The Lord who use immortals as food

Yesterday, when I looked up from the Star-Zhaing Tower, my friends pointed out to Pei Ye the sparks in this vast city under the moonlight.

The groups of lights near and far are extremely square and look like a chessboard, which are exactly the 108 major squares in Shenjing. Only the Emperor's City of the Tang Dynasty in the world had such regulations and built a large city with a population of millions so neatly, like a sea of ​​lights on land. It was "the white jade capital in the sky and the Chang'an city on earth".

And amid such refinement, looking to the north, one can see a huge group of buildings that do not follow the square system. The atmosphere is majestic and beautiful, and the continuous golden eaves and green tiles sparkle under the moon. The glimmer of light still shows a higher level of architectural specifications in the already prosperous and majestic Tianzi City - it is the undisputed center of Shenjing, the Imperial City of the Tang Dynasty.

The palace city was embedded in the imperial city, and the lights were dim. His friends pointed it out for him for a long time, but Pei Ye, who lacked basic knowledge, still couldn't figure out where the saint lived.

But another thing he knew clearly - that is, around this imperial city, various government offices were established, forming the absolute core of the entire city and even the entire country.

The residences of princes, princesses, high-ranking officials and princes, and the favorites of the imperial court are lined up in rows. The fronts of the three provinces, six ministries, and nine temples and five prisons are covered in purple. This circle of chess is often called "Shengqianfang", with white stones as streets and vermilion as the streets. Although the wall does not restrict access, it is true that ordinary people are rarely seen.

The Dao Qi Society of the Tang Dynasty was an institution established by imperial edicts and immortals. The Sword Xiuyuan is the carrier and proof of the operation of the Dao Qi Society. It was built majestically in this area, located on the southern edge of Xing Dao Fang.

But when Pei Ye stood in front of this courtyard, he almost suspected that he had gone to the wrong place.

Here is a quiet area surrounded by the center of Tianzi City. A small pool of quiet forest separates the Changjie Mansion Office from the outside. White walls and black tiles can be seen in the distance among the branches and leaves, which is cool and quiet.

There is none of the majesty of the yamen that I saw along the way. There is only a simple black wooden door in the entrance hall. It is very clean and should be very quiet. It really stands outside all powers and does not need any pomp.

But now there were at least twenty people standing in front of the door.

Like Pei Ye, they must have come from all over the world. They wore clothes that they had never seen before, and carried swords in ways that they had never seen before - one of them carried six swords on his back, like a general singing in an opera. Not everyone was alone. Some people brought their old servants with them. Pei Ye even saw rows of carriages and horses.

Pei Ye frowned and hesitated for a moment, but according to Tang law, only government officials or high-ranking officials of the third rank or above could open the door to the street outside the square. He stood in front of the door and raised his head. He saw no plaque, only a line of neat and sharp inscriptions outlined on the stone beam: "Chang'an Sword Xiuyuan".

The small words on the lower right line read: "The Thirty-Three Sword Masters of the Tang Dynasty, Dao Qihui".

This is indeed the right place.

But soon he was no longer confused. When he got closer, he saw a small case in front of the open wooden door. A middle-aged Taoist priest was sitting in front of the case, looking at something calmly with his eyes. His hair was slightly messy. The clothes and boots are not neat, but they don't look slovenly. Instead, they exude an easy-going chicness.

A young figure with a sword on his back was standing in front of the case, talking to him and answering something.

The question and answer was soon finished. The middle-aged Taoist priest wrote something on a note and handed some books to the young man. The young man bowed twice and solemnly walked through the door.

Only then did Pei Ye see an old man holding a wine gourd standing behind the middle-aged man in Taoist uniform. He also had gray hair tied up in a hairpin and wore cloth clothes and shoes. He was leaning against the wall and watching quietly, with a somewhat worn sword leaning against his leg.

So he quickly understood what he had encountered.

It turns out that the Sword Academy recruits new recruits every year at the end of autumn, so it happens to be today.

"What a coincidence."

"That's why I asked you to get up." Black Cat said, "On the first day of school, you need to build a good relationship with your classmates."

".kitten."

"Um?"

"You're becoming more and more useful."

Pei Ye took a closer look and saw that the people outside the door were indeed arranged in a vague order. He hugged the cat and backed away, standing behind a swordsman with some curiosity.

This man is also very young, about twenty years old, with light-colored robes and neat sideburns. He looks like an elegant scholar, but he is not studying, but is carrying a very new sword on his back.

He turned back and glanced at Pei Ye curiously: "Brother, are you also a swordsman admitted to the hospital this year?"

Pei Ye looked up slightly startled: "Ah, yes, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I thought I had recognized all this year's fellow practitioners." The man smiled and said, "I am a disciple of the Golden Crow, Wang Shousi. May I ask for your honorific title?"

"My name is Pei Ye, from Shaolong." Pei Ye cupped his fists and saluted. He temporarily added the name of the Thirty-Three Sword Sect on the way. He remembered that the Golden Crow Sect is the Southeast Sword Sect and specializes in the sword of the extreme sun. In the golden book, it is Along with Kongtong, there should be no Tianlou in the sect.

Wang Shousi was confused for a moment. He raised his eyes as if searching for something and hesitated: "Are you a disciple of Kongtong?"

"No, I'm a casual person." Pei Ye smiled, "I'm not a disciple of a sect."

"Oh." Wang Shousi frowned slightly and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I really haven't heard your name. So did you take the spot of Datang?"

Pei Ye was startled, this was something that troubled him. He was not originally a swordsman in the plan, and he didn't know what quota he was in. At this time, he came over abruptly, without saying hello to the sword academy first, so he just touched his head and said vaguely: "Should. Right."

Wang Shousi glanced at him with some confusion, but politely did not ask any more questions. Instead, Pei Ye raised his head and asked curiously: "Do you recognize all the new swordsmen admitted to the hospital this year?"

"There are twenty-four and twenty-five people in total. You can tell who is a disciple of which sect with a little effort." Wang Shou smiled, "Just one record for the other six Tang Dynasty names."

Dao Qihui recruits more than twenty-five people every year, but these are the only ones who come to Shenjing Sword Training Academy, and they are all geniuses among real geniuses. For these people, they have been friends with their master since childhood and discussed swordplay everywhere when they grew up. In fact, each other's names are not strangers, and many of them have met each other.

Especially after the Thirty-Three Swordsmen were formed, this circulation became even closer.

Naturally, no one would know Pei Ye, an outsider from the mountains.

"Look, that's Huashan Wenzheng." Wang Shousi gestured to the person who was approaching the case.

Pei Ye looked around and saw that she was a pretty and smiling woman with a very pale face. She had a rare sword tied to her waist. She had been leaning next to a big maroon horse.

He had obviously never heard of this name, but Wang Shousi thought that no explanation was needed. He looked at the two figures behind the case and murmured curiously: "But I don't know which two Dao Qi were the ones who led the way... "

At this time, a voice came from behind: "May I ask if this is where Dao Qihui will be admitted?"

Pei Ye turned around and saw a chic and generous woman carrying a girl who was looking curiously - this girl was obviously younger than him.

"Exactly." Pei Ye nodded. Both of them were dressed in ordinary clothes and carried ordinary swords. The woman had a gentle and delicate appearance, but her eyebrows were raised and she looked bright and heroic.

The girl is still a little budding, with her hair combed in a bun, and her facial features are small and delicate, but she has two rather short eyebrows, which makes her look a little silly and cute. She didn't have a piece of luggage on her, only a short sword in her hand.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, we found the right place. Shenjing City is too big. We knew we were in Xingdaofang, but we still walked around several times."

Pei Ye smiled: "You must have turned around from Zhuque thoroughfare. There is this forest, and it is just blocked from there. If you go from Dongyi Street, you can see it better."

The woman suddenly nodded and said with a smile: "I'm Ning Shuhong, Emei. This is my junior sister Zhu Shishi. I wonder where you are a master of swordsmanship?"

Pei Ye had no choice but to say, "I don't have a sect and I don't recognize anyone. I'm just listening to the introduction from this brother Wang."

"Oh." Ning Shuhong took her junior sister and met Wang Shousi again. The two parties had obviously only heard of him by name and had never met him before, and they showed some surprise to each other.

Pei Ye didn't know that this scholar with a fresh temperament had been the leader of the Thirty Sword Sects in the Southeast for nine consecutive years since he was twelve years old. He was regarded by both inside and outside as the hope of the Golden Crow's resurgence; nor did he know that this woman last year With a single sword, he destroyed 23 bandit villages in ten mountains and killed 271 people in one night. His clothes were soaked with blood. People said, "The top of the green mountain is full of red trees."

At this time, he didn't understand the "long admiration" between them. He saw Ning Shuhong also opening his eyes to look at them. His eyes slowly swept over everyone, and he sighed softly: "As expected, they are all heroes in the world."

Wang Shousi pointed out a direction with a smile and no words. Ning Shuhong looked at it and suddenly froze.

Pei Ye also looked at it and saw a person standing under the shade of the tree. It was the young man with six swords that he had just noticed. He had a gloomy look, a seventy-year-old appearance, and a very sharp and cold temperament. When he looked at it carefully, a strange feeling arose - it was not that he was carrying a sword, but six swords were surrounding him.

"That is."

Wang Shousi nodded and said softly: "[Sword Demon] Yang Zhenbing."

".He actually just entered the Sword Academy?"

Wang Shou smiled: "For people like this, it's all up to them when they want to come in. Some people like it earlier, some people can't spare the time, so they come later - look at the person next to him, he's just here too. ”

Ning Shuhong's eyes moved away, and this time she really stopped, and murmured: "... Zuoqiu Longhua."

She was a very tall woman with a pure face. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor and flipping through an old book. She was dressed in gray and had an ancient sword. Her temperament was very calm. Her hair, face, and clothes seemed to be simpler than those around her. She was from the Western Kingdom. Characteristics brought over from the high cold.

She had a pair of extremely silent eyes, as if she were immersed in her own world and isolated from everyone else.

Among the seven jade of Tianshan Mountain, [Fei Qiong], [Buqiu Sword], Zuoqiu Longhua.

Pei Ye remembered that Miss Ming mentioned this woman he met when he was studying swordsmanship, and used it to implicitly criticize him for being too spiritual and complicated when practicing swordsmanship, and for not being able to take root.

These are names that have only been heard but never seen. At this time, Pei Ye also felt the same feeling of "long admiration" as the two people beside him. He never thought that one day he would practice swordsmanship with these people.

The team moved forward little by little, and the swordsmen passed by the case one by one. From a distance, it could be seen that Yang Zhenbing and Zuoqiu Longhua obviously asked a few more questions and answers during the delivery, and the old man with a wine gourd behind him also asked a few questions.

When a few people almost arrived in front of the door, there were only a few people in the queue. Standing in front of the case was a young man with a bronze complexion, who looked like he was often exposed to wind and rain.

He was dressed in the Jianghu style that Pei Ye was most familiar with. He had obviously come from afar. He tied his sleeves with his legs, his clothes and boots were washed a little white, and he only held a sword in his arms.

"That's Senior Brother Chu Shuiting from Shushan Mountain." Ning Shuhong said. We live in the southwest. She recognized it first and said with a smile, "Senior Brother Chu is very skilled in swordsmanship. I can still interact with him while sitting and talking about swords. If it's a sword fight, , I can’t take even ten moves.”

Chu Shuiting seemed to hear them and turned around and smiled at them, showing his white teeth.

The middle-aged man in the Taoist uniform in front of him had lowered his head and read: "Chu Shuiting, the true biography of the Sunset Palace in Shushan, the teacher's inheritance is recorded, he is twenty-one years old, in the spiritual realm of swordsmanship, the Eighth Life of the Vein Tree, and has studied the Silkworm Sutra." Recommended by Shushan: "Shui Ting has been playing swordsmanship for hundreds of years in Shushan. Although his swordsmanship is a bit clumsy, his mind is sharp and he is willing to receive enlightenment from the Tao and seek the ultimate truth in swordsmanship." - Qi Ziyun wrote this to you? "

"Hui Jianqi is the master's uncle."

"It's been a long time since I've seen his handwriting. He has a lot of thoughts for you."

"Disciple is ashamed."

"Document of Place of Birth."

Chu Shuiting took out another booklet.

"Xia ultimatum."

Chu Shuiting took off a silver medal.

"Signature of passing the admission examination."

"."

It was at this moment that Pei Ye began to freeze a little. He glanced at the two people in front and behind him hesitantly, opened his mouth and said nothing.

But soon Chu Shuiting entered, and another elegant lady in gorgeous clothes stepped forward.

She was the owner of the train and horse. She walked forward holding a long sword with a green sheath and a jade handle. There was an indescribable reserve and elegance in her movements.

It was not a single action or two, but a behavior that had been cultivated in a certain environment for a long time. Even in front of the street, she still used the most precise etiquette.

People from sects are easy to identify, as their clothes are inevitably a little dusty. Even if they are geniuses in their respective sects, they are full of curiosity and unfamiliarity with places like Shenjing. White jade long streets and red-walled government offices are not their usual activities. In other places, various colors of blue and purple are also relatively unfamiliar costumes.

And this noble girl must have grown up in such an environment. I don't know if she is a family member of a high-ranking official or a daughter of a noble family. They all fell silent. Pei Ye watched her walk forward, and took her documents as a middle-aged man before the case. , lowered his head and said: "Lu Xiu."

Seeing this person go in with the same standard procedure, Pei Ye couldn't stand still. After hesitating for a long time, he still asked in a low voice: "Brother Wang, do you need any proof to register for admission?"

Wang Shousi slowly turned around, and Ning Shuhong also fixed her gaze on him. The two of them looked at him in silence and shock.

"No, no, I mean... the process of entering the hospital." Pei Ye was also a little nervous, "Besides this one-by-one inspection, is there another recommended way?"

Wang Shou was silent for a long time, and his eyes seemed to have regarded him as a strange person who wanted to sneak into the Sword Academy: "Everyone is recommended by their respective sects. Brother Pei is from the Tang Dynasty, so it is recommended by the Tang Dynasty, but no matter whose family Recommended, the admission examination must be passed and four things must be prepared: the first is the official document proving the place of birth of the people of the Tang Dynasty; the second is the admission recommendation letter from the sect or the court; the third is the signature issued after passing the admission examination; the fourth is It’s a knight’s certificate. If you don’t have one, you can go to Xianrentai with a letter of recommendation. Is there anything Brother Pei is missing?”

"."

Pei Ye smiled and raised her hand to touch her waist without leaving any trace. She got up in a hurry and didn't even bring the Bronze Bird Certificate.

In fact, no one ever told him to use such things!

With such an uneasy mood and the strange looks from the friends he had just met, it was finally his turn to come to the case.

Wang Shou was already waiting in the courtyard, with Ning Shuhong watching him quietly from half a foot away.

Pei Ye stood in front of the case with empty hands. The middle-aged Taoist frowned and raised his head, reaching out to him.

"Hello, sir, that's it. I didn't bring my place of birth document, nor did I pass the entrance examination. I also forgot to bring my Xia ultimatum." Pei Ye herself blushed a little and touched the letter of recommendation on her waist awkwardly, "I have nothing to show for it. You can make up for it, someone recommended me."

The old man behind suddenly tilted his head: "What's your name?"

"My name is Pei Ye."

The middle-aged Taoist's expression did not change, and he obviously had not heard it, but the old man raised his head and said "Oh".

"It's you, go in first, just bring the knight's certificate to have it stamped tomorrow." The old man smiled slightly, lowered his head to meet the middle-aged eyes, and signaled, "Set up your stall, Mr. Tong has come to say hello. ”

Pei Ye's hand holding out the letter froze at his waist.

At this time, he remembered what Xu Chuo said: "Cultivation is the first priority. You should go and get admitted to the Sword Xiu Academy first."

She obviously didn't know that Ming Qitian gave him a letter of recommendation.