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

Chapter 228 Qiu Gong
In Tokyo, the autumn wind is bleak, yellow leaves are falling from branches, and the sight is desolate and cold.

It rained that day, sparsely and gently, coldly and clearly. Every autumn rain brings a chill.

Zhao Ti sat in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, looking at the misty and cold water that seemed covered by a veil. His mind was filled with confusion and loss.

Ah Zhu and Lan Jian stood at the back, You Cao was holding a colorfully painted fish food jar, and the little maid Ruyi was leaning over the lacquered mahogany railing of the pavilion, feeding the fish.

The fish became more and more happy. Not only did they raise their mouths to beg for food, some of them even jumped up to catch a piece of food, then dropped it with a "pop", their tails hitting the surface of the lake, splashing up water.

Zhao Ti looked at the fish and said slowly: "Why are birds caught in nets? Why are fish in nets? Living things are strange and separated, and spirits are in a trance..."

Lan Jian said: "Young Master, you have a good wording. Listening to it makes people feel enlightened."

Zhao Ti said: "I saw some poetry on the stone wall behind Lingjiu Palace, which has the style of Laozi and Zhuangzi."

Lan Jian thought for a moment and said, "Young Master, what you are talking about is something that originally existed in this palace. My grandmother said that when she was a child, she often saw the Grandmaster looking at the wall. For some reason, she would get inexplicably angry as she looked at it, and what she said was all nonsense."

"Xiaoyaozi?" Zhao Ti said with a smile, "He is called Xiaoyao and acts in a carefree manner, but his character is not carefree at all."

Lan Jian said: "Grandma said that the palace was not originally called Lingjiu Palace, but was renamed by the founder. In ancient times, there was a martial arts school in that palace called Xiaoyao Sect, and the founder directly inherited it, and that's how he got his own name."

Zhao Ti nodded. He already knew that the Lingjiu Palace on Piaomiao Peak had existed for a long time and was not built by Xiaoyaozi or Tong Lao. After he went there, he was more certain after seeing the words on the stone wall that this was the place that Xiaoyaozi found and occupied later.

"What was the original name of Lingjiu Palace?" Zhao Ti asked.

"Grandma said it should be called Shenjiu Palace. It's written deep in the stone wall. She doesn't recognize those words, but the master is a very learned man, but he can recognize them all. He told her about it before." Lan Jian pondered.

"Shenjiu Palace, that's right..." Zhao Ti said, "The names Lingjiu Palace and Xiaoyao Sect don't conform to the rules. The Buddha preached on Lingjiu Mountain, so the word Lingjiu has been used to refer to the Buddha's place. Xiaoyao has Nanhua Zhenren's Xiaoyaoyou, which refers to the Taoist sect in general. How can they be used together?"

"This..." Lan Jian blinked her beautiful eyes and shook her head, "I don't know. Grandma didn't tell me why the founder changed the name to Lingjiu Palace."

Zhao Ti thought about it and realized that Xiaoyaozi had encountered great changes when he was young and had a near-death experience. Although he was extremely talented, his personality was somewhat eccentric and perverse. He often did things that were unexpected, unconventional, and bizarre.

He had heard Wang Yuyan's description in her letter of Xiaoyaozi's behavior, that he acted as he pleased, was cynical, and looked down on everything. Combined with his observations at Mantuo Villa that day, he had already made a rough judgment.

He couldn't help but smile slightly and sighed, "Your ancestor actually looked down upon Buddhism and Taoism, so he changed the name to this, putting the two together to provoke ridicule and call it a contradiction. He sneered and ridiculed it in his heart. As for continuing the name of Xiaoyao Sect, it was just a casual act, just a game..."

Lan Jian was stunned for a moment: "Young Master... do you know the Master so well?"

Zhao Ti said: "I am just guessing, but I think it is pretty close."

Ah Zhu said, "Miss Wang is learning martial arts with Senior Xiaoyaozi, and I don't know when she will be back."

Zhao Ti said: "I'm afraid he won't let Yuyan leave until he has passed on everything he has learned."

He couldn't help but feel a little confused when he said this. After Xiaoyaozi gave the position of the head sect leader to Wuyazi, he disappeared. It seemed a little abnormal that he suddenly appeared now and started looking for his successor.

Seeing that Xiaoyaozi is full of energy and his martial arts have reached perfection, he should have no problem living for another few decades. Why did he suddenly want to pass on his martial arts skills?
Zhao Ti pondered for a moment but couldn't come up with an answer. At this time, the rain outside the pavilion became lighter and became as light as silk. Although it was not spring, it was also autumn rain like wine and willows like smoke.

He stood up and walked out of the pavilion. Ah Zhu followed behind him, holding an oil-paper umbrella. Just as they walked out of the Nine-Turn Corridor and reached the shore, they saw Tong Guan running towards them from the white stone corridor.

"Your Highness, Prince Duan sent someone to deliver an invitation."

"Invitation?" Zhao Ti glanced at Tong Guan's wrist, which was resting on his chest. A square-shaped object that looked like a folding paper was sticking out of it. "What is he going to do to make money?"

Tong Guan didn't dare to show any expression when he heard this. It was fine for His Highness to say this, but he didn't dare to continue: "I don't know either. Li Yan sent it to me, and he didn't say the details."

Zhao Ti kept walking and said, "Let's go to the study and take a look." Tong Guan agreed and hurriedly followed.

After arriving at the study, Zhao Ti sat down and took the invitation. He found it was extremely unique, with a light blue cover painted with orchids and flowers, as well as some faint unknown runes, exuding a Taoist atmosphere.

He opened it and took a look. There were quite a few words written in a fluent and elegant calligraphy. It turned out that Zhao Ji had paid for the construction of a Shenxiao Temple in the city and was holding a ceremony to consecrate it, and he had invited him to attend.

The master of the Shenxiao Temple is naturally Lin Lingsu, but the origins of the Taoist priests inside are unknown. Zhao Ji speaks as if he is the leader of the Shenxiao sect of Taoism, and is quite proud of it.

Zhao Ti put down the invitation and looked at Ah Zhu and Lan Jian in front of the table: "In a few days, there will be a new temple in the city holding a ceremony to open the Dao. Do you want to go and see the excitement?"

Ah Zhu said, "Your Highness, is a new Taoist temple opening? I want to go and see it, but I don't know which Taoist sect it is from."

Lan Jian was too embarrassed to open his mouth, but he looked eager to go.

Zhao Ti said: "Then let's go and see what's going on. That Taoist sect... is a new Taoist sect called Shenxiao Dao."

Inside the imperial city, in a secret hall behind the Funing Palace, Zhao Xu was sitting and practicing martial arts.

What he was practicing at that time was the Yi Jin Jing, which is the Shaolin Temple's treasured martial arts book. Its fame is known throughout the world, but since its birth, only a few people have been able to master it.

In addition to the fact that the technique is obscure and difficult, those who want to practice this technique must also be able to break through the self-image and the image of others.

This means that one should not have the intention to learn martial arts, but also should not have the various obsessions after mastering it.

Ideas like becoming a Buddha after mastering the art, dominating the martial arts world, being invincible, gaining the support of hundreds of people, becoming a Buddhist saint, and ruling the world.

But when you are clearly practicing, you have to pretend that it is not the case. When you are clearly practicing, you must have a purpose, otherwise why would you practice, but you have to abandon the purpose in your heart. It is extremely difficult to achieve both, let alone do them completely.

This kind of practice cannot be mastered unless one is a truly selfless monk, a hermit who lives in seclusion, and has a Bodhi tree in his heart and a state of mind as clear as a mirror.

Zhao Xu performed the Thirty-Three Postures of Taizu Long Fist, but his Qi and blood were unbalanced, his meridians were disordered, and his mind was distracted. He wanted to use the Yi Jin Jing to adjust them to see if he could make up for the deficiency in his body, but he only achieved the second point and not the first.

He had learned Sanskrit in elementary school and had read thousands of books. With the annotations of the Second Patriarch Huike on the Yi Jin Jing at the bottom of the sutra, he naturally had no problem understanding it, but as for the self-image and the other-image, he could only understand the other-image, but not the self-image.

He was able to achieve a state of having no desires or requests when practicing martial arts. He was originally the supreme being, and had no other purpose than to use the martial arts to harmonize the needs of his body.

As for using the Yi Jin Jing to harmonize his weak body, he held the idea of giving it a try and did not put too much hope on it. After all, emperors before the Song Dynasty had also tried this approach but did not leave any successful records. So, if it worked, it would work, and if it didn't, so be it.

However, he tried his best but failed to break through his true self. How could a person pretend not to be practicing martial arts when he was clearly practicing it?
How can a person treat eating as if he is not eating? How can a person treat writing as if he is not writing? How can a person treat reading as if he is not reading? How can a person treat martial arts as if he is not practicing?
He really couldn't do it. Even though he tried hard to forget what he was doing at the moment, he also stopped the ongoing movements and breathing, and his practice also stopped, and all his previous efforts were wasted.

But he was only able to break one of the human forms, and also asked him to practice the Yi Jin Jing reluctantly. He didn't know the power or effect, but he did generate some internal force.

He even mobilized his pitifully small amount of internal energy and tried to run it along the eight extraordinary meridians. After allowing the internal energy to flow freely in his body, he felt extremely comfortable, as if all his meridians were nourished.

So he insisted on practicing every day, which was a hundred times better than those Shaolin monks who had never been able to break through the two aspects, worked hard for years and finally got nothing.

Zhao Xu practiced for a full cycle and found that he had gained a tiny bit of internal strength. He was overjoyed and began to use it to relax his tendons, veins and bones. Sure enough, the pain in his body was relieved a little, but he couldn't help feeling a little lost.

At this moment, his face showed several completely different temperaments changing alternately. He just thought that even if this skill would be effective, if it could not be truly practiced, it would still be unable to prevent the backlash brought about by the 33rd posture of Taizu Changquan.

Even if one day one can master all of these, it is still unknown whether it can completely change the body.

He slowly stood up and left the secret hall, walked out of Funing Palace, and stood in front of the palace gate. Looking at the drizzle in front of him, he couldn't help but feel incomparable sadness and melancholy in his heart...

(End of this chapter)