() What is beauty and what is ugliness?

I am afraid that this seemingly simple question has not been settled since ancient times, and there is no criterion for distinguishing.

A person of beauty can make others "pleasing to the eye". However, the external beauty is only to make others feel "pleasing to the eye", and to make others "pleasing to the heart", it also depends on its temperament and interior.

Those who cultivate the truth can absorb the essence of heaven and earth, pick the splendor of the sun and the moon, and bathe in the qi of Qiankun, so that they can maintain the appearance of youth for a long time. But when something is easier to come by, it becomes less precious in itself. Especially for many male cultivators, what is really precious is strength, not appearance, so there are many short and capable old men and raunchy middle-aged among them. But for female cultivators, "natural love of beauty" may be the common nature of women in the world.

Since Xiao Tianhe was born, he has seen many beautiful women. First of all, "mother" Li Yuru is a beauty. Although he is not young, his demeanor and appearance are elegant and dignified in line with his identity. After Xiao Tianhe cultivated immortals, his senior sister Tang Junhe, his younger sister Zhu Xiaomin, his later senior sister Hua Qianxue, his sister Hua Qingyu, and his deceased lover Xiao Liying were all beautiful women. After coming to the Heavenly Flame Continent, the well-behaved and innocent Ximen Rui and the gentle and lovely Nangong Xue are both rare national colors and heavenly fragrances. Looking at these "peerless beauties", they all have a common characteristic - they are pure-hearted. This is exactly the "appreciation" mentioned earlier.

But now the "pleasing eye" woman in front of Xiao Tianhe seems to be a little short of "appreciating". Although she can't be completely concluded that she is a "evil-hearted" person, her strong and unreasonable attitude and capricious personality make it difficult for people to have a good impression of her.

In fact, in terms of appearance alone, she can't compare to the women mentioned before, not to mention that Xiao Tianhe is not interested in her at all. Whether this woman is beautiful or ugly, Xiao Tianhe just wants to get rid of her as soon as possible. So he flattered the woman's appearance, but the woman did not appreciate it, but accused him of lying.

"Girl, where did you start here? What I just said is from the bottom of my heart. Xiao Tianhe was surprised.

"Then it seems that your 'heart' is not bad, I guess it's all black inside. The woman pursed her lips, "Your eyes have betrayed you." If you think I'm pretty, why are you so calm? There was still a hint of resentment in his eyes. Hmph, either my looks don't impress you at all, or you've seen someone much prettier than me. I'm not uncommon for flattery, false compliments, that only make me angry!"

Xiao Tianhe muttered in his heart: "I'm not lustful...... Besides, if I tell the truth that your appearance is not as good as some of the people I have met in the past, I'm afraid you will be even more angry......" Now is not the time to raise the bar, so Xiao Tianhe improvised: "Don't get me wrong, girl, I just already have a heart." If you are moved by your beauty, it is not right. ”

"Hmm...... That's pretty much it. The woman quickly steamed her clothes with great effort, returned to the tortoise shell that she had split, and crouched down to examine it carefully.

"Girl, I still have something to do, so I'll take my leave. Xiao Tianhe said goodbye.

"Don't go! I still haven't asked!" The woman didn't look at him, and gently gestured on the tortoise shell with her magic knife, "What's your name?

"In the Lower Xiao Tianhe. In fact, I have been cultivating on a lonely island in Nanjing Sea before, and when I arrived in Xipinghai, I was chased by demon turtles all the way. ”

"If you want to go back to the Sky Flame Continent, why don't you fly with the sword?" the woman asked again.

"Uh...... I saw that the sea was cool, and on a whim, I walked on the waves, but unexpectedly I got into trouble with the demon turtle. Later, when I tried to make a sword, I found that the girl was flying in with a group of patrols, and you know what happened after that. ”

"Well, Xiao Tianhe, is it? the injury on your leg...... Does it still hurt?" the woman turned, her tone concerned and apologetic.

"Actually, she's not that bad...... Xiao Tianhe felt a warm current in his heart, and waved his hand, showing generosity, "It's okay, it's okay." Don't worry about it, girl, I can ......."

Unexpectedly, Xiao Tianhe was interrupted by the woman before he finished speaking: "That's good! You go back with me! This demon turtle shell is a good thing, if the leg injury is not serious, just carry it back for me!"

"Huh?" Xiao Tianhe's face sank, and the warm current that had just surged in his heart was ruthlessly washed away by a basin of cold water, "Girl...... You and I meet in the water, why do you embarrass me?"

The woman raised the corners of her mouth and smiled slightly: "If you don't want to, I will hand you over to the patrol of the Simon family." ”

"So what? The patrol was supposed to arrest you, and I didn't do anything bad!" Xiao Tianhe was very dissatisfied.

The woman joked: "The patrol team didn't see my appearance clearly, and then I said that you went to the glazed Gobi next to Xipinghai and stole warm mud gold, then you will be miserable." ”

"Joke, do you think the Simon family will believe your words? When the time comes, let them search for it, and when they find Wen Nijin, I will cut off the head of the person on the neck!"

"Oh, really, what's the bulging stuff in your sword holster?" the woman smirked.

Xiao Tianhe was startled, and hurriedly untied the sword cover, and sure enough, he took out a piece of yellow and clear soil from it, which was exactly the same as the one used by Deng Xianjue to cast the knife at that time. Wen Nijin is really a good treasure, soft and soft, and the water is not wet, so that Xiao Tianhe always thought that the added weight of the sword holster on his back was caused by absorbing seawater.

"You stole it, when did you stuff it into my sword holster?" Xiao Tianhe snorted.

"I don't know anything, anyway, it's on you, and then it's up to them to believe you or me!"

"You!" Xiao Tianhe was extremely depressed, threw Wen Nijin on the tortoise shell, stomped hard, jumped into the air with his strength, took out the Heavenly Enemy Knife, stepped on the foot and quickly fled. By the time the woman stabilized the tortoiseshell, Xiao Tianhe had turned into a small black dot on the horizon.

The woman smiled contemptuously: "Do you still want to escape when I am targeted?" She was not in a hurry, calmly stepped on the knife and lifted into the air, and suddenly turned into a phantom. The speed at which she flew was too fast, and it didn't take long for her to catch up with Xiao Tianhe, and teased: "Hey, Xiao Tianhe! Are you in such a hurry to rush to the thatched house to relieve yourself?"

Xiao Tianhe glanced back in surprise, he knew the woman

It's faster than him, but I didn't expect it to be so much faster. He had to slow down, and secretly sighed in his heart, this naughty girl, it turned out that her speed when she was chased by the Simon family patrol the night before was not the limit. Judging from her character, ten of you are teasing the group of pursuers.

The woman also slowed down, flew side by side with Xiao Tianhe, and said with a smile: "Actually, you don't have to be so afraid of me, I don't mean to harm you." I just think last night's chance encounter was fate, and you seem to be pretty good. ”

"Is it really a chance encounter?" Xiao Tianhe looked at her coldly, "With your speed, it's not like a game to get rid of those patrols, why do you want to escape in such an embarrassing way?"

"Hehe, you're right, I'm just playing, let them chase after me. In fact, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had a chance to kill that demon turtle. The giant spirit poison turtle usually rarely shows up, but I didn't expect it to target you. Well...... Probably because your meat is more fragrant. The woman hugged her arms and seemed to say to herself, "I can't move back after killing the demon turtle, so I will help you avoid the patrol first, and then let you carry the turtle shell back for me." ”

"Wouldn't you just spend some money to hire a few porters for this kind of thing? I really have something important to do!" Xiao Tianhe was extremely helpless.

"Come on, I'll probably die of old age when the porter moves back. The lowly realm demon cultivators in the Simon family fly too slowly, and it is troublesome for me to catch the high-level ones, and I have to worry about being discovered or leaking the news. Come to think of it, it's still the best fit for you. You don't seem to be in a hurry, so I'll thank you afterwards. By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. Xiao Tianhe, hello, my name is Beitang Shame, the 'shame' of 'shame'. Beitang stretched out his slender hand to Xiao Tianhe.

"I really didn't see it......," Xiao Tianhe muttered in his heart. Ordinary people salute, bow, etc., and rarely shake hands. A handshake indicates that the person saluting is unguarded and trusts the other person, and usually people with a very close relationship shake hands with each other. However, for women, this method of saluting to make skin contact with others is really inappropriate, but the "shy answer" of Beitang seems to be unconcerned.

"Thanksgiving doesn't have to be. It turns out that you are a member of the Beitang family. Disrespectful. Xiao Tianhe also politely stretched out his right hand.

Unexpectedly, Beitang grabbed Xiao Tianhe's hand and smiled slyly: "You can't run away now, can we?"

Back next to the turtle shell, Beitang let go of his hand: "Don't want these stinky meat, internal organs or anything, let's clean them up together." I'll be in charge of the back shell then, and you can help me get the belly armor, okay?"

"It's fair. Xiao Tianhe asked, "But where are you going to get it?"

"Where else can I get it? Take it home, of course. Beitang squatted on the surface of the water, using the magic knife to clean up the flesh and dirt little by little.

Xiao Tianhe was particularly reluctant: "Go back to Beitang Mansion? This is inevitably too far, right?" This is the southwest corner of the Heavenly Flame Continent, and he actually has to fly to the northernmost tip of the continent with a large tortoise shell.

"It's fine. My house is in the westernmost part of the North Hall Mansion, the White Deer Department, quite close. ”

"Well, it's 'close'. Xiao Tianhe sighed and squatted down to help Beitang clean up together.

Xiao Tianhe quickly cleaned up the blood stains and rotten flesh, and then put a whole piece of abdominal armor on his back, and the imperial knife flew up, urging: "Without further ado, let's go quickly." ”

Beitang was very slow and didn't answer, and it took a while before he stood up, breathed a long sigh of relief, and said, "Do you know? Although the bones of the giant spirit poison turtle can be used in medicine, they are not precious to me. The most valuable part of its body is the backbone inside its back shell. There are often many night pearls in the cavity of the backbone. Ordinary people don't know this, the group of fools of the Simon family actually let the turtle shell float away, but let me pick up a big bargain. ”

Xiao Tianhe was puzzled: "Night Pearl? That's just jewelry, what kind of rare thing is it?"

"Yes, that's precious jewelry. It can be set on hairpins, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and waist wears. Tsk, look, how beautiful!" Beitang raised his hand shyly, holding several balls of various colors the size of pills in his palm.

Xiao Tianhe was speechless again, Beitang was ashamed to take a fancy to the jewelry that was meaningless to the demon cultivator, but he was disdainful of the rare medicinal materials.

Beitang put the Night Pearl in a small pouch and hung it on his belt, and the sword flew up: "Okay, let's go!"

Xiao Tianhe was stunned: "What about the back shell?"

"In order to cut out the pearl of the night, they were all chopped up and thrown into the sea. I just want the Night Pearl, everything else is useless waste, what do I bring back to do it?"

"Then why didn't you say it earlier?" Xiao Tianhe skimmed his belly armor into the sea.

"Hey, that piece of belly armor is big and flat, I'm going to take it back whole. Tie ropes to the boreholes at both ends, which can be used as a hammock. I had already thought about it before I killed the demon turtle, and then I would make a pot of tea, lie down in a hammock in the afternoon, bask in the sun, and take a nap...... It must be so comfortable. Go and carry it, and we'll be back in seven days. ”

Beitang's embarrassing words made Xiao Tianhe angry and funny, she killed the giant spirit poison turtle for these useless things, so she said indignantly: "Why do I have to carry that damn turtle shell, and you only bring a few beads?"

"Huh, you guy, didn't I ask for your opinion just now? I'm in charge of the back shell, and you help me get the belly armor. You said yes. As soon as the husband said his word, it was difficult for the horse to chase!" Beitang looked at Xiao Tianhe with a very serious look, as if he had never wanted to tease him.

There was a moment of silence.

"Count me unlucky! Count me unlucky, right?" Xiao Tianhe didn't know how many times he said this, "I, I really hate it...... Why am I so unlucky!" He shook his head and complained, and dropped his back on his shell.

Beitang looked down on his figure and secretly covered his mouth and laughed.

From the Zhenyue Department of Ximen Mansion to the Bailu Department of Beitang Mansion, with the realm of Xiao Tianhe in the early stage of Mahayana, if it is Cheng Yudao, it will take about three days. At first, Xiao Tianhe thought that the seven-day period mentioned by Beitang was to include the rest time, but the truth was

Yes - Beitang spent three days shopping. In her words, shopping is resting.

Xilan City in the Zhenyue Department, Xiqin City in the Broken Water Department, which is also the capital of Ximen Province, and Xiwang City in the Linjia Department. The large and small markets of the three major cities of Ximen Mansion were visited by Beitang. It's nothing to go shopping, but Xiao Tianhe is still carrying a big turtle shell! People who don't know the origin of the turtle shell treat him as a lively person, and no matter where he goes, he is surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside. When he was in the downtown of Xiwangcheng, there was even a group of children who gave Xiao Tianhe a well-known nickname - "Overlord Tian". Don't look at the majestic name, in fact, "Overlord" is "Wang Ba" upside down, and "Tian" can be split into two words, "one" and "big", and the whole nickname is taken apart and read upside down - "One Big Wang Ba".

Of course, Xiao Tianhe couldn't be angry with the children for this kind of thing, so he had to be silent all the way, cursing fiercely in his heart for Beitang who was a few steps ahead. When Beitang heard the children clapping their hands neatly and chanting the "ringing" nickname, she laughed loudly regardless of the image, squatting on the ground with her stomach covered and even laughing out of her eyes.

Until the two of them left the West King City, Beitang still laughed a few times from time to time. Seeing that Xiao Tianhe's face had been gloomy, Beitang asked with "concern": "What's the matter? Are you angry? Manly man, don't be so careful!"

Xiao Tianhe was silent. Beitang was ashamed and "comforted": "This is not my nickname, you will never be angry with those children, right? Even if you are really angry, we are out of the city now, I think you will forget those 'unbearable pasts'! Hahaha!" she couldn't help but laugh heartily as she spoke.

"All the bazaars in the capital of the three major departments of Ximen Mansion, you have visited all of them, this is quite enjoyable, right? I declare in advance, I will only help you send the turtle shell to your home in the White Deer Department of Beitang Mansion, and you are not allowed to pester me anymore!" Xiao Tianhe said coldly.

"Hmm. In fact, I visited the three capitals of Ximen Mansion to see the style of people's lives. After reading it, I feel that it is nothing more than that, don't you see that I didn't buy anything? Before I get to my house, I have to pass through the capital of the White Deer Tribe, the North Wind City. The market is so busy there, I'll take you around again. Beitang's mood was very happy.

"That's nice, what's 'take me for a ride', I'm afraid you want me to be ugly again, right?" In fact, Xiao Tianhe had already guessed when he was in Xiqin City, Beitang spent so much time wandering around, and in the end, he "achieved brilliant results" - he didn't buy anything. In fact, she didn't have anything to buy at all, she just wanted Xiao Tianhe to lose face in the most lively place with the big turtle shell on his back.

Beitang smiled shyly: "If you have to think like this, I can't help it." But I promise, the City of the North Wind is the last place to visit, okay?"

"Then hurry up!" Xiao Tianhe impatiently flew up.

The northernmost Linjia Department of Ximen Mansion and the westernmost Bailu Department of Beitang Mansion are roughly bounded by the Wanqu River. Unlike the Yongjiang River at the junction of Nangong Mansion and Dongfang Mansion, the Wanqu River was dug by hand. In fact, it should be called the "Wanqu Canal", but this strange "canal" does not undertake any transportation work. It is impossible to determine exactly when and what era the Wanqu River was excavated, but there is no doubt that its excavation is definitely a feat in the history of the Heavenly Flame Continent. Since the topography of the northwest direction of the Tianyan Continent is roughly high in the northwest and low in the southeast, the starting point of the Wanqu River is not near the core, but at the mouth of the sea. In other words, the Wanqu River is actually a large canal that diverts seawater to the core!

Although there is no water transportation on the Wanqu River, the fishery, salt industry, and even the pearl shell industry are very developed, and the people in the interior of Ximen and Beitang can easily eat sea fish, dry sea salt, and cultivate mother-of-pearl. There is no need to worry about the currents and tides, nor the strong winds and waves, nor the cold winter when the river will freeze, so that the prosperity on both sides of the Wanqu River has been created. The reason why there is no Caoyun is simply because half of it belongs to Ximen Mansion and the other half belongs to Beitang Mansion.

It is said that the original intention of digging the Wanqu River was purely to establish a clear boundary on the vast northwest plateau, and the prosperity of the two sides of the river that was later formed was purely the result of unintentional insertion. Since it is a border demarcation line, its strategic importance is self-evident. There are more than a dozen large cities in the Linjia Department of Ximen Prefecture and the Bailu Department of Beitang Prefecture respectively, which are located on both sides of the Wanqu River, and the connection between the cities is the first line of defense against each other.

The name of the river "Wanqu" does not refer to the meandering direction of the flow, in fact, there are not many bends of the Wanqu River, but the common feature is that the curvature is very large. As for the origin of the name of the river, people tend to interpret it in another way: Wanqu refers to the twists and turns encountered when digging the canal at that time.

The first attempt to excavate a long river that runs through half a continent is a difficult feat to reach the sky, let alone a situation where the sea water flows backwards. Seawater is different from river water, due to the soaking of sea salt, the soil on both sides of the bank will undergo qualitative changes, so the excavation of the Wanqu River deliberately avoids grasslands, forests and cultivated land, and most of the routes selected pass through the Gobi, desert, barren mountains, stone valleys and other terrain. This undoubtedly adds a lot of difficulty to the excavation work. Not only is it difficult to excavate the soil in the harsh terrain, but it is also necessary to consider the difference in terrain at the macro level, so that the Wanqu River can effectively play a role in draining seawater.

When flying over the Wanqu River, Beitang told Xiao Tianhe about the greatness of this artificial canal, which really made Xiao Tianhe speechless. What an astonishing amount of labor was exerted in digging such a magnificent river, and yet its original purpose was merely to demarcate borders!

"What can make the Ximen family and the Beitang family 'fight' like this, I'm afraid that no one can do it except the demon lord. Xiao Tianhe thought to himself.

"Well, if you think about it, this is a big project that costs people and money, and I can imagine the hardships and hardships of the excavation laborers at that time......" Beitang sighed as he looked at the wide river below, "This was not a good thing in the first place, but fortunately, God paid off, and in the end, it paid off." Although it has also been devastated by several wars of the four sides of the world, the prosperity on both sides of the Wanqu River has never declined. ”

Unexpectedly, Beitang would sigh with such a realm, Xiao Tianhe couldn't help but glance at her secretly.

Beitang seemed to know that Xiao Tianhe was looking at her, smiled slightly, pointed to the sky, and said, "Look, that is the North Wind City." ”