Chapter 60 Enemies and Friends

"Kill Si Cao?" Wu Hongbiao was shocked: "The two of us?"

"Yes, both of us."

The small room of the cloth shop was empty. Wu Hongbiao sat cross-legged on the ground, while Chen Ji leaned against the door frame. The two looked at each other silently.

At this moment Wu Hongbiao looked towards the door and saw Chen Ji standing with his back to the moonlight, so his expression could not be seen clearly.

He patiently advised: "You have been in the Military Intelligence Department for a short time and have not had much contact with this officer. Don't have such dangerous thoughts."

Chen Ji discovered that even Wu Hongbiao, the most elite spy, had the idea of ​​backing off from "killing Si Cao".

He couldn't help but ask, "How powerful is Si Cao?"

Wu Hongbiao said solemnly: "You are not an officer, so you don't know how powerful officers are. I am just a warrior in the 'postnatal realm'. That Si Cao has been in the army for a long time, and he is at least an officer who has reached the perfect innate realm. I am afraid he is only one step away from the realm of seeking the way..."

Chen Ji looked puzzled.

Wu Hongbiao was helpless. He explained while chewing on a multi-grain pancake, "Well, you won't understand these realms even if I tell you. Let me give you an example in the simplest way: once in Nanjing, Si Cao's whereabouts were exposed, and the Secret Service's army of hundreds of people failed to capture him. He killed dozens of people and finally escaped into the Qinhuai River."

Chen Ji asked, "If the Xiantian realm is so powerful, how powerful must the Xundao realm be? Is it difficult to cultivate to the Xundao realm?"

"Of course it's difficult," Wu Hongbiao sighed, "Look, I don't even know how to break through from 'postnatal' to 'innate', let alone 'innate' breaking through to 'seeking the way'? Looking at the entire Luo City, there are probably only two masters of the seeking the way, one is Liang Gou'er, and the other one should be hiding in the 'Yanshi' controlled by the Liu family."

Wu Hongbiao said seriously, "When you reach the realm of seeking the way, you will never be able to defeat such a master unless you have more than 500 soldiers charging into battle. Liang Gou'er entered the realm of seeking the way at the age of 24. That year, he went to the border army of Ning Dynasty and killed eight generals of Jing Dynasty in a row during the battle between the two armies. He became famous for a while. It's a pity that Liang Gou'er's path of cultivation was interrupted by someone, otherwise he would be the person with the most hope of making further progress in Ning Dynasty."

"Broken up by someone?"

Wu Hongbiao thought for a moment and said, "I always thought this might be the work of Jing Chao, or even your uncle."

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment: "Why do you say that?"

Wu Hongbiao explained, "After Liang Gou'er was cut off from cultivation, a female swordsman appeared in the border army of our Jing Dynasty and assassinated a talented general of the border army of Ning Dynasty. Someone recognized that she used the Liang family swordsmanship. She must be a person specially trained by someone in our Jing Dynasty. She came to Ning Dynasty to marry Liang Gou'er in order to ruin Liang Gou'er's state of mind and cut off his cultivation."

This female swordsman not only cut off Liang Gou'er's path to cultivation, but also stole the Liang family's inherited swordsmanship, killing two birds with one stone.

It's a really cunning struggle.

Chen Ji was puzzled: "But why do you say it was my uncle who did it?"

Wu Hongbiao uncorked the bamboo tube and took a sip of water: "When your uncle was assassinated three years ago, a female swordsman also appeared beside him."

Chen Ji: "..."

My uncle has a very complicated background.

Until now, he still hasn't had a clear understanding of his uncle. He always feels that there is a layer of mystery surrounding him, and he seems both good and evil, and will do anything to achieve his goals.

Chen Ji murmured, "Postnatal, Innate, Seeking the Dao... What is above the Seeking the Dao realm?"

"The Divine Realm," Wu Hongbiao said, "According to your uncle, there are only a handful of people in this realm in the world. The head of the Jing Dynasty Martial Temple, Lu Yang, is one of them, and the head of the Huangshan Mountain in the Ning Dynasty, the Disciple Son, is also one of them. Even the Luocheng Daoting Laojun Mountain and the Ning Dynasty Sect, Luotian, do not have such people."

"A person like Lu Yangshan is a master who has already touched the threshold of heaven and man. In addition, the people of Jing Dynasty have always talked about his legend of 'Jia Zi Destroying Demons'. Have you heard of it?"

"I haven't heard of it. Jiazi exorcises demons? Are there still demons in this world?"

"They are demon sects scattered throughout the Jing Dynasty. They practice by sacrificing human sacrifices. They often kidnap children and women, and even massacre villages. They are extremely evil. Lu Yangshan sent the Martial Temple to eliminate demons, which means they were killed completely without leaving any."

"Because he was killed in the Jiazi year, it's called Jiazi Dangmo?"

Wu Hongbiao shook his head: "No, it's been sixty years since I started to exorcise demons."

Chen Ji choked. A sixty years is equal to sixty years. No magic sect can withstand a master of the divine realm fighting against them for sixty years!
Martial Arts Temple.

Liang Gou'er once mentioned this place.

The other party once mentioned that Chen Ji should not practice with the sword, but should go to Jingchao Martial Temple to learn the other party's "sword style".

Until today, Chen Ji had a vague concept of what the officials in the world were like, but now... he himself was afraid that he could not even be considered a martial artist.

Facing a figure like Si Cao, he was even worried that he would not be able to kill him with gunpowder. How to make him stay where he was and be blown up by him was a difficult problem.

Wu Hongbiao said, "Do you still want to kill Sicao now? Give up."

Chen Ji was silent for a long time: "But if I don't kill him, he will kill me."

Wu Hongbiao also fell silent.

His expression seemed to show struggle and hesitation. He was different from Chen Ji. It was because he knew how powerful Sicao was that he knew it was impossible for the two of them to accomplish the task alone.

But in the end, Wu Hongbiao said, "Then kill him...but how?"

"I'll find a way... There will always be a way."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Tell me, why didn't my uncle let me go back to Jing Dynasty?"

Wu Hongbiao thought for a moment: "I can't figure out his thoughts, but he once said that all the sons of nobles should go to the front line for training, otherwise they can only become playboys, fighting dogs and whoring all day long. Back then, he risked his life to go south to Ning Dynasty, and returned to my Jing Dynasty with the supreme merit of assassinating the Minister of War of the Chen family, and established the Military Intelligence Department. I think he may hope that you will become a person like him."

Wu Hongbiao said longingly: "I don't know how many people in the Jing Dynasty military admire your uncle and want to be like him. I think you should also aspire to do the same and follow the path he once walked."

Chen Ji was stunned. It turned out that the Military Intelligence Department was established by his uncle. He really made a new discovery every day...

But if he had to assassinate a Shangshu Ge Lao before he could go back, then it would be better for Jing Chao not to go back.

Ning Chao is pretty good.

"I have another question. You were about to die, so why did you come to deliver a letter to me?"

Wu Hongbiao grinned and said, "I said we are brothers."

"I understand." Chen Ji turned and left. "It's inconvenient for me to stay here for long. I will send some food and water every night in the next few days. You should take good care of your injuries."

……

……

After going out, Chen Ji stood in the backyard of the cloth shop under the moonlight and let out a long breath.

If you want to kill Si Cao, you may need to plan carefully. At least you need to know what he looks like and what identity he uses to cover up.

He struggled to climb out of the yard and went back to the apprentice dormitory to lie down. The snoring in the room was still there, but Chen Ji felt exceptionally peaceful in his heart.

The wounds on his chest and thighs began to hurt again. These pains reminded him all the time that weakness was the original sin of this world.

Chen Ji lay on the bunk bed, looking at the beams quietly, his mind still stirring with the words spoken tonight about the officials.

He slowly closed his eyes, mobilized the molten flow in the sixteen fires in his body, and separated half of it to condense in his heart.

In an instant, the fire in the furnace died down, like a candle in the wind, as if it would go out at any moment.

The ice flow in Chen Ji's dantian felt the power guarding him weaken, and immediately began to stir!
It penetrated from the Tianshu acupoint and spread all the way to Chen Ji's entire body.

The long-lost cold came, and Chen Ji fell into the mysterious and unknown dark sea of ​​clouds again, returning to the ancient battlefield.

In the past, he was forced to fall into this place. He was haunted by this nightmare more than once before he was twelve years old. His parents even thought he was seriously ill and took him to see a psychiatrist.

And this time, Chen Ji came back on his own initiative.

As the little monk said, Chen Ji has always had a gambling nature, but while others gamble with money, he gambles with his life.

Feeling the mist of the sea of ​​clouds flowing around him, he was like a meteorite penetrating from the sky, landing on the green mountains with black clouds all over his body.

Strangely, this time there were no more shouts and cries of killing on the ancient battlefield, as if everything had stopped. Chen Ji saw a three-legged golden crow frozen in the sky, its tail not even shaking at all; he saw a golden feathered arrow flying through the battle formation, but suspended in the air by some unknown force, and the man with a full bow was also frozen in place; he saw a giant rushing towards the battlefield like Kuafu chasing the sun, but stopped in the posture of taking a step.

This battlefield is like a huge and lonely amber, imprisoning everything for tens of thousands of years.

However, the emperor wearing golden armor, holding the royal flag and giving orders for the battle was nowhere to be seen.

"How dare you come here?" A loud voice sounded behind Chen Ji.

Chen Ji turned around suddenly, and saw the man in golden armor with a figure as majestic as a mountain standing behind him, looking down at him from the top of the green hill.

He was not afraid, but asked calmly: "What's your name?"

"My name is Xuanyuan."

The word "Xuanyuan" sounded like a loud bell, as if it was responded by heaven and earth, and even the dark clouds above the sky were slowly dissipating.

Chen Ji asked again: "Who am I?"

Xuanyuan laughed as if he had heard something funny: "You don't remember, you don't remember anything!"

As he laughed, Xuanyuan's tone became lonely: "The peach blossoms in Guixu, the snow on the East Kunlun Mountains, the sea outside Penglai, you don't remember them all..."

Chen Ji frowned: "Who am I?"

Xuanyuan turned around and looked beyond the green mountains: "This is the biggest joke I have heard in the past fifteen thousand years... Even you have forgotten who you are, then who am I? Then what is the point of my fifteen thousand years of loneliness!"

Chen Ji looked at the other party quietly, and he suddenly realized that this was definitely not a real battlefield. Those battle formations, those magical birds and beasts, and those people were all fake.

The golden-armored emperor 'Xuanyuan' in front of him is the only living being in this world.

But he slowly calmed down and said in a dignified voice: "Why did you come to my world? Aren't you afraid that I will borrow you to come back to the world?"

"afraid."

"Then you still dare to come?"

Chen Ji said seriously: "Teach me the sword seed."

He couldn't go to Jingchao Martial Temple. Maybe one day he would really go to Jingchao, but that would be too long and he couldn't wait.

Xuanyuan was obviously stunned when he heard Chen Ji's words, as if he had heard something incredible, and then he laughed again: "Pass on the sword species to you? Hahahaha, this is the second joke I have heard in the past 15,000 years!"

Chen Ji was speechless for a moment: "...Is it so funny?"

Xuanyuan turned around, propped the royal flag in his hand on the top of the mountain, and said in a deep voice: "Do you know that you and I were once enemies?"

"I don't know, but maybe we were friends."

This time it was Xuanyuan's turn to remain silent. After a long moment, he said in a deep voice, "Then do you know that the sword type I cultivated was what you looked down upon the most?"

Chen Ji hurriedly said: "I can see it now, I can see it now, it's fierce!"

Xuanyuan: "..."

The two of them sat on the green hill in silence, caught in a suffocating awkwardness.

Xuanyuan looked at Chen Ji seriously, as if he needed to get to know him again: "You have changed too much."

Chen Ji said seriously: "Actually, what I want to say is that I am not someone you know. My name is Chen Ji, and I am just an apprentice in Taiping Medical Clinic. I don't look down on swordsmen, nor do I have any lofty ideals. I just don't want to be killed easily by others. I don't know what grudges you have with that non-existent person, I just want to make a bet with you."

"Oh?" Xuanyuan became interested: "How do we bet?"

"You want to borrow me to return to the world?"

"Yes."

"You taught me the sword seed. If one day you can use me to return to the world, then my current practice will be for you."

Xuanyuan pondered: "You want to bet that I will never return to the world?"

Chen Ji raised his head and faced the towering mountains: "Want to bet?"

The Golden Armor Emperor laughed and said, "Even you know how to use provocation... I can teach you the sword, but not because of this ridiculous game."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Why is that?"

Xuanyuan started to riddle: "For the ten miles of peach blossoms in Guixu."

Chen Ji didn't understand.

But let’s do it for the peach blossoms, or for the pear blossoms, or for the camellia.

"How to practice sword skills?" Chen Ji asked.

Xuanyuan Gaoshen said: "To practice my swordsmanship, you need to nourish the sword spirit with the stars and forge the sword seeds by seizing the sword spirit of others. I chose the Purple Star Emperor, which is full of stars. You can choose one of them. Remember, once you choose, you can't change it."

"How do I use the stars to nourish my sword?"

"I will teach you now. You need patience to cultivate your sword. The stars are far away and out of reach. It took me 434 years to touch the Purple Star for the first time with my spiritual consciousness."

Chen Ji: "..."

……

……

An unknown amount of time had passed before the ice flow seeped into Chen Ji's heart, causing a violent counterattack from the molten flow, which suppressed all the ice flow back into his dantian.

The cock crows in the morning.

Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes. He endured the pain in his thigh, lifted the quilt, stood up with difficulty, and slowly moved to the yard.

He looked at the starry sky and soon found the location of the Ziwei Emperor Star.

The so-called Purple Star Emperor is actually the North Star, which is about 434 light-years away from its location. The Big Dipper revolves around it in four seasons.

If the sky is compared to a funnel, then the Purple Star Emperor Star is the top of the funnel, right in the middle.

Chen Ji thought about what Xuanyuan said. Once the star for raising the sword is chosen, it cannot be changed, so one must be extremely careful.

But according to Xuanyuan, it took a full 434 years just to use the so-called spiritual consciousness to contact the Purple Star Emperor. If I want to practice this method, my lifeline must grow from the palm of my hand to the heel.

Even if he dies of old age, he won’t be able to achieve enlightenment!

Chen Ji was leaning against the apricot tree with his clothes draped over him. In addition to his pain, he also felt a bit of the melancholy of a young man.

The crow looked at him curiously, wondering what was wrong with him.

Chen Ji asked, "Uncle Crow, how do you think I can live to be 434 years old?"

The crow opened its mouth and sneered silently.

However, at this moment, the sun was rising, and a ray of golden light shot out from the farthest part of the sky, dyeing the clouds.

Chen Ji was suddenly stunned...

As we all know, the sun is the star closest to him.

(End of this chapter)