The road is vague

Chapter 204 Evening and Year

After Chen Heyan and Jiang Wencai left.

Wang Xiyue, Shi Xiang, Kang Jinzhong, and Lü Jin came over, and the five military instructors gathered together.

"Congratulations, Coach Li!"

"Congratulations to you, congratulations to you..."

Li Mo found it difficult to adapt when his professional title was changed from "Li Zongqi" to "Li Jiaotou".

To outsiders, this might seem like a promotion, but to Li Mo, it was a new beginning. He could vaguely sense the impending storm in Lu Qi's words.

Therefore, he was appointed to the post in a time of crisis.

Li Mo looked at the four people with a smile.

"I have just taken office and am still unfamiliar with many of the rules of the Dharma Protection Hall. So, could you please tell me what our specific task process is going to be?"

"Haha."

The four of them exchanged a glance and then burst into laughter.

"Instructor Li, please calm down and don't be nervous."

The master stroked his beard and comforted him.

"This is, after all, the Lingmu Sect, not the military headquarters. The disciples of the Dharma Protection Hall are not soldiers of the military headquarters. Although our military formation training is indispensable, it is not the main task. The real task of the Dharma Protection Hall disciples is to improve their cultivation level. Therefore, apart from the 2nd, 12th and 22nd of each month, which are the days when we teach military formation tactics, we can arrange the rest of the time as we see fit."

"Only three working days a month?"

Although Li Mo was surprised, he nodded calmly on the surface.

It can be said that the higher the position, the easier it is.

Take the Special Service Hall as an example.

The county magistrate's commanders only carry out official duties once every few years. On ordinary days, the local generals and deputy generals can usually handle any local affairs.

Let's take Ye Qing and Han Mu, the two Golden Core Hall Masters of the Advanced Study Hall, as examples.

Their tasks are considered busy among the many temples, but they only show their faces when the annual training school recruits students and conducts year-end assessments.

"In that case, what powers and responsibilities will I assume after becoming the head instructor of the military formation?"

This time, it was Kang Jinzhong who responded.

"As for power, we have the opportunity to award three collective third-class merits, three individual third-class merits, and one individual second-class merit every year. We can also expel an unqualified disciple from the Dharma Protection Hall. We will receive gifts from the sect on the Flower Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival every year. On the first day of the third lunar month every year, we can go to the Qingling Hall to attend the regular meeting..."

Li Mo listened attentively, nodding repeatedly.

He had not yet found any way he could help his mentor in this position.

"As for our duties, it's to improve the military tactics and formations of the Dharma Protector Hall disciples as much as possible. The five of us will receive substantial rewards based on our performance..."

Li Mo's brows furrowed deeper and deeper as he listened.

What secret does Lu Qi have in mind that led him to this position?
At this time.

Wang Xiyue suddenly spoke.

"Instructor Kang, is there something you've forgotten?"

Upon hearing this, Kang Jinzhong looked surprised.

Li Mo's spirits lifted. He figured Wang Xiyue might be giving him a hint or reminder, so he immediately adopted a listening posture.

Wang Xiyue smiled slightly.

"Have you forgotten that every ten years we are required to follow the Hall Master's instructions to check the tasks of fine-tuning, repositioning, and setting up the sect's grand formation for each squad?"

"Yeah!"

Upon hearing this, Kang Jinzhong looked enlightened and shook his head self-deprecatingly.

"Look at my memory. If I count the days, it'll be time to deploy the mountain-protecting formation again in a few months, right?"

"Indeed."

Wang Xiyue responded with a smile.

Is this why Lu Qi transferred him to the position of military instructor?
Wang Xiyue looked at Li Mo with a meaningful expression.

"However, Coach Li, you don't need to worry too much."

She also offered words of comfort.

"The fine-tuning and adjustments made to the mountain-protecting formation each time are to maximize its power. Before each operation, a set procedure is followed. The disciples of the Dharma Protection Hall of each squad make adjustments, and then we, the military formation instructors, conduct a second inspection. We cannot directly interfere with the work at the grassroots level. With your expertise in formations, this task is a piece of cake."

"I see."

Li Mo appeared relieved, chatted with the four for a while longer, and then said goodbye and left.

Having no missions for the past few days, Li Mo came to the Hidden Merit Pavilion.

At the same time, he couldn't help but think of the ethereal fox girl from the Nine Fox Clan named Xiangxiang.

He hadn't seen her for several years and didn't know if she was still here, so he secretly searched the first floor.

After a while.

Sure enough, he saw a fox spirit between the two rows of bookshelves.

"It smells good."

He went up to greet her, but when the fox woman turned around, he was surprised to find that this fox woman was not the Xiangxiang from before.

The fox-woman noticed Li Mo's surprise.

When she heard that Li Mo was looking for Xiangxiang, she was about to say something when she saw another fox woman come out from behind the bookshelf.

This is exactly the fragrance that Li Mo has been looking for.

"General Li?"

Xiangxiang's voice made Li Mo turn his head to look.

"Xiangxiang!"

After apologizing to the fox spirit, Li Mo followed Xiang Xiang to a secluded spot on the first floor.

"Commander Li, it's been a long time!"

Compared to her former naivety, Xiangxiang now looks much more mature.

She exuded a mature and alluring aura, and every move she made was filled with captivating charm.

"Long time no see. I've been transferred back to the inner sect. I was on my way to the third floor to look up some information, and I thought you might still be here, so I came to check on you."

"It seems that Commander Li has been promoted again. Congratulations!"

After Xiangxiang finished speaking, she seemed to have thought of something and let out a sigh.

"what happened?"

“The fox clan member we just saw is named Honey. She came here five years ago, but there are more than just the two of us here. If you go to the third floor, you should be able to see the real genius sent by our Silver Fox City. Her name is Silver Mystic.”

"Fragrant, Honey, Silver Delight?"

After muttering to himself, Li Mo nodded, indicating that he had made a mental note of it.

"She has royal blood flowing through her veins. Her talent, aptitude, and wisdom are far beyond what we commoners can compare to. In just two short years, she has mastered many of the classics on the first and second floors of the Scripture Pavilion, while I have been trapped on the first floor for more than nine years."

Xiangxiang looked frustrated, helpless, and sad.

Li Mo frowned.

"I can understand if bloodline affects talent and aptitude, but I can't agree that it can affect intelligence."

"Shh!"

Upon hearing this, Xiangxiang showed a terrified expression and gestured for Li Mo to be quiet.

She then lowered her voice.

"Saying such things here is fine, but if it were in the Nine Fox Clan's territory, it would likely cause serious trouble; it's a taboo."

Li Mo looked puzzled.

Xiangxiang sighed, and even with a melancholy expression, she still exuded a unique charm.

"In our Nine Fox Clan, there is a legend that our ancestor was a nine-tailed fox from the Misty Realm. Later, for reasons unknown, this ancestor divided his bloodline talents into nine parts and established nine royal cities for the fox clan, including our Silver Fox City. The royal family members have pure bloodlines and specialize in their clan's talents, while we commoners have mixed talents, often possessing several different talents simultaneously, and ultimately achieving nothing."

"You just said that your ancestors were likely nine-tailed foxes from the Misty Realm?" This was the first time Li Mo had heard someone explicitly claim that he did not come from the Mountain and Sea Realm.

"Yes."

Xiangxiang responded firmly.

In her view, Li Mo, this human, was astonished by the numerous racial subdivisions within the Misty Clan.

"But within the Nine Fox Clan, there is a group of rebellious and lowly fox men who have established an evil and secretive organization called 'Nine Tails,' claiming to unify the Nine Fox Clan. They have been constantly trying to unify the bloodline talents of the nine royal families and have created an evil technique to absorb bloodline talents..."

Fox man, fox woman.

After hearing this, Li Mo seemed to be deep in thought.

It's not hard to tell from Xiangxiang's words that the Nine Fox Clan is actually a matriarchal society.

Some fox men, in order to break this restriction or for some other purpose, established a powerful secret organization, which is another mortal enemy of the Nine Fox Clan besides the Peacock Royal Family.

Li Mo then subtly inquired about the basic cultivation methods of the Misty Demon Clan. The answers he received were not much different from his guess. The Misty Demon Clan's cultivation method was indeed not based on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but rather on cultivating the life essence of heaven and earth.

They use this to strengthen their physical talents and comprehend the ethereal Dao.

……

After saying goodbye to Xiangxiang, Li Mo arrived at the third floor of the Zanggong Pavilion.

This can be considered one of the many powers he has gained after becoming the head instructor of the military formation.

Otherwise, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could only enter the second floor of the Scripture Repository.

Compared to the relatively empty bookshelves on the second floor of the Zanggong Pavilion, Li Mo was taken aback when he entered the Zanggong Pavilion after undergoing strict screening.

Although there aren't many bookshelves here, they are packed full!

At the same time, Li Mo noticed that this area near the outside was filled with various stone statues, stone tablets, and fragments of magical artifacts that had lost their spiritual power.

But these things have one thing in common.

That is, each one has ancient characters, symbols, and paintings on it.

These all appear to have been obtained from ancient battlefields and ancient tombs.

"It must be that high-level spells are extremely rare for Golden Core cultivators, so they need to draw inspiration from these resources to create various supernatural abilities and secret techniques?"

As Li Mo made this guess, he noticed a fox-woman gazing up at the giant statue.

Compared to Xiangxiang and Huami, this fox girl named Yinmiao seems to be of average appearance and not outstanding.

As for this statue, it is a giant peacock with its wings spread wide.

When Li Mo saw the peacock, he suddenly recalled some past events. Ten years ago, when he participated in an exchange meeting in the forbidden array within the territory of Zhongshan Kingdom, he had entered the so-called Peacock Cave.

Outside the Peacock Cave are stone statues depicting humans and peacocks worshipping each other.

Now, after careful comparison, he was shocked to discover that the two malachite statues seemed to be exactly the same.

So Li Mo couldn't help but walk up to the peacock stone statue, which was about two zhang tall.

"Southern guest?"

He noticed two ancient characters on the base of the stone statue. Although they were slightly different from the modern script of the Great Qian Kingdom, he could still tell at a glance what the two characters were called.

Upon hearing this, the fox girl named Yinmiao looked at Li Mo.

"Nanke is what you humans call them."

Li Mo also looked at the fox girl named Yin Miao.

"You must be Miss Yin Miao. Xiang Xiang and I have been friends for many years. After she appeared in Bai'an County, I had many conversations with her."

Unlike the various ethnic groups in the Central Plains, they had achieved unification during the Zhou Dynasty.

Li Mo knew that the various ethnic groups in the Dongling region each had their own language and script and had never truly unified.

Yinmiao nodded and continued to look up at the statue.

"These are the ancestors of the Peacock Clan. But unlike our Nine Fox Clan's tolerance of humans, the Peacock Clan hates humans to the bone. Within their territory, there will never be any humans."

Li Mo was thoughtful after hearing this.

It sounds like the Misty Clan's attitude towards the Human Race is the same as the Human Race's attitude towards the Misty Clan.

In some places, the human race shows a tolerant attitude towards the Misty Race, such as the sects of the four kingdoms of Lingdong, some sects of Lu Kingdom, Qian Kingdom, and so on.

The other sects in the Seven Kingdoms and the State of Lu treat the Misty Clan like monsters, only needing to consider the difference in strength between them, without needing to consider moral constraints.

but.

Why is the statue outside the Peacock Cave inside the Forbidden Array of Zhongshan Kingdom depicting a human and a peacock worshipping each other?
Is there some hidden story from the Middle Ages behind this?

Li Mo then raised his question, and Yin Miao smiled gently, without trying to hide it.

"The ethereal Peacock Clan is most skilled at constructing labyrinthine illusions. It is said that Tianhong, the ancestor of the Peacock Clan, became a Daoist partner with an ancient cultivator of your human race after arriving in the Mountain and Sea Realm, but was ultimately betrayed by your human race..."

Li Mo was naturally completely unaware of these legends about the Misty Clan.

When he heard the name Tianhong, he couldn't help but think of the Tianhong Sacred Bird of the Lingmu Sect, which was most likely a spirit bird with ancient blood.

After Eunmyo's explanation, some of the contradictions seemed to make sense.

"is it?"

Li Mo laughed at himself.

"No wonder those monsters say that we humans are the most cunning and treacherous."

Yin Miao couldn't help but smile upon hearing this.

"May I ask your name?"

"My name is Li Mo, and I currently serve as the instructor of the Guardian Hall's military formations. Could you please enlighten me on what the four royal clans of the Misty Clan are, besides the Nine Fox Clan and the Peacock Clan?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Miao's expression turned serious.

"The ancient ethereal royal family is no longer verifiable, but the current ethereal race indeed consists of only four royal families. The other two royal families are the Golden Lion Clan and the Blood Dragon Clan. The ancestors of the Golden Lion Clan are Suanni, who control the Sun Palace. The Blood Dragon Clan dwells in the forgotten lands overseas, which is also a paradise in the eyes of the monsters of your Central Plains. They have established a large number of primitive sects and formed an alliance with the Blood Dragon Clan to resist the conquest of our ethereal allied forces."

"Is there such a thing?"

Li Mo was shocked.

"Why is there a continuous war within your Misty Clan?"

Yin Miao shook her head.

"So many years have passed, who knows? Some say it's because of the struggle for lineage, where the lineage of the Ten Thousand Scales that they followed in ancient times clashed with the ethereal lineage that we follow. Others say it's because all this chaos started with these Blood Dragon Clan."

Li Mo listened quietly.

"The ancient dragon clan worshipped two ancestors, named Xi and Nian, who were said to be unparalleled geniuses of the dragon clan. Later, for some unknown reason, they caused an unprecedented calamity. Only the Golden Lion Clan's Sun Palace has relevant records. The Nine-Tailed Organization heretics also claimed that there were relevant records in the lost Misty Box of the Nine Fox Clan."

Upon hearing this, Li Mo's pupils contracted!
The Lost Mysterious Box of the Nine Fox Clan?
Yinmiao was unaware of Li Mo's shock; she appeared quite nonchalant.

"Did the Sun Palace record related secrets?"

"Perhaps. After all, it is the sacred land of the Golden Lion Clan. Legend has it that there were many similar sacred lands in the Misty Realm. The most famous of them all is Misty Peak, just like your human race's North Sea Spirit Illumination Mountain. They all mysteriously disappeared over the long course of history. However, I have heard a rumor that your human race's North Sea Spirit Illumination Mountain seems to have moved to another world to pursue some kind of plan."

Li Mo looked shocked.

This fox spirit knows far too much.

Or are these things no longer secrets among the upper and middle levels of the Misty Clan, but rather basic common sense?

Li Mo suddenly thought of a possibility!
Lingzhao Mountain in Beihai has mastered the forging method of the Heavenly Treasure, the Flowing Light Reversal Sword, and needs to bring the sealed history into reality.

If we infer in this way...

It is indeed not impossible for Beihai Lingzhao Mountain to move into another world. They may be planning to seal themselves away for ten thousand years and then bring them back into reality, using this as a basis to complete the conditions required for forging the sword!
"You've told me so much, is it because you want me to repay you in some way?"

"It's natural."

Yin Miao tentatively asked, "I am very interested in the Daoist traditions of various countries in the Central Plains. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Li could enlighten me?"

"no problem."

Li Mo had no intention of hiding anything; the struggle for orthodoxy among the various states in the Central Plains was an open secret.

He then recounted all the traditions and customs of various countries that he knew.

As for the life and death of the two races, nothing can be changed by the exchange of information between two insignificant people.

(End of this chapter)