Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 262: Lord's Question
After a ball of gold-eating spiritual flame was taken out from the Snow Mountain Road by a high cultivator, it had been burning for nearly half a month in the middle of a fireplace in a simple and fresh embroidery building.

The third-order soul-nourishing formation set up by the palace's formation master bound the soul flame tightly, without wasting a single bit of its spiritual energy.

A Big Sun stone as big as a baby's fist was located in the center of the spiritual flame. The flames of the spiritual flame licked the outer shell of the Big Sun stone, burning it from the outside to the inside, making it bright red and hot, like a round red jade, shining brightly.

It burned until the outer shell of the Big Sun Stone made a crisp sound, and a fine crack appeared on the surface, and a few wisps of green smoke rose from the crack.

A slender white hand stretched out, with a hint of three-color spiritual light on the slender fingertips. With just a touch and a tap, the hard outer shell of the Big Sun Stone was gently broken, revealing several pieces of gray stone marrow the size of finger joints.

A graceful female cultivator saw this scene, and a hint of joy appeared in her beautiful eyes.

She was naked, and a mysterious and complex talisman lit up in her palm. The magic circle that bound the spiritual flame opened, and a flaming air instantly filled the room.

The woman was not panicked. The talisman in her palm flew out and grew to the size of a round table, suppressing the Gold-Devouring Spiritual Flame, which had already shown signs of invigoration, back to the size of a flame.

The flames stagnated, and several pieces of Great Sun Stone Marrow emitting white steam fell out.

The beautiful woman was not afraid at all, she rolled her tongue and carefully took all the broken pieces of stone into her cherry-like mouth, then lowered her head and paced to the center of the room, coming to the side of a thin Taoist who was practicing naked.

The thin Taoist opened his eyes upon hearing the voice, without even looking at the charming mature woman in front of him. He just stretched out his hand and gently lifted the woman's chin. He saw a trace of confusion in the woman's eyes. After a "moan", her lips became rosy and her almond-shaped mouth opened slightly.

In just a short while, the originally grayish stone marrow of the Sun had completely lost all its impurities in the beautiful woman's mouth and had become colorful and crystal clear.

The thin Taoist priest ignored the charming woman's eyes and focused his sharp eyes on the stone marrow that had been free of impurities.

She was seen making the Jade Emperor Seal with her left hand and lightly bending her fingers. The essence of the raw stone floated out of the woman's mouth and slowly flowed into an emerald jade bottle in the Taoist's right hand.

"Uncle..." After doing all this, the woman swallowed all the essence, leaving only a few pieces of stone marrow in the outer shell into her stomach.

His whole body was as soft as a pool of autumn water, and he exuded a faint fragrance. He was about to pounce on Kuang Liuting, the stone man, and soak him thoroughly.

"Today is the Nine Poisons Season. The Yang energy is gradually weakening and the Yin energy is emerging. Therefore, it is not good to have sex. Please be patient for now." Kuang Liuting saw the beautiful scene in front of him but his heart remained as calm as before and he did not show any emotion.

Even though the woman had already leaked all over the floor, her plump and firm legs were covered in grease, Kuang Liuting still changed his clothes, clutched the jade bottle, and pushed the door open to leave.

Kuang Liuting had not taken a few steps when he thought that the jade bottle was now one point full. Even though he was used to seeing the world, a hint of joy appeared on his face.

After all, this matter of gathering energy from the stone marrow is related to the quality of his future golden elixir achievement.

"Before I came here, I had never thought that the daughter of a small and remote family like the Yue family in Hancheng could possess such a rare physique as the 'Refined Yang Spirit Body'. This saved me a lot of effort in extracting the essence from the Great Sun Stone, which saved me more than ten years of hard work."

With a count of twisting his fingers, he found that the stone marrow essence needed to form the elixir had already accumulated to the number of forty-three.

This kind of natural treasure is hard to come by, and Kuang Liuting is a perfectionist, so he spends much more on it than an ordinary person.

Even if the clan office would allocate more money for that person's sake, Kuang Liuting has not yet been accepted as a disciple. The Immortal Dynasty will not let him use these important supplies whenever he wants.

Therefore, over the years, Kuang Liuting could only rely on himself to scrape together this much money.

Thinking of this, Kuang Liuting felt a little happy, and he also felt a little sorry for the girl from the Yue family, which was rare.

Unfortunately, the girl's family background was too low. Even though Kuang Liuting really liked her, even if it was just a co-wife position, the clan office rejected Kuang Liuting's request again and again.

According to several clan leaders, even though the David clan had fallen into decline, the marriage of the legitimate sons must still be dignified.

Don’t underestimate the Yue family of Hancheng, which is powerful enough to make the world change in Yunjiaozhou. However, compared with all the aristocratic families in the world, they are just an insignificant local clan.

The receipt from the clan office clearly stated that if the legitimate daughter of the family wanted to marry into the Nan'an Earl's Mansion, the most she could be promised was the position of a "concubine".

When the Yue family found out about this, they had no complaints. In Yunjiao Prefecture, no family had been able to marry their daughter into the royal family for many years.

Even if it was just one of the eight concubines, the Yue family, who were humble and simple, could still feel honored by it. But Kuang Liuting was a man who cared about his reputation after all, and felt that this was a failure to fulfill his promise and a betrayal of the Yue family's trust, so he was still trying to negotiate the price with the clan government in various ways.

"It's a pity that even if we get this Great Sun Stone from the lower-grade golden elixir of Hongyi Sect, we can't get much of it. If we want to get more as soon as possible and form a golden elixir earlier, we still have to find another way."

Kuang Liuting remembered the proposal that had been piled up on the official file, regarding Wanbao Commercial Bank opening a branch in Xuanwei City.

It had clearly been a long time since the letter was sent out, and the official reply had also arrived. Nan'an Earl had thought that he would have been able to open Wanbao Commercial Bank a few years ago, so as to recruit immigrants from the capital to Yunjiaozhou and gain some popularity.

Unexpectedly, after all the smooth sailing, the approval document for Wanbao Commercial Bank was withheld by Zhaixing Tower.

"The friendship between the Star Picking Tower Master and His Royal Highness the Southern King is not as deep as we younger generations think." Kuang Liuting sighed deeply. In some small worlds, a Yuanying Zhenren can be regarded as a land immortal, which is certainly not something that the lesser cultivators can guess.

Kuang Liuting calmed down and went straight to the main hall of the provincial government.

He had been in seclusion for a long time to practice. The Earl of Nan'an, who had not been in charge of affairs for a long time, suddenly appeared in the main hall of the provincial court without anyone notifying him. This made the provincial court officials, who had been somewhat leisurely, suddenly nervous.

"Congratulations, my lord, for coming out of retreat. You are one step closer to the golden elixir path." A middle-aged man with a beautiful beard and wearing a vermilion official uniform in the hall did not try to dodge and stepped forward to greet him.

This man's name was Zhu Tong. He was the new governor of Yunjiaozhou after the previous governor Huo Bing surrendered to the enemy.

In the past, when Zhu Tong was an official in the capital, he was appointed as a certified secretary when he first entered the officialdom. Because of his outstanding qualifications, he also became a disciple of the chief disciple of Gui Nianzhi, the left prime minister of the time.

The Left Prime Minister Gui Nianzhi was a Yuanying Zhenren from the Liaoyuan Gui clan. The history of the Liaoyuan Gui clan was much longer than that of the Kuang family.

In the previous dynasty, they were already a world-famous first-class family. In the past thousand years, they had produced four Yuanying Zhenren. One can imagine their family's status in the government.

Therefore, after Zhu Tong became Gui Nian's disciple, he was able to rise rapidly in his official career.

Before coming to Yunjiaozhou, Zhu Tong had already been a county magistrate in a certain county. At such an age, with such years of experience, it was rare even among the children of many wealthy families.

However, Zhu Tong was born in a humble family and had no family background, so even if he was outstanding, he could not be accepted by his colleagues in the court. If he wanted to go further, even if he was considered a prime minister, there would still be a lot of resistance. Recently, there were officials in the court like Zuo Zongzheng who were paying attention to the affairs of Yunjiao Province. Thinking that Kuang Liuting had opened up the situation in Yunjiao Province, he had more and more local cultivators available, but the number of old people in the capital was decreasing.

This was because when Shen Lingfeng was appointed as the governor of Shannan Road, he spent a lot of resources and energy to govern Yunjiao Province, but to no avail.

Some senior officials of the Suixian Dynasty believed that they had been backstabbed by local monks in the past and did not have a good impression of the latter.

Therefore, in order to avoid an imbalance in the personnel composition of the Yunjiao state court, many important figures in the temple agreed to let Zhu Tong, an outsider who was not very popular among his colleagues, lead the team and summoned a total of 21 high-ranking monks from the capital to come to Yun to help.

In the eyes of many officials in the capital who came from noble families, Yunjiaozhou was not a good place to go.

The poverty and remoteness of Shannan Road is only one of the reasons. The second is that among the 26 prefectures in Shannan Road, only Yunjiao Prefecture is about to be taken back by the Immortal Dynasty, but it is still surrounded by other prefectures controlled by surrounding sects and big families.

The situation is so bad that there is not even enough room for maneuver.

If the situation here suddenly changes during his term of office, he may not only lose his future prospects, but also find it difficult to transport his entire body back to his homeland for burial.

Therefore, among the twenty officials selected by the Ministry of Clan Affairs, most of them had similar backgrounds to Zhu Tong, and were rootless people without any family background in the court.

To be able to gather so many independent officials in such a short period of time in this important city in the capital where the aristocratic families gathered took a lot of effort from Zuo Zongzheng, who was in charge of this matter.

Before Zhu Tong came, he was promised that if he did a good job in Yunjiao Prefecture, and if he could make a genuine golden elixir within sixty years, he would be transferred back to Gyeonggi Province and appointed as the governor of a middle-level prefecture.

The price is indeed not low. It is a future that even a direct descendant of a wealthy family in the capital like Fei Nanying can hardly achieve.

This is because the Immortal Dynasty has become increasingly weak in recent years, and now even in a core area like Gyeonggi Province, it is difficult to say that its government orders are being implemented.

Not much different from Shannan Province, many prefectures and counties in Gyeonggi Province are also controlled by some powerful sects and clans, and the Immortal Dynasty can not directly control too many prefectures and counties.

The chief officials at all levels in these states and counties can almost be said to be hereditary, and the Immortal Dynasty does not need to bother to appoint them.

The only difference from remote places like Shannan Province is that the aristocratic families in central places like Gyeonggi Province are closer to the Immortal Dynasty.

After all, most of these forces were established by Yuan Cong, the founding emperor. Although they themselves drank wine and ate meat, they were willing to share some leftovers with the Immortal Dynasty to see how salty they were.

Because of this, the Ministry of Revenue and the royal family of the Xian Dynasty were able to collect relatively large amounts of taxes from them every year in order to maintain the last bit of dignity of the common ruler of the world.

Therefore, in recent years, there have been rumors in the outside world that are enough to be considered as usurpation, such as "The splendor of the Immortal Dynasty does not belong to the Kuang family alone."

Kuang Liuting has always had an eccentric temper. In the past, his talent was never judged by his family background, so he could be considered an outlier among the royal family and nobles.

When he was in the court, he didn't like working with children of wealthy families. Therefore, only a soldier like Gun Shilu, who came from a humble family, could catch his eye and be promoted by him.

This time, Zuo Zongzheng sent a group of officials of grassroots origin to Yunjiaozhou. In fact, their families were much lower than those of Gun Shilu. If other members of the royal family saw them, they might not be happy. However, this was exactly what he wanted.

Zhu Tong had just arrived and, relying on his talent, like He Gunshilu, was promised a future as a fake elixir by Kuang Liuting.

But the former had his own ambitions, and the future of this fake pill did not satisfy him, so he worked tirelessly for Kuang Liuting these days, and was very diligent. His goal was to gain new merits and earn some resources for forming a pill.

"Thank you for your hard work. Are there any major events in the state recently?" Kuang Liuting did not have any prejudice against personal factions. He really liked this practical man. As soon as they met, he expressed his comfort.

"Serving the country is hard work." Zhu Tong saw that Kuang Liuting's expression of satisfaction had deepened, and he continued, "During the days when Master Bo was in seclusion, the state has been peaceful and trouble-free, and it is becoming more and more prosperous."

Thinking that Kuang Liuting's flattery was not pleasant to hear, Zhu Tong stopped at the point and succinctly recounted the following events:
"My Lord, I am a stupid official. I think the following matters need your consideration." Seeing Kuang Liuting nod, Zhu Tong continued:
"First, a month ago, the Puzhou Sanxiang Sect was reported by righteous people, saying that they were causing trouble for the peaceful Qingping and had the signs of triggering a beast tide. After hearing about it, the Puzhou governor summoned the leader of the Sanxiang Sect to the court and ordered him to clear his name.

The leader of the Sanxiang sect was frightened and dared not to attend the meeting. He actually contacted the 4th to 5th level 2 monsters and used the power of his entire sect to start a small monster tide and cause chaos.

The governor of Puzhou was unable to control the situation, and the city was lost. There were more than one million casualties in the state, and every family in the state wore mourning clothes and wore hemp cloth.

Fortunately, the Puzhou Shishan Sect was grateful for the Immortal Dynasty's kindness and had a sincere heart, so they selected disciples to go down the mountain to quell the rebellion.

As of yesterday, the Demon Correction Department sent a letter reporting that the beast tide in Puzhou has subsided. Among the Sanxiang bandits, one died and one was injured while building their foundation at home. Only one person is still missing. As for the remaining bandits, most of them have been taken in by people sent by the Liangyi Sect. "

"Ask the provincial court officials to investigate whether the governor of Puzhou was incapable of fighting or fled because of cowardice. Those who have merit will be rewarded and those who have committed crimes will be punished. Send a message and ask the head of the Shishan Sect to come and see me. I will grant him a promising future."

Kuang Liuting showed a trace of satisfaction on his face. He had gone through great pains to leave the prosperous Gyeonggi Province and travel to the border states, working hard for many years. Now, among the several nearby states, he finally had one or two local major factions that were grateful and loyal to the country.

At this point, Kuang Liuting added: "If Liangyi Sect and Hongyi Sect have any evil intentions towards Shishan Sect, please report it in time, and I will have a plan."

Zhu Tong bowed his head and obeyed the order, and replied that the full title of Kuang Liuting's assignment was "Cavalry Commandant, Ranger General, Earl of Nan'an, in charge of the military and civilian affairs of Feng, Ding, Pu and Yun states."

However, the gambling game between the Star Picking Tower Master and His Royal Highness the Southern King only involved Yunjiao State. As for the other three states, they were merely names imposed by the Immortal Dynasty.

Originally, it was difficult to control Kuang Liuting before his golden elixir was completed. However, after the Supreme Elder of Dingzhou Hongyi Sect bought his life from Kuang Liuting, he was able to intervene in most of the affairs of Dingzhou, and could use this to make some profitable deals with Liangyi Sect.

"Secondly, the new leader of Zifeng Valley, Shen Baiyue, died. People said that it was the New Cloud Alliance leader Ye Zhen who killed him. Tie Liuyun, the deputy commander of the Demon Correction Division, came to investigate the case and wanted to arrest Ye Zhen to question him. Ye Zhen refused to accept it, and Shujian Sect almost rebelled because of him."

When Zhu Tong mentioned this, his tone became even more serious. However, Kuang Liuting saw through the former's thoughts and did not get angry. Instead, he asked, "What then?"

"The leader of Chongming, Kang Dabao, stepped in to mediate, and the two sides stopped fighting temporarily. Ye Zhen reported to the provincial court's criminal department, intending to accuse Tie Liuyun of abusing his power for personal gain."

"Oh, yes. Kang Dabao, the legitimate son-in-law of the Fei family, has already established his foundation, and I haven't even gone to congratulate him yet!" Kuang Liuting ignored Zhu Tong's writing style, but instead showed some joy on his face. He saw a hint of panic on Zhu Tong's face.

The nobleman smiled faintly and said, "There is nothing else to do. I will go to Shujianmen and help Ye Zhen decide whether he is wronged or not."

(Thanks to Huang Songbai and Jash for their eight monthly tickets. Thanks to Mu Tou Zhu Zi, Qiu Qiu Gui Hua Xiang, and Xin Chui Si for their six monthly tickets.

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(End of this chapter)