Chapter 51: Treading Snow in Search of Kunlun

The next day, the whole family bustled off toward the great formation once again.

Upon entering the array, what greeted their eyes was an expanse crowded with all manner of timber and stone. Each log was immense beyond measure; hollowing one out would suffice for a living room, and any single piece would be a priceless treasure, with the wood type utterly unrecognizable. The old man walked over and caressed the grain: it was grand and beautiful, the texture dense and solid, surpassing even the rarest sandalwood and nanmu by countless degrees. And this was not even the finest—Qin Yue explained that these timbers were to be used for constructing a traditional Chinese garden, while others would be crafted into furniture, all made from a mysterious, ancient, waterlogged wood whose origin and age were unknown. Yet they all retained a lovely sheen, exuded an exotic fragrance, and radiated a vibrant spiritual energy. When tapped, they resounded with a tone like gold and jade.

Luo Yu was astonished. “Where did you find all this?”

Qin Yue replied matter-of-factly, “I placed orders with people in several towns. In the cultivation world, these woods are quite cheap.” Luo Yu thought to himself, Who are you trying to fool? Even the inns in Luofeng Town only use nanmu of this grade… How did these two get their hands on so many spirit stones? It must have been that vampire again, luring people in and then double-crossing them. Luo Yu shot the vampire a fierce glare, but the fellow was busy ingratiating himself with Luo Yu’s father, making him beam with delight.

Luo Yu felt he could never let Qin Yue be borrowed by the vampire again. What if he turned bad under that influence?

After inspecting the timber, they went to the stone piles—and were even more dumbfounded. There were heaps of marble and white jade for paving, but also mountains of jadeite, agate, and precious stones of all kinds, including piles of diamonds stacked like sand. The vampire explained these were for the castle, to create a “Stardust Path” in the rose garden for Father Chu.

Luo Yu covered his eyes, speechless. Wasn’t this inviting heavenly retribution?

As Luo Yu fretted, Gong Jingqian fanned the flames beside the old man. “With so much fine timber and beautiful stone, it is only fitting to build an immortal palace that far surpasses the Ming Palace of the mundane world, worthy of our master’s exalted status.” With that, he bowed toward Luo Yu, saying, “With your boundless power and divine mastery, there will surely be countless disciples flocking to you in the future. In my humble opinion, the main hall should be doubled in size.”

The old man nodded gravely, wholly agreeing.

Foundation work was already underway, with little ghosts and zombies swarming the hills like industrious ants, working in perfect order. Their speed was astonishing; the vampire had filled their minds with knowledge of construction, making them as competent as professional builders.

Apart from these non-humans, there was also a group of exuberant foreigners in the square, surrounded by a jumble of equipment, including several desktop computers and generators. Luo Yu glanced over—they were all ordinary people, lured from Europe by the vampire: designers and architects, all bound by confidentiality contracts and various deals. They were thrilled beyond measure to witness the birth of two world-class mansions.

Watching the dark creatures busily at work, Luo Yu despaired—My spiritual energy! It’s being polluted! I must find a solution!

After much deliberation, Luo Yu realized it was impossible to separate his father from the vampire. Fine, let him have my father! If Dad ever becomes one of his kind, at least he won’t have to leave me. Why not split the estate in two: half yin, half yang, like the Taiji diagram, each with its own "locking array" to keep the yin energy and spiritual energy apart.

Luo Yu shared his idea, and everyone agreed. Thankfully, the foundations were still being dug, so they simply shifted the central buildings to align with the "yin eye" and "yang eye" of the formation.

Luo Yu was busy again—setting up the arrays and converting the group array’s power on one side to run on yin energy. The ginseng children got new tasks: transplant all the wild spirit herbs from the “yin fish” side into the planned fertile spirit garden.

While modifying the array, Luo Yu thought to consult his little brother, the array spirit Luo Ling, about altering the ancient formation’s power source.

But the little one couldn’t explain it clearly. At last, he took Luo Yu’s hand and led him straight into the heart of the array.

Who knew how Luo Ling did it, but as soon as Luo Yu entered the array’s core, he saw glyphs floating across the inner surface of the core barrier—they were the very programming language of the formation.

Luo Yu was stunned as he analyzed the script. It was flawless. Not only that, the formation used programming methods he had never seen or imagined—vastly complex and intricate. Luo Yu spent a week immersed in the array, finally reaching a terrifying conclusion: this formation required no external power source at all—it generated its own! Like a self-sustaining generator, its internal energy cycled endlessly. In theory, unless a force far greater than its defenses destroyed the core, it would keep running even if all life perished or the earth vanished—it needed no vessel whatsoever.

Luo Yu was ecstatic. No wonder the spiritual energy here was so much denser than in Luofeng Town—the grand array had never drawn upon the ambient energy! If he could fully comprehend this code, he would truly be a master. This must be how an array spirit comes into being: only when a formation is fully self-sustaining, a world unto itself, can an array spirit emerge.

With Luo Ling’s permission, Luo Yu copied the array script onto a jade slip, determined to study it in depth. He knew he couldn’t yet set up such a formation himself. Even with a group array, mistakes would be inevitable—his spiritual sense and power weren’t up to the task, and there would be oversights and omissions. But at least he now had a rough understanding.

When Luo Yu emerged from the array core, the foundations for the mansions were laid, and the piles of materials were sorted into various shapes, ready to be moved by the little helpers as the architects directed.

Now there was no need to alter the ancient array, and nothing in the formation urgently required Luo Yu’s attention, so he and Qin Yue took a leisurely stroll before departing.

Upon returning home, Luo Yu gave Qin Yue a stern lecture, “You can’t keep running those double-crossing schemes. Walk in the night too long, and you’ll run into ghosts!”

Qin Yue replied expressionlessly, “As long as you have enough strength, it’s fine.”

Luo Yu held his forehead—so the vampire’s influence had already taken hold.

Irritated, Luo Yu said, “If we want to make money, let’s do business properly! Our magical tools are top-notch—how could they not sell? Let’s use the holidays to expand our market!”

Qin Yue, still deadpan, agreed, “Alright.”

Luo Yu continued, “We need to establish a brand… Right, let’s put a logo and contact info on every magical tool.”

Qin Yue nodded, “That’s a good idea.”

They acted immediately. Rushing back to the old house, they brainstormed a brash, memorable brand name: “Dominion Artifacts,” aiming to leave a deep impression in every cultivator’s mind. They even mimicked a famous domestic menswear brand, designing a logo—a silhouette of a muscular, nude “Terminator” crouching—and stamped it, along with the shop address, onto every tool.

After packaging all the tools, the two went to a print shop, chose the best frosted transparent plastic, and printed several boxes of sleek business cards. Then, without delay, they headed to the station to check the schedules. The next cultivator market would be held August 7th to 9th at Kunlun Mountain—the “Jade Pool Gathering,” a marketplace for Qi Refining stage practitioners.

They left a letter at home explaining their whereabouts, then set off for Kunlun on their flying swords.

Majestic and unyielding, dazzling with snowy brilliance—the ancestor of mountains, the towering Kunlun.

From above, Luo Yu and Qin Yue gazed down at the peaks piercing the clouds: snow glistened with a biting chill, mists roiled endlessly, the sea of summits stretched boundless, gilded in solemn splendor—a magnificent and awe-inspiring sight. Luo Yu couldn’t help but recall images from films about the Red Army’s Long March. No wonder Kunlun was so often extolled in song and story—its grandeur was indescribable.

Luo Yu remarked, “The immortals of the Celestial Court really know how to pick a spot—this is prime real estate.”

Qin Yue nodded enviously, “It’s thousands of times bigger than our territory.”

This time, they didn’t bother scouting ahead. Their spiritual senses had already picked up the undulations of the array barrier, so they plunged straight in on their swords.

After several ridges, the landscape below began to show occasional pavilions and towers, like scattered outlying palaces. Further on, a mountain river appeared, winding like a jade belt through the drifting clouds, looping around the peaks, its source and end unseen.

“Is that the Jade Pool?” Luo Yu asked.

Qin Yue replied, “Doesn’t quite look like it…”

They lowered their altitude and followed the river’s gorge, flying for nearly fifteen minutes until the mountains suddenly opened into a vast, snow-white basin. At the center stood a cluster of towering snowy peaks, wrapped in silvery splendor, pure and untouched. A clear lake, blue as a sapphire, nestled among the mountains, reflecting the sky and snow in breathtaking beauty. The jade-belt river curled around the mountains’ feet, encircling them like a moat.

As they drew nearer, they saw other cultivators, gliding through the sky on all sorts of marvelous artifacts—among them, beauties in snowy palace robes and rainbow sashes, drifting by atop clouds. Luo Yu couldn’t take his eyes off them.

Qin Yue rapped him on the head. “Those female cultivators are disciples of the Nine Heavens Palace. Watch yourself, or someone will gouge your eyes out.”

Rubbing his head, Luo Yu muttered, “Are you jealous? You hit pretty hard.”

Qin Yue snorted and dragged him downward.

At lower altitude, the scenery was even clearer: white palaces, their material unknown, gleaming like ice and jade, crystalline and translucent. On every column of the pavilions and towers shimmered faint silver patterns, sparkling under the sun—an authentic palace of jade and crystal, with not a hint of exaggeration.

The architecture was utterly classical, laid out in perfect bilateral symmetry, exuding the aura of the imperial court. Dismounting and stowing their artifacts, the pair found themselves wreathed in clouds, with arched bridges and jade belts all around—a veritable fairyland, like stepping into a world of snow and ice sculptures.

Luo Yu asked, “Don’t people here feel cold living like this?”

Qin Yue replied, “Do you feel cold?”

Luo Yu said, “No, I’ve reached Foundation Establishment.”

Qin Yue said, “You get used to it. It’s beautiful.”

The streets were broad, and not crowded; the two had arrived several days early, and the market had not yet begun. Luo Yu craned his neck to observe, “The cultivators here are higher-level than those in Luofeng Town.”

Qin Yue said, “Naturally. The Queen Mother of the West once governed all female cultivators; the Nine Heavens Palace was originally her maidens’ order, so their status is high. Although the palace isn’t what it once was, anyone with a territory in Kunlun is certainly well beyond the Qi Refining stage.”

They strolled through the streets, lined with spiritual flowers and trees, branches of jade and crystal that, at a glance, seemed dusted with snow.

Brotherhood of Cultivators, Chapter 51: A Visit to Kunlun—completed!