Cave Refuge-Chapter 282 - 277: Methods to Stabilize the Earth
After the aftershocks ended, Mr. Thompson, his wife, and their son finished their breakfast in the car before getting out of the black car.
Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Thompson naturally went over to the lawn to chat with acquaintances while Zachary leaned against the black car, chatting with Robinson William who happened to be patrolling the area.
"You didn’t sleep last night?"
"How could I? You never know when an earthquake could occur, you definitely need to get enough sleep. I was on patrol last night, and I woke up at dawn.
Listen to the Clouds said, you think this place is not good and are still planning to go to Saxon County as initially planned, right?"
Hearing Robinson William’s inquiry, Zachary replied very straightforwardly, "Yeah, I don’t think this place is up to scratch."
Surprised by Zachary’s direct dismissal of the place, Robinson William’s curiosity piqued, "Isn’t this place just fine?
It’s open and close to the City Center, and there are farmlands right across from us. When the crops are ripe, it’ll be convenient to harvest."
"But this place is too close to the City Center. You should be able to guess what’s going on there. Right now, the City Center is definitely uninhabitable, so where do you think those survivors are going to be relocated?
And now, unlike before, the survivors aren’t foolish. To survive, they’ll definitely want to live near the farmlands.
After all, most of the farmlands are in the open areas outside the city, and the only places with fields to the west are two spots: one is a large stretch of farmland in Dapeng Town; the other is right here."
Robinson William thought about it upon hearing Zachary’s explanation, and indeed it made sense.
"I think there are more reasons why I want to move from here, not just the issue I just mentioned. Another one is the problem with the Bugs Clan. Although through multiple tests, these bugs are now showing fear of martial artists,
But what if, just what if one day those bugs are no longer afraid of martial artists? Judging by the damage the bugs are currently causing to ordinary people, if that day comes, our drug-using martial artists would definitely not be a match for the Bug Nest."
Hearing Zachary’s concerns, Robinson William felt that there might be some truth to this.
"You make a good point. Then I’ll arrange for Madeline to go take a look at Saxon County today. If there’s no issue there, then you can move over."
At Robinson William’s words, Zachary responded with some confusion, "Aren’t you going?"
Robinson William shook his head with some helplessness, "Unless the West City District Command Post moves there, or I step down from this position, I have to stay here."
Hearing this from Robinson William, Zachary didn’t say much more. After all, his position brought him authority but also restrictions.
At this time, barring special circumstances, it was highly unlikely for one’s official role to change. Even though Robinson William currently had a broad network in the West City District, it was all due to the prestige of his official position. In case he lost that role, the number of friends who could talk to him so cheerfully would surely decrease by more than fifty percent.
While Zachary was chatting with Robinson William, Madeline came over from the lawn, "Brother, why are you and Zachary chatting here? What are you talking about?"
"Just chatting, have you finished breakfast? If you have, I’ll arrange for two Inner Breath Realm Martial Artists to accompany you to Saxon County to scout it out. After talking to Zachary, I think he’s right, staying in Pengcheng is not very safe, leaving might be the best choice."
Madeline was surprised to hear Robinson William say this, as he thought the place Zachary had chosen was indeed good, both in terms of the surrounding environment and food. Although it wasn’t perfect, it wouldn’t be easy to find such a good place so quickly.
Even though it was his idea to go to Saxon County, things were different from before the disaster; it wasn’t as simple as driving straight there. Now, it was necessary to find a suitable living area and secure food sources there.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Official in Saxon County was an acquaintance of Madeline’s, he wouldn’t be too keen on going there.
After all, although it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar territory, it still counted as being far from home.
However, after hearing that his brother agreed with Zachary’s suggestion, Madeline didn’t say much more and left with the two Inner Breath Realm Martial Artists arranged by Robinson William.
Not long after Madeline left, Zachary suddenly noticed many vehicles approaching from the direction of the City Center. Some cars, upon seeing the convoy parked at the roadside, neatly joined the back of the line and stopped as well.
Others did not stop here and continued to drive westward.
As for those vehicles that had left, Dong Tianyu could roughly guess their current thoughts. They probably felt that there were too many people staying in this area and space was becoming scarce, so they continued west, seeking less crowded areas to park and settle.
Many people on the lawn noticed the departing vehicles, but they didn’t pay much attention to them. Instead, they were looking among the newcomers to see if there were any acquaintances.
Dong Tianyu did not concern himself with the increasingly lively lawn. At this time, Robinson William had already left with the special ops martial artists, holding equipment to probe the Bug Nest, and continued to patrol around the camp.
Dong Tianyu returned to the Black Car, locked the door, and entered the Cave mansion.
Inside the Cave mansion, it was a scene reminiscent of Peach Blossom Paradise. The young livestock he had bought had grown strong and plump. After more than a year of growth, small animals like chickens, ducks, and geese had begun to reproduce, and larger animals like pigs, cows, and sheep had reached maturity and were pregnant, though they had not yet given birth.
The rich Spirit Energy in the Cave mansion meant that even without a specialized cultivation method, simply by relying on natural breathing, they were slowly improving their physiques.
The livestock now kept in the Cave mansion might not be immune to all poisons, but they were already free from sickness, and their care had become minimally demanding.
Beyond that, the fruit trees Dong Tianyu had planted around the Orchard of Hundred Fruits were now starting to bear fruit. Although their produce wasn’t as tasty as that of the Orchard of Hundred Fruits, the yield far exceeded it.
Moreover, as time passed, the quality of these trees would continue to improve. Given sufficient time in this environment rich in Spirit Energy, it wasn’t impossible for them to break their natural limits and evolve from ordinary plants into low-grade spiritual plants.
Although the Cave mansion did not have one-click harvesting or planting like a game farm might, the Canaries living inside relieved Dong Tianyu from worrying about trifles within the Cave mansion.
Just as Dong Tianyu had once thought, the area of the Cave mansion was not yet large. At first, the Canaries might have been excited to be there.
But as they lived there longer and became more familiar with the environment, if they were not given chores to do, they might start to exhibit mental health issues.
Though they once had a similar experience in Peach Blossom Paradise, where they had plenty of opportunities to interact with others, here, aside from Dong Tianyu, the only company they had was each other—the other Canaries.
If it wasn’t for Dong Tianyu playing various role-playing games with them at night to entertain them in different ways, their mental states would definitely suffer.
By keeping them busy with livestock chores during the day, playing games with Dong Tianyu at night, and fitting in cultivation practice when possible, their days were fully scheduled. The busier they were, the better their morale and the more improved their cultivation results.
People are like that; if they are idle for too long without finding something to do, they can quickly deteriorate.
Even if it’s just getting engrossed in games during one’s free time, as long as there’s something to fully engage in, a person’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit remain intact, and their life is not wasted.
Even though he locked the car door in broad daylight, Dong Tianyu did not go to play games with the Canaries. Instead, he headed to the Hall of Longevity, climbed to the second floor, and entered the Scripture Hall, intending to find a method to stabilize the earth’s energy veins.
Before the upgrade to the Cave mansion, despite being located inside a mountain, the impact of an earthquake would have been minimal on Dong Tianyu’s side. After all, the Cave mansion at that time was connected to the earth’s energy veins, which had the ability to stabilize the earth. In places with energy veins, earthquakes were unlikely to occur without human intervention.
That is to say, if the Cave mansion had not been upgraded, or if the direction of the upgrade had been to become a Blessed Land instead of a Cave mansion, the recent natural disaster would have had virtually no impact on Nameless Mountain.
However, Dong Tianyu’s Cave mansion was upgraded to be a Cave mansion. Although it would no longer be affected by earthquakes, the upgrade did not benefit Nameless Mountain.
Moreover, because Dong Tianyu had initially hollowed out the mountain to build the Cave mansion and now had sent the Cave mansion into chaos, nothing was left inside Nameless Mountain except a huge void.
After the earthquake, the mountain’s internal structure was compromised. With time, or if the earthquake’s magnitude increased again, the collapse of Nameless Mountain was an inevitable outcome.
This is why the last time Dong Tianyu left Nameless Mountain, he had already taken everything from the cave, leaving behind only an empty void.
In the Scripture Hall, as long as Dong Tianyu could provide enough Survival Points, the Scripture Hall had the means to satisfy any wild idea he might have.
Although Dong Tianyu seemed to always hoard Survival Points without using them much, whenever there was a need for them, they could usually solve any problem for him.
There are many methods to stabilize the earth, but three are the simplest: Magic Artifacts, Formations, and Talismans.
Formations and Talismans need no explanation; just by spending Survival Points, the Long Collection Pavilion would provide the corresponding cultivation Jade Slips. If choosing Magic Artifacts, the Scripture Hall would not offer objects but only the method to refine them.
