Chapter 307: Chapter 299: Cloud State Mansion

Translator: 549690339

As time passed,

He Song collected more and more spirit stones.

The distance between him and Cloud State Mansion was rapidly shrinking.

Until one day,

He Song, who had been controlling the spirit boat towards Cloud State Mansion, suddenly saw a huge city in the distance.

This huge city stretched out endlessly, and from a distance, the towering city wall looked like a gigantic Earth Dragon occupying the horizon.

As the spirit boat He Song was riding approached the huge city, the true appearance of the city began to reveal itself to him.

This was a city so vast that one could not see its end.

Within the towering walls, various houses stood shoulder to shoulder. Looking from afar, He Song could see countless people casually shuttling through the streets of the city.

Gazing into the distance, He Song even discovered that within this huge city, there were mountains erected and lakes dotted, making the city look like a paradise on earth.

“What a huge city, there are even mountains and lakes within.”

“But I don’t know if these mountains and lakes were originally there or were brought over.”

Standing on the spirit boat, a few guesses flashed through He Song’s mind, but in the end, he couldn’t come to any conclusion.

He had heard that Golden Core Masters could move mountains and seas, but had never witnessed it personally.

Even Fa Xuan and Yan Shan, the two Masters from the Thick Earth Sect, had never shown their might in front of him.

Naturally, he had no way of knowing whether this rumor was true or not.

It was just that after seeing the mountains and lakes within the city, the rumor he had heard before crossed his mind.

After making some guesses,

He Song looked around and found that he was right above a quiet valley.

Seeing this, He Song pondered for a moment, then immediately began to lower the spirit boat. Before long, he landed in the valley.

After examining the valley inside and out with his divine sense and finding nothing unusual, He Song finally let out a sigh of relief, and his whole body disappeared underground.

Underground,

With He Song’s Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, he could now tunnel hundreds of meters underground using the Mountain Escaping Skill.

At such a depth, unless one was at the Great Perfection stage of Foundation Establishment or a Golden Core Master with a divine sense specialized in probing the underground, one could basically not be found.

However, even though he was already several hundred meters underground, He Song didn’t stop there.

When he reached the limit of how far he could tunnel underground with the Mountain Escaping Skill, He Song waved his hand, and the surrounding soil and rocks were instantly stowed away in his storage bag.

Suddenly, an empty void surrounded He Song deep underground.

After doing this, He Song casually collected the soil and rocks beneath his feet into his storage bag.

Then, he took out the soil and rocks from the storage bag to completely fill the empty space above his head.

He repeated this process,

One moment, he would store several meters of soil and rocks under his feet into his storage bag, allowing himself to continue descending.

The next moment, he would take out the soil and rocks from the storage bag, filling the empty space above his head.

Soon, He Song was nearly a kilometer deep underground.

However, even after reaching this depth, He Song still did not stop. Instead, he continued to probe deeper and deeper underground.

At last,

When he reached a depth of about two thousand meters, He Song finally nodded in satisfaction and stopped his descent.

Previously, when he created hidden cave mansions for himself, he had settled at a depth of about a kilometer underground.

But now, his location was different and the required depth also had to change.

Hidden cave mansions usually couldn’t be detected by others and were even less likely to be specifically targeted for divine sense probes.

With a depth of one kilometer, He Song could hide well enough.

However, the place He Song was in now was just outside Cloud State Mansion.

According to his estimates, he was probably less than a hundred miles from the mansion.

In such a short distance, it was uncertain whether the Golden Core Master guarding Cloud State Mansion would impulsively use their divine sense to probe the underground.

If something like that were to happen, and He Song’s work was discovered, It might lead to another troublesome situation.

So, after some thought, He Song decided to create a refuge at least two thousand meters deep to guard against any unexpected incidents on his journey.

This refuge, located two thousand meters underground, would likely be unreachable by Golden Core Masters even if they used their divine sense to probe the underground.

In addition to creating this refuge, He Song also planned to set up an Array around it to keep it hidden and avoid detection.

Therefore, a depth of two thousand meters should be enough.

Once he reached a depth of two thousand meters, He Song’s thoughts moved and the Black Tiger Seal flew out from his body, spinning around in front of him.

The reason he didn’t take out the Spirit Snake Bone Seal and the Vajra Shield, which were two newly-acquired top-grade Artifacts,

Was because he hadn’t finished refining them.

During the trip to Cloud State Mansion, He Song had been constantly trying to refine them.

Now that he had arrived outside the Cloud State Mansion, after a month and a half of travel, He Song had barely gained control of the two top-grade artifacts.

To truly be able to use these two top-grade Artifacts at will during a battle, he would probably need another year.

He Song estimated that half a year would be enough for him to completely refine one top-grade Artifact, and for two top-grade Artifacts, one year would suffice.

By then, He Song’s two top-grade Artifacts would naturally be as easily manageable as his own limbs.

But for now, He Song could only summon the Black Tiger Seal that had already been refined and use it for defense.

Compared to other Late Foundation Establishment cultivators, his combat power was much lower.

However, it wasn’t a significant problem since He Song’s combat power didn’t rely solely on his Artifacts.

The Black Tiger Seal and the Green Water Tortoise Shell Shield, two high-quality Artifacts, could still support him for a while.

After completely refining an extreme-grade Artifact, He Song would be able to replace one of the high-quality Artifacts.

Once the replacement was complete, He Song would naturally strive to catch up and significantly enhance his combat power.

With just a thought.

The Black Tiger Seal began to grow larger.

Larger and larger.

Larger and larger.

When the Black Tiger Seal filled the entire space and forcibly expanded the surrounding soil and rock, creating a huge space, He Song nodded in satisfaction and withdrew it back into his Elixir Field.

Withdrawing the Black Tiger Seal, He Song’s gaze swept around.

There was now a huge space here, and the soil and rocks had become incredibly firm due to the expansion pressure from the Black Tiger Seal. At least there was no need to worry about a collapse happening the next moment.

Next, He Song cast a skill to reinforce the surrounding soil and rocks, then carved out some rooms around the space.

When the rooms were enough for his own use, He Song finally stopped and produced an Array Disk and several Array Banners in his hand.

First of all.

He Song set up a Smoke Array in this place.

Then he laid a Sea-Stabilizing and Spirit-Orienting Array.

After some thought, he finally placed a small Spirit-Gathering Array and a Seven Kills Heaven Fire Array.

Once all four Arrays were set up, He Song’s shelter was completed.

If he encountered any danger in Cloud State Mansion or got involved in some inexplicable crisis, this place would become his shelter.

The hidden cave mansion located more than a hundred miles outside Cloud State Mansion and two thousand meters deep underground would provide almost perfect protection for He Song.

After making these arrangements, a weight was lifted from He Song’s mind.

As the saying goes, when you have enough food, you don’t panic.

But to He Song, having an escape route and a shelter meant true peace of mind.

After creating a place of refuge, He Song checked it once more to ensure it wouldn’t collapse due to its location underground.

Then he left a tracking mark of the Seven Fragrance Tracking Skill inside the cave mansion.

As long as the mark was present, he could cast the Seven Fragrance Tracking Skill at any time and return to this place.

Having done all this, He Song quickly returned to the secluded valley as he had before.

In the valley.

He Song revealed his cultivation at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment and turned into a light blue tunneling light, heading towards Cloud State Mansion in the distance.

Although it was He Song’s first time coming to Cloud State Mansion, Meng Guan had stayed here for many years and had described the place many times to He Song during their monthly exchanges.

Moreover, by the time He Song was coming to Cloud State Mansion, he had already communicated with Meng Guan, who knew that He Song would arrive in the near future.

Therefore, when He Song had just entered Cloud State Mansion, Meng Guan’s figure had already appeared in front of him.

It had been many years since they had last seen each other.

Meng Guan’s appearance had not changed.

The same was true for He Song.

However, the location of their meeting had changed drastically.

“Friend, it’s been a long time. I’ve been looking forward to your arrival,” said Meng Guan, with a flash of joy in his eyes as he looked at He Song.

Meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land was a great joy.

Although He Song’s visit was not permanent, the two of them hadn’t seen each other for quite some time and had missed each other.

“Thank you for your concern, Lao Meng. Fortunately, I hurried all the way without encountering any danger, and I was able to arrive on time,” He Song replied while cupping his hands towards Meng Guan.

However, before he could say anything else, Meng Guan shook his head with a smile, interrupting his next words.

He pointed to the crowded scene at the city gate and then pointed far into the state mansion.

He then gestured for He Song to follow.

Seeing this, He Song suddenly realized that this place was not suitable for a conversation. They could carry on talking at the inn or Meng Guan’s residence later.

After nodding, He Song immediately followed Meng Guan’s steps.

Thus, the two of them, one after another, quickly left the city gate of the state mansion.

Before long, their figures appeared in a tea house.

As they sat down by the window on the second floor, Meng Guan and He Song exchanged pleasantries, and spirit tea was served, filling the air with its fragrance.

He Song felt a stir in his heart at the scent.

Instantly, with a thought, mana flowed out and poured a cup of spirit tea for both He Song and Meng Guan.

As a cup of spirit tea entered his body, He Song felt a spiritual shock, and the fatigue from his days of travel completely vanished.

Noticing the remarkable effects of the spirit tea, He Song was about to praise it when Meng Guan laughed and pointed around, speaking up.

“This place has wonderful spirit tea. I know you’re a tea lover, so the first stop after coming to Cloud State Mansion is to taste this tea with you.”

“What do you think, friend?”