Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 389 After all the twists and turns, it's still you.

When Lu Xingzhou appeared at the Court of State Ceremonial, Sheng Yuanyao, who was still plotting how to sneak into the palace and steal him away, was overjoyed and stopped writing: "That tyrant actually let you leave the palace?"

Seeing that Gua Mei was in a good mood, Lu Xingzhou shook his head and smiled, "Don't say that, she's actually... not that outrageous..."

"Hey, isn't this outrageous enough? Tens of thousands of people were killed in one night. We saw it with our own eyes."

"...That's treason, that's normal."

Sheng Yuanyao spread her index and middle fingers and touched her chin, looking Lu Xingzhou up and down: "Something's wrong with you."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

“You used to barely comment on her, but today you keep saying nice things about her. Tell me, did something happen? You look pale.”

Lu Xingzhou said helplessly, "I'm injured, how good can my complexion be? Let's go, enough nonsense, I'll take you to see the big treasure."

Sheng Yuanyao laughed: "You'd better really take me to see the big baby."

Lu Xingzhou picked up Anuo from the side: "Spend less time with the pig and more time with your master."

Ah Nuo: "...You'd better remember this."

Lu Xingzhou immediately changed his mind: "Yes, let's take that pig with us. It should have its own advantages."

"It has a name, it's called Fish."

Lu Xingzhou simply shut up.

My brothers and apprentices are all troublesome. Alas, all my efforts to bring them good fortune have been in vain.

Sheng Yuanyao followed Lu Xingzhou out the door. On the way, they saw the dragon soldiers patrolling the city. They all bowed to Lu Xingzhou with awe, as if they were seeing Her Majesty the Empress.

Sheng Yuanyao was stunned: "You saved their entire clan?"

"almost."

These were the southern expeditionary troops who followed Long Yunqing to the emperor's side. Long Qinghuang knew that they had been fooled and that Lu Xingzhou had deliberately misled them by acting as a troll, so she did not punish them. Instead, she made them the main force in charge of cleaning up the mess in the city.

This dragon army witnessed the most horrifying event in the world: a human whipped their queen, and the queen was whipped into submission.

If you compare the blood and heads of that night, you'll feel like you've never seen anything like it, even in your dreams.

Who would dare not revere someone who can lash out at the Empress? I originally thought he was a male concubine, but now it seems we might not know who the real pet is.

Lu Xingzhou said directly, "Send several dragons to carry us to the Holy Mountain."

The general immediately arranged for the dragon to be his mount, and dared not utter a word of objection.

As she rode the dragon straight to the sacred mountain, Sheng Yuanyao kept pondering philosophical questions: Are we envoys or masters?
I feel like all the glory I felt from raiding other people's homes has been completely wiped out by this dragon-riding incident.

Riding these dragons wasn't as fast as riding the Dragon Phoenix, but it was still much faster than their own flying magical artifacts. They traveled thousands of miles, setting off in the morning and arriving in the evening. When they arrived, Long Lie, who was temporarily in charge of the Holy Mountain, crossed his arms and looked Lu Xingzhou up and down: "Your injury has healed quite well."

Lu Xingzhou smiled warmly: "Thanks to Her Majesty the Empress of your country for her care."

Long Lie stared at Sheng Yuanyao with a look of utter disgust, saying, "So what's the meaning of you bringing a woman along?"

Sheng Yuanyao peeked out from behind Lu Xingzhou: "Are you Long Lie?"

Long Lie's eyes widened: "What?"

Sheng Yuanyao recited: "Ah, Your Majesty, your aloofness is like the moon in the sky; just a glance from afar is enough to satisfy the heart..."

The next moment, Long Lie disappeared from sight; the speed of a dragon general was indeed faster than that of an ordinary dragon.

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "Let's go, to the Scripture Pavilion."

The Holy Mountain has existed for countless ages. Revered by all races of the Demon Realm, its status and accumulated cultivation methods theoretically place it no less powerful than the Heavenly Yao Holy Land. To be defeated like this is truly a consequence of their poor choice of opponents. It was either Ye Tinglan or Long Qinghuang—who are they anyway…?

With such a sacred library fully open to the public, and the ability to go straight to the top floor, it's even more comfortable than when we went to the Tianyao Sacred Land to pick things up. This is the significance of conquerors.

Sheng Yuanyao was finally able to eat well.

No matter how good the Sheng family's ancestral battle formation cultivation is, it's still only at the first rank. Any book you randomly pick from the top floor of this scripture library is a first-rank item, and you can choose any super-rank book at will.

However, these are ultimately either related to Buddhism or the cultivation of the demon race, and not all are suitable; careful selection is necessary. Relatively speaking, martial arts techniques are easier to find, as many martial arts techniques are interchangeable between humans and demons.

Ah Nuo had a clear goal: to attain the Vajra Indestructible Dharma of Buddhism.

The Heaven-Opening Technique she practiced was primarily focused on power. As for defensive abilities, Long Qinghuang's strength came from the dragon race's innate scales, which wasn't something the Heaven-Opening Technique could provide. To become an invincible doll, she would need to learn something else. Also, she wanted to find something for the little white pig to practice on.

Lu Xingzhou's goal was equally clear: to study the methods of Qi transfer and life techniques.

I'll deal with what I promised Long Qinghuang first; I have other things to attend to later.

For a moment, the entire top floor of the library was filled with the rustling sound of books being turned, a silent and still atmosphere.

The statement "irreversible" is correct in itself; the energy channels that have already been transferred cannot be actively returned. Long Qinghuang obtained this answer from searching Dujuan's soul, so it is undoubtedly true. However, simply searching for the "whether it can be reversed" approach is a dead end. At the time, Long Qinghuang was not quite clear-headed... If she had been any more quick-witted, she would have thought that she could simply set up a new energy channel transfer array to transfer the plunder from the Holy Mountain to Longya, which would have been a simple matter.

Lu Xingzhou understands the basics of Qi Meridians, but he doesn't know how to use this technique. He's completely planning to learn it on the spot at the Holy Mountain, and he's even trying to use something that anyone can learn to manipulate the little female dragon...

However, Lu Xingzhou, who had a relevant foundation, learned this thing much faster than others, and soon grasped it roughly. He pondered for a moment. At that time, Zhao En plundered the Qi of Tianshuang Kingdom, which was somewhat similar to this method, but not exactly the same.

The blessing of good fortune is directed at the fate of the nation, making it even more ethereal and unpredictable. The formation is also based on the mountains at that time, so it can be said to be directed at the mountains and rivers, not at people.

The cuckoo's magic relies on the remains of the dragon ancestors, making it closer to witchcraft and targeting the dragon lineage.

It sounds like Zhao En's method is more advanced, but in reality, the two are quite similar, just with different focuses. In fact, combining the two is the more advanced approach.

It can be extended to a feeling of... using mountains and rivers as a sacrifice, and refining this universe.

Lu Xingzhou immediately thought of Maha, Danxia Mountain, and Anuo.

After all this time, it feels like we're all doing similar things... To put it bluntly, the azalea is also from the ancient world. What have you done to the mountains and rivers of the present world?
Furthermore, the demonization of officials in the Great Qian Dynasty was likely also orchestrated by Du Juan, a similar "substitution of the crown prince" strategy employed by the Du Juan school. And when this demonization reached a certain scale and number, it could also be used to plunder the nation's fortune.

The initial collaborator should have been the King of Qi, who hoped to cultivate his own power in this way.

Then Gu Zhanting discovered this, flew into a rage, and demoted him to a commoner. But it was difficult to make this public, so he simply pinned the blame for plotting against Princess Chaohuang on him.

But here's the problem: now that Gu Zhanting has discovered it, why doesn't he deal with it?

It wouldn't be difficult for him to handle it if he wanted to... Now, not only has he not handled it, but it feels like he has replaced the King of Qi and colluded with this side.

What is Gu Zhanting planning to do?

You need to cultivate monsters? What are you going to do with them?
Lu Xingzhou suddenly thought of the altar in the outskirts of the capital that Ye Tinglan had asked him to investigate, and the demonic corpse inside. That altar should involve a bloodline replacement method for healing, and it had been abandoned. It seemed unrelated to this matter, but Lu Xingzhou still felt there must be a connection.

After returning home, this matter will be a major focus... I always feel that the mines buried here are even bigger than those in the Demon Realm.

What role did the Huo family, who were accustomed to taking the blame and doing dirty work for the emperor, play in this matter?
"Why are you frowning? What's wrong?" Sheng Yuanyao's voice came from beside my ear, interrupting my thoughts.

Lu Xingzhou turned his head to look at Sheng Yuanyao's pretty face, which was close to his, and suddenly smiled, "I'm investigating the city lord's demon case with Commander Sheng."

Sheng Yuanyao was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"

"After all the twists and turns, our initial encounter is still an important thread." Lu Xingzhou put down the book, stood up, and patted Sheng Yuanyao on the shoulder: "Want to investigate with me?"

Sheng Yuanyao smiled so hard her eyes disappeared: "Okay."

Lu Xingzhou asked, "What did you choose?"

"Some top-grade martial arts techniques and sword skills." Sheng Yuanyao said excitedly, "Let me go back this time, and I'll scare you to death, Old Sheng."

"What about cultivation techniques? Those are the more fundamental ones."

Sheng Yuanyao shook her head: "It doesn't feel quite right. I'm also afraid of ending up with a hairy body like Xu Bingkun. Well, at least I'll have some demonic aura."

"No, not all the methods here are those of demonic cultivation; there are also pure Buddhist methods."

"I can't tell the difference, can you help me?"

“What’s so hard to tell? Demon cultivators and Buddhist monks can’t be the same thing.” Lu Xingzhou walked to the bookshelf and randomly picked up a book: “Look, even the covers are different. This one is definitely Buddhist… uh.”

The words suddenly caught in his throat.

Sheng Yuanyao stared blankly at the six large characters on the cover.

The Great Bliss Sutra.

Indeed, the Buddha's teachings are as pure as could be.

"What's with that expression?" Lu Xingzhou said, sticking out his neck. "This is definitely a top-grade skill. Look, even an old turtle can cultivate to a top-grade level. It must be related to this skill. Those 170-plus illegitimate children are proof of that."

Sheng Yuanyao suddenly laughed: "So if I want to cultivate to the highest grade through this... how many children would I have with you?"

“Five…” Lu Xingzhou suddenly stopped talking.

Sheng Yuanyao's face immediately changed, and she grabbed his collar: "Fine, you really want to seduce me! Mmm..."

Lu Xingzhou quickly covered her mouth.

If any of Long Qinghuang's spies overhear this, you'll be tied up, and I'll be raped.

Ah Nuo sighed while holding the pig.

The library is noisy and lacks manners.

"Putting everything else aside, this is truly a top-grade Buddhist cultivation method. Let's take a look first." Lu Xingzhou flipped through a page and suddenly became a little stunned.

Sheng Yuanyao also leaned over for a look and suddenly became a little stunned.

If this book isn't exaggerating, it's more than just a superior cultivation method.

This method is said to... reach the greatness of Qian Yuan.

Other martial arts techniques claim to reach the highest level directly, but this one tells you it can surpass the highest level. I've never seen a martial arts technique in the world that dares to boast like this!

(End of this chapter)