Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 345 Not concerned with the common people, but with immortality
"Oh no! Something's wrong with the Yuancang River!"

On the cloud boat, Wen Daoyuan heard a deep, low shout.

He looked down at the surging river below, which was churning and surging like boiling water, and felt the strange aura emanating from it. He frowned slightly.

He was just chatting with Chen Xu when suddenly the world changed.

Wen Daoyuan reflected on his actions along the way and felt that he had traveled as fast as lightning, without wasting a single moment.

But he only took Chen Xu on a tour between the north and south, so why did the southern water system suddenly change?

Upon hearing this, Dao Yuan immediately activated his literary energy, urging the cloud boat to accelerate once more.

He needed to return to Pingyang Prefecture as quickly as possible.

However, the vastness of southern Xinjiang extends far beyond the seven prefectures of Tiannan.

There are also nine prefectures along the Jingheng Road, thirteen prefectures along the Penglai Road, and seven prefectures along the Xishu Road.

To return to Pingyang Prefecture, the Yunzhou boat will need to pass through the three prefectures of Jingheng Road.

With such a long distance, no matter how fast the cloud boat is, how could it possibly cover the distance in an instant?
However, if we cannot get back to Pingyang Prefecture quickly, we don't know what the consequences of the Yuancang River incident will be.
Could this affect the South-to-North Water Diversion Project?

Well, now that we've returned to the southern border, we don't have as many concerns as we did when we were in the northern border.

At this point, all means should be used.

Upon hearing this, Dao Yuan touched his forehead with one hand.

Then he threw out the writing brush and suddenly reached out and grabbed at the sky.

This grab actually captured a ray of "heavenly light"—

The light struggled and twisted in Wen Daoyuan's palm, as if it possessed a spirit.

Wen Daoyuan's body was filled with literary energy, and his seemingly weak hands possessed boundless power.

He forcefully forced the ray of light into the cloud boat, then sighed softly and said gently:
"A gentleman helps others achieve good, not evil. I wish to borrow the light of day; why don't you grant my request? Go then."

After speaking in such a gentle tone, an indescribable and strange power slowly swept across the four sides of the cloud boat, and the ray of light indeed stopped struggling.

Wen Daoyuan seemed to truly regard this light as a spiritual entity, and he was "educating" it with words.

Make them docile and use them for your own purposes.

Thus, the light obediently and was truly "educated".

Chen Xu, watching this scene, was so engrossed that he forgot about the turbulent rivers below that he was completely mesmerized.

Huh, you can do that?

I have learned a lot...

The next moment, golden light flowed on both sides of the cloud boat, and as it connected and outlined, it rapidly formed the shape of a pair of wings.

The cloud boat sprouted wings, and its speed suddenly increased by another three points.

At this moment, Yunzhou didn't seem to be chasing the light, but rather it seemed to have transformed into the light itself!

Chen Xu felt a ringing in his ears, and for a moment, he couldn't hear the sounds around him.

All I could see were towering mountains and vast seas, the entire sky seemingly transformed into a giant painting of lines.

Yes, that's exactly the feeling!
It was the strange feeling that Chen Xu had captured during the process of using the Jade Leaf Knot Summoning Technique to traverse hundreds of miles of space in an instant.

There are moments when he feels that the essence of the world is not what living beings can see with their naked eyes.

Instead, it is the interweaving of the primordial energy of heaven and earth, where all things become runes and lines, each with its own unique operating rules.

So, what exactly are the operating rules of space, both up and down and in all directions?
Chen Xu had once caught a fleeting glimpse of it, and it seemed as if he had touched upon the answer.

But he couldn't see clearly, couldn't understand, and so he remained in a daze, always just missing the answer.

Now, the swift flight of the cloud boat suddenly dragged the answer from the past back to Chen Xu!

Chen Xu's heart trembled, and the innate true essence within his dantian circulated rapidly. The golden elixir seemed to breathe, pulsating and making thumping sounds.

He held out his hand—

Unbeknownst to Chen Xu, at the same moment he reached out, Wen Daoyuan stood with his hands behind his back in front of the cloud boat, seemingly calmly controlling its flight, but in reality, he was extremely anxious.

He had tried every means possible, but the cloud boat was still not fast enough, not fast enough!
Why would the southern water system exhibit unusual activity at this particular time?
What impact will this have on his trip to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project?
At this moment, Wen Daoyuan thought about many things.

A great scholar's thoughts can be countless in an instant.

Because of his different position, Wen Daoyuan could see things far beyond what ordinary people could.

At that moment, all the doubts in his mind suddenly converged, and then all pointed to one person—

emperor!

That's right, it was the emperor.

Wen Daoyuan had always harbored some affection for the emperor and was determined to be loyal to the monarch, so he repeatedly guided and instructed him.

In that situation, Wen Daoyuan really didn't want to think too badly of the emperor.

But recently, especially on the issue of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, after the emperor disappointed Wen Daoyuan, Wen Daoyuan suddenly seemed to have seen through the fog before his eyes, and he was finally unwilling to deceive himself any longer.

He pondered carefully: What could make a person willing to give up great achievements and benefits, yet hesitate and remain ambiguous?

Is it really just because of cowardice, or just because someone wants to reap the benefits without sowing?

No, a profit of ten million percent is enough to make anyone go to great lengths and take risks.

The emperor's previous actions were clearly against human nature.

The most likely reason he would act this way is that he himself could potentially gain even greater benefits from another perspective!

What kind of benefits would be greater and more tempting than achievements that last for thousands of generations?

Wen Daoyuan then recalled how the emperor had asked him countless times about "immortality".

During the Dali Dynasty, Emperor Yonghui did not care about the common people; he only cared about immortality.

But where does immortality come from?
Wen Daoyuan once replied to the emperor that he should seek merit for thousands of generations to come.

To establish a great legacy for all time, we beseech Heaven and Earth for mercy.

To be honest, this is somewhat like making empty promises.

Wen Daoyuan merely wanted to appease the emperor and make him behave as a "wise ruler".

After all, such a great undertaking is extremely rare, and the hardships involved are unknown to outsiders. The emperor was well aware of this as well.

Neither side broke their tacit agreement. Wen Daoyuan thought that the emperor could still be educated, but what if... the emperor actually had another plan all along?

The most frightening thing is that the emperor's plans may not necessarily go the right way.

It is even highly likely that this contradicts the "South-to-North Water Diversion" mentioned in Chen Xu's article.

Only in this way could an emperor who was obsessed with "immortality" give up his great achievements!
Wen Daoyuan's heart raced, and even with the composure of a great Confucian scholar, he found it difficult to remain calm.

The cloud boat flew high in the sky, which allowed Wen Daoyuan to see an extremely wide distance when he looked into the distance.

Then he saw it.

It was in the distance, at the very top of the vast Qinglin Plain, where Pingyang Prefecture was located.

A gigantic head with horns sprouted from it, rising into the sky in the sunlight!

At that moment, the Yuancang River, which had been flowing relatively calmly, suddenly surged with towering waves, the roar of which even made the entire land seem to tremble.

Wen Daoyuan's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly uttered two words: "Jiaolong!"

(End of this chapter)