In fact, the "ashram" is just a common name that people are accustomed to, and the official name is: the Republic of Asia and its allies organized the practice training cooperation base. The predecessor of this institution can be traced back to 1822 AD, when the emperor of the old dynasty, Zhu Yongyi, ordered the world's sects to select good talents to teach in the palace in order to train practitioners from clans and noble relatives. The proposed institution is the "Shushin Temple".

At that time, it was because the cultivator sect was growing in power and had a strong influence on the political structure of the imperial court, and the emperor wanted to use this influence for his own use. It is a pity that the sects did not buy the accounts of the clans, and the matter was delayed again and again, until 1866, the year of the emperor's death.

The next emperor who succeeded to the throne, Zhu Shengxi, was able to do things better than him, and finally put this "Heart Cultivation Institute" on the right track. It was also from that time that the power of the cultivators and the imperial power were integrated, and the "sheji" of the old dynasty looked more stable. But on the other hand, it also completely cut off the opportunity for civilians to reach the upper echelons - in the past, they could take imperial examinations and examinations. But at that time, it was extremely difficult for those who passed the scientific examination to advance but did not have the opportunity to enter the "gilding" of the monastery.

And Zhu Shengxi did another thing during his reign that seemed to be also conducive to the stability of the country at the time, and also laid the groundwork for the fall of the dynasty later.

In 1868, the Meiji Restoration began in neighboring countries. After Zhu Shengxi sent people to inspect it, he thought it was "great goodness" and began to train the new army. At that time, the treasury was full, the world was peaceful, and the new army quickly grew stronger. Many of the talents who could not be reused in the officialdom went to serve in the new armies in various places, but in just over 30 years, the local governors already had a considerable amount of powerful armed forces in their hands.

It's a pity that Zhu Shengxi was obsessed with cultivation in his later years and almost had no intention of interfering with political affairs. At that time, the cultivation sect also had the ambition to win the world, and also focused the struggle on the court. When they came back to their senses, they realized that the local forces had almost become a small kingdom in effect.

This kind of thing is easy to solve in the past, at any time in history—the power that cultivators possess is not something that ordinary people can fight against, and even the local governments that have been divided are extremely powerless in the face of the Heavenly Master Immortal Method.

However, at the end of the 19th century, gunpowder weapons ushered in a great development. The mortal armies of this time were not comparable to any other period in history. Field artillery, water-cooled machine guns, and hot-air balloon reconnaissance units all became the mainstream equipment of the army during that period, which made the well-trained new army indeed have the strength to fight the cultivators.

The matter was a foregone conclusion, and the central government could not do anything for a while, so a situation of "princes rising together" was formed. The governors had guns in their hands, knowing that the central power could also have them. But the central power has sectarian support, they don't. So he began to set up his own "meditation monasteries" in various places to recruit talents.

At this time, because of the monasteries in various places, the door of the cultivation world can be regarded as truly open to the world's elites.

Then came World War I, the coup d'état, the republic, World War II, and the founding of the Republic of Asia. In this series of events, the common monks from the monastery of the mind all exerted great influence. Therefore, after the establishment of the new society, the original monasteries in various regions were reorganized into "bases for cooperation in the practice training of the Republic of Asia and its allies." Now in the hall on the first floor of the General Affairs Building in Shangjing, there is still a plaque of "Xiuxin Temple" inscribed by Zhu Yongyi.

Nowadays, every city has a practice school, which is open to all levels of society, but in principle, it requires that the student has a high school degree or higher and is under the age of 40. This is because with the exception of a very small number of extremely talented people, those who have no foundation begin to decline in their cultivation ability when they reach the age of forty.

However, the Republic has been implementing primary spiritual education for more than 30 years, and the vast majority of children with spiritual talents have been discovered and sent to spiritual classes during the 12-year compulsory education stage. As a result, the practice classes in various places are very much like a separate education system parallel to university education, and it is rare to see adults in person.

As for the "advanced study class" where Li Qingyan, Zhou Lihuang, Lin Xiaoman, and Pei Yuanxiu once stayed, they are not open to the public.

Many of the "teachings" taught in the practice classes themselves came from the "practice classes", and a small number were monks from the six sects and five schools. This is a very decent profession, and it is also the starting point of the political career of many children of families.

The car parked in front of the door at the moment made Li Qingyan have some doubts in his heart. He knew that Director Fang was an anxious person, and he would inevitably do a good job if he promised others, and he might have made a few phone calls last night. I didn't expect things to happen so quickly - is it for the sake of star fruit?

When I walked into the courtyard with the girl, I saw a visitor.

Director Fang slumped on the recliner with a pot of tea in his hand. The visitor stood beside Director Fang as if he were a student, and his expression was also very respectful. The two were talking and seemed to be in a good mood.

When the old man saw Li Qingyan, he owed: "What's the matter? Why did you still eat gunpowder when you went out to eat?"

He was referring to the tattered shirt on Li Qingyan's body. But Li Qingyan has long been accustomed to the old man's occasional mean jokes: "Old man Wang's son, Wang Rucheng has an accident." Ran to Xiaolongbao to cut the gas canister of the other family, and it is estimated that now he and the other person are gone. ”

The old man snorted and laughed: "Hmph, good death." It's long overdue. ”

Star fruit blinked. When I saw this white-haired Director Fang yesterday, I first felt a little unkind, but then I thought it was actually quite cute. But now there is a new discovery - it turns out that it is still a poisonous tongue.

Li Qingyan sighed: "It's a pity that Old Man Wang will be sad in the future." ”

Only then did he nod his head to the visitor: "I'm sorry. I'll go upstairs and change my clothes first - you're here for star fruit?"

Without waiting for the visitor to speak, Director Fang smiled strangely: "This is all my face-have you written your words?"

The visitor also laughed: "It's okay, it's okay." Please, please. ”

So Li Qingyan nodded, said to the star fruit, "You wait for me here", and walked in the door.

He went up to the second floor and into his room. He took off his shirt and pants, and opened the closet door again—there were neat rows of white shirts and neat rows of black pants.

He changed into new clothes and buckled his buttons as he paced to the window and looked down.

The visitor is not native, but of white descent. This is not unusual. After World War II, the European states withered, and it was the republics that provided massive economic aid to the countries of northern and eastern Europe, but many of them became "allies" – essentially the same concept as America's "satellites" in Western and Southern Europe.

The Republic itself is the birthplace of the Chinese School of Cultivation, and it is very common for many people to come here for further study and teaching.

The visitor was quite young, looking to be in his thirties. Silver-haired, blue-eyed. What Li Qingyan noticed was his hair—it reminded him of the figure he had just seen on the tall building.

The figure was also white-haired. He thought it might be an old man, or a young man with dyed hair. But now seeing the white American, he realizes that he has missed another possibility — perhaps a "foreigner."