The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 179: Advancement and Reward

Along the way, there are green mountains, clear waters, singing birds and fragrant flowers. After crossing the river, the scenery changes and gradually becomes different.

Zhao Ti stroked the black rose gently and said, "You have to go home again. Are you feeling a little unwilling?"

Black Rose let out a soft hiss and walked slowly forward, ignoring him.

Zhao Ti stroked the horse's ears and said, "You've been out for so long, haven't you had enough fun? Although I can't compare to your original freedom in the mountains, but even when you were in Tokyo, I would ask someone to take you for a walk outside the city every day. Isn't that comfortable?"

The horse shook itself off lightly, freeing itself from his hand that was stroking its ear, turned its head, looked at him with its big black gemstone eyes, then sped up and headed forward.

Two or three days later, they arrived in Xuzhou and rested there. Zhao Ti then practiced the tenth level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra.

He still has two martial arts that he has not practiced. One of them is the Yi Jin Jing. It is not that he does not want to practice it, but this sutra requires one to be able to break through the self-image and the image of others and have a mind that is free from attachment, only then can one be successful.

The other one is the Great Zhoutian Dou Zhuan Xing Yi. This martial art is the complete version of Dou Zhuan Xing Yi. It is extremely complex and complicated, several times more complicated than the Small Wuxiang Gong. No one knows how Murong Longcheng created this martial art.

Because this martial art is so complicated, he has been pondering it in his mind, and will only start after he has no doubts and it is complete.

However, the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra does not have so many restrictions. As long as the internal strength is sufficient, the understanding is sufficient, and the state of mind can support it, then you can continue to practice it.

Zhao Ti did not live in the provincial government office, but in the post house. It was quiet at the moment, and outside it was dark and silent.

He activated the Dragon Elephant Internal Force and began to advance towards the tenth level. He could hear the meridians in his body rumbling and swelling. The flow of his internal energy was like the rushing water of a river, which was extremely terrifying.

There are 360 visible and hidden acupuncture points all over the body, and some of them are so painful that they feel like a knife cutting deep into the bone marrow.

Zhao Ti remained calm, this was because this skill was too overbearing, his internal energy was rushing so violently that it seemed like it was going to explode out of his body. He inhaled slowly, closed those acupuncture points, and continued to practice.

As time passed, the sound within his body became louder and louder, almost like a roar in his ears, like the roar of a dragon or an elephant, full of anger and majestic aura.

His body was shaking slightly, as if there was a giant beast inside him that was about to break out. His clothes were swelling up and he seemed about to explode.

He took a deep breath and continued to practice calmly. The tenth level of Dragon Elephant Kung Fu was derived through deduction. Deduction is different from conjecture. Deduction is based on the previous level, while conjecture is just castles in the air.

In a blink of an eye, several hours passed. The night outside the window had gradually faded away, and the stars had dimmed. Zhao Ti suddenly opened his eyes, exhaled, and made a sound like the roar of a dragon or an elephant, which made the beams and windows in the room buzz.

"It's done!" Just when he showed a relieved expression, his expression suddenly changed. His face turned as white as jade and his temples trembled continuously.

Hmm? Zhao Ti couldn't help but frown. At this moment, he felt all kinds of distracting thoughts in his mind, all of which were negative emotions. Compared with good, evil is more satisfying; compared with good, bad is more refreshing; compared with good, evil is more comfortable; compared with Buddha, devil is more knowledgeable. All these things were in a mess in his mind.

"Is this... the sudden rise of inner demon?" Zhao Ti muttered to himself. A few years ago, a Tibetan monk practiced this skill to the ninth level. When he was trying to reach the tenth level, his inner demon suddenly rose. He reached the tenth level but could not control himself. He danced wildly for seven days and seven nights, and finally died of lost pulse.

He shook his head, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, if it was just this level of inner demon... then it was too low-level. What was good and evil, what was good and bad, what was right and wrong, what was Buddha and devil, observing Prajna, were all superficial, and below Prajna, everything was false.

Only great wisdom can break the law outside the law, the emptiness outside the emptiness, the universe in a drop of water, the world in a grain of sand, they are nothing but to confuse the eyes.

He said calmly: "Disperse!" In just a moment, the distracting thoughts in his mind retreated like the tide, as if they had never appeared, without leaving the slightest trace.

Then he got up and walked out the door. White light was already appearing in the sky, the Jade Rabbit was setting in the west, the Golden Crow was gradually rising, and a new day had arrived.

After breakfast and cleaning up, he went to Xuzhou Prison and saw Huo Linglong sitting in the corner, eating a large pancake.

Seeing him coming, Huo Linglong hurriedly stopped, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, shrank back, and said nothing.

Zhao Ti suspected that there was another layer of disguise on Huo Linglong's face. He asked Ah Zhu, and Ah Zhu said that if there really was, it would not be a modification made of ordinary materials, but should be an extremely sophisticated human skin mask.

So the last time he gave the other party a hint, Huo Linglong indeed became a lot more obedient.

"Dragon King, continue to eat. Don't be afraid to eat just because I'm here, or you'll get hungry." Zhao Ti said lightly.

Upon hearing this, Huo Linglong looked at Zhao Ti vigilantly. Seeing his mocking look, she couldn't help but get angry. She was about to rush over to see if she could catch him, but suddenly she remembered something and did not move. Instead, she lowered her head and took another bite of the pancake in her hand.

Zhao Ti looked at her and thought she looked very ordinary, about thirty years old, so he asked, "How old is the Dragon King this year?"

Huo Linglong raised her head, rolled her eyes at him, and continued to eat her cake without saying a word.

Zhao Ti glanced at Wei Hanchen standing beside him and said, "Bat King, you told me before that the Dragon King has been in the Ming Cult in the Central Plains for twenty years?"

Wei Hanchen nodded, "Your Highness, that's right. The Dragon King has been in the Ming Cult of the Central Plains for twenty years. During this period, Persia would send envoys to visit every three years. She wrote about the situation of the Ming Cult of the Central Plains and asked the envoys to take it back and report to the head cult."

Zhao Ti asked, "What was the Dragon King dressed like when he came that year, and how old was he?"

Wei Han pondered and said, "When the Dragon King came, he was wearing a veil and said he was fourteen."

"Oh?" Zhao Ti said, "I was wearing a veil at that time, and these years..."

Wei Hanchen said, "She has always been masked, and no one except the leader has seen her face. However, her voice and temperament are easy to identify, and she has the chief sect token, so no one in the sect cares about this matter."

Zhao Ti thought for a moment and said, "Since no one has even seen her face, then her age must be whatever she says it is, with no one to compare it with."

Wei Hanchen smiled and said, "Your Highness, that is true. I remember when the Dragon King first arrived at the Great Bright Summit, he was short and thin, and looked very young. But I didn't expect that he has grown a lot taller in these years even though he is in his teens."

Upon hearing this, Huo Linglong raised her head and glared at Wei Hanchen, her teeth grinding against each other.

Wei Hanchen's mouth twitched. "Dragon King, don't look at me like that. My brothers in the sect have said this before. They think your age when you joined the sect is completely made up. You said you were in your teens, and you are still growing taller after more than ten years. How can this be possible?"

Upon hearing that, Huo Linglong jumped up with a bang and was about to rush towards Wei Hanchen, but seeing Zhao Ti's interested eyes, she could not help but pinch the pancake, gritted her teeth and slowly sat down again.

Zhao Ti said: "The Dragon King will be free soon."

Huo Linglong was stunned: "What freedom? Are you going to let me go, you devil?"

Zhao Ti smiled slightly and shook his head gently: "I'm afraid this is impossible. What I meant when I said that the Dragon King wants freedom is... I have already mastered the tenth level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra!"

The pancake in Huo Linglong's hand fell to the ground with a "plop". She was stunned for a moment, then picked it up, blew off the dust on it, took a big bite, and said incoherently: "Impossible, stop lying to me, it's absolutely impossible!"

Zhao Ti smiled, then suddenly raised his hand and clapped it forward. Then he heard a loud "boom" in the cell, as if a thunder had suddenly struck, deafening and raising dust. The remaining sound continued to rumble and echo for a long time.

The wall was actually split open by this palm strike, revealing the scene inside the cell next to it. Huo Linglong was covered in dust, and the pancake in her hand fell again, but she didn't pick it up this time, but just stared at Zhao Ti blankly.

"Dragon King, what do you think of the tenth level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra?" Zhao Ti looked at Huo Linglong and smiled.

“You, you…” Huo Linglong licked her lips, with a look of disbelief: “How could a devil like you really be able to practice…”

Zhao Ti shook his head: "They say you are dull, but you never admit it. What can't you achieve with practice?"

“You, you reached the tenth level without any inner demons growing?” Huo Linglong murmured, “No, no, you are a demon to begin with, how could you have inner demons growing?”

"I have already mastered the tenth level of Dragon Elephant Prajna. The Dragon King is ready to join the Central Plains Ming Cult and become my subordinate." Zhao Ti said.

“I…” Huo Linglong’s expression kept changing, and she took a deep breath in the end: “I swear in the name of Ming Zun, I will not go back on my word, I will join the Central Plains Ming Cult, after all, I was also a member of the Central Plains Ming Cult before, what difference does it make whether I join or not…”

Zhao Ti glanced at her and said to Wei Hanchen beside him, "Untie the Dragon King later and take her to a place to clean her up. She is so dirty and filthy."

"You..." Huo Linglong said angrily: "It's all thanks to you."

Zhao Ti said: "Remember to call the leader in the future, otherwise you will be punished according to the rules of the sect. I believe the Dragon King knows better than me how to punish those who are disrespectful to the leader."

Huo Linglong rolled her eyes and stopped talking. She watched Zhao Ti turn around and walk out of the cell. As he walked, he muttered to himself, "We've reached the tenth floor. How far can the eleventh floor be?"

Seeing his figure gradually disappear, Huo Linglong pounded the ground with her fists, as if to vent her frustration, but then her face became confused again: "Eleventh level? Is there really an eleventh level? Aren't those all imagined techniques…"

The next day, we set off from Xuzhou and headed straight back to Tokyo.

Huo Linglong had regained her freedom by then, and was sitting in the team without saying a word.

Zhao Ti ignored her and after the team entered Gyeonggi Road, he ordered them to speed up.

Another day passed and they arrived at Kaifeng, and around noon they reached the outskirts of Tokyo.

Zhao Ti asked Zhou Tong to take Huo Linglong, as well as the masters of the thirty-six caves and the seventy-two islands, to settle down in the manor that Zhao Xu had given them last time.

The manor was very big. There were many farms around Tokyo, and many farmers and owners lived in one manor. Not to mention these people, even a few hundred more could be accommodated.

He then entered the city, returned home to pack up, and went to the palace to report in the evening.

When he arrived at the imperial study, he saw the desk piled with memorials, and Zhao Xu was sitting at the back reading them.

Zhao Ti noticed that his face seemed to be a little rosy, not as pale as paper as before, and wondered in his heart, could it be that this Sixth Brother had made great progress in studying the Yi Jin Jing and his injuries had been alleviated?

Seeing him smiling broadly, Zhao Xu said, "Prince Yan has made great contributions on this trip. Come, please give Prince Yan a seat."

Yang Jian trotted over and brought a chair, saying in a flattering manner, "King Yan, please sit down and talk."

After Zhao Ti sat down, he told the story of Guangmingding again, saying, "Your Majesty, this time we have almost captured all the sub-altar leaders who were hiding in various places. Almost all of them have also been arrested. There will be no more trouble for at least ten years."

Zhao Xu nodded: "According to the King of Yan's plan, it doesn't matter if there are still disturbances. After all, the Ming Cult is now the Ming Cult of the imperial court, and everything is decided by the imperial court."

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "That's right. As long as the Central Plains Mingjiao is under the control of the imperial court, this matter has been resolved."

Zhao Xu said: "Prince Yan has made great contributions this time. Go back and have a good rest. You will be rewarded in court tomorrow, and then you can take a vacation."

Zhao Ti nodded, then stood up and left the palace and returned to his home.

The next morning, Tong Guan got up before dawn and drove straight to the imperial city.

When he arrived in front of Xuande Tower, he saw many people entering the side gate. When they saw him, they bowed and greeted him.

Some lower-ranking officials did not know where he had been during this period, but officials above the third rank knew about it.

Cai Jing then came closer and saluted. Zhao Ti looked at him. He was tall and strong, with a dignified appearance and a thick black beard, and he looked quite graceful.

Cai Jing whispered, "Your Highness, will this trip go smoothly?"

Zhao Ti smiled slightly and nodded. Cai Jing's position had changed again at this moment. He was originally transferred back to Beijing from other places last year to serve as a direct scholar of Longtu Pavilion and acting as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but now he was transferred to be a Hanlin scholar and accepted imperial orders.

The position of Hanlin Academician is special. In the Tang Dynasty, it was called the Internal Prime Minister, because he had direct access to the secrets of the Forbidden City and was the only one who could receive secret orders from the emperor. His power was particularly heavy, and many of them were as powerful as prime ministers. He did not simply draft imperial edicts, but was in charge of secrets in the Forbidden City.

Although the Hanlin Academician of the Song Dynasty no longer had the power of a prime minister like in the Tang Dynasty, he was still the chief official of the Hanlin Academy, in charge of drafting imperial edicts and was the confidant of the emperor.

Cai Jing saw Zhao Ti nod his head and couldn't help but say, "Congratulations, Your Highness. Congratulations, Your Highness, for another great achievement."

The two men walked towards the Purple Palace while talking. Zeng Bu, who was in charge of the Privy Council, was standing behind with a bad look on his face, because Cai Jing had always coveted the power of the East and West Ministries, and his position was unstable at the moment. He had always been jealous and wary of Cai Jing, and his face turned black at this moment.

When they arrived at the palace, Tan Zhen, the envoy of Zichen Palace, accompanied Zhao Xu to sit on the dragon throne, and then sang.

After the meeting was completed, Zhao Xu said, "This time, the Prince of Yan has come south to wipe out the remnants of the bandit sect again. His contribution is enormous, and I wish to reward him."

The civil and military officials on both sides raised their tablets and shouted praises to the emperor for his wisdom.

Zhao Xu pondered for a moment and said, "I have decided to re-establish the Imperial Guards Department, combining the two departments and three offices. The Commanding General Office of the Cavalry and Infantry will still be under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Guards Department, and the Prince of Yan will be in charge of the Imperial Guards Department."

The important ministers looked at each other and actually decided to re-establish the Imperial Guard Department. Not counting those honorary positions and titles, this was already the highest military assignment. Even the Palace Front Department could not compare to it, because the Imperial Guard Department was originally half a level higher than the Palace Front Department.

As for the Privy Council, it was the military department in previous dynasties, but it has been changed to a civil department in this dynasty.

Afterwards, he was awarded nine military merits and various things. Zhao Ti came out to express his gratitude.

Then there was a month's vacation. The officials could take care of the affairs of the ministry as appropriate, but they did not have to attend the court. After discussing other matters for a while, Zhao Xu stood up and Tan Zhen resigned, and the court meeting ended.

At this moment, outside the Dali City of Dali Kingdom, Mu Wanqing and Qin Hongmian, mother and daughter, have arrived in front of the city gate...

(End of this chapter)