On the thirteenth day of the first month, it was sunny, and the north city wall of Dunhuang City. lā

Today, the Mengyuan army did not attack the city, in fact, from the third day of the Lunar New Year to the present, the Mengyuan army has not attacked the city again.

However, today, the north city wall is crowded with high-ranking officials and generals from both the military and political sides of Dunhuang Prefecture, and everyone is looking far away, except for a glimpse of the vast snowfield, at most you can only see a few burning columns of smoke dozens of miles away.

Li Chengliang looked into the distance with a shocked face, and asked Fan Yunchao beside him: "Yunchao, has the barbarian alliance really withdrawn?"

Fan Yunchao nodded and said: "Yes, my lord, yesterday the Western Regions and Western Fan Alliance Army in the west of the city retreated ahead of schedule, we didn't dare to pursue, the sentry followed them for sixty miles yesterday, and confirmed that they really retreated, and now it is estimated that it is a hundred miles away." ”

Li Chengliang asked: "Then did the Meng Yuan army also withdraw?"

Fan Yunchao said: "The sentinel has been released for a long time, and it should be checked back after a while, and the direction of the smoke should be the Dazhai of the Mengyuan army, which is estimated to be the fire they set when they withdrew." ”

Li Chengliang asked worriedly: "Yun Chao, why do you say that the barbarian alliance will withdraw its troops? The cold winter has not passed, at least two months later, the new grass in the grassland and the Western Regions can sprout, they have no reason to retreat, is there a conspiracy here?"

Fan Yunchao said uncertainly: "They have not been able to capture Dunhuang City for a long time, and the recent warmer weather may be the reason for their retreat." ”

Li Chengliang shook his head and said: "If you can't attack for a long time, the weather will get warmer, you should attack more ferociously, it's not easy!"

Fan Yunchao said: "Don't worry, adults, maybe Jingyunguan has made a move, but we are not qualified to know about this level of struggle." You're recovering from a serious illness and it's windy here, so let's go home and rest. ”

Li Chengliang said: "Why did Li Mao know in advance that the barbarian coalition army would withdraw, did you check?"

Fan Yunchao said: "I didn't find out, but I suspect that he may be a monk." ”

"Isn't it true that a monk can't take part in mortal wars, and why can he go to war?"

"I heard that Jingyun Guan will select some disciples with good martial arts qualifications, practice martial arts first, become grandmaster-level masters, and then turn to learning and cultivating after making military achievements in the future. ”

"Do you mean that Li Mao is this kind of disciple?"

"I can't be sure, but Li Mao's martial arts are so high, but I can't find any origin, and after he escaped from the last assassination of Batu, the Guanfeng envoy of Jingyun Guan also appeared, there must be a connection here. ”

"Li Mao is a talent, strong in martial arts, righteous, calm and resolute, and can boost the morale of the army, can you leave him as your deputy?"

"My lord, I'm afraid not, I heard that there are big people in Chang'an who want to summon him, and it is impossible for him to stay. ”

Just when Li Chengliang was a little disappointed, suddenly a sentry scout in the distance ran quickly towards the city, and all the officials and generals immediately rushed to the battlement.

I only heard the sentry scout driving his horse and shouting hoarsely: "Meng Yuan has withdrawn! Meng Yuan has withdrawn!"

“......”

At the moment, Xuan Jizi and the disciples appeared downstairs on time.

Yunxia Downstairs and Guangjuxuan are another style, each floor is not as tall and empty as Guangjuxuan, the room is also planned to be smaller, but the interior layout is warm, luxurious a lot, the sound of silk and bamboo, singing and dancing is not coming, the whole Yunxia downstairs under the moonlight and candlelight shows a hazy feeling.

The fifth floor of Yunxia Tower is a place to receive VIPs, and people with money and no power can not enter the fifth floor of Yunxia Tower, of course, in the eyes of ordinary people, monks can be counted as a powerful party, when the Qingfeng faction asked to book a hall on the grounds that the four sects were jointly feasting, the boss of Yunxia Tower could only nod and agree.

Under the guidance of the guys downstairs, Xuanjizi led the disciples to the north hall on the fifth floor of the clouds, which is a very large hall with a luxurious interior, four square tables are placed in the middle of the hall, and the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and bonsai furnishings in the room are all available.

Master Qingfeng and his entourage were already waiting at the door of the hall, in addition to the four of them who were in charge, there were also four young people, who were the disciples of the four factions who participated in the foundation building conference this time.

Gu Qingliu still maintained a smile as warm as jade, and guided the other disciples of the Xuanji Sect to enter the house through the side door, leaving Xuanji Zi and the four masters to greet each other in front of the main entrance.

Among the four disciples was a tall, but bumpy girl, with a beautiful face but thick eyebrows, which made her appear somewhat masculine.

When the girl saw Tianhuo coming, she immediately greeted her with a smile, stepped forward and grabbed Tianhuo who was shrinking behind Lu Qiming and said, "Tianhuo, are you here? What am I hiding when I see my sister? I don't take the initiative to say hello, I won't eat you." Why are you still so thin, the size is only up to my nose, you usually have to eat more, or you don't grow tall. ”

Tianhuo said with a struggling face: "Hello Sister Nana, are you also participating in this foundation building conference?"

Sikong Nana nodded and said, "Yes, I can compete with Tianhuo, I'm so happy!"

Tianhuo's face turned even paler, and he suddenly pulled the gray kite and the green cow behind him over and said, "Sister Nana, how are you doing lately?" I recently accepted two apprentices, let me introduce you, this is the gray kite, this is the green cow." What are you doing in a daze? Hurry up and call Uncle Shi!"

The gray kite and the green cow who were snickering on one side, this is also a big change in their faces, they finally got used to calling Master Tianhuo, and now there is a young girl, and she has to be called Uncle Shi, and the two of them Ai Ai stepped forward to salute and called softly: "Uncle Shi." ”

Sikong Nana said with a look of surprise: "Tianhuo, you are so powerful, you have accepted apprentices! I envy you! I also want to accept apprentices, but my father said that I am still young and I am not allowed to accept apprentices." However, Tianhuo, I didn't say you, your two apprentices are a little old, and you have a bit of a loss to accept them as apprentices, right?"

Sikong Nana's fierce and straightforward words made the three of Tianhuo master and apprentice very embarrassed, Tianhuo's face was flushed, and the gray kite and the green cow were even more eager to find a crack in the ground to get into, and the others were also dumbfounded, sighing that this girl was worthy of being the heir of the Sikong family, and she was more domineering than her father.

Sikong Nana didn't notice that there was a problem with her speech, she patted the shoulders of the gray kite and the green cow very arrogantly and said: "Xiao Gray, Xiao Qing, don't be shy about the two of you, although Tianhuo is a little younger and his cultivation is a little worse, but he will definitely become a very powerful monk in the future, and you won't feel ashamed at that time." ”

Although what Sikong Nana said was true, the three of Tianhuo master and apprentice really couldn't accept it, and Tianhuo hurriedly shouted at a tall and thin young man behind Sikong Nana: "Brother Ding Feng, you are also here, I want to kill my little brother!"

After saying that, Tianhuo rushed out, hugged the young man warmly, and whispered in his ear: "Brother, accompany me to perform a play." ”

Before Ding Feng could react, Tianhuo turned around and shouted at the gray kite and the green cow: "Gray kite, green cow, come over and salute, this is Ding Feng's uncle under the ancestor of Tianhe." ”

The gray kite and the green cow hurriedly confessed to Sikong Nana and left, and ran to the shore of the heavenly fire as if fleeing for their lives, and saluted Ding Feng with their fists together.

Sikong Nana was about to follow, but was dragged over by Sikong Ba and asked Xuanjizi to go to peace.

The three of Tianhuo master and apprentice looked back and saw that Sikong Nana did not follow, and immediately took a long breath, Tianhuo gave Ding Feng a thumbs up and said, "Brother Ding Feng, you are righteous enough, you cooperate so well!"

Ding Feng didn't say his first sentence until this time: "Tianhuo, what the hell are you doing? I didn't say a word!"

Tianhuo nodded and said, "That's right, thank you brother for the grace of relieving the siege, I'll go over there to avoid it." ”

The gray kite and the green ox hurriedly followed Tianhuo to the corner, and Tianhuo turned around and asked, "What are you two doing with me?" ”

The gray kite and the green cow said with a bitter face: "Master, you can't hide alone, what if Master Sikong wants to educate the two of us again?"

Tianhuo thought about it right, looked up and saw a young man he didn't know sitting alone on the innermost table, and hurriedly walked over and asked, "This brother, can you sit here?"

The young man was a little shy, and hurriedly got up and said with a red face, "Senior Brother Tianhuo, there is no one here, you can sit here." ”

Tianhuo looked at the shy young man with a smile and said, "I'm fifteen years old, and you call me senior brother, it seems that you are younger than me. ”

The young man nodded and said, "Yes, I just turned fifteen the day before yesterday, and I should be younger than my senior brother." ”

Tianhuo laughed: "That's really younger than me, you are Uncle Zhong's apprentice, right?"

The young man lowered his head and said, "Well, the leader of the Nutao Gang is my master, and my name is Zhong Xingmin." ”

Tianhuo said: "Senior Brother Zhong, sit down, you don't have to stand, why do you feel that you are very timid?"

Zhong Xingmin said: "I'm not timid, but I have some inferiority. ”

Tianhuo Qi said: "Why do you have low self-esteem?"

Zhong Xingmin raised his head and glanced at Tianhuo, then lowered his head and said, "Master told me that among the contestants in this foundation building conference, I may be the weakest, let me be humble."

Before I went all the way with Senior Brother Gu Qingliu, Senior Brother Ding Feng and Senior Sister Sikong Nana, I knew that there was a big gap between myself and them, and when I saw Senior Brother Tianhuo again, I knew that there was a sky outside the sky, so I would be even more frightened. ”

Tianhuo asked, "You can also see the other party's cultivation strength?"

Zhong Xingmin said: "Senior brother, my cultivation talent is not good, and Master accepted me as an apprentice because I have a pair of innate 'Hope Eyes', which can see the strength of other people's true yuan power.

Master said that my talent was very powerful, and asked me to practice diligently, but I felt useless myself, because I could see the strength of others, but it was useless if I couldn't beat others. ”

Tianhuo Zhengrong said: "Xingmin, it's not wrong for you to think so, but have you ever thought that if you practice your Qi Eye to the extreme and see the depth of the other party at a glance, you can tell your master or brother in advance about the flaws of the other party when facing the enemy, although you can't beat them yourself, you can help others defeat the opponent." ”

Zhong Xingmin's eyes lit up and said: "Yes, it turns out that I can still help others like this, why didn't I think of it before?"

Tianhuo continued to work harder and said: "Yes, you are not fighting alone! We can't always be the protagonist in life, most of the time we are playing a supporting role, so we should be calm, you have to firmly believe that even if we are a supporting role, we must be the best supporting role."

Affirm the value of your own existence, discover what you are really good at, in order to play your greatest role, you go back and think about how you can use your talent to help others, there must be more than I thought of temporarily!"

Zhong Xingmin felt a feeling of empowerment, and hurriedly got up and bowed deeply to Tianhuo and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Tianhuo, no wonder my master said that you will become the most powerful one of our generation of monks."

I was a little unconvinced before, but after only knowing you for a cup of tea, you actually opened the knot in my heart that has plagued me for so many years! I don't know if others are convinced by you, and in the future, I, Zhong Xingmin, will look at you as the first thing!"

Tianhuo hurriedly helped Zhong Xingmin up and said: "Senior Brother Zhong doesn't have to be formal, and you don't have to be modest, everyone has their own path to go, if you go right, you can go far, believe in Senior Brother, find the right way and stick to it, you can also be the most outstanding one." ”

Zhong Xingmin was now so convinced of Tianhuo that he hurriedly poured tea for Tianhuo, begging Tianhuo to give him more guidance in the future, and Tianhuo naturally politely pushed a few times.

The gray kite and the green cow looked at each other, the current Tianhuo and the usual Tianhuo completely became two people, why did Tianhuo show his strength and wisdom in front of others, and in front of their two apprentices, they were always so unreliable, they couldn't be interested in anything, lazy and indisputable.

Before Zhong Xingmin and Tianhuo could say a few words, the greetings between Xuanjizi and the four old friends had already ended, and the four of them hurriedly called their disciples over, gave Xuanjizi a salute one by one, and met with the senior brothers of the Xuanji faction.

In addition to Zhong Xingmin, the other three Qi Refining Stage disciples and the disciples of the Xuanji Sect all knew each other, and after the two sides quickly met, Gu Qingliu arranged for everyone to take a seat.

Xuanjizi and four friends sat at the main table, and the remaining eighteen people, six people at a table, just sat down. Because today is considered a treat from the four sects, Gu Qingliu, Ouyang Nana and Ding Feng are the main escorts of the other three tables, and the three Tianhuo masters and apprentices, Lu Qiming, Ding Feng, and Zhong Xingmin are just at one table.

Waiting for everyone to sit down, the guys downstairs immediately began to serve the food, and all kinds of delicacies were delivered, which were different from the dishes and plates in Guangjuxuan at noon, which seemed to be delicate and attentive, and the portion was not very much.

Xuan Jizi and the other five people pushed each other, but still let Xuan Jizi sit on the main seat, Master Qingfeng and Sikong Ba sat on his left and right, and Master Tianhe and Zhong Nutao sat with him.

Sikong Ba saw that the wine and food were almost over, and asked Xuanjizi softly: "Brother Xuanji, the accompanying singing and dancing here is very famous, should we call some to help the fun?"

Although Xuanjizi and others believe in Taoism, the Taoist monks in the south of the Song Kingdom are generally not subject to full ordination, except for partial ordination when practicing in Taoist temples, and various habits and behaviors are no different from ordinary people.

Xuanjizi has been cultivating so far, except for Tu Shan Ziyi's feelings, he has disdainful of other women, and hurriedly shook his head and said: "Brother Sikong, our five-faction gathering is already fun, there is no need to engage in those glamorous sounds, besides, Nana is also there, it is inconvenient for us to listen to the singing and dancing here, so forget it." ”

Sikong Ba was naturally very happy to see that Xuanjizi valued his daughter so much, and he glanced at Master Qingfeng.

As the highest cultivator in the four sects, Master Qingfeng was naturally the master of today's banquet today, so he got up and raised his glass and said, "Brother Xuanji, all the teachers and nephews of the Xuanji faction, it is rare to have such an opportunity today, our five factions can gather together to taste wine and reminisce, this kind of opportunity is simply rare in a hundred years.

I propose that, before getting into the subject of today's banquet, we have a toast for the sake of this rare encounter, for the sake of the friendship between the five factions. ”

Everyone applauded the proposal, and drank the wine glasses in front of them.

After waiting for Gu Qingliu to fill him with wine, the Venerable Qingfeng continued, "Today is a rare good day, we and the Xuanji Sect are getting together twice a day, which is really happy.

At noon, the four of us just drank the twenty-year-old flower carving provided by the shopkeeper of the Cuihu Inn, and in the evening we had to find the famous wine of Yundian - Drunken Mingyue to accompany the meal, what does Brother Xuanji think of this wine?"

Xuanjizi smashed it and said: "Well, it really deserves to be our famous wine in Yundian, with a sweet entrance and a long aftertaste, it is indeed a good wine." ”

Qingfeng Dao Chang continued: "Second cup of wine, we congratulate the martial idiot master and nephew on successfully advancing to the Jindan stage, becoming the first monk of our five factions to advance to the Jindan stage after building the twelfth layer of the foundation, such a feat, you should drink a cup!"

Everyone congratulated Wu Idiot on his promotion in unison, and Wu Idiot was so excited that he threw away the small cup in his hand, grabbed the silver wine jug on the table and drank it all, thanking everyone for their love.

Master Qingfeng continued to drink the third cup of wine: "This third cup of wine is to wish our disciples of the five sects good results in this foundation building conference. ”

This should indeed be congratulated, so everyone hurriedly raised their glasses and drank again.

The Venerable Master Qingfeng still held his wine glass and did not sit down, and Xuanjizi joked, "Qingfeng, I have already drunk three of you, and I haven't finished congratulating yet?"

Master Qingfeng said: "There are many more! This fourth congratulation, He De is the promotion period of Brother Xuanji, so that the four of us can see the hope of promotion, and at the same time, the Xuanji faction was promoted to the Xuanji sect and joined the Imperial Family Cultivation Alliance, in the future, we will be people in the alliance, and the relationship will be closer, should we congratulate?"

Xuanjizi hurriedly got up and said, "Congratulations, the disciples of the Xuanji Sect must drink three cups to thank the four sects for their support and help to us over the years." ”

After drinking the fourth cup, the Venerable Master Qingfeng said, "This fifth congratulation is the most important, and it is also the main purpose of our four sects to invite the Xuanji faction today.

Xuanjizi laughed and said, "As long as what you say is reasonable, I can't refuse, I will definitely drink it!"

The Venerable Master Qingfeng said, "Okay, this fifth congratulations, congratulations to the Xuanji Chamber of Commerce on the right track, and it will be able to dominate the southwest in the near future, should it be congratulated?"

Xuanjizi patted the arm of the Master Qingfeng and said: "Qingfeng, you are still so cunning, you have said so, I can't drink it, but I can drink this wine, but I have to make it clear, now the Xuanji Chamber of Commerce is only a primitive, let alone a hero, it is difficult to make a profit, it is difficult to find talents, and the situation cannot be opened, alas, I did it first, and I don't sweep everyone's interest." ”

Master Qingfeng smiled and said, "Brother Xuanji, don't sigh, and listen to my sixth congratulations! After the four of us formed a small business alliance before, named the 'Northern Yunnan League', and now we have decided to merge with the Xuanji Chamber of Commerce and respect the Xuanji faction as the suzerain, do you think Brother Xuanji should be congratulated?"