Chapter 90: The Danger of Transforming into a Flood Dragon

The Hidden Immortal

Red Maple Pass.

This was one of the most important cities on the way from Changming Prefecture to the Capital City.

Every May, the red maples covering the mountains and plains were as dazzling as a wildfire.

The Ma tribe of the previous dynasty had invaded several times, all suffering setbacks at Red Maple Pass, and finally returning without success.

Now, the refugee army had also arrived here.

Similarly unable to conquer it after a long time, suffering no small losses.

In a simple military tent, more than a dozen generals of various ranks wearing light armor were discussing countermeasures.

Facing the heavily guarded Red Maple Pass, which was easy to defend and hard to attack, many people had thoughts of retreating.

If they continued fighting like this, even if they could really break open the city gates, they would suffer heavy casualties.

"That's right, I bet they wouldn't dare to easily come out of the pass to attack!"

These people spoke all at once. Standing in front of a military map snatched from other Jing Kingdom armies, a man also wearing light armor and carrying a long sword turned around.

His eyes were like a dragon's, and his voice was deep.

"We cannot retreat!"

The others looked over one after another. A tall, middle-aged man standing on the left persuaded, "Commander-in-Chief, why act out of anger? If we retreat, we can preserve our strength and prevent the Jing Kingdom from counterattacking."

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief, if the losses are truly too great, the gains won't make up for the losses!"

The man called Commander-in-Chief didn't speak immediately, but looked at them one by one.

His gaze was so sharp that everyone he looked at couldn't help but quiet down.

It wasn't until everyone stopped speaking that he said, "Everyone seems to have forgotten why we rose up in Changming Prefecture in the name of salt workers."

"To sit on the throne?"

"I, Huang Qi, offended the Education Intendant and failed the imperial examinations for many years. I became a salt worker to make a living."

"What about you?" He pointed at the middle-aged man who had just spoken, "Your land property was seized by a local bully in your hometown, and you had no choice but to flee here."

"You were a village private school teacher, but were falsely accused of colluding with bandits by evil gentry. Your residence was confiscated, and you almost became a dead soul under the blade."

"And you, returning to farming after the war, but having no land to plant."

One person after another was pointed out for why they joined the uprising.

Every single person had an experience of being oppressed and humiliated.

"We rose up to equalize wealth and relieve the people's hardships, not to become Emperor!"

The middle-aged man said, "But I heard that two successive Ministers of Revenue have now issued a national policy, and the commoners are clapping their hands in praise."

His meaning was that the crisis of the commoners' hardships already had a countermeasure, and they might not be willing to continue fighting alongside them.

Huang Qi shook his head, his eyes firm as he said, "Do you not understand that if we retreat now, the so-called national policy will only be abandoned halfway."

"When we rose up, someone once told me that I probably couldn't pass the exams to enter the Capital City, but fighting my way in might be easier."

"He also said, if we're going to fight, we must fight ruthlessly. Only when it's ruthless will people know pain."

"Only when they know pain will they change!"

"The noble families, meritorious officials, and imperial relatives who haven't been beaten will not change."

"For the sake of the commoners of the world, Red Maple Pass must be conquered! Tomorrow I will personally lead the vanguard, swearing to fight to the death without retreating!"

---

In the remote small courtyard.

Chu Xun slept in the room for a night, and when he woke up again, he only felt refreshed and clear-headed.

A faint fragrance reached his nose. He got up, opened the door, and walked out, couldn't help but be stunned.

He saw that the old locust tree in the courtyard was actually full of white flowers on its branches overnight.

The wafting scent of locust flowers attracted a large number of bees.

The branches moved without wind, and clusters of locust flowers fell like white snow.

Chu Xun reached out and caught a few, put them in his mouth, and only felt they were a bit sweeter than in his memory.

He chuckled lightly and said, "You're too polite."

He slowly walked under the old locust tree and looked up at the thick canopy.

"It is impolite not to reciprocate, you should eat some too."

Wood Sprout Spell +1

Provides a small amount of help for plant growth, this was the description.

But in reality, it depended on the specific cultivation level.

If he was still at the Qi Condensation stage, the effect it could have on such a large tree would naturally be minimal.

But now at the Foundation Establishment stage, it was naturally extraordinary.

Spiritual energy was continuously injected into the roots of the tree trunk in an incomprehensible way, turning into nutrients and transported to all parts of the body.

The leaves became greener, a few more branches grew out of thin air, and even the fragrance of the locust flowers seemed richer than before.

"Since there are locust flowers, I'll make some steamed dishes to go with wine at noon."

As Chu Xun spoke, he turned and went to the wall, passed through it, and walked towards the nearby vegetable market.

In the residence in front of the alley, the little girl dragged her old dad out, pointed at the remote small courtyard, and shouted, "Dad, look, I told you the locust tree bloomed!"

Wei Ting originally didn't believe it, but after being dragged out by his daughter and taking a closer look, he was instantly stunned.

The old locust tree that hadn't bloomed for many years had actually really bloomed.

Many neighbors nearby came out to see the novelty, clicking their tongues in admiration.

The little girl had sharp eyes and saw Chu Xun carrying oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar into the alley, and hurriedly went to find her dad again.

"Dad, that great hero is back! Let's go find him, okay?"

Wei Ting wasn't interested in so-called great heroes. Having traveled the jianghu for so many years, he had seen countless great heroes.

Most of them didn't live up to their names, either fishing for fame or being beasts in human clothing.

But his daughter insisted on going no matter what, and he was also somewhat curious about the old locust tree in the courtyard, so he followed her over.

Arriving at the courtyard door, looking through the door crack, he saw that there was indeed someone talking inside.

"Fall a bit more, fall a bit more."

Wei Ting hesitated slightly, reached out and grabbed the copper lock of the courtyard door, exerted a little force, and pulled it off the door panel.

With a loud crash, the courtyard door smashed onto the ground, kicking up some dust.

Wei Ting saw a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth standing in the courtyard, holding up a clean piece of cloth to catch the falling locust flowers.

At this time, the youth turned his head to look, his expression seeming somewhat astonished.

Wei Ting immediately felt somewhat awkward, coughed, and said, "I didn't expect this door to be so flimsy, it fell over with just a touch."

The little girl quickly ran over and looked at the cloth in Chu Xun's hands, which had already caught a full pile of locust flowers.

"What are you catching this for?" the little girl asked.

Chu Xun answered, "To eat."

"Huh? This can be eaten too? Can I taste it?" the little girl asked, looking up.

"Of course you can," Chu Xun nodded.

Wei Ting walked over, gave a dry laugh, and said, "This daughter of mine is very outgoing, she can chat with anyone."

"That's quite nice."

"May I ask why Your Excellency entered this courtyard? I remember this is government property?"

"I've been here before. Not wanting to disturb anyone, I just came in myself."

Wei Ting listened and thought for a long time, but couldn't remember when this youth had ever been here.

Thinking that asking further might be even more awkward, he looked up at the old locust tree and said, "In so many years, this is the first time I've seen it bloom. I don't know what miracle happened."

Chu Xun said, "Maybe because I wanted to eat them."

Wei Ting looked over in astonishment, seeing Chu Xun's face without any look of embarrassment, and couldn't help but laugh, "You speak very interestingly."

Chu Xun knew he didn't believe it and didn't explain further, saying, "I'm going to make some steamed dishes, and I also bought wine. Want to drink some together?"

Before Wei Ting could speak, the little girl had already jumped up, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Wei Ting himself indeed wanted to drink a bit, so he went with the flow and agreed.

He just felt that eating steamed dishes and drinking wine seemed somewhat too plain, so he said, "Eating the steamed dishes you made and drinking the wine you bought makes me seem stingy. I'll go buy some braised dishes to go with the wine."

These words sounded somewhat familiar, and Chu Xun laughed, "Alright."

While making the steamed dishes, the little girl kept watching from the side.

Her big eyes were full of curiosity. By the time the steamed dishes were done, Wei Ting had already brought a table and set up the wine and dishes.

"Today I'll also learn from those scholars and play the elegant gentleman for once."

"By the way, are you a scholar?"

Chu Xun brought a chair over and shook his head, "I'm a farmer."

Wei Ting sized him up and didn't say anything, only thinking in his heart that at such a young age, he was too dishonest.

As fair and clean as a rich family's young master, what farmer would look like this?

But he didn't care too much, only assuming the other party had a background they couldn't speak of.

Learning that Wei Ting was an armed escort, Chu Xun asked curiously, "What places have you been to?"

Wei Ting said with a bit of pride, "I've been to all the surrounding countries, the farthest being the Great Yan, three thousand miles away. Just for this one trip, I earned hundreds of taels of silver!"

Chu Xun was surprised. Three thousand miles might be as far as a lifetime for most ordinary people.

He curiously asked what the surrounding countries were like, and Wei Ting told him everything in detail.

Mobei had no officially conferred orthodox gods, only various evil cults.

Passing through the desert and grasslands was the Yue Kingdom.

Famous for weaving, especially skilled at making rattan armor that was invulnerable to swords, spears, water, and fire.

They liked to live in thatched cottages and conferred the Door God as their orthodox god.

To the southwest of the Jing Kingdom were the barbarian mountain forests, which was where Han Shizhong was currently entrenched.

Although they had many small tribes like Mobei, surprisingly, they had the Mountain God as their orthodox god.

Past the mountain forests was the Wu Kingdom, skilled at forging weapons.

Their country's orthodox god was the Kitchen God.

Past the Wu Kingdom was the Great Yan, much stronger and more prosperous than the Jing Kingdom.

The orthodox god they conferred was the Thunder Department.

To the east was the Wusun Kingdom.

There were very few people, and heavy fog often rose. Once lost in the fog, one could never return.

Rumor had it that monsters and spirits wandered in the fog, choosing people to devour.

The conferred orthodox god was the Earth God.

The beauties there were quite pretty, and many high officials and noble lords were willing to pay high prices to buy them.

Due south was a great river a full eight hundred zhang wide.

Although not a country, it also had the Dragon King as its orthodox god.

This great river ran through the Jing Kingdom, and one of its branches was the Songliu River.

Wei Ting said, "Have you heard that a Songliu Water God has appeared in the Songliu River these past few years?"

Chu Xun nodded, "I've heard."

Wei Ting said, "Whether there really is a Water God is hard to tell true from false. But the giant python in the river has been seen by many people with their own eyes."

"If this giant python transforms into a flood dragon in the future, causing a flood to erupt, who knows how many people will suffer."

Wei Ting said with a bit of pride, "I have actually seen a python transform into a flood dragon, with heavenly thunder rolling, it was truly spectacular."

"That python wore a turtle shell it got from who knows where. Unfortunately, although it survived the lightning tribulation, it was blown by a gust of wind until its flesh and bones separated, failing to succeed."

"I heard people say that even if this wind didn't blow it to death, it still needs the fusion of Ren Water, and then pass the hurdle of the orthodox god to truly transform into a flood dragon."

The little girl pinched some steamed dish and put it in her mouth while asking curiously, "Why does it want to transform into a flood dragon?"

A timid voice came from behind, "A python transforms into a flood dragon, naturally to transform into a dragon in the future."

Chu Xun turned his head to look and saw the six or seven-year-old boy standing at the door, not daring to come in.

The little girl immediately snorted, "You know again."

The boy's face flushed red, "It's all written in books. You don't read, so of course you don't know!"

"Oh, oh, oh, you only know a few words, coward!"

The boy was both angry and anxious, his eye sockets turning red from holding it in, about to shed tears again.

Chu Xun's heart stirred, and he smiled and asked, "Since you say it's all written in books, does the book say how to break the wind that blows the python apart?"

[End of Chapter]