novelraw Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Residence
After roughly two hours, Lin Bai, now something of a “traveler through time and space,” sensed the surrounding space begin to ripple.
Are we about to arrive?
That thought had only just arisen when the force of attraction wrapped around his body suddenly changed!
In an instant, the pure white before his eyes was replaced by the vivid colors of reality. His feet once more touched solid ground, and noisy voices rushed into his ears. Just as Lin Bai was looking around and observing where he had ended up,
he saw Wang Yu at one side waving at him, signaling for Lin Bai to come over to her.
But Lin Bai noticed that Wang Yu was standing in the center of the Auxiliary Dao group, so he shook his head at her, indicating that he would not be going over.
Instead, he found himself a spot at the outer edge, somewhere inconspicuous, and quietly acted as his little invisible self while observing the surroundings.
Lin Bai discovered that they were now standing on a leveled mountain platform.
The platform was vast.
Lin Bai could say with certainty that this was a mountain peak rather than open land. It was not because he had seen the edge of the platform, but because he had seen several even higher peaks. None of them had pointed summits either. Instead, they resembled giant round terraces.
There was even one peak whose height and breadth Lin Bai simply could not make out at all. If he had stood at the foot of that mountain, he felt he might have mistaken it for the “wall of the world.”
After surveying the broad environment, Lin Bai began observing the finer details nearby.
The platform they were on was not bare and empty. Beneath their feet were huge polished stone slabs, laid into a wide plaza.
At the edge of the plaza were sheer cliffs. Green pines clung upside down from the rock face, growing stubbornly there. Below the cliff lay a deep pool as green as jade. Several white-plumed cranes, startled by the sudden appearance of the crowd, spread their wings gracefully and flew into the distance, leaving behind a few clear cries where they had been.
Casting his gaze even farther, he could see rolling hills and dense forest.
If one did not deliberately raise one’s head to look at the heart-shaking cliffs and distant towering peaks, one might almost think oneself in some beautiful hidden paradise.
And overhead there was actually only a single yellow sun. There were even white clouds here, and the air was no different from outside—if anything, it was even better.
Lin Bai truly could not believe that this was a mere Grotto-Heaven, just a small world-dimension rather than a genuine greater world.
Just as he was clicking his tongue in wonder and looking everywhere like a curious child, a figure quietly approached.
It was Wang Yu, who had come looking for him.
“Amazing, isn’t it? This is the Firecloud Grotto-Heaven, nurtured by Human destiny. And among the places Great Xia occupies within it, this place is the Thousand Peaks Sea of Clouds.”
Lin Bai nodded to show he understood.
Then, just as he was about to ask Wang Yu for more detailed information, the disciples of Yunmeng Commandery Martial Academy had finally all gathered.
The entire mountain peak gave a tremor, and streaks of flowing light flew out of the void toward the crowd.
Lin Bai raised a hand and caught the streak of light flying toward him.
When he opened his hand, he found it was a jade token.
“What is this?”
“You don’t even know that? It’s our guidance token within the Grotto-Heaven.”
Hearing the voice nearby, Lin Bai’s question was answered, saving him the trouble of asking Wang Yu.
Lin Bai carefully examined the jade token in his hand. It was about half the size of his palm, and its surface was so smooth it was almost like a glazed mirror, reflecting his curious face.
Once everyone had received a jade token, the tokens all gave off a soft ding.
“Please proceed to your assigned courtyard as quickly as possible.”
More than a hundred jade tokens on the plaza spoke at once. Fortunately, they all spoke together. If they had each spoken one by one, Lin Bai felt he would have been driven mad by the noise.
“Our assigned courtyard? Since when do we have a courtyard?”
“It should be where we’ll be staying here on Yunmeng Peak, right? Look, doesn’t the direction show on the token?”
“That’s true. Brother Zhao, I see that our directions are the same. Why don’t we head off together now?”
“Brother Zhang speaks wisely.”
Listening to the surrounding clamor, Lin Bai looked at his own jade token and searched for the direction marked on it.
It was roughly to the northwest, in the direction of the pool and the bamboo grove.
At that moment, Lin Bai noticed that the direction on Wang Yu’s token was very close to his own, so he raised his token and gave it a little shake toward her, signaling that they were headed the same way.
“Miss Wang Yu, we’re going to the same place. Want to walk together?”
Wang Yu nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
Lin Bai noticed that although all of them were heading northwest, they could still be roughly divided into three slightly different directions.
There was no need to guess.
Military Track, Literary Track, Auxiliary Dao.
People gradually split up and headed in their different directions, while Lin Bai and Wang Yu continued on together.
Soon they separated from the larger Auxiliary Dao group and walked together toward a quiet little bamboo grove.
Before long, the two of them found their respective courtyards. They turned out to be neighbors. Whether that counted as fate or not, who could say?
There were roughly five courtyards in this bamboo grove, and their two happened to stand side by side.
“We’ve arrived. Then let’s part here.”
“All right. If you need help with anything later, you can come find me.”
After bidding Wang Yu farewell, Lin Bai took out his jade token and pressed it against the gate.
The bamboo gate before him swung open.
After entering, Lin Bai had not even had time to properly inspect his courtyard when the jade token gave off another ding, indicating that there was a message.
“Would you like to activate the protective formation and concealment formation within the courtyard?”
Lin Bai was not surprised. After all, they had even produced an inheritance, Grotto-Heaven. What was so strange about a courtyard having formations inside it?
“Activate them.”
As soon as the words fell, an almost transparent silver membrane rippled outward from the jade token like waves on water, sweeping swiftly across the entire courtyard before vanishing without a trace.
But Lin Bai could feel that an invisible barrier had already formed. From inside the courtyard, he could still clearly see the bamboo shadows swaying outside, but from outside, the courtyard was likely now only a vague blur.
“Privacy protection plus physical defense. Five-star review.”
Lin Bai nodded in satisfaction, and at last had time to properly examine his new home.
The front courtyard was not particularly large. Blue stone slabs paved the ground, and in one corner stood two flourishing tea trees giving off a faint fragrance. Beneath them sat a smoothly polished stone table and stone chairs.
There was also an old well by the courtyard wall. When he leaned over to look, the water inside was clear and bright.
He tried drawing up a small bucket and took a sip. The well water was sweet and cool, and after it entered his stomach, a faint warm current spread through his body, dispersing the last trace of fatigue brought on by the spatial transfer.
“This well water can relax the body and mind and ease exhaustion.”
After looking over the front courtyard, Lin Bai entered the house to inspect its layout.
The house was not small. Upon entering, the first room was a reception hall, and beside it were three rooms.
A bedroom, a meditation chamber, and a bath chamber.
There was even water in the bath chamber, though it was only ordinary water.
“I wonder where the water comes from. I didn’t see any pipes.”
The meditation chamber, meanwhile, contained nothing at all, but the moment one stepped inside, the mind seemed to settle of its own accord. It truly was an excellent place for cultivation and drawing talismans.
In the end, Lin Bai discovered that the courtyard even had a back yard, broad and completely empty.
Lin Bai stroked his chin and began planning what he ought to do next.
In the end, he made an incredibly correct decision.
Drink tea.
Cultivation could not be rushed.
He would adapt first and start cultivating tomorrow.
Returning to the front courtyard, Lin Bai made use of what was already there.
Tea trees, well water, and a tea set on the stone table.
Lin Bai brewed a cup of tea for both himself and Mo Ling.
Then he lounged comfortably on the stone chair, sipping tea and petting his crow while beginning a deeper study of that jade token, which seemed to have quite a number of functions.
No matter how he looked at it, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary jade token. But then Lin Bai suddenly had an idea. He cleared his throat and asked it,
“Hello, jade token. Do you have self-awareness?”
He had only asked on a whim, out of sudden curiosity.
To his surprise, the jade token actually answered.
“Hello, Student Lin Bai. I have awareness.”
Hearing the token speak, Lin Bai’s hand jerked, and he nearly flung it away.
“Damn, it really does have awareness! Has the jade become a spirit? Or is this an artifact spirit?”
Then he reacted.
Wasn’t studying it exactly what he had wanted to do?
“Could you introduce yourself and this Grotto-Heaven?”
“Certainly.”
The jade token then introduced itself to Lin Bai. It turned out that the token was an avatar of the Firecloud Grotto-Heaven’s consciousness.
“All the jade tokens are?”
“All of them.”
Lin Bai was a little stunned.
Wasn’t this basically the will of heaven itself?
After introducing itself, the jade token also introduced the Firecloud Grotto-Heaven.
This Firecloud Grotto-Heaven had been brought forth by Human destiny. It contained countless human inheritances, as well as all kinds of resources born within it and supplied by the human dynasty outside. Moreover, the outside world could neither calculate nor interfere with the Firecloud Grotto-Heaven, making it extremely secure.
All kinds of resources?
Lin Bai’s eyes lit up.
He had thought of something.
“Does this place have the aura of a Zhixu Beast?”
He asked this with great anticipation, and received a definite answer.
However, the jade token informed Lin Bai that a resource like Zhixu Beast Aura was not within the range of ordinary cultivation resources normally provided.
Lin Bai quickly asked what method was required to obtain it, only for the jade token to reply that the time for that had not yet opened, and therefore it could not disclose the information.
Lin Bai was so irritated that he wanted to throw the thing away.
Riddle-talkers, get out of Firecloud Grotto-Heaven.
Giving him half the answer and keeping the other half back—wasn’t that just tormenting him?
Unfortunately, no matter how much Lin Bai tried to coax it, the jade token would not budge. It simply refused to say more.
Still, Lin Bai thought of another method. Later, he could go ask his newly made friend Wang Yu.
“If you won’t tell me, I’ll just go ask my well-informed neighbor. Her family definitely knows something!”
The jade token promptly shattered that hopeful dream of his.
“The specific knowledge of Firecloud Grotto-Heaven counts as forbidden knowledge that cannot be spread in the outside world. Your friend would not know, unless her family wanted to harm her.”
Well, that was it. Completely hopeless.
That route was blocked too.
Like a punctured ball, Lin Bai collapsed back into the stone chair.
But after a brief spell of frustration, he pulled himself together again.
At the very least, he had confirmed that there really was “Zhixu Beast Aura” here.
That alone was enough. At least now he had a clear goal and something to look forward to.
“All right, all right. I can wait.”
Lin Bai took a deep breath and drained the now-lukewarm tea in one gulp.
“Since it’s already in the bowl, what’s there to fear? It’s not as if it can sprout wings and fly away.”
He casually set the Martial Academy jade token—which had decided to play the riddler—onto the stone table, shifted into an even more comfortable lounging sprawl, and gazed at the fragments of sky and drifting clouds cut apart by the bamboo leaves overhead.