Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 172: Are you willing to learn the calligraphy and painting that I have studied throughout my life?
Zhang Yuan chuckled, shook his head, and walked out of the school.

At this time, everyone in the school clearly shared a common hatred for the enemy and regarded Zhang Yuan as their opponent.

Regardless of the outcome of this deduction, Zhao Kuo's method of raising the morale of the students in training and uniting them against the outside world is already worthy of praise.

It's Zhang Yuan, how come he became the one who stood united against the outside world?

A moment later, Zhang Yuan and Zhao Kuo walked back to the sand table.

"Zhang Shijiu, you arrange the troops."

Master Gu spoke loudly.

The others remained silent, but their clenched fists betrayed their excitement.

In the school, everyone looked at Zhang Yuan, watching him pick up the wooden sticks representing the three hundred soldiers.

This time, Zhang Yuan finally did not deploy his soldiers at Yingchou Cliff.

This made everyone in the school feel slightly relieved, but also a little disappointed.

Master Gu showed a confident smile on his face as he watched Zhang Yuan move the wooden stick in his hand towards the stronghold.

As expected, the battlefield at this time can only be a mountain stronghold——

wrong!

Zhang Yuan didn't move the wooden stick far away from his hand, but placed it behind Yingchou Cliff, blocking the road leading to Yingchou Cliff.

Although there was no ambush on Yingchou Cliff, the battlefield was still there.

"this--"

"Why is it still Eagle Cliff..."

"It's really Eagle Cliff!"

"How is it possible to set up ambushes three times in one place?"

There was an uproar in the school.

Master Gu and the students around him stood in front of the sand table, gritting their teeth, their expressions changing.

"Your soldiers will be blocked on the mountain road of Yingchou Cliff and won't be able to advance an inch, right?" Zhao Kuo's voice rang out.

Master Gu and the others turned their heads away and didn't look at him.

Others lowered their heads and looked at the sand table, clenching their fists.

"This ambush doesn't make sense at all. Our scouts—"

Someone shouted from the back.

"When ten thousand troops march forward, scouts are deployed a hundred miles away. When a thousand troops attack suddenly, scouts are deployed ten miles away," Zhao Kuo's voice sounded calmly. "If this were the arrangement for a real battle, with no merit or fault, he would be considered a defensive general."

"In this situation where there are thousands of troops against three hundred, with a huge disparity in attacking and defending forces, he can still be so composed. I have to admire him."

"Of course, such a cowardly general cannot truly become a leading general."

For a general, seizing the opportunity is the most important thing.

In today's situation, with thousands of soldiers surrounding and killing three hundred bandits, if we fail to rush to the stronghold in the first time, delaying the opportunity to fight and allowing the three hundred bandits to escape, then this battle will be in vain.

"Besides, if I really defend Eagle Cliff with 300 soldiers, your 1,000 soldiers will not be able to reach the stronghold in three to five days unless they take a detour."

Zhao Kuo's voice sounded faintly, revealing a hint of invincible loneliness.

"Impossible, impossible, setting ambushes three times in one place, it's impossible..." Master Gu had a dazed look on his face, muttering to himself as he stared at the sand table.

The other students who were familiar with military books also looked up at Zhao Kuo.

There is no such coincidence in the world. How could they set an ambush three times in the same place?

"Yingchou Cliff, on the banks of the Nu River in Liangyuan Territory, at the junction of Xiaotianlong Temple and Tongyuan Temple."

"When you set foot in Liangyuan Territory and cross the Fo Nu River in person, you will understand what it means that water has unpredictable flow and soldiers have unpredictable principles." Zhao Kuo whispered lightly, his voice was not loud, but it made everyone stunned.

Is the battle situation on the sand table real?

Is this the battle that Zhao Kuo personally experienced?
So is he the general who leads three hundred bandits, or is he the general who leads thousands of troops?
There was silence in the school.

"Zhang, Nineteen, I'll treat you to a drink when I have time." Zhao Kuo chuckled, waved his hand, and walked out of the school with his hands behind his back, ignoring the sand table.

Dismissal.

Everyone's eyes slowly turned to Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Nineteen.

From today onwards, everyone in this school will know Zhang Shijiu.

--------------

Martial Arts, small courtyard in the northwest corner.

When Zhang Yuan arrived outside the courtyard gate, Zhou Ru was already there with a small lunch box in her hand.

When Zhou Ru saw Zhang Yuan, her face was full of joy.

"Brother, that picture is really useful. When I look at it, it's like I've become a wild bull."

By the time Ji Yuntang opened the gate, Zhou Ru couldn't wait to run to the bluestone ground.

Zhang Yuan watched him practice boxing and found that he was indeed becoming more proficient.

If he practices in this way, it won’t take long for Zhou Ru to truly master the boxing techniques he taught him during the initiation.

Zhang Yuan turned around and looked at Ji Yuntang beside him.

This great Confucian and Taoist master had extraordinary skills and was an expert in both calligraphy and painting. The artistic conception of his painting of a wild bull was enough to inspire Zhou Ru to meditate and practice.

"Is this your painting?"

Ji Yuntang looked at the scroll Zhang Yuan was holding under his arm and spoke.

Zhang Yuan handed the scroll over and said, "Please correct me, Mr. Ji."

Ji Yuntang chuckled, took the scroll with one hand, put the food box Zhou Ru sent aside, then stood in front of the desk and slowly unfolded the scroll.

He was also curious about the painting skills of Zhang Shijiu, who could see the artistic conception levels in his paintings.

The scroll slowly unfolded, and a tiger beast appeared in sight.

A black tiger with murderous eyes, as if invincible in the mountains, roaring to the sky.

The expression on Ji Yuntang's face gradually turned solemn as the scroll unfolded.

As the picture unfolds, it seems as if there are surging winds and clouds, and the roars of tigers and dragons.

"What a ferocious beast!"

Ji Yuntang narrowed his eyes, a gleam of light flashing in them.

His palm pressed on the screen, and a force of heaven surged through him.

This was the first time that Zhang Yuan sensed the presence of Heaven's Dao, apart from the several martial arts masters he had met.

Can one become a master in Confucianism or Taoism?

Slowly raising his head, Ji Yuntang stared at Zhang Yuan and said in a deep voice: "Have you been outside Yongtianzhou and seen the image of Qiongqi?" Zhang Yuan shook his head and said: "I have never been outside Yongtianzhou. I saw the battle formation condense and transformed into Qiongqi's martial spirit."

"Battle formation?" Ji Yuntang was stunned for a moment, then said softly, "There aren't many armies that can condense the Qiongqi Martial Spirit..."

Zhang Yuan did not answer.

Ji Yuntang did not delve into it any further, but lowered his head and continued to look at the scroll in front of him.

"The brush and ink create smoke, and the bones are visible. They say it's easier to paint the skin than the bones of a tiger. You can capture the bones in this painting..."

"The brushwork is connected and uninterrupted, using the technique of thread-drawing. This technique was what Wang Mengxi excelled at back then."

"The body and bones are blurred using the broken ink method, with variations in thickness and dryness—"

Ji Yuntang raised his head and looked at Zhang Yuan: "Are you imitating me?"

Zhang Yuan nodded, clasped his fists, and said, "Yesterday I observed the master's brushwork, and saw how it was accomplished in a single stroke. I studied it carefully and gained some insights."

Ji Yuntang stared at Zhang Yuan for a long time before he lowered his head to look at the scroll in front of him.

"Confucianism is not martial arts, and there is no so-called inheritance. As long as you can understand it, the brushwork and techniques are not important." Ji Yuntang said in a low voice, and his palm lightly pressed an inch above the scroll.

His palm paused before the Qiongqi beast's eyes, and he spoke again: "That painting of spring mountains at the Pu Family Framing Shop on Tangwai Street was created by you, right?"

In front of a true scholar, writing is like a face and there is no way to hide it.

"The old man has a keen eye," said Zhang Yuan.

Although Zhang Yuan did not practice Confucianism or Taoism, he never looked down upon the revival of Confucianism and Taoism.

He raised his head and looked at Zhang Yuan, his eyes fell on Zhang Yuan's robe, then looked at the ID card on his waist. After pondering for a moment, Ji Yuntang said, "Follow me."

After putting away the scroll, Ji Yuntang took out a set of ink brushes and a scroll from the side room, tucked them under his arm, and walked out of the courtyard with Zhang Yuan and Zhou Ru, who looked curious.

After passing through several schools and bluestone squares, Ji Yuntang stopped in front of a mottled stone house.

At the door, several guards in black martial robes bowed. Ji Yuntang waved his hand and led Zhang Yuan and Zhou Ru into the house.

As soon as he entered the house, Zhang Yuan showed a hint of surprise on his face.

Reiki.

There is actually spiritual energy cultivated by immortal practitioners in this stone house.

"felt it?"

Ji Yuntang spoke softly, walked straight ahead, and stopped in the middle of a hall with stone walls.

He carefully took out a few jade stones from his pocket and pressed them into the grooves on the stone wall beside him.

Lingyu.

Ten taels of gold each.

Ji Yuntang withdrew his hand with a look of pain on his face, breathed a sigh of relief, and then raised his hand and waved.

"boom--"

Inside the stone house, the world suddenly changed, transforming into a lush green mountain forest.

"Immortal Dao formation?"

Zhang Yuan looked around.

Zhou Ru’s eyes widened.

"It's just an illusion created by the formation that obscures the heavens. Don't worry about it."

Ji Yuntang's voice rang out.

"These are all Confucian and Taoist methods, not something that only immortals can use."

"Confucianism is no worse than the way of immortality."

As Ji Yuntang spoke, he slowly unfolded the scroll in his hand.

In the scroll, a golden python is coiled with a single horn on its head.

When the scroll was fully unfolded, the golden python's body shook and it stretched out directly from the scroll, turning into a five-meter-long one-horned python, roaring with its mouth open.

Zhou Ru was so frightened by this scene that his face turned pale and his fists clenched.

"This is..." Zhang Yuan stared at the golden python, his eyes showing depth.

Having witnessed the methods of martial arts masters, the aura of this python is nothing.

But this kind of skill of transforming a scroll into a shape was the first time he had seen it.

On the side, Ji Yuntang handed Zhang Yuan the Qiongqi scroll.

Zhang Yuan unfolded the scroll and could feel the spiritual energy surging between the surrounding heaven and earth, attaching to the scroll in his hand.

"The Heavenly Dao on Yongtianzhou is suppressing it, and it is impossible to manifest the Holy Spirit. This place is supported by a formation. You can use your own spiritual power and true essence to activate it, and see if you can activate the image of Qiongqi in the scroll."

Ji Yuntang spoke again.

Zhang Yuan's blood and true energy surged and flowed straight into the scroll along his palm.

A trace of soul separated and attached to the scroll.

"Roar--"

With a wild roar, a three-meter-tall black tiger rushed out from the scroll, spread its wings, and pounced towards the golden python.

The giant python roared and collided with the ferocious beast Qiongqi.

Roaring and shaking, spiritual light shot out.

Every blow is a collision of ten thousand pounds of force.

This scene made Zhou Ru, who was sticking her head out from behind Zhang Yuan, open her mouth wide.

"By incorporating Tao into paintings, one can create a scroll for slaying demons. The ancient mountain and river maps, the state maps, as well as the Eight Formations of Armor and Armor and the Hundred Formations maps are all methods of incorporating Confucianism into Taoism."

"Confucianism can be expressed in words and practiced in accordance with the law; it can be used as a spear in the mouth and sword in the pen."

Ji Yuntang took out the ink pen he brought with him, raised his hand and waved it. A golden word "gun" condensed into a long spear in mid-air, then flew out and stabbed in front, causing a loud explosion.

He waved his pen and ink, and swords and spears flew like rain in front of him, filling the sky.

I'm afraid even if he is a sword immortal, that's all he can do, right?
"Snapped--"

There was a sound of breaking stones.

All the illusions disappeared, the mountains and forests returned to cold stone walls, the shadows of the golden python and the black Qiongqi also disappeared. Ji Yuntang, who was holding the ink pen in his hand, slowly put his hand away, smacked his lips, shook his head, his face full of regret.

"Eighty taels of gold, only for this moment of madness, ah..."

The formation supported by the eight spiritual jades disappeared, and the powerful man who swung his swords like rain turned into a white-haired old man in a Confucian robe.

Turning his head, Ji Yuntang looked at Zhang Yuan.

"I will be leaving Zhengyang County soon. Are you willing to learn the calligraphy and painting that I have been studying all my life?"

(End of this chapter)