Zhang Yan's doppelganger heard the call from the man on the boat and landed on the boat. He didn't stand on ceremony and took a sip from the wine gourd. He commented, "It's really not a good wine. There are even some secret medicines added into it. It's not something ordinary people can drink."
The man smiled, "Immortal is right, my wine is strong, it's like poison to normal people, one sip will cause them to bleed from their seven orifices, but if they know the way of luck, they won't have to fear it."
"The way of luck?" The clone looked at him, "You know the way of cultivation?"
The man laughed, "How can I compare to you immortals? My way of luck was taught by the Chi Jin Instructor in the county, it's just a normal method."
Zhang Yan's clone asked a few more questions, only to find out that this was under the rule of the Yan Dynasty, there were no demons, but bandits. It was just that the imperial court was powerless to control the counties after the princes fought for the throne a hundred years ago. Thus, when the local tyrants became powerful, there would be a position of instructor, used in name to quell the bandits, command the troops, and fight against the imperial court. The person with the highest authority in the county would have a scarf on his head, hence he was called the Chi Jin Instructor.
Zhang Yan listened to the conversation between the two of them from the outside and was also amazed. Looking at this place, it seemed to be a country of its own. He immediately had a guess. Yan Changsheng clearly did not treat this place as a place of cultivation. Otherwise, he would not have allowed so many people to enter.
The burly man clearly thought that the clone was an immortal who hadn't come to the mortal world for a long time. After explaining the matters of the mortal world, he found an opportunity to cup his fists and say, "I am Tie Chongguang. May I ask how I should address this immortal?"
The clone also gave his name and said, "My name is Zhang Fang. I'm just a Daoist cultivator, not an immortal."
Tie Chongguang laughed, "To be able to fly in the sky, in my eyes, you're an immortal."
Zhang Fang was moved, he asked, "Brother Tie, have you seen someone like me before?"
Tie Chongguang shook his head, "I haven't, but there are rumors that Emperor Taizu was an immortal's disciple, his weapon was a high iron ruyi, he was invincible on the battlefield, I heard that it's still enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple."
Zhang Fang thought, "This person is most likely Zhenren Yan's disciple."
Tie Chongguang saw that Zhang Fangzong was a celestial being, so he did not put on airs. Instead, he was very easy to talk to. He was also a man of character, so after they got to know each other, they started calling each other brothers. Whenever there was a question, he would answer it without holding back.
"This time, I came to the Gu Province under the Instructor's orders to pursue the thief Half a Foot of Gold. Although I caught up to him at the ferry crossing, it's a pity that the thief jumped into the river before he died. I only managed to cut off one of his arms. When I return, I'm afraid that the Instructor will find an excuse to embezzle Old Tie's reward." When he said this, he was very unhappy.
Zhang Fang found out that this Tie Chongguang was also a military instructor, but he could only wear a blue scarf around his arm, so he was called the Blue Scarf Military Instructor. Usually, he was in charge of arresting robbers. Because of his straightforward personality, he often offended people. Every time there was a difficult case, the higher-ups would hand it over to him.
Now that the case was over, he took the boat to the east and returned to his hometown, Pingbo Town, Hu County, Jiezhou.
Zhang Fang saw that they were heading to the place where he sensed the spiritual opportunity, so he did not leave. He simply found an excuse and went along with them.
The boat flowed along with the river. At noon, it turned from the river to a waterway. After traveling for another ten miles, it made a turn along a small hill. In the blink of an eye, the boat sped up a little. At this moment, he suddenly felt a strong spiritual vigor nearby. He turned his head to take a look.
In the middle of the river, there was a small island at the center of the river. On the island, there was a stone turtle, looking up into the sky. He didn't know which stonemason had carved it, but it was really lifelike. There was even an offering table in front, and a few old men who looked like witches were burning incense and kowtowing.
He was also surprised that the spiritual vigor was so strong. Previously, he could only sense a little bit of it. There must be something strange about this place. Perhaps the thing that he was looking for was here.
Tie Chongguang saw that he was staring at the stone turtle and smiled, "Brother Zhang, are you curious that someone is kowtowing to this stone turtle? Legend has it that there used to be a water demon here. Every July or August, a celestial turtle came and turned into a stone to suppress it. Since then, there has been no more water here. However, every year around this time, there will be a tide meeting in the village. The first thing is to worship the celestial turtle, to bless me with good weather and smooth Dao journey. Other than this time, outsiders are not allowed to lie about it. Looking at the time, there are three more days until the tide meeting. If Brother Zhang is interested, I can bring you up for a tour. "
Zhang Fang pondered for a moment. If he wanted to find out what was going on, he would have to move the stone tortoise away. For fear of alerting others, he decided to come back at night to take a look. Therefore, he pretended to be very interested and agreed.
After the boat went around River Heart Island, they went ashore at a ferry. Zhang Fang looked around and saw that this place was surrounded by mountains. It was shaped like a basin valley. Most of the houses were built along the mountains. Lanterns were hung in front of the houses. Boats came and went like a weave. Even though there were only about a thousand households in this town, there were many merchants and it was a bustling place.
He noticed that there was only a narrow waterway at both ends of the entrance. There was even a memorial archway with the words "Yi Mei Guan" written on it. If there was an invasion from outside, the waterway would be sealed and no one would be able to enter. He also saw some traces of prohibition formations, which confirmed his guess.
Tie Chongguang came here but he had to submit his task first. Knowing that Zhang Fang was not familiar with the Dao, he found a young man with the surname Yu to lead the way.
This young man was very attentive. After finding an inn for him to stay in, he poured tea for him and rushed back and forth. After settling down, Zhang Fang also ordered a table of food and wine and called him up to eat and drink together.
The young man with the surname Yu wolfed down the food and felt full. He wiped his mouth and asked with a passionate gaze, "Sir, you are also a coach?"
Zhang Fang smiled, "Why do you think so?"
The young man with the surname Yu had an expression that said 'you can't hide it from me' and said proudly, "Tie Tou is a famous blue scarf coach here. If it wasn't for his inability to flatter his superiors, he would have already become a red scarf coach in the county. Normally, there aren't many people who can convince him. Even when the officials come to the county, he doesn't try to curry favor with them. Isn't it because he looks down on them for not having any ability? But he calls you Brother Zhang, so you must be a coach too."
Zhang Fang smiled, "If I was a coach, what do you think?"
The young man knelt down and kowtowed, "Teacher, please accept me as your disciple."
Zhang Fang was startled and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Before he could reply, a loud laugh came from outside. "Brother Zhang, don't bother with him. Whenever this kid sees someone capable, he will go forward to acknowledge them as his master. I don't know how many times this has happened."
As he spoke, Tie Chongguang strode in and picked up the young man with the surname Yu. He stuffed a string of copper coins into his hands and said, "Go, go, go. Go buy some food and clothes for yourselves. Don't disturb my brother's drinking."
The young man nimbly took the coins and stuffed them into his bosom. His mouth was unconvinced and said, "If you don't want to teach, then don't. At worst, I'll just go into the mountains and look for someone. I'll definitely find someone more capable than you, Tie Tou, unlike you who can't find a wife. "
Tie Chongguang's face darkened and he looked like he was going to hit him. The young man was so frightened that he shrank his head and ran out. He cursed a few times and then sat down.
Zhang Fang smiled and asked, "I see that this young man's constitution isn't bad. Brother Tie, what's wrong? You don't like him?"
Tie Chongguang shook his head and said, "What's so good about being a coach? He spends his days with bandits and weasels. This brat's parents and I are old acquaintances. It's a pity that they died early. This is the only child in the family. I still hope that he can continue the family line and live a peaceful life. Once he walks this path, there's no turning back."
When Zhang Fang heard this, he didn't say anything more and only focused on drinking with him. Under his deliberate urging, Tie Chongguang quickly got drunk. He also pretended to be unable to stand it and found someone to carry him out and arrange a guest room for him. Then, he closed the door and sat on the bed to meditate.
After a few hours, it was already late at night. Only then did he sit up on the bed and push the window to take a look. It was already pitch black outside. Only a few large red lanterns were lit.
He took a deep breath and his body became light. Like a wisp of smoke, he flew out and headed straight for the island. Very quickly, he arrived there and landed in front of the stone tortoise. He looked at it a few times and stepped forward, pushing it with force. The tortoise swayed slightly. Immediately, he knew what was going on. He took out a spell and immediately, clear and turbid Qi revolved around it and slowly moved it to the side.
Once the stone tortoise was gone, spiritual vigor shot up to the sky. It was more than ten times stronger than before. When it reached the sky, there was even a strong gust of wind that filled the ears.
At the same time, Zhang Yan, who was sitting in the Hall of Du Zhen, narrowed his eyes. He saw that after the spiritual vigor shot up, there was a Qi dynamic that absorbed it. In just a moment, there was not a single drop left. He immediately noticed it.
Seeing that it was about to disappear, he didn't hesitate and immediately summoned his own spirit to replace it. Then, he soared into the sky and sucked the strange Qi into his stomach.
Almost as soon as he made his move, the restriction in the cave was also activated. In an instant, his clone was pushed out of the cave.
Zhang Yan waited for the avatar to come out, then he stretched out his hand and took the strange Qi. After a while, he understood everything and sighed, "So that's how it is. Sage Yan has put in a lot of effort."
Initially, he thought that Zhenren Yan wanted to imitate the Nine Cities and bathe the people here in spiritual vigor so that he could choose a suitable disciple and teach them Dao techniques. Now that he looked at it, it was not the case.
The number of people in this grotto-heaven was not as many as he thought. From the beginning to the end, there were only about a hundred people. The rest were just illusions that were condensed from mana and spiritual vigor.
As there were many elixir jades hidden underground in the cave, they were constantly emitting spiritual vigor. That was how the illusions were maintained. They were like real people. Every day, they would go out to work, marry and have children. They would grow old and die. Even they might not be able to tell if it was real or fake.
After the hundred real people talked to the illusions, there would be thoughts generated from time to time. They became more and more real. Naturally, they spread out and became illusions that spread all over the world.
In reality, there was no Hu County, there was no Jie Province, and there was no Great Yan Dynasty. However, when people felt the Qi, they would be led into the illusions with a thought. It was different from the ordinary illusions. It seemed real and fake at the same time. There was truth in the fake. If they thought it was real, then it was real. The outside world was also evolving into life, death, war, and war.
Of course, Zhenren Yan did not spend so much effort to have fun. He was relying on these people to cultivate a strand of strange Qi and then nurture a seed of thought.
The reason for this was because the cultivation method left behind here was extremely difficult to learn. If a cultivator wanted to learn it, they would have to cultivate the Sensory Nerves. However, if they obtained this cultivation method, they would be able to skip this stage. As long as he refined it according to the incantation, and then infused his essence and spiritual vigor, he would be able to use it.
Zhang Yan's eyesight was very good. He deduced that if this technique was used during a battle, not only would it disturb the senses of others, it could also create endless illusions when one's cultivation level was high. It was similar to some of the techniques of the Yuan Shen Sect. It was indeed a good supernatural power.
However, although most of the people in the cave were fake, they were also evolving the wonders in one's heart. Therefore, what they experienced might not be fake.
As he thought of this, his eyes became gloomy. About three thousand years ago, north of Dong Hua Cheng River, wasn't the dynasty of the mortal world named Yan? And one of the people had a similar appearance to Zhenren Yan. What he evolved might be the events of the past.
…
… … r1152
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
