Although Xiong Jiuli and Xiong Jiuli were strong, the war did not break out immediately, perhaps because Jiuli also sensed that Xiong Guo had mobilized troops and strengthened defenses, and did not respond with great fanfare.

Zhao Xiao was in the imperial capital, and he was as always devoted to compiling canons and teaching the law, and he didn't have to ask anything else, but he couldn't stop the people who came to visit.

"It's early spring, there are thousands of weeping willows on the shore of the southern suburbs lake, and new warblers are everywhere, I wonder if Xu Xianshi is willing to go out with this king to enjoy the green?"

Outside the Taiping Fang, Zhao Xiao had just handed over a revised code to He Qingchen when a richly dressed man saluted.

The man was under thirty, handsome, with the scent of lavender on his sleeve, and was extraordinarily noble, followed by several strong warriors.

Zhao Xiao bowed his hand and saluted back: "See His Royal Highness King Yue." ”

The man said with a smile: "This king is just an ordinary man, and Immortal Master Xu doesn't need to be polite." ”

Since Zhao Huang came to the emperor's capital, he was appointed to preside over the Praise and Rites Division, and the central government of the court was moved by the wind and visited many people, including the king of Yue.

Zhao Xiao vaguely remembered that more than ten years ago, his teacher Zhang Duanjing secretly came to the emperor's capital to spy on him, and it is said that at that time, the Xiong Kingdom had just undergone a palace change, and the sons competed for the throne and killed a lot.

Although the war finally stopped, there was a great decline in the emperor of the Xiong Kingdom, and the first emperor rode the dragon after a few years of reign. At that time, He Qingchen was already the left minister, and he was entrusted by the first emperor to become an auxiliary minister, and he naturally monopolized power.

Although the emperor of Xiong Guo is fashionable and young when he ascends the throne today, he is now married in Yuanfu and can be pro-government, but considering that He Qingchen is in power, and there is no lack of harsh means for politics, the emperor himself does not ask about political affairs, which can be regarded as a method of self-preservation.

It's just that in Zhao Xiao's view, the emperor has always had an undercurrent, and not everyone can tolerate He Qingchen's monopoly of power, and the call for the left minister to return to power has never been broken, but in the past, due to the great power of Shangjing Sect, no one dared to put it into practice.

However, in the past year, the four immortal princes have retired one after another, and many lay disciples who have climbed to Jingzong have been caught and killed by He Qingchen, and the shock of the government and the opposition can be imagined.

At first, no one could understand the intention of He Qingchen's move, after all, in the eyes of outsiders, He Qingchen and these lay disciples were from the same sect and had the same spirit, so there was no reason to attack them.

You must know that most of these lay disciples of Shangjingzong are old ministers of Youxiong since the founding of the country, and any one of them can say that they can say that their ancestors followed Youxiong Taizu to fight in the Quartet, plus they have close contacts with Shangjingzong, they have already formed an iron plate, and it is extremely difficult to shake.

But He Qingchen still did it, because there were no four immortals to be sheltered by the backers, and the Rising Sun Divine Sect was implicated, resulting in many noble and wealthy families being imprisoned.

It's just that He Qingchen did not kill them all, but abolished the official background, seized his land and house property, listed the slaves and maids of the tribe back to the people's register, and vigorously sheltered the displaced people, and planned to dictate the land.

After many years of natural disasters, there are Xiong country homeless people everywhere, causing thieves to swarm, He Qingchen's move greatly reduced the number of homeless, and even within a year, the number of Dingkou counted in the imperial court register increased by nearly one million.

All this makes the nobles of the court hate He Qingchen to the core, but Zhao Huang knows that these people are not enough to shake the power of the left minister, and the real danger is not here.

The Four Immortal Princes retired to Tiancheng Mountain and gave up their dealings with lay disciples, which meant that Shangjingzong no longer interfered in state affairs, and those who had a heart naturally planned to take back power from He Qingchen.

When King Shen Tong of Yue found Zhao Huang, he guessed this person's intentions, but he just turned a blind eye and maintained the attitude of the immortal master.

"This king heard that the imperial court is going to implement the establishment of science and selection of scholars this year?" On the way out of the city, King Yue talked to Zhao Xiao.

"As far as Xu knows, a few years ago, Zuo Xiang tried to open the Law and Order Department, specializing in the examination of criminal names and laws, so as to select those who have been released from prison." Zhao Huang said nonchalantly: "What we are going to implement this year is the Ritual Section, which is intended to recruit monks and magicians in order to be used by the country. In the past, I always relied on fame to find and recommend, and it was inevitable that there would be regrets of missing pearls in the sea. ”

King Yue was puzzled and asked, "The country already worships many immortal masters, why do you want to implement the ritual department?" ”

Zhao Xiao didn't break the other party's pretense of being stupid, and replied: "After all, the country's worship of immortal masters is only an expedient measure in troubled times, and the drawbacks of the Rising Sun Divine Sect can be seen, so it is necessary to improve the code system." ”

King Yue laughed and said: "But in the eyes of this king, most of the charlatans recruited by the rivers and lakes are mediocre and not worth the country's expense. Compared with the immortal masters of various factions, I am afraid that it is very inferior. ”

"Not necessarily." Zhao Xiao said: "There are many sects of immortal cultivation in Middle Earth, but there are very few who have a high realm. Since the end of Tianxia, the chaos has been raging for a hundred years, and the sand is very fierce, and many sects have disciples of the sect, but because of the death of the elder, the inheritance has withered. If you really want to talk about the magic skills, I am afraid that it is not much different from the warlocks of the rivers and lakes. ”

Zhao Xiao's words were not prevarication, but from the bottom of his heart, a sect inheritance like Shangjingzong is too rare, even if it was the Chongxuan Pavilion where Liang Tao was in charge, almost all the backbones of the sect were fought out in the War of the Five Kingdoms. If Liang Tao had a reliable fellow disciple like the Four Immortal Princes, there would inevitably be more room for manoeuvre.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the bear country has the deepest foundation among the five countries, in addition to the Shangjing Sect, there are also many helpers from the Thousand Machine Pavilion and the Curse Forbidden Being. Now there is a new Zanli Division, which can almost be said to inherit most of the semi-orthodoxy of the Tianxia Dynasty.

"That's all thanks to Immortal Master Xu's guidance." King Yue praised vigorously: "This king also listened to Xu Xianshi's teaching, and he was very teachable. It's a pity that this king's qualifications are stupid and difficult to achieve. ”

Zhao Huang said: "The affairs of science and ritual law are sincere and hard, if you can save the idea of benefiting people with money, then you should be in the heart of heaven, and the law will naturally work." Just like a craftsman creating utensils, there is no distraction, and the natural magic is amazing, such as God's help. ”

"I see, it seems that this king is lazy." King Yue didn't care.

The carriage and horses came all the way to the outskirts of the city, and there was a large pond garden in the north of the emperor's capital, which was not only the water source for the people in the capital to rely on for their livelihood, but also the resort for the noble banquet and play in the capital.

I saw the rippling blue waves in the distance, thousands of weeping willows, several painting boats cruising in the lake, and the sound of singing and dancing was heard. Near the shore, there are young scholars and girls who shop brocade seats, throwing pots and fighting wine, playing games, and reciting poems, without the slightest sorrow.

Seeing such a scene, it was as if the wind and rain of the Xiong Kingdom court had not blown on them in the slightest in the past year. Should it be said that the emperor is too stable and makes these young people forgetful?

King Yue invited Zhao Huang to board a three-story painting boat, and there were no singers and dancers on the boat who spoiled the atmosphere, but there were several immortal cultivators who participated in the Taoist Sutra together, which meant that they were dusty.

"This is Mr. Zhibai of the Lianzhen Palace, and these two are Chong Zhanxian of the Floating Jade Cave." King Yue took the initiative to introduce: "These people are all invited by this king, just to guide the maze and inspire the foolish. ”

Zhao Xiao and the other party exchanged their hands to pay a visit, and Mr. Zhibai took the lead in saying: "It turns out that this is Xu Daoyou of Xuanpu Hall, it is better to see it than to hear it, it is really a fairy master!" ”

"Don't dare to be." Zhao Huang didn't know the intention of King Yue's move, anyway, in his opinion, these three monks were only condensing the realm of Xuanzhu, and they were not very smart.

But after thinking about it, maybe Zhao Huang himself is used to getting along with the world's masters, and for a while forgetting that the monks who condense the Xuanzhu are already rare, and in some small sects, I am afraid that he is already the elder in charge of the sect, and not everyone is the immortal inheritance of the Shangjing Sect.

Mrs. Chong Zhan of the Floating Jade Cave asked with a little doubt: "It's not that we are rude, it's just a rumor in the rivers and lakes, the Xuanpu Hall has been destroyed decades ago, and even the Zongmen Dojo is occupied by the Chongxuan Pavilion, why did Xu Daoyou come to the Emperor's Capital?" ”

Mr. Chong Zhan hurriedly apologized and said: "Neizi's words are reckless, please don't be surprised by Xu Daoyou." ”

"It's not uncommon for a few to be skeptical." Zhao Huang said: "Xu has indeed experienced the difficulty of the collapse of the sect, and he escaped by luck in the past, and he hid in the mountains and cultivated alone, and he achieved a little success. However, seeing that the Chongxuan Pavilion was powerful and could not get back the sect dojo, he had no intention of staying in Huaxu for a long time. Later, he was appreciated by Lord Zuo and did his best. ”

"I see." Mr. Chong Zhan asked, "By the way, has Xu Daoyou ever heard of the Immortal Weng Shending?" ”

"The Danding used by the Outer Dan Sect Master Ge Xian Weng of the Tianxia Dynasty?" Zhao Xiao nodded and said: "I have heard a little, it is said that this tripod is in the hands of Ge Xianweng, and the medicinal properties of the hardware and eight stones, and the magic of the ash cream of plants and trees can be naturally matched, and the heat is exactly the same." ”

"Not bad!" Mr. Chong Zhan showed a look of excitement: "And it is said that the pill refined by the Immortal Weng Shending has doubled its effectiveness, and it can even be refined into two furnaces of pills from one furnace of spiritual materials, which can really be regarded as the first furnace of the Wai Dan!" ”

Zhao Xiao was much calmer: "One furnace of spiritual materials to refine two furnaces of elixir? According to Xu, this is nothing more than Ge Xianweng's summoning of the five qi and refining yin and yang, and this kind of alchemy attainment is rarely comparable in ancient and modern times, not only the work of Danding. ”

Ge Xian Weng's real name is Ge Fuchuan, and his people are famous in the Tianxia Dynasty, not only proficient in Waidan, but also a very small number of immortals who have clear deeds of ascension in the Tianxia Dynasty.

Moreover, Ge Xian Weng also visited the Chongxuan Pavilion with the intention of confirming the method of alchemy, because the inheritance of Qingya Zhenjun was also proficient in the bait of the outer pill.

It's a pity that there were no outstanding talents in Chongxuan Hall back then, and Ge Xian Weng was so happy that he left a comment of "full of mediocre people", and left without accepting the worship of the Tianxia court.

In addition to being proficient in foreign pill bait, Ge Xian Weng also has extremely high achievements in smelting gold and iron and preparing incense medicines. Although Ge Xian Weng did not start a sect, he did not refuse those who sought immortals to visit the Tao, and spread the study of elixir.

So much so that the inheritance of Xian Weng Dan Method, Xian Weng incense medicine and so on is blooming everywhere, and the method of concocting incense that Zhao Xiao learned in Huaiying Hall is from Ge Xian Weng.

And later, the Chongxuan Pavilion, because of a living immortal like Liang Tao, turned the world upside down, but not too many people thought that he was also proficient in alchemy.

Zhao Xiao himself is really not proficient in the Wai Dan bait medicine, even if he has the inheritance of Qingya Zhenjun and Chongxuan Pavilion, he doesn't have much heart to study this way.

"Ge Xian Weng Dancheng soared, and he is known to the whole world." Mrs. Chong Zhan said: "Legend has it that when Ge Xian Weng ascended, he wanted to take the Dan Ding to rise together, but the Ding was heavy, and Ge Xian Weng had to abandon the Dan Ding. ”

"Is this true?" Zhao was skeptical.

Mr. Zhibai on the side said: "The Immortal Weng Shending fell from the sky and fell into the deep valley, attracting countless immortal cultivators to compete for it. Later, this thing was transferred several times, and it also fell into the hands of the people in front of this door for a time. The predecessors found that as long as they prayed to the gods and Ding, the fire in the Ding was self-generated, the void became a pill, and after taking it, it was necessary to make a big replenishment of vitality. ”

Zhao Xiao showed a curious look: "It seems that although this Divine Ding has not been able to soar with the Immortal Weng, it is also a rare immortal magic weapon. But listening to the words of Taoist friends, it seems that Shending was lost later? ”

"I'm ashamed, it was the end of Tianxia at that time, and this sect had this heavy treasure, which naturally attracted the covetousness of demons." Mr. Zhibai shook his head helplessly: "In order to preserve the inheritance, the head of this sect has no choice but to abandon the Immortal Weng Shending, and he will never be seen again." ”

Mrs. Chong Zhan said eagerly: "But we recently found out where the Immortal Weng Shending is, I wonder if Xu Daoyou is willing to visit together?" ”

"Madame, don't be impatient." Mr. Chong Zhan hurriedly consoled: "The news we heard has not been verified, how can we easily take it seriously?" ”

Mrs. Chong Zhan was not polite at all: "Why should my husband be like this?" Xu Daoyou is a master in the world, if he helps, he will definitely get twice the result with half the effort! ”

Mr. Zhibai also nodded on the side and agreed: "Indeed, if you can't act as soon as possible, I'm afraid that you will miss this treasure, and even fall into the hands of demons." ”

Zhao Xiao watched them sing and harmonize, and he was already a little calculating, but he still looked curious: "Please forgive me for being stupid, Xu didn't understand what a few people said." ”

"I'll tell you." Mr. Chong Zhan's tone was plain and seemed very reliable: "In addition to the cultivation of the Fuyu Cave, the two of us will also walk the rivers and lakes and visit the mountains and rivers. About half a year ago, we happened to meet a group of monks of unknown origin, who distributed pills to local villagers in the name of practicing medicine, and there were quite a few of them.

We suspected that the motives of these monks were not pure, and after secretly listening, we learned that they had obtained the Immortal Weng Shending from nowhere, but they did not know the magic of the Shending, and they did not dare to take the pill at will, so they tested the medicine with innocent villagers. ”

Zhao Xiao's expression was solemn: "If there is no cultivation for mana refining, the outer pill bait medicine will not be beneficial to ordinary people." Taking innocent villagers to test the medicine is close to evil and should be curbed. ”

"That's what my husband and I think." Mr. Chong Zhan said: "However, there are many monks in that group, and there are many bandits and rebels who are driven by them, and we are alone and dare not take risks easily. ”

Mr. Zhibai continued: "I got acquainted with Chong Zhan and his wife in my early years, and they knew that Lianzhen Palace once kept the Immortal Weng Shending, and I had dealings with His Royal Highness King Yue from time to time, so I hoped to take this opportunity to ask the masters enshrined in the court to pay attention to this matter. ”

King Yue also interjected at this time: "So after turning around, this king finally found Xu Xianshi." After all, now that the Four Immortals are in retreat, reliable people are really rare, so they can only hope for Immortal Master Xu. ”

"Xu is deeply honored to be favored by King Yue." Zhao Huang said: "Since it is a request from a fellow Taoist, and it is related to the safety of the people, how can Xu sit idly by?" The Immortal Weng Shending must not fall into the hands of demons! ”