Chapter 41

After adapting to the surrounding light, Yang Junshan, with the help of the faint light from the hole above his head, finally managed to vaguely see that he was in a cave.

The dense spiritual energy surrounding his body made him feel as if countless needles were trying to pierce through his skin and enter his body, causing him unbearable discomfort.

The *Wu Earth Spirit Technique* in his body reversed, and the spiritual energy within his body adhered to his skin, repelling the dense spiritual energy around him. Yang Junshan immediately felt much more comfortable.

A firefly lit up with a small flame, and the dark cave suddenly became much brighter. Yang Junshan picked up the broken pieces of spiritual earth on the ground and examined them, only to find that these pieces were now less than an inch thick. No wonder, when Hu Niu pounced down, the layer of spiritual earth under her feet could not bear the weight of both of them and collapsed, causing Yang Junshan to fall down with her.

After a rough inspection of the cave, it turned out to be a natural cave about three zhang in diameter and about one zhang high. The walls and half of the arched ceiling were made of stone, while the other half of the arched ceiling was a layer of soil. After being soaked by the spiritual energy in the cave for countless years, this layer of soil had hardened and become as hard as stone.

Yang Junshan picked up the broken pieces of the spiritual earth layer that had fallen from the hole above his head and found that the spiritual energy contained within had reached the level of mid-grade spiritual fields.

In the center of the cave was a clear spring, about two feet in size, with a layer of smooth pebbles at the bottom. A spring eye gushed out water, and the dense spiritual energy spread out with the water, but the water in the spring never increased. It seemed to seep into underground rivers, and the spiritual well by Yang Junshan's house had just tapped into this underground river.

When he put his hand into the spring, the cool water caused a slight stinging sensation, indicating that the spiritual energy in the water was even stronger than that in the spiritual well at home. After all, this was the source of the underground river.

He grabbed a handful of pebbles from the spring and was surprised to find that they all carried a warm and gentle aura, with a faint spiritual light on their surface. These pebbles could be cut and used as stone coins.

Looking at the layer of small pebbles covering the spring, if they were all cut into stone coins, there would be nearly a thousand. He wondered how long these pebbles had been soaked in the spiritual spring to reach this state and how much longer it would take for them to become spiritual jade that could be cut into jade coins.

Apart from this spring, the entire cave floor was made of hard stone, though not smooth. For Yang Junshan, who was determined to cultivate the Mountain Lord Diagram, it was already sufficient. Moreover, the cave had an endless source of spiritual energy, making it not only a secret place for physical training but also an excellent place for seclusion and cultivation.

However, the most urgent task was to hide the hole from which he had fallen. Although the hillside where the pomegranate grove was located was rarely visited due to its difficult terrain, it was still necessary to be cautious. If someone discovered this cave, Yang Junshan believed that it would at least attract the martial realm cultivators from the entire Wasteland Town to compete for it.

To hide the cave entrance, he first needed to prevent the leakage of spiritual energy from the cave. The pomegranate grove outside the cave was already more noticeable than other forests. If the spiritual energy from the cave leaked out, it would not be long before the entire pomegranate grove would stand out.

After a moment of thought, Yang Junshan scooped up a handful of pebbles rich in spiritual energy from the bottom of the spring and carefully collected the fallen layer of spiritual earth in a cloth bag. He chiseled several indentations into the stone wall at the cave entrance to facilitate climbing. When he turned to call Hu Niu, he found that she was already squatting on the ground, ready to cultivate the Tiger Squatting Diagram from the eight Mountain Lord Diagrams.

He walked over and slapped Hu Niu on the head, ignoring her protest at being interrupted during her cultivation, and carried her on his shoulder as he climbed out of the cave.

A pile of excavated soil had already gathered around the cave entrance, and the last small pile was rich in spiritual energy. Yang Junshan's small cloth bag could not hold it all, so he pushed all the spiritual earth back into the cave. He then used several thick branches to cover the entrance, blocking the gaps with leaves, and covered it with the excavated soil, sprinkling dead branches and leaves to make it look like the surrounding ground, even preventing people from stepping on it and causing it to collapse.

Although this could not completely prevent the leakage of spiritual energy from the cave, at least ordinary people would not notice the cave if they were not paying attention.

He hurriedly returned home, where Yang Tiangang was still not there. In recent days, as long as it was not a time when Yang Tiangang needed to stay in the village to guard the nearly mature spiritual fields, he was rarely at home. Although the villagers said that Yang Tiangang was addicted to gambling on stones, Yang Junshan knew that his father seemed to have returned to Chenyu County several times.

Could it be that he had informed the family about the red-rusted raw stone?

Yang Junshan frowned but ultimately decided not to stop his father. After all, it was too slow for one person to secretly collect red-rusted raw stones. Using the family's resources would be more efficient, but this would also mean that his father would get less, and the more people who knew, the harder it would be to keep the matter secret.

In the front yard, Su Baozhang was training Yang Junping, Yang Qianhai, and Yang Baoliang in the Wild Ox Fist. Since the last time Yang Junshan had a fit of temper, the three had become much more obedient. Later, Su Baozhang also realized the importance of physical training, so Yang Junshan asked him to train the three brothers together.

After a brief greeting to Su Baozhang, Yang Junshan went to his father's room and searched through a box, finally finding a piece of talisman stone about two feet in size.

This stone was the same size as the one covering the spiritual well in the back yard. It was originally a backup item for Yang Tiangang. By embedding a spiritual source into it, the talisman array on the stone could be activated to block the leakage of spiritual energy.

After it got dark, Yang Junshan quietly went up to West Mountain with the talisman stone. Hu Niu seemed to have been waiting for him and followed him silently.

He found the cave in the pomegranate grove on the hillside, placed the stone at the bottom of the hole, and embedded a dozen pieces of spiritual stones from the bottom of the spring into the stone. The talisman array on the stone was immediately activated, blocking the leakage of spiritual energy from the cave. Moreover, the talisman stone could also block sound, so even if Yang Junshan shouted loudly while cultivating the Mountain Lord Diagram in the cave, no one outside would hear it.

He then secured the cover with ropes, making it easy to lift the wooden board when entering or exiting, and when the board was placed, it looked exactly like the surrounding ground, leaving no trace.

After hiding the cave entrance, Yang Junshan decided to start his cultivation in the cave. He began with the Tiger Squatting Diagram from the eight Mountain Lord Diagrams.

Although the Tiger Squatting Diagram was only one image, the inherited technique was a complete set of movements, consisting of eight different squatting postures of the mountain lord. These postures could smoothly transition into each other, allowing the entire body to be exercised in these eight postures.

Each time Yang Junshan's body assumed one of the postures, he would run the *Wu Earth Spirit Technique* through his body for one cycle. After completing all eight postures, the technique had run through his body for eight cycles, and the time had also passed for one night.

Perhaps because of the cultivation of the Mountain Lord Diagram, the pain caused by the spiritual energy flushing through his meridians during cultivation was greatly reduced. Combined with the dense spiritual energy in the cave, this greatly improved the efficiency of his cultivation. If he continued at this rate, he would likely reach the full cultivation of the Spirit Summoning Technique in ten to fifteen days, instead of the two months he had originally estimated.

Leaving the cave with Hu Niu, who had also cultivated for the night and was now energetic, he covered the talisman stone and restored the disguise at the cave entrance. Taking a deep breath of the cool mountain air, Yang Junshan felt a refreshing sensation throughout his body.

Looking back at the pomegranate tree behind him, perhaps due to the nourishment from the leaked spiritual energy from the cave and the spiritual energy he brought in and out, the tree's leaves seemed greener and the pomegranates on it appeared smoother.

If this continued, even with the talisman stone blocking the spiritual energy, as long as Yang Junshan frequently entered and exited the cave, the pomegranate grove would gradually be nourished, and the soil would gradually transform into a spiritual field. The pomegranate tree near the cave entrance might even eventually produce a spirit essence.

Coming down the mountain, Yang Junshan found that the villagers of Tuoqiu Village were increasingly vigilant in patrolling the three acres of nearly mature spiritual fields. Even Su Baozhang, in his spare time from cultivation, often came here. Whenever he saw that a small part of the field would belong to him, he would return home full of energy to practice the Wild Ox Fist and the *Earth Covering Technique* taught by Yang Tiangang.

According to Su Baozhang, recently, villagers from nearby villages often came to the foot of West Mountain to see the three acres of nearly mature spiritual fields in Tuoqiu Village. The soil in Mengyu County was poor, and the cultivation of spiritual fields was much more difficult than in other places. The entire Wasteland Town rarely saw such a large-scale cultivation of three acres of spiritual fields.

When Yang Tiangang started to cultivate the spiritual fields, the people of Tuoqiu Village were skeptical, and the spiritual farmers from other villages in Wasteland Town ridiculed the idea. Many martial realm cultivators, due to Yang Tiangang being an outsider, were waiting to see him fail.

However, as the spiritual energy in the three acres of fields increased, and they were about to mature into spiritual fields, the situation changed. The people of Tuoqiu Village began to boast about their village's three acres of spiritual fields, and when they heard the envious words of other villagers and saw the envy on their faces, they finally felt a sense of pride.

However, as the news spread, more and more people from the surrounding areas came to Tuoqiu Village to see the three acres of spiritual fields. This made the people of Tuoqiu Village increasingly vigilant, fearing that someone might come to destroy the nearly mature fields. Especially the neighboring Tushan Village, which often had conflicts with Tuoqiu Village over irrigation water and field boundaries, and even had several armed conflicts. After the news of the nearly mature fields spread, the people of Tushan Village came the most, and many of them had grudges against Tuoqiu Village and came secretly.