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Chapter 39: Appointment in Troubled Times
Behind Xue Daoyong, the plain-looking Cloud-Breaking Heaven Bow was quietly placed on an ebony shelf. The old man walked to the side of the bow, slowly brushed his hand across the bow, looked at Li Guanyi, and smiled:

"Weren't you unwilling to lift it before? You came here again today for a rare opportunity."

"Come on, give it a try."

Li Guanyi was still thinking about putting on armor.

Li Guanyi raised his eyes slightly and looked at the war bow. He thought about the inheritance of the bow, but the first reaction in his mind was what the old man was going to do. Did he discover that he could hold this magical weapon from five hundred years ago, and what it meant to him.

The young man had no reason to refuse, at least not openly.

He walked to the side of the Cloud-Breaking Sky-Shattering Bow.

He stretched out his hand, spread his five fingers, and grasped the bow. The bow felt delicate and perfect, fitting the palm of his hand. The strong sense of charm he had before reappeared, but this time it did not trigger the inheritance, and did not cause any changes or ripples in the jade liquid in the bronze tripod.

Entry...

Only by entering the country can the bronze tripod be filled with jade liquid again.

Only then can the inheritance of the magic weapon be triggered again.

Only then can you truly navigate this chaotic world.

A desire for that realm arose in his heart.

Li Guanyi was about to let go, indicating that he still couldn't hold the magic weapon. He looked at the old man and said, "Mr. Xue, it's a pity, I..."

boom! ! !
The old man smiled, and suddenly a burst of energy burst out from under his footsteps.

Visible ripples.

The entire Tingfeng Pavilion seemed to shake once.

The ancient desk mixed with gold threads and worth a fortune suddenly collapsed and turned into powder. The magic bow in Li Guanyi's hand naturally fell down. It had nothing to do with his inner judgment or scheming. It was purely a physical instinct. He subconsciously grasped the bow.

Even if he reacted instantly, he should have released the Cloud-Breaking Sky-Shocking Bow.

But Li Guanyi knew that it was the instinctive grip at this moment that caused the bow to delay when it should have fallen. The old man's sharp eyesight was enough to see something. His body tensed, and finally relaxed slowly.

He did not let go of the magic weapon.

The golden nanmu tree that takes three thousand years to grow has turned into fine golden powder, with a woody fragrance in the wind.

The old man looked at the young man in front of him.

Surrounded by golden dust, his sleeves rolled up, and he straightened his back. He held the Cloud-Breaking Sky Bow in his hand, and seemed to have made up his mind. The bowstring whistled slightly, and the old man's eyes lit up. With a smile on his lips, he said repeatedly: "Good, good, good!!!"

Li Guanyi said: "The golden nanmu wood table worth thousands of gold was broken just like that."

Lao Deng, you have no moral principles!
The old man didn't take it seriously and laughed in response:

"It is worth more than ten thousand gold to see someone holding the divine weapon again."

He paused, then looked at Li Guanyi, his eyes seemed to be looking at his own dream when he was young, and said: "You can hold this bow, which means..."

Li Guanyi closed his eyes.

The bronze tripod hummed, and there seemed to be a low tiger roar in the void. The magic weapon in the young man's hand hummed, and golden light lit up on the bow. The patterns on it seemed to come alive, as if the souls of those who had died under this bow had awakened and were shouting in panic.

[Arun Urhariwa Bode Sadawa].

The arrow of the Bodhisattva of Central Plains shot through the holy mountain.

The golden light spread along the bow and reached the young man's palm.

Li Guanyi had an extra set of gauntlets on his left hand that was holding the bow.

The flowing light fell on the fingers of his right hand and turned into a golden ring.

The bowstring formed from the soul of the tiger is enough to cut the throat of the northern giant. It is difficult for mortals to touch it with their flesh and blood. Until this moment, the divine weapon has awakened. The tiger has shown its claws and opened its eyes to re-examine the world.

Xue Daoyong watched this scene and burst into laughter.

Xue Daoyong asked: "Can you pull it open?"

Li Guanyi himself was also very curious. He held the bow in his hand, with his right fingers resting on the bowstring. The bowstring was whistling, and the White Tiger Dharma Image fell on the bowstring, causing the magic weapon to glow with a faint golden light. However, despite his best efforts, the bowstring could not shake even a little bit.

not enough.

Xue Daoyong also felt a little regretful: "Sure enough, in order to pick up the bow, one needs the qualification of White Tiger Dharmakāya, but in order to pull the bowstring, one needs an extremely high realm." Li Guanyi put the bow back on another table, his palm left the bow, and as his palm loosened.

The stream of light on the magic weapon also dispersed, and the last bit of light began to spread from both sides of the bowstring toward the center, and finally gathered at the very center and dissipated. At this time, Li Guanyi suddenly discovered that the White Tiger Dharma Image still gained a trace of power from the awakened magic weapon.

The White Tiger Dharma Image seemed to have grown a little bit.

But at this moment, this power was forcibly absorbed by the Red Dragon Dharma Image.

The white tiger image, which had originally lit up and seemed to be about to expand, suddenly turned back into its original kitten form.

Instead, part of the red dragon's body finally emerged.

Can be wrapped around Li Guanyi's arm.

Like a dragon coiled around a pillar, it looks at the world around it curiously.

The red dragon image appeared.

There were ripples in Li Guanyi's eyes. He wanted to try and see what other special powers this kind of Dharma image could have. He wanted to try and see if the Xue family's cold arrow could be used with the Red Dragon Dharma Image. The White Tiger Dharma Image showed that it had extremely penetrating properties, but what about the Red Dragon?
He is curious and expectant.

The old man asked Li Guanyi to sit down again, then made some tea and said with a gentle smile:
"You can't use this bow yet."

"But you are qualified to hold the bow. This is a treasure passed down from my Xue family. I can't give it to you yet. I will help you get the position of ninth-rank military official first. You can rest assured that I will grant you a clean official position."

"My Xue family knows your escape route, and the files are in the possession of the Night Cavalry. Even I cannot infer it. However, after ten years, based on my settlement with the State of Chen, no matter what the level of the matter was, the files on your pursuit have been reduced to the lowest level by now."

Li Guanyi breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that the old man in front of him is ruthless and experienced, but he may not have really figured out his identity.

He just found out his wandering tracks from Xue's Chamber of Commerce.

Although Li Guanyi himself doesn't know his true origins.

He didn't know if the old man in front of him was trying to trick him. So he just asked calmly, "How did Mr. Xue know?"

The old man stroked his beard and said with a hint of mockery, "Because this is the State of Chen."

"Although General Yue has a very high reputation, it is not the case that his return to Beijing will immediately lead to the collapse of the border."

"It's just because another divine general who can protect the country is also in the capital Jiangzhou."

"Jiangzhou is currently being guarded by Chen State's number one general, Xiao Wuliang. He is different from a great general like Yue Shuai and should be classified as a fierce general. I have seen his majesty before. When the regent was in chaos, he was thirteen years old and could go into battle alone."

"At the age of eighteen, he led seven cavalrymen to charge into the enemy's ranks, killed the general and captured the flag."

"He ranks fifteenth on the list of the world's great generals. The enemy army was terrified by his defeat. He is honored with the title of Mahamudra."

"If such a powerful general could join forces with General Yue to defeat the other states, it would not be impossible for Chen to restore its territory to the time of Emperor Wu. However, the various dignitaries ordered him to guard the capital."

The old man could not help but sigh and said, "A famous general in the world, wearing precious armor, riding exotic beasts and famous horses, holding magical weapons and bearing the Dharma image, can be the enemy of ten thousand people. If such a strong man gave up everything, disregarded his life and the general situation of the world, and insisted on breaking through the front line and going into the enemy country to do whatever he wanted, it would be enough to offend the royal family."

"So they let Xiao Wuliang guard the capital."

"It is said that if the ruler survives, the country survives; if the ruler perishes, the country perishes. Therefore, the ruler is the most important, the key to the country, the blood and sweat of the people, and must be respected."

"After all, I just want to use the power of this divine general to protect my own peace."

"Now the general Yue has been taken back to the border, Xiao Wuliang is not here, but Ying State has many brave generals, Tuyuhun has good soldiers and horses, and the sons of royal relatives and nobles have gone to the border for so-called training. They have never lacked good wine and beautiful women, but the soldiers have a simple diet and can only eat meat every three days."

"Under such heavy pressure, how can the border defense not be corrupted? Seeing the big picture from the small details, this is the case even for major national affairs, let alone the pursuit of criminals?"

The old man's tone was mocking.

Li Guanyi knew that this was Xue Daoyong expressing his trust in him.

Li Guanyi stated his purpose and said:
"But I still have to leave the Xue family and Guanyi City."

The old man laughed loudly: "Hahaha, it doesn't matter. I'm not planning to tie you to the Xue family. I won't use any emotional cards. This is a deal, an agreement between you and me, two grown men."

The old man drank his tea carelessly and said with a smile:

"Besides, there are Xue family chambers of commerce all over the world."

"Yingguo is no exception."

Li Guanyi: “…………”

The old man laughed.

The old heart that had been shaken several times just now finally recovered and said:

"I know you want to leave the country, but if you are an official, the documents for passing the country will be easier."

"Don't look at me like that. It's common sense that the court would be worried about military officers leaving the State of Chen, so it's very tight. If you think like that, you don't understand the State of Chen. The State of Chen was once the Jiangnan Road granted by the Great Emperor of Zhongzhou."

"More than three hundred years ago, the world changed drastically, and Duke Chen rose to power."

"They split from the Red Emperor of Zhongzhou and established the State of Chen."

"In order to stabilize the situation as much as possible, they all adopted a conciliatory policy towards the original bureaucratic families. This led to the existence of two or even three bureaucratic systems in the beginning. Now, there are too many officials. For example, this military officer has a ninth-grade rank and is a casual official, but he does not have a title."

"Only an errand."

"Official rank is one level, type is another, the position to which one is assigned is another, and the specific duties assigned are another level. It's extremely complicated and intertwined."

"But even if you are an official, you don't have to pay taxes and you have various benefits."

"Everyone has their own job. The bureaucrats who handle the clearance documents would like you to leave as soon as possible so that they can vacate a position and place their own children or nephews in early, especially the ninth-rank military officials."

The old man spoke with mockery, but his words were also personal.

Relatives outside the emperor’s wife commented on state affairs.

This was something he said deliberately after he exposed Li Guanyi's identity as a fugitive. It was his own handle, and the old man handed this handle to Li Guanyi.

This is an equal agreement.

Li Guanyi was silent for a moment, looked at the old man in front of him, and said:

"So, why does Mr. Xue think so highly of me?"

The old man looked at him with sharp eyes and said with a smile: "Of course it's for the Xue family."

"I'm just betting. If the world is peaceful, you will be a general at the border, or a high official in the imperial court, enjoying a life of luxury. But what if troubled times come? You will kill the oppressed people for the sake of your current selves. You will not lie dormant in troubled times."

"My eyes have never been wrong."

"And now, the top leaders are covering up the corruption at the border, and the nobles have transferred the generals away from the front line for their own safety."

"The royal family is enjoying peace and prosperity, while the grassroots officials are eager to send all the other officials away in order to place their own people. The upper officials follow suit, and it seems to be flourishing, but in fact it is a raging fire. What do you think of the Chen Kingdom? What do you think of the world?"

He reached out and touched the Cloud-Breaking Sky-Shocking Bow beside him, as if he was making a decision.

He said to himself, "The Cloud-Breaking Sky-Shattering Bow."

"Is the achievement of my Xue family due to this bow?"

"Absolutely not. It's because of my ancestor. If my ancestor didn't have this bow, would he no longer be the number one general in the world? In the Xue family, this bow is just a dead object that is worshipped by others. It is my long-cherished wish to accompany you on the battlefield."

"It's the people who make the Xue family prosperous, not clinging to the dead things of the past."

He suddenly laughed, heroic and open-minded.

He said:

"Li Guanyi!"

"When troubled times come, come here!"

"Take this bow away!"

"Go ride on a horse and go to the world!"

(End of this chapter)