Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 269 Like Water
After returning from the desert, Chen Xuan's life returned to peace. He accompanied Xiao Gao to study and traveled back and forth between Mo City and the academy. His life was plain but fulfilling.

Occasionally they would go on outings nearby, or get together with classmates and friends, focusing on their studies. Because the underworld incident was too dangerous, they rarely traveled far afterwards.

In his spare time, Chen Xuan would go to the basement of the deserted house to refine pills, but he never sold them like he did the Xiaoyao Pills. He mainly focused on accumulating experience.

Even though he didn't have much talent in alchemy, over time he slowly made some mid- and low-level pills. Every time he succeeded in making one, he would switch to the next one. The only thing was that the materials were quite expensive. For example, ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum that were hundreds of years old would cost a thousand taels at a time, not to mention some special medicinal materials. The money he earned from selling Xiaoyao Pills was not enough to last him long.

Fortunately, he was collaborating with Monk Tingfeng to write books, and he was able to survive by receiving a steady stream of profits from him, without having to generate additional income. However, the money was still not much, and it was difficult to buy many materials for mid- to high-level elixirs. Chen Xuan also did not have time to look for medicinal materials all over the world by himself.

However, the many low- and medium-level pill recipes that Lao Liu left him were enough to keep him busy for a long time, even years.

Forget about refining the weapon, that thing makes too much noise, and Chen Xuan doesn't want to attract the attention of his "neighbors", so he should accumulate experience in alchemy first. It's not a big deal to do it haphazardly.

Anyway, after returning from the desert, Chen Xuan's main life seemed to be accompanying Xiao Gao to study, but in fact he spent most of his energy on martial arts training, and alchemy was just a hobby.

Time passes day by day, like sand between fingers, impossible to catch, slipping away quietly through fingers.

People always sigh that time passes too quickly. The world turns white and then green, and then green and then white again. This cycle repeats six or seven times, and before we know it, it is the 45th year of Zhenkai.

This year Chen Xuan was eighteen years old, and Gao Jingming had just turned twenty-one.

They have been studying hard at Liuyu Academy for seven years since they left the Gao family!
Both of them have grown up and neither of them has become ugly. Each one is more handsome than the other. Chen Xuan is more outstanding than Gao Jingming, but because of Ze Yuanjue's characteristics and his deliberate low-keyness, he usually does not steal Gao Jingming's limelight.

Now Chen Xuan is nearly 1.9 meters tall, half a head taller than Gao Jingming. He is more heroic and free and easy than Gao Jingming, while Gao Jingming has a stronger scholarly air.

A lot of things have happened over the years, some of which are closely related to them, and many of which have nothing to do with them at all, but none of them have caused much disturbance in their peaceful lives.

The world is changing, time is passing, and life goes on.

In the 38th year of Zhenkai, Guo Jinglong, the head of Hanshan Sword Sect, fought against Liu Zhenwei, the leader of Chongyan Sect, and both died in the desert. The mysterious master Yang Guo put an end to Liu Zhenwei's evil deeds, and disappeared without a trace in a flash, causing an uproar and relish in the world.

Hanshan Sword Sect arranged Guo Jinglong's funeral. Countless fellow martial artists went to mourn and later witnessed Guo Sihai taking over the position of the head of Hanshan Sword Sect.

In the same year, "Xiaoyao Pills" were very popular, but they were all counterfeit and inferior products. The real Xiaoyao Pills were hard to come by. At one point, they were even sold for tens of thousands of taels each by people with a lot of money. However, they were simply not available. Countless people searched for the mysterious medicine seller, but to no avail.

Some people speculated that the medicine seller might be the master Yang Guo in disguise. They were both short-lived and had many similarities.

In the spring of the 39th year of Zhenkai, the popular novel "Lingyun Ji" was completed. The author Tingfeng Jushi became popular in the novel circle with one book, and his reputation was no less than that of a great talent. After that, Tingfeng Jushi was silent for three months and came out again with a new book "Ordinary Swordsman". Its more realistic and rigorous style sold better than Lingyun Ji, especially the protagonist never fights a fight without confidence. The style of the old sinister guy has made countless people imitate him, and countless people praised Tingfeng Jushi for his growth after Lingyun Ji.

In the autumn of the same year, Xiao Gao applied at the academy on Chen Xuan's suggestion. With his 'predecessor' abandoning his duties and 'running away', he successfully took over the position of president of the academy's agricultural cooperative. From then on, he devoted some of his energy to studying farming in addition to studying. Chen Xuan followed him to farm and also planted some peppers.

In the same year, after losing its former leader Liu Zhenwei, Chongyan Sect finally elected a new leader after a year of chaos. The new leader was ambitious and threatened to attack Hanshan Sword Sect to avenge Liu Zhenwei. He never mentioned the master Yang Guo who killed Liu Zhenwei. As a result, he was killed by a group of righteous people on the way and almost became autistic and could not bear to come out.

During the forty years of Zhenkai, there were no major events in the martial arts world, and the country of Jing was peaceful and prosperous. The only thing that concerned Chen Xuan and his companions was that the talented Ning Guiliang had graduated from the academy, and then he made great strides in the imperial examinations, and directly "made it" to the Golden Palace, where he was awarded the title of Jinshi.

In the imperial examination that year, Ning Guiliang only achieved a first-class Jinshi, not even making the top three. The top scorer was surprisingly Wei Ziyan, clearly demonstrating the potential of this son of an aristocratic family. The second and third spots were taken by talented individuals from two other academies...

In the 41st year of Zhenkai, there were four major events related to Chen Xuan and others. First, Princess Gao Jingyu gave birth to another baby, and Gao Jingming was delighted to have another nephew. It seems that Prince Qing was very fertile, and he had a very good kidney.

Secondly, the Gao family sent a letter informing of two good news. Mr. Gao was promoted again and became the third-rank governor of Hezhou. He was already a third-rank official and his career was very successful. If he continued to move forward, he might be appointed as a Beijing official in one of the six ministries. Then, Mr. Gao found two stepmothers for Gao Jingming. Well, actually, it was Gao Jingming's mother who arranged them. Mrs. Gao was getting old and had to find a trustworthy woman to look after her man. This was not counted among the two good news.

It's like Mr. Gao is having a love affair outside, and Mrs. Gao has to help arrange it. What a hateful feudal society! It's really great.

The second good news is that after a few years, Gao family guard Leng Bing has stepped into the Xiantian realm. He is still loyal to the Gao family and swears to protect the Gao family for his whole life. But the Gao family dare not neglect him and treats Leng Bing as a worshipper of the Gao family. They treat him as a real worshipper. However, whether it is due to his personality or other reasons, Leng Bing has stayed indoors since then, unless the Gao family has something to do or has a special request.

Yes, after Leng Bing stepped into Xiantian and became a worshiper of the Gao family, if he wanted her to do something, it was called a request, not a direct order as before. Whether she did it or not depended on her mood, and she couldn't do anything about it. However, she still remembered their old friendship and didn't put on airs.

The last big thing this year was Gao Jingming himself. After several years of exploring farming, he really made a name for himself. He found a high-yield crop that could fill the stomach, cassava. It is easy to grow and can be eaten after being detoxified. Several experimental plantings showed high yields, but it was a bit demanding on the soil.

In fact, Chen Xuan had secretly guided this matter intentionally or unintentionally, but in the end it was Gao Jingming who did it himself.

He then enthusiastically reported the matter to the academy. The scholars were immediately furious, as this was no small matter, one that concerned people's livelihoods. After carefully examining the details, they jointly submitted a petition to the court, requesting Xiao Gao's recognition. But, well, nothing happened. It simply fell through.

At first, Xiao Gao was still looking forward to being honored, but gradually he became a little confused. He kept asking Mr. Shuyuan about the follow-up, but got a cruel and bloody result.

That is, the crops he found were indeed good things that could fill people's stomachs, but they were suppressed and shelved by the aristocratic families.

Even the academy teacher couldn't bear it and said the original words of the high-ranking officials of the aristocratic families, which was that the common people should not eat too much, because if they are full, they will want more, which is not conducive to the stability of the court!

Gao Jingming was dumbfounded when he learned the truth. How could this happen?
Chen Xuan didn't find it strange...

Anyway, after that incident, Gao Jingming became somewhat disheartened. He no longer focused on farming and devoted himself to studying. Chen Xuan saw that he had a fire in his heart that would explode sooner or later. As for how that fire would burn, that was a matter of the future.

Nothing happened in the 42nd and 43rd years of Zhenkai.

In the 44th year of Zhenkai, Chen Xuan had a small breakthrough in martial arts. Compared with Old Liu, whom he had seen and who almost reached the realm of human immortal, it was really just a small breakthrough.

He reached the Grandmaster realm this year, or more accurately, the Grandmaster realm!
There was no earth-shattering event, no public attention, and no natural miracles. He just broke through on a very ordinary morning.

With his terrifying martial arts talent, in the third year after returning from the desert, his true Qi had already opened up all the acupoints in his body, reaching the same level as Guo Jinglong and others. There was still room for improvement, so he was not in a hurry and continued to practice and accumulate true Qi. By the time he broke through to the Grandmaster level, the thickness of his true Qi... There was no reference person, but it was amazing anyway, at least as thick as three floors.

It was a very ordinary morning. As usual, Chen Xuan practiced the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises by the river behind his residence in Mocheng. Facing the morning sun, as the red sun rose, he suddenly felt that it was time for a breakthrough. Then he broke through naturally and stepped into the realm of "Grand Master" naturally.

Only then did he realize that he had actually found his own 'Tao' a long time ago, but his previous accumulation was not enough.

When he broke through, he looked at the quietly flowing river in front of him, reflecting the rising sun. The scorching sun was reflected in that small river. By the same token, all things in the world can be reflected in a basin of water, a bowl of water, or even a drop of water!

Water benefits all things without competing, embraces everything, is good at changing, and follows nature. It can be any color and shape, and can be solid, gas, or liquid.

All of this is exactly in line with the upright and peaceful artistic conception of Ze Yuan Jue.

At the moment when blessing came to his mind, Chen Xuan thought of the experience of sorting out the longevity character with Gao Jingming. A picture of pine and crane for longevity, when separated, it is the longevity character in different forms, and when put together, it is also a longevity character. If it is applied to martial arts, all things will return to one, and all things will be performed by one!
The Ze Yuan Jue is upright and peaceful, benefiting oneself, and is compatible with many martial arts, in line with the principle of flowing water without contending.

His Tao is not about yin and yang, the five elements, the softness and hardness of water, or the cycle of life and death...

But they are compatible and flourishing.

If we must give an exact description, we can call it the way of nature.

The Tao is in the heart and cannot be expressed in words or expressions.

From then on, a great master quietly appeared in the world!

The next step is to constantly hone and perfect one's own path, thereby tempering one's own spiritual will and improving one's cultivation, until one day one reaches a certain level and 'breaks through the void', the spirit is no longer bound by the body and can see the true world.

It took Chen Xuan six years to achieve a breakthrough at the age of seventeen, just like Gao Jingyu did back then.

The difference is that Gao Jingyu broke through to the innate level at the age of seventeen, while Chen Xuan broke through to the grandmaster level at the age of seventeen.

In a blink of an eye, it has been a year since he broke through to the Grandmaster level, and it is the 45th year of Zhenkai. Over the past year, Chen Xuan has been constantly honing and perfecting his own way, and his cultivation has been steadily improving. Reaching this level will be a long process.

In the 45th year of Zhenkai, one can tell from the reign title that Emperor Shangxuan of Jingguo was still alive. He was really alive, and the painting of pine and crane for longevity presented by Gao Jingming at the beginning played an indispensable role in this.

Otherwise, Mr. Gao’s official career wouldn’t have risen so rapidly.

This spring, when things were thriving and warm, Gao Jingming often gazed southward, his heart already aching to return...

(End of this chapter)