Chapter 131: Searching for Spirits in the Mountains |
After leaving Huangshi Gong’s residence, Chu Xun and Wei Youyou continued north.
After leaving the city and walking about two hundred li, a range of steep mountains appeared ahead.
Wei Youyou hopped up and down as she shouted, “Old Master, this is where I came out from, yo!”
Chu Xun smiled and patted her head, then stepped into the mountain forest.
The mountains here were much taller than those in Jing Kingdom.
The trees were also far larger, with many different species, most of which Chu Xun had never seen before.
There were very few traces of human passage on the mountains, simply because the terrain was far too steep.
Only occasionally could he see badly worn ropes hanging from trees. They were probably left behind by nearby herb gatherers.
To Chu Xun and Wei Youyou, however, this place was no different from flat ground.
Along the way, they saw many birds and beasts.
Some ate meat, while others ate plants.
After being away for decades, Wei Youyou found everything here fresh and interesting.
She hopped everywhere, startling snakes, insects, rats, and ants into fleeing.
A large black bear was rubbing its back against a tree, scraping bark and wood chips everywhere with a rasping sound like a saw.
“Yo!”
Wei Youyou ran over to the side, looking curiously at the falling wood chips.
The big black bear froze completely under her stare. After a while, it suddenly let out a loud roar.
Wei Youyou was so frightened that she quickly jumped away, only to see the bear run even faster than she did.
It charged headfirst into the forest and soon disappeared.
Only then did she return. Imitating the bear, she rubbed herself against the tree bark a few times, scraping wood chips all over her clothes.
Chu Xun could not help laughing. He pulled her over and brushed the wood chips from her clothes.
After walking forward for another stretch, a waterfall poured straight down with a tremendous roar.
The pool below was clear and extremely deep.
Standing at the edge and looking down, the water seemed dark and bottomless.
Wei Youyou pulled Chu Xun past the waterfall and brought him to a patch of forest upstream, searching all around.
But she found nothing.
Her little face drooped.
“It was here, yo.”
She still remembered that before she left, she had built a new nest with thatch and branches. It had been big and warm.
But why could she not find it now?
Looking down from the mountain, they could faintly see village smoke rising far below at the foot of the mountain.
That was on the mountain’s other side, leading deeper into Yue Kingdom.
Chu Xun looked in other directions. Countless mountains filled his vision.
This was an exceptionally spiritual and beautiful place, yet mixed within it was a faint strangeness that stirred Chu Xun’s heart.
He said, “Then we can build a new one.”
Wei Youyou looked at him.
“Old Master wants to live here?”
“Staying here temporarily for some time is fine.”
Wei Youyou became very happy and immediately ran around collecting branches and pulling grass.
Chu Xun reached out and condensed an axe from metal-essence qi.
Tree after tree was cut down. Then the axe became a hatchet, cutting away the extra branches.
Seeing this, Wei Youyou stopped going elsewhere.
She simply waited eagerly for Chu Xun to cut off branches, then happily collected them and carried them aside to build her nest.
Finally, the hatchet became a saw, cutting the wood into suitable lengths.
Chu Xun first picked up the four thickest logs and pressed them into the ground. They sank several meters deep with ease.
Then he used the other logs to build layer after layer.
Before the sun set, Chu Xun had already finished building a wooden house.
It was not very large, but it was enough for living.
Wei Youyou also built a nest beside the wooden house, made from branches and fresh grass.
Afterward, she jumped onto it and tried several sleeping positions, but she kept feeling something was off.
After thinking for a long time without understanding, she ran over and asked Chu Xun, “Old Master, it’s not comfortable to sleep in!”
Chu Xun glanced at the nest that was obviously not meant for a human to sleep in and said, “When you slept on this sort of thing before, you probably couldn’t transform yet, right?”
Wei Youyou suddenly understood.
“That’s true, yo…”
But she had already grown used to her transformed appearance and did not want to stay in her spiritual deer form just to sleep.
Seeing her unhappy little face, Chu Xun smiled and pointed.
Several thick layers of bedding appeared out of thin air and landed on the nest.
They were created by Five Elements Dao arts and were not real bedding, but they had the exact same texture.
If the Dao art could no longer be maintained, they would vanish immediately.
“Yo!!”
Wei Youyou widened her eyes and hurriedly ran over, jumping onto the bedding.
The thick bedding blocked out the hardness and irregular shape of the branches. Beneath the soft cushion, only the fresh scent of green grass rose up.
Wei Youyou happily rolled around on the bedding, letting out continuous yo-yo sounds.
Seeing her happy, Chu Xun laughed a few times and stopped paying attention.
Soon, the sun set and night descended.
Chu Xun walked out of the wooden house and saw Wei Youyou lying at the edge of her nest, stretching her neck to bite the grass used to build it.
He called out, “Youyou, I’m going out for a walk. Are you coming?”
Wei Youyou immediately reached out, pulled that stalk of grass over, and stuffed it into her mouth.
While chewing, she hopped down from the bedding.
“I’m coming, yo!”
At the same time, she looked a little puzzled.
“Why is Old Master taking a walk at night, yo? It’s dangerous, yo.”
Chu Xun smiled. This mountain was indeed somewhat dangerous, but only to ordinary people.
With his current cultivation, there was nothing to fear.
The reason he went out at night was precisely because he wanted to see what dangers this place held.
Since he was not afraid, Wei Youyou was not afraid either.
She followed beside him, hopping along, pulling up grass here to taste and picking flowers there to smell.
Before long, she began missing the radish leaves in the vegetable patch.
“I wonder if Field Mouse Little Brother can protect the radish leaves properly and not let others pick them,” Wei Youyou thought.
At this moment, on a country road more than one hundred li from Pinecone Village, rows of small figures were traveling forward while causing a ruckus.
Most were weasels and rabbits.
At the very back were more than ten field mice.
What was astonishing was that these field mice held their paws high, carrying a patch of soil several zhang wide.
Radishes, cucumbers, and various fruits and vegetables were still planted in the soil.
They panted from exhaustion but refused to let any other birds or beasts help.
The four weasels carried a large plaque as they walked. It was the one Tang Shijun had given Chu Xun, which they had removed from above the door and carried away.
Other weasels carried tables, chairs, stools, and benches. If anyone saw this, their jaws would likely drop in shock.
In midair, several crows circled, occasionally cawing to guide the way.
Under the night, this procession made up of birds and beasts traveled south.
After another few dozen li, they would reach the mountain where Chu Xun had killed the old bat.
This was the new habitat chosen by the old crow. It would not disturb the lives of the villagers of Pinecone Village, yet it would not be too far away either.
The courtyard was already completely empty. Aside from the house itself, everything that could be moved had been moved away.
The old crow had also specially made a trip to the Songliu River, but the old turtle and golden toad were unwilling to leave.
They loved water to begin with, and now the green-white flood dragon had obtained six hundred li of earth qi and exercised the Water Minister authority on Chu Xun’s behalf.
Staying in the Songliu River region was far better than going elsewhere.
When the villagers came to Chu Xun’s house again and saw the empty courtyard, they were momentarily at a loss.
Naturally, Chu Xun knew nothing of these things.
Even if he knew, he would not care too much.
The birds and beasts were supposed to find a better place to live. Pinecone Village was already no longer suitable for them.
The air in the mountain forest at night was even more humid. From time to time, mist drifted among the trees.
Rustling sounds occasionally came from the surroundings, and now and then, the roars of jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards could be heard.
Wei Youyou timidly clutched the corner of Chu Xun’s clothes, glancing around fearfully.
Thinking of how she had run over during the day to watch an old bear rub against a tree and frightened the black bear into fleeing, it was truly hard to understand whether she was brave or timid.
The moon hung in the sky, scattering strands of silver light.
Beneath a mountain rock two or three zhang tall, a mushroom with an entirely white body and a yellow-brown top poked its head out from the damp rotting leaves.
From the yellow-brown top, a ring of plain white mushroom skirt spread open, hanging down like gauze.
Under the moonlight, it glowed with a faint bluish-white fluorescence.
As the breeze brushed past, it swayed gently.
Suddenly, it jumped onto the mountain rock and opened itself toward the moonlight.
Faint silver threads fell into its mushroom skirt. It was actually absorbing moonlight essence on its own.
It had already become a spirit, but it had not yet reached the stage where it could transform.
This kind of mushroom spirit was extremely rare because it had a growth period of one year during its youth.
Once it matured and grew a mushroom skirt, it had only about one hour to live.
In other words, from birth to gaining the potential to become a spirit, that year was absolutely crucial.
Throughout the world, it was not especially difficult for other flowers, grass, and trees to become spirits. Only this type of mushroom spirit was exceptionally rare.
At that moment, faint footsteps came from not far away.
It quickly folded its mushroom skirt shut and jumped down from the rock.
The rotting leaves closed around it on their own, covering it completely.
Before long, a large and small figure arrived there.
They seemed to stand beneath the mountain rock and rest for a moment. Then the footsteps gradually moved farther away and slowly disappeared.
After a long while, a large rat over a chi long crawled over, its eyes crimson.
As if sensing something, it rushed straight beneath the mountain rock and clawed open the rotting leaves.
Just as the yellow-brown top of the mushroom was exposed and before the rat could open its mouth to bite, the mushroom skirt spread open.
Like a large white net, it firmly bound the rat inside.
The net tightened more and more. The rat squeaked frantically in panic but could not break free.
After a while, when the rat lost its strength and stopped struggling.
Unexpectedly, the mushroom skirt loosened.
The large rat rolled down the slope dozens of times, crashing into a thick tree root.
Only after regaining some clarity and strength did it flee in panic.
The mushroom skirt folded again, pulling the surrounding rotting leaves back over itself.
At that moment, a voice came from above.
“I thought you were going to eat it.”
The mushroom trembled and hurriedly tried to pull the rotting leaves over to cover itself.
This was an instinct it had formed over a long period of time.
As long as it was not seen, perhaps it would not be eaten.
Of course, as its body changed, it knew it would naturally give off a scent that attracted other things.
Even though the rotting leaves it found were very foul-smelling, they still could not completely conceal it.
If it was even slightly careless, it would be discovered.
Just like today’s large rat, which had smelled it while passing by because the rotting leaves had not covered it long enough.
Chu Xun jumped down from the mountain rock and crouched, curiously studying the mushroom half-covered by rotting leaves.
It trembled, seemingly uncertain whether it should keep covering itself or give up.
This was a mushroom that had already become a spirit, but it had not reached the same transformation stage as Wei Youyou.
Chu Xun had already seen it absorbing moonlight essence earlier.
But seeing it act so cautiously, he had taken a detour and quietly returned.
Only when he saw the large rat being captured did he think it would be eaten. Unexpectedly, the mushroom let the rat go.
If not for that, Chu Xun might already have pulled it out rather than treating it so politely.
There were many birds and beasts at home, and nearly all had become spirits.
But compared to the mushroom before him, there was an obvious difference.
The birds and beasts had heavier demonic qi, unlike the mushroom, whose aura was very similar to Wei Youyou’s. Both were extremely upright.
Previously, Chu Xun had always thought Wei Youyou’s aura was so upright because her true body was a spiritual deer.
Only now, after seeing this mushroom spirit, did he understand that was not the case.
Chu Xun became interested and said, “You’re so weak. Sooner or later, you’ll be eaten. Are you willing to live with me?”
The mushroom had no visible facial features, yet one could clearly sense that it was examining him.
It cautiously examined Chu Xun, then “looked” toward Wei Youyou beside him.
From Wei Youyou, it sensed an aura many times stronger than its own.
Seeing how hesitant it was, Chu Xun said, “I like eating meat.”
Then he pointed at Wei Youyou.
“As for her, although she likes eating vegetables, she never eats your kind.”
This was true. No matter what kind of mushroom it was, Wei Youyou always felt they had a strange smell and disliked them very much.
That was why Chu Xun had never planted mushrooms in his vegetable patch.
Perhaps feeling words alone were not enough to move it, Chu Xun reached out.
The mushroom skirt immediately instinctively prepared to spread open in response.
But the aura transmitted from Chu Xun’s fingertip made it feel no danger. Instead, it felt extremely comfortable.
A strand of wood essence qi flowed from Chu Xun’s fingertip into the mushroom’s body.
This was source essence qi even purer than moonlight essence, and even more suitable for it.
With just one strand, the mushroom skirt unconsciously stretched over and wrapped around Chu Xun’s finger.
It was like an infant tightly holding a pacifier and sucking.
Chu Xun smiled and naturally lifted it out from the rotting leaves.
The mushroom showed no intention of leaving, as if it had already acknowledged him.
In truth, however, part of its mushroom skirt had quietly pulled back slightly, as though ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.
It truly was an exceptionally cautious mushroom.
Chu Xun smiled, looked at it, and said, “You probably don’t have a name yet, right?”
A confused emotion came from the mushroom. It did not know what a name was.
Chu Xun pointed at himself.
“My name is Chu Xun.”
Wei Youyou jumped over, pointed at herself with a grin, and said, “I’m Wei Youyou, yo!”
Chu Xun looked at the mushroom’s yellow-brown head and its pure white gauze-like skirt.
“You should be a kind of bamboo fungus. How about calling you Sun Zhu?”
The mushroom continued cautiously examining them, still not understanding what a name was.
Nor did it understand what bamboo fungus or Sun Zhu meant.
Chu Xun did not go anywhere else in the mountain forest.
He brought the bamboo fungus spirit back to the wooden house in the forest.
With a light tap of his finger, the soil beside the wooden house churned, and wood essence qi flowed into it.
After placing the mushroom spirit he had named Sun Zhu into the soil, Chu Xun said, “From now on, this will be your home. I’ll teach you some skills. In the future, when you exercise authority on my behalf and contend for heavenly mandate, is that alright?”
Sun Zhu did not understand what he was saying.
It only knew that the soil beneath it was filled with an aura it liked.
It was very warm and comfortable.
So it gently swayed its body, which counted as a response.
“Then I’ll take that as agreement.” Chu Xun smiled and scattered some spiritual rain.
Bathed in the spiritual rain, Sun Zhu felt its whole body become comfortable to the extreme.
Wei Youyou jumped onto her nest, lay on her stomach with her chin propped up, and began chattering.
“Let me tell you, yo. Old Master’s house raises many, many birds and beasts. There’s Big Brother Crow, Second Brother Weasel, Third Brother Rabbit, Little Brother Field Mouse…
Oh, and Little Brother Green-White Flood Dragon. Now that you’ve come, you’re…”
Wei Youyou blinked and suddenly remembered a very important matter.
“Sun Zhu, should I call you little brother or little sister?”
Nestled in the mud pit and unable to pull itself away from the comfort, the bamboo fungus now had another difficult question it could not answer.
Little brother?
Little sister?
Chu Xun’s voice came from inside the wooden house.
“Its kind has no distinction between male and female.”
Wei Youyou immediately hugged her head in distress.
“Then that’s terrible, yo!”
Not little brother, and not little sister. Then what should she call it?
Little brother-sister?
Little sister-brother?
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and several years went by.
The morning sunlight was exceptionally warm.
It cleared away the mist in the mountain forest, making everything fresh and bright.
Wei Youyou ran back and forth through the forest, choosing straighter branches to bring back, busy reorganizing her nest.
The green grass beneath also needed to be changed.
Not only because it would soon wither and turn yellow, but also because it did not taste good.
She liked waking up, tilting her head, and being able to bite fresh and delicious grass as soon as she opened her mouth.
Mm… fruits and melons were fine too.
So the branches around her nest were hung full of all kinds of fruits and melons.
After several years, a vegetable patch had appeared beside the wooden house.
Just like in Pinecone Village, it was planted with all kinds of fruits and vegetables.
Only there were no weasels and field mice to help manage it.
Chu Xun held a hoe, turning over extra weeds and pulling them out.
Although using Dao arts would be easier, precisely because it was easy, it made time seem far too abundant.
That was why Chu Xun preferred to do things personally.
After working for a while, he returned to the wooden house.
He leaned the hoe beside the door and patted the dust from his hands.
Wei Youyou ran over, pointed at her nest, and asked, “Old Master, look! Is my nest pretty?”
Chu Xun looked over, then answered, “Pretty.”
Wei Youyou giggled and brought him a stool, then shouted, “Sun Zhu, class is starting, yo!”
After that, Wei Youyou also brought over a stool, as well as bamboo charcoal and tree bark to use as pen and paper.
In the mud pit beside the wooden house, the rotting leaves were pushed up.
Sun Zhu, now somewhat taller than a few years ago, poked out its yellow-brown head.
First, it cautiously observed its surroundings. Only then did it fold its mushroom skirt and hop out.
Chu Xun had told it about this many times.
There was no need to be so cautious near the wooden house.
But it had already developed caution as an instinct and could never change it.
After speaking about it for a year or two, Chu Xun stopped mentioning it. After all, it could not really be considered a flaw.
When it reached Chu Xun’s feet, Sun Zhu carefully touched the top of his foot with its mushroom skirt, as if indicating it had arrived.
This was also its habit. Even though it knew Chu Xun could see it, it still used its own movement as a reminder.
Chu Xun lowered his head, glanced at it, and said with a smile, “What, did you forget how to greet people again?”
Sun Zhu shook its pure white body, and its yellow-brown head swayed along with it.
Then it produced a somewhat blurry voice.
“Good, good morning.”
Over these years, Chu Xun had taught it how to speak.
But Sun Zhu was, after all, a little spirit that had not transformed. Learning human language was very difficult for it.
Just the name “Sun Zhu” had taken it two years to learn how to pronounce.
“Today, we’ll learn the phrase ‘to eat.’”
As he spoke, Chu Xun stretched out his hand and wrote the words “to eat” in midair using green wood essence qi.
“The people regard food as heaven. There is also the saying that people die for wealth, while birds die for food.
No matter what all things beneath heaven and earth do, wherever they are, whatever the time, in the final analysis, the words ‘to eat’ are the foundation.”
Chu Xun lowered his head and looked at Sun Zhu beside his foot.
“Just like the old rat when we first met. It attacked you because it wanted to eat. But although you clearly defeated it, you did not eat it.”
“No, no, no…” Sun Zhu stammered for a long time before finally producing two words. “Not tasty.”
Chu Xun could not help laughing.
“Next time, try to speak in a full sentence.”
“Know, know, know… don’t know.”
Sun Zhu tried very hard to respond.
Chu Xun had no choice but to continue.
“You didn’t eat it, but you were eating moonlight essence. Because you ate moonlight essence, you became more attractive to other spirits. Most struggles beneath heaven and earth are triggered by the words ‘to eat.’”
A long while later, Chu Xun began teaching them how to write.
Wei Youyou had transformed many years ago and learned quickly.
Sun Zhu could not use bamboo charcoal as a pen, so it could only drag its mushroom skirt across the ground, tracing crooked strokes in the soil.
Only when Wei Youyou grew hungry from studying did this lesson finally end.
She ran off to pick fruits and melons to eat, then returned and crouched on the ground, watching Sun Zhu practice writing.
From time to time, she offered some guidance. When she saw Sun Zhu write a little better than before, she clapped and praised it.
A few days later, Huangshi Gong arrived.
This time, what came was not a straw puppet, but his true body.
Different from the straw puppet, his real body was somewhat younger.
Over these years, relying on what he had gained from the dream, Huangshi Gong had actually worked out some results. He had completed the missing portion of the Qi Refinement outline and had now reached the eighth layer of Qi Refinement.
Judging from his vitality and life flame, he would gain some additional years of life. At minimum, he could live to around one hundred forty or fifty.
His cultivation had improved, but after coming to visit Chu Xun, Huangshi Gong became even more reverent instead.
Because he increasingly felt that this Immortal Master’s cultivation was unfathomable, countless times higher than his own.
This visit was not only to pay respects to Chu Xun and discuss what he had gained in cultivation, but also to bring some news about Jing Kingdom.
For example, the birds and beasts had moved away from Pinecone Village.
For example, Xiao Shuying had replaced Xie Ji and taken the seat of Martial Alliance Leader.
And for another example, Song Qizheng, the Minister of Revenue, had openly rebuked Emperor Yongxiang in court for establishing Jiedushi, violating ancestral law and leaving endless future troubles.
Even when Emperor Yongxiang intended to dismiss him and throw him into the imperial prison, he refused to retract his words.
“I was the second-ranked scholar of the twelfth year of Chongming. My teacher was the second-ranked scholar of the forty-first year of Taizu. My teacher’s teacher was the second-ranked scholar of the twenty-first year of Taizu!
From the moment I passed the examinations and earned official rank, I swore that three generations of second-ranked scholars would devote themselves entirely to Jing Kingdom until death!
If my death remonstrance can make Your Majesty withdraw your command, what is there to regret about dying?
What Jing Kingdom needs is not one mere Minister of Revenue, but loyal ministers who dare remonstrate unto death!”
Unfortunately, Emperor Yongxiang could not listen to his words.
Though he did not truly kill Song Qizheng, he still dismissed him and placed him under confinement.
Upon hearing of this, Princess Yunshu, Xiao Shuying, specifically returned to the capital.
It was said that on that day, fierce arguments rang from the imperial study.
In the end, Princess Yunshu left in fury.
After hearing this news, Chu Xun sighed but did not interfere.
The people he had been familiar with had all passed away. To him, Jing Kingdom was now only a piece of scenery along the road of longevity.
Only, thinking of the imperial fate he had seen on Xiao Shuying, Chu Xun said to Huangshi Gong, “You have already learned Grand Duke’s military strategies. If the princess raises troops in the coming years, you should assist her in accomplishing her cause.”
Huangshi Gong did not refuse. Although he now had a path of cultivation, he deeply understood that all of this had been bestowed by Chu Xun.
He regarded Chu Xun as a teacher and benefactor.
More than ten years passed after that.
Chu Xun and Wei Youyou stood before a cave.
Clearly, nothing was ahead, yet no matter what they did, they could not enter.
It was as though an invisible wall blocked them.
After living on the mountain for nearly twenty years, Chu Xun had almost traveled across every place before finally discovering this cave dwelling on a sheer cliff.
He did not know what was inside, but through Qi-Gazing and Fate Perception, he could clearly see strands of clear spiritual qi spreading from this mountain body in every direction.
Over these years, Chu Xun had discovered quite a few spirits on the mountain, far more than he had imagined.
Many things that were normally difficult to become spirits could be seen here.
Clearly, the number of spirits here was extraordinary, and it should be closely related to the clear spiritual qi flowing out from this place.
Unfortunately, the cave entrance was blocked and could not be entered.
Chu Xun did not keep forcing it. After remembering the location, he left with Wei Youyou.
After returning to the wooden house, he opened the ancient talisman book he had obtained from Huangshi Gong and carefully examined each talisman one by one.
On the wooden table beside him, there were many paper talismans he had learned and copied over the years.
Blessings, disaster avoidance, evil slaying, obstacle overcoming, and so on.
Judging from what he sensed at the cave entrance, what blocked him from entering should belong to some kind of qi mechanism.
Chu Xun had tried cutting with the Zhenfang Sword, but it had no effect.
The metal-essence treasure sword that restrained all evil things could not display its proper effect against that qi mechanism. Instead, it was heavily repelled.
The more force he used, the stronger the rebound.
After searching through the ancient talisman book for a long time, Chu Xun still could not find any talisman that could break the qi mechanism.
So he picked up Huangshi Gong’s notes on the insights from his thousand-year dream and carefully read through them.
From time to time, he lifted the wine gourd from the table and took a small sip.
It was still Bai Family Old Shop’s Yu Nian Brew. He had never been willing to drink much of it.
From the doorway of the wooden house, a questioning voice came.
“Teacher, is wine tasty?”
Chu Xun turned his head and saw that the one asking was Sun Zhu.
It had grown much larger than before, now over a chi tall.
When its mushroom skirt spread open, it could cover a range of five chi.
The clear spiritual qi on its body was also much more obvious than before.
When it had first arrived, it spoke haltingly and stammered. Now, it could already hold simple conversations.
Chu Xun smiled and drew out a strand of wine, sending it drifting lightly toward Sun Zhu with a wave of his hand.
“Why not taste it yourself?”
The wine poured over its head and was quickly absorbed by Sun Zhu.
Immediately afterward, its whole body began trembling. Its mushroom skirt continuously stretched and contracted, repeating again and again.
From white, it turned red, then purple, and finally toppled headfirst onto the ground.
Wei Youyou ran in from outside. Seeing this scene, she immediately cried out, “Yo! It’s cooked!”
After that, Chu Xun began independently studying the Dao of talismans based on Huangshi Gong’s ancient talisman book.
This path was very difficult, but not impossible.
Chu Xun had already figured out the foundation of talisman arts. It was simply using magic power to draw in accordance with certain laws of heaven and earth.
Rather than calling them talismans, it would be better to call them authority between heaven and earth.
Only, depending on the talisman drawer’s cultivation and understanding of heavenly power, the authority obtained varied in level.
Just like the Lightning-Avoidance Talismans he had copied in the past, which could only withstand a single heavenly lightning strike.
But the Lightning-Avoidance Talisman left behind by the old Daoist could withstand hundreds.
As for a talisman capable of breaking the qi mechanism of the cave dwelling, although he would have to create it from nothing and comprehend it himself.
Chu Xun was not anxious in the slightest.
He still had seven or eight hundred years of lifespan. For now, there was no need to worry.
This was also true for gathering the Five Ministers. He was waiting.
In his heart, he had a premonition that the destined person he needed to wait for would arrive very soon.
What he did not know was that Jing Kingdom had already fallen into chaos.
Ever since twenty years ago, when Emperor Yongxiang rewarded the Mobei Horse Tribe general Yizuo’a and appointed him as the Mobei Jiedushi, many things had begun developing in a bad direction.
Across the various regions, besides prefects, there now existed a Jiedushi who controlled many powers.
At first, Emperor Yongxiang had thought very well of it. He wanted to exchange this bit of power for military generals handing over control of the border armies and going to local regions to retire.
The armies were also largely disbanded and returned to farming in order to increase national strength.
Unexpectedly, although a Jiedushi’s authority seemed small, in reality, it was astonishingly vast.
Just the right to manage military farms independently had been exploited as a major loophole.
Those Jiedushi used the excuse that military farm yields were not enough to feed them and continuously expanded, seizing land through deception and force.
The land in their hands grew more and more. Even if local prefects and officials wanted to manage them, they could not.
More accurately, they did not dare.
Local military authority belonged to the Jiedushi. The prefectural offices had only a few old, weak, sick, and disabled guards.
Even if elite soldiers were assigned to them, how many could there be?
In an age of cold weapons, whoever had more men had more authority to speak.
On top of that, the military generals who had retired from the border armies all had fiery tempers. If even one word disagreed, they would draw blades at one another.
This caused the prefects to become even more indulgent toward them, shrinking back in fear.
In only a short dozen years, the authority of prefects had already been hollowed out. Basically, in every region, only the words of the Jiedushi counted.
Meanwhile, in order to fully incorporate Mobei into the territory, Emperor Yongxiang had implemented a policy of appeasement.
Large amounts of supplies were transported to Mobei, and although Jing officials of various levels had been inserted to supervise.
The Mobei Jiedushi was still Yizuo’a.
Twenty years had been enough for him to manage Mobei until it became like an iron barrel.
As for the so-called Jing officials assigned to monitor him, they were either bribed or killed and replaced with obedient people.
Emperor Yongxiang knew nothing of all this.
Now middle-aged, he was rejoicing over the prosperous age he had established.
No war, no natural disasters, no human calamities.
The common people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the memorials sent by officials were all full of praise.
Then came the twenty-seventh year of Yongxiang.
Mobei Jiedushi Yizuo’a used the pretext of attacking Changming Jiedushi Song Baolin and captured several prefectural cities in succession.
After beheading Song Baolin, he still did not withdraw his troops, instead continuing to march toward the capital.
Emperor Yongxiang had the Ministry of War issue several military orders in succession, but Yizuo’a ignored them all.
Instead, he sent people to deliver a message, claiming that the Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue had indulged Song Baolin in corruption and lawlessness, forcing the people of the world into misery.
Now, he intended to uphold justice and eliminate treacherous ministers for Jing Kingdom.
Even if Emperor Yongxiang was foolish, he could see that Yizuo’a was not eliminating treacherous ministers at all.
He clearly wanted to eliminate the emperor himself.
He was rebelling!
Emperor Yongxiang immediately issued orders to Jiedushi across the land, commanding them to raise troops and protect the throne, suppressing Yizuo’a.
However, after the military orders were sent, some Jiedushi did send troops to protect the emperor, but others remained still.
They had grown used to living as local emperors over the years and were quite happy to see the emperor’s head cut off.
No matter how powerful Yizuo’a was, he could not devour all of Jing Kingdom.
When the time came, wouldn’t declaring independence and becoming kings themselves be even better?
Thus, Yizuo’a swept forward like a hot knife through butter, broke through Hulao Pass, and reached the capital directly.
Both furious and resentful, Emperor Yongxiang fled the capital under the protection of his officials.
He settled in the southwestern city of Liaoyuan.
Meanwhile, Yizuo’a rebelled and ascended the throne in the capital, establishing the state name Great Yuan.
Emperor Yongxiang angrily denounced him as a rebel subject and refused to acknowledge Great Yuan.
But the facts were plain before everyone. Many people began referring to the former Jing Kingdom as Former Jing, while the southwestern territories occupied by Emperor Yongxiang were called Later Jing.
That year, Emperor Yongxiang was so enraged that his heart and mind collapsed, and he died suddenly.
Several months later, Princess Yunshu, Xiao Shuying, allied with jianghu figures and loyal ministers to raise troops against Yizuo’a.
She swore to reclaim the capital.
[End of Chapter]
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