Zhou Yi''s understanding of the vast expanse of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains came from various ssics, described in vague and broad terms.


    After hearing the ox''s ount, he got to know the specific details.


    The Hundred Thousand Great Mountains are as vast as Cloud Continent, filled with mountains, deep valleys, great rivers, andkes, wherein demons, ghosts, and monsters either cultivate in solitude or gather and dere themselves kings.


    It could be said to be a ce of chaos and disorder.


    Normally, there were battles and killings between the mountain tops, but when opposing the cultivators of the Cloud Continent and Qiong Continent, the four great Imperial ns would temporarily unite to form a grand army of monsters.


    The position of the Imperial ns was akin to that of the Alchemy Ding Sect. However, monster lineage was based on blood, without any concept of sects, so there was little governance over the myriad of subordinate monsters.


    "This sounds more suited for me!"


    Zhou Yi only needed to upy a Spirit Vein, be it of the Profound Level or Yellow Level; the difference was merely the timing of Core Formation.


    Moo!


    The ox showed a pleased expression, urging Zhou Yi to set out for the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains sooner, as there were many humans there as well.


    The intelligence of lower-ranked monsters was simple; they were adequate for charging into battle and fighting with spells, but managing mountain strongholds and caves proved difficult, let alone ounting, cooking, brewing, and the like, thus Demon Kings would keep many human ves to order around.


    Because of the deep-seated animosity between the two races, humans held a low status in the mountains, and any carelessness could turn them into a meal.


    Zhou Yi''s brow furrowed slightly, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "Ox, I have no right or ability to manage other Demon Kings, but I absolutely will not allow the consumption of humans among the monsters under Mo Cloud Cave."


    Moo!


    The ox nodded vigorously, mentioning that it had taken in hundreds of humans, who had clearednd and started farming near Mo Cloud Cave, forming a vige.


    "Haha! Well done!"


    Zhou Yi leaped onto the ox''s back, gently patted its horns, and slowly sank into the Luoshui River.


    ...


    Three yearster.


    The search along Luoshui River ended, and Zhou Yi retraced the source, checking the mountains, rivers, andkes along both banks, riding the ox eastward, feeling quite at ease.


    In a blink, another ten years passed.


    Early morning.


    Zhou Yi woke from his sleep, only to feel weak, his Divine Sense sweeping across.


    "The foundation has dissipated, returning to the thirteenth level of Qi Refinement!"


    Recalling the sixteen years spent running along the river, searching as if scanning, he still couldn''t find traces of a spiritualnd.


    "No wonder the ssics state that spiritualnds are encountered by chance, not by seeking. The naturally formed Spirit Gathering Arrays, without any traces of Formation and Prohibition, are naturally even more mysterious than any Formation master!"


    "Enough is enough! Ox, let''s go to Da Qian!"


    ...


    So many things in this world turn out contrary to one''s wishes.


    Zhou Yi didn''t mind; riding the ox along the bottom of the Luoshui River, he escaped towards Da Qian.


    That day.


    The ox''s nose twitched, detecting a whiff of an unusual scent and gave a signal.


    Moo!


    "Monster aura?"


    Zhou Yi''s eyebrows lifted; he jumped off the ox''s back and performed the Divine Bull Transformation to be half-man, half-bull.


    The monsters of Cloud Continent were not formidable; great monsters of the Foundation Establishment level were already a rarity, but it''s hard to guarantee that no Demon King hade on a journey.


    The ox got the message instantly and followed the monster aura to track it down, returning shortly after with a millstonerge turtle shell in its mouth.


    "A Qi Refinement Realm Turtle Demon."


    Zhou Yi beckoned to the Turtle Demon with a wave of his hand, sending a bolt of lightning into the shell, followed promptly by a harrowing scream.


    A dark green turtle head poked out of the shell, already transformed into a human figure, repeatedly pleading for mercy, "Immortal, spare my life, spare my life. I was just out looking for something to eat; I''ve never harmed anyone!"


    "What rtion do you have with that snake demon?"


    Zhou Yi watched the Turtle Demon extend and retract its head, its mung-bean-sized eyes darting around, as two tufts of whiskers moved up and down while it spoke, identical to the image of the Turtle Prime Minister in his mind.


    Suddenly feeling a chill around its neck, the Turtle Demon hurriedly confessed, "Your humble one was originally a River God, no, a patrolling river envoy under the Snake Demon, and stayed in the cave for over a decade, unable to endure the hunger, I came out in search of some food."


    Zhou Yi''s face lit up with joy and asked further, "You lowly creature, how can you transform into human form with such weak mana?"


    The Turtle Demon replied, "To report to the immortal, your humble one was originally an ordinary river turtle that identally swallowed a Spirit Grass and gained intelligence, but halfway through the transformation, I ran out of mana and ended up with this appearance."


    Zhou Yi formed a spell with his hands, conjuring a Blood Covenant prohibition.


    "Swear fealty to me obediently, or I''ll stew you into soup tonight!"


    The Turtle Demon, with a bitter expression, dared not defy him and let the Blood and Soul Covenants merge into its bloodline and soul obediently.


    "Don''t be disheartened, from now on you''ll be called Turtle Prime Minister, following me, you''ll get to eat and drink the finest."


    Zhou Yi, well-versed in the carrot-and-stick approach, took out a century-old Spirit Ginseng from his storage bag and handed it to the Turtle Prime Minister, "From now on, you''ll eat this every day, quickly increasing your mana. One day, you''ll be able topletely transform into human form."


    "Eat a century-old Spirit Ginseng every day?"


    The Turtle Prime Minister''s mung-bean-sized eyes widened in disbelief, devouring the Spirit Ginseng quickly, fearing Zhou Yi might change his mind and take it back.


    Zhou Yi nodded and said, "As long as you don''t tire of it, it''s fine."


    "I wouldn''t tire of it for a lifetime!"


    The Turtle Prime Minister, short-limbed and standing at one meter forty-five, extended and retracted its head ingratiatingly, "Immortal, let me lead the way for you. That Snake Demon has stolen your cave abode; it deserves to be in by a cultivator."


    "That has always been my intention."


    Zhou Yi nced at the Turtle Prime Minister, "Have you eaten any young boys or girls?"


    "Absolutely not!"


    The Turtle Prime Minister assured him over and over, "Before the Snake Demon came, I often rescued people from drowning and had a somewhat good reputation on the shores of the Luoshui River."


    "That''s good then."


    Zhou Yi followed the Turtle Prime Minister for two or three miles and came to an ordinary riverbed, which he had searched thoroughly in previous years.


    "Immortal, the entrance to this spirit ce has some mysteries."


    The Turtle Prime Minister used its innate water techniques to create a water tornado on the riverbed, enshrouding itself within it.


    The water tornado stirred up arge amount of sediment revealing an entrance to a cave, which the Turtle Prime Minister entered, disappearing from view. After the riverbed was washed by the flowing water, it returned to its calm state as before.


    "Interesting, interesting!"


    With a concrete goal in mind, Zhou Yi observed more carefully and indeed spotted some anomalies.


    There were several thin spirit veins naturally crisscrossing at the riverbed, forming a separation prohibition. As there were no signs of formation patterns or Formation gs, his Divine Sense swept over these water veins without discerning any difference from those in other territories.


    Zhou Yi didn''t alter the arrangement of the spirit veins; a barrier that could deceive the sweep of Divine Sense was too precious to destroy.


    "Niu''er, go inside and have a look."


    The yellow ox followed the method of the Turtle Prime Minister, stirring the water flow to form a tornado, changing the arrangement of the spirit veins, and then entering the underwater spiritnd.


    The spiritnd was approximately ten acres in size and seemed to be a naturally formed cave. Embedded were Moonlight Stones on the stone walls all around and the ceiling, shining as bright as daylight.


    In the middle was the Snake Demon''sir, made of piled-up green stones with a mattress of woven Spirit Grass, upon which rested a snake egg the size of a human head. Their also contained many tributes from mortals, as well as the desated, ghostly white skulls of children spat out by the Snake Demon.


    "Could it be a mother snake?"


    Zhou Yi sensed the snake egg with his mana; finding no signs of life, he put it into his storage bag to make into a soupter.


    Over the following days, he was busy constructing his cave abode.


    First, he cleared the Snake Demon''s relics, then opened six to seven acres of spirit fields, nting various types of Spiritual Medicine seeds, not just those with wood attributes.


    "A thousand years from now, arge crop of top-tier Spiritual Medicines will be harvested!"


    Zhou Yi brought enormous boulders from the mountains outside, cut them into bs with his flying sword, and stacked them to construct two crude stone chambers for cultivation and alchemy.


    Afterward, came the most crucial part—the Formation and Prohibition.


    The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation enveloped the entire cave abode. Using this high-level formation as a base, and embedding it with the Four Phases Mount Meru Array and the Great Sun Divine Fire Formation, the tripleyers of formations activated were sufficient to fend off several False Core cultivators.


    Zhou Yi didn''t seek to use the formations to kill enemies; he just needed to hold them off for a moment to use an Escape Technique and flee away.