Humans were the greatest pests in this world. Snow dragons happily multiplied and thrived in the snow. Wild men were full of hope, preparing to evolve to their peak. The monsters in the lake were preparing to spend their remaining years here in peace. Now it was impossible. The monsters in the lake had done their work sloppily, leaving behind a calamity. The remaining three Daoists would bring a thousand Daoists, and a thousand Daoists would bring ten thousand fanatical believers. Then, there would be no “then.”

“If His Majesty doesn’t permit me to return to Chang’an, your great Daoist temple must in any case reserve a quiet chamber for this junior.” Yun Ye thought for a long time before speaking to Yuan Shoucheng.

“This is natural. Your Yun family will forever have a place in this divine palace.” Yuan Shoucheng answered very solemnly.

Yun Ye nodded, expressing approval. Since one couldn’t resist the Daoist sect’s footsteps, might as well join in. Sailing along with the current would certainly be a hundred times better than going against the flow.

Knowing Yuan Shoucheng’s thoughts—ever since Xuanzang returned from the East, the Daoist sect had been ceaselessly seeking an opportunity to witness the existence of immortals. Yun Ye’s existence gave them the greatest hope. White Jade Capital was a beautiful legend. Now in Chang’an there were already singing girls wearing light gauze floating about in the sky repeatedly chanting “White Jade Capital in the heavens…” It was said that every singer and dancer was a beauty of the highest value.

The singers were devoted, the listeners entranced. Under the illumination of lights, the ropes around the singing girls’ waists were completely invisible—just like real immortals floating in midair.

The Queen Mother of the West’s residence had been discovered. For Yuan Shoucheng seeking an opportunity, this was enough. Here were monsters like snow dragons, demons about to become human. Shout once and rain came, roar once and thunder fell. The front mountain had rare flowers and plants, the lake had invincible monsters—this was too consistent with an immortal’s cave dwelling. What did a few deaths matter!

Wu She wanted Yun Ye to find him a cave. He planned to see if the divine light would have any changes at Tianshan. Yun Ye satisfied his wish. A cavern abandoned by the wild men became his territory.

Yun Ye watched the flickering light in the cave with a dark face, completely unable to understand Wu She’s heart. An eighty-some-year-old man had obtained a fun toy—how could he play with it endlessly?

After a while, Wu She walked out from the cave, his expression very wrong, hands and feet trembling. For other old people this would be very normal, but happening to Wu She was completely abnormal.

“I saw White Jade Capital!” Wu She stammered for a long time before getting out a sentence.

With a clang, the horizontal sword in Yun Ye’s hand dropped to the ground. Liu Jinbao hurriedly supported his lordship. Wu She paid no attention whatsoever to Yun Ye’s change, muttering to himself again: “Good heavens, I saw White Jade Capital.”

“Guard the cave entrance, don’t allow anyone to come over!” Yun Ye fiercely ordered Liu Jinbao, dragging Wu She back into the cavern, having Wu She demonstrate once more. This was too incredible.

The jade tablet lit up once again. White radiance illuminated the pitch-black cavern as bright as day. Yun Ye was stunned. What kind of world was this? Multicolored light flickered in the cavern. Everywhere were clusters and bunches of crystal stones. At the deepest point of the brightest light appeared a magnificent palace hall. It seemed that just by treading those steps one could reach the innermost sanctuary.

“We’re rich!” Yun Ye’s wretched cry frightened Wu She’s hand into trembling. The light immediately disappeared. Yun Ye couldn’t care about the dazed Wu She. Rushing out of the cave, he had Liu Jinbao call all his subordinates in. Inside the cave was actually a world of crystals, clusters of them growing everywhere, all hexagonal crystals of very high transparency.

A group of people all ran over. Yun Ye said fiercely to Yuan Shoucheng: “The crystals inside are mine. Whoever dares compete with me for them, I’ll turn hostile.”

Yuan Shoucheng couldn’t care about reasoning with Yun Ye. With one bound he leaped into the cave. Wu She still stood in place. He didn’t understand why Yun Ye would shout about getting rich. Shouldn’t he shout about White Jade Capital?

Inside the cave there was no longer that white light, but over a dozen torches added instead, similarly illuminating the cave brightly. Crystals were like this—reflecting light chaotically. On the backpack Wu She had tossed on the ground was embroidered a pattern, which was a palace. This was a pattern Xiao Miao had embroidered on her master’s backpack when she had nothing to do. Above the palace were two phoenixes soaring.

Over a dozen torches meant over a dozen light sources. On the cave walls immediately appeared over a dozen palaces, still orange-red in color, because the torchlight was orange-red.

Yuan Shoucheng saw Yun Ye holding his horizontal sword about to strike that cluster of crystals. With a wretched cry he desperately hugged Yun Ye’s waist and pleaded: “Marquis Yun, if you need treasures, take this old Daoist’s life savings. I beg you not to destroy this immortal cave dwelling. This is crystal—not very valuable. This poor Daoist will buy it, buy it all. Upon returning to Chang’an, I’ll immediately order people to deliver the treasures to your manor. Absolutely no second word!”

Not only did Yuan Shoucheng go mad, Benlei and Tingyu, the two Daoists, drew their pine-pattern ancient swords and blocked in front of Liu Jinbao and the other veteran soldiers preparing to get rich. Liu Jinbao’s breathing was very heavy. The veteran soldiers’ eyes also immediately turned red. All looked at Yun Ye. As long as his lordship gave the order, they planned to chop these three troublesome old Daoists into mincemeat.

Yuan Shoucheng dragged Yun Ye out of the cave. Wu She, his expression gloomy, also exited the cave, staring blankly at his backpack.

“Gentlemen, this poor Daoist has purchased this cave. Upon returning to Chang’an, I will definitely present each of you with fifty gold coins. If there are false words, may heaven strike me with five thunderbolts. As for Marquis Yun, name your price for however much you want. This poor Daoist will absolutely not bargain. This is a treasure bestowed upon our Daoist sect by the Queen Mother of the West. No matter how great the price, this poor Daoist must ensure the cavern remains intact and undamaged.”

Having said these words, Yuan Shoucheng paid no heed to how damp the ground was. He sat cross-legged before the cave. Benlei and Tingyu, the two old Daoists, also sat cross-legged on either side of Yuan Shoucheng, pine-pattern ancient swords laid across their knees, heads raised staring at these people outside the cave, assuming a life-or-death stance.

“Ten thousand gold coins!” Yun Ye held out one finger.

Yuan Shoucheng was overjoyed. He tore off his undergarment, bit his finger to draw blood, and wrote a promissory note on it. The signature was True Man of Nine Thresholds. As soon as he finished writing, he tossed it to Yun Ye, still vigilantly guarding the cave entrance.

Yun Ye unfolded that promissory note and said with a smile to the veteran soldiers: “This is good business. Crystal isn’t very valuable. When we return to Chang’an, I’ll give each of you another fifty gold coins. Hehe, with a hundred gold coins, you’ll be carefree for two lifetimes.” The veteran soldiers laughed heartily together. At this moment, they felt that following Yun Ye, this commander, wasn’t bad at all.

“Mister Yuan, this cavern is yours now. Rest assured, we definitely won’t have designs on those crystals anymore. But now it’s already late. We still need to find a place to rest, right? Let us sleep in this cave tonight—that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“As long as you don’t touch the crystals inside, naturally there’s no problem.”

This night Yun Ye slept very sweetly. The three old Daoists watched with bright eyes as the veteran soldiers played around waving torches in the cave. Wu She’s backpack was even taken by Liu Jinbao to transform palaces. Watching this scene, Yuan Shoucheng’s eyes shone with extraordinary brilliance.

After a good sleep, Yun Ye got up refreshed and invigorated. Seeing the veteran soldiers stewing meat porridge at the cave entrance, he asked for a large bowl. While drinking, he watched those massive eagles overhead, calculating how he could get two small ones back.

“These are the Queen Mother of the West’s foraging divine eagles, our Daoist sect’s dharma-protecting divine eagles. In legends of the past there were only three. Who would have thought that through long years, the divine eagles have already multiplied to so many.”

Yun Ye was nearly choked by his porridge. Only after swallowing the meat porridge did he say to Yuan Shoucheng: “You wouldn’t think now that the entire Tianshan Mountain belongs to your Daoist sect, would you? Including snow dragons, wild men, butterflies, monsters?”

“Also this lake, this cavern, the divine eagles in the sky, the swimming fish in the lake—all belong to our Daoist sect.” Yuan Shoucheng corrected the errors in Yun Ye’s words.

“What do I have?” Yun Ye asked strangely.

“Ten thousand gold coins!”

“With ten thousand gold coins you plan to buy out all our earnings at Tianshan? Old Daoist, you’re being a bit unreasonable.”

“This old man doesn’t plan to be reasonable with Marquis Yun in this matter. You can take this life, but I won’t give up these things at Tianshan. Even in death, I won’t give them up.”

This had become old shamelessness. Yun Ye wasn’t concerned about the old fellow having designs on Tianshan. The heavier Tianshan’s status in the Daoist sect, the more secure the Northern Court would be. Historically, the Northern Court was abandoned after not too many years. The reason was that compared to other places, this location wasn’t too important. Now it was different—the Daoist sect wanted to make its home here, to build this into their fundamental place.

Now they were the state religion. Yuan Shoucheng also had a title called State-Protecting True Man, the chief of Daoist officials. As long as the Daoists were unwilling to abandon Tianshan, then the Northern Court couldn’t possibly be lost. Moreover, moving the religious center northward had very great benefits for the rulers of the Central Plains. Now how to create a Great Thunderclap Temple for Buddhism and move it to the South Sea?

Strolling on the grassland, Yun Ye felt extremely comfortable. If it weren’t for those wild men attacking the monsters in the lake for no reason, this would be paradise. Stones the size of human heads constantly smashed onto the monster’s head and body. The monster emitted strange hissing sounds. Its thick tail slapped the water surface, intimidating those wild men. The wild men seemed to hate the monster very much. This attack continued for a full hour before stopping. The monster submerged back into the great lake. The wild men, howling, returned to behind the mountain.

“Such battles are probably conducted daily. Look at the lakeside—it’s all those gray-brown pebbles. These were left by the wild men. Mister Yuan, if you want to build palace halls and pavilions, you’ll need to kill the wild men or the monsters.” A group of people crouched behind rocks and watched this boring battle to its end. As soon as the wild men left, Yun Ye began teasing Yuan Shoucheng.

Yuan Shoucheng said with a beaming smile: “These are spirit creatures—how can we kill them? In the future we’ll build them a cave dwelling and let them live as they please. If we can raise a few young spirit creatures from childhood and have them serve as attendants, that would certainly be excellent.”

“Then the monsters in the lake are your pre-designated mounts?”

“Hahaha, Marquis Yun, many years hence if you revisit Tianshan, this old man will host a banquet for you on the divine beast’s back. At that time we’ll feast and sing. If Marquis Yun can leave behind a timeless masterpiece, that would be even better.”

“I only pity the people of the world. The Daoist sect has invested such great capital—even being deceived to death would be worth it.”