The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 146 Chen Tuan's Junior Brother

The mountain path is rugged and difficult to walk on. In some places, the steps are carved out of the rocks and there are no guardrails. You have to walk carefully.

Otherwise, if one were to slip and fall off the cliff, there would surely be no trace of their body.

Li Yi looked up and saw that the clouds and mist were so thick that it was like being in a fairyland. In the vast and boundless clouds and mist, the cliff cypress grew on the high mountain cliffs, standing tenaciously against the wind.

I don't know what Zuo Ling'er's father was thinking, running off to such a desolate place to cultivate Taoism.

I heard that my future father-in-law is an extraordinary person. He is proficient in alchemy and medicine making and also knows martial arts. He came from the Central Plains to this mountain area in his early years and settled down there until now.

During this time, he married a local mountain woman and they had a daughter named Zuo Ling'er... However, this "father-in-law" was not a qualified husband or father. He was obsessed with cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao every day, and would not return for months at a time.

When Zuo Ling'er was seven years old, her mother passed away. At that time, her father had disappeared again. Thanks to the help of the villagers, her mother was able to be buried.

Since then, Zuo Ling'er's father finally calmed down and stopped disappearing all the time. Instead, he found a cave near the village to cultivate Taoism, and would come down the mountain to return home every month or so.

"Are you tired?" Li Yi turned to look at Zuo Ling'er, whose hand he was holding, and asked softly, "Do you want to rest for a while?"

Zuo Ling'er smiled sweetly and shook her head, saying, "I'm not tired. I've climbed this path many times before. The beginning is a bit difficult, but it gets much better later on."

Just as she said, after a while, after turning a mountain ridge, the road in front of us suddenly became much wider and flatter.

Li Hanchao led his personal guards in front, while Li Yi followed behind, holding Zuo Ling'er's hand.

Around noon, the group finally arrived at their destination, a platform halfway up a mountain, as if a piece had been slashed away, exposing rocks weathered over the years.

The platform was surrounded by lush pine and cypress trees, as well as many unknown flowers and plants. And hidden in the natural scenery, a deep cave appeared in front of everyone.

A stone table and stone benches are placed at the entrance of the cave. They appear to be made of natural stone with slight carving, and the original outline and shape are clearly visible.

Li Yi glanced around and, seeing no one, asked in confusion, "Didn't your father say he was waiting for us here? Why don't I see him..."

However, before the words had even finished, a muffled thunderous explosion suddenly came from deep within the cave.

boom--

For a moment, even the mountain peaks seemed to tremble.

The moss-covered rock walls trembled and shattered, sending a thick cloud of smoke billowing from the cave. Countless pebbles flew in the spreading smoke and dust, striking the surrounding rock walls and trees with a crackling sound.

Just as everyone was stunned and bewildered, a figure staggered out of the thick smoke.

He ran while excitedly shouting, "I did it! I did it! I did it!"

Upon closer inspection, the man was wearing a tattered Taoist robe, with only half a strip of cloth hanging from the left sleeve, and half of the hem of the robe missing, as if it had been burned.

His Taoist hat was askew on his head, his hair was disheveled and singed, and his eyebrows and beard were also burned. His entire face was blackened, covered with cinnabar and wood ash, which fluttered off as he ran.

Zuo Ling'er was the first to react and hurriedly went to greet him: "Father, are you alright...?"

Uh... Li Yi never expected that he would meet his future father-in-law for the first time in this way.

Without even thinking, I knew from the noise just now that the alchemy furnace must have exploded. After all, gunpowder was something the Taoists had invented, an accidental byproduct of alchemy.

"Ling'er, your father has finally refined the Golden Formula External Elixir! Haha, after more than twenty years, your father has finally refined the Golden Formula External Elixir!"

Looking at Zuo Ling'er's father's maniacal laughter, Li Yi seriously suspected that the other party might have some kind of mental problem... Could it be that cultivating Taoism and refining pills had damaged his brain?
"Father, are you hurt anywhere? Oh, Father, why are you bleeding..."

Zuo Ling'er ignored the pill and anxiously supported her father. When she saw blood seeping from his arm, her voice trembled with tears.

"It's nothing serious, just a minor accident," Zuo Ling'er's father said nonchalantly.

As he spoke, he opened his clenched palm, revealing several oval pills, each about the size of a quail egg, that shimmered with a crystalline luster.

"Ling'er, look, this is the Golden Formula External Elixir that your father refined."

Li Yi walked closer and subconsciously looked at the pills. Under the sunlight, they glowed with a pale purple fluorescence, clearly indicating excessive heavy metals. This stuff could definitely kill someone.

However, Zuo Ling'er's father was truly lucky; despite the immense force of the explosion, he only suffered minor injuries. Someone else, with less luck, might have been torn to pieces.

"Master Zuo... Master Zuo." Li Yi didn't know how to address Zuo Ling'er's father for a moment. He only knew that the other party's name was Zuo Congqin, but seeing that the other party was dressed as a Taoist priest, he simply addressed him as "Master Zuo".

It was only then that Zuo Ling'er's father noticed Li Yi and the group of people behind him, including Li Hanchao.

Zuo Congqin's gaze lingered on Li Yi's face, and he said with a strange expression, "You are General Li from the Zhou Kingdom? It's really strange. Water and wood are mutually generating, while water and fire are mutually restraining... Your appearance should have indicated a short and untimely death, but how come you are alive and well now, and even have such a powerful vitality that it is rarely seen in the world."

Li Hanchao stepped forward angrily and said, "How dare you, a Taoist priest, curse my elder brother to die young?"

"It's alright." Li Yi waved his hand, not taking it to heart.

This wasn't the first time he'd heard the talk about his short lifespan. Earlier this year, when he went to have his birth chart analyzed to choose a wedding date, the old Taoist priest in Kaifeng had also said the same thing.

If it were in the future, he would definitely take it as a joke, but he had personally experienced soul transmigration, so what could be more outrageous than this?

Zuo Congqin shook his head again and said, "My ability to read faces and auras is far inferior to that of my senior brother. My expertise is still far from sufficient. Perhaps I just misjudged him. If there is an opportunity in the future, General Li can ask my senior brother to take a closer look at you."

Li Yi asked curiously, "I wonder who the elder brother is?"

Zuo Congtan lowered his eyes, playing with the pill in his hand, and said indifferently, "General Li may not know my senior brother's name... However, during the Wende era, Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty bestowed upon my senior brother the title 'Qingxu Chushi'. I wonder if General Li has heard of it?"

The Recluse of Pure Emptiness?

Li Yi frowned and pondered, quickly recalling in his mind whether there was such a person in the history books of later generations.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be Fuyaozi Chen Tuan?" "Oh?" Zuo Congtan was even more surprised than Li Yi. "Fuyaozi was my senior brother's Taoist name in his early years. He probably doesn't use it much these days, and he usually travels the world as Qingxu Chushi. General Li has actually heard of him?"

Li Yi thought to himself, "The Sleeping Immortal Chen Tuan is extremely famous. He is a Taoist scholar and health expert recorded in history, and a deity who lived to be over a hundred years old."

He lived from the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang to the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, serving under seven dynasties and nineteen emperors. He was summoned by Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Emperor Shizong of Zhou, and Emperor Taizong of Song. His life spanned nearly a century and was full of legendary stories.

Li Yi couldn't help but glance at Zuo Ling'er's father a few more times. According to historical records, Chen Tuan should be over eighty years old now. The person in front of him was the other party's junior brother. How old should he be?
It's a pity that Zuo Congqin's face was covered in soot, so it was impossible to tell how old he was... but judging from his voice, he was at most in his early forties, so he couldn't possibly be that old.

A thought flashed through his mind, and Li Yi chuckled, "I once met a wandering sorcerer, and from him I heard anecdotes about Daoist Chen Tuan."

He naturally couldn't say that he had heard about Chen Tuan's deeds from historical records, so he immediately made up a story about a non-existent wandering sorcerer, since such things couldn't be verified at all.

"That's quite a coincidence..."

He didn't know if Zuo Congqin believed it or not, but he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he looked at Zuo Ling'er and reached out to pat her head.

After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, "I brought you into this world, but I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities as a father. If you want to go to Tokyo with him, then so be it... Perhaps this is your fate."

Judging from his words, it seemed that he did not stop Zuo Ling'er from leaving with Li Yi, but he himself had no intention of leaving this place.

Zuo Ling'er sobbed, "Wherever Father is, I will be. If Father doesn't go to Tokyo, then I... I... I won't go either, boohoo..." Tears streamed down her face, and she cried even more sadly.

Li Yi remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was pondering: his original target was only Zuo Ling'er, and taking her father to Tokyo was just an extra to reassure the little girl.

But the powerful explosion just now made him suddenly realize something: Zuo Ling'er's father might be of great use to him!

If Zuo Congqin was indeed the junior brother of the Sleeping Immortal Chen Tuan, then he must have been very skilled in Taoist magic and alchemy, and his alchemy skills were also quite high. He was definitely an ancient "chemist".

Such talent is rare and hard to come by. If one could recruit such individuals and provide them with some guidance using knowledge from later generations, they might be able to produce some unexpected results.

Given Li Yi's current status and position, coupled with the chaotic circumstances of the time, he would certainly not have much free time to personally conduct experiments and experiment with inventions.

Ultimately, professional matters require the cultivation of professionals.

Thinking of this, Li Yi didn't rush to speak, but instead bypassed Zuo Ling'er and her father and went directly into the cave.

Upon seeing this, Li Hanchao quickly led his personal guards to follow.

Several simple torches were stuck in the stone wall at the entrance of the cave. Li Yi had his personal guards light the torches and, with the help of the faint light, went deeper into the cave.

The cave walls along the way show signs of being carved, suggesting that they were gradually modified and repaired by hand from the natural formation.

The smoke and dust in the cave had not completely dissipated, making it appear somewhat foggy. The air was filled with a pungent odor, much like the smell of sulfur dioxide after setting off firecrackers during the Lunar New Year.

Li Yi was overjoyed. It seemed to be gunpowder after all. He walked a little further in and found that the cave was quite deep, winding and stretching for hundreds of meters.

After turning a corner, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a cavern several meters high and at least several hundred square meters in area.

However, due to the blast wave, the interior was a mess, with various debris scattered all over the floor, most of which had been blown to pieces. The alchemy furnace in the very center was also shattered into pieces.

"This is... a saltpeter pool?"

Li Yi spotted a pool in the corner of the cave hall. He quickly walked over and saw that the water inside was yellowish and murky, with a few gray crystals on the edge.

He squatted down, dipped his finger in the pool water, and sniffed it. It was indeed the smell of potassium nitrate... In his previous life, Li Yi was from Shouxian County, Anhui Province, and lived near Bagong Mountain. There were many small workshops making fireworks at the foot of the mountain, and he had witnessed the traditional method of making potassium nitrate.

Li Yi glanced up and saw the stove where saltpeter was being boiled not far away. He got up and quickly walked over. His eyes lit up immediately, and he picked up a transparent crystal the size of a fingernail from the ground next to the stove.

"Hanchao, look at these potassium nitrate crystals with such high purity. I wonder what purification method this Master Zuo used... But the proportions of his gunpowder are even more intriguing. The commotion earlier already had a very strong explosive force."

Li Yi handed the crystal to Li Hanchao, his face beaming with undisguised excitement.

The earliest credible record of the military application of gunpowder in ancient times should be from the late Tang Dynasty, but its power was limited to deflagration rather than explosion.

In his book "The Chronicles of the Nine Kingdoms," Lu Zhen of the Song Dynasty recorded: "He participated in the attack on Yuzhang. Bo led his troops to launch firecrackers, burning down the Longsha Gate. He led brave warriors to break through the flames and be the first to enter the city. His body was scorched, and for this achievement, he was awarded the title of Inspector General of the Ministry of Works."

It was not until the Song Dynasty was established that gunpowder technology entered a period of rapid development. Gunpowder began to be used in warfare, and primitive firearms such as rockets, cannons, and fire caltrops appeared.

Early gunpowder weapons had poor explosive properties and were mainly used for arson. With improvements in technology, the explosive properties of gunpowder were enhanced, and new types of firearms continued to emerge.

Unfortunately, although China was the first to develop gunpowder technology, it was eventually overtaken by the West.

The optimal ratio of 75:10:15 was not discovered by Western countries until after the 17th century. This, along with the granulation technology that determined the upper limit of gunpowder's power, also contributed to this.

Li Hanchao didn't understand what Li Yi meant. He took the potassium nitrate crystals and smelled them, just like Li Yi, and immediately found the smell to be very pungent.

He asked, puzzled, "Brother, are you talking about gunpowder? The Imperial Guards also have that stuff, but they can only use it to set fires during sieges. I don't think it's very useful."

Li Yi shook his head and said, "It's not that gunpowder is not very useful, but that no one has truly discovered its value yet... If gunpowder is used in the right place, it can definitely change the times. That Taoist is good at this, so we should kidnap him and bring him back to Tokyo!"

Li Hanchao said, "Wasn't that what you originally planned, brother?"

Li Yi chuckled and said, "It's different. At first, I just wanted to make sure Zuo Ling'er had no worries so she could go to Tokyo with me without any worries. Otherwise, why would I bother to make this trip?"

Li Hanchao chuckled: "Big brother is a gentleman. He wants the young lady to be willing. Otherwise, if it were a rough man like us, we would just snatch her back."

Li Yi didn't say anything more, and searched carefully again, finding the other two ingredients for gunpowder: sulfur and charcoal.

Just as he had guessed, the explosion in the cave was not accidental; the Taoist priest was indeed using gunpowder to aid in alchemy.

(End of this chapter)