Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'-Chapter 744 - 480: The Sage Counts the Troops_3

Why were Knife Ghost Ridge and Chu Shaoqiang now considered unrelated? It was because this matter concerned the Saint’s prestige.

Upon descending the mountain, as Chu Shaoqiang walked through Cheap Person Ridge, he quickly understood the reason.

A new peak had suddenly emerged beside Sage Peak. The residents of Cheap Person Ridge could not possibly have missed seeing it.

How did this new peak come to be? Sage Peak needed a reasonable explanation, and the one the Saint provided was that he had moved it there.

The foundation of heaven and earth begins with the heart of the Saint; the transformation of heaven and earth begins with the thought of the Saint.

A disciple of the Saint in Respect Virtue Village said, "Heaven and earth could flip over with just a thought from the Saint; what is moving a mountain in comparison? With a mere blink of the Saint’s eyes, this mountain moved here."

The villagers deeply believed this. Every day, they would first face Sage Peak to burn incense and kowtow, then turn towards Knife Ghost Ridge and kowtow again.

Knife Ghost Ridge had to be unrelated to Chu Shaoqiang; it was all the Saint’s mighty power.

...

Cui Tiq discovered that Knife Ghost Ridge was gone and was extremely irate. "Li Qi, we agreed on three days for the investigation. It’s barely been two days, and Knife Ghost Ridge has just vanished like this! You are clearly trampling on our friendship!"

Li Banfeng explained, "Knife Ghost Ridge vanished as mysteriously as it appeared. I truly don’t know the reason for this, so you can’t blame me."

Cui Tiq didn’t believe him. "I think you’re deceiving me!"

Li Banfeng said, "Think about it carefully. Do I have the ability to control Knife Ghost Ridge?"

Cui Tiq pondered for a moment and said, "Based on your personal abilities, you shouldn’t have."

"If I can’t do it, then I definitely didn’t do it. Isn’t that perfectly clear?"

Yes, indeed. Not only was it clear, it seemed irrefutable.

Cui Tiq sighed. "No matter where Knife Ghost Ridge has gone, it will cause a disaster. I wanted to witness this disaster with my own eyes, but now I can only wait for news from others."

Li Banfeng said, "As long as you don’t go up Knife Ghost Ridge, you won’t encounter Knife Labor Ghosts, so the disaster should be controllable."

Cui Tiq shook his head. "I thought about it all last night, and the situation might have changed."

Li Banfeng frowned. "What kind of change?"

Cui Tiq, holding a twig, wrote and drew on the ground. "This change comes from their inherent nature. Knife Labor Ghosts seldom leave Knife Ghost Ridge, and this habit might originate from two sources.

The first source is that Knife Labor Ghosts like the environment of Knife Ghost Ridge. In the language of Puluo State, this is called being ’dense with Yin Energy.’ I’m still not sure what Yin Energy really means.

The second source is that Knife Labor Ghosts, due to impaired vision, suffer from severe cognitive difficulties. This causes them to live only within terrains they are familiar with. But with our joint effort..."

"Stop right there!" Li Banfeng had a bad hunch. "That’s your own effort. I’m not planning to take advantage of you." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Cui Tiq insisted, "Your strength contributed to this achievement. If I ever write an autobiography, I will definitely mention you. It’s because the concoction we developed caused the Knife Labor Ghosts’ vision to mutate, so their range of activity might have expanded."

Li Banfeng took a deep breath. "Expanded by how much?"

Cui Tiq couldn’t give an exact answer. "This requires extensive biological knowledge, as well as a large amount of observation and experimentation. However, the Knife Labor Ghosts still rely on the Yin Energy of Knife Ghost Ridge, so they won’t go too far from it. Previously, they could move around within a two to three-mile radius at the foot of the mountain. Now, they might appear in places twenty to thirty miles away, at most not beyond a hundred miles."

Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat. Cheap Person Ridge was in for big trouble.

...

Two days later, at nine in the morning, the weather over Cheap Person Ridge was clear.

Atop Sage Peak, the Saint bathed, burned incense, changed into a yellow robe with cloud patterns, and boarded his sedan chair.

The sedan chair, a very special mode of transport, could be understood as an extremely luxurious palanquin. This sedan chair of the Saint, at a glance, could easily be mistaken for a house, with an antechamber, a bedroom, a ridged roof, doors, and windows.

Twenty-eight disciples carried the Saint down from Sage Peak. On both sides of the road, lines of supplicants knelt, their foreheads pressed to the ground, daring not to look up.

Behind the sedan chair, another eighteen disciples carried a Bronze Cauldron down the mountain, while the remaining neatly dressed disciples followed along.

When they arrived at the base of Knife Ghost Ridge, ten disciples ascended first for reconnaissance.

Actually, they had already checked several times before. In total, three groups of disciples had climbed the mountain, but they found no Knife Labor Ghosts. If some hadn’t previously gone to Knife Ghost Ridge, they might even doubt whether it was real.

Where had all the Knife Labor Ghosts gone?

Chu Shaoqiang’s earlier conjecture was correct—the environmental change had indeed made the Knife Labor Ghosts somewhat uncomfortable. Initially feeling fearful, then agitated, they finally all burrowed underground and fell into a deep slumber.

With the ridge confirmed safe, the disciples first carried the Bronze Cauldron up the mountain to a pre-selected location and set up the Array.

Once everything was ready, the remaining disciples carried the sedan chair, escorting the Saint up the mountain.

Reaching mid-mountain, the Saint stood atop his sedan chair, looked at the clear sky, and then swept his gaze over all the disciples.

All disciples knelt on the ground and performed the kowtowing ceremony to the Saint.

The Saint gave the order, "My subjects, rise, muster the troops!"

For all of the Saint’s Disciples, this was a command of extraordinary significance.

Since leaving Inner State until today, the Saint finally had troops at his command.

This was the first step for the Saint to reclaim the lands!

Eighteen disciples performed their respective duties: first adding water to the cauldron, then placing offerings inside it, followed by lighting a fire beneath it. As the liquid inside began boiling and steaming, dark clouds started to gather in the sky.