While Gu Zhao was sleeping, embracing the fragrant Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi, Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Zhi Xiu from the Celestial Master’s Mansion, along with Taoist Han Zheng and Taoist Han Xuan from Sanmao Mountain, had already arrived at the Southern Border.
Aside from feeling somewhat heavy-hearted over the bitter lives of most commoners in the Southern Border, they also felt an indescribable joy at the sight of certain Demons and Ghosts who clearly harbored Evil Qi yet were still rampaging about.
"Help Cyan Hill Mountain carve out roads, Doing Good Deeds and Accumulating Virtue.
"Wipe out the Demons and Ghosts along the way, Eradicating Evil and Accumulating Merit!"
Dragon Tiger Heavenly Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion, Sanmao Mountain Shangqing Sect.
The Talismanic Three Mountains were all the most authentic Zhengyi Dao Ancestral Courts. These four Daoists were also the very face of Southern Daoism.
Although Taoist Zhi Qing and his companions had just surpassed five hundred years of Dao Practice, they possessed profound Magical Power and exquisite Daoist Skills. In an actual fight, ordinary Demons and Ghosts with a thousand years of Dao Practice wouldn’t even be their match.
They quickly arrived at Cyan Hill Mountain. While helping the Qingqiu Fox Race carve out roads, they followed the various Demon Ghosts to track down fiendish traces.
When Gu Zhao woke up from his sleep, he found two more Thunder Seeds in his Sea of Consciousness.
Gu Zhao was utterly bewildered.
"What happened?" Gu Zhao asked.
"The Celestial Fox Ancestor took action herself and killed a Black Bear Spirit named Xiong Wuji," Taoist Zhi Qing answered.
"Another Black Bear Spirit?" Gu Zhao recalled the Black Bear King who had come to Cuiluo Mountain for revenge back in the day.
Taoist Zhi Xiu nodded. "This Black Bear Spirit also had several thousand years of Dao Practice. Unfortunately, he was still too far beneath the Celestial Fox Ancestor. She trapped him on Celestial Hero Mountain and effortlessly slayed him."
Taoist Han Zheng chimed in, "We mainly protected the local commoners and killed some of the Celestial Hero Mountain Demons that were fleeing in all directions."
"But after Xiong Wuji died, his entire body of Evil Qi was divided among us," Taoist Han Xuan said gleefully.
Back when Gu Zhao first transmigrated, he had traveled with Taoist Yan Song and Zhuo Qingyan. On the road, they had encountered a Guardian of the Golden Wind Divine Sect.
Gu Zhao and the old Daoist hadn’t even lifted a finger; Zhuo Qingyan had annihilated the enemy, yet Gu Zhao and Taoist Yan Song had still obtained Evil Qi.
Later, when the old Daoists transmigrated collectively to the Otherworld, they slowly experimented a few times and discovered the rule: as long as Demons and Ghosts possessing Evil Qi died within a certain range, nearby Thunder Seeds could absorb that Evil Qi.
Under normal circumstances, the Evil Qi was distributed according to how much effort each person contributed.
However, if the one who contributed the most didn’t have a Thunder Seed, the Evil Qi would be sequentially divided among the others who possessed Thunder Seeds, and then a portion would be collectively given to Gu Zhao.
It emphasized one core principle: absolutely no waste.
Therefore, Taoist Zhi Qing and the other three had picked up a massive bargain this time. It was the equivalent of the Celestial Fox Ancestor power-leveling them without even taking a share of the experience points.
"What a good person!" Taoist Zhi Qing sighed emotionally.
"The Daluo Palace and Cyan Hill Mountain will be one family from now on!" Taoist Han Zheng said solemnly.
Gu Zhao was left speechless.
A short while later.
"Wake up, wake up!
"We still need to go out for groceries!"
Not long after Gu Zhao finished talking to the old Daoists in the Otherworld, Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi groggily woke up and urged each other out of bed.
"What are we bringing for the astronauts this time?" Xiao Ya asked.
"Let’s bring some vacuum-sealed roast chickens and geese. They can be stored longer and are convenient to eat," Jiang Shishi suggested.
As soon as their voices fell, Gu Zhao’s phone rang.
He casually answered it, and the three of them heard Zhang Hang’s extremely excited voice. "I’m downstairs at your apartment complex!"
Gu Zhao was speechless. "Since when do you ever wake up before ten o’clock?"
"We’re landing on the Moon! My god! I didn’t even sleep last night!" Zhang Hang hollered. "What if I overslept and you left me behind?"
From the other end of the phone came Song Qiuqiu’s giggling, followed by her surprised greeting, "Erin! You’re here so early too!"
Well, everyone had arrived!
During their gathering yesterday, Zhang Hang had asked if he could tag along for a stroll on the Moon.
As it happened, Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi had prepared some decorating materials. Upon returning, Gu Zhao had also learned from the research institute that the Yandu office had prepared some materials for him as well.
He had already intended to visit the Moon one more time anyway.
Since that was the case, they might as well all go.
After making the agreement and eating and drinking to their hearts’ content, everyone dispersed. The deeply stirred Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi had engaged in a night of passion with Gu Zhao and had only just woken up, never expecting that Zhang Hang had actually stayed up all night.
An hour later.
"Hang this thing around your necks."
Gu Zhao handed each of them a tiny bottle, about the size of a vial of essential balm, strung with a red string so it could be worn like a necklace.
"What is this?" Zhang Hang asked.
"This is air for you to breathe in space," Gu Zhao replied.
"Is this that sort of Storage Magical Treasure? And it’s filled entirely with air? How big is the space inside? Can I operate it?" Zhang Hang stared at the bottle in his hand in shock, rattling off a string of questions. "If I used this to run a logistics business, wouldn’t I make a fortune?"
Song Qiuqiu facepalmed, while all the women burst into laughter.
Erin couldn’t help but chuckle. "Truly worthy of being a child from a business family."
"It’s a huge pity, but you don’t have Magical Power, so you can’t operate this Magical Treasure," Gu Zhao said with a grin. "However, I can stuff you inside it. Do you want to try?"
"No need, thanks!" Zhang Hang refused decisively.
Seeing everyone put the bottles on, Gu Zhao nodded.
Although he could use his Taoist True Qi to protect everyone from the external vacuum pressure and cosmic rays, he couldn’t alter the physiology of ordinary humans. They still needed to breathe just the same.
Therefore, he had crafted a tiny air bottle for each of them to carry around. Wearing it was the equivalent of carrying an entire large factory’s worth of air.
He couldn’t guarantee forever, but there would be absolutely no problem staying on the Moon for a few days.
Then, the group headed to the supermarket for grocery shopping.
Besides the vacuum-sealed braised meat and various small snacks for the astronauts, they also purchased a portable cassette stove, a small iron pot, frozen beef and mutton, various kinds of fish balls, hot pot dipping sauces, and more.
Upon returning home, everyone couldn’t help but look on with envy as Gu Zhao stored all the bags and parcels into his Storage Gourd.
How convenient!
"And then?" Zhang Hang asked. "Do we need to prepare anything else?"
"No need. We’ll set off right now." Gu Zhao enveloped them in his Taoist True Qi, then shot up into the sky, flying straight towards outer space.
"Ahhh!" the women screamed.
Zhang Hang also hollered, "I know we don’t need oxygen tanks, but we don’t even need to wear spacesuits?!"
"With me here, why would you need spacesuits!"
Meanwhile, down on Earth.
BEEP BEEP BEEP—
The alarms rang out across various radar stations once again.
However, with their previous experience and the advance notice they had received, combined with a flight trajectory completely identical to historical records, the personnel on duty only needed one glance to know that the Taoist Sect’s Extraordinary Being was heading into space again.
They even had the leisure to chat and joke around.
"Last time it was to retrieve Moon Soil. What is he going up for this time?"
"Maybe to build a Moon Base."
"Won’t the people across the ocean go crazy?"
"They should be secretly rejoicing that their satellites weren’t all wiped out in space!"
"Actually, that’s not a bad idea."