Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

The backyard fell silent again.

Shadow Four and Shadow Six followed Xu Pei out of the Sky Patrol Office, their footsteps crossing the front courtyard before quickly disappearing at the end of the long street.

Yi Yang withdrew his gaze, turned around, and went into the duty room.

Three old wooden crates stood side by side against the wall, their corners worn and their brass buckles rusted.

The topmost box still had dust from the Mo family's study, and several handprints were left from when it was moved.

Yi Yang opened the box.

The musty smell that had been building up for years hit him, and he couldn't help but turn his head to the side. He waited for the smell to dissipate a bit before looking down to check.

Although the smell was a bit strong, the books in the box were neatly stacked and in relatively good condition.

These ancient books are made of different materials; some have leather covers, some are wrapped in silk, and some have loose bamboo slips inserted in paper books. In short, they all have different origins.

The money Mo Qianhe spent on these things was probably more than the savings of an ordinary family for several generations.

But now that the person is dead, the book has been returned to the Bureau of Astronomy.

The Sky Patrol Division belongs to Yiyang.

He painstakingly collected these items for decades, only to have them benefit someone else in the end.

Yi Yang moved a chair over and sat down, then took out the first ancient book from the top of the box.

His goal was clear: to find traces of Songqing Daoren among them.

The path of "Yi Mu Health Preservation Exercise" ends at the True Gang Realm.

Without further methods, no matter how fast your cultivation progresses, there's nowhere to exert your strength.

It's not impossible to have him switch to other genuine skills, but changing skills requires reorganizing the flow of his meridians and re-establishing his foundation.

It's time-consuming, requires a lot of medicine, and may even leave hidden dangers.

It would be best to follow the original route.

Moreover, although the Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise is moderate and peaceful, without any particularly powerful killing techniques, it is by no means simple.

Yi Yang has his own set of methods for turning pages.

First look at the title on the cover, then look at the preface and table of contents.

Those mentioning Yunlin County, Taoist priests, and events from three hundred years ago should be placed on the right.

Close the box if it's not relevant, and put it back in the box as it was.

The first ancient book is titled "A Study of the Water Monsters of the Southern Sui Dynasty".

It depicts more than a dozen kinds of aquatic creatures, and the artistry is quite good.

One of the fish had four fleshy legs, and next to it was written that eating it could enhance male virility.

Yi Yang glanced at it a couple more times, but then closed it without much interest.

"Mo Qianhe is over seventy years old and still collects this kind of book; his ambition is still young."

The second book is about miasma in the mountains.

The third book records abandoned villages and settlements around the prefectural city.

The fourth book, only half a volume remains, tells the story of a traveling merchant who got lost in the Beast Ridge Mountains for seven days.

The entire text is filled with curses against the hunter who led the way, and on the last page, there is a sentence saying that if he can return to his mansion alive, he will definitely tear down the hunter's door.

Whether it was split into parts or not, the book doesn't say.

Yi Yang flipped through one book after another.

The first box contains twelve books in total.

Six of the books are about strange tales of mountains and rivers, three are about rare and exotic animals, and the remaining three are about waterways, mineral veins, and folk rituals.

No ancient books about Songqing Daoren were found.

There are also no clues about the "Yi Mu Health Preservation Exercise".

Yi Yang put the book back, closed the box, and reached over to pull the second box.

You can't rush finding something like this.

If even half a page of text left over from three hundred years ago is preserved, you're considered lucky.

The second box contained a more varied collection of books.

When Yi Yang turned to the seventh book, he found a local chronicle that recorded the old gang conflicts in Baiyu City.

Back then, White Fish City was just a small town on the edge of the marshland. Gangs fought for control of the waterways for more than 20 years.

Today you kill my leader, tomorrow I'll burn your fleet; the methods are not much different from what I'm doing now.

Although the people have changed several times, the gameplay remains the same.

Yi Yang turned a few pages, and a record came into view.

"Three hundred years ago, a sect once stayed in the southern region of Bailongze, building houses and digging canals to collect medicinal herbs from the marsh. Later, the heart of the marsh changed, the water veins changed course, and the strange beasts migrated. The sect withdrew overnight and has not been seen since."

Yi Yang paused on this page for a moment.

Southern Region.

An unexpected change occurred in the swamp.

He had just returned from there and had seen the blood pool set up by the Nine Evils under the water's eye.

What's hidden in that place may not be just this one cult plot.

However, this is unrelated to subsequent techniques.

Yi Yang noted down the names of the ancient books, put the old history books on the right, and continued searching.

The second box was empty, and still no sign of Songqing Daoren.

The view outside the window went from dark to bright.

Someone was carrying boxes in the front yard, the wheels rolling over the stone slabs, and the guards were checking the number in hushed tones.

Yi Yang didn't go out; he reached out and opened the third box.

On the top layer of the box were several volumes of family genealogy and account books.

The further down the list you go, the worse the condition of the books becomes.

The few books at the bottom of the box were missing their covers; the paper was damp, and the edges were stuck together.

Yi Yang controlled the strength in his hands, trying not to damage the ancient books as he pulled them out one by one.

He stopped when he picked up the third to last book.

The old book had its cover mostly removed, and it was wrapped with straw rope twice to prevent the pages from falling apart.

But a few faded words remained on the remaining cover, causing Yi Yang to narrow his eyes.

Records of the Submerged Abyss of Bailongze.

The name itself is extraordinary, and judging from its state of preservation, this ancient book must be from a very long time ago, with an ancient origin.

Yi Yang placed the book in the center of the table and untied the straw rope.

The first few pages of this ancient book record the early landscape of Bailongze.

The descriptions of which waters teem with dragons and snakes, which shallows teem with fish, and which waterways conceal hidden reefs and rock formations are written in great detail, though they are mostly old tales passed down orally among fishermen.

Turning to the middle, the handwriting in the ancient book had changed.

The previous text was written in a neat and upright style, but this text is written in running script. The writing was hasty, and the ink color is also different from the previous text, so it must have been added by someone later.

"In the late autumn of the 672nd year of the Yu calendar, a Taoist priest entered the marshland on a raft."

Upon seeing this page, Yi Yang's hand stopped at the edge of the page.

The Yu calendar was 672 years old, which is about 300 years ago.

He continued reading.

Back then, White Fish City was still a fishing village.

One early morning, fishermen set out on their boats to cast their nets and saw a middle-aged man in a gray-blue Taoist robe standing on the shore.

The Taoist priest stood on a bamboo raft, three feet wide and six feet long, with a withered branch stuck in the bow.

No oars, no poles.

Seeing the other person's attire, the fisherman was surprised and went up to ask:

"Where do you come from, Taoist priest?"

The Taoist priest replied, "I came from Sui Ning."

The fisherman then asked, "Where are you going?"

"Ze Xin".

Upon hearing this, several elderly fishermen immediately stopped the bamboo raft and tried to dissuade it:

"Ze Xin cannot go there. The water there is bottomless, and there are things in the fog."

A few years ago, seven boats went in, but only two planks drifted back. If the Taoist priest wants to continue his journey, he should go around the north bank. It will take two more days, but it's better than losing his life.

The Taoist priest did not argue.

He tapped the bamboo raft with his foot, and the raft left the shore, heading towards deeper waters with the current.

The withered branches remained still.

There was no one rowing the boat underwater.

Fishermen along the shore followed for half a mile, but the bamboo raft had already entered the fog.

On the first day after entering the marsh, nothing happened on the water.

The following evening, dark clouds gathered over Zexin, and lightning danced within the clouds without striking.

The fishermen dragged their boat ashore, closed the door, and hid in their sheds.

In the early hours of the third day, the entire Zexin waterway was churning.

Bubbles rose from the water's surface for miles around, and columns of steam shot high into the air. The heat was carried by the wind to the shore, where reeds near the water tumbled with their leaves swirling, and fish and shrimp floated belly-up onto the shallows.

Immediately following, a long cry came from the marsh.

The book only contained four words.

"Like an infant crying at night."

The commotion lasted for a full hour and could still be heard from a hundred miles away. Fishermen along the shore lay prone on the ground, none daring to raise their heads.

Several old fishermen said that it was the mournful cry of a white dragon.

Bailongze gets its name from the white dragon at the bottom of the lake. For thousands of years, no one has seen its full appearance. Only a few fishermen have seen the white back emerge from the water during foggy weather, its head and tail out of sight.

An hour later, the long cry stopped.

The clouds dispersed, and the surface of the lake returned to calm.

The lake water turned from blue-green to grayish-white, and it didn't recede until three days later.

On the morning of the fourth day, the Taoist priest returned.

The bamboo raft sailed out of the heart of the marsh, still guided by that withered branch.

The Taoist priest was dressed neatly, with no water stains on his robe.

An extra bronze box appeared on the raft.

The box is two feet long, one foot wide, and half a foot high, with its outer layer covered in rust. The surface of the box is engraved with scale and cloud patterns, which make the fishermen's eyes blur when they look at it from several feet away.

Yi Yang slowed down his page-turning speed.

After the bamboo raft docked, some older fishermen mustered their courage and approached.

"What is your honorable name, Daoist Master?"

The Taoist priest did not answer.

He picked up the bronze box and left only one sentence.

"The dragon died in Zefeng. A hundred years later, this place will become a treasure land."

The old fisherman pointed to the bronze box and asked, "What's inside?"

The Taoist priest replied, "It is the remains of an old friend."

After saying this, he got off the bamboo raft, picked up the box, and headed south.

The main text ends here.

However, there was a fine handwritten annotation in the margin.

"Later, some people claimed that the bronze box contained the remains of a white dragon."

The White Dragon of the Marsh is said to be an ancient remnant species. Its bones remain intact for a thousand years and can be used in medicine, for crafting weapons, and for forging array foundations.

The whereabouts of the last item in the box are unknown; it may have gone south with the Taoist priest, or been hidden in his old nest at the bottom of the marsh. This matter remains unverified.

Yi Yang closed the old book and leaned back in his chair.

He tapped his index finger on the table a few times.

Three hundred years ago.

Taoist priest.

He ventured alone into the White Dragon Marsh, took the remains of the white dragon, and returned unharmed.

This person's strength is far beyond the True Qi Realm.

The timing also matches up.

Songqing Daoren spread the "Yimu Health Preservation Exercise" in Yunlin County three hundred years ago.

Yunlin County is located north of Suining Prefecture, and Baiyu City is to the south. After leaving Yunlin County, he traveled south, passing through the prefectural city and then entering Bailongze. The route was not problematic.

More importantly, there's the phrase "When the dragon dies, the lake is abundant."

Today, Bailongze is abundant with exotic beasts and precious medicinal herbs, and has become a well-known resource-producing area in Qingzhou.

The Taoist priest did not make fortune-telling casually.

After the White Dragon died, the powerful beast that had been dwelling in the heart of the swamp disappeared, and the water veins and the life force within the swamp also changed.

It is the result of a century of accumulation that has made Bailongze what it is today.

Yi Yang put away the "Records of the Submerged Abyss of Bailongze" separately.

Although the Taoist in the book did not reveal his name, Yi Yang guessed that the other party should be the Songqing Taoist he was looking for.

The Taoist priest in the book claims to have come from Sui Ning.

This indicates that the other party had stayed in the prefectural city.

He had previously stayed in the prefectural city, and his contact with the Youquan Division, the armory, and a few shops was still limited.

The traces left by figures like Songqing Daoren would not be left on the street for people to look at.

After this errand is completed, I will return to the prefectural city to investigate.

A bronze casket containing the remains of a white dragon.

If the Taoist priest continues south with this item, he will inevitably leave some trace along the way.

If the bronze box is still hidden in the old nest at the bottom of the swamp, that nest is also worth investigating.

Yi Yang packed the remaining ancient books back into the box.

Before I knew it, it was already daylight outside.

The footsteps of the changing of the guards could be heard in the front yard, and people were whispering about the seizure of several properties last night.

Yi Yang got up and stretched his shoulders.

My left shoulder rose and fell, and the pain was gone.

He walked to the window and pushed it open a crack. Morning light shone into the duty room, falling on the stacks of martial arts manuals on the table.

These things were of little use to him, but they were very useful to Xu Pei and the patrol guards of the Sky Patrol Division.

The White Fish City Sky Patrol Division has a very weak foundation.

With a few suitable cultivation manuals and a batch of pills, it would be enough to promote Xu Pei and a few other capable people.

To get subordinates to work hard, official authority alone is not enough; they must be given benefits.

Yi Yang was about to wash her face when she stopped in her tracks.

Outside the city, a familiar aura was approaching from the direction of Bailongze.

This aura was powerful and tightly contained, yet it still couldn't suppress the lingering murderous intent within.

It is Yan Wuyuan.

She's back.