Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 584: Immortal Cultivation Trend
The distant Yizhou and Mount Qingcheng in Shu.

There is a lot of fog in Sichuan, and it becomes even foggier in winter.

Li Feng led the gathered medical professionals to set up camp at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain, and also established many herbal medicine collection bases on the mountain.

As usual, Li Feng and a group of scholars who were good at painting sketched the characteristics of the stems, leaves and roots of herbs.

Originally, Li Feng only sent people to Qingcheng Mountain to collect herbs and draw maps, but the news of Youzhou's great victory and Jingzhou's southern army's defeat spread to Shu one after another, and the atmosphere in Shu changed drastically.

Li Feng couldn't help but travel. Compared with governing a place, he liked preaching and practicing the way of the ancestor of medicine more.

This led to him developing a blind optimism and self-confidence, as if as long as he followed the path of the founder of medical science, he would surely live to be over ninety years old.

In this age when most people are under the age of fifty, many scholars have basically lived most of their lives by the age of thirty. Considering the length of their remaining time, they have to be cautious.

Li Feng is only forty years old now. In this era when scholars are generally under fifty years old, he can already be considered an elder or an old man.

But considering the lifespan, the babies born among the scholars this year may not necessarily live longer than him.

Therefore, Li Feng, who thought he had more than 50 years left to live, became younger in mentality and his overall complexion also showed signs of improvement.

As the governor of a state, there are too many people paying attention to him all the time.

Today, Yizhou does not even need external positive news to maintain stability. Scholars who seek the truth and pray for longevity are enough to build a stable basic foundation.

If one could live twenty or thirty more years, and increase one's life span from fifty to seventy or eighty... then family property and other things would not seem so important.

When you are dying, can your wealth buy you a pill that will prolong your life?

This is a very cruel question. For the wealthy families, who does this property belong to?

It was passed down from our ancestors, so to whom should it be passed on?

Shu is a wealthy country, and there is no shortage of people who have made their fortunes from scratch. So does this wealth belong to him or his descendants?
When you are sick and dying, should you keep your huge fortune or use it to buy a panacea?
Now the scholars in Shu no longer doubt Li Feng's ambition to become a Taoist. Since he took office, Li Feng has not been interested in government affairs or worldly affairs.

Either he would work hard in medicine and pharmacology, or he would summon the leaders and representatives of the believers of the Ba people who had converted to Taoism from various places, give them some rewards, and explain the meaning of the scriptures, and that would be the end of the matter.

The entire government affairs of Yizhou were all placed on the shoulders of Huang Quan, the governor. This state of barely internal autonomy greatly stabilized the mentality of the scholars in Yizhou... This was a good thing that could not be asked for, and it was also the fundamental factor that kept Yizhou stable this year.

As a result, Huang Quan worked hard, and as time went by, Li Feng's age reduction became more and more obvious.

By now, the scholars in Yizhou have become more and more obsessed with and worship Li Feng. The benefit of local autonomy brought about by Huang Quan's rule has become insignificant, and its influence has dropped sharply.

After hearing the news of Youzhou's great victory and Jingzhou's southern army's retreat, Li Feng could no longer restrain himself and left the city for Qingcheng Mountain.

As a result, most of the scholars in Yizhou spread rumors, believing that Li Feng was going to visit immortals under the guise of collecting herbs and compiling medical books.

As soon as Li Feng arrived at Qingcheng Mountain, the scholars from Shu who followed him almost filled every village near Qingcheng Mountain.

The people of Shu are very serious about seeking immortality and practicing to achieve longevity.

At this moment, no matter what Li Feng denied or advised, it was completely useless.

The clogs, hemp shoes he wore, and the old clothes he took off could be stolen at any time. Even chopsticks, soup spoons, bowls and plates, and other cheap daily utensils were within the scope of theft. The market value was too high, and his servants really couldn't control themselves.

For Black Bear, it was nothing more than a fanatical trend of cultivating immortals that broke out in Yizhou, which increased his stability by one.

Li Feng was not bothered by it. The huge changes in the attitudes of the Yizhou scholars that had been brewing also made the Ba people start to become blind.

To the extent that now when preaching in the periphery, the leaders of the Ba people in various places will only be willing to convert after paying a visit to Li Feng.

What bothered Li Feng the most was the medical practitioners he had gathered. Now, they also felt that they were searching for traces of immortals under the guise of collecting herbs and making books. As a result, they were in a very bad state when working, and their minds were all on analyzing and recording Li Feng's words, as if they contained the secret of finding traces of immortals.

They had no choice but to believe it. Since Li Feng came to Qingcheng Mountain, some other famous immortal cultivators in Yizhou also heard the news and came to Qingcheng Mountain to seek opportunities.

Due to the interaction of various factors, the trend of cultivating immortals spread to the southern central region.

The various Sou, Yi, and Pu people had always believed devoutly in the legends about ghosts and gods in their own tribes, so naturally they also believed in the story of Yizhou Envoy Li's cultivation of immortals.

Before the remote areas of South Central China heard the news, the tribal leaders, shamans and others along the way led their people to Mount Qingcheng.

In order to seek an opportunity to become an immortal, deep in the Qingcheng Mountains, several groups of people might engage in a sword fight over a cave dug by the mountain folks for shelter from the rain.

People were dying all the time. After many people were killed, their bodies were cleaned up and their wealth was divided equally.

Their disappearance seemed to vaguely confirm the rumor that immortals had appeared in the world and were recruiting disciples.

Even if Li Feng evacuated Qingcheng Mountain, he still couldn't stop this trend.

Later, troops were dispatched to guard the key points on the mountain roads. However, there were still scholars and natives who carried dry food into the mountains to seek the immortals. Even ordinary people crossed mountains and ridges to come to Qingcheng Mountain in search of the immortals.

By the twelfth month, some of the stationed troops began to escape and headed deep into Mount Qingcheng to ask for directions.

Seeing this, Li Feng could only let it go.

Those who are willing to sacrifice their family property and lives to seek immortality in Qingcheng Mountain will naturally have the courage to launch a rebellion if they are dissatisfied in the future.

After figuring out the key point, Li Feng simply stopped going out, and instead purchased medicinal materials and concentrated on studying their medicinal properties.

As a result, word spread among the people that he had acquired the divine art of refining elixirs in Qingcheng Mountain and had already begun refining elixirs.

In order to avoid accidents, Huang Quan could only dispatch troops to garrison near the provincial capital to prevent these crazy cultivators from attacking the provincial capital and looting elixirs or prescriptions.

As things developed to this point, Huang Quan was somewhat unsure whether the matter was true or not.

If he really was refining the elixir and it was stolen by the rebels, he really couldn't afford to be held accountable by the shogunate.

After all, he and Li Feng were colleagues, and the phenomenon of Li Feng's reverse growth was too obvious, so Huang Quan was just puzzled, not unbelieving.

Even if Li Feng told him in person that everything was a natural phenomenon and there was no such thing as gods...you are Huang Quan, do you dare to believe what your colleagues say?
Huang Quan's action of mobilizing troops to defend the state was understood as a wrong signal...that is, the elixir was about to be refined.

At the provincial headquarters, Li Feng said solemnly, "It can be concluded that there is a group of people behind the scenes fanning the flames and misleading the people."

"Your Excellency is not necessarily a foreigner. The people of this state are fond of the way of immortals, and your Excellency is so unusual that it is hard for them to avoid fantasies."

His chief clerk whispered to him, "In my opinion, it would be better for you to preach in public. This would ease the people's concerns and eliminate the hidden dangers. When the wise people among the people hear the meaning of the scriptures, they will be able to distinguish the true from the false."

Li Feng nodded: "It can only be done this way. I originally wanted to preach in Qingcheng Mountain, but I have many concerns."

What are you most afraid of?
He was afraid that while he was preaching, the bandits and murderers hiding among them would suddenly attack!
But if he doesn't take the initiative to step forward now, the fanatical immortal cultivators will not be satisfied by his daily necessities, and there is a high possibility that they will be instigated to attack the provincial government office and escalate the incident.

It was impossible for Huang Quan to suggest that he come out to preach and answer questions. No one dared to make this suggestion because no one could afford the consequences.

As for being assassinated, Li Feng was actually not afraid of it. It was nothing more than a process of disintegration.

But in his understanding, he will have to change his identity and live a different life after retirement, and he prefers his current state.

(End of this chapter)