The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

Five days had passed when Li Yi's letter arrived at Dahan Mountain.

After Zhang Junyi became Xiaoqing's confidant and settled on the banks of the Qingchi River, he gradually developed the habit of listening to the waterfall and cultivating himself at the foot of Luohu Cliff.

That acupoint-opening pill has not yet been taken.

Relying solely on the river's energy and through painstaking effort, he successfully opened the Huangyu acupoint, reaching the later stage of cultivation, and also discovered a technique within the acupoint.

That day, Zhang Junyi was sitting quietly under the waterfall as usual, absorbing Qi to refine the spiritual essence of the water in his spiritual cave. Suddenly, he heard the sound of water breaking from the river. He opened his eyes and saw an old clam splashing towards him.

Since the birth of the river god in the Qingchi River, the spirits and monsters in the river have become increasingly sophisticated, and many muddle-headed creatures have also gained intelligence and been incorporated into the water palace.

This milky-white old clam is one of the best among them, and now serves as a clerk in the mansion, with a mid-stage cultivation level.

The old clam, unable to speak, used its spiritual sense to probe into Zhang Junyi's body and respectfully said:

"I have met you, Master. The great god said that a courier has entered the territory of the Great Cold Mountain and instructed me to inform you."

Zhang Junyi dipped his index finger into the river, splashing water and creating a water curtain about a foot square in front of him, reflecting the scene of the lower reaches of the Qingchi River three miles away.

Before long, a courier dressed in thick clothes rode up on horseback and appeared in the water screen.

This is a technique from the Huangyu acupoint, the Water Mirror Technique—it allows one to examine scenes a certain distance away in places with abundant water energy; it also has the effect of creating illusions and scenes, making it quite practical.

Zhang Junyi was delighted and couldn't help but smile.

A few days ago, Xiaoqing got some news from somewhere that Dajun would send back a batch of letters from home. Unexpectedly, a courier arrived in just a few days.

Seeing Zhang Junyi lost in thought, the old clam silently sank into the river, while the latter sat down again and waited quietly for the postman downstream.

After Xiaoqing became a goddess, Hanshan County mobilized people and resources to build a new road along the river, which was more convenient for going up and down the mountain than the original path to the south.

Today's Lijia Village is naturally very different from what it used to be. Even in the dead of winter, it is bustling with activity and full of people.

Before long, the courier rode along the river on horseback. The horse slowed down considerably as he looked around. Sure enough, he saw a wooden house on the north bank of the river below the waterfall. Then he saw a beautiful woman standing below the waterfall, looking quite ethereal.

"Is your surname Zhang, young lady?"

Zhang Junyi got up and walked over, smiling as she said, "That's right."

The courier turned the package on his back to his chest, took out a letter, and said, "A letter from the army, please keep it safe."

As a local courier, he was quite familiar with Li Family Village. He had previously delivered a letter home for Li Yi, but he was still somewhat shocked by the great changes in the place. He stood there for a long time, observing the changes, before bowing and leaving.

It must be a message for Li Erhu?

Zhang Junyi thought to himself, then quickly returned to his residence, opened the letter, and found it to be four pages long.

[Junyi, as I write this letter, I am wearing a flag-bearing helmet, an old fish-scale armor, and have taken off my smelly boots. I am writing this at my desk in the barracks. Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person.]

The girl smiled softly and said, "Yi-ge'er's handwriting has improved."

On the day of the expedition, before I could even leave the city, I often missed Junyi. But on the day I arrived at Fengxia Pass, I received an urgent order to lead the scouts.

The very next day, he set out ahead of the main army, conquered the border in half a day, and arrived at the capital of the Great Yan in a little over half a day. He sent away the Great Yan emperor and all his civil and military officials, abolished the country and established prefectures, and has accumulated a great deal of military merit to this day.

Let Li Yi tell you the story in detail.

"...Now all my brothers have settled in. Xiao Guan is the least troublesome to me; Lao Zhong comes from a family with a long history of scholarship, so I don't need to meddle in his affairs."

However, Liu Zhi never felt any external illness, so he inevitably felt depressed. We could only joke around all day, not knowing how to comfort him. Er Hu was unruly and loved to enjoy himself, but he never neglected his cultivation, so I didn't say much.

As for myself, I'm doing fairly well in the military and can focus on my spiritual practice.

Since the army did not launch another surprise attack, it is probably because Dali received the news early on and is not as weak as Da Yan. They must be reorganizing their army and dealing with the situation in Manxing County, so they will have some free time.

Due to the limited writing resources in the army, I have more letters to write to my parents and Li Ertu. Please have Junyi deliver them for me.

The paper is short but the feelings are long, and cannot be fully expressed in writing.

Wishing you peace and safety.

Written by Li Yi on the 24th day of the 11th month of the 34th year of Jianwu (1553).

Zhang Junyi smiled, ran his thumb over the words at the end of the signature, and took out the two pages written for himself, putting them into his spiritual acupoint.

She did not read the last two pages and returned the envelope.

He glanced at the envelope, then suddenly took out two pages of the letter, rereading them twice, sometimes frowning, sometimes smiling slightly.

"Brother Yi really knows how to downplay the seriousness of his situation. He speaks of his military career with such fervor, but I wonder how many dangers he actually faced when he was scouting the local deity and descending Mount Luopan?"

Zhang Junyi took the envelope out the door, about to go up the mountain to deliver the letter, when she suddenly felt something and looked back. She saw a middle-aged man standing by the river, smiling and bowing to her.

"Junior Brother Zhou Wang, what brings you here?"

"Greetings, Senior Sister."

Although the man looked much older than Zhang Junyi, his cultivation level was only at the mid-stage. He was an inner disciple of the Shangyuan Peak lineage of Qishan.

He turned to look at the river and said with shame, "Junior brother prayed sincerely just now, but unfortunately failed to win the favor of the River God. I wonder if I could borrow Senior Sister's incense burner to offer incense to the River God?"

Suppressing his confusion, Zhang Junyi led him to the shrine in front of the house and offered him a stick of incense.

Qi Zhouwang respectfully offered incense and bowed three times before straightening up and bowing again.

"When Master heard that the Azure Dragon River gave birth to deities, he intended to establish a branch sect here. So he sent me to the county town to find my senior sister. Your mother said that you were in the Great Cold Mountain, so I came here to see you."

Zhang Junyi frowned subconsciously. "Does Master intend for me to have a detailed conversation with the River God?"

Qi Zhouwang shook his head and said, "Senior Sister wasn't in the mountain at the time and wasn't aware of the offerings and other matters promised by Master. So, all I need is for Senior Sister to help make the connection, and I'll handle the details later."

Is this a case of the fox borrowing the tiger's power to intimidate the senior sister?

Zhang Junyi was displeased, but outwardly he remained composed.

Qi Zhou was worried that his mission would not go well, so he thought of me, his senior sister.

Logically speaking, since we are from the same school, it wouldn't be a big deal for me to help out. However, all of Yi-ge's titles and lands are located near the Qingchi River.

If Qishan establishes a branch sect here, they will definitely want to seize this land. At that time, how can Yi-ge'er, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, possibly negotiate with Qishan?

She then thought that her master, Daoist Shangyuan, knew that she had fallen into trouble in the Great Cold Mountain and had formed a connection with the River God.

If Qi Zhouwang asks her for help and she refuses him outright, it will ruin his job and might cause trouble for others.

Even if it's not their job, they'll probably still be punished.

After much deliberation, Zhang Junyi could not refuse. He thought that given the usual attitude of the River God, he would not agree, so he reluctantly agreed.

Qi Zhouwang was overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly. He walked with his senior sister to the riverbank and heard her loudly proclaim:

"This person is a fellow disciple from the lower sect, who has been ordered to come and ask the god to grant him an audience."

Beneath the river's surface, a milky-white old clam lies hidden in the water, its shell opening and closing.

Zhang Junyi quietly peeked out and gave a few instructions.

Before long, a fierce shrimp soldier burst out of the water, spear in hand, and pointed it at the two men, shouting:

"The Great God has decreed that the water spirits within the Qingchi River region will not share the water energy with any sects from other regions."

"Go back to where you came from!"