as their own residence for cultivation and recreation, essentially establishing their own sect. Buying this land required considerable effort from Lin Yue and Gong Yong. While the actual purchase could have taken only a day or two, the process involved persuasion. For example, many young people who had gone out to work hadn't returned; some took leave to return after being notified. There were also issues with compensation; some wanted more money than they thought. Lin Yue and Gong Yong negotiated and resolved all these miscellaneous matters, settling all issues with everyone and the local government, and finalizing the written agreement. The entire process took a month. Within that month, three pangolins had already dug a large hole in the mountain, 2.5 meters wide, to facilitate access for those on the other side. However, there were concerns that the mountain might collapse, and then…
After Gong Yong and Lin Yue returned, they reinforced various parts of the mountain with steel and cement, and built arches along the sides to create a 2,000-meter stretch, wide enough for their car to pass through. Although cars wouldn't be able to drive through, Lin Yue thought that children might have difficulty walking that 2,000 meters, so a stroller or a small tricycle would be fine, or adults could push the children back and forth. With this in mind, they built it this spacious. Ideally, they would also create a passage on the other side of the cliff so people could walk there at a leisurely pace. After the reinforcement was completed, the pangolin family realized this was a spiritual vein, a good place to rest, and discussed with Lin Yue whether they could dig a cave there to live in long-term. Lin Yue readily agreed, letting them find their own place to build their nest.
Lin Yue arrived at the valley, which actually contained other spirits. When Lin Yue and her companions opened the passage, they disturbed some of them. One large python came to the cave they had created, intending to attack Lin Yue and Gong Yong. Gong Yong chopped the python in the vital spot, escaping with a single blow. The rat spirit quickly ran to the python and communicated with it using their spiritual senses. During this communication, the willow spirit, worried that the rat spirit would be swallowed, tightly bound the python with willow branches. The ginseng spirit also helped, using spider silk to bind the python's vital spot, and even sucking the blood from the areas where Gong Yong had cut the python's scales, declaring them highly nourishing. After agreeing on their plan, the python spirit withdrew from Lin Yue's dwelling place, and Lin Yue allowed it to stay. The python spirit was not angry; in fact, it was somewhat relieved. Previously, it only had a few companions there, but now it discovered that many animals had cultivated into spirits. Previously, it couldn't communicate with plants, but now it could, which made it very happy. Lin Yue found it strange; this auspicious place should have many spirits, so why were there only python spirits and a few newly awakened spirits? Finally, Lin Yue and Gong Yong decided to walk around the area to investigate.
Lin Yue and Gong Yong observed the valley's terrain, with Gong Yong scanning it to plan its design and future use as a recreational area, including accommodations. After exploring the valley, they discovered a crucial detail: a large crater, seemingly blasted out by a nuclear weapon in the last century, lay everywhere. The ground was covered in rock fragments. Why it wasn't completely destroyed was unknown, but there were signs of bombing above the canyon. Walking along the canyon, they could see a large basin, half water and mostly covered in green forest. At the exit, there was a plain facing the contrasting landscape of ice and fire. This plain wasn't covered in tall trees, but rather small plants, mostly medicinal herbs. Lin Yue suspected this was once a good place for medicinal herbs, but it hadn't been tended to for twenty or thirty years. The ginseng here was mostly forty or fifty years old; there were no hundred-year-old ginseng, only forty or fifty-year-old varieties. A ginseng spirit who had traversed the valley said this place had the most ginseng. This valley was originally planted by humans, but later grew wildly. At the other end of the valley's water source, there are several ginsengs over a hundred years old, and even a thousand-year-old ginseng, but no lingzhi mushrooms. The ginseng spirit told Lin Yue this, and Lin Yue said to let it grow on its own. There are also some medicinal herbs not found in the market here. Lin Yue doesn't plan to excavate; she'll turn this place into her backyard. Since it's already her own land, she can dig it up later if needed.
After surveying the terrain, Lin Yue suspected there might be a large spirit in the lake. To avoid harming her family, she had Liu Zhi try to communicate with the underwater spirit so they could discuss things. Unable to communicate, Liu Zhi found the python that had fought the giant python when they first entered the valley and had it go into the water to communicate with the spirit. After the python went in and communicated, the underwater spirit agreed that there was no problem. Since the underwater spirit had only recently gained sentience, Lin Yue took out some spiritual fruits from her spatial storage, giving some to the giant python and some to the underwater spirit. The underwater spirit surfaced, revealing two small horns; it was unclear whether it was a large fish or something else, as only its head was visible. Lin Yue opened a box of spirit fruits and poured them into the water. A beam of light swept across the water, and all the spirit fruits disappeared. She placed the fruit for the giant snake on the ground, and the snake, without any politeness, ate them all and took them away. There was another box, which the snake did not swallow completely. It coiled itself around its tail and left, whispering to Lin Yue that she should look for it if she needed help in the future. Then it returned to the cave on the other side of the lake, which was its home.
Soon, some more spirits appeared. Since they had just gained sentience, Lin Yue didn't disturb them and quickly withdrew from the territory. She and Gong Yong sat down and projected the entire 3D and 4D image onto the screen using their computer, beginning to plan the land. They planned to build a three-story stone house from the exit, based on the cave entrance, about three or four meters high, like an extension, so that it wouldn't be noticeable unless one looked closely. They would build stone steps down from the cave entrance, cultivating five to ten acres of land below. The small plain would be used for rice cultivation, the adjacent slope for wheat, and two or three acres of flat land beside the house for vegetable gardens. Further down the steps, an artificial lake would be built around the lake, with a platform made of treated wood to hold mid-sized boats for boating and fishing. This was Lin Yue and Gong Yong's simple plan. They asked Coco and Jingjing for their opinions, and they had no objections. The white-haired man said this place was blessed with outstanding people and auspicious energy, an ideal place for cultivation and seclusion. Jingjing asked the white-haired man what his ideas were. He said they could set up a formation so that from the air, this place would be completely invisible, appearing only as a dense forest, no different from what was above. This meant drones and space equipment couldn't scan this area. Lin Yue asked how to set up the formation, saying her knowledge of formations was superficial. The white-haired man said it didn't require energy to maintain, only the placement of each flower, tree, and blade of grass. Lin Yue said she'd draw it out first, so it could handle any problems that might arise when she wasn't around. The white-haired man said he would teach everyone the formation, including its effects and how to activate the transformation killing formation in case of foreign invasion. Lin Yue said she was proficient in formations, but the white-haired man said he only knew a little. Thinking of this, Lin Yue wanted him to teach her when she had time. During this time, Lin Yue also looked for the pangolin. The area below the exit was full of jagged rocks, and the pangolin needed her help with many large stones. The pangolin, with its profound cultivation, easily completed the task of repairing the steps—a simple matter indeed.
Because the pangolin family of three had been a great help, many of the large rocks could be handled with the existing machinery. Although Lin Yue and her team had some in their spatial dimension, it would make a crackling sound, which they felt was inappropriate. It was much easier for the pangolins to handle them. Lin Yue then gave the family three boxes of spiritual fruits, asking them to help repair all the winding paths leading down to the cave entrance. The family of three agreed, saying they needed six more boxes of spiritual fruits, which Lin Yue also agreed to, and they continued repairing the path all the way to the lake.
As for the construction of the Great Plain, Lin Yue had other ideas. First, the water conservancy had to be properly managed, in case the terrain was disturbed and heavy rains caused landslides. With this in mind, Lin Yue gathered everyone together and had the white-haired brother draw his array first, while designing the lake's flow path based on the size of the water flow from the mountain cave entrance. Lin Yue lined the area where the water flowed out of the cave with stones, and after the pangolin family finished, they built a diversion channel to prevent the lake from rising and flooding the plain during heavy rains, and also to irrigate the future fields. Although it wasn't much, this land would benefit future generations. Because Lin Yue would also grow old and die one day, her space might take away the spiritual flowers and fruits within it with her departure, and her children and descendants might not be able to enjoy them. With these thoughts in mind, she and Gong Yong found this place of outstanding people and spiritual energy, intending to build it into an unparalleled paradise.
Another month passed in the blink of an eye. From searching for Jingjing and digging to now building this special place, nearly three months had gone by. Lin Yue's parents were now almost ninety years old, and their health was declining. Lin Yue wondered if she could bring them here to recuperate, perhaps extending their lives by another twenty or thirty years. With this in mind, Lin Yue and Gong Yong quickly built a three-story house outside the cave entrance. There was a large platform outside, just like their old home, a nice place for drying clothes or for the family to play, with five or six tables. To let in sunlight, they used movable glass that could be pulled open to shield from the wind and rain, and opened to let in the sun. It had casters underneath, so pulling it out required some effort.
Inside, a large kitchen with a wood-burning stove was built, large enough to cook with wood and coal. Next to it was a dining room, exceptionally large, able to fit three large round tables, accommodating three tables of people. There was a shared toilet in the rooms with three squat toilets, a sink outside, and three showerheads inside, allowing the family to shower simultaneously. Further in was a large bedroom, where Lin Yue arranged a bed and wardrobe, and a large bathroom with a sink and toilet. Excrement flowed through a hole drilled by the pangolin into the rock face on another side of the mountain. This area was converted into a septic tank for future crop irrigation. About two or three hundred meters from the house, the waste flowed through a hole drilled into the rock. Finally, Lin Yue provided a pipe, a large, black, soft rubber pipe, for the pangolin family to connect. When the waste reached about three or four hundred meters down the mountain from the house, the pangolin drilled a square hole, half-burying it with a stone slab and leaving the other half open with wooden planks; using only rock slabs would be too heavy to open. This was the basic drainage system Lin Yue had created. The drainage from the previously empty "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang" house would drain through an opening on the other side of the mountain into the primeval forest, nourishing the trees. After considering and completing these steps, Lin Yue immediately surveyed the surrounding mountains, searching for an exit. At this point, Lin Yue, Gong Yong, Coco, Jingjing, Coco's husband Lone Wolf, and the White-Haired Brother sat together in the hall, looking at the mountain projection on the wall. Considering safety, they planned to build a road for future car access, making it easier for their parents to come and for their brothers to visit. Thinking of this, Lin Yue suggested starting construction from a crack next to the house. This wasn't a cliff edge; the mountainside leading out was all rock, and the exit led to the back door of a villager's house. The villager had moved away, and the land now belonged to Lin Yue. Lin Yue considered whether to build there; the old house was right in front of a newly built village road, which would connect to the front door of the house. Lin Yue planned to renovate and refurbish the house so that, apart from her own family members, other visitors could use it as a place to be entertained. Everyone thought it was a good idea.
So they approached the pangolin family of three, offering them 10 boxes of spiritual fruits in exchange for clearing a path about 2.5 meters wide and 3 meters high, roughly 500-600 meters long. The pangolins agreed, but when they actually cleared it, they found it was nearly 1,000 meters long. Lin Yue and Gong Yong immediately reinforced it. Although the rock was hard, it didn't need reinforcement, but Lin Yue, just in case, brought steel bars and reinforced it piece by piece. Fortunately, they were both cultivators, and the steel bars were as easy as playing with mud for them; they finished quickly. The exit was right in the backyard. Ironically, the backyard was next to a cliff wall, and the pangolin family, worried that a small slope would affect Lin Yue and the others' access, had removed it. Lin Yue thought for a moment and decided to make the gate more discreet, having the pangolins build a corner entrance, not a direct route from the backyard, but a side entrance, about a 180-degree angle.
The advantage of this is that when driving in from the village road, you can't see the hole in the side of the mountain when you walk into the old house. Even if someone sees it, they will think that the family dug a cellar in the mountains to store things, because Lin Yue and his team paved the entire entrance of the hole with cement, leading all the way to the farmer's backyard.
Lin Yue contacted the renovation team that had previously worked on the villa and called them to renovate this courtyard-style building. The team manager arrived quickly with his crew, requesting a two-week completion period. The owner, after inspecting the site, thought it was a piece of cake, even rebuilding wouldn't be too difficult, as the area was spacious and he wasn't worried about affecting others. Lin Yue said the nearby vegetable garden could be repaired if damaged. The owner proceeded with bold and decisive actions, demolishing the existing earthen walls and the house itself, driving piles into the ground, and constructing a five-story villa with local characteristics, its exterior indistinguishable from the surrounding area—Lin Yue's intention was to create confusion.
The request was for the construction team to build a 3-meter-high wall, incorporating the mountainside cave within. The back garden was to be paved 3.5 meters wide, extending into the cave; the unpaved area was to be used for planting. The backyard was to be paved another 2 meters for parking, and the front yard was to have about ten meters of parking space. Considering future residents, Lin Yue also paved an adjacent plot of land, having the construction team build a two-story building, about 4 meters high, with about ten single-story rooms. Lin Yue planned to build the entire area into suites, approximately 60 square meters each, with two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen, convenient for soldiers and their families.
Considering all this, Lin Yue called her superiors and said that the area wanted to recruit a group of veterans as bodyguards, to be registered as government agencies, and that a company would be registered in the area. Veterans who were willing to work there would each be allocated a 60-square-meter two-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom, and one-kitchen apartment.