Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 30 Five Years
In the courtyard of the Jiang family's backyard in Chenxi County, Southern Xinjiang Prefecture, there are several rugged rockery and strange rocks, pavilions and towers. There is a clear water pond between the towers, in which green lotus floats and blooms, and golden and red koi swim, occasionally jumping out of the water and causing ripples.

In the pavilion, two old men were playing chess with wine, each holding a black and white piece. From time to time, they would swallow a cup of hot wine, and then they would make a move to strangle the dragon, which was very exciting.

The old man in brocade robe looked at his drunken old friend in front of him while making his move.

Back then, Han Zhi was full of energy and ambition, wanting to display his talents. He did not hesitate to travel thousands of miles to come to Nanjiang Prefecture to take up his post.

As his former classmate and old friend, I naturally have to treat him well and we can support each other in the future.

Who would have thought that the people of Ishihara County were so cruel and brutal that they could not be educated at all. My old friend also wanted to change the local situation at the beginning.

But when he was in Ishihara County, he watched helplessly as a tax collector was cursed to death. Bugs came out of his body and it was eaten away until only a piece of flesh and skin was left.

From then on, Han Zhi fled to Chenxi County and never talked about serving the people and educating the barbarians again.

Chenxi County is very close to Zhennan Pass and is also a hub for transporting food and fodder for the border troops, so it is relatively safe and prosperous. The Jiang family also acquired shares in the military supply chain and thus gained this wealth.

Snapped.

When Old Master Jiang made his move in the middle of the game, the person he was playing against in front of him was already drunk and fast asleep.

"Ugh."

Upon seeing this, Old Master Jiang sighed softly, took off his coat and stepped forward to cover his old friend.

Having raised Han Zhi for five years and spent a lot of money without any benefit, the younger generation in the family had already complained privately, and even tried to give him some punishment in front of himself and his old friends.

But, after all, we were classmates and close friends...

Just at this moment, a manager in blue clothes ran in breathlessly from outside the garden.

"Master, promotion, promotion!"

"Side, why are you so nervous? What promotion?"

Old Master Jiang frowned slightly when he heard this, somewhat dissatisfied with his housekeeper's lack of composure when faced with major events. None of his nephews and nieces were officials, so how could they be promoted?

"Old Master, it's... it's Lord Han Zhi. The imperial court had already appointed Lord Han a few days ago. Lord Han has made great contributions to the governance of Shiyuan County, and the imperial court has specially commended him and appointed him as the Shao Yin of Nanling Prefecture!"

"what?"

The official ranks of civil servants in the Tang Dynasty were divided into nine grades and twenty-nine levels. The magistrate of Ishihara County was from the seventh grade, and the Shaoyin of Nanling Prefecture was from the fourth grade. They were promoted three grades in a row, which was rare since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Si De, who was kneeling there, looked at the drunken old man in brocade clothes, lying on the stone table, and admired him very much:

Fortunately, the family is run by the kind-hearted old man. The first, second, third and fourth houses are usually very noisy, but they cannot become a practitioner, an official, or a businessman. Now it seems that they cannot be a human being either. Only when the old man is in charge can the family continue to be peaceful and prosperous.

On the other side, Ishihara County.

With the establishment of the Chixin Temple, the three Taoist priests Lu Cheng, Chen Qingfeng and Chen Qingyun presided over the water conservancy construction to divert the water from the Zhanjiang River.

Like blood, it spreads throughout Ishihara County.

With the power of Chixin Temple, evil spirits and ghosts are suppressed, and with the power of the sun, poisonous insects are dissolved, so that the water of the miasma river can gradually be used for irrigation and drinking.

The Taoist priests of the Chixin Temple made an agreement with the local elders, which consists of three parts:
Anyone who kills will be put to death, anyone who injures or steals will be punished.

Once these three laws were implemented, and the four families of Li, Tu, Zou and You had been completely wiped out, the number of merchants coming and going increased several times due to the abundance of local timber and local specialties.

In just five years, the local area has undergone tremendous changes.

The lives of local people improved visibly. They had enough food to fill their stomachs, enough clothes to keep warm, they could support their parents and love their children. Some people even from the mountains ran to Ishihara County and incorporated them into their native place. This political achievement was called the naturalization of the savages.

Since the establishment of Nanjiang Prefecture, Shiyuan County has almost never paid taxes to the court. It began to pay taxes from the second year after the establishment of Chixin Temple, and has now paid taxes for three consecutive years.

But even so, this merit might not be enough to be promoted to the third rank. However, the imperial court learned about the relationship between Han Zhi and Huoyun Mansion through some unknown channel. If it were not for the letter before Han Zhi came to southern Xinjiang, the imperial court might not have known that True Man Chi Shen Zi still had relatives and descendants in the human world, even though many years had passed.

Inside Chixin Temple in Shiyuan County, Nanjiang Prefecture.

In the quiet room of the main hall, there was a young Taoist sitting on a cushion, breathing in and out to practice Qi. As he practiced, a hazy aura gradually spread from the young Taoist's body. When his Qi was practiced for nine times and his magic power reached its peak, Lu Cheng's entire body floated above the cushion and flew up, slowly spinning.

"Buzz...buzz..."

Hanging on the wall beside the quiet room, a Taoist flying sword hums as its master practices. It seems to have a spirituality and is having a conversation with its master at this moment!
five years.

The spirituality of this red pine sword has been cultivated to the extreme by Lu Cheng through his cultivation of sword intent. Man and sword are in perfect harmony. Man has gained the sword's strength, and the sword has gained the man's spirituality.

On the other hand, Lu Cheng had also studied and practiced the Heaven-stealing Spirit Transformation Technique to a very high level. Even as a direct disciple of the Burning Wood Mountain, most of them could not receive constant guidance and instruction from a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage. However, with the blessing of the divine power of the Chixin Temple, Lu Cheng was able to almost condense his divine consciousness inside the Chixin Temple, and could observe and look down on the circulation of the magical power in his body.

Whether it is the purification or control of magic power, it is not comparable to that of ordinary Qi training cultivators.

Lu Cheng floated in the air, with his body as the center, and streams of magical energy flowed and spread, even scattering to various places in the quiet room. After a long time, sweat appeared on Lu Cheng's forehead. He slowly stopped practicing and his body slowly descended from the air and landed on the cushion.

At this moment, a piece of talisman paper suddenly slipped in through the tiny gap in the door of the quiet room. After slipping in, the talisman paper stood up by itself and turned into a little girl made of paper cutouts. She ran to the young Taoist priest and shouted:
"Brother Lu, please stop practicing. We have agreed to have a banquet with Brother Tang to discuss Dao today. If you come out late like last time, it will be really rude!"

The person who cast the spell with the talisman was naturally Chen Qingyun. Seeing this, Lu Cheng smiled slightly, gently pointed at the forehead of the paper man and pushed it down, and said with a smile:
"I already know. I'm leaving now."

(End of this chapter)