Chapter 288: The Five Elements Gate
All parties were closely watching the Royal Family’s reaction, but unfortunately, several days had passed since the Imperial Guards found Hua Changxi, and there was still no reaction from the Royal Family.
“Are they planning to let this go?”
The Imperial Guards were the Royal Family’s private soldiers. Hua Changxi taking action against them was undoubtedly a public slap in the face to the Royal Family. Were they not going to pursue this?
By August 27th, the Imperial Guards came to the Medical Affairs Department again, notifying Hua Changxi to go to the Northern Garrison Command in three days to discuss the matter of cultivators entering the capital. Only then did all parties confirm that the Royal Family truly had no intention of pursuing Hua Changxi.
Many were deeply disappointed by this.
“What a shame!”
Xia Zhen was very regretful. The strength Hua Changxi displayed was even greater than he had imagined. He had thought he could use this confrontation between her and the Royal Family to further probe what trump cards she held. He hadn’t expected the overbearing and peerless Royal Family to choose to de-escalate.
Compared to the disappointment of the various parties, Hua Changxi breathed a sigh of relief.
She certainly didn’t want to confront the Royal Family head-on, even if she had the Vermilion Bird Army.
As she had said, once some things started, no one could determine their subsequent direction or how they would end.
Mobilizing the Vermilion Bird Army was not a good thing for her.
Managing a Dan Yuan Secret Realm already kept her quite busy. If she were to mobilize the Vermilion Bird Army, the involved parties would only increase, and the matters she needed to handle would snowball.
At that time, it would infinitely compress her cultivation time, which was absolutely not what she wanted.
Although her action to teach the Imperial Guards a lesson this time was a bit impulsive, Hua Changxi did not regret it. The kind are bullied, and the good horses are ridden. She had to show her claws appropriately.
However, revealing her strength had still ignited her sense of crisis, making her realize that she had too few cards in hand.
Before this, she had felt that having the Shen Nong Hall, Five Finger Mountain, Lingguang Hall, and Dan Yuan Peak as four strongholds was quite good. But this time, her opponent had become the Royal Family. Comparing herself to the Royal Family, she instantly felt that her accumulation was far from enough.
Moreover, besides Dan Yuan Peak and Shen Nong Hall, which she participated in managing, Five Finger Mountain and Lingguang Hall were left to their own devices. If something truly happened, the assistance they could provide would be very limited.
This direct confrontation with the Royal Family served as a reminder to Hua Changxi that she should properly get Five Finger Mountain and Lingguang Hall running.
Coincidentally, her cultivation had entered a bottleneck, freeing up some time for cultivation.
Five Finger Mountain was manageable; with An Ze and An Ran overseeing it, they could directly replicate the management model of Dan Yuan Peak.
However, the management of Lingguang Hall gave her a headache.
Although the Vermilion Bird Army currently had only over six thousand soldiers, it was still an army. How could she have any experience managing an army?
Without experience, she could only resort to imitation.
It was inconvenient to ask outsiders about the Vermilion Bird Army’s affairs, as it was one of her trump cards. Therefore, Hua Changxi could only draw inspiration from the management models of the Demon Suppressing Army and the Demon Suppressing Guard, which she had access to.
The soldier rank system of the Demon Suppressing Guard was: General → Brigadier General → Garrison Commander → Commander of Ten Thousand → Commander of a Thousand → Centurion → Squad Leader → Soldier Guard.
The promotion path was very simple and clear, easy to understand at a glance.
Hua Changxi wanted to directly adopt it, but for the sake of caution, she still went to the Lecturer’s Hall. In a casual chat with a lecturer who was a retired Demon Suppressing Army soldier, she inquired about the soldier management system of the Demon Suppressing Army.
Upon learning that the Demon Suppressing Army also followed the management model of General → Brigadier General → Garrison Commander → Commander of Ten Thousand → Commander of a Thousand → Centurion → Squad Leader → Soldier Guard, she was truly surprised.
“It seems this management model can be directly applied.”
With her experience in planning the Dan Yuan Secret Realm, Hua Changxi skillfully began planning the operational plans for Five Finger Mountain and Lingguang Hall.
Hua Changxi planned to establish a Five Elements Gate on Five Finger Mountain, which would better maintain order there.
The Five Elements Gate would be divided into six ministries: Personnel Department, Logistics Department, Mission Hall, Merit Hall, Lecturer’s Hall, and Law Enforcement Hall.
The disciple promotion path was: Apprentice → Outer Disciple → Inner Disciple → Personal Disciple.
After setting this management model, Hua Changxi directly teleported to Five Finger Mountain, summoned An Ran and An Ze, and explained the plan to establish the Five Elements Gate and its operational plan to them.
Upon hearing Hua Changxi’s words, An Ran and An Ze showed expressions of pleasant surprise.
With the continuous resurgence of Spiritual Energy, more and more people became cultivators. Due to the scarcity of training grounds, Five Finger Mountain became the preferred training location for cultivators.
As more cultivators arrived, conflicts also followed. If Qingzhou were not under the jurisdiction of Prince Dong’an, and if Prince Dong’an did not owe the Fairy a favor and help them suppress some covetous eyes, Five Finger Mountain would have been very turbulent.
Although they also recruited some cultivators, due to the lack of a formal external title, in the eyes of outsiders, they were like the martial artist gangs of the past.
Now, with the establishment of the Five Elements Gate, they would surely attract more and better cultivators to join them.
The Mountain Spirit and Xiao Song also appeared at some point. Upon hearing that Hua Changxi was going to establish the Five Elements Gate, the Mountain Spirit jumped with joy: “Fairy, you’ve finally made up your mind.”
With a formal Sect established, they would definitely be able to recruit more disciples. With more disciples, the incense would grow stronger, Five Finger Mountain would naturally improve, and it could more quickly advance to become the Mountain God of Five Finger Mountain.
Seeing that the Mountain Spirit now looked like a child of five or six years old, Hua Changxi patted its round head and smiled, “You’ve grown again.”
The Mountain Spirit nestled close to Hua Changxi, acting very affectionately, its eyes squinting into slits as it smiled: “As the Fairy grows stronger, I grow stronger too.”
Hua Changxi looked at the Mountain Spirit: “The Five Elements Gate has just been established, and everything is still in the exploratory phase. I’m also often away. You’ll have to help me keep an eye on things.”
The Mountain Spirit puffed out its chest: “Don’t worry, I will.”
Hua Changxi then asked, “By the way, what is the highest Realm of the strongest Demonic Beasts on Five Finger Mountain?”
To cultivate the Blood Refining Chapter of the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique, Demonic Beast Blood was needed. Before this, she hadn’t paid much attention to Demonic Beasts.
Mountain Spirit: “Core Formation Realm.”
Hua Changxi: “No Nascent Soul Realm Demonic Beasts?”
Mountain Spirit: “Five Finger Mountain is your dojo, Fairy. Demonic Beasts dare not take human form on human territory. In the past two years, several peak Core Formation Realm Demonic Beasts have secretly left Five Finger Mountain.”
It paused.
“Fairy, are you planning to take Spiritual Pets?” it said, then excitedly continued on its own.
“The Five Elements Gate definitely needs some mountain-protecting Demonic Beasts. Demonic Beasts that grew up on Five Finger Mountain would surely be more loyal. Fairy, I know of a few peak Core Formation Realm Demonic Beasts in the mountains with decent bloodlines. Do you want to take them?”
Hearing this, Hua Changxi’s interest was immediately piqued. She handed the operational plan for the Five Elements Gate to An Ze and An Ran, telling them to look it over first. Then, she took the Mountain Spirit and Xiao Song to find those Demonic Beasts.
As a peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, Hua Changxi’s senses of various locations on Five Finger Mountain became increasingly accurate. However, probing each area required Spiritual Sense, and her Spiritual Sense was not strong, making the exploration of each area too draining. She could only follow the Mountain Spirit around Five Finger Mountain to find the five Demonic Beasts.
At the foot of Middle Finger Peak, a Golden Eagle, a Five-Colored Deer, a Green Python, a Vermilion Bee Queen, and a Black Ape, all trembling, lay before Hua Changxi.
Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. The Spiritual Meridian attributes of these five Demonic Beasts had gathered all the Five Elements attributes.
This was Hua Changxi’s first time dealing with Demonic Beasts, and she was unsure of how to proceed, so she looked to the Mountain Spirit.
Seeing this, the Mountain Spirit immediately grinned and said to the five Demonic Beasts: “This is the Fire Lotus Fairy.”
Upon hearing this, the bodies of the five Demonic Beasts trembled.
The Fire Lotus Fairy, the master of Five Finger Mountain!
At this moment, all five Demonic Beasts deeply regretted their actions.
They had been greedy for the rich Spiritual Energy in Five Finger Mountain and believed that cultivators’ cultivation speed could not match that of Demonic Beasts. Even if the Mountain Master returned and discovered them, their cultivation would be lower, and she wouldn’t be able to do anything to them, so they had stayed with a fluke mentality.
If they had known the Fire Lotus Fairy was so powerful, capable of immobilizing them with just a glance, they would never have stayed on Five Finger Mountain, even if they were beaten to death.
Mountain Spirit: “The Fairy wishes to establish the Five Elements Gate and needs some mountain-protecting Demonic Beasts. Are you willing to pledge allegiance to the Fairy?”
Upon hearing this, the five Demonic Beasts collectively breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that they weren’t going to be killed.
“We are willing.”
Hua Changxi was surprised by how readily and decisively the five Demonic Beasts agreed.
The Mountain Spirit explained: “In the world of the Demon Race, the strong are respected, and the weak can only submit.”
Hua Changxi nodded upon hearing this and then had the five Demonic Beasts sign the Spirit Pet Contract.
After the contract was completed, the Mountain Spirit grinned and congratulated them: “You have become the mountain-protecting Demonic Beasts of Five Finger Mountain. From now on, you can advance and transform on Five Finger Mountain.”
Knowing they wouldn’t die, the five Demonic Beasts relaxed slightly. The next moment, they saw their Master wave out five bottles of Pills, seemingly for them, and they quickly stepped forward to receive them.
Hua Changxi: “These are Third Rank Beast Yuan Pills I made for fun. They should be helpful for your cultivation.”
The five Demonic Beasts didn’t understand human Pills. They tried opening the Pill Bottles, and as the rich Incense of Pills wafted into their noses, their faces showed expressions of extreme joy.
“Many thanks to Master for the Pills.”
After confirming that Hua Changxi would not enslave them without compensation, the lingering unwillingness in the hearts of the five Demonic Beasts dissipated considerably.
Hua Changxi: “Guard Five Finger Mountain and the Five Elements Gate well for me. I will not treat you unfairly; at least, you will not lack Pills.”
She paused.
“It’s not impossible to even help you purify your bloodline.”
Upon hearing this, the five Demonic Beasts immediately and excitedly pledged their loyalty.
Demonic Beasts’ bloodlines were related to their cultivation limits. The higher and purer the bloodline, the further they could go.
The five Demonic Beasts were large and it was inconvenient to take them to the outer mountains. Hua Changxi chatted with them for a while to build rapport, then left with the Mountain Spirit and Xiao Song.
For the next two days, Hua Changxi stayed on Five Finger Mountain, discussing the specific details of managing the Five Elements Gate with An Ran and An Ze.
On August 30th, as the dawn broke, Hua Changxi teleported back to the Dan Yuan Secret Realm.
