The housekeeper known as "Uncle Shao" has long been accustomed to his young master's harsh way of speaking.

Shen Qiu is the son of the head of the Shen family in Jinling who gave birth to a maid after getting drunk. The head of the house and his wife often quarreled because of his presence. In addition, Shen Qiu was short and ugly, and the head of the family never gave him a good face.

Naturally, Shen Qiu counted his family members and showed no mercy.

"Uncle Shao, don't look at the Shen family's current Zhong Ming Ding Food and rich in the world, but its position is not stable. There is no future for living comfortably at home like my brothers," I heard Shen Qiu continue to say in a sharp voice, "Have you noticed that since the current emperor ascended the throne, he has been targeting the various major lord families.

"First, the Lu clan of Qingzhou was sentenced to the nine clans for committing treason, and then Zhao Changying, the Duke of Yanguo, was taken away part of his military power. The cultivation of the fourth prince, Xiao Shangzhen, was abolished, and the emperor did not pursue it at all. Recently, I also heard rumors that the emperor wants to abolish the queen...... If the empress is really deposed, it must be a very heavy blow to the Chen family in Xiangyang.

"Although the Shen family has not been affected yet, as a child of the Shen family, especially someone like my father who doesn't love my mother, I always have to be prepared for danger in times of peace and find a way out for myself.

"In case the big ship of the Shen family really sinks one day, I can sit on the shore and quietly drink tea and eat melon seeds, watching my brothers who can't swim flutter in the waves and shout 'help'...... Such a scene must be very interesting. ”

Steward Shao frowned slightly.

"Actually, young master, even if you don't stay in Jinling, you can have some other places to go," he pondered for a moment and said, "I remember that not long ago, the head of Penglai Island took a fancy to your talent, and hoped that you would join his sect and be his disciple—"

"- Penglai Island? That's a joke," Shen Qiu sneered, interrupting Steward Shao's words, "Penglai Island, Lingshan Temple, and Shudi Sword Pavilion are known as the 'Three Great Qi Dynasty's Three Great Sects', and Lingshan Temple and Sword Pavilion all have saint-level powerhouses in charge, but Penglai Island has not had a new saint for more than a hundred years. finally got an empty Xuansan, but it turned out to be an outcast, and not long ago he became a ghost...... Even Zhao Yan of the Zhao family can beat the disciples of the entire Penglai Island with one person and one gun......

"If I go to this kind of sect, won't I be even more despised by those people in the family?"

Steward Shao saw that his young master had made up his mind, so he stopped talking.

He knew that Shen Qiu had sharp teeth and sharp mouth on the surface, and even the members of the three major sects and the royal family dared to yin and yang, but he actually had a strong sense of self-esteem in his bones and cared a lot about what others thought of him.

Because of his appearance, Shen Qiu rarely appeared in public before, preferring to do things behind the scenes.

But if you want to go to Longmen Academy to teach, you are destined to face the eyes of the teachers and students of the whole school, and even the entire capital.

At this time, Shen Qiu continued: "In my opinion, this time the selection of new teachings by Longmen Academy is different from every previous time, it is said that the national teacher, the head of the exorcism department and Princess Zhaoning are all very concerned about this, and it must be of extraordinary significance.

"If I can stand out from the candidates, from an unknown concubine who even dislikes my father, to a rune master personally certified by the saint, I will rise to the top and soar; If I fail in the competition, I can also get acquainted with the powerful tasks of the capital by the way...... After all, the man who can defeat me in the path of the Seal must be a promising genius - it is definitely happier to make friends with such a person than to be a dog to my stupid brother. ”

Shen Qiu's words sounded spicy and mean, but Steward Shao knew that he was telling the truth.

Shen Qiu's brother-in-law is named Shen Hua.

He was born to the wife of the head of the Shen family, and grew up with a golden key in his mouth. The old and young in the clan, from the old grandmother to the little maid who served tea and poured water, from the sixth realm to the errand boy, were all revolving around him.

The treatment he received was naturally completely different from that of Shen Qiu.

But Shen Qiu always felt that Shen Hua's stupid brain was not worthy of such treatment.

Not long ago, the head of the Shen family had tried to negotiate with the royal family, hoping that Shen Hua could marry Xiao Wanjun, the princess of Zhaoning, and become the new concubine of the Great Qi Dynasty.

However, before the elders could figure out the birthdays of the two, Shen Hua was discovered by the inspector from the capital when he was visiting the kiln; Subsequently, Shen Hua was revealed to have raised many male pets in his house.

The royal family chooses horses, not only for the family, but also for virtue.

After these things were exposed, it was naturally impossible for Princess Zhaoning to marry Shen Hua again.

The marriage plan fell through.

So in the follow-up period, the entire Jinling Shen clan was wiping Shen Hua's buttocks.

"Sometimes, I really suspect that my brother has in his head," Shen Qiu continued to count his brother-in-law, "just a little bit, he will have the opportunity to marry the 'Luojing No. 1 Beauty' and sleep with the actual ruler of Great Qi - that is something that almost all Great Qi men have secretly fantasized about in private." But he just wanted to visit the kiln at this critical time, and he was still hanging out with a group of men...... He ruined his own reputation and his family's reputation.

"Alas, who told him to have a noble mother?

"No matter how much he does wrong, he will be forgiven, and someone will help him wipe his ass......"

Shen Qiu was talking to himself as he took out white paper and charcoal from his pocket, scribbling on them at random, and hundreds of ways to draw talismans and seals floated through his mind.

Steward Shao sat across from him, looked at the tiredness on his face, and sighed silently.

So far, he only hopes that his young master can rely on his amazing talent in the rune path to show his demeanor in Longmen Academy.

…………

In the next few days, Gu Xu kept himself locked in the "Qingxiang Pavilion", while cultivating, he reviewed the art of the rune seal, and occasionally had free time, he would also try to practice the newly learned spells.

Unconsciously, he made some minor improvements to the commonly used talismans such as the "Body Binding Talisman", "Xuanbing Talisman", and "Flame True Talisman", and advanced one hundred and twenty steps on the "Homesick Ridge".

During this process, the formation mage of the Yamen of the headquarters of the Exorcism Division came to the "Qingxiang Pavilion" once to maintain the damaged magic circle.

- In fact, Gu Xu felt that if he was given some time, he might be able to study the principle of this formation clearly, and he would be able to repair it himself without asking someone to help.

But for him now, time is the most precious thing.

Especially now that he is about to go to the Longmen Academy to have a head-to-head battle with several well-known talisman masters.

So he chose to ask someone to help.

It doesn't cost money anyway.

So, after Gu Xu made a request, a middle-aged formation master with a long beard and sloppy clothes came to the "Qingxiang Pavilion" - his appearance reminded Gu Xu of the science and engineering dogs in the university who stayed all night in the laboratory, obsessed with research, never cared about personal image, and wore the same set of clothes every day.

The middle-aged array master stood in front of the wooden screen on the second floor, stared at the scorched black marks on the screen for a long time, took a deep breath, and showed a look of surprise on his face.

"Master Gu, these traces ...... Was it really you who caused it in the process of practicing the spell? ”

"That's right." Gu Xu nodded in acknowledgement and smiled embarrassedly.

The middle-aged formation master took a deep breath.

He felt that the flaws in this formation did not exist on the surface, but on the level of rules. To cause such damage to a formation, it is necessary to have a very deep understanding of the "Tao".

This middle-aged formation master usually likes to lock himself in the room to study the formation, and rarely pays attention to the outside world, and is a person who "doesn't listen to anything outside the window".

He had heard others mention Gu Xu's name.

But when the young monks of the Yamen showed very exaggerated admiration for Gu Xu, he was a little skeptical, feeling that these young monks might have blown it too far.

Breaking through the three realms in one year, cultivating the art of the Fu Seal to the master level in one year, comprehending the "Seven Styles of Burning the Sky", and defeating the opponent in the Lantern Festival Ring Competition......

How can these unbelievable things exist in the same person at the same time?

Until today –

When he saw with his own eyes that the formation he had participated in was destroyed and disintegrated at the level of rules, he deeply felt the horror of the young man around him—his understanding of the "Dao" seemed to be stronger than that of some monks in the fifth and sixth realms.

The middle-aged formation master suddenly felt that those young monks in the yamen were not bragging, but stating the facts.

There really may be such a genius in the world - he does things that are more outrageous than others boast.

"Master Gu, to repair this formation, it may be beyond my ability," the middle-aged formation master was silent for a long time, and finally reluctantly admitted his lack of ability, "You may need to go to Lord Si Leader to fix the flaws in the rules...... The core of its rules was designed by the head of the department, and we only assisted in some minor work under the command of the head of the department......"

Gu Xu was also silent.

He began to hesitate to trouble the head of the department because of such a trivial matter...... It's better to wait until the matter of the Longmen Academy is resolved, and then repair this formation by yourself.

…………

Of course, this incident was just an inconspicuous episode in Gu Xu's cultivation process.

He was immersed in the thrill of drawing talismans and climbing the "Homesick Ridge", and before he knew it, two days had passed.

…………

The twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month.

There is one day left before the teaching and learning selection of Longmen Academy.

Gu Xu finished his all-night cultivation, changed his clothes, and went to the Yamen Kitchen for breakfast.

On the way, a mortal handyman in a coarse cloth shirt took a letter and ran to Gu Xu as if he were flying, and said breathlessly, "Gu ...... Master Gu, this is your letter. ”

Gu Xu took the letter and smiled at him and thanked him.

Then as he walked, he opened the envelope.

The letter was sent by Chen Jisheng from Yishui County.

The first sentence of the letter was: "Gu Xu, today is your eighteenth birthday, I hope you are all right in the capital." ”

"Eighteen years old...... Gu Xu sighed softly.

When a person celebrates his birthday, people will happily say to him, "Happy birthday to you".

But Gu Xu was not happy.

Because every birthday of his is a countdown alarm clock, telling him in a piercing voice: You have another year missing.

"Twelve more years."

"It should ...... Just in time......"

While thinking so, he continued to read Chen Jisheng's letter.

Chen Jisheng said in the letter that the situation in Yishui County is very good, so Gu Xu can focus on cultivation and don't worry.

The Great Qi National Master personally took action and resealed the "Nine Baby Snake Demon" to the ground, causing the fire to be extinguished and the flood receded. The headquarters of the Exorcism Division sent many monks to help the disaster area of Qingzhou Mansion rebuild, and Yishui County soon recovered to the appearance in Gu Xu's memory.

In this disaster, a total of 18 people died and 29 people were missing in Yishui County, all of whom were ordinary people who had not cultivated.

The exorcist priest provided a bereavement to their families.

In addition, the monks in the disaster area of Qingzhou Prefecture have received some support from their cultivation resources.

Wang Yang has obtained a lot of pills, and in the short term, he does not have to do tasks desperately in order to obtain meritorious deeds as he did in the past.

Although his talent was limited, after this disaster, he was strongly stimulated, almost gave up all entertainment and rest time, and focused all his energy on cultivation - Chen Jisheng said that Wang Yang's performance of forgetting to sleep and eat reminded him of Gu Xu's appearance when he was in Yishui County.

Ma Qin, who participated in the promotion assessment with Gu Xu, also escaped the disaster by luck, and now returns to the Yamen of Yishui County to continue working.

Because Ma Qin is about to be thirty-six years old, but he still hasn't married a daughter-in-law, he has been feeling very anxious recently. Out of kindness, Chen Jisheng helped him introduce a few girls, but he always failed to negotiate marriage for various reasons.

Sometimes it is the woman who dislikes Ma Qin's precarious work and does not even have real estate in Yishui County; Sometimes it is Ma Qin who dislikes the woman's age, mediocre appearance, or the personality of her family members who are difficult to get along with; Sometimes it's just a pure mismatch......

Therefore, Chen Jisheng hoped that Gu Xu would have time to help see if Ma Qin would be the Heavenly Demon Lone Star, but he had not been able to find a suitable partner for so many years.

"Alas, Brother Ma......" Gu Xu shook his head with a smile, not knowing what to say for a while.

Chen Jisheng also mentioned the hunchbacked old man who guarded the treasury in the letter - he never thought that in a small place like Yishui Yamen, there was a clone of a "fierce god" level ghost, and no one found out after hiding it for so many years.

Looking back now, it gives me goosebumps.

Finally, Chen Jisheng said that he had learned about Gu Xu's actions in the capital from the recent Di Bao, and knew that he won the first place in the Lantern Festival Ring Competition.

"It's good that you didn't embarrass our Yishui County monks." These are the exact words of the letter.

………

After reading the letter, Gu Xu stood in place and was silent for a long time, only to feel a warm current surging in his heart.

At this moment, someone suddenly pulled off his clothes from behind and said with a grin:

"Gu Xu, guess what birthday gift this woman has prepared for you?"

PS: 4K word chapters ask for a monthly pass! (Sorry for the scheduled update somehow failed, a little late)