Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

Chapter 538 Bath

Leaning against the wall of the bathtub, he looked at the sky.

Today's sky was as clear as usual, a pattern common to Yujing during its peaceful and prosperous times. Rainy Yujing felt even more secure, as everyone had shelter from the wind and rain. In this safe environment, contrasting with the chill of the rain outside the window, one felt even more deeply blessed.

Occasionally, a plane would pass by with the roar of its engines, but it wasn't loud. After all, Pukou and other airports deliberately avoided the resort area in Tangshan to avoid disturbing the people there.

"It would be great if this could happen every day," he shook his head. "It's a pity this ticket is time-limited. Entry is limited to the day itself. I have to leave around dark."

Although you could have left later, the suburban tram wouldn't take that long, so you'd have to be ready to go back by six or seven.

"Let me check the schedule." He turned sideways and took out a guide book from inside his bathrobe. One column in the guide book contained the transportation schedule.

"The latest bus today is at 7:10, right? Well, then it should be out around 6:45," he muttered.

"Would you like to ride with us, Lord Shang Tian?"

The sound suddenly floated over from the clouds.

"Oh?" Shangluo looked up.

"Hey, Master Wen, you're here too. How come I didn't notice you?"

Wen Zhong was sitting on the other side of the pool, near the water outlet. He had been sitting there bathing since a while ago.

"Most likely, Lord Shang Tian is thinking about something important?"

"Well, it's related to the Pure Land. Our progress has accelerated, and there are many things to do. Sometimes I wonder if something will go wrong if I make a mistake. After all, time cannot be reversed. What if..."

"Stop." Wen Zhong waved his hand across from him. "Lord Shang Tian, take a good rest. I see you haven't had a good rest in a long time. Why don't you just think about nothing and take a bath here? Look, why am I not taking a bath with the other people in the cabinet?"

"Because... you all are resting?"

"No, it's because I don't fit in. The people in the East Wing have things to discuss, and the people in the West Wing have things to discuss. I usually don't mingle with them privately. This is my chance to rest well. So, I have to plan this time. After the bath, when we go to eat, if they have something to say, they will naturally tell us. We can talk about it by then. I'll have rested enough and have plenty of energy. I'm getting old."

He shook his head. "Old men like us don't have much energy left in a day. Sometimes, it's just a competition of who can last longer. If I rest more, I can be more energetic than them throughout the day. After all, I have more to do than them."

"Oh, that's right. Let's talk about something else. I'll probably be going to the Imperial College when school starts next year. So should I call you Principal?"

"Well, you should call it that. The environment inside the Imperial College is simpler than other places, and all the signs are clearly displayed. Because people who enter the Imperial College are usually well prepared."

"That sounds like 'This is a very challenging decision.'"

"Because it's true. People often tell you that the Imperial College has a low cost-effectiveness, right? This is actually what I like. If everyone here has their own thoughts, how can we learn well? The Imperial College does not train palace officials, but trains useful people. It makes useless people useful, and lets useful people know how to make full use of themselves. Shang Tianjun, you should belong to the latter."

"Well, I'll do my best. Anyway, what should I prepare? Should I study science or humanities or something like that?"

"You don't have to choose. In the first year of the Imperial College, there are no separate departments. Neo-Confucianism and Renxue are taught together. The main focus is on general education in Neo-Confucianism and Renxue. We will explain the history of thought in various fields to you and prepare you for the selection of topics later. You can discuss the specific research later. After you choose your topic, your original classroom will not be changed, and you will still take public classes together. This is to ensure that students do not develop sectarian views and can maintain a normal attitude in daily communication."

"Ah, if we teach like this, the students of the Imperial College will definitely..."

"It's definitely useless." Wen Zhong shook his head. "If there's any particular advantage, it's probably that the Imperial College has a higher pass rate. Yeah, that's it. Because during the exam, this kind of interdisciplinary thinking makes it easier to convince the examiners. But the pass rate for Jinshi is not very high. Because Jinshi tests depth - but then again, Juren is enough. The entire court is supported by tens of thousands of Juren, and they are everywhere in the six ministries and nine government offices. There are only a little over two hundred Jinshi each year, and they are just heavenly people used to serve as counselors in the court."

"So that's how it is. What if I pass the imperial examination?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Wen Zhong shook his head. "If you pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, then you're no longer from the Imperial Academy. Strictly speaking, all Jinshi are disciples of the Emperor, because the Emperor personally selects them. But precisely because of this barrier to being a disciple of the Emperor, everyone's origins are essentially erased. Do you understand? So, after passing the imperial examination, you can't decide which 'sect' you're assigned to—but, Shang Tianjun, you're an exception."

Wen Zhong laughed as he spoke. "Let me tell you something funny. You might have heard it before. Back then, the emperor actually planned to take the imperial examination, but in the end, he decided against it."

"why?"

"Because whenever he passed any imperial examination, he always had to keep going, right? So, in the end, he had to take the Jinshi exam—and then, it was a vicious cycle. Because he was the chief examiner for the Jinshi exam, and he was also the one who set the questions. He couldn't set the questions for himself, nor could he invigilate himself. So, if he didn't take the exam, it would be fine. But if he did, others would think, 'Can you only get a Juren exam and not a Jinshi?' It's quite a pity. In fact, the emperor originally wanted to pass the imperial examination before he became emperor. Well, unfortunately, things happened suddenly in the end, and he had no choice but to inherit the throne with hatred."

"That's really hateful."

"Of course, he holds a lot more grudges than Wen Yuan. Wen Yuan, at most, failed one exam. But he can't take any exams after that. So, Shang Tianjun, sometimes you have to think clearly for yourself. Taking a bath is a good time to think. Don't mess with others, the bath water is quite dirty. Look at the sky, it's a good time to think about problems, you won't have such good time anywhere else."

Chapter 539: Divine Strike

"Oh, they're calling me over there. I guess they've finished mixing it." Wen Zhong glanced at his Fetion card - the good thing about the Fetion card is that it is waterproof no matter what, even waterproof to hot spring water.

"Goodbye, Lord!" Shangluo greeted him. He didn't stand up in his calf-length pants, but just bowed.

Wen Zhong returned the gesture with his hand, and then with a move to the side, the bathrobe flew up and was draped on himself.When I came out of the water, my bathrobe was not stained with water.Wearing leather slippers, he left the area of ​​the medicinal spring.

"Ah~~ It's nice to soak by myself." He leaned back and rested his head on the pebbles surrounding the hot spring. This was a man-made pool, and the pebbles were moved in later, but it didn't prevent him from feeling the natural charm here.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, he heard some movement behind him, his bathrobe was moving.

[Ah, this. Hey! I couldn't hold it! It ran out!]

Before he finished speaking, a dog's head popped out from inside the bathrobe, followed by a second one. Ah Heng and Ah Ha popped out from inside, and between them popped an exceptionally large head. It was Qiuqiu.

"What are you three going to do?"

"We want to catch Qiuqiu, but we can't catch Yunjing." Ah Heng explained in the channel.

"Ah, what does he want to do?"

[Qiuqiu said there was no one here and he wanted to take a bath too.]

"Huh? What kind of bath does a whale take?"

He's not a real whale. He's a balloon, not a water balloon, and it seems he hasn't had much of a bath.

"Okay. I have no problem with that. What about you two? Do you want to go soaking?"

Ah Heng and Ah Ha both shook their heads: "We have hair on our bodies and cannot pollute this sacred spring."

"You are very well-mannered. Okay, go back." He waved his hand, and Ah Heng and Ah Ha both got out of their bathrobes and returned to Apollonia.

Only Qiuqiu is still here, with his mouth open.The surrounding air was heated, making him float a little unstable, but he was still leaning in here little by little.

"Ah" Shangluo had no choice but to pull him over, and pulled his bathrobe over as well, then took out the brush he used to apply sauce when eating barbecue.

"Don't move." He held the ball to the ground with one hand, and with his other hand, he dipped a brush in water and began to brush the ball's belly back and forth, "Wash it clean before taking a bath."

Although Qiuqiu was still struggling, he couldn't break free from the power of the gods. He rubbed it back and forth on the ground several times, and only when Shangluo felt psychologically comfortable did he let go. From beginning to end, not a single speck of dust came off Qiuqiu, because he had always been in a pure place "where no dust could be found."

After being scrubbed clean, Qiuqiu looked troubled. But for the sake of taking a bath, for the sake of trying a new experience, he resisted. For the sake of taking a bath, it was all worth it.

"Okay, it's time to take a bath." He pulled the red rope and pulled the ball onto the water. The ball slowly fell into the water.

"Ah~~" A vague expression appeared on Qiuqiu's face, and he didn't know whether the water temperature was too high or too low for him.

Shangluo put his hand on Qiuqiu's head and said, "This feels really good. It's like a water ball floating on the water. Give me a hand."

With his hands clasped together, his arms relaxed a lot, and Shangluo felt relaxed all over.

With his hands together, his muscles relaxed and his hands gradually drooped. The drooping hands changed Qiuqiu's center of gravity, and Qiuqiu began to spin around it until his entire face was buried in the water - Qiuqiu could no longer breathe.

"Huh!!!!" Suddenly, Qiuqiu seemed to have unlocked a switch. The sudden danger made Qiuqiu swell up with alertness.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Shangluo quickly reached out and scooped Qiuqiu out of the water, but Qiuqiu's mouth remained wide open. The hot spring water swirled into a column, drawn into Qiuqiu's mouth like a dragon sucking water. In the blink of an eye, the dragon's suction expanded to encompass the entire medicine pool, and the water level was dropping at a visible rate.

[Wow!] Apollonia discovered, [This is... This is the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art! It's the "Divine Beating Water Drinking Technique" that the Beans used before!]

"Hey! Stop drinking! Stop drinking! The pool is going dry!" Before he could finish his words, the pool had already dried up. Not a drop of water remained, and the remaining water droplets were still swirling and flying towards Qiuqiu's mouth.

Shangluo, who had lost his buoyancy, sat on the dry floor, and Qiuqiu next to him had drunk water and turned into a huge water ball.

Silently, Shangluo climbed out of the pool. He looked at Qiuqiu's face and said, "Spit it out! We told you to soak in the hot spring from the outside in, not from the inside out!"

"Woo woo woo~~~Woo~~" Qiuqiu's two flippers paddled feebly in the air, and he could no longer control his movements. His entire face was slowly turning red, as the hot spring water heated his body temperature.

He said he was choking. He had only drunk air before, never so much water. He was choking.

"Ah, you can still fly with a pool of water, that's amazing." Pulling the rope, Shangluo pulled the ball to the side, then hugged his belly with both hands and squeezed hard -

"Puff!!!" A jet like a fire hose spurted out of Qiuqiu's mouth, and the water level rose back at a speed visible to the naked eye.

[Wow, the Dragon King's water spray is so powerful~~ Woo~~ I feel like I can use it to put out a fire.]

"Hey!!!" After squeezing his hands a few times and making Qiuqiu spit out the last bit of water, Qiuqiu finally regained consciousness.

Looking back at the pool of water, it was exactly the same as before, not a single change. The same temperature, the same medicinal fragrance.

"." Silently, Shangluo put on his bathrobe and put the ball under his arm.

【Aren’t you going to soak anymore? 】

"Nonsense, if you didn't see it, it would be fine. But how can I soak in a pool of saliva?"

Before he finished speaking, Han Xingzhi came over holding a guide map. "Oh~~Brother, did you finish your bath? Is this wind-proof spring really effective? I see your arms are red."

"Indeed. It does have a strengthening effect."

"Then I want to take a dip too!" As he said that, he walked towards the entrance of the pool.

"Hey, you."

"Brother, what's the matter?"

"Forget it, go clubbing." I wanted to explain, but it seemed like there was no difference, so I gave up.

After turning a corner, he grabbed Qiuqiu's face and said, "You know a lot, kid. Remember next time, this isn't drinking water, it's for soaking. Don't drink it, remember?"

Qiuqiu had his face pinched, but he still tried his best to nod in response.

"Ah, I'm tired. Holding a big ball and squeezing out water is as tiring as working out. Firefighters really have a hard time. I'm going to go eat something."

There's another chapter around one o'clock

Chapter 540 A Paradise-like Future on Earth

He walked down the hill, dragging the ball along. Although it was a little strange to be dragging a balloon, the ball could now perfectly act the role of the balloon. He had just drunk a lot of water, so he didn't feel like eating.

"Hey." He greeted Wen Yuan and sat across from him. There was a heated swimming pool next to them, but Wen Yuan didn't go in.

"Don't you want to come in and sit down?"

"I can't swim." He answered while drinking soy milk.

"So you can't swim?"

"Humans are not fish. If they haven't learned, of course they can't swim. I can't swim, but I don't want to wear a swimming ring at this age, so I just don't go in."

"Then I feel like you made a bad purchase on this ticket."

"It's okay. There's a sauna over there. I'll just go and have a steam bath. Then I'll take a shower, go to the hot spring, and then go over to have lunch."

"Good boy, you seem to come here often?"

"It's all government money, after all. The court comes here all the time. Of course, those old men don't run around like I do. They just take a bath, chat, and drink some tea. They just want to find an excuse to meet on the weekends and increase each other's workload."

"By the way, I just saw your grandfather."

"Is he hanging out alone again?"

"It's said that when the two sides are colluding, he should just rest alone."

"Of course, that's a tactic. Qigong practitioners have an unparalleled advantage as politicians—boundless energy. While other old men would be drowsy, he can simply regulate his Qi and be as energetic as if he'd drunk ginseng soup. Sixty is still the prime of life for him; he hasn't even lost much hair."

"I think your grandfather's cultivation seems to be very powerful."

"He's actually only in the early stages of Qi training, not even close to being a true Qi practitioner. But he's been cultivating his Qi, so the older he gets, the better he's been able to conserve his energy, and the more powerful he looks. But in fact, he can't beat me, not at all."

"You're quite capable of competing with an old man in strength. Tomorrow you're going to compete with a kid in swordsmanship, right?"

"Then I can't beat you. What should I do? You haven't practiced at all. You can tire me out just by relying on your natural instincts to fight back."

"Then wouldn't it be great if you could also be promoted to a celestial being? It will be soon, right?"

"If that day really comes, that would be great. I'm already looking forward to it. I think we'll all be able to become celestial beings. By then, even if I can't swim, I think I can."

"What kind of logic is that?"

"That's right. Hmm." Wen Yuan thought for a moment. "It feels like, as soon as you touch water, you'll naturally understand the principles of dealing with water. That's it."

"You know what? It's possible, because swimming is a biological instinct. The human body is also capable of swimming. It's just that humans have too much in their heads, so sometimes when faced with problems that require biological instinct, they react more slowly. But if you ascend to the level of a celestial being, it will be easier to achieve unity between man and nature."

"It would be great if all of us could be promoted to Celestial Beings! For example, we could all use the forum."

"Do you think so?" Shangluo asked.

"Yes, the total number of users of these jade tablets is only about a thousand people and their families. It's still not lively enough. We're all concentrated in various chaotic discussion groups, as well as the forum you just opened. But it always feels empty. If one day, a communication terminal could be used by everyone, it would be a paradise on earth, a paradise on earth."

"Hmm," Shangluo thought for a moment, "Connecting everyone to a single network might not happen every second, but it's a good thing. Yeah, it's a good thing. Although it might bring some problems, it's necessary."

"Also, look, every day when we go out and take the tram or subway, we have to buy and check tickets, which is really troublesome. If everyone wears a Fetion badge, then we can just put a Tianyi Guiren in each ticket gate to check tickets. Then all we have to do is show our badge and we can check in! Isn't this a life like heaven?"