As spring entered the South Border, life burst forth in all its glory, and everything seemed to spring back to life.
Especially in the many towns that worshipped the Celestial Lord, where the atmosphere was one of bustling activity and opportunities aplenty. Just one year after the dark reign of the Huanmo Sect, and the place looked like an entirely different world.
Welcome to Three Mountain Town!
Once pristine and radiating authority and fear from its temple, the ground now sported a thick layer of dust, along with heaps of sand and stone that transformed it into a construction site gone rogue.
A pair of white shoes crunched through the dust, belonging to our now one-year-older young man, who gazed at the sunlight pouring in from the door and couldn’t help but smile.
“Time flies, doesn’t it?”
Ke Mo had donned an outfit worthy of a Black Earth Immortal.
“How long has it been?”
“Um, two or three months?”
“……?”
A certain Qin, who had been snoozing for thousands of years in the Dreamy Underworld, slowly typed out a question mark.
What profound reflection are you indulging in, my dear boy?
One might mistake you for having lived through a roller coaster of years!
“People from the South Border are really unhygienic! This is a temple, a place where deities dwell—look at the state of it!”
“No wonder the strength of the people here is so unstable.”
Qin Yuzhi frowned as she took in the scene inside the temple.
She raised her hand, preparing to clean up the mess, but the Black Earth Immortal stopped her.
“It’s just fine like this.” Ke Mo insisted solemnly.
“….. Alright then.”
Qin Yuzhi looked at him, feeling something was off, as if she was close to grasping a hidden truth, but there was still a layer of glass between them, making it unclear.
“First, let’s collect my offerings.”
The Black Earth Immortal opened a miniature world, acting like a vacuum cleaner as he sucked in mountains of stones and sand.
Then came a few boxes of instant noodle seasonings.
While doing this, he pondered what would happen in the future if he couldn’t come to the South Border to collect ‘offerings’ and bestow ‘blessings’ in time because of a little tyke.
Even without any unexpected circumstances, if the worship of the Celestial Lord spread more widely, with so many towns, there would eventually come a day when he simply couldn’t juggle it all.
Creating alternate incarnations was not a viable long-term solution for such a heavy task.
As Ke Mo moved the instant noodle seasonings, suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him.
What does our sect represent? The Great Dao Immortal Sect!
With that many Monster Clans in the South Border, if they could become adept warriors in martial arts, why not send a delivery service? Seems reasonable, right?
Just as he was deep in thought…
A group of townsfolk hauling a Unicycle-cart arrived, led by the Old Town Chief. They spotted the Black Earth Immortal pondering over the instant noodle seasonings.
“The Immortal is showing his presence again!”
“You… you’re back!”
“Is this person beside you another Immortal?”
“Immortal, we’ve started digging the mountain paths between the other two mountains—perhaps our descendants will be able to escape the mountains through that route one day.”
“Recently, we often have the same strange dream, where we all gather and eat together—it’s delightful!”
“Do you have any insights for us?”
The townsfolk bowed eagerly, no longer as timid as before when faced with the deity, instead engaging in lively chatter.
Instant noodles were guaranteed to be delicious, and the scent was mouthwatering—especially for the folks in the South Border, for whom filling their stomachs was a challenge.
Forget about them, even in a past life, if someone cooked noodles on a train, everyone would be fighting over the delightful aroma, especially when hunger pangs were gnawing at them.
Once they woke up, they’d still be dreaming of that flavor!
“Hey, isn’t that Immortal the one from our dreams?”
“It really is!”
“Everyone, please calm down!”
The Black Earth Immortal clasped his hands behind his back, speaking softly, and waited for the crowd to quiet down before continuing:
“What you smelled in your dreams is what’s packed in these boxes.”
“These are the rewards for your hard work in worshipping, and I hope you keep up the good effort.”
With that, he took out a ceramic pot, opened it, and a wave of alluring aroma wafted out, utterly overpowering.
Warm reminder: The top right corner has features for “Switching between Simplified and Traditional Chinese,” “Adjusting font size,” and “Reading background color” among others.
This is instant noodle seasoning straight from the realms of Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, enhanced with hot pot spices produced by the renowned Happy Sheep Hot Pot, suitable for all ages!
Not only is it delicious, but it also includes herbs and other goodies…
“Is it really just like in the dream?”
“Not only for noodles—it’s great for dipping pancakes too!”
The Old Town Chief and the townsfolk were wide-eyed, just finished with work and ready to gobble something down.
Li Mo waved his hand grandly:
“This Immortal doesn’t like to mess around—let’s get something substantial!”
“Today, I treat you all to braised beef noodles!”
With that, he set up a cooking station in the middle of the temple, fired up a big pot, and started prepping ingredients.
The crowd erupted into cheers; their expressions were ecstatic.
“Long live the Immortal!”
“What are you blabbering about? Isn’t that cursing the Immortal’s lifespan? We should be saying he lives as long as the heavens!”
“?????”
Qin Yuzhi’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
She had never seen such a bizarre scene of spiritual preaching; Li Mo seemed to have devised a newfangled method of spreading the word, and…
It seemed to be surpassing her wildest imaginations.
Buzz—
A sound echoed that only she could hear, and as she looked up, she noticed an immense but formless power starting to gather around the chaotic temple as the bustling figure at the cooking station drew in energy.
It was the strength of the people.
From the long lines formed by the villagers, all eagerly looking on, yet no one pushed; everyone was waiting patiently.
“What’s going on?”
Qin Yuzhi noticed that the collected strength of the people was far greater than anything she had ever seen.
It was almost fifty percent more than the number of people present.
“Come help out!”
“Oh, okay…”
Qin Yuzhi pushed her doubts down and rushed over to lend a hand.
…..
Meanwhile…
The Huanmo Sect’s deputy leader, Yu Wen Cuojin, along with Tan Zhuyin and other members of the dark sect, were soaring through the sky on a purple-black griffon.
“Hmm? The fluctuation of the strength of the people here is extraordinarily intense. What place is this?”
“Reporting to you, Deputy Leader Yu Wen, this is Three Mountain Town, with a population of over 1,700.”
Luo Yexian didn’t dare slack off and quickly referred to the map.
“Over 1,700 people, yet there’s so much strength of the people?”
Tan Zhuyin opened his mouth, intending to take a gasp, only to swallow a mouthful of cold air.
Yu Wen Cuojin narrowed his eyes, acutely sensing the direction from which the strength came—it was indeed Three Mountain Town.
In other words…
That so-called Immortal was right here?
“I originally planned to take out that pretentious fool, but I didn’t expect he has such methods, being able to gather the strength of the people so efficiently. I wonder what kind of sinister tricks he must be employing…”
Yu Wen Cuojin’s eyes flickered.
Luo Yexian hurriedly said, “I know you’re anxious, but let’s not act rashly. This senior really has impressive techniques. This method is unprecedented; I suggest we prioritize gathering intel.”
Tan Zhuyin maintained a cold demeanor; after all, he had invested heavily in that Immortal but had gotten nothing in return—not even a decent meal.
His initial confidence had started to waver.
Finally, he spoke up: “Deputy Leader Yu Wen, why don’t we go observe the town first?”
Yu Wen Cuojin was in agreement; being able to learn about the method for gathering the strength of the people would be beneficial.
Not knowing the depth of their opponents and acting recklessly would only lead to doom, and the Huanmo Sect had been crushed by the authorities long ago.
Yu Wen Cuojin was also of a cautious nature:
“Then let’s do that.”
“Luo Yexian, you and the Holy Son go. You two have had interactions with that so-called Immortal, so you can catch him off guard.”
