Chapter Twenty-Four: The Fragrant Pavilion

  Heavenly Cloud Peak, Water Cloud Interval.

  The sun rises freely and swings, with golden scales covering the lake surface.

  Ning Feng stretched his waist and stepped out of the building for a moment, and couldn't help but cover his eyes with the back of his hand.

  A lake of emerald ripples, water light and sky light intertwined with sunlight, three lights shining straight into the eyes.

  "Huh?"

  "Brother is up early."

  Ning Feng saw a familiar figure approaching from between his fingers, and he quickly put down his hand, smiling and greeting him.

  "Today is indeed a big day for my junior brother."

  Shen Zhaoxuan wore a loose robe with large sleeves. Without any visible movement, he flew directly over from the lake and landed in front of Ning Feng.

  "Yes, it's a big day." Ning Feng nodded heavily, shaking off his morning laziness.

  That day was his first trip to Jingxiang Pavilion, as a newly promoted Tian Gong Jiuzong disciple, to receive the true transmission of one of the nine methods and thirteen transformations.

  Since Ning Feng first knew that there were immortals, ghosts, demons and monsters in the world, he had been looking forward to this day.

  This day was the most important step he took on his immortal path.

  "Anyway..."

  Shen Zhaoxuan pointed to the location where he was about to cross the lake and said, "If the water cloud space is too simple, it would be a dereliction of duty for me as your guide. These servants were carefully selected by me over several days, you can drive them away if there's any problem, or replace them."

  Ning Feng walked with his senior brother to the lake shore and gazed out at the distance.

  Across the lake, there were over a hundred maidservants, young boys and villagers dressed up, bowing from afar with extreme respect.

  "Huh, what's this, Big Brother?"

  Ning Feng narrowed his eyes and looked carefully, asking strangely.

  He clearly saw that there were many families with children and elderly people, white-haired old men, young boys with braids, strong laborers, and rural women...

  Ning Feng had thought that Shen Zhaoxuan's mention of servants referred to a few maids and young boys, who could be casually accommodated in the Water Cloud Pavilion.

  In this life, when he was born, the Ning family still had some wealth and servants to attend to him, so he wouldn't have been unaccustomed to a life of luxury.

  Just looking at this situation, it's clearly not like that.

  Shen Zhaoxuan grasped Ning Feng's arm and took a step forward. The two of them had the wind at their backs, and they floated across the lake.

  "With a person in flight, he was still calm and composed, turning his head to smile: "Younger brother doesn't know, our divine palace's direct lineage is not comparable to those scattered cultivators, being alone is the entirety."

  "The divine palace has a legacy, with the transmission of the great law of the sect, protecting the transmission of the sect, and guarding the pride of the sect is also a responsibility, and there are corresponding treatments."

  "Especially in our Tianyun Peak, the population is sparse, and there are only seven direct descendants. Except for the fixed rules of the sect, the spiritual fields and spiritual plants are especially abundant. If there aren't enough people, how can we take care of them?"

  Shen Zhaoxuan said that Ning Feng suddenly understood, it turned out that the treatment was too good, and the demand for manpower was high.

  "But... " Ning Feng scratched his head, this was a happy trouble, how could so many people be accommodated? Were they all going to be put in the Water Cloud Pavilion?

  Is it the fairy's cave mansion or the human market?

  Shen Zhaoxuan obviously had experience dealing with such happy troubles, haha smiled and led Ning Feng straight forward.

  Those servants were stealing glances at their new master with curiosity while following him forward with familiarity.

  "Little brother, take a look."

  Going forward a short distance, at the waist of Tianyun Peak Mountain down, Shen Zhaoxuan stretched out his hand and pointed, saying with a smile.

  Ning Feng understood at a glance.

  In front, a newly built village suddenly appeared, without the crowing of chickens and dogs, nor was it the time for cooking smoke to rise, making it exceptionally quiet and elegant, as if it were a place where a great Confucian scholar had retired to spend his later years.

  There is a stone tablet outside the village, with obvious new engraving marks, and there are no words on it.

  "Junior brother, this village is used to accommodate these servants. In the future, if junior brother accepts vassals or disciples, they can also be accommodated here."

  Shen Zhaoxuan took Ning Feng to the empty stone monument and asked, "As for the village's name, I won't overstep my bounds, little brother you come."

  "May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

  A group of servants, bowing and paying respects.

  "Everyone, please rise."

  Ning Feng stretched out his hand to support him, hesitated for a moment, and remembered the scene of naming Shui Yunjian not long ago. He smiled at Shen Zhaoxuan and said: "A few days ago, Master asked what the three characters of Shui Yunjian meant, I said 'clouds are unintentional and water is leisurely'."

  "Today's village name will also come out from here."

  "Oh?" Shen Zhaoxuan asked with great interest: "Please tell me more."

  Ning Feng smiled slightly and uttered three words: "Xian Xin Village."

  "Clouds drift aimlessly, water flows freely, is this a carefree village?"

  Shen Zhaoxuan savored the three words "Xian Xin Village" and nodded in praise: "With a leisurely heart, there is elegance, what a good name."

  "Thank you, sir, for giving me a name."

  "We will work diligently for our lord and not dare to be remiss."

  The servants one by one showed a happy expression, pushing out several old men who expressed their views.

  They may not necessarily like this name, but it represents Ning Feng's attitude of acceptance.

  Isn't that enough for them?

  "Alright, now that the trivial matters are settled, let's get down to business."

  Shen Zhaoxuan's expression turned solemn, and he said, "Younger brother, let's go to Jingxiang Pavilion."

  Ning Feng took a deep breath and nodded heavily.

  Jingxiang Pavilion, located on the main peak of Tiandu, is the true heartland of the Seven Sects' Sun God Temple.

  The nine veins and peaks are hidden in the formation, surrounding the Tian Du Mountain to fly, originally with a protective meaning. The disciples of the Nine Veins Temple gather together, originally surpassing any formation or dead object in the world.

  Jingxiang Pavilion, located in the depths of the abdomen, is only one step away from the summit of Tiandu Mountain. Outsiders will definitely not be able to come here, and even the disciples of the Divine Palace will rarely appear here, making it a truly fundamental place.

  Shen Zhaoxuan and Ning Feng stood in front of Jingxiang Pavilion.

  "Is this the Fragrant Pavilion?"

  Ning Feng gazed at the building in front of him, which had countless legends outside its gate, and his face was filled with a sense of longing.

  Three years time, outside the gate three thousand six hundred disciples, in the end truly qualified to stand before this building only a mere thirty people, Ning Feng was fortunate, listed among them.

  Jingxiang Pavilion is named as a pavilion, but it's actually a building similar to a palace. As soon as you enter, you'll see several giant copper pillars that are hugged by several people, rising from the ground and supporting the top, with an extremely majestic momentum.

  The ground is paved with white jade, polished by water to a bright shine, strolling on it, and reflecting in it.

  The grand building had no gate, but two divine temple disciples stood outside the door, checking the qualifications of those who entered.

  Shen Zhaoxuan and others had observed the Ning wind for a while, and smiled: "Junior brother, this is where Jingxiang Pavilion is. All Shen Gong disciples who have made enough contributions and are not lacking in treasure resources often want to come here."

  He shrugged and sighed: "As a brother who has made some contributions to the sect, it's not easy to come here in vain. What a pity, what a pity."

  Ning Feng listened attentively, nodding his head, and in just a short while, he saw no less than twenty Divine Palace disciples entering and exiting.

  Those who enter step quickly with a face full of expectation; those who leave walk with difficulty, occasionally turning back to look, reluctant to part.

  There were nearly twenty people inside, one or two of whom were new disciples like him, while the others were either old disciples or middle-aged and elderly men with extraordinary bearing.

  From the attitude of the disciples guarding outside Jingxiang Pavilion, Ning Feng was not difficult to guess that those middle-aged or elderly people were probably senior brothers of the previous generation, and they were peers with Tianyunzi's master.

  "There are indeed many people."

  Ning Feng casually mentioned it, and a scene of the Shen Gong disciples wandering in front of rows of bookshelves appeared in his mind.

  Upon hearing this, Shen Zhaoxuan smiled mysteriously and said with a hint of implication: "My junior brother will understand once he turns back; I won't spoil the fun for him."

  "What does 'spoilsport' mean?"

  Ning Feng was about to ask again, but Shen Zhaoxuan didn't respond and instead walked forward to talk to the two disciples guarding the place for a few sentences. Then he beckoned Ning Feng to enter.

  Seeing his action and then seeing the two gatekeeper disciples open the door, Ning Feng's heart tightened, no thoughts came to mind, he just walked over step by step.

  "Junior brother has left, I'll wait for you outside."

  Shen Zhaoxuan patted Ning Feng's shoulder in comfort.

  Ning Feng nodded slightly, smiled gratefully, and immediately stepped into Jingxiang Pavilion.

  "Knock knock knock~"

  At the moment of stepping into Jingxiang Pavilion, everything in front of me turned black, with only footsteps echoing beside my ears.

  The next moment, the dark tide receded, and a faint, serene fragrance wafted over.

  Ning Feng opened his eyes wide and greedily looked around, taking in everything in Jingxiang Pavilion.

  At first sight, countless jade boxes are floating in mid-air.

  Most of the jade coffers are cyan jade coffers, and only a few are white jade. Occasionally, one or two five-colored lights flash by, which is a five-colored jade coffer.

  The jade box made of five-color jade is extremely rare, and after Ning Feng caught a glimpse of it, he couldn't find it again no matter how hard he looked.

  Before me is a spacious great hall, with jade boxes floating in the air, numbering no less than ten thousand. It's like searching for a needle in the ocean, how easy can it be?

  "It's really... strange."

  The wind blows and I involuntarily let out a sigh of emotion.

  He looked at it with a true gaze, the jade box was still motionless, just floating there. Once they moved, a pair of light wings would emerge on the jade box, flapping and flying.

  Sometimes they even chased each other, bumping up and down, like a group of naughty children playing and fooling around.

  Fortunately, these jade boxes are quite sturdy. Even when one of them is knocked to the ground from mid-air and crashes onto the earth, it will shake its wings and take off again as if nothing had happened, rejoining the playful throng.

  These jade boxes are like people, some like to have fun, some like to watch, and some shrink quietly in the corner. The hierarchy among the jade boxes is also strict, the cyan jade box must not offend the white jade box, and the white jade box will give way to the five-color jade box.

  "Had enough?"

  An aged voice suddenly entered his ears, Ning Feng was startled and looked up to find that he had been so captivated by the jade box in the sky that he had neglected someone in the Jing Xiang Pavilion.

  A legendary figure.