Sword of Coming

On the southeastern coast of Aquarius Island, a young man and woman visited a quilt shop in a county town, then went to the wine shop next door and chose a table against the wall. The man ordered a pound of Maochai wine and several side dishes to go with the wine, and the woman I ordered an extra plate of salted plums.

The man looked up at the poems on the wall inscribed by the villagers. The woman glanced at it, picked up a sour plum, and chewed it. It was so sour.

The man took out a book from the bookcase and placed it on the table. He was drinking from a bowl and flipping through a book on physiognomy.

He likes to read miscellaneous books, and he even dabbles in the art of Fengjiao, Niaozhan, and Guxu. The euphemistic saying is that having more skills means less stress. When you are away from home, if you have more skills, you will have more jobs.

A woman's eyebrows are like winding spring mountains. When she has something on her mind, her long autumn eyes seem to be surrounded by clouds and mist.

She seemed to have something on her mind, frowning, and couldn't help but ask in her heart: "Yu Lu, do you think I can refuse his request?"

Someone had sent her a letter before, saying that he planned to accept her as a registered disciple, not just a direct disciple who entered the palace, and when she reached the upper five realms in the future, it would be no problem to change the family or establish her own family, but the more the other party became Being so talkative made her feel more and more confused. In fact, on the way to study, she was bullied by that guy with ulterior motives, and she was left with a psychological shadow.

Yu Lu said: "I think it's actually a good thing."

It is something that is destined to be irresistible, and it is useless to think too much about it. But Yu Lu didn't say these words, lest Xie Xie would become even more worried after hearing this.

After all, the sender is Cui Dongshan.

Xie Xie said angrily: "What do you think?! Then why don't you become his registered disciple."

Yu Lu laughed it off. As a pure martial artist, what can Cui Dongshan teach me. What's more, since he has such a relationship with Chen Pingan, Cui Dongshan really doesn't dare to take advantage of him.

Xie Xie also knew that he was so angry and it was unreasonable to vent his anger on Yu Lu, so he raised his wine bowl as an apology.

Yu Lu explained patiently: "Now that my identity has changed, Cui Dongshan will soon become the master of a sect. He will be more restrained when dealing with you in the future. What's more, Cui Dongshan has a high level and many magic weapons. Putting aside his weird temper, he will be the leader of the sect." A preacher is the dream of any earthly immortal."

Thank you still worried.

"General", "common", "reasonably", these terms never work when applied to that big white goose.

Thank you for holding back your laughter and said with a serious look: "If you can't save face, it's okay. When you go back to Xiandu Mountain, I'll find a chance to help you say hello to Chen Ping'an in private. You can't trust Cui Dongshan anymore. You can always trust Chen Pingan, right? I guess Chen Pingan will say some serious words to Cui Dongshan for you even without me saying anything. No matter how lawless Cui Dongshan is, he will not dare not listen to his husband's lessons."

Thank you for feeling a little more at ease, and sighed, "I hope so."

She sincerely envied Yu Lu and even dared to call the big white goose by its name, but she couldn't do it.

At first, I thought that Cui Dongshan had become the head of the next sect, and they were on the same continent, far away. So after receiving the letter, Xie Xie was worried all day long these days, and his practice was delayed. He was always unable to concentrate.

Back then, a group of people traveled to Sui Mountain Cliff Academy, and Yu Lu quickly became a martial artist in the Golden Body Realm. However, after so many years, he was still in the Ascension Realm while traveling far and wide.

No matter how big-hearted Yu Lu is, no matter how low-minded he is about winning or losing, he still feels guilty. After all, in the entire thirty years, Yu Lu's martial arts level had only risen to one level.

Yu Lu's basic qualifications and talent in martial arts are actually very good. This is the sequelae of taking shortcuts as a pure martial artist, making Yu Lu's bottleneck in the Far Travel Realm extremely difficult to break.

On the other hand, Xie Xie was later pulled out by Cui Dongshan of all the trapping dragon nails. Xie Xie's practice has been smooth sailing, and now he is a golden elixir earth immortal with loosened bottlenecks.

One is the subjugated prince of the Lu Dynasty, and the other is Xianfu, the former leader of the Lu Dynasty on the mountain, a proud daughter of heaven who has high hopes for her.

Over the years, Yu Lu and Xie, two fellow villagers and classmates, seem to have been traveling together. It's hard to say that they are inseparable, but they can be regarded as getting along day and night.

It's just that neither of them had any affection between men and women.

Xie asked: "Do you regret acting impulsively back then?"

"Of course there will be regrets. I don't have the confidence to challenge Chen Ping'an. If it were you, wouldn't you be angry? I'm quite tolerant and don't like to get into trouble. Otherwise, I won't just regret it, I'll regret it all my life. , I must be sullen every day, maybe I am an alcoholic now."

Yu Lu took a sip of wine, opened a page of the book, and said with a smile: "It's just that regrets are regrets, and you have to do what you should do. Even if you start over, it will still be the same choice. You will still be motivated and regret."

Xie Xie, who was reduced to a prisoner in her early years, the person she hates the most is not even the Da Li woman, nor Cui Dongshan who accepted her as a maid, but the Crown Prince who has no pain of subjugation. It can even be said that he is Hate.

Therefore, from the Yuan family's ancestral home in Erlang Lane to the long journey to the Sui Dynasty, Xie Xie hated the prince with a loose temper and a look of indifference.

Until the Cliff Academy in the Sui Dynasty, because of the incident involving Li Huai, Yu Lu did not hesitate to rely on the country's remaining martial arts to use some secret method to sneak into the golden realm and beat the young sage to be carried out of the academy.

The best choice is for Yu Lu to rely on his own ability to steadily advance to the Golden Body and Far Travel realms, the Eighth Realm to the Ninth Realm, or when sprinting from the top of the mountain to the end, when a huge bottleneck is difficult to break, use that share again Martial arts serve as a stepping stone and a ladder to reach the next level.

Thank you. This has changed my impression of Lu. Although he is heartless, he is still somewhat responsible, so he is not without merit.

But when Yu Lu was not doing his job in the academy every day, just fishing in the lake, and getting along well with the Sui prince Gao Xuan, Xie began to annoy him again.

Nowadays, Yu Lu still likes fishing, but all the fish he catches will be released. On the banks of the big rivers, He Xie can often meet some like-minded people. Even if Yu Lu doesn't hold a pole, he can squat aside and watch for a long time, claiming to be fishing. People like to watch people fishing.

Yu Lu smiled and said: "Speaking of which, the foundation of the Far Traveling Realm gained through more than ten years of hard work is not too bad."

Xie Xie narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "Not to mention being safer than Cao Ci and Chen, how about being cheaper than Pei?"

Yu Lu said helplessly: "Then you might as well compare me with Chen Ping'an."

How many times has Pei Qiandu won martial arts by being the "strongest" in a certain realm?

It's really unimaginable. That weird little lazy guy from back then actually knew how to learn boxing, and he was so good at it.

Xie asked for no reason: "Have you ever thought about finding a way to go up the mountain to practice? I heard that there is a Pushan Yuncaotang over there in Tongyezhou. It has a unique secret method that allows martial artists to practice immortality at the same time. You can try your luck there. Okay, anyway, we have visited almost the entire Aquarius Continent in the past few years, and we will just go to Tongye Continent again."

Yu Lu laughed dumbly, remained silent for a moment, shook his head and said, "I never thought about becoming a god."

In the back room of the wine shop, someone gently lifted and then lowered the green bamboo curtain. Xie Xie glanced sideways and saw that it was a young girl standing behind the curtain, gazing at someone lovingly.

Hey, the action was not light. Why didn't the little girl just pull down the entire bamboo curtain? Wouldn't Yu Lu hear it more clearly?

Xie asked, "When are you going to visit Miss Mao and Fairy Mu?"

The two parties met two extremely brilliant young women at an ancient battlefield site and a fairy ferry. By chance, they met.

Thank you and I'm not blind. I can see that those two fell in love with Lu at first sight.

Yu Lu smiled and said: "It's just a perfunctory polite word. It's like getting together when we have time. I'll pay the bill next time. Do you want to add two more dishes? Anyone who takes it seriously is a fool."

Hearing what Yu Lu said was funny, Xie laughed.

Among his classmates in the past, Lin Shouyi was a sage in the academy and also served as the Qidu Temple Celebrant.

Even Li Huai is a wise man.

And now, Li Baoping, who is studying in an academy in the Middle-earth Divine Continent, is already a gentleman who has personally passed the academic examination of the two academy priests. She is a female concubine who can preach and solve the doubts of the Confucian students in the academy.

It's just that in the history of Haoran World, there has never been a precedent for a woman to serve as the Headmaster of the Seventy-Two Colleges or the Secretary of the Academy.

Yu Lu closed the book and asked, "When will we go to Jiangzhou?"

Today's Dali Jiangzhou is where Xie's sect is located.

Because the master who was grateful back then resolutely refused the Dali court's offer to surrender, which led to the sect's destruction.

Thank you for your pale face.

Yu Lu said softly: "If you don't go, you won't be able to pass."

Xie lowered his head, bit his lip, and finally shook his head.

Yu Lu smiled and said, "Then don't worry."

Yu Lu is good at this, he seems to be free to do anything.

Xie Xie breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "I will definitely go."

It's like a promise to Lu, but also like cheering yourself up.

Yu Lu gathered his voice and said: "Aren't you curious about the letter Cui Dongshan sent me? Or have you already guessed the content?"

Thank you for being silent.

Yu Lu showed a sad look for the first time and murmured to himself: "Continuing the country in a foreign country, can it really be regarded as the restoration of the country?"

Thank you. He drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp and said with a bright face: "Forget it, why don't you count it?! When you get to Tongye Continent, choose a place. It doesn't matter if the site is not big. I will plan carefully for ten or twenty years. When I reach the Nascent Soul Realm, , you ascend the throne and proclaim yourself emperor, I will be the national advisor!"

Xinchuzhou, Huaihuang County.

Li Huai took the young Taoist through the streets and alleys, and found Dong Shuijing, who had arranged to meet here, at the opening of a narrow and secluded alley.

Dong Shuijing made a special trip back to his hometown to meet Li Huai.

Li Huai joked: "It won't delay Dong Bancheng's making a lot of money, right?"

Dong Shuijing smiled and said: "You don't need to keep an eye on the account books or do the calculations yourself, you can still make money."

Dong Shuijing led Li Huai to his ancestral home, cooked himself, and cooked three bowls of wontons and served them to the table.

In the yard, a willow tree was planted next to a well.

Li Huai just pretended that he didn't see anything and only regretted that he only had one sister.

Taoist Nen saw through Dong Shuijing's realm at a glance, and was not surprised at all. In the realm of heaven and earth in the old Li Zhu Cave, a young Nascent Soul realm was not in the Ascension realm. What was there to make such a fuss about?

It's strange that my son's friend has no skills.

If you meet an old Nascent Soul monk who has lived for hundreds of years on the road, the young Taoist will probably be shocked. How do you practice? You are a waste!

Maybe I have to ask him face to face, old boy, are you worthy of this geomantic treasure in your hometown?

Dong Shuijing seemed to sense the thoughts of the old man in yellow, and said with a smile: "It's just the state achieved by piles of money that makes senior Taoting laugh."

The young Taoist is not surprised that the other party knows his old identity. Money can make people go around. Dong Bancheng of Aquarius Continent has a rich family and should not be underestimated.

The young Taoist smiled heartily and said: "It doesn't matter where you came from. The realm is the realm. In this vast world, who dares to laugh at Liu Caishen from Ai Aizhou? The same principle applies to you, Xiaodong."

As soon as "Xiao Dong" was mentioned, the young Taoist sighed with regret. He recalled that in the past, he had chased a "Xiao Dong" who passed through Shiwan Mountain.

Li Huai slapped the table, and the young Taoist immediately shut up. Did he say the wrong thing?

Li Huai gave a thumbs up, "Shuijing, delicious! Two more bowls."

It could be seen that Dong Shuijing often came to the ancestral house. By the time Li Huai had eaten another bowl of wontons, Dong Shuijing had already set up a brazier and was squatting aside, simmering taro and baking rice dumplings.

After tearing off the thread and peeling off the leaves, a rice dumpling in Dong Shuijing's hand was baked into a golden color. Seeing that Li Huai was hungry again, he snatched the rice dumpling and broke half of it to Nin Taoist.

Dong Shuijing had no choice but to peel off another rice dumpling, and the three of them sat around the fire. Dong Shuijing said softly: "My husband with braided horns, Bian Wenmao, has just been appointed as the academic administrator of our prefecture. However, he has not been promoted. He is considered to have been transferred from outside the capital." The place has been gilded, but academic administration, a noble position newly established in the Dali court a few years ago, cannot be obtained by ordinary people. Usually they are old officials from the Sixth Department of the Capital who were born in the Hanlin Academy. There is no hope of promotion, and they retire after leaving officialdom. Before returning home, His Majesty deliberately gave these civil servants a special honor. Academic administration itself has no rank, just like the two states of Ling and Qing under the jurisdiction of the capital, which are managed by an old minister of the Ministry of Industry and Hong Kong respectively. Bian Wenmao's current official is the Prime Minister of Guanglu Temple. After completing his four-year term as a scholar in Chuzhou, when he returns to the capital, he should serve as the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple. It is unlikely that he will take charge of Guanglu Temple in the future. Most of the time, you will be transferred to the Sixth Department of Yamen on a regular basis, or you will be sent to accompany the capital again. You will work hard all the way to a certain position, and finally get a bachelor's degree with a low ranking. In the future, you can hope to get a good posthumous title. As for enjoying the Ancestral Temple, Bian Wenmao himself doesn’t even dare to think about it.”

Li Huai gnawed on the rice dumplings with a confused look on his face, "Huh?"

The young Taoist was filled with emotion.

Xiao Dong chatted for a long time, and his son only needed to give a concise and concise reply in one word.

Dong Shuijing smiled and said: "You are a sage from the academy. According to the new rules of the Confucian Temple, you will inevitably have to interact with the Dali court in the future. Sooner or later, you will be exposed to these seemingly tedious and boring officialdom matters."

Nowadays, there are frequent transfers in the officialdom of Dali, and the post roads from the capital to local areas are busy. It is only said that the top leaders of the counties and counties in Xinchu Prefecture have almost all changed their faces.

Wu Yuan served as the governor of Chuzhou. When he resigned as the magistrate of Huaihuang County, he was considered to have killed a proud and beautiful comeback.

And Wei Li, the former governor of Longzhou who was a civil servant of Huang Tingguo, now went to Dali to accompany the capital and succeeded him as the Minister of Rites.

Prior to this, Cao Gengxin, the chief officer of the Kiln Affairs Supervisory Department, was transferred from the Longzhou Supervisor to the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works of the Capital City, and then was promoted to the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Dali Capital, and was able to occupy the central position.

Yuan Zhengding was promoted to the governor of Hongzhou, his neighbor to the north.

Jing Kuan, the new governor of Baoxi County in Chuzhou, was once a doctor in the Qing Li Division of the Ministry of Household Affairs in the capital, and was in charge of the money bags of three states including Hongzhou.

But in fact, many times, Dong Shuijing, a Mohist credit card holder with a hidden identity, would envy Li Huai's kind of going with the flow, or should I say he is content with the situation?

Li Huai said with a guilty conscience: "I know that our classmate Zhao Yao is now serving as the Minister of Justice of Dali."

"There are also former parents, officials and old county officials. Wu Yuan has now returned here and serves as the governor of Xinchuzhou."

"And there is Cao Duzao, who likes drinking but not eating. It seems that he was transferred to the capital's civil service department a few years ago to become a high-ranking official?"

Dong Shuijing smiled and asked, "What more?"

Li Huai sighed: "No more."

The young Taoist began to complain, "Young master, why should you stick to these common affairs at the foot of the mountain that are closely related to the government?"

Li Huai shook his head, "We, Da Li, are different."

No matter how his title of wise man fell from the sky or how it hit him on the head, since he has become a wise man, Li Huai is not willing to do any worse than others.

When he was a child, on a study tour in the wilderness at night, when Chen Ping'an was helping to look after the wind, he had some inner thoughts with Li Huai. Now he can't remember clearly. Li Huai only remembers a general idea, saying that a person was a child when he was a child. , in the years when there is only one thing to do: reading, you are not afraid of not being able to remember the teachings of the saints and sages in those books, but you are afraid that you are not willing to do this thing well. Then it will be easy to walk out of the study and no longer need to study. Can't do the next thing well.

At that time, Li Huai said that I was just not suitable for studying. Chen Pingan said that he was not suitable for making porcelain. He was too slow to learn and his hands could never keep up. But as long as he worked hard, he would always have a greater chance of doing well in the next thing in the future.

The nun Taoist immediately changed his words and said: "Young Master is so humble, why worry about failing to accomplish great things."

It's not that Taoting has no spine, but that the old blind man is too arrogant.

For example, during this long trip to protect Li Huai, the old blind man said to Taoting, "If I, a disciple, are even slightly frightened, I will break your five legs."

Poor young Taoist, now I am afraid that Li Huai will accidentally burn his mouth even if he drinks tea. A person who has ascended to the realm and is a Taoist protector should be like this. If you don't say that there will be no one after him, he is destined to be unprecedented.

Even so, the old blind man seemed to be worried about Li Huai, who was far away in the wild world. I don't know what ancient secret techniques were used, but the old blind man was able to directly enter Li Huai's dream, and then drag Taoting, the Ascension Realm, into it at will.

The young Taoist was like returning to the Shiwan Mountain. In the night, the earth shook and there was thunder. Li Huai got up in his "dream" and ran out of the hut. When he went out, he saw the whole earth around the top of the mountain at his feet. There was a golden light, and densely packed gold-armored puppets were clustered together.

One of the golden-armored puppets, which was taller than the mountain, knelt on one knee at the foot of the mountain, slowly raised its huge head, gradually became level with the mountain, and stared at Li Huai.

The old blind man walked slowly to the edge of the cliff, grabbed the arm of the disciple who had been snatched away halfway, drew a ghost charm, and said something to Li Huai that made Taoting's eyelids tremble, "From now on, they will be under your control."

Taoting carefully took a peek at Li Huai's face, and found that there was no trace of high spirits or ambition, only fear in his eyes.

well.

My son is good at everything, but he has no ambition in life. If I have the chance, I must risk my life to make a remonstrance...

well?

It turned out that the old blind man stepped on his back, which cracked and broke again.

In the end, Li Huai just said, can I listen to Chen Pingan's suggestion first?

The old blind man actually nodded in agreement, and even helped his disciple straighten his collar. At the same time, he praised Li Huai in a gratified tone and said he followed his master in doing things steadily.

Listening to the questions and answers of the two masters and disciples, the young Taoist who was lying on the ground and silently screwing up his spine almost stared into the old blind man's eyes with his dog eyes.

There was a knock on the door of the house.

A visitor comes to the door.

In order to avoid suspicion, Li Huai stood up and left.

Dong Shuijing smiled and persuaded him to stay: "You don't have to go, it's our supervisor Jian who wants to make great achievements, but unfortunately he can't do it the right way. In recent years, he has been bumpy and bumpy, and he has suffered a lot."

Jian Feng succeeded Cao Gengxin as the new kiln superintendent of Longzhou. Before taking office, he was very high-spirited. He only thought that an idle drunkard like Cao Gengxin could be promoted by dawdling around. If he went, he would be in a government official's office. It will only be handled in an orderly manner.

A kiln superintendent's office is actually hung with two official plaques, so the chief official has two official titles at the same time. Including the Supervision and Construction Office, plus several new weaving bureaus later built in Dali, and the logging institute set up in Hongzhou, they were actually the emperor's eyes and ears, and the secret intelligence of the chief officials could go directly to Tianting.

As a result, when Jian Feng arrived in Huaihuang County, he encountered obstacles everywhere. The big names in the town all had complex relationships, intertwined roots, and were extremely clumsy. Yanghua, the goddess of water in the Tiefu River, had high-ranking mountains and rivers, and had a large backing. They simply refused to obey the rules. , the water gods of the Embroidered River, Chongdan River and Yuye River near Hongzhu Town are all different from him. Several people including Song Yuzhang, the mountain god of Qidun Mountain, plus the city gods of the city god pavilions at all levels of prefectures, counties, and the civilized people in a state. Wu Temple... Anyway, no one took him seriously as a fourth-rank supervisor. When he took office, he was very satisfied. After waiting for half a year, no one took the initiative to visit the supervisor at night. Well, , if you don’t come to me, I’ll go to you, but the result is that the door is closed, and even if you come in, the two sides have nothing to talk about.

Jian Feng had no choice but to write to his old friend in the capital, Yuan Zhengding, who was once the local county governor and has now been promoted to the governor of Hongzhou.

When he was a child in Yichi Lane in the capital, he liked to follow the example of the older Yuan Zhengding, reading in peace and ignoring what was going on outside the window.

Yuan Zhengding did reply to a letter, but it was a blank piece of paper with not a word written on it.

However, Jian Feng finally figured out some official ways, and began to imitate his former supervisor, watching more, listening more, speaking less, and going out less.

Fortunately, there is no time limit for the position of supervisor.

It's not a problem to just stare like this all the time, so as soon as he heard that Dong Bancheng had returned to his ancestral home in his hometown, Jian Feng immediately paid a visit, incognito and privately, of course.

When Jian Feng saw the young man in Confucian robes and the old man in yellow robes, he was polite.

I recognize Li Huai, he is a native of the town and is now a sage at Cliff Academy.

As for the old man with a kind look on his face, he is an unfamiliar face. There is no relevant secret file record in the Supervision Office. Jian Feng had someone record it in the book before he came. At the same time, he sent someone to Niujiaodu to look through Li Huai's work. A customs clearance record left behind when taking a ferry.

Dong Shuijing didn't seem to understand the rules of officialdom at all. He didn't let Li Huai and the old man leave this slightly shabby room, and didn't even have the intention of letting them move somewhere.

If it had just been his first term in office, Jian Feng would probably have been dissatisfied. He had suffered too many weak nails and rejections, and his edges and temper had been polished off.

Dong Shuijing invited Director Jian to sit down and handed him a rice dumpling. Jian Feng thanked him. Mimi patted the dust on the rice dumpling, pushed it away and started eating. For this kind of thing, Jian Feng didn't need to pretend to be approachable. Although Jian Feng was born in the Dali family, he studied at Chunshan Academy for many years in his early years. During this period, he went on several study tours and earned a lot of money on the way. Therefore, Yuan Zhengding often joked that he should work in the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Just because there were outsiders present today, Jian Feng had no choice but to start by speaking in an official tone, and chatted with Dong Shuijing about something barely related to kiln affairs. After all, many kilns are no longer official kilns, and this Dong Bancheng is hiding behind the scenes. But he almost monopolized the entire porcelain export revenue path. For example, the Baoxi kiln entrance that had been converted into a private kiln was now assigned to the name of a puppet businessman who was supported by Dong Shuijing.

Dong Shuijing chatted and laughed with him, kept everything in check, and dealt with it appropriately.

Li Huai was impressed.

Jian Feng was actually mentally prepared to return without success. Before he finished eating the rice dumpling in his hand, he casually chatted a few words about the establishment of a local school and the people Dong Shuijing had hired to fund it on his behalf. There are some aspects of building roads and bridges that are questionable, and a lot of money cannot be spent on the cutting edge. These things are beyond the scope of the kiln superintendent's responsibilities, not to mention they are trivial. Jian Feng is the superintendent. Being an official is really boring. Looking at it, I feel that there are too many details that need to be perfected. Since I finally met Dong Bancheng today, I just treat it as a few nonsense words outside the officialdom. Even if it is annoying, it doesn't matter. .

As expected, Dong Shuijing was very perfunctory and said he would ask later when he had time. Jian Feng knew that it was 100% hopeless.

After leaving the house and walking alone in the shady alley, Jian Feng smiled bitterly, his work was in vain again today.

I am worthy of being said behind my back to be the most useless supervisor in history.

In the room, Li Huai was about to speak but stopped.

Dong Shuijing shook his head and said with a smile: "The dull sound when you hit the wall is your conscience."

Li Huai asked: "Is it from the book, or is it what Chen Pingan said?"

Dong Shuijing laughed angrily.

Li Huai laughed and said, "You dropped out of school early and studied little. You are worse than me."

Dong Shuijing hesitated, but after holding it in for a long time, he still couldn't ask.

But Li Huai suddenly knew what Dong Shuijing wanted to ask, "If it were just a choice between two, I would definitely choose you as my brother-in-law."

Dong Shuijing was hesitant, "I met Lin Shouyi. How would you answer the same question?"

Li Huai laughed.

Dong Shuijing no longer broke the casserole to ask the truth, but turned to look at the willow tree next to the well in the courtyard. He was soft and frail, and the man's eyes were as gentle as the willow tree.

A Qingshui yamen under the jurisdiction of the Chariot and Driving Department of the Ministry of War in the capital, located in Hattie Alley, is the postal office. Today, two dignitaries from the officialdom came here who had never set foot in this place.

One is a member of the Ministry of War, and the other is an official of the Ministry of Rites. Both of them have the official title of Langzhong, and they are both the most powerful Langguan of the capital in the Dali court.

The son of a wealthy family in the capital who is the head of the Jiji Reporting Office is named Fu Minghu. He has a very promising brother named Fu Yu. He just came to the capital from the local area to report on his duties and resigned from the post of prefect of Baoxi County in the old Longzhou. It's fair to say that Zhan Shiyuan, the young master of Zhanshiyuan, who has just served as one of the Xiaojiuqings, is in charge of Zuo Chunfang. Fu Hu respected and feared this cousin who had a successful career. In addition, Fu Yu was one step older than Fu Hu, so he felt somewhat like his eldest brother was his father.

After Fu Hu finished his official duties today, he was holding a mutton-fat jade handle with his legs crossed. When he learned the news from the concierge, he was immediately shocked and gave him all the drinks in the Changpu River last night. I woke up with a fright, mistakenly thinking that I was on duty somewhere and had made a huge mistake. In the early history of the Lu Dynasty, there was a case of theft of a seal box in the lobby of the Ministry of War, which was widely implicated. The emperor was furious and checked again and again. In the end, even the spare seal box of the Victory Report Office was in storage. The Dingpin melted down, causing many of the official hats and heads of the entire military department in the Lu family temple to fall off. At that time, the officialdom of the Song family in Dali, which was a vassal state of the Lu family, only regarded it as a joke.

Knowing that he was coming for Lao Lin, Fu Hu walked around the house twice, stamped his feet, and prepared to break into the dragon's pond and tiger's den.

Thinking about Lao Lin, he has worked hard over the years and worked hard like an old scalper. He and I have a very harmonious relationship.

Besides, I am the number one person in the reporting office, so I have to protect my brothers in the yamen.

But when Fu Hu arrived at Lin Zhengcheng's government office and saw the two people inside, he immediately lost all courage and didn't even notice that his old Lin was just sitting on the stove when he saw the two uninvited guests. On the chair next to him, he leaned forward and stretched out his hands to warm himself, but he didn't even get up to greet the guests. The shelf was as big as a six-book minister.

You must know that the two people standing in the room, the white-haired old man, and the burly man who looked domineering, are respectively the doctor of the Qingli Department of the Rites of Dali Temple, and the doctor of the Martial Arts Department of the Ministry of War!

These two official positions have always been important candidates that Cui Chan, the national advisor, must personally select, and they do not require approval at all by the Ministry of War, the Minister of Rites, and the Minister.

As soon as Lin Zhengcheng stood up, the leader who just poked his head at the door of the room and then moved suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Lin Zhengcheng had no choice but to sit back in his chair, nodded to the two officials and said, "I understand what your Majesty means. I will leave for the Yuzhang County Logging Institute immediately."

The old doctor laughed and said, "It was supposed to be the Minister of Civil Affairs, Mr. Cao, who came to the Yamen Office to inform Mr. Lin. But as soon as Mr. Cao heard that he wanted to see Mr. Lin, he sprained his foot and was busy asking people to find plasters. Woolen cloth."

Cao Gengxin had served as the Longzhou Kiln Supervisor for many years. Only because of his position, he had the opportunity to have access to a confidential file such as Da Litou.

In the Lizhu Cave, there was an extremely hidden "job identity", without official or rank, but to the Dali court, it was more important than the kiln supervisors of previous dynasties.

The name "阘之" means gatekeeper.

This person is the real eyes and ears of the emperor in the Dali court, the emperor of the Song Dynasty in Dali, or the real confidant of Cui Han, the national advisor.

The last person appointed by Dali in Lizhu Cave was Lin Shouyi's father, Lin Zhengcheng, who used to supervise the construction of the Department and is now the Sesame Officer of the Capital Post Office.

Moreover, Cao Gengxin had a bigger guess.

In the past, Li Zhudongtian, and now in the Great Li Capital, Lin Zhengcheng has most likely retained his identity as a wanderer. Once the young mountain master of Luolu Mountain and the Song family of Great Li broke down one day, the two sides were completely at odds. This Lin Zhengcheng will be the last flood control dam left by the Imperial Master Cui Cheng to the Li capital city. It can at least guarantee that Chen Ping'an will not go on a killing spree.

Although Cao Gengxin didn't understand how a low-level middle-level fifth-level monk could achieve this step, Cao Gengxin adhered to one purpose anyway, and simply didn't have contact with people he couldn't afford to offend.

Seeing that the two men were still standing there, the man asked, "You are in such a hurry, why are you urging me to go on my way?"

The old man laughed dumbly, remained silent for a moment, shook his head and said, "I don't dare."

Since there was no place to sit down, the martial arts doctor crossed his arms and leaned against the door. He was indeed quite curious about this secretive guy. If it weren't for this unusual official transfer, he would They didn't even have the chance to know that Lin Zhengcheng was so famous. In fact, he, a doctor in the military selection department of the Ministry of War, was leading the way for the old guy standing next to him today. In fact, in the officialdom, Lin Zhengcheng, the future chief of the Yuzhang County Logging Institute, had no control at all.

A new government office was established in Hongzhou, called the Logging Institute, which was nominally responsible for arresting those who illegally cut down huge trees.

Similar to the Kiln Supervision and Manufacturing Bureau in Chuzhou and the Silk Weaving Bureau in Wuzhou, the rank of the chief officers is high or low, but they are almost the same.

And in Hongzhou, which borders Chuzhou to the north, there is Yuzhang County, which is famous in the whole continent. In addition to being the ancestral home of the current Empress Dowager Da Li, it has been rich in towering trees since ancient times. It is also the place where the twelve ancient sword immortals are said to have attained enlightenment. Therefore, there has always been a humorous saying in the officialdom of Dali that "big Yuzhang, small Hongzhou".

Seeing that the two people had no intention of leaving, Lin Zhengcheng asked with a smile: "How about I just set up a banquet for you two at the victory report office?"

The old doctor felt helpless. Among the locals who came out of Lizhu Cave, except for Dong Shuijing, who was a little better, few of your other words were pleasing to the ear!

The reason why I stay here to be an eyesore is because I want to help His Majesty and get an unambiguous word from the man in front of me.

It sounds funny. His Majesty, as the king of a country, can only beat around the bush and ask for a definite answer from a seventh-rank official.

But it's actually not funny at all.

What's even more outrageous is that this man deliberately kept pretending to be stupid.

Lin Zhengcheng picked up the tongs, gently played with the charcoal, and said to himself: "Someone once told me a Zen saying, a golden Buddha cannot control the furnace, a wooden Buddha cannot control the fire, and a clay Buddha cannot control the water."

The old doctor nodded and said: "I understand, I will go and reply to Your Majesty right away."

The two high-ranking doctors left the reporting office.

Arriving in the hat-strap alley outside the door, the Martial Arts Master asked in his heart: "What do you mean?"

The old man said: "You and I don't need to understand, your Majesty just needs to understand."

After Fu Hu heard that the two Lang Guan masters had left their own territory, he went to Lao Lin's house. After some hesitation, he crossed the threshold and saw Lao Lin standing. He stretched out his hand and pressed it twice to signal us. The two brothers sat down to chat and asked cautiously: "Old Lin, what did I talk to you about? Can you tell me?"

Lin Zhengcheng said: "I am looking for a way through my connections, and I will soon go to the logging institute in Yuzhang County, Hongzhou to work as an errand."

Fu Hu asked: "Still an assistant officer?"

The man shook his head and said: "First in command."

Fu Hu was stunned for a moment, then lowered his voice and said: "No, if I remember correctly, the chief officer of the logging institute is an official of the sixth rank. You are now the seventh rank. Old Lin, who did you find? You are so awesome that you can skip half a level?!"

The man smiled and said, "Don't talk about this kind of thing outside. It's taboo."

Fu Hu laughed and patted the man next to him on the shoulder, "Old Lin, congratulations, to be honest, if you just move to another place without being promoted, but you still keep doing the same thing, giving people a thumbs up, I'm going to scold you a few times. I suspect that you are tired of working as an errand around me. Since you have been promoted or skipped a grade, there is no need to say, go to the Changpu River tonight and have a good time, I'll treat you!"

The man nodded and said, "Master Fu, I'll pay for the treat."

Fu Hu slapped the man on the shoulder again, "Hey, I've been wrong all these years. Old Lin turns out to be a good candidate for an official!"

After Fu Hu left, the man silently looked at the charcoal fire in the brazier and sighed softly.

Site selection of the couple's graves in Mud Bottle Lane.

Back then, I secretly went to the backyard of the Yang Family Medicine Store and found the old man Yang. I did not hesitate to break the court rules and exceptions, and humbly asked the old man for something.

And the book "Shaking Mountain Fist Book" that went around and around finally fell into someone's hands.

And that night, I secretly took out some private collection of snake gallstones and threw them one by one into the Longxu River, just like waiting for a straw sandal boy with a basket on his back to see and pick them up.

There is actually only so much that can be done.

I have nothing else to ask for. I just hope that one day I will no longer be an official, and I will no longer be a so-called wanderer. That lonely child will grow up to a young man year by year, and then get married and start a business. And when I see him Lin Zhengcheng during the holidays, The other party can call him Uncle Lin from the bottom of his heart, and he should be able to live up to this title with a clear conscience.

At the beginning of winter this year, Taihui Sword Sect’s Ancestral Mountain Sword House received a personal invitation from Master Chen of Luolu Mountain, inviting the sect leader Liu Jinglong and his disciple Bai Shou to go to Tongyezhou to participate in the next Beginning of Spring. Zong celebration.

It is said that in the late winter before the celebration, the Feng Yuan ferry would cross the continent and travel north to Jidu, and stop at the ferry near the Chongxuan Department of the Dayuan Dynasty. If the leader of the Liu clan could be bothered to move a little bit, board the boat and travel south, there would be no expense. That cross-continental boat trip was a waste of money. By the way, I reminded Liu Jinglong in the letter that if he wanted to, he could join hands with Lu Sui, the fairy of Shuijing Mountain, to travel south to Xiandu Mountain.

Liu Jinglong took the invitation and came to Pianran Peak with his sword.

Bai Shou asked tentatively: "Liu, can we not go?"

Bai Shou had just returned from traveling to Yunyan Country, and he took several junior sword cultivators from other peaks, six young sword cultivators, to practice in Yunyan Country and the surrounding mountains and rivers.

After all, today's Bai Shou can be regarded as a serious elder and protector of the sect, regardless of his genealogical status or swordsmanship level.

When a group of young sword cultivators returned to the mountain safely, the Taihui Sword Sect Ancestor Hall spoke highly of the young Jindan Peak Master of Pianran Peak. He was thoughtful, thoughtful, and experienced.

In the Yunyan Kingdom, Bai Shou did not meet directly with Cui Gongzhuang, a warrior of the Nine Realms. This chief guest of Suoyun Sect Yangyunfeng is now very honest, has changed his gender, and has almost become a great good man, and restrains his disciples and grandchildren. Don't act recklessly, otherwise Cui Gongzhuang will clean up the sect himself, which will make the sect's reputation in the world skyrocket.

After walking hard all the way down the mountain, I never expected to return to Pianran Peak. Bai Shou heard such great bad news and good news, and he felt both sad and happy for a moment.

Not long after brother Chen's Luopo Mountain was promoted to a sect, he went to Tongyezhou in the south to get a new sect without stopping. Of course, it was a great thing.

But the problem is that Bai Shou now gets scared whenever he thinks of her, not to mention seeing that person face to face.

The last time someone came to Pianran Peak as a guest, misfortune fell from the sky. He was punched and beaten on the spot.

The last time, it was still at Pianran Peak in his own territory. Someone was just passing by. After a punch, the dignified master of the peak and the direct descendant of the sect lay on the ground and twitched, like a martial artist doing his best.

The last time, it was in Luolu Mountain.

There are only three things to do!

If it is true that one can learn from every experience, then today's Bai Shou can be regarded as extremely smart.

Bai Shou even privately asked an old Taoist immortal who was proficient in numerology to help him calculate whether he and that guy were incompatible.

The old god was confused when he showed the birth dates of the two of them. He just said it didn't matter, no one could defeat the other. Finally, he did not forget to say a kind word for Sect Master Liu's founding disciple, saying that Peak Master Bai's horoscopes were very tough.

Liu Jinglong didn't bother to remind Bai Shou that according to Chen Ping'an, Pei Qian didn't know his birth date at all, and even his name was fake. Pei Qian chose it by himself later.

It's just that Chen Ping'an can tell Liu Jinglong about this kind of thing, but Liu Jinglong shouldn't reveal the secret to Bai Shou.

Liu Jinglong smiled and asked, "What do you think?"

No better than a sect's golden elixir opening ceremony, any sect celebration in the world can be regarded as a rare event in a thousand years.

According to the established rules on the mountain, as long as it is not a hostile sect that has formed a deadly feud, within a continent, even if no one is present, a congratulatory gift must be sent as a rule.

After all, within Yizhou, if an immortal family with a sect's prefix appeared out of thin air, it would be a matter of honor for the monks of Yizhou.

The level of martial arts in a continent is very straightforward. You can just look at the number of warriors in the end. In the same way, the depth of a continent's heritage often depends on the number of sects with the prefix "Zong".

So just like the Pima Sect in Skeleton Beach, Beiju Luzhou no longer wanted to see this outsider, but when the Pima Sect really established a foothold and officially held a celebration, most of the immortal forces still had to pinch their noses and send them away. It's just a small gift. Some of them deliberately only gave a few snowflakes.

Those rules must be followed, etiquette is less important than affection. If the Pima Sect thinks the money is too little, it means they are not generous.

It was just that when the Fire Dragon Master from Paidi Peak made an exception, he came to Muyi Mountain and participated in the celebration. It was rare for the Master to give him a valuable gift of a magical weapon.

Some "forgetful" immortals immediately realized what was going on and made up for the belated gift.

The old man who is famous for his coolness has spent money for the first time. Others have no reason not to spend money or give gifts.

Otherwise, it is easy to be missed by the old man.

Bai Shou still refused to give up and said: "It's enough if the gift is delivered. I'm sure Chen Pingan won't mind. If it doesn't work, I won't go. When you see Chen Pingan later, tell me that I will be in retreat in the near future."

Liu Jinglong smiled and said: "As long as you don't take the initiative to provoke Pei Qian, she won't compete with you for no reason."

Seeing Bai Shu still hesitated, Liu Jinglong didn't want to embarrass this disciple and said considerately: "If you really don't want to go, forget it. Just practice your sword at Pianran Peak. I'll help explain to Chen Ping'an."

In addition to the invitation, Chen Ping'an also sent a secret letter to Liu Jinglong. The letter said that in the Great Li capital city, there was a female formation master named Han Zhoujin. Li is now a member of the Earthly Branch cultivator, and has a hidden identity. He is a guest of the Zizhaoyan family in Da Li. Han Zhoujin has the good fortune of having the ruins of the Immortal Mansion. Her origins are not small, and her attainments in talismans are quite good. Therefore, Liu Jinglong was asked to stop for a while in Dali Capital on his way to the south to help give Han Zhoujin some formation instructions.

Bai Shou gritted his teeth and said, "Just go! Anyway, I haven't been to Tongyezhou yet."

Liu Jinglong smiled and nodded, "The Ancestral Master Hall hinted at me that they want to ask you, the peak master, when you plan to accept disciples so that you can spread the branches and leaves of Pianran Peak."

In fact, the bigger hint from the Taihui Sword Sect's Ancestral Hall is to ask the sect leader if he has any favorite Taoist companions.

Bai Shou was stunned for a long time, feeling like he had just heard a big joke. He grinned and said, "Accepting a disciple? Just me?"

Although I have been following Liu up the mountain for many years, Bai Shou always has the feeling that I have just started practicing swordsmanship and will be knocked to the ground by someone at any time. Therefore, there is no kind of earthly immortal monk who can receive direct inheritance. consciousness.

In fact, every Kaifeng Earth Immortal on the mountain is equivalent to opening up a new legal system for the Patriarch Hall.

Baishou waved his hands and said, "Don't rush me."

On top of a peak, there was a lonely man who did not accept a disciple. He made a joke, but it was just Liu Jinglong who watched the joke. If he accepted a disciple, would he still have the dignity of being a teacher?

Nowadays, the realm is not enough, and there is no victory in the sword competition. Is it possible for the disciples in the sect to shout "Master was beaten unconscious" or "Something bad happened, Master is lying on the ground again" every now and then?

Bai Shou remembered something and asked, "What's going on with Suoyun Sect?"

Liu Jinglong said: "Yangyunfeng will soon take the initiative to conclude an alliance with us."

There are now more than a dozen forces on the mountain that are allied with the Taihui Sword Sect. In addition to Chunlupu, Caique Mansion, and Yunshang City in the southeastern area of ​​​​Yizhou, there are also several time-honored immortal mansions on the west coast, including Lei Shenzhai. Among them, the Thunder God's House in Baby Mountain received a slap in the face a few years ago. Even the golden plaque at the gate of the mountain had the word "God's House" removed. The foreign thieves who passed by were caught and released.

Liu Jinglong and Taihui Jianzong certainly had no intention of being the leader of the mountain alliance and commanding the heroes. This relatively loose alliance was more to facilitate mutual business transactions and could only be said to be similar to the marriage relationship at the foot of the mountain.

Bai Shou smiled and said: "Then our Taihui Sword Sect has another pawn?"

Liu Jinglong frowned slightly.

Bai Shou immediately raised his hands and took the initiative to admit his mistake, "Just think I farted!"

Liu Jinglong reminded softly: "You need to know that our sword cultivator's verbal mistakes are nothing more than a question of swordsmanship in people's hearts."

Whether a monk or a layman, in the lake of everyone's heart, there will be heavy stones at the bottom of the water, and each stone may be an understatement and unintentional words from many others on the road of life.

Bai Shou hummed, "I'll pay attention to it in the future."

Liu Jinglong smiled and nodded. As a disciple, as long as it was something he really cared about, he really didn't need to say anything as a master.

Baishou, who had turned from a boy to a young man unknowingly, grinned, "Master, don't worry. In Pianranfeng Mountain, I didn't have much chance to talk except talking to myself. As for outside the mountain, I didn't do much." Speaker."

Liu Jinglong began to prepare for the southward journey.

In fact, in Liu Jinglong's opinion, one of the most mysterious formations in the world is the Lizhu Cave that once hung in the air above the northern part of Aquarius Continent for many years.

There are generally two types of small worlds for monks. One is where saints from the three religions sit in academies, Taoist temples and temples. They can raise the level to a higher level. They can even let the Nascent Soul realm directly cross the chasm and become Jade Pu realm monks. The saints sit in it and can simultaneously Let the small world become a lawless place with thin spiritual energy, occupying the right time, place and people. Since the outside monks are unable to mobilize the slightest spiritual energy of the world, every time they cast a spell or sacrifice a magic weapon, they will consume their own spiritual energy, and the power will become more and more powerful. Big, it's like opening a hole, and when this spiritual energy passes, it will feed back to the small world, like a kind of "tribute offering". The two enemies will wax and wane. Unless there is a huge difference in realm, there is no suspense about victory or defeat. In addition, the great monks used formations to build a small world, which was full of obstacles. The Lizhu Cave in the early years not only took care of both, but also the foreign monks involved in it had to follow some more mysterious Tao rules. Therefore, this time Liu Jinglong planned to attend the ceremony of the next sect, in addition to going to the Li capital city to find Han. Zhou Jin wants to go to the old Longzhou territory of Dali again to see if he can borrow stones from other mountains to attack jade without violating the laws of Dali. To be precise, he can borrow jade from other mountains. Can grind stone. Regarding this matter, Liu Jinglong mentioned it to Chen Ping'an who was a guest in his sect last time, so in the secret letter sent by Chen Ping'an this time, he told Liu Jinglong straightforwardly to just concentrate on studying the formation Yu Yun, because he had already told everyone Li Chaoting said hello.

Liu Jinglong suddenly received a letter from Feijian.

Liu Zhiqing from Jinwu Palace.

Bai Shou asked curiously: "What's wrong?"

"Liu Jianxian wants to invite someone to ask sword questions together."

"Ask who?!"

With lightning speed, Bai Shou took out an almanac from his sleeve, opened it, and took a closer look, "In three days, it will be a good day!"

The old almanac of Luzhou in Beiju is probably the only one in the entire world.

In the old lunar calendar of other continents, there are always some days in a year that are "suitable for breaking ground, suitable for marriage, and suitable for traveling far away", but in Luzhou, Beiju, there are only ten days like this, which are unique because they are "suitable for asking for swords". .