On the shore of a frost-white lake reflecting the moon, ice crystals hang all over the branches of old trees, and the world is silent, and everything is dormant.

Suddenly, a long roar came from the mountain, and the ice crystals on the branches fell to the ground, and several sleeping crows were frightened and flew away.

Luo Xixian, who was wearing a strong suit with arrow sleeves and a long sword hanging from his waist, heard a long howl in the distance, stopped and raised his eyes to look, and the hazy mist shrouded the mountains by the lake, and he couldn't see it really.

Luo Xixian continued to move forward, leaving light footprints on the thick snow, this kind of light body kung fu is a manifestation of success in refining qi.

The study of breathing, guiding, practicing qi, and refining qi is a major vein of the Xuanmen Immortal Dao in Kunlun Continent, and what is sought is to retreat from illness and preserve shape, be reborn and live forever, and have always cherished the physical body.

Even if a Qi refining cultivator has not been certified immortal, and has been cultivating diligently for decades, he can still seek a person who is light and clear-sighted, and will not be invaded by all diseases. Later, the science of refining qi and exhaling has evolved several times, and it is no longer limited to cultivating immortality, but pursuing the power of killing and fighting, which is especially important in contemporary times.

What Luo Xixian learned was a sword immortal, and his daily homework was to spit out the sword and condense his true qi into sword qi. This method not only requires the sword to be connected to its own qi and can be used by the envoy at will, but also to refine the body into steel and iron bones, and invulnerable.

It is true that Luo Xixian's achievements now are far inferior to those of the Sword Immortals who enter and exit the Qingying and swallow the Sword Gang, but they are also enough to make contributions on the battlefield.

During the War of the Five Kingdoms, swordsmen and the like repeatedly appeared on the battlefield, either assassinating enemy generals and dignitaries, or relying on the edge of their swords to break through the enemy formation.

However, Luo Xixian did not have such an opportunity, when he first practiced Qi Refining and Exhaling, the War of the Five Kingdoms was about to end, and now relying on swordsmanship, it was just a crusade against the evil spirits in the territory of Huaxu Kingdom.

As soon as Luo Xixian returned to Huaiying Hall today, Zhang Duanjing asked him to go to the back mountain to find someone.

Huaiying Pavilion is not only a few courtyard houses, but also a large surrounding mountains, forests, lakes, and countryside farms. After all, most of the monks who studied magic and refined qi here were not to the point of not eating the fireworks of the world, and the pavilion itself also needed a lot of offerings.

As for the mountain behind Huaiyingguan, it is not a lonely hill, but a mountain with a lake, lush vegetation, and many cave pavilions scattered in the mountain, which are specially designed for retreat and retreat.

Whether it is studying spells or refining qi and cultivating truth, it has always been necessary to avoid the world, not only to be quiet and focused, to avoid external interference, but also to prevent it from affecting ordinary people.

A swordsman like Luo Xixian, when he is performing martial arts, the sword aura is rampant, and mortals will feel sharp and frightened when they get close, and those techniques that change the appearance of objects and manipulate the five elements are the slightest carelessness is to burn down the house, not to mention the means of summoning spirits and ghosts, which may not be welcomed by the general public.

Although the cultivation of magic is not isolated from the mundane, it is not very common. Even if Huaxu Kingdom is already regarded as the cultivation of cultivators among the five countries of Kunlun Continent, and the imperial court has opened a pavilion to concentrate students with natural qualifications, but it is still a very small number of people after all.

But as long as you can become a monk in the pavilion, you will almost have no worries about food and clothing, not only will you have all kinds of preferential exemptions from forced labor and taxes, but the future will be even greater.

Following the direction of his memory, Luo Xixian came to a cave on the mountainside. What shocked him was that at this moment, in the open space outside the cave, there was a white-fronted tiger sleeping soundly.

Luo Xixian could clearly sense that this white-fronted tiger implied a threat, and if he didn't move, once he launched it, the sharp claws and teeth were no less sharp than the sword qi.

Before Luo Xixian could figure it out, the white-fronted tiger suddenly opened his eyes, roared and stood on all fours, just the top of his shoulders and back was about the same height as Luo Xixian, and his size was far beyond that of ordinary tigers and leopards.

"When did there become such a big tiger in the mountain behind the Huaiying Pavilion?"

A thought flashed through Luo Xixian's mind, and he instinctively raised his hand to draw his sword, and the sword qi penetrated through his body spontaneously.

However, the white-fronted tiger didn't wait for Luo Xixian to move, and the tiger roared and pounced. Luo Xixian didn't dare to be careless, his toes were a little bit, his figure flew back, and at the same time raised his arms and waved his sword. The sword qi stirred up the snow waves, and they all disturbed and slashed towards the white-fronted tiger.

The sword qi broke through the air, and there was no blood on the tiger's body, but a little bit of light was scraped off. Luo Xixian vaguely glimpsed that under the scars of the tiger, there were talismans and seals bending and moving, and it was conceivable that this tiger was not a living thing.

There was a general conjecture in his heart, Luo Xixian smiled at the corner of his mouth, did not open his mouth to say much, the tip of the sword was handed forward, and the cold light of the sword qi was dazzling and dazzling, with the advantage of piercing the gold through the stone, containing the potential of a huge wave to break the dam.

The roar of the tiger blew away the snow around it, and it converged into a divine blade and spat out, colliding head-on with the sword qi.

In an instant, a dense battle of gold and iron sounded, and the edges splashed in all directions, splitting the surrounding mountains and rocks with mottled sword marks, and the grass and trees in all directions were urged.

"That's it!"

Luo Xixian stood straight in the turbulent wind and snow, the sword mark stopped three feet away from his body, he put the sword into the sheath and said, "Master Zhao, that's how you greeted me?" ”

The wind and snow gradually subsided, the white-fronted tiger outside the cave turned into light and dissipated, and Zhao Xiao, who was wearing a green shirt and wide sleeves, stepped out.

"It is worthy of Luo Da Sword Immortal, with one 'decisive stopper', it will completely break the technique that I have been studying in retreat for months. In the future, the sword will rise, but don't forget to bring your little brother. ”

"Poor mouth." Luo Xixian scolded with a smile: "What kind of means did you use just now? I have seen the means of cutting paper into people and cutting grass into horses, all of which need to borrow things to entertain the calligraphy, and they must prepare for the sacrifice in advance. But like you, directly forming the form of the talisman seal, I still have seen it for the first time. ”

Zhao Xiao smiled and said, "This is what I deduced from the True Form Summoning. ”

The technique of summoning is not done out of thin air, such as the Zhu Wen white ribbon on Zhao Huang's waist, which is painted with the true shape of the fire crow's talisman seal, which has the connotation of qi and spiritual rhyme. The more brilliant the summoning technique, the more complex the corresponding ghostly and spirited true form tends to be.

And Zhao Xiao's hand just now was to get the guidance of the spirit flute, and with the qi calligraphy and the talisman knot, it showed a bit of the charm of the original body of the white-fronted prince back then.

Ling Xiao hid in the True Yuan Lock back then, and once saw Bai Egong cultivating in his original body, and created the "Divine Tiger Hidden Text" based on his true form and charm. Even though the white-fronted prince has long since dissolved, "Divine Tiger Hidden Text" can restore his original face to the world and restore his strong strength in the past.

But even if the white-fronted prince has not proven the Immortal Dao, his true form, law body, qi and spirit are not something that Zhao Xiao can fully grasp now. After the streamlining of the spirit flute, with Zhao Xiao's current cultivation, he can generally produce the true form of the divine tiger, and he has his own tiger power and evil control spell.

Zhao Xiao planned to use it as an on-call protector, if he ran into a brave martial artist like Demon Teng or Wang Miaoshou again, he would let the Divine Tiger True Form resist in front, and cast spells in the back, so as not to be beaten away by a stick.

"Amazing, they've all started to deduce spells on their own?" Luo Xixian said with a smile: "In the past half a year, I have been hiding in the back mountain for retreat, it seems that you have made a lot of progress by leaps and bounds!" ”

"Refining Qi forgets the form, I don't know the years outside the mountain." Zhao Xiao looked at the surrounding mountains and forests and snowy scenes, and opened his mouth to exhale a cloud of white mist.

After returning to Huaiying Pavilion from Chengyang County, he did not get the recommendation of the first Zhang Duanjing, so Zhao Xiao put his mind on cultivation. He found a cave in the mountain behind the pavilion, focused on refining qi and storing spirit in the first few months, and began to study magic in the next few months, and half a year passed in a blink of an eye.

As Lingxiao said, the body and mind are calm, and cultivation is naturally diligent. What's more, the back mountain of Huaiying Pavilion is far away from the world, and it can still breathe out a little clear air, and Zhao Huang finally familiarized the true qi of Wuzang and merged into Guan Yuan.

Only by spitting out and refining qi so far can it be regarded as a real beginner. Guan Yuanqi was full, his mind fell, and his spirit was full of hugging, like a little millet bead gradually taking shape.

Zhao Xiao's rapid progress in the past half a year can be regarded as a thick accumulation. Now that he has achieved success, his attainments in magic have naturally reached a higher level.

"It's still not as good as you." Zhao Xiao sighed.

"Anyway, I came to the Huaiying Pavilion a few years before you." Luo Xixian shook the black text yellow ribbon on his waist: "In addition, I have been promoted to the position of Sanqing." ”

"I see." Zhao Xiao asked: "You are not yet thirty this year, and there are few Sanqing at this age, looking at Huaxu Kingdom." To tell me the truth, you shouldn't have relied on your father's shade to enshrine a large number of Dharma letters to the first seat to get this position of Sanqing, right? ”

Zhao Xiao's family background is not unusual, and his father is the great Sima of Huaxu State. Originally, in the War of the Five Kingdoms, he was also a general of the unified army, but after the war, he handed over military power in time, retired successfully, and was appointed as one of the three princes of the DPRK.

Even if Da Sima no longer has real power in Huaxu, he is also a noble minister, and it is said that his heirs can directly enter the Chongxuan Pavilion of Dongsheng Capital with his grace.

"Don't talk nonsense, it's not like you don't know, I'm not a concubine." Luo Xixian exhaled through his nostrils: "During your retreat, I beheaded a gutless general by the sea to ensure the safety of a large salt field, and this merit is enough to be promoted to Sanqing." ”

No intestine is a crab nickname, Huaxu has a long coastal border, and there are many islands, and it is inevitable that it will be infested by monsters in the sea.

Since ancient times, there have been many shrimp soldiers and crab generals in the sea, and it is basically impossible to go deep into the ocean to completely destroy them, so they can only do it when they go ashore to plunder.

"Salt pans?" Zhao Huang said in a weird manner: "This is the promotion of Sanqing, it's a bit unauthentic, right?" How much has Hua Xu made over the years by selling salt to Youxiong and Jiuli? Such a critical place as the salt field is heavily guarded, and it is said that there should be monks in charge. This is also asking you Luo Dajian Immortal to kill the demon, how lazy are those people in the Chongxuan Pavilion? ”

"Alright! Stop blowing. Luo Xixian smiled bitterly and shook his head, he had been friends with Zhao Huang for many years, and he thought that he was not his opponent when it came to playing with his lips and tongue, so he had to explain: "The first seat said, with my current ability, it is not enough to be promoted to a general." As for the people in the Chongxuan Pavilion, they are reluctant to leave the gentle township of Dongshengdu, and it is ominous to crusade against demons everywhere, don't they all let other pavilions send people to cook? ”

In addition to setting up a pavilion in Huaxu Kingdom, the monks also have corresponding high and low ranks, which are distinguished by the magic ribbon around the waist, from low to high are the talisman of Zhu Wen and the white ribbon, the Sanqing of the black and yellow ribbon, the general of the silver and green ribbons, and the spiritual officials of the golden and purple ribbons.

Among them, the students who are new to the practice of magic have not been conferred and still need to take the school examination. And the position of the spirit official is the premise of serving as the head of the pavilion, and he may also serve as the minister of the court. When the Fu official dealt with the evil and ominous in the assistant place, he only had the right to be a counselor, and when he reached the level of Sanqing, the county order had to be obedient.

The generals have to go further, not only to deal with some spirits and monsters, but also to lead the army to recruit the enemy army when necessary, because after the five countries have signed a treaty, the borders of various countries cannot be said to be stable and peaceful.

However, the specific situation is more complicated, such as the Chongxuan Pavilion in Dongshengdu, which not only brings together the children of the powerful in the court, but also contains many immortal secrets and magic weapons, and its status is obviously above that of other museums. And for Zhao Xiao, this is not even a legend.

In short, in today's Huaxu country, most of the monks came from the pavilion, and those sects taught by masters and apprentices in the past were either annexed and occupied by the pavilion, or they died out one after another without successors. There are only a few rural shrines left, which are maintained by family traditions.

"Actually, I guess the teacher doesn't want you to be in the limelight and famous." Zhao Xiao said.

Luo Xixian raised his eyebrows and asked, "What do you mean by this?" ”

"First of all, of course, is your origin. The teacher must know that you want to make a career, but the more you do, the more cautious you must be, and you can only perform if you are skilled in your magic and have undeniable merits. Zhao Xiao said: "In recent years, the relationship between the Dharma position and cultivation and merit has become more and more shallow, and the wealthy families of Dongshengdu can even be promoted with their rich Dharma letters, but the foundation is not solid after all. In case there is any turmoil in the DPRK, some small mistakes in the past can be found out and criticized. ”

These were things that Zhao Xiao had figured out by chance in the gap between his cultivation for half a year.

When Luo Xixian heard this, his face became a little solemn, Hua Xu pays attention to his family background, even if he is in the family of the powerful minister, the distinction between the concubines and the concubines is very clear. As the concubine of the Great Sima family, if he has a significant reputation, the first thing he has to face is not others, I am afraid that it will be the reproach of his brothers.

"You just said 'first', but what about second?" Luo Xixian asked.

Zhao Huangnu gestured in the direction of Hug Puting: "I always feel that the teacher has other plans." ”

"Anything else? How do you know? Luo Xixian became clear in a blink of an eye: "Yes, I remember that he had a relationship with your grandfather, and your father's credit in the Mirage Valley, he also fought for it, but unfortunately he couldn't stand the complicity of the powerful people in Dongshengdu." ”

"My father was also his student." Zhao Xiao sighed and said.

In fact, Zhao Xiao's ancestors are the kind of family that has practiced magic for generations, but because of the Five Kingdoms War, the clansmen of his grandfather's generation withered, and the inheritance of family learning is difficult to continue. So his grandfather gave the only surviving classics to the Huaiying Pavilion, and at the same time let Zhao Xiao's father enter the museum.

However, Zhao Xiao's father had mediocre talent in magic and cultivation, and he was a talisman all his life, and later simply joined the army to serve the country, but unfortunately died on the eve of the end of the war.

"By the way, you came up to me in person, there must be something, right?" Zhao Xiao asked.

"I can't come to you if I'm fine?" Luo Xixian shook his head and sighed: "I've known each other for so many years, don't you even have this bit of friendliness?" ”

Zhao Xiao touched his chin and said, "Back then, I just learned the Golden Armor Technique, and you pleaded me to ask for a charm, I tried my best to draw ten sheets, and when I turned my head, you took it to the new entrance hall student in the women's hospital." ”

"Oops! Alright, alright! What are you doing with all that old stuff? Luo Xixian hurriedly opened the topic: "It's the first seat to let me find you, and the idle days are over." ”