Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 51 Rebellious Words Cause Trouble
"Haha..." The man in the straw hat suddenly laughed and touched his forehead.

"Having been away from the mountains for so long, I've become a bit too attached to appearances and have completely forgotten about this method."

A smile appeared on the girl's face.

"There is no method of fetal breathing in the Yangnao Land. The kingdom here is probably not stronger than you and me. It is indeed possible to do this."

"It will save us from searching aimlessly."

"However, it will be more convenient for you to set up some spells to test spiritual roots, senior brother."

The man in the straw hat nodded with a smile: "That's not difficult."

After saying this, he looked at Shen Wenxing and hesitated for a moment before saying, "I am Li Heshan, and this is my junior sister Zhong Liqing. Young brother, you have done us a great favor, so we should show our appreciation."

Li Heshan hesitated for a moment, then took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket.

"Here are five Qi-Nourishing Pills, which are of great use to prolong life and strengthen the foundation for cultivators in the Body Tempering Realm. Consider this a token of our gratitude."

Shen Wenxing didn't know what the Qi-Nourishing Pill was, but when he heard Li Heshan describe its effects, his eyes lit up.

He quickly and respectfully reached out to accept the porcelain bottle, saying, "Thank you, Immortal!"

Li Heshan nodded slightly and smiled, "What's your name, young brother?"

Shen Wenxing cupped his hands in greeting: "Replying to the immortal, I am from the Shen family of Anyang County, and my name is Shen Wenxing."

"Well, Brother Shen, you should leave here as soon as possible. My junior sister and I still need to go after that Iron-Spine Demon Wolf." Li Heshan said, glancing at Zhong Liqing. The two of them then dashed off in the direction where the giant wolf had disappeared.

Even long after the two left, Shen Wenxing still felt somewhat dazed, as if he had just had a bizarre dream in which he had actually seen immortals...

However, the exquisite porcelain vase in his hand was very realistic.

He slowly pulled out the stopper, and a faint fragrance slowly wafted out of the porcelain bottle. Just one sniff made him feel all his fatigue disappear and his mind refreshed.

"A gift from an immortal, truly remarkable!"

Shen Wenxing looked at the porcelain bottle in his hand with delight and quickly put the stopper back in, afraid that the fragrance would escape.

Carefully tucking the porcelain bottle into his bosom, he remembered Li Heshan's instructions and hurriedly left the forest, heading towards Wuya Mountain.

October.

Great news came back from the front lines once again, and the whole country of Yu celebrated.

After a century of decline, the three counties of Fengxian have finally been wiped away by the successive conquest of Fengxian and He County by the army.

At this juncture, another imperial edict was issued from the capital.

The Kingdom of Yu was blessed by Heaven, and a celestial being took pity on it, wishing to select those with spiritual roots from among the millions of people of Yu, to bring them into the celestial sect, and to teach them the methods of cultivating immortality.

All citizens of Yu State who are under the age of thirty can go to the county government to have their spiritual roots tested in a few days.

Once selected, they would be granted official titles and ranks, and the benefits to their clan would be imaginable.

The imperial edict elicited a tremendous response from the millions of people of the Yu Kingdom.

In the past, legends about immortals circulated among the people, but it seemed that no one had ever seen a real immortal. Now that this decree has been issued, many ordinary people seem to have seen a great opportunity to transcend social classes and soar to new heights.

Meanwhile, Shen Wenxing, the instigator of this incident, was on his way back to the Yunzhongbian military camp with the army.

In the Battle of He County, the 30,000 vanguard troops and 70,000 elite troops on the left flank encountered the elite of the barbarian warriors and paid a heavy price.

Now that He County has been captured, the central and right armies, totaling 270,000 men, have surrounded the last of the three counties—Bai Ma.

After careful consideration, the military commander and the commander-in-chief of the three armies at the front decided to temporarily withdraw the heavily wounded left wing army from the front, and to transport the wounded and the spoils of war back to the capital.

"General, the military merits from our retreat this time, which led to the attack on Baima County, will all go to the Central and Right Route Armies."

On horseback, a guard looked at Zhang Bin and spoke.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhang Bin, whose face was disfigured, laughed and cursed, "You son of a bitch, you'd rather have military merit than your life?"

"Look! Look!"

He pointed to the soldiers behind him and said, "I have ten thousand brothers under my command. Now, some are wounded, some are dead, and most of the survivors are missing limbs."

"Let whoever wants the military merits take them; I'm not envious."

"Right now, all I want to do is take these brothers home."

During the battle of He County, he was almost killed by a barbarian warrior who cleaved his head in two. After escaping death, he suddenly realized the truth.

Life is more important than military achievements.

Furthermore, the military merit system seemed to offer everyone the opportunity to be ennobled and appointed as generals.

However, once one reaches the rank of Grand Master, it becomes virtually impossible to rise further.

For example, in the Battle of He County, although the left wing army ultimately won and captured He County in conjunction with the other two armies.

However, due to the heavy casualties, the generals and commanders of the left wing army not only did not receive any military merits, but also had to face reprimands from the Emperor and the military commanders upon their return.

This is the concept of "profit and loss" in the military merit system. As a military general, if you lead your soldiers into battle and kill one hundred enemies but suffer fifty casualties yourself, it is considered a break-even point, and you will neither be rewarded nor punished.

If the casualties reach eighty, even if the battle is won, it will be considered a Pyrrhic victory and the player will be reprimanded and punished.

The guard was scolded but dared not say anything more.

Zhang Bin glanced at Shen Wenxing, who was silent beside him, and couldn't help but laugh, "Kid, what are you thinking about?"

"That goes without saying. I think Shi Tou is eager to fly to Anyang County to see his beloved senior sister."

"Haha... I heard that this kid is getting married after he goes back. Don't forget to tell the brothers to come to the wedding banquet!"

That's what camaraderie between comrades-in-arms is like.

After going to the battlefield together and sharing life and death, the relationship will be instantly brought much closer.

In addition, Shen Wenxing had a very good temper, and the soldiers of the Imperial Guard all liked him very much.

"sure."

Hearing the laughter and chatter of the crowd, Shen Wenxing repeatedly cupped his hands in greeting.

What he was thinking about just now was not actually marrying Huang Lingxiu.

The royal decree has spread throughout the Kingdom of Yu, and news has also reached the army that an immortal is going to select disciples within the kingdom.

Touching the porcelain bottle in his arms, Shen Wenxing couldn't help but sigh inwardly as he thought of Li Heshan and Zhong Liqing that he had seen back then.

The suggestion that the two of them go to the royal family was just a thought that popped into his head on a whim.

Looking back on it carefully afterward, I realized that this matter was by no means so easy.

Now that the royal family has actually agreed, it's unclear what kind of deal the two sides have reached.

Recalling the information revealed in their conversation that day, they seemed to be just two disciples of Qi Refining Perfection Realm from Qiyun Valley.

Such a person could face the Emperor of Yu in the Yu Kingdom. One can imagine that if any of his younger siblings were to be admitted to Qiyun Valley, the entire Shen family would become the most prestigious family in the Yu Kingdom.

By then, my parents won't have to work so hard, and my younger siblings will be able to live a better life.

As he was thinking, Shen Wenxing suddenly smiled.

This laugh naturally drew teasing from those around him.

"Alright, speed things up and get the wounded brothers back to camp. We also need to escort these treasures to the capital as soon as possible."

After glancing ahead, Zhang Bin stopped the laughter and commotion.

Meanwhile, on the road from Lincang County of Dayu to the imperial city, three prison carts slowly moved forward under the watchful eyes of many soldiers.

Beside the prison cart followed more than a dozen warriors on warhorses, dressed in black close-fitting clothes, with half-sleeve scale armor on their shoulders, exuding a calm and composed aura.

These warriors belong to a special agency of the Great Yu Dynasty—the Inspectorate.

Because of their distinctive half-armored scale armor, these people are also known as the Black Scale Guards.

Among the dozen or so Black Scale Guards, a slightly overweight middle-aged man with a black gold dagger at his waist glanced at the stubborn figure in the prison cart and shook his head with a sigh.

"As a great Confucian scholar of our time, wouldn't it be better for you to find a beautiful place to live out your remaining years at this age?"

Why bother coming out and causing trouble?

The middle-aged man didn't get a response, but instead chuckled and continued, "Back then, you were known for your outrageous words that overturned the world's scholars. It was all because His Majesty took pity on you and covered for you."

"But this time you actually did it again... Ugh!"

The figure inside the prison van slowly turned around, revealing himself to be Lu Zhiyuan.

The figures inside the other two prison vans were naturally Shen Wenyan and Ya Bo.

"The ruler is the ruler of the world. If the ruler upholds the way of the ruler, he is the ruler; if he deviates from the way, he should return to his fields."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, and he quickly stopped Lu Zhiyuan from speaking, waving his hand with a wry smile:
"Such treasonous words are not to be heard by me."

“Master, you aspire to be on par with sages, but I am merely a crude and uncouth warrior, what you scholars would call some kind of insect or ice... whatever you mean, I just can’t understand it.”

"But there's one thing I don't understand." He glanced at Shen Wenyan in the prison cart behind him and said in a low voice, "That kid is your student, are you really willing to watch him die?"

Upon hearing this, a hint of guilt and pity flashed across Lu Zhiyuan's proud expression.

He wanted to turn around and look at Shen Wenyan, but the prison cart restricted his movements, preventing him from doing so.

"These words came from an old man like myself; what do they have to do with a mere child like him?"

The middle-aged man smiled and shook his head: "You can say that to His Majesty later. I'm just a messenger."

After saying this, he turned his head to look at the setting sun in the west and shouted in a deep voice, "Hurry up and get to Kangcheng before dark."

(End of this chapter)