Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

Scratching his head, Zhou Feng looked at the unfolded scroll in his hand and subconsciously turned to look at Zhao Pan'er beside him.

Although the characters on the scroll were in ancient seal script, he could barely make them out, and the calligraphy was indeed vigorous and powerful.

The key is that knowing how to read is useless; this is a martial arts manual!

The cultivation of martial arts is completely different from Zhou Feng's school studies. It allows no carelessness or mistakes, otherwise, the price could be his life!

Moreover, it wasn't just the text; each of the 36 illustrations depicted a naked woman in various poses and bizarre actions.

Although the lines were beautiful and the drawing was exquisite, the content was something Zhou Feng simply couldn't understand.

How did Duan Yu manage to master the Beiming Divine Skill from the first two pictures just by looking at them?

Zhao Pan'er noticed Zhou Feng's actions and came over to take a look.

Her gaze lingered on the portrait of the naked woman for a moment, her cheeks flushing slightly. Then, she subtly looked away, saying only softly, "This... this senior's painting skills are indeed exquisite."

Zhou Feng flipped the scroll over, then flipped it back over, carefully examined the tiny characters marked next to the acupoints, then took a deep breath and closed the scroll.

"I really don't understand this thing!"

Tie Jianguo and Bai Lang exchanged a glance, and then said to Zhou Feng in unison, "Boss, let's go outside and guard the cave entrance."

With that, the two walked out.

Who among those born in the 80s and 90s who grew up in this world hasn't read Jin Yong's martial arts novels?

Even if you haven't read the original novel, you've probably seen the TV series adaptation.

The most popular ones are undoubtedly five: The Return of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Deer and the Cauldron, and The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

The story is familiar to almost everyone, so the two of them naturally knew that the scroll of the Northern Darkness Divine Skill that Duan Yu took out had a portrait of Li Qiushui on it.

Because of Zhao Pan'er, they couldn't possibly want to see the illustrations of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, since Liu Tianxian and Zhao Pan'er looked exactly alike.

Judging from this jade statue, Wang Yuyan's appearance should be quite similar.

Zhou Feng waved his hand, not caring about their reactions. This was what he wanted to say anyway, but since they left on their own, it saved him the trouble of saying it.

After the two had left, Zhou Feng reopened the scroll and laid it on the stone platform next to the jade statue.

He looked down at the 36 paintings intently, then looked up at Zhao Pan'er standing next to him, whose face was almost identical to the woman in the painting. His lips twitched involuntarily.

"Does Wu Yazi have some kind of peculiar hobby? He's just passing on martial arts skills, why does he have to draw a nude portrait of his own wife? Wouldn't it be embarrassing for the younger generation to see that? No wonder Li Qiushui and Ding Chunqiu got together, maybe he has this kind of 'Nu-tou-zi' hobby."

Listening to Zhou Feng muttering to himself, Zhao Pan'er curiously leaned over and asked, "What did you say, Your Majesty?"

Zhou Feng scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "I didn't say anything, I just felt that this martial art looked difficult to practice, and I couldn't understand it at all."

Zhao Pan'er nodded, then squatted down and unfolded the other scroll to look at it.

The scroll in her hand was the secret manual for the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique), covered with densely packed footprints and directional markings, with the name of a hexagram from the I Ching next to each set of footprints.

Zhao Pan'er looked at them for a moment, frowned slightly, and looked up at Zhou Feng: "Does Your Majesty recognize these divination symbols?"

Zhou Feng leaned closer to take a look: Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui…

He recognized every word, but connecting them to specific locations and footwork was simply a pipe dream.

"I recognize the characters, but I don't recognize the divination symbols."

Zhou Feng was quite honest, nodding first and then shaking his head.

Zhao Pan'er closed the scroll and placed it aside. After pacing around the cave for a couple of steps, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she abruptly turned to look at Zhou Feng: "Your Majesty, although we don't recognize these things, there must be people in the Song Dynasty who do. Why don't we find someone who does and ask them to teach us?"

"No!"

Zhou Feng waved his hand dismissively: "Putting aside the fact that the illustrations on the Northern Darkness Divine Art are inconvenient for others to see, even if they did, these two scrolls contain unparalleled divine skills. If the other party harbors malicious intentions, Tie Jianguo and Bai Lang might not be able to stop them."

This is also what puts him in a difficult position.

In this world of martial arts, it's easy to make acquaintances with other martial artists.

After all, Zhou Feng has no shortage of gold and silver.

But how can we guarantee that martial arts practitioners who come for gold and silver won't take risks for these two martial arts manuals?

If someone deliberately hides the treasure or has malicious intentions to steal it, then we'll be in real trouble!

"Your Majesty! Who said 'here'? Which Song Dynasty official are you? Have you forgotten? Let's go straight back. Issuing an edict to recruit the world's top physicians and diviners proficient in the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching is just a matter of a word, isn't it?"

Zhou Feng was stunned for a moment, then a series of thoughts rushed into his mind. He suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh right, how could I have forgotten about that?"

Traditional Chinese medicine in this world may have been interrupted for too long, so it may not be accurate.

But the physicians in the world of Dream of Splendor are incredibly skilled!

Moreover, as an official in that world, no doctor would dare to deceive him at the risk of losing their entire family's head!

In the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, he might just be an outsider posing as a disciple of the Free and Unfettered Sect, with no real power.

But in the world of Dream of Splendor, he is the reigning emperor, whose words are law. To recruit a few people into the palace is just a matter of a word.

Duan Yu was just a self-taught enthusiast of the I Ching, yet he was able to figure out the essentials of the Lingbo Weibu (Lingbo Steps) and successfully cultivate the Beiming Divine Skill based on two paintings.

What if he had the world's top doctors and fortune tellers as his support team...

Zhou Feng couldn't even imagine how fast his cultivation efficiency would be!

Zhou Feng gave Zhao Pan'er a tight hug, his excitement practically overflowing.

He casually patted the jade statue beside him again: "Come on, let's tidy up the things in this blessed land. Move everything that can be moved next to the jade statue. After midnight, we'll return to the Great Song Dynasty!"

They called Tie Jianguo and Bai Lang back from outside, and the four of them busied themselves in Langhuan Paradise for a while, gathering the scattered stone boxes, books, bottles and jars together. After confirming that nothing important had been missed, they rested.

White Wolf went to the town at the foot of the mountain, bought some food, and the four of them waited in the blessed land until the moon was high in the sky.

Zhou Feng stood up and waved to the three of them.

A flash of white light, and the four people, along with the jade statue, disappeared simultaneously into the stone walls of Langhuan Paradise.

When they opened their eyes again, they were already standing in the familiar sleeping quarters of the imperial palace in the world of Dream of Splendor.

Although Zhou Feng had not returned for a long time, the gilded incense burner in the bedroom still had unburnt ambergris incense, and the bedroom was brightly lit.

He opened the door from the inside, and the guards standing at the door were startled. They instinctively raised their guns and then immediately bowed in salute.

Noticing this, the eunuch immediately announced in a high-pitched, excited voice, "His Majesty has returned to the palace!"

The eunuchs chosen to serve in Zhou Feng's bedchamber experienced both pain and pleasure.

The happiness stemmed from the fact that the official hadn't returned for a long time, so he didn't need to do anything and could leisurely receive his monthly allowance.

The pain also stems from the fact that the officials have not returned for so long.

The eunuchs' power was given by the emperor. Since the emperor was not in the palace, what power could they have?

Zhou Feng locked the two scrolls of secret manuals into the safe he had brought with him, then yawned and said to the guard at the door, "Go and invite Chen Xiao over."

Chen Xiao arrived in less than 15 minutes.

He had clearly lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw him, probably because he was exhausted from all the miscellaneous things happening here.

Before entering the hall, he made a point of greeting Tie Jianguo and Bai Lang, who were guarding the entrance, before entering, closing the door, and bowing to Zhou Feng: "Leader, you're back."

Zhou Feng didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Draft an imperial edict for me, recruiting ten of the nation's top physicians and ten diviners proficient in the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching to serve in the palace!"

Chen Xiao was taken aback: "Boss, what's going on...?"

"Learn something."

Although he remained in the world of Dream Records, Zhou Feng didn't explain the details to him, but simply waved his hand and said, "Just issue the decree to recruit people as soon as possible. Post it all over the city gates of every prefecture and city, and order local officials to cooperate fully and drive out all our off-road vehicles to pick up people."

Chen Xiao nodded in agreement without hesitation and immediately turned to do it.

"Is hiring only 10 people a bit too few? Should we hire more?"

Zhao Pan'er, who was standing to the side, took the initiative to help Zhou Feng change his clothes and casually asked him a question. The latter shook his head seriously.

"Once these 20 people enter the palace, they may never be able to leave. In fact, to maintain secrecy, I might resort to some extreme measures..."

Zhou Feng didn't explain himself very clearly, but Zhao Pan'er already understood what he meant.

Martial arts like the Northern Darkness Divine Skill and the Lingbo Steps are really beyond the limits in the world of Dream of Splendor.

Zhou Feng could not allow the physician and fortune teller who had taught him this martial art to leave the palace, or even spread the martial art.

The best solution is to simply silence them.

Of these five women, only Zhao Pan'er could understand such words; the other four women were simply too naive.

Especially the overly idealistic Bai Ling!

The very next morning, the first edict issued by the Jinghe Emperor seeking talented individuals flew from the palace to various prefectures.

Unlike the fast horses of the past, this time the eunuchs delivering the imperial decree all rode in off-road vehicles, with barrels of spare fuel in the trunks, and they set off at great speed to various destinations in the east, west, south, and north.

The notices were posted from top to bottom all over the city gates, markets and government offices of various prefectures and cities. The content was concise and clear: the imperial court urgently summoned people who were proficient in the meridians and acupoints of the human body and the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching. Anyone who could pass the test would be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces, granted an official position, enter the palace and be enrolled in the Celestial Master's Mansion, and their children could be specially recruited as officials!

Putting everything else aside, the last point alone stirred up all the folk doctors and itinerant quacks in the world.

Some people came to the government office to register that very day, while others dug out their treasured handwritten copies and memorized the acupoint locations again. Still others crammed at the last minute and started studying the Taoist canon, all hoping to receive a reward from the government.

If the previous emperor had issued such a recruitment order, it would have certainly displeased a group of civil officials and intellectuals, who might have even protested in the court.

But now it's Zhou Feng who makes the final decision!

Before the imperial city gate, the blood on the road had seeped into the soil to a depth of nearly an inch, making it extremely difficult to smooth it over.

This is the tragedy that Zhou Feng created by force when he rose to power!

Unlike the previous official, Zhou Feng had no intention of appeasement towards them. He had truly risen to power through bloodshed, so these people naturally dared not say much.

If you say something wrong and get dragged out and beheaded by this official, where can you go to seek justice?

It could be said that, at this point, in the hearts of these civil officials and intellectuals, Zhou Feng was no different from the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Everyone talks about reverence, but it's mostly fear, with only 10% being respect.

A week later, Zhou Feng greeted two rows of people who had arrived after the review process in a side hall next to his sleeping quarters, which had been temporarily converted into a military academy.

On the left were ten elderly doctors with gray hair and beards, in front of them bronze figures and meridian charts, each holding a diagram of acupoints that Zhou Feng had copied from the Northern Darkness Divine Art manual by his female envoy.

On the right are ten scholars who are well-versed in divination, with diagrams of the I Ching and the eight trigrams spread out in front of them, studying the trigram correspondences of the 64 steps of the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique).

Zhou Feng sat in the middle, with Zhao Pan'er, Bai Ling, Sun San Niang, Qin Jingru, and Lou Xiao'e sitting on either side.

All six of them changed into short-sleeved shirts that were easy to move in, with the belts around their waists tied tightly.

"Gentlemen!"

Zhou Feng cleared his throat, his gaze sweeping over the two rows of experts on either side: "I have invited you all to the palace today to help me understand two martial arts techniques. The ones on the left are responsible for interpreting the pathways of meridians and internal energy flow, while the ones on the right are responsible for clearly matching the footwork with the hexagrams. I have only one request: that you teach them to me, the Empress, and my beloved concubines in a simple and easy-to-understand way!"

There were also female guards who were skilled in martial arts waiting nearby.

Although martial arts skills need to be taught by these experts, it's impossible for them to have direct contact with Zhao Pan'er and the other girls.

Of course, they wouldn't dare.

Without even looking at Zhao Pan'er, after she appeared, all of them kept their heads down, not daring to even raise their heads.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will do our utmost to explain the principles of acupoints and meridians to you."

The leading physician was a senior official of the Imperial Medical Bureau, and he bowed deeply to the ground.

In order to get his grandson into officialdom, he signed up immediately.

The scholars on the right also began to express their opinions.

Zhou Feng waved his hand slightly, and the eunuchs beside him handed the magnifying glasses he had prepared to the experts.

Holding these lenses, the doctors and fortune tellers gasped in surprise, then began to whisper among themselves, pondering their findings.

After all, it is related to the human body's meridians. Even if Zhou Feng dared to agree, they would not dare to let the officials try it easily until they were absolutely sure that everything was foolproof!

If something were to happen to them, their entire family would be wiped out!