fifth form

Chapter 3175 The Art of Changxin Palace

Zhang Xuezhou was willing to teach Huo Qubing martial arts, but only if Huo Qubing was able to learn them.

Leaving aside the difference between literature and martial arts, Huo Qubing's physical development was also insufficient to cultivate Zhang Xuezhou's many skills.

As always, Zhang Xuezhou used the excuse of "first learning mental strengthening" to block Huo Qubing, and then began his formal visit to Changxin Palace.

His "Governor" token allowed him to enter and leave the palace, but who he could see was not up to Zhang Xuezhou. He also needed to inform his master and see if the other party would grant him an audience.

"Lord Dongfang, your plaque can only be used by one person, not two!"

"These are medical supplies for testing. I need to show them to the Empress Dowager. Just don't treat them like human beings!"

"Lord Dongfang is joking. How could a living person not be considered human?"

"Alright, then I won't go to pay the visit. Please bear with me if it causes any trouble!"

Zhang Xuezhou's authority was insufficient to bring people into the palace, so he inevitably encountered some trouble.

He intimidated people with a few words, which eventually attracted the attention of the Chamberlain of Changxin Palace.

"Lord Zheng?"

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at the Imperial Secretary, who was on patrol overseeing security, with some surprise, and then looked at the crown on the other man's head.

"Congratulations, Lord Zheng, on taking up your post at Changxin Palace!"

From being a lowly official below the Nine Ministers, the Prefect of the Capital was transformed into the Grand Master of the Changxin Palace. Such a change was far more significant than the word "major."

The position of Zhan Shi was not under the control of the imperial court, but rather belonged to the palace officials. Chen Zhang entered the palace through back channels and served as Zhan Shi under Lady Wei.

Zheng worked hard for decades, but now he has returned to square one.

Zhang Xuezhou's congratulations weren't entirely sarcastic. The Chixiao Sword case was not easy to investigate, and even if Guan Fu's case was classified as an ironclad one, it would inevitably offend many people.

Putting aside others, Marquis Dou Ying of Wei Qi would certainly regard Zheng Dangshi as an enemy.

If Dou Ying had used his Yang Soul Incarnation Technique to uncover the truth and exonerate Guan Fu, Zheng's fate would have been uncertain.

The case of the Crimson Sword is far from over. There was Guan Fu's first wave, and Lao Tong's second wave. Who knows when a third wave will come? And the behind-the-scenes story of 'exchanging a fake sword for a fake sword' has not yet been fully investigated.

Anyone would find the position of Jingzhaoyi troublesome. Zheng's ability to handle the situation was insufficient, so his resignation from the position of Jingzhaoyi was not entirely a bad thing.

"Thanks to Lord Dongfang!"

Zheng gave a lukewarm response at the time.

He gets a headache just looking at Zhang Xuezhou now.

With a new emperor comes a new court. The new emperor now holds great power, and not only is Zhang Xuezhou in power, but even someone like Guo Sheren is starting to act arrogantly.

New officials took office and old officials stepped down. However, Zheng never expected that his years of hard work would be used as a scapegoat.

Although he was free from the headaches of the Jingzhao Prefecture, the days of guarding Changxin Palace were extremely boring, and Zheng Dangshi was not in a good mood these days.

Suddenly, his subordinates reported the matter, and he thought he had some work to do, but he never expected to encounter Zhang Xuezhou, his nemesis.

The other party only had one token issued by the authorities, and according to the rules, he had to stop the person.

However, having recently been badly implicated in the Chixiao Sword case, Zheng did not want to be implicated again when he arrived at Changxin Palace.

"Lord Dongfang, please take this medicine and supplies to Changxin Palace. I will report to the Empress Dowager. If the Empress Dowager summons you, you can bring her in. If she does not summon you, or even punishes you, it is not because I, Zheng Dangshi, am making things difficult for you," Zheng Dangshi said, cupping his hands in greeting.

"Lord Zheng is too kind!"

Zhang Xuezhou cupped his hands in greeting.

Even if Zhang Xuezhou were in Zheng Dangshi's position, he could only deal with it this way, and for a time, several people were able to freely enter the harem.

Zhang Xuezhou had previously visited Changxin Palace once, carrying the Chixiao Sword, while Huo Qubing's eyes darted around, looking everything in sight.

"So many beautiful young ladies, they're much prettier than my mom!"

"Your mother will beat you if she hears this!"

"Telling the truth is never popular. Is honesty a bad quality?"

Huo Qubing muttered a few words, Zhang Xuezhou made a comment, and Zheng Dangshi was speechless.

"The Empress Dowager has been in a bad mood lately, and her few jokes and words are not pleasing!"

Only when they were close to the main gate of Changxin Palace did Zheng issue a warning, signaling everyone to watch their words and actions to avoid doing something thankless.

He hurriedly entered the main hall, and came out even faster, with a strange look on his face.

"Summon Dongfang Shuo and the medicine man into the hall!" After straightening his body, Zheng Dangshi announced the decree, indicating that Zhang Xuezhou and the others could enter the hall.

"I'm not called Human Medicine, I have a name!"

Huo Qubing muttered something, but when Zhang Xuezhou casually lifted him up and he didn't sag even a fraction of an inch despite being lifted several times, he finally resigned himself to his fate and shut up.

"I heard you brought me some medicine... Is this child Xiao Huo?"

The main hall of Weiyang Palace still carried the scent of ink, though it was no longer as strong as before, indicating that the Empress Dowager had not been writing recently.

However, the large chair on which the Empress Dowager lay was piled with bamboo slips and wooden tablets, indicating that she had been reading quite a few books these days.

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at it and saw that the contents included many elixirs and medicines, indicating that the Empress Dowager was looking for ways to save herself and was not entrusting her life to the imperial physicians.

She had a palace maid lift her up, then sat up straight and looked down at Zhang Xuezhou, who was requesting an audience, and glanced at Huo Qubing a few times.

"I saw this child stacking stones in the Shufang Palace. His skill in stacking stones is quite good," said the Empress Dowager.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Huo is not only good at stacking stones, but his cultivation technique is also very interesting," Zhang Xuezhou said. "This technique can integrate and refine Qi, thereby restoring the body from disorder to normal!"

"Oh?"

The Empress Dowager spoke softly.

For her, who is currently focused on healing, spiritual practice has become secondary and no longer seems particularly important.

Moreover, she had once reached the True Self Realm in her cultivation, and had no particular interest in cultivation realms.

Zhang Xuezhou brought up a topic that she would have been interested in ten years ago, but now she has absolutely no interest in it.

"Your Majesty may not know this, but this realm of Qi fusion and refining may seem ordinary, but if combined with another technique, it can turn the rotten into the miraculous," Zhang Xuezhou said, cupping his hands. "This may alleviate some of your suffering!"

"Oh?"

The Empress Dowager's earlier "oh" was soft, suggesting she didn't care, but the subsequent "oh" was louder, and she even leaned forward slightly to show that she was listening attentively.

"What kind of realm technique is it, and what kind of technique is it?"

“The changes in the realm technique vary from person to person, but as long as a method of integration is found, it can be corrected,” Zhang Xuezhou said. “The technique is the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique, and the Empress Dowager should be familiar with this technique!”

What are the benefits of combining the two?

The Empress Dowager nodded, indicating that she knew about the Yang Soul Transformation Technique.

“I suspect it’s possible that I won’t need to endure physical constraints,” Zhang Xuezhou said. “As long as I condense a Yang Soul Avatar and use the Realm Technique to transfer my cultivation, I can live a normal life using the Yang Soul Avatar. Meanwhile, my severely injured body can be frozen with ten-thousand-year-old ice, which can suppress the injury to the greatest extent, thus giving me enough time to wait for a treatment opportunity!”

"Speak slower, explain in more detail, let me sort out the connections between them!"

The Empress Dowager waved her hand, signaling Zhang Xuezhou to repeat himself.

The Confucian school widely disseminated the technique of transforming Yang Soul into a physical form, and the Empress Dowager also obtained a copy, thus learning the conditions for condensing Yang Soul into a physical form.

This technique isn't particularly difficult, at least the Empress Dowager believed she had no problem cultivating it.

However, the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique is not suitable as a primary combat technique. No matter how much it is refined, the incarnation can never be as powerful as the real body.

The use of the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique by the Spell Master is a perfect fit, since this type of cultivator usually has to stay in seclusion and cannot be seen by others. This technique gives these people the opportunity to be seen in the light.

However, others who practice this art need to expend a lot of resources and effort, and the results are often unsatisfactory.

There's no need to use the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique to ambush opponents who can be killed outright, and even if you cultivate the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique to its peak, it will be of little use against opponents you can't handle.

Although it seemed that the cultivators of the Xiong Kingdom were repeatedly using the Yang Soul Transformation Technique to wreak havoc, the Empress Dowager knew very well that this technique would not be able to be arrogant for long. If there were any technique that could restrain it, the Yang Soul Transformation Technique, which consumed a lot of cultivation resources, would be a losing proposition.

However, the Yang Soul Transformation Technique, which allows one to overcome illness through cultivation, is a different matter entirely.

What Zhang Xuezhou said was beyond what ordinary people would think, and even the Empress Dowager had to think about it seriously.

The single Yang Soul Transformation Technique cannot achieve what Zhang Xuezhou described, but if the Realm Technique can produce some mysteries, it might create something different.

There was indeed something missing; the Empress Dowager felt that Zhang Xuezhou's statement was incomplete.

Only by filling this gap can we potentially bring about extraordinary results.

She thought about it for a long time, listened carefully to Zhang Xuezhou's description of the fusion of realm techniques, and watched Huo Qubing's demonstration. Finally, she confirmed her thoughts.

The Empress Dowager waved her hand and gave a few more instructions. The palace maids who were serving her immediately ran out.

When the palace maids returned, over a hundred volumes of written texts were brought over.

(End of this chapter)