Chapter 14: Xingfeng Manor (Part 2)

  I stepped into my future villa, and as soon as I entered the gate, a long stone bridge appeared in front of me. Under the stone bridge was a very large artificial lake with many aquatic plants inside. Around the artificial lake were many fake hills and gravel. Not bad, really not bad, just this artificial lake and that long stone bridge are worth the price.

  "Gentlemen, in those days, the King of Wen had ordered the previous generation's emperor to command the Imperial Guard to dig out this large artificial lake, which took almost a month. At that time, it was a beautiful story spread throughout the capital, and many people wanted to buy this estate. But because of that back garden, I believe you all know about these things already... Alas, this King of Wen really had nothing better to do! An estate worth nearly one million taels was ruined by him using some sort of formation, and now not even 200,000 taels can be gotten for it!" The yamen runner said, speaking of the matters concerning this estate.

  I find it strange, even if you don't count the backyard, just the artificial lake alone is worth 200,000 yuan for a house nearby. Why doesn't anyone come to buy it? I said to the official:

  "Not counting the backyard, it's already worth 200,000 taels, so why isn't anyone buying?"

  "Ah! You don't know, oh dear, it seems I'll have to continue keeping watch here!" The official immediately hung his head in despair and became sorrowful.

  "Don't worry, my master said he wants to buy this estate, so you don't have to worry!" My big apprentice is really kind-hearted! Immediately relieved the official's worries.

  "Really, are you telling the truth? Are you going to buy this estate no matter what?" The official was almost ecstatic, he couldn't believe it himself. It's not surprising, after all, he had just gone from hell to heaven at the gate, and then from heaven back to hell again, only to return to heaven once more. This rollercoaster of emotions was really too much for someone like him to handle.

  "It's true, you'd better keep going forward, my masters have already gone ahead." Li Da reminded him kindly on the side.

  "Oh, go, go!" The bailiff immediately hastened forward quickly.

  ......

  "Brother Wang, you see that the building is still quite good, and the overall layout is also very good. This Prince Wang is indeed a formation enthusiast, even the layout of this house follows the nine palaces eight trigrams method. What's most important is that he actually connected this large formation with the eight formations in the backyard, forming an unprecedentedly large formation, it's really impressive!" I said as I looked at these houses.

  This Eight Arrays is the formation of the long-lost Eight Arrays Diagram, created by Zhuge Kongming, the chief military strategist of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The eight arrays are: Tian Fu Array, Di Zai Array, Feng Yang Array, Yun Chui Array, Long Fei Array, Hu Yi Array, Niao Xiang Array, and She Pan Array. The eight arrays complement each other, increasing their power exponentially. It was this array that blocked the pursuit of Wang Tian, the leader of the first great power, allowing the founding emperor to rise again in the east and establish the Great Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, with Zhuge Kongming's early passing, this magnificent array disappeared, and it is said that the Eight Arrays Diagram was torn into eight pieces, its whereabouts unknown. Who would have thought that this array would reappear here?

  "Young master, it's because of this that the entire complex of several hundred houses has only a dozen or so rooms on the outermost side that can be occupied, and the rest of the rooms can't even be entered. No wonder so many people have come to see this estate, but no one wants to buy it. Who would spend 200,000 silver taels to buy just these dozen or so houses? Young master, this grand formation has already surpassed the power of the Eight Formations of old. Do you really have confidence in breaking through such a formation?"

  I smiled, of course I have a way to break it. The formation of this world is high-minded, but it's still just the power of acquired skills. Even if there are masters using innate true energy to set up the formation, in my Lingyuan observation after reaching the Golden Elixir stage, all secrets will be revealed without a doubt. But how can I tell my Wang Ge about such reasons? It would have to wait until Wang Ge also practices the cultivation method. All I could do was smile confidently at Wang Ge, showing that I had full confidence in myself.

  "Brother Wang, I've made up my mind. Buy it for me right away. I don't want any accidents to happen." I said to Brother Wang, I already really like this estate and I definitely don't want someone else to intervene at this time.

  "Yes, young master, I'll go talk to them right now and absolutely won't delay this matter. Young master, you just take a stroll around here. Ah Yu, follow me, let's go find the yamen people together." Wang Ge called out to Yu Jie and they walked out together.

  "Hey, this backyard and those rooms have never been entered by anyone before. I wonder if there are any treasures inside! As soon as I thought of this, I immediately wanted to enter the formation to investigate. I really can't bear the curiosity in my heart. I looked at Zhang Yu and the others and said:"

  "You all wait here first, I'll go in and take a look. You must not come in. Zhang Yu, you know the danger of the formation here, keep an eye on them for me, don't let them run around randomly, or they might get trapped inside and can't get out."

  Zhang Yu had been studying the formation since he was a child and was very familiar with the Eight Trigrams Formation. He knew its power, but the current formation in front of him was much more powerful than the Eight Trigrams Formation. He thought to himself: "I haven't even figured out the subtleties of the formation, yet my master is already saying that he wants to enter the formation and take a look, and it seems like he's not taking the current formation seriously at all." His master was indeed formidable, not only in terms of his martial arts skills but also in terms of his expertise in formations.

  Since I revealed my changing abilities in front of Zhang Yu, he no longer doubted any of my astonishing and absurd words. In his heart, I was almost invincible. Zhang Yu looked at me and said:

  "Master, you can rest assured and go in to take a look. I will definitely keep a close eye on them and won't let any of them run wild."

  I nodded and ignored Li Da and Li Er's pitiful gaze at Xixi, walking calmly into the formation.

  As soon as I entered the formation, everything around me was a vast expanse of white, and I couldn't see my fingers when I stretched out my hand. My eyes were completely useless. I was taken aback - this formation really was formidable. Suddenly, I felt the ground shaking beneath me, and countless clumps of dirt came rushing towards me, trying to bury me... I knew it was all just an illusion, but I was still shocked by its realism. Although the formation was very powerful, unfortunately for it, it had encountered me. I summoned my spiritual energy, and my divine sense began to spread outwards, enveloping everything around me. In a short while, the entire formation was under my control. Very quickly, I completely grasped the mysteries of this formation. This formation would be considered quite formidable even in the cultivation world, but the one before me now was primarily composed of pre-heavenly true energy, so its power naturally couldn't compare to formations that were primarily composed of true yuan energy.

  I didn't destroy the formation's foundation, but instead infused my true yuan energy into it to enhance its power. Now this formation can only be broken by a master in the Nascent Soul stage.

  My spiritual awareness sensed the surrounding houses, wow! There were nearly eight hundred rooms, and I suddenly didn't know where to start searching from, what a torment!

  Suddenly, my spiritual sense detected a faint wave of fluctuations in the array. I'm sure this is not some kind of large array, but an array that protects something. Using an array to protect things, it seems like a treasure!

  Haha...... I walked to my destination with a sense of pride, and an ordinary room appeared before my eyes. As I pushed open the dusty door, I activated my true yuan power, and a layer of aura immediately covered my body. Looking at the dust on the aura, I couldn't help but admire my own foresight.

  What's going on? I feel that the fluctuations are coming from underground, but there is no secret passage leading to the ground here! I've almost searched every corner of the house, but I just can't find a passageway leading to the ground. I'm confused - could my spiritual senses have been wrong? How is it possible for spiritual senses to be wrong? Unless there's someone with powers beyond mine who's misleading me... But there's definitely no one here, so what's causing this situation? I'm baffled......

  ......

  "I'm delighted to have discussed this with you, Director Wang. From now on, this estate belongs to Zhang Xingfeng, the young master of the Zhang family. I'll take my leave for now; when I have time, I'll come visit you again and we can share a pot of tea. Please do give me more face in the future." A green-robed official spoke with a smile, exchanging pleasantries with Wang Ge. As a butler trained by the Zhang family's special program, Wang Ge naturally understood that maintaining good relations with officials was essential.

  "Master Lin, don't say that. I'm just a commoner. As long as you call me, I'll definitely come immediately. This thousand taels of silver is the money my young master gave to Master for tea. Today we just bought this estate and there are many things to arrange, so I won't see Master off. Please forgive me, Master!" Wang Ge was also very concerned about him, asking him to have a cup of tea, which cost a thousand taels of silver, this tea is really not ordinary!

  Wang Ge smiled and watched Lin's figure disappear from view before he started looking for me to report the situation.

  "Sir, isn't the young master of his house the third son of the Zhang family, one of the four great families, who was driven out of the house? He is no longer a member of the Zhang family, so why are you still being so good to his steward?" A yamen runner walking with Lord Lin on the road back to the government office asked.

  "You don't understand, do you? Although the Third Young Master has nominally left the Zhang family, he's not even seven years old this year. What kind of big mistake could he possibly make? Moreover, parents don't dislike their own sons, so would the master of the Zhang family let his precious son suffer? People say that the Third Young Master doesn't have much money, but look at him - as soon as he arrived in the capital, he bought this estate for 200,000 taels. With my salary, it would take me a hundred years to earn that much! And look at how they spend their tea money - one thousand taels, which is almost equal to my annual salary! You should know that people like them are the kind we can only try to curry favor with, not offend. Sometimes, when they're in a good mood, they'll give you some silver as a reward, and it's enough for us to use!" This Lin gentleman is indeed very persuasive.

  The attendant next to him nodded incessantly, like a chick pecking at grain. What a wonderful phrase! If only someone would reward me with a thousand taels of silver one day, how great that would be! The attendant secretly hoped in his heart.

  "Zhang Yu, young master, I've already bought this estate and was just looking for him to report. Where is the young master?" Wang Ge asked Zhang Yu who was sitting in a chair. He looked strangely at Li Da and Li Er who were standing motionless behind Zhang Yu with gloomy faces. Uncle Zhang suppressed his smile while looking at the two treasures, but his eyes revealed his current state of mind.

  "King Big Brother, don't look anymore, they want to enter the formation to play, violating Master's orders, and I punished them not to speak or move. Just now, Master has already entered the formation, he told us that we can only stay outside and are not allowed to enter. You just wait here!" Zhang Yu said, then closed his mouth again, lowered his head and looked at the few books about formations he brought with him.

  Wang Ge had no choice but to sit down with Yu Jie on the chair, waiting for me to return. Yu Jie turned her head and glanced at Li Da and Li Er behind her, their faces extremely painful, and burst out laughing loudly.

  Hahaha...

  Uncle Zhang could no longer bear it and burst out laughing loudly.

  Hahaha...

  The entire hall was filled with laughter, loud guffaws reverberating back and forth, lingering on and on...

  Li Da and Li Er looked at all this, shouting loudly in their hearts: Master, come back quickly...