Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 239 The Taoist Priest (Part 2)

"Someone is coming,"

Lü Shang summoned his personal guards, removed the fish-shaped tally from his waist, handed it to one of them, and said, "Go immediately to the state wine storehouse, show them my tally, and request twenty jars of top-quality millet wine."

"promise,"

The soldiers obeyed the order, their armor clashing, and they strode out of the tent.

"teacher,"

After the servants left, Lü Shang once again stood respectfully by the table with his hands at his sides.

After glancing at Lü Shang, whom he had treated with the utmost respect since their first meeting, the disheveled Taoist waved his hand and said, "You may sit down as well."

"Yes," Lü Shang replied, and sat down on another stool beside the table.

The Taoist gently stroked the red gourd on the table and said, "You've truly exceeded my expectations to have mastered the Golden Flower Manual to this extent."

"The 'Golden Flower Secrets of the Floating Li Ancestor' that I gave you is the true transmission of Xuandu, the general outline of alchemy, the path to ascension to immortality in broad daylight,"

"You're something else. You have the superior principles of internal and external alchemy to cultivate, but instead you go and practice inferior methods of becoming a human immortal. You really do have some peculiar talent."

Upon hearing this, Lü Shang placed his hands on his knees, lowered his eyes, and said, "Master, I have no intention of disrespecting your true teachings. It is just that I am dull-witted, and although I have received the true teachings of Xuandu, I have never been able to grasp their essence."

"The Great Dao is clearly before my eyes, yet I feel as if I'm looking at flowers through fog, unable to even grasp the threshold. Perhaps I am simply not destined for the path of immortality,"

"dull?"

The Taoist scoffed at Lü Shang's words, saying, "If you're so dull-witted, then there are no smart people in this world."

"Very well, everyone has their own destiny. I never expected that you could forge your own path on the road to immortality."

"However, of the three thousand great paths, non-action is the ultimate simplicity; all paths lead to the same destination. What you achieve in the future depends entirely on yourself."

As they were talking, the sound of carriages and horses suddenly rose outside the tent, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps. Soon, a group of soldiers carried wine jars into the tent.

Immediately, the wine jars were opened one by one, and the rich aroma of the wine burst forth and filled the tent.

Watching the servants place the wine jars on the table and bow as they withdrew, the Taoist leaned forward, lightly touched the rim of the foremost jar with his finger, and smiled with narrowed eyes, saying, "This wine is quite good, to my liking."

"As long as the teacher likes it,"

Seeing this, Lü Shang personally took a ceramic bowl, filled it to the brim, and handed it to him, saying, "If you find it acceptable, Master, although my camp has no delicacies, we do have some dried venison that can accompany the wine."

"No need for trouble," the Taoist waved his hand, took the wine bowl, and drank most of it down in one gulp.

After finishing the bowl, the disheveled Taoist wiped his chin, handed the earthenware bowl to Lü Shang, and said with a hint of delight, "Don't just stand there watching, get me a bowl and drink a few more bowls with me."

"This disciple will certainly accompany you,"

Lü Shang chuckled softly, then took another earthenware bowl and filled it to the brim.

"it is good,"

Seeing Lü Shang pick up the earthenware bowl, the Taoist was very pleased and said, "Although I don't acknowledge you as my disciple, it would be great if we could be drinking buddies instead of master and disciple."

After saying this, the Taoist tilted his head back and drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, smacking his lips and saying, "Good wine."

Lu Shang also drank it all down. When the bowl was empty, he put down the earthenware bowl, refilled it himself, and said with a smile, "Master is a Taoist with great supernatural powers. He must have drunk immortal wine before. Could this mortal wine be better than immortal wine?"

"Haha, you don't know,"

The Taoist raised an eyebrow and said slowly, "Immortal wine and mortal wine, each has its own flavor and its own unique charm."

Having said that, the Taoist said nothing more, but simply pulled Lü Shang to drink together, and in no time they had drunk more than a dozen jars of millet wine.

Strangely enough, with Lü Shang's superhuman physique and Gonggong's body, let alone a few jars of millet wine, even a hundred or a thousand jars wouldn't make him drunk.

This time was different. After only a few jars of wine, Lü Shang suddenly felt extremely sleepy, and his eyelids began to droop.

Seeing Lü Shang's demeanor, the disheveled Taoist priest chuckled, "Are you drunk?" "If you are, go and rest on the couch," he replied.

Lu Shang opened his mouth as if to speak, but he was too dazed to utter a word. The eight horses on his chest gleamed, and the dragon roared incessantly.

"The Eight Steeds of King Mu"?

The slovenly Taoist priest smiled and shook his head. He pointed his finger, and a beam of clear light fell down, instantly extinguishing the magical power of the Eight Horses Painting.

"Tu'er, don't worry, I would never harm your master,"

At the same time, Lü Shang grew increasingly drowsy and lay down on the couch in a daze. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

In a daze, Lü Shang felt as if someone was speaking in his ear. After a moment, he felt as if he were losing weight and sinking.

After an unknown amount of time, Lü Shang suddenly shivered, opened his eyes, and realized that he had slept for a very long time.

"How long have I been asleep?"

He got up and sat blankly on the couch for a while before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

Lü Shang turned around, got off his bed, walked out of the main tent, and looked around at the elite soldiers in the camp.

"Xiao Ji,"

As soon as Lü Shang spoke, his general Xiao Ji immediately stepped out from the side of the tent and bowed to await orders.

When did the teacher leave?

"Reporting to Your Excellency,"

Xiao Ji glanced at his expression and said in a low voice, "About half an hour ago,"

Lu Shang nodded as if he understood, and said softly, "Half an hour?"

The Qiang rebellion in the seventh year of the Kaihuang era ended in such a dismal way.

Liu Chong, the Sima of the General Administration of Qin Prefecture, first defeated the Zhong Qiang and then thwarted the Dangchang Qiang. With his indisputable military achievements, he became the number one hero in the suppression of the rebellion in Longyou.

With the support of the Liu family of Pengcheng, Liu Chong was directly granted the title of County Marquis for this achievement, and was promoted to Grand General of the Three Departments and then to Governor of Xinzhou.

In the same year, Emperor Yang Jian promoted Liangzhou to a superior prefecture, and Lü Shang, as the governor of Liangzhou, was also promoted from a fourth-rank official to a third-rank official.

From then on, Lü Shang rightfully became the second-in-command of the Liangzhou General Administration, in charge of the Liangzhou troops.

Also in that year, Emperor Yang Jian summoned Emperor Xiao Cong of Western Liang to court and enfeoffed him as Duke of Ju. Western Liang was abolished from then on.

With the fall of the Western Liang Kingdom, all discerning people in the world knew that the unification of the North and South was imminent.

There can be only one sun in the sky, and only one master among the people!
Sure enough, in the third month of the eighth year of the Kaihuang era, Emperor Yang Jian officially issued an edict announcing that he would launch a southern expedition against the Chen Dynasty.

In October, Emperor Yang Jian established the Huainan Provincial Government in Shouchun, appointing Prince Yang Guang of Jin as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat to take full responsibility for the conquest of Chen.

They launched a combined water and land attack, deploying 500,000 troops divided into eight routes, simultaneously attacking the Southern Chen from the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

In December, the Eighth Route Army mobilized, and Yang Su led the navy out of Badong and eastward along the Three Gorges.

Prince Yang Guang of Jin led the Sui army downstream and ordered generals such as Han Qinhu and He Ruobi to launch a special attack on Jiankang.

In the first month of the ninth year of the Kaihuang era, Sui generals Han Qinhu and He Ruobi led their troops to break through the Chen army's defenses, advancing all the way to Jiankang, capturing the Chen emperor Chen Shubao, and the Southern Chen dynasty was completely destroyed.

In that year, the North and South were finally unified again, ending nearly four hundred years of chaos since the Later Han Dynasty.

In the same year, He Louzigan, the governor of Liangzhou, was promoted to General of the Left Guard, and Lü Shang was appointed governor of Liangzhou, Duke of Liang, and Grand General.

Then, the emperor bestowed a marriage upon Lü Shang, ordering him to marry Princess Lanling.

(End of this chapter)