Senior sister, stop working and go home for dinner.

Chapter 408 Testing the Waters

The exciting chapter "Chapter 408 Testing the Waters" is now available online. Click to read it now!

"Receive?" Master Tianbao frowned. "How do you receive it?"

Qi Lan did not answer.

She only remembered that afternoon, standing in that courtyard, watching the black mist gushing from the crack, watching the demon general kneeling on one knee, and watching the countless shadowy figures deep within the crack.

Five hundred thousand.

The number lingered in her mind all afternoon, refusing to leave her thoughts.

Five hundred thousand demon soldiers.

Let alone the cultivators of Qingyang Valley, even if all the sects within a thousand miles were tied together, they wouldn't be enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of these 500,000 demon soldiers.

"Huiming," Qi Lan suddenly spoke, "Did Chen Anran say anything else to you?"

Huiming raised his head, and his hand, which was holding the prayer beads, paused for a moment.

"No," he said. "Master Chen only told everyone to prepare to receive them."

"That's all?"

That's all.

Qi Lan remained silent for a moment.

She recalled the faint smile on Chen Anran's lips when he said, "Come with me." There was no smugness or arrogance in that smile, only a certain certainty that gave people a strange sense of peace.

It was as if those 500,000 demon soldiers were nothing more than a tool he casually picked up, not worth mentioning.

"Fellow Daoist Qi Lan," Feng Wenzheng slowly began, "have you seen Fellow Daoist Chen's trump card?"

Qi Lan glanced at him.

Feng Wenzheng's gaze remained calm, showing no intention of pressing for answers; he simply waited.

Qi Lan remained silent for a moment.

"I saw him," she said.

The conference room fell silent for a moment.

Jiang Yan rubbed his fingers together, his small eyes gleaming: "Would you mind telling me?"

Qi Lan shook her head.

"It's inconvenient," she said. "Just know that if he says he can fight, he definitely can."

Feng Wenzheng nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Master Tianbao stroked his beard and chuckled dryly, "Alright, I won't ask anymore. Anyway, that Chen kid never fights a battle he's not sure of winning. Since he dares to make such a claim, let's just believe him."

Jiang Yan laughed too, his usual smile returning to his chubby face: "Yes, yes, believe him. Come on, let's continue dividing the territory. As for Qingyang Valley, the spiritual vein belongs directly to the Yunyin Sect, but what about that spirit stone mine... how do we divide it?"

The atmosphere in the conference room became lively again.

Qi Lan did not participate in the discussion any further.

She turned around again, looking at the night outside the window, at the lights gradually lighting up below the mountain, and at the vast and boundless primeval forest in the distance.

She suddenly remembered two years ago, when she had just transmigrated here. She was squatting on the roof of the resort, looking at this unfamiliar world, with only one thought in her mind—how to survive.

Two years later, however, she was thinking about how to turn this area into their territory.

Qi Lan's lips curled into a slight smile.

The arc was so short that it was almost invisible.

She looked away and turned back to the conference table.

"The spirit stone mines of Qingyang Valley," she said, "are now under public control. From now on, all factions will distribute them according to their needs."

………………

Half a month later, at dawn.

At the eastern entrance of the settlement at the foot of Yunyin Mountain, Zhou Da reined in the horses.

Twenty elite cavalrymen from the Western Army behind them also stopped, their hooves thumping heavily on the soft mud. The twenty fine horses from the northern frontier snorted, exhaling puffs of white vapor.

Zhou Da stared at the unfamiliar cluster of buildings in front of him, momentarily lost in thought.

It's been one year and eight months.

When he left a year ago, this settlement wasn't nearly as populated. Back then, there was only an empty resort, a few rows of converted shops, and a group of refugees cautiously trying to make a living.

Come back in a year—

The square houses were still there, but there were so many new things around them. Rows of houses, neat rows of fields, newly built dirt roads, and oxcarts slowly passing by. The drivers were dressed in coarse cloth, but their faces wore an expression he had never seen on the faces of refugees before.

It wasn't the satisfaction of having a full meal, nor the relief of escaping death.

It was something he couldn't quite put his finger on, yet it inexplicably warmed his heart.

"Zhou Tou," a young scout behind him couldn't help but ask, "This...this is Cloud Hidden Mountain?"

Zhou Da did not answer.

He simply dismounted, tossed the reins to the scout behind him, and strode forward.

After walking only a few steps, I was stopped.

The person who stopped him was a young man, dressed in a drab gray short-sleeved shirt, carrying a notebook and a strange "pen". The young man looked at Zhou Da, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

"Hey bro, here again?"

Zhou Da recognized him.

Wang Rui.

A year ago, when he first came here, it was this young man who received him. Registering him, arranging his accommodation, leading him to Xian Shan Fang... from beginning to end, he didn't ask a single extra question or ask for a single extra penny.

"Here we are," Zhou Da said.

Wang Rui's gaze passed over him and landed on the twenty riders and twenty boxes behind him.

"This is……?"

"Wei Shanyue, the commander of the Western Army, sent me to express his gratitude to the Yunyin Sect."

Wang Rui's eyebrows twitched.

He didn't ask any more questions, just nodded, put away his notebook and pen, and turned to lead the way.

"Come with me."

Zhou Da followed behind Wang Rui, walking along the smooth cement road. Twenty riders led their horses, and twenty boxes were carried by packhorses, following slowly behind.

Along the way, the scenes he had seen a year ago reappeared before his eyes.

The floor was impeccably smooth, the windows were crystal clear, and the taps provided water without the need for a well. And then there were all the new additions.

In the terraced fields, people were bending over to weed; on the open ground by the roadside, several children were chasing a round thing, laughing as they ran; further away, a strange building was under construction, with a tall wooden frame and people could be vaguely seen working on it.

"What is that?" Zhou Da couldn't help but ask.

Wang Rui followed his gaze and glanced at the school: "The school."

"School?"

"This is a place for children to study and learn to read," Wang Rui said. "The Feng family has a female cultivator named Feng Zhi, who teaches very well. There's also a girl named Xiao Cui, who has been studying for a year and can now help her master copy prescriptions."

Zhou Da fell silent.

"Brother," Wang Rui suddenly spoke, "what brings you here this time?"

Zhou Da snapped out of his thoughts.

"It's a gift," he said. "Wei Shanyue, the commander of the Western Army, expressed his gratitude upon hearing that the Yunyin Sect was protecting the people."

Wang Rui paused in his steps.

He turned his head and looked at Zhou Da, his gaze holding something indescribable.

"Wei Shanyue..." He repeated the name, his expression complex beyond Zhou Da's comprehension.

Wang Rui remained silent for a moment.

"Brother," he said, "wait here for a moment, I'll go and inform them."

After saying that, he turned and walked away quickly.

Zhou Da stood there, watching Wang Rui's figure disappear around the corner, and then looked back at the twenty heavy boxes behind him.

Wei Shuai asked him to "test the waters".

But now, standing on this unfamiliar land, looking at the ordinary people working in the morning light, he suddenly felt a little uncertain.

What path will be revealed when this stone is thrown out?