Chapter 422: Who Moved It After All?

Above Qiu Luoye's territory, a strong light suddenly flared up, illuminating the entire land as if it were daytime.

Shui Yongquan shouted, "Heavenly Light! Quick, take cover!" He immediately transformed into a ghost flame and entered the nearest wooden cabin.

The 'Heavenly Light' he referred to was clearly not the gentle Heavenly Light of the New Territory, but the powerful Heavenly Light of the Proper Territory. Regardless of their cultivation level, practitioners were in great danger if exposed to it even once.

Qiu Luoye also took shelter in a wooden cabin. Could a wooden cabin block the Heavenly Light?

It couldn't block it entirely, but it was far better than being directly exposed to the Heavenly Light.

Li Banfeng entered a wooden cabin, carrying He Yuxiu in one hand and Ma Wu in the other.

Lu Chunying carried Xiao Yeci into a wooden cabin.

Juanzi loudly exclaimed, "This isn't Heavenly Light!"

Yang Yanzheng took Chu Er into a wooden cabin.

Zuo Wugang brought Cao Zhida into a wooden cabin.

Laohu carried Shitou into a wooden cabin.

Xiaoshan desperately shouted, "This really isn't Heavenly Light!"

It was no use shouting; everyone took shelter nearby. Only the Three-Headed Men didn't hide, as they were most familiar with Heavenly Light.

This truly wasn't Heavenly Light; it was midday sunlight.

This wasn't Shui Yongquan's fault, nor Qiu Luoye's. They hadn't seen sunlight in too long, and sunlight shouldn't appear in the New Territory.

The oppressive thick fog was suddenly dispersed, and a vast area of territory was instantly bathed in sunlight. This was far more unusual than Heavenly Light. Even Li Qi and others, who usually lived in the Proper Territory, couldn't distinguish it in their panic.

Xiaoshan chuckled, "Let's quickly invite Master Qi out!"

Mengzi frowned and said, "What's so funny? Are you making fun of Master Qi? Master Qi isn't like us; he always sees Heavenly Light. When you see him later, you're not allowed to laugh!"

Juanzi, controlling her body, was about to enter the wooden cabin to call everyone out, when the ground trembled, and Juanzi stumbled and fell.

Rumble! Rumble!

After a period of shaking, the Three-Headed Men fell to the ground one after another.

They were relatively fine. Li Banfeng and the others were squeezed inside the wooden cabin, swaying back and forth and tumbling around with the earthquake's vibrations. Several people were knocked, causing their heads to bleed.

Li Banfeng stabilized himself using his foundation as a Journey Cultivator. He felt that this sensation was very familiar, as if he had experienced it in another prefecture.

Where did that 'Heavenly Light' come from just now?

And what was causing this earthquake now?

Li Banfeng looked at the group. Everyone was shaking back and forth in the wooden cabin, clutching their heads and hunching their bodies. Many had suffered external injuries, and quite a few had already vomited.

Creak, creak, snap!

The main beam of the wooden cabin was about to break.

The roof was about to collapse. Seeing that everyone was about to be crushed beneath it, He Yuxiu jumped onto the ceiling and used brute force to stabilize the beam.

Amidst the tremors, He Yuxiu also struggled to stand steady. Li Banfeng jumped behind her and supported her.

Other wooden cabins could no longer withstand the force. With continuous rumbling and loud crashes, it was unknown how many had collapsed.

The earthquake lasted for nearly twenty minutes. There was a period of relative calm in the middle, with only slight jolts. As it neared its end, the ground suddenly lurched, almost causing even Li Banfeng to lose his footing.

This jolt reminded Li Banfeng of his experience in another prefecture.

The feeling was somewhat like a subway train encountering a malfunction and coming to a sudden halt.

Everyone had fallen awkwardly. He Yuxiu shouted, "Quick, let's go, the wooden cabin is falling apart!"

Outside, the Heavenly Light was still shining. The people inside the wooden cabin all possessed cultivation. Being hit by wood would at most cause injuries, but being exposed to Heavenly Light could lead to an explosion.

Juanzi shouted from outside, "Master Qi, everyone, this isn't Heavenly Light, it truly isn't! Please come out!"

He Yuxiu looked at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng nodded slightly.

He trusted Juanzi; Heavenly Light was common for her.

Li Banfeng was the first to exit the wooden cabin, with everyone else following closely.

After standing outside for a while, Li Banfeng realized it was indeed not Heavenly Light.

In the previous panic, he hadn't been able to distinguish it. Now that he was calm, Li Banfeng saw the difference.

He had also been exposed to Heavenly Light before. Heavenly Light was much brighter than this.

The light before him was not much different from the midday sun in Green Water City.

Midday sunlight...

Li Banfeng looked at Shui Yongquan and Qiu Luoye, who had just emerged from the wooden cabin.

Qiu Luoye shot Shui Yongquan a glance. "Old Shui, you scared me with all that sudden panic. What Heavenly Light? Didn't the sun just come out? But then again, how many days has it been since we last saw the sun?"

Shui Yongquan looked up and indeed saw the sun hanging in the sky.

"Qiu the Elephant, the sun came out in your territory?"

Qiu Luoye was silent for a moment, then turned to ask Shui Yongquan, "Yes, why did the sun come out?"

The crowd, covered in injuries, gradually emerged from the wooden cabins.

Xiao Yeci wiped the blood from his face, looked up at the sun in the sky, and said to Li Banfeng, "Benefactor, sunrise means reaching the Proper Territory. As the books say, this land has transformed into Proper Territory!"

Transformed into Proper Territory?

How did it change?

Didn't it require a permanent population of ten thousand people?

There weren't ten thousand people here now, let alone a permanent population!

Li Banfeng hadn't figured this out yet, when he suddenly heard Qiu Luoye burst into laughter, "Sunrise means reaching the Proper Territory! I understand now, my territory has become Proper Territory!"

Shui Yongquan was also happy: "Old brother, congratulations!"

Qiu Luoye quickly returned the greeting: "The joy is mutual!"

Shui Yongquan chuckled, "You know, it really is mutual joy. I need to go back and check my territory. If the sun has appeared here, mine must have benefited too."

"Yes, with such a big sun, perhaps your territory also brightened up. Let's go see together!"

The two old friends happily set off. This was because the last piece of barren land had been allocated to Qiu Luoye by Shui Yongquan, and Shui Yongquan's border was very close to this spot.

In the blink of an eye, the two reached the border, where they saw a very peaceful small village.

There had just been an earthquake, and the villagers were very nervous. They stood by the boundary line, looking over towards them.

Shui Yongquan and the villagers across the way stared at each other for a moment. Then he softly asked, "Where's my home?"

Qiu Luoye stroked the beard on his chin: "Yes, where did your home go..."

Shui Yongquan became anxious. He didn't know the origin of these villagers, but the other side of the boundary was clearly not his territory.

He was about to rush across the boundary line, but Qiu Luoye stopped him.

"No, you can't go there. This seems to be the boundary of a Proper Territory!"

This time, Qiu Luoye's judgment was correct. On the other side of the boundary, within a few meters, not a blade of grass grew.

On his side, quite a few plants had also disappeared.

This was a mark of a Proper Territory boundary.

Shui Yongquan dashed along the border, unable to find his own territory. He only found a rabbit staring blankly by the border line.

Shui Yongquan grabbed the rabbit and asked, "What did you just see?"

The rabbit replied in a panic, "I saw the other side moving just now, moving very fast! I don't know what happened."

"Moving?" In his anxiety, Shui Yongquan still didn't understand. Qiu Luoye's territory had become Proper Territory, but how did his home move?

Qiu Luoye's mind worked it out. "Old Shui, perhaps it wasn't you who moved; it was me."

This statement enlightened Shui Yongquan. The two quickly headed north. Upon reaching the northern border, Qiu Luoye's familiar old neighbors were gone, replaced only by a forest.

Neighbors from all other borders had disappeared. Traces of Proper Territory boundaries were everywhere. Only the southeastern corner led to a New Territory, and even this New Territory was very unfamiliar to Qiu Luoye.

What exactly was going on?

Qiu Luoye looked at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng looked at Xiao Yeci.

Xiao Yeci shook his head, "This... I don't know about this..."

This indeed surpassed Xiao Yeci's understanding. Li Banfeng circled the edge of the territory, and he had never seen the scenery around the border before.

He found an opportunity to return to his Portable Residence and asked his wife.

His wife pondered for a while and said, "My dear husband, usually only Shallow Territories transform into Proper Territories. You've transformed a Deep Territory into a Proper Territory. Your humble servant has never heard of such a thing! Could it be that the Deep Territory itself moved and ended up next to a Proper Territory?"

The Portable Residence should know this best, but Li Banfeng asked several times, and the Portable Residence didn't respond.

The Phonograph said to Li Banfeng, "Husband, don't disturb our Old Master for now. He seems to be deep in thought. There are two urgent matters at hand: first, to see who our new neighbors are. A territory suddenly pushing in might not be friendly to us. Second, to see how many strange creatures are still in the territory. Some of these creatures are low-level and have never seen sunlight in their lives. Such creatures are bound to cause trouble."

Li Banfeng exited the Portable Residence. Just as he was about to look for Qiu Luoye, he suddenly heard roars coming from the forest.

What could be making such a loud commotion?

Li Banfeng quickly went to the forest. Other places were one thing, but this particular forest absolutely couldn't have any trouble.

Qiu Luoye also rushed over. After searching for a moment in the forest, he found it was a stick insect.

This stick insect wasn't large, only a little over a meter long. In the New Territory, it was considered a docile strange creature. But today, exposed to sunlight for the first time, it suddenly became agitated, frantically gnawing at the old tree beneath it.

Qiu Luoye, annoyed, went to tear the stick insect apart. Unexpectedly, the old tree, damaged by the stick insect's gnawing, also became angry. Its roots suddenly grew, nearly ensnaring Qiu Luoye.

The old tree's roots encroached upon the roots of other trees. Several other sentient trees also became agitated, their roots competing to grow.

As the roots intertwined, some underground creatures couldn't survive. Guinea pigs, snakes, earthworms, and salamanders emerged in large numbers.

None of these creatures had ever seen sunlight. They were fine while hidden underground. But now, under the sun's rays, they instantly lost their minds, and began biting Qiu Luoye.

The scene spiraled out of control. Qiu Luoye also lost his patience.

He immediately transformed into an elephant, intending to level the entire forest!

Li Banfeng quickly stopped Qiu Luoye. This forest couldn't be destroyed; Li Banfeng's station was beneath it.

"Brother Qiu, it seems there's trouble over there too. Please go and check it out first. I'll handle things here!"

Several dog-headed dragonflies had gone mad and were pushing into the farmland. Qiu Luoye gritted his teeth and said, "We should have dealt with them all a long time ago. These things are nothing but trouble!"

This situation wasn't really Qiu Luoye's or Li Banfeng's fault. They both thought that getting ten thousand people would be difficult, and there would be plenty of time to deal with the strange creatures. If it came to that, they could discuss with Old Shui sending these unintelligent strange creatures to his territory. Such creatures wouldn't rebel with Qiu Luoye nor would they become a threat later. Shui Yongquan should be able to accept them.

Who knew that right after the reclamation ended, the New Territory would transform into a Proper Territory? And now, they didn't even know where Old Shui's territory was.

Food was crucial for survival. Qiu Luoye couldn't worry about the forest and rushed to the farmland first.

In the forest, strange creatures of all sizes were still in a frenzy. As Li Banfeng was thinking about how to calm them down, an object suddenly nudged against his pocket.

This was an object he rarely used: the music box that Ling Miaoying had given to Li Banfeng.

This object had always been difficult to categorize. Hong Ying said it was a spiritual artifact, while his wife believed it had consciousness and should be considered a magic treasure.

The music box could move on its own, which indeed had the characteristics of a magic treasure, but it had never spoken.

Li Banfeng took out the music box and wound it up.

The little figures on the music box began to rotate. Li Banfeng didn't specify a direction. The soothing melody spread in all directions.

Before long, the forest gradually quieted down, and all living creatures fell into a deep sleep.

Only Li Banfeng remained unaffected; the melody he heard was different.

However, merely putting these strange creatures to sleep wouldn't solve the fundamental problem. Once they woke up, they would cause trouble again. If this continued, the station would be exposed.

Li Banfeng touched the frenzied stick insect. The insect was sleeping so soundly it was as if it were dead.

This gave Li Banfeng a bold idea.

He looked at the music box.

The little figures on the music box looked up at him, their faces adorned with confident smiles.