Chapter 172 · Volume 1

Temple Completion and Future Visions

Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed since Su Qing returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain.
After such a long time, the group of monkeys had finally, albeit slowly, finished building the temple.
During the construction process, nothing had actually gone wrong.
It was simply because the Earth God had relatively high requirements for the construction and was not good at communicating with the monkeys, which had slowed down the pace.
Fortunately, although it took a lot of time, the result was quite pleasing; the temple was finally completed.
Completed along with the temple was Su Qing's clay statue.
This clay statue was naturally crafted by the monkeys.
Although the Earth God had participated, he had merely provided some guidance and hadn't interfered too much.
After all, whether it was the temple or the clay statue, it was better for immortals not to involve themselves too deeply.
On the day the temple was completed.
Su Qing came before the temple together with the Earth God.
Looking at this temple.
Su Qing couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
For these monkeys to be able to build the temple like this was indeed not easy at all.
"It reminds me of that small temple back in Huai County... though by now, that already dilapidated little temple has probably disappeared, hasn't it?"
Thinking this, Su Qing couldn't help but smile helplessly:
"Oh well, it doesn't matter what happened to the small temple... once I've settled things here, I'll make a trip to Huai County along the way!"
"I'll go sweep the graves of old friends! And while I'm at it, I'll go see the descendants of my former 'granddaughter'! I wonder if that little shop is still there, if it's still called by that name, and if the owners are still surnamed Su?"
Su Qing stepped into the temple.
She looked at the furnishings inside...
Everything was very simple, even simple to the point of being a bit crude.
Fortunately, the essential items were basically all there.
And the appearance of the clay statue was also quite decent...
Although it was relatively simple and differed quite a bit from her true appearance, at the very least, it captured her form and spirit...
For the monkeys to achieve this level was already quite good.
What more could she be dissatisfied with?
She looked at the statue and slightly closed her eyes.
Vaguely, she could feel a slight connection between herself and this statue.
Though it was faint, the connection definitely existed.
Suddenly, she seemed to sense something, and her brow couldn't help but furrow.
After sensing it carefully, she thought in surprise:
"Eh? There is actually a bit of incense power within this statue? Interesting!"
This temple had only just been completed, and the statue hadn't been finished for long.
So why would the statue in this temple have some incense power?
Besides, there shouldn't be any mortals in Flower-Fruit Mountain!
"Could it be... just as I thought, that demons can also generate incense power?"
Su Qing stroked her chin, lost in thought:
"If that's really the case, then it's an extra path of retreat and an additional source of incense power."
"Moreover, my idea of ensuring the safety of Flower-Fruit Mountain through this statue can now be realized."
However, just to be safe, Su Qing still questioned the Earth God.
After all, the Earth God had been staying here the whole time; he must be clearer than her about what had happened during this period...
The Earth God was a bit dazed upon hearing this, but since it was a query from his superior, he had to answer seriously.
So, after recalling carefully, he replied:
"I remember that a few days ago, several macaques came to ask me about the matters of worship. I thought those monkeys were interesting, so I taught them."
"Later, those monkeys followed the example and began to worship before the Immortal's clay statue."
"I suppose this faint incense power must have come from that?"
As he spoke, the Earth God also showed an expression of disbelief and said:
"I originally thought these monkeys just found it fun and were bowing and scraping in imitation, but I didn't expect them to truly worship the Immortal with such sincerity."
"Thinking of it this way, the Immortal's status in the hearts of these monkeys is probably not as simple as just being a King!"
After hearing this, Su Qing nodded, feeling relieved.
The result was not much different from what she had envisioned...
"I don't care what kind of status I have in the hearts of these monkeys; I'm just protecting them in passing," Su Qing replied with a beaming smile.
Seeing this, the Earth God also smiled slightly and said nothing.
If the Immortal wanted to be humble, it wasn't his place to interfere.
"Thank you. You've worked hard these past days," Su Qing said.
"It was just a small matter, not hard at all."
Su Qing shook her head slightly and then said, "To me, it wasn't a small matter; you've helped me a great deal... take these things as a reward."
The Earth God naturally did not decline the rewards Su Qing gave him.
He took what he should take; why care about things like saving face?
After the Earth God accepted the items.
Su Qing also let the Earth God head back first...
Because she had some things to attend to later, she naturally didn't have time to chat with him.
The Earth God said nothing upon hearing this; after saying his goodbyes, he turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished.
After the Earth God left, Su Qing also left the temple and arrived outside the Water Curtain Cave.
She looked at the wooden houses, which were once again packed full, and couldn't help but nod.
After more than a month, it seemed the monkeys had returned to their original life.
Su Qing looked around and suddenly saw something interesting...
She found that these monkeys, without her even speaking, had spontaneously begun to drill and practice.
This surprised Su Qing and also made her very satisfied.
At the very least... after experiencing a major upheaval, these monkeys had finally grown quite a bit.
"It seems they can save me some worry now," Su Qing thought with a slight smile. "But it's still a bit lacking... many of my visions are difficult to achieve. I wonder if I can do it in the next few hundred years!"
Actually, when Su Qing discovered that demons could also generate incense power, she was thinking about one thing.
Since humans can generate incense power and demons can also generate incense power.
Then, isn't the difference between humans and demons not that great?
So why not just turn Flower-Fruit Mountain into a demon city, independent from the rest of the world?
Wouldn't that be very interesting?
However, while the idea was good, Su Qing didn't know how to go about it for a moment.
Besides, the potential hidden dangers that would exist in a city of demons were also imaginable...
So before there was a practical and feasible plan, this was just a fantasy.
Su Qing could only set the idea aside for now.
As for the actual implementation, she would do it slowly in the future.
If it succeeded, that would naturally be good; if not, it didn't really matter.
Su Qing suppressed the random thoughts in her heart, then found an old monkey and said:
"Go and call the other monkeys over; I have some things to explain to everyone!"

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