The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 771 Underground Fortress_1

North Fifty Stores Village was no longer recognizable as the small mountain hamlet it once was; it had been transformed into a vast construction site.

A steel frame shed extended from the middle of the mountainside all the way down to the valley, nearly covering the entire mountaintop.

All kinds of heavy vehicles were coming and going, bustling about with great activity.

Under Jing Yan’s guidance, Li Qing entered the Underground Palace without a sound. She carried him in her arms like a child, and before he even realized what was happening, they were already inside the palace.

The first place they came upon was akin to an altar. Jing Yan set Li Qing down and began to issue a series of hand signs toward the object that resembled a sundial. Only after it began to move slowly did she say to Li Qing, "This is the control platform for the first layer of mechanisms in the Underground Palace. The traps you encountered before were merely the passive defenses of the palace and weren’t fully activated."

"The same traps that nearly killed me inside, you’re saying they weren’t even on?" Li Qing was so shocked his expression almost could not stay under control, recalling that moment sent shivers down his spine.

"This first platform serves as the outermost defensive force of the entire Underground Palace and has certain passive defensive capabilities," Jing Yan explained. "This place is much like the outer walls of a city fortress, which may not require a heavy garrison on normal days but must still be guarded against petty thieves."

"Well, I suppose I’m the petty thief who got trapped outside those walls," Li Qing said with a laugh.

Jing Yan smiled lightly and responded, "My Lord is the new master of this fortress, not some petty thief. My Lord, here is the control mantra for the first layer of mechanisms. I will teach it to you!"

Li Qing raised his hand to stop Jing Yan, who was already forming the hand signs, "I’m not learning this."

"This is your home, and you should have control over it. Whether my character aligns with your tastes or not is still unknown. We are merely in an initial phase of contact; there is a need for further adjustment and deeper understanding. There’s no need to rush into revealing your foundations to me."

"My Lord, I am your wife, and you are the master of this fortress," Jing Yan said, shaking her head. "You may not trust yourself, but you should trust the judgment of this old woman who has lived for twelve hundred years. Those dazzling qualities you possess, I’ve already seen them clearly. If that weren’t the case, I most likely would have buried you by now."

Li Qing instantly felt his hair stand on end at her words.

"I’ll pass on learning it for now, maybe later," Li Qing said gravely. "If after a year or half a year you still hold the same opinion, then I definitely won’t refuse. It’s hard for me to guarantee that I won’t trade those priceless Bronze Coffins on the cliff edge for money. You still have to guard against me."

Jing Yan chuckled, "My Lord can take everything, and I’d be willing. Those things are actually an eyesore to me."

Li Qing was left speechless, "I was just giving an example, how can you still... never mind. In any case, I can’t learn it now. If I come to learn the control mantra for the Palace’s defensive formations, I will become a vulnerability."

"The cultivation world is full of various means and even if I can guard myself, it’s hard to ensure others won’t treat me as a breakthrough point to pry open the gates of the Underground Palace. My strength is still too weak to keep such a big secret. For safety’s sake, it’s best not to teach me."

This reasoning did seem to convince Jing Yan somewhat, and after a moment’s hesitation, she nodded and said, "Alright then, we’ll do as my Lord wishes."

"However, you really do need to work harder to improve your strength; it truly is a bit low. Comparatively, the strength of my enemies is quite formidable, and I worry I may not be able to protect you thoroughly."

"I’m anxious about this too. My strength progresses as slowly as the old lady’s walking; it just never quickens," Li Qing shook his head and sighed.

Recently, the enemies who had sought him out were growing increasingly powerful, which indeed caused Li Qing considerable stress.

But strength, like earning money, is not something you can have more of just because you’re anxious to get it.

"This concubine will do her best to help my lord, but my lord must cross the Foundation Establishment threshold first," Jing Yan said. "Some heavenly and earthly treasures and elixirs are too much for the body to bear unless one has reached Foundation Establishment. At this stage, my lord can only rely on himself."

"However, with the assistance of the Demon Spirit Elixir, it shouldn’t take long for my lord to reach Foundation Establishment. This concubine is only speaking casually; my lord need not take it to heart."

Li Qing had already taken it to heart before Jing Yan mentioned it.

"It’s fine, my state of mind is still pretty good," he said with a smile.

"Would my lord like to see what the situation outside is like?" Jing Yan asked with a smile in her eyes.

Li Qing couldn’t help but ask in surprise, "Can we see the outside from here?"

"Certainly, it’s possible. To know both your friends and enemies is to be invincible in battle. King Qi used to be an expert at leading troops; surely he must have planned for such things. If we cannot know what’s happening outside, we won’t be able to target our attacks against the intruders properly," Jing Yan said, and suddenly formed a magical hand seal and placed it on the wall.

Suddenly, a ripple-like silver light slowly spread across the smooth stone wall, soon projecting the scene from outside.

"Holy smokes, this is like an ancient live projection!" Li Qing exclaimed in shock.

He suddenly realized that, at times, one truly cannot say that ancient people were behind the times.

Let alone the distant past, some of the traps within the Underground Palace are beyond what even today’s technology can achieve.

"My lord, what are they doing?" Jing Yan suddenly pointed to the scene on the wall and asked.

After watching for a moment, Li Qing’s brows suddenly furrowed deeply. "They’re doing what I’m most worried about, engineering blasting."

He had previously suspected that it would be easy for the great families to perform engineering blasting given their capabilities, and he hadn’t expected to see such a scene as soon as he arrived. While the traps in the Underground Palace were ingeniously designed, they likely wouldn’t withstand blasting.

"Yan’er, we must stop them!" Li Qing said gravely, "They are now laying wires, preparing for the blast. If we let them succeed, it will undoubtedly lead to a catastrophic collapse, and these traps might become useless."

Jing Yan looked thoughtfully at the scene on the wall. "Are you saying the mountains outside will collapse?"

"It depends on how large a charge they use. If they’re ruthless enough, they could flatten the entire mountain," Li Qing said.

Jing Yan nodded lightly, "I see, well, it seems like it’s not really an issue. Let them fuss about."

"It’s not an issue?" Li Qing asked in astonishment.

"Yes, when the Underground Palace was constructed, such scenarios were already taken into consideration. After all, stars shift, landscapes transform, lakes dry up, and mountain collapses are common occurrences," Jing Yan explained. "But if the mountain outside collapses, this place will become utterly isolated."