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

Chapter 203 Holy War (asking for monthly ticket)

After entering Lingjiu Palace and walking around to look around, I found that it was actually a palace left over from an unknown era, and it was not built by Tong Lao or Xiaoyaozi.

Going to the back of the palace, there is a passage connecting to the caves. There are murals and images in the caves. At a glance, it is obvious that they are hundreds or thousands of years old and must have been left by the previous owner.

The walls also record some martial arts methods, all of which are very strange. Some of them are actually related to the life and death talisman, which is probably the source of Tong Lao's life and death talisman. There are also some peculiar methods, which shows that Xiaoyaozi should have transformed the Shanhai Temple martial arts into the Xiaoyao School's martial arts based on them.

Many of the palace rooms are exquisitely decorated, with countless pearls inlaid on the walls. The pearl light shines everywhere, and the gems shine, making it as bright as the outside world.

There are also some furnishings, statues and artifacts, hidden symbols of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and the directions of the sixty-four hexagrams in the Book of Changes, all of which have a meaning.

All the palaces, rooms, tunnels and grottoes here are magnificently constructed, consuming enormous amounts of manpower and material resources. They are not something that the Xiaoyao Sect could have done. They were completed many years ago and were created by their original owners.

Zhao Ti walked a long circle and returned to the center of Lingjiu Palace. There was an open-air square with many exotic flowers and plants planted there, and the fragrance was overwhelming. To the north was a platform with a large chair on it, which was obviously used for discussing matters with people in the palace.

At this moment, all the people in Lingjiu Palace were called here. Zhao Ti came on stage to hold a meeting with everyone as the leader of Xiaoyao Sect. The little girl stood aside, alone and unhappy, feeling like a minion.

After finishing speaking, Zhao Ti looked at the girl, and the girl had no choice but to say, "Everything is subject to the orders of the Sect Master. From now on, Lingjiu Palace will return to Xiaoyao Sect."

She had made up her mind last night. After hearing what Mei Jian and Lan Jian said, she knew that the other party should have an official status in the Song Dynasty. She felt that it was impossible for him to stay in Piaomiao Peak for long. She would just pretend to be nice to him and ensure the safety of the people in the palace and wait for him to leave.

Everyone in front of the stage shouted, "We will obey the orders of the Sect Master."

Zhao Ti nodded and said, "Everyone go and do your own things." Then he asked people to clean the hall and stayed in Lingjiu Palace.

A few days passed, and just after noon that day, he asked Huo Linglong to go and call Tong Lao.

The girl had just finished drinking raw blood and was practicing martial arts. She couldn't help but ask, "Master, what's the matter?"

Huo Linglong: "I don't know, Xiaoxiao, go ask yourself."

The girl said, "Dragon King, please don't call me by that name anymore. I am older than you, how can I call you by that name?"

Huo Linglong said with a smile: "The leader gave it the name, how can we change it casually?

The girl rolled her eyes. She had recovered about ten years of strength by this time, and she felt a little more confident. She immediately said, "I'll ask him to change it."

After that, he followed Huo Linglong to the palace where Zhao Ti lived. Seeing him resting with his eyes closed behind a stone table, he could not help but say, "Master, change my name and stop letting others call me by it."

Zhao Ti opened his eyes and murmured, "But is there anything inconsistent?"

The girl said, "None of them match, none of them are true, change them immediately!"

Zhao Ti glanced at her and said, "What's wrong? They are obviously not big. If they are not big, then they are small."

The girl bit her lip and said, "I know whether it is big or not, you can tell what it is."

Zhao Ti looked at her at this time. Her height remained the same, but her face was as delicate as a girl, and her eyes were full of smiles. She had become a beautiful young lady. Zhao Ti couldn't help but smile.

Seeing this, the girl showed some caution on her face: "You, what are you looking at? I am much older than you, and I am not like what I look like.

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "But it's not good to rub your head anymore."

The girl said, "I'm not a cat."

Zhao Ti said: "It is impossible to change the name. I called you here for something."

The girl asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhao Ti thought for a moment and said, "Give me the eternal and everlasting Changchun Gong."

"What?" The girl was stunned: "What do you want this skill for?"

Zhao Ti said: "As the head of the sect, I naturally have the right to know all the techniques."

The little girl shook her head: "This is not something that can be given to you just like that. When Master taught the sect's skills separately, he must have had some considerations. Otherwise, wouldn't Junior Brother Wuyazi have known this skill from the beginning?"

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "What did he have in mind? He just thought that the three of you were mediocre in talent, like idiots, and not as good as him. If he taught you all, you wouldn't be able to learn at all, so he only taught each of you a few different things."

The little girl said angrily: "Although you are the head of the sect now, you should not presume to guess the founder's thoughts. Besides, the three of us have excellent talents, so how can we be the same as an idiot?"

Zhao Ti shook his head and said, "It's not like I haven't seen him before. I even saw him fighting with someone a while ago. How could I be wrong?"

The girl was shocked and said, "You, what nonsense are you talking about? How could you have seen Master? Master has already passed away and is no longer in the mortal world. How did you see him?"

Zhao Ti heard this and said, "He is not dead yet, so how can he ascend to heaven? He once appeared in Xixia, and Li Qiushui also saw him. I think he was extremely disappointed in you, so he didn't go to Piaomiao Peak to meet you."

The girl was stunned and said, "This is absolutely impossible. Are you trying to trick me into believing that you have the eternal and everlasting power by making up such a ridiculous statement?"

Zhao Ti laughed and said, "Do I need to make this up? If I tell you what he looks like, how can you not believe me?"

The girl immediately asked, "Tell me what the master looks like?"

Zhao Ti briefly described Xiaoyaozi's appearance and figure, and the girl was immediately stunned. After a long while, she said, "Who knows if you found out by forcing Li Qiushui to tell you..."

Zhao Ti interrupted, "I saw him use the Xiaoyao Yufeng technique. Have you ever seen or learned it?"

The little girl was stunned and said, "Free and unrestrained wind? Have you seen this kind of skill?"

Zhao Ti said: "Of course I have seen it. That requires a combination of several martial arts. You naturally don't know how to use it, and neither do Wuyazi and Li Qiushui."

The girl stood there in a daze, seemingly thinking.

Zhao Ti waved at her, and the girl subconsciously asked, "What do you want to do?"

Zhao Ti said: "If I want to do something, how can you resist? Not to mention that you only have ten years of skills now, even if you recover all of them, you will not be able to defeat even one finger of mine."

The girl was unconvinced and said, "I don't believe any of this. Do you dare to wait for me to recover my strength before fighting me?"

Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "If I win, you must offer me the everlasting and eternal Changchun technique."

The girl said, "Although you are the head of the sect, it is not easy to force me to give you my skills. You have to make me sincerely convinced."

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "I can't spend so much time here."

The girl was overjoyed when she heard this, she wanted to make the other party give up. It would take her dozens of days to fully recover her martial arts, and she estimated that the other party would not stay for long and might give up.

However, Zhao Ti changed the subject and said, "I will also go to Huihu, Longyou, Qingtang and other places. I will set off tomorrow. You should come with me. When I recover my strength, I will convince you."

"Ah?" The girl was shocked when she heard this: "I, I won't go, I won't leave Tianshan."

Zhao Ti looked at her and said calmly, "This is not up to you."

In the evening, Zhao Ti called everyone over and told them about leaving the palace. All the people in the Nine Heavens and Nine Tribes breathed a sigh of relief, but when they heard that Tong Lao was following, they couldn't help showing worried expressions.

The next morning, Zhao Ti gathered everyone, and Lingjiu Palace took the girl and Lan Jian with them, then went down the mountain.

He threw his sword to Lan Jian. This sword was the one that Taizong carried with him. Although it could not cut iron like mud, it was still a precious sword and he used it in daily life.

After leaving the Tianshan Mountains, they headed south and entered the Uighur territory. They then asked Huo Linglong to lead the way, because Huo Linglong had been here more than once and had also been to Gaochang City, the capital of the Uighurs.

After five or six days, they passed through the desert and headed for the oasis, and finally arrived at Gaochang City.

But it looks like a beautiful city, like a shining pearl inlaid in the western region.

Although Gaochang's city walls are neither majestic nor solid, it covers a large area and is undoubtedly a large city, connecting the north and the south, and the east and the west. From the outside, one can see the coming and going of people of all ethnic groups, and get a glimpse of the prosperity and bustle of the city.

Stepping into Gaochang City, it is bustling with people, as if you have stepped into a wonderland of commerce. The streets are crowded with people and cars. The Hu people from the west lead camels loaded with spices and jewels, shouting loudly about what they are selling. The Tibetans bring exquisite Tibetan carpets and delicate handicrafts, and crowds of people are surging in front of their stalls. The Khitans and Dangxiangs ride tall horses loaded with furs, medicinal herbs and other items, attracting people to stop and choose.

As Zhao Ti walked and looked, he saw caravans from more than one country coming and going. It was simply a dazzling sight.

In addition to these, there are tall Buddhist pagodas standing everywhere, whose shapes are very different from those in the Central Plains, and are even different from those in Xingzhou, Western Xia.

At present, the paganism from the west has not yet invaded this place. The Uighurs fought against the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, the eastern branch of the Black Khanate, every year, mostly to resist the invasion of the paganism from the east.

The Uighurs at that time mainly believed in Buddhism, followed by Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism and Mingjiao.

The Ming Cult is a Manichean religion that worships light. Zoroastrianism also worships light and fire. Nestorianism is a branch of Western Christianity that worships holy light. The three are heretics and have always been at odds with each other. They often wage holy wars, fighting each other to the point of bloodshed and endlessly.

Buddhism took advantage of the situation and gradually grew in power, becoming the largest religion among the Uighurs.

As for the Uighur Dynasty, it turned a blind eye to the attacks and battles among the various religions and did not pay much attention to them.

After all, these sects can still be controlled. They only preach the scriptures and ask people to believe in them. They will not change the living customs and habits of the people, nor will they replace the things that have been passed down in the tribe for thousands of years and replace them with something new.

Unlike the aggressive paganism in the west, once it invaded, it completely changed everything. Even the lives of the royal family were restricted by it. It was extremely domineering and brutal.

At this time, Huo Linglong led a group of people and went straight to the headquarters of the Mingjiao Uighurs.

There were nearly two hundred people in the group, which attracted a lot of attention on the road, but no Uighur soldiers came to question them.

Gaochang was a commercial city, and there were many strangers in the caravans. As long as they were not the ones who sneaked in to spread heresy, they would hardly pay any attention to them.

Although Zhao Ti and his entourage were not small in number, judging from their appearance they came from the east and had absolutely no possibility of being related to paganism. Instead, people speculated that they came from the Song Dynasty, which attracted a lot of curious looks.

After a while, they arrived at the headquarters of the Mingjiao Uighur sect. It was an old and dilapidated courtyard that looked like a fortress. Inside, they could vaguely see houses with Uighur characteristics. In front of the door, three or two people were drooping their heads, and it did not have any momentum at all.

Huo Linglong looked unhappy and started to scold them. The three or two Huihu Mingjiao followers were shocked and hurried to report. A moment later, an old man in a brown robe with a large silver flame on his chest came out with dozens of people. They all looked sad and seemed to have encountered some great difficulties. They were not in high spirits and had no joy.

Zhao Ti shook his head when he saw this and said, "The Huigu Ming Cult has fallen to such a state, and its martial arts are not very advanced. It's a pity that the Dragon King was unwilling to join the Central Plains. If I had known this, I would not have wanted them at all."

Huo Linglong looked embarrassed: "I was not like this when I came here in the spring. I don't know what happened to me that made me so worried."

The old Uighur man came closer and bowed to Huo Linglong: "Greetings, Dragon King. Why did the Dragon King come to the Uighurs again?"

Huo Linglong stepped aside and said, "The leader of the Ming Cult of the Central Plains is here, why don't you pay your respects to him quickly!"

The old man was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhao Ti. His cloudy and dim eyes suddenly showed some light: "Zhongyuan, the leader of the Zhongyuan Ming Cult?"

Huo Linglong frowned and said, "The Huihu Ming Cult has been merged into the Central Plains Ming Cult. From now on, we will obey the command of the Central Plains Ming Cult. The Supreme Cult Master has come to visit us. Why don't you quickly pay your respects!"

The old man's expression suddenly became excited, and the people behind him also showed an expression of great joy. They performed the religious ceremony and introduced themselves by their positions, saying, "Greetings to the Supreme Leader of Shangbang."

Huo Linglong spoke to these people in Uighur, but Zhao Ti could understand it. He had learned the languages and scripts of the countries surrounding the Song Dynasty when he was in the palace.

Zhao Ti looked at the old man and asked, "Are you the leader of the Huihu Ming Cult?"

The old man bowed and said, "Master Shangbang, your subordinate Bashi is the Master of the Uighur Ming Cult."

Zhao Ti said calmly, "How come you run the Ming Cult in such a bleak way? Aren't you afraid of being blamed by Ming Zun?"

The old man looked helpless and bitter. "Reporting to the leader of the upper state, I don't want to do this either. It's really that my sect has had a rough time in the Uighurs. We have encountered many setbacks in recent years and have often fought with Zoroastrianism and Nestorianism. As a result, we have been defeated repeatedly and oppressed, which has led to our decline."

Zhao Ti asked, "Could it be that there is no victory in a hundred battles?"

The old man looked grim, and the believers behind him couldn't help but lower their heads.

Huo Linglong said at this time: "Why are you silent? Why don't you go in and talk?"

The old man came to his senses after hearing this and hurriedly said, "Please invite the Shangbang Sect Leader and the Dragon King to come in and discuss this."

Then I walked into the courtyard and saw a large hall in front of me. Its shape was different from that of the Central Plains. The words "Land of Light" were written on it in Uighur and Persian.

The interior of the hall is old and in disrepair. Directly in front is a statue of Ming Zun, which is about ten feet tall with a solemn appearance. Light radiates from behind his head and he holds his hands in the light seal. Surrounding him are statues of the Five Sons of Light: Pure Qi, Wonderful Wind, Bright Power, Wonderful Water and Wonderful Fire.

The shrine in front was being cleaned in a hurry. The incense ashes on the ground were old and there were dense cobwebs everywhere. It was obvious that no one had cleaned it for a long time. Now that they saw the guests, they started to clean it up at the last minute.

Zhao Ti took a look and said, "How can you be so miserable? Even if you can't defeat Zoroastrianism and Nestorianism, you shouldn't neglect your Lord like this, right?"

Huo Linglong said angrily: "If this is the case, then what is the need for the Huihu Ming Cult to exist? When the Ming Zun wakes up from his meditation in the future, he will sense and punish us!"

The old man smiled bitterly and said, "Dragon King, if the Mingzun really punishes me, I will accept it, but at the moment, I am not sure that I can get away with it."

"What do you mean?" Huo Linglong frowned and asked, "What's going on now?"

The old man said, "Dragon King, you don't know that Zoroastrianism is very powerful now. In recent years, they have been trying to destroy our religion. I don't know how many believers have been taken away. There will be a holy war tomorrow. I am afraid, I am afraid..."

"There will be a holy war tomorrow?" Huo Linglong wondered, "Didn't we just fight against the Nestorian Church when I came here in the spring?"

The old man nodded and said, "Dragon King, that's right. I suspect that the two families may have agreed to attack our sect first, and then to make a three-way confrontation with Buddhism to see who is superior."

Huo Linglong looked at Zhao Ti after hearing this. Zhao Ti thought for a moment and asked, "How many people do you have in each holy war?"

The old man said: "Each sect can send out about a thousand people, but my sect has lost followers in recent years, and I only gathered a few hundred people last time..."

The girl heard this and said disdainfully: "A holy war involving about a thousand people, is it still called a holy war?"

Huo Linglong said awkwardly: "The scale of the Uighur holy war is just like this. The territory is not large and the population is small. It cannot be compared with the Persian holy war, let alone the Song Dynasty..."

The old man also said: "Master Shangbang, the area of the Uighurs is only slightly larger than that of the Song Dynasty, but in terms of population, it is less than 10% of the Song Dynasty. A thousand people... is already considered a major battle."

Zhao Ti thought about it. During the Yuanfeng period, a Uighur envoy came to Tokyo to present a letter of credence, saying that the population was more than 300,000, including 200,000 able-bodied men. At that time, the Song Dynasty had more than 9.9 million people in Liangzhe Road, more than 4 million in Jingdong East Road, and 5 million in Yongxingjun Road.

That is to say, compared with some of the more populous roads in the Uighur Kingdom and the Song Dynasty, it actually did not even reach 10% of the population.

Zhao Ti nodded: "The country is small and weak, and it is not easy for the sect to send out a thousand people to fight. However, if there are really this many people, it will be easy to deal with."

Huo Linglong heard this and said, "What the leader means is..."

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "Since they have brought people with them this time, and the Uighur Mingjiao has returned to the Central Plains, we might as well help them. I wonder how many masters the Zoroastrianism and Nestorianism have, and at what level, whether they can turn the tide of the war."

Huo Linglong pondered and said, "This subordinate does know something, but they are not much stronger than those sects in the Central Plains. If we compare the Ming Cult in the Central Plains, a thousand people against a thousand people are enough to destroy the other side. However, the people from the thirty-six caves and seventy-two islands brought by the leader this time are not comparable to ordinary believers. Once they join the battle, the other side will definitely be defeated."

Zhao Ti said: "Where are the top masters? Zoroastrianism must have top masters."

Huo Linglong said: "Yes, there are some, but they are not many. I can handle them at my level."

Zhao Ti said: "There is one more thing you need to pay attention to."

Huo Linglong hurriedly said, "Master, please speak."

Zhao Ti said slowly: "Although we are going to war with Zoroastrianism this time, since both Zoroastrianism and Nestorianism want to destroy our Holy Church, we must be on guard against the two secretly joining forces and Nestorianism launching a sneak attack!"

Huo Linglong's face changed when she heard this. The old man was shocked and said, "What the leader of Shangbang said is absolutely right. This possibility cannot be ruled out. If this is true, can we still resist it?"

Zhao Ti said: "If you don't come, that's fine. But if you come, that's the best. We can take this opportunity to cripple these two sects and make them unable to recover."

Huo Linglong asked, "What's your plan, Master?"

Zhao Ti said: "Please report the time and place of the battle, as well as the types of people in each sect."

The old man hurriedly said, "Master Shangbang, please speak later, and I will tell you slowly."

As he spoke, he went to the Mingtang behind the hall, served milk tea and food, and then the old man began to speak slowly.

By the evening, Zhao Ti had already drawn up a plan and handed it over to Huo Linglong. The people from the thirty-six caves and seventy-two islands were assigned to Huo Linglong, and Jiumozhi was also asked to cooperate with Huo Linglong and act together.

Then they stayed at the headquarters of the Uighur Mingjiao for one night. On the next afternoon, they gathered their men. There were eight or nine hundred people on the Uighur side. Originally, they could not have gathered so many, but the battle was a matter of life and death, so some old and weak people also went into the battle.

Afterwards, Huo Linglong led the group and after several thousand men, they headed out of Gaochang City.

Although the Uighur dynasty did not care about sectarian attacks, they could still pretend not to see any small-scale attacks in the city, but this was not possible on a scale of this magnitude.

There were villages and towns around Gaochang City, all of which were divided among the three religions, and they competed openly or secretly for believers. Under the guidance of the old man, Huo Linglong came to a border between the Ming Cult and the Zoroastrianism, lined up her troops, and then made arrangements according to Zhao Ti's instructions.

Zhao Ti was sitting in the small Ming Cult temple at the back of the town drinking tea, with Bai Zhan, Zhou Tong, Zhu Chuyi beside him, and Tong Lao and Lan Jian also standing aside.

Towards evening, a fight broke out outside, with all kinds of shouting and slogans of various gods being shouted at the top of their lungs. It sounded even more intense than a real battlefield.

The girl said, "Although the people of the thirty-six caves and seventy-two islands are useless, they all have martial arts skills. It is easy for them to deal with these believers."

Zhao Ti took a look at her. She had become more and more beautiful over the past few days, with the appearance of a young girl. When she spoke, she looked around with a charming look and her eyes were moving. Only her figure remained unchanged.

The girl looked him up and down, her face flushed with joy, "What are you looking at?"

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "I see that your martial arts have recovered a lot in the past few days. Do you want to go out and fight?"

The girl shook her head: "These people are not very skilled in martial arts, why should I attack them?"

Zhao Ti suddenly pointed out the window and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to take action soon. Someone is coming over here to kill me."

The girl looked puzzled when she heard this, but after a few breaths she said, "Sure enough, someone has come. I wonder if it is the Nestorian Church. Isn't there an ambush over there?"

Zhao Ti said: "There will always be one or two masters on the other side. How can ordinary people stop them all?"

As the two were talking, a fight broke out from behind the town, but an ambush was set up on this side and they instantly gained the upper hand.

But they heard strange howls one after another, and then several figures broke through the encirclement and headed towards the town, obviously wanting to go to the front of the town to attack the Ming Cult from behind.

Zhao Ti said calmly: "Stop it."

Zhou Tong and Bai Zhan immediately jumped out. Of the three people on the opposite side, one of them went straight around here. The girl said, "It's hard not to fight back when they come knocking on the door."

She welcomed the third person. At this moment, she had recovered more than ten years of strength, and she used the Tianshan Six Yang Palm with a whooshing force.

This palm technique can transform yin and yang. The word six represents the two yang numbers in the Book of Changes, so it can also be called the Tianshan Yin and Yang Palm.

At this moment, she used the Yang Palm with the utmost strength and fierceness, using three moves in succession: Yang Chun Bai Xue, Yang Guan Sandie and Yang Ge Tian Jun.

Just looking at his palm movements, he seemed to be lifting heavy objects with ease and grace. Although he only had skill for a dozen years, he had already beaten the man without any chance of fighting back.

Zhao Ti looked at it and shook his head, saying, "It's still too late."

The girl was unhappy and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Zhao Ti smiled slightly, and slapped out a Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm. There was a continuous "boom" sound like thunder, and the dragon and elephant roared continuously.

His palm power at this time had exceeded the tenth level and was infinitely close to the eleventh level. This palm hit the man in mid-air and instantly broke him into pieces.

The girl was startled and jumped aside in a hurry: "You, you are good at swordsmanship, why is your palm power so strong?"

(End of this chapter)