Chapter 729: Endless and Pointless Calculations (1)
The ninth city is Zhen.
In the corner, there is a beautiful green mountain.
The whole mountain is shaped like a round drum, with 9981 holes on it. Each hole is connected to the earth veins and is full of spiritual charm. Each one can be called a blessed place for cultivation and an excellent cave dwelling.
A huge green mountain is surrounded in the middle by a pink wall that is only about ten feet high and less than a foot thick, with hollow patterns all over the wall. It has no restrictions and no formation protection.
There is a small door on the south side of this circle of pink wall. The thin wooden door is made of the most common jujube wood and painted with a layer of original tung oil. There is no decoration and no defensive measures.
On the right side of the wooden door, there was a small black lacquered sign with a line of small words written in scarlet paint in a very sloppy manner - 'Private residence, no trespassing without permission'!
In the world of cultivation, such a defenseless wall, which encloses a green mountain with abundant spiritual energy and is enough to become the base of a small sect, should have been coveted by countless people, and even tried to rob it.
But in the ninth city of Zhenzi, this nameless green mountain, and even within a ten-mile radius around this circle of walls, is one of the areas with the best security, the most peace and tranquility.
Even the officials of the City Lord's Mansion and the city guards who maintain law and order would not come near here unless necessary.
The owner here, his surname is 'Chi'!
The "Chi" in the surname of Dongxuan Daosheng's family!
At the foot of the green mountain, where nine spiritual streams converge, a large area of green bamboos sway in the breeze like a phoenix tail. In the bamboo forest, there is a fine house, every beam, pillar, brick and tile are extremely exquisite, and its luxury and splendor are beyond the imagination of ordinary people!
Beside the stream, a fat and adorable white tiger was lying on the ground, breathing heavily and sniffing a emerald green orchid very attentively.
Next to the white tiger, on a large rock, a beautiful girl was smiling slightly, her fingers as bright as water lilies were playing a guqin with a dragon head and a phoenix tail. The sound of the guqin was rippling and erratic, perfectly blending into the surrounding scenery, and even attracted a large group of thumb-sized colorful kingfishers, which circled and danced comfortably around the girl.
The third floor of the Jingshe not far away is a large flat floor. The four walls are made of crystal clear natural crystal stones. Standing in the building, you can enjoy the scenery on all sides without any obstruction. The sky is bright and the whole floor seems to be integrated with the surrounding mountains and rivers.
A handsome young man with long hair, wearing a coarse white robe, bare chest, bare feet, and a wild and unrestrained look, was standing on a terrace facing the stream. In front of him was a huge drawing table with a huge piece of white paper several meters long and nine feet high spread on it. Dozens of paintbrushes of different sizes were suspended around him, and inks and pigments of various colors were packed in exquisite jade bottles, also floating around him.
The young man wrote with great swiftness, shaking his head, as he wrote the green mountains, the beautiful stream, the bamboo forest, the adorable white tiger, the extremely beautiful girl, and the group of kingfishers flying around the girl into the painting in front of him.
Seeing that a magnificent painting that could be called a masterpiece was about to be completed, the young man suddenly frowned.
There was a faint light in his eyes. He tilted his head and stared at the big white tiger for a long time: "Well, it's my fault... How come this white cat is a male tiger? Well, today's year, month, and time... Let me calculate it!"
After counting for a while, the young man shook his head and sighed , "Go, change to a tigress. It's not suitable to paint a male tiger today... This guy really deserves to die. My painting cannot have any flaws or deficiencies... This guy wasted so much of my time, drag him away, peel off his skin and hang him up."
"Well, prepare a whole tiger feast for me tonight. Use the recipe of 'Nine Yang Pure Combination Soup' to simmer its little whip. Recently, when I was in a state of meditation, I felt a little short of breath. I'm afraid my constitution is a little weak, so I need to replenish it!"
A few dim streaks of light flashed in the air.
The big white tiger, whose cultivation level was about the twentieth level of True Immortal, let out a terrified whimper and disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Not long after, a white tiger that looked exactly like the big white tiger, but with a different gender, lay trembling beside the stream. It looked naive, ignorant and innocent, wagging its tail and sniffing the green orchid in front of it attentively.
The girl was still sitting on the boulder, playing the melodious music of the piano. Her expression and body posture did not change at all.
"Perfect!" The young man clapped his hands and exclaimed: "Any skill must be treated with all your heart and soul, without neglecting any details. Only in this way can the skill be studied to the extreme. This is true for these miscellaneous arts, and for any major event."
"I can understand this truth at such a young age. It shows that I am born with wisdom as vast as the sea. Hey, in my family, counting eighteen generations up and eighteen generations down, no one can surpass me."
"I am so lonely, so alone on the top of a mountain, overlooking all living beings. I am the only one, Chi Tianming, leading the way and occupying the peak. As the saying goes, it is lonely at the top, and there are few friends who understand me. When the strings are broken... who can understand me?"
Chi Tianming muttered to himself in an extremely intoxicated manner, and waved his hand gently. Two girls came up quietly, carefully cleaned the drawing table, made it spotless, and then carefully spread a brand new huge piece of white paper on it.
The girl retreated silently. Chi Tianming tilted his head and stared blankly at the Lingxi River, the bamboo forest, the white tiger, and the girl... He listened attentively to the faint sound of the piano in the air, closed his eyes in ecstasy, and began to conceive his painting, and began to brew the artistic conception of the painting in his mind.
A middle-aged man with a slightly dark complexion, wearing a green robe inside and a snow-white feather coat outside, holding a flaming round fan, and with three long beards, who looked quite shrewd... or, in other words, a bit sinister and cunning, walked hurriedly up the stairs to the third floor.
He looked at Chi Tianming who was immersed in an inexplicable state of mind and said in a deep voice: "Young Master!"
Chi Tianming didn't move, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.
He didn't know what he was thinking about, but he was still moved to tears by the picture and mood he had drawn in his mind, and his body even trembled slightly. At this moment, even if a thunderbolt struck next to his ear, it would be difficult to wake him up from this inexplicable mood.
The middle-aged man frowned, walked to Chi Tianming, and snapped his fingers with his right thumb and index finger next to his ear.
Chi Tianming shook his head, with a weird smile, and whispered in a low voice: "Auntie, stop making trouble, let me sleep for a while."
The middle-aged man's face turned black, and several fire and lightning flashed at his fingertips. There was a loud bang and the whole temple was shaken. In all directions, large tracts of Phoenix Tail Bamboo Forests were shaking violently. Countless bamboo leaves flew into the air, like green arrows, and flew around with a sound of breaking through the air , smashing the bamboo forest into pieces.
Beside Lingxi River, the white tiger was so scared that it turned around and ran away.
The girl playing the piano shuddered, her face turned pale, but she was obviously very good at nourishing her Qi, even though she was frightened, she still sat on the big rock without moving, the sound of the piano was only slightly out of order for a few beats, and then it was the same as before, still so erratic, magical and moving.
Chi Tianming was so frightened that he trembled and jumped more than ten feet high with a "wow".
'咘咘咘', no one knew what was wrong with Chi Tianming. He was the best in the real fairyland, and there should be no impurities or dirt in his body, but he was frightened by the thunder sound right next to his ear by the middle-aged man and farted three times.
The extremely embarrassed Chi Tianming opened his eyes, stared at the middle-aged man, and said angrily: "Mr. Mo, what are you doing? Do you know that you have destroyed a masterpiece?"
Mr. Mo waved the fan in his hand, blowing away the slightly peculiar smell from Chi Tianming's body, and said calmly: "Young Master, you have great talent, and you should use it in a bigger place. Compared with your peerless talent, how can these little tricks to cultivate your sentiments be described as 'a masterpiece of the ages'?"
Chi Tianming was stunned for a moment, and his anger suddenly dissipated. He smiled brightly and nodded repeatedly: "The one who knows me well is Mr. Mo. Yes, I was born to do great things. Writing and painting are just trifles, not worth mentioning... Well, big things, big things... What do you have that is worth disturbing me?"
Mr. Mo waved his fan, and suddenly a breeze blew in the pavilion, naturally changing the air on the third floor. At the same time, he set up an invisible ban, isolating all sounds from inside and outside.
"That useless guy from the Qian family is dead." Mr. Mo smiled.
"Which Qian family? Which waste?" Chi Tianming looked at Mr. Mo blankly.
"That's the one who foolishly ran to the Deputy City Lord's Mansion to cause trouble for Monk Fahai because of a little trick you used! Qian Congming, the Third Young Master Qian!" Mr. Mo stared at Chi Tianming with eyes wide open: "That's the Third Young Master Qian from whom you borrowed 30 million high-grade immortal crystals half a month ago!"
Chi Tianming smiled, his teeth bared, his smile extremely bright: "Oh, it's him? Dead? Did he really take the contract and go to find that vicious monk? Oh, he died well, died wonderfully, with his death, I don't have to pay the debt, right?"
Chi Tianming raised his head and said in a very intoxicated way: "I am really, extremely wise and intelligent... Over the years, I have created a good name and reputation for myself, which allows me to borrow money from others without writing an IOU... Now the creditor is dead and there is no IOU. Although these 30 million high-grade immortal crystals are not much, hehe!"
He sighed with satisfaction: "It feels so good not to have to pay back the debt!"
With a wave of his sleeves, smoke and clouds rose in the pavilion, and furniture such as tables, chairs, and cloud couches appeared out of thin air. There was also a small charcoal stove, teapot, and teacups that moved on their own like living things, and the fragrant fairy tea was brewed in the blink of an eye.
"Sit, sit, sit, have some tea, drink some tea, and tell me in detail, how did Qian Lao San die?" Chi Tianming smiled brightly: "Well, I remember now, didn't I come to the Ninth City of Zhenzi just for this trivial matter?"
With his eyes narrowed, Chi Tianming sat down on a cloud couch with his legs spread wide, picked up the teacup, and gulped down the tea.
"Hey, the white turtle couple are really..." Putting down the teacup, Chi Tianming chuckled a few times, pointed his finger at the ceiling, and shook his head in a mysterious manner: "But, this is their fate, it's not our fault."
Mr. Mo sat opposite Chi Tianming, holding a teacup, sipping the fragrant tea while softly describing in great detail how Xia Mingdao brought the third young master of the Qian family into Lu Yi's mansion, but was violently killed by Lu Yi and was also blamed for his crime.
His narration even included many details, such as the change in expression on Young Master Qian's face when he was killed, Xia Mingdao's attitude change before and after, Xia Mingdao's body movements, etc.
Everything was as if he had witnessed it with his own eyes.
Chi Tianming nodded slowly: "Interesting, interesting. In this case, Qian Laosan is already a sinner who colluded with the evil demons... This crime is cruel enough. This bald thief Fahai is worthy of being a fierce monk from the prison lineage. He really showed no mercy when he attacked."
With his hands gently caressing his cheeks, Chi Tianming muttered in a low voice: "Very interesting, then, shall we try it too?"
Mr. Mo raised his head and looked at Chi Tianming : "Who to attack? How to attack? Directly against Fahai?"
"How is it possible!" Chi Tianming smiled brightly. "How can a fine porcelain vase collide with a broken brick? I am a direct descendant of the Chi family, with a noble status and extraordinary bloodline. Especially since I know this secret, if I execute it well, maybe... How can I, with my worthless body, personally fight against Fahai?"
"Well, let's follow his wishes and continue to attack the people around Bai Yuan and Yin Yuan!"
"That person's goal is to make Bai Yuan as miserable as possible... If that's the case, then we'll make her as miserable as possible!"
"Of course, it would be even better if her misery could implicate more people."
“It’s truly, wonderful!”
Mr. Mo frowned slightly, looking at the nervous Chi Tianming, and suddenly sighed: "Young Master, what secrets do you know? What you have done these days... The Qian family is just a wealthy merchant in the Demon Suppression City. Although they have money, they have no connections or power. If you provoke them, you provoke them."
"But... let's not talk about Fahai for now."
"You personally exceeded your authority and let the 'Human-Faced Flower' get involved, so that the Human-Faced Flower in the Ninth Town was completely razed to the ground... Have you considered how to explain this to the family?"
Chi Tianming raised his head, tilted his head, and smiled at Mr. Mo in an extremely cunning way: "Are you sure you want to know the cause and effect of this matter? Are you sure?"
Mr. Mo was silent for a long time. He looked at Chi Tianming's face, which seemed frozen and had not changed for a long time. He felt an inexplicable fear in his heart. He took a deep breath and shook his head slowly: "Young Master is extremely talented. There are some things that you should know yourself... But, Fahai is the true descendant of the Zhenyu lineage of Buddhism... Unless it is necessary, you must not really be with him..."
Chi Tianming smiled proudly and said softly, "Since Fahai is involved with the white turtle, he is just a sacrifice. Even if he is a true descendant of the Buddhist lineage of the Prison Suppression Sect, so what? His glory will not last long."
Standing up, Chi Tianming pointed at Mr. Mo and said, "You don't understand the mystery here!"
"So, you're right if you listen to me!"
"Now, go do something!"
"Spread a few words first, and then get ready to take over all the assets of the Qian family." Chi Tianming muttered to himself in a low voice: "This matter will involve countless people, and countless people and countless family forces will fall. Oh, picking up scraps is enough for us to eat a full belly, what a good thing."
Just on the west side of the green mountain of Chitianming, less than a hundred miles away and separated by several neighborhoods, there is a shallow and clear lake with extremely beautiful scenery.
This Ming Lake is shaped like a crescent moon, with the deepest water no more than five or six feet. The mudflats are covered with green and red reeds. When the wind blows, reed flowers fill the sky. Wild geese with pale feathers spread their wings, and their bodies almost brush against the tips of the reeds as they pass by. The shadows of the geese cast large patches of light and shadow on the Ming Lake, and the wind brought by their wings also startled the withered and broken lotus flowers in the lake.
The entire Ming Lake is full of the word "tragic beauty".
Even the pavilions by the lake, connected by winding corridors, made entirely of natural wood, covered with moss-covered black tiles, with red lanterns and white curtains hanging everywhere, have a slightly eerie aura that makes people feel chilly even in broad daylight.
In the water pavilion, several young men in gorgeous clothes sat around a square table, with dozens of rings of extremely large capacity stacked in front of them.
A young man's finger swept across a ring, and several extremely rare million-year-old precious medicines that were produced in the southern wild mountains were sprayed out with wisps of spiritual light. These precious medicines were very different from the common immortal medicines in Liangyi Heaven. Whether in appearance or medicinal power, there was a huge difference.
The only thing in common is that the value of million-year-old medicinal materials, whether they are poisons or elixirs, is inestimable.
Especially these few precious medicines that have already grown into human forms and have faint signs of becoming elves. Each one is a tonic and can be used to refine several extremely rare and exotic elixir recipes. If they were sent to the top sects in Liangyi Heaven, there would definitely be alchemy masters willing to bid for them at sky-high prices.
"Any one of them, if sent to a truly large sect, would be worth more than 100 million top-grade immortal crystals!"
A young man looked at a precious medicine in front of him that looked like a humanoid with a head like an octopus with many claws, long tentacles that were rapidly wriggling and curling, and on its tentacles there were faintly some green bean-sized scarlet sparks. He said with emotion: "Just this one Starfire Sea Anemone can save a Taoist master three hundred years of hard training... One hundred million top-grade immortal crystals? I'm afraid that's an underestimate!"
Another young man smiled slightly: "The Qian family is a low-profile family. They are just a medicinal herb dealer in Demon Suppression City. Who would have thought that they have such a large fortune... It's worth it for our planning and for us to join forces."
Another young man smiled calmly and said, "I wonder what Chi Tianming, the self-proclaimed fool, will think when he finds out that the Qian family is only a shell?"
The young man who looked the most mature among the crowd and had deliberately grown two small mustaches coughed and said, "What could he think? Maybe he still thinks that if the Qian family falls, he will be full... Even if we emptied the Qian family in advance, there are still hundreds of millions of high-quality immortal crystals left for him, plus more than a hundred shops in the twenty or so towns, so many servants, servants, maids, and so many medicinal fields and forests..."
The young men looked at each other and laughed out loud at the same time.
"Well, let's continue!" The young man with a small mustache said in a deep voice, "Sacrifice, sacrifice... Hehe, how can people like Shan Youren and Qian Laosan be considered the best sacrifices? If the entire Chi family can be involved!"
A young man said in a low voice: "I'm afraid of the old fellow from the Chi family. If..."
The young man with a small mustache played with a few rings on his hand and said calmly, "So what? If something goes wrong, are we the ones who are behind this? Are we? No!"
"Since it's not the case, then... every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor." The young man with a small mustache smiled very reservedly: "We are just watching the fun and taking advantage of it. Even if it causes a huge disaster or even a dispute between the Daoists... what does it have to do with us?"
The young men looked at each other, laughed in unison, dropped this inexplicably unsettling topic, and began to count and calculate the rare treasures in the rings.
Even for them who came from extraordinary backgrounds, this was a windfall. To their families, it might be insignificant, but to them personally, it was enough to boost their cultivation and allow them to climb higher in the family and have a bigger and more important say!
The ninth city is Zhen.
City Lord's Mansion.
A giant golden drum in front of the gate was struck with a deafening sound, and visible ripples whistled in all directions, making the gate of the City Lord's Mansion buzz.
In front of the city lord's mansion, a group of soldiers in helmets and armor were frightened by the sudden sound of drums.
In front of every city lord's mansion in the many cities of Zhenmo Ridge, there is such a golden drum. This thing is similar to the "Dragon Shocking Drum" in front of the secular palace. Once it is struck, even if the emperor is lingering with his concubine, he must put on his clothes and hurry to the court to discuss matters.
This drum has the same effect.
Unless there is a major event that threatens the safety of the entire town, it cannot be easily disturbed. But once someone strikes the drum, no matter what the city lord is doing, even if he is in seclusion to break through the realm, he must drop everything at hand and rush to the hall to deal with it.
Yelu Hui, a general from the Yelu clan and a cousin of Yelu Ting by blood, held the golden whip hanging from his waist and rushed angrily towards the burly man who struck the golden drum. He was tall and strong, with muscles all over his body and only a short half-inch stubble on his head.
"You bastard, do you know the rules? If you strike the 'Demon Shocking Drum' for no reason, you will be beaten by eight hundred Immortal Shocking Hammers first... If I can't kill you, you ignorant fool!"
Following Yelu Ting to the ninth city of Zhenzi, Yelu Hui had been guarding the gate of the city lord's mansion for so many years, but this was the first time he had heard the golden drum being struck. He was startled and angry, and he roared and scolded the big man.
The burly man's eyes were shining brightly, staring straight at Yelu Hui, and said in a deep and naive voice: "I will report it."
"Report it? Who are you reporting?" Yelu Hui looked the big man up and down: "Forget it, no matter what you want to do, follow me..."
With a bang, the door of the City Lord's Mansion opened, and a large group of evil monks wearing monk robes and with a faint golden glow all over their bodies strode out, carrying heavy Zen sticks, shovels and other weapons.
The evil monks in the group were divided into two groups. Lu Yi held the jade Zen staff in his left hand and rubbed his smooth scalp with his right hand. He walked out with a shaky step: "Oh, today I had a sudden inspiration. I counted with my fingers and found that there is injustice in the world and someone is wronged!"
Pointing casually at the big man who struck the golden drum, Lu Yi said in a careless manner: "Hey man, if you have any grievances, tell me now. I am new here, and I want to handle some good cases and set some rules for the Ninth City!"
Yelu Hui's face turned extremely ugly.
Lu Yu's words really offended him - what did Lu Yu mean by this? Set some rules? Didn't the Ninth City of Zhenzi have no rules before? What did he think of the legitimate city lord Yelu Ting and the many Yelu clan members brought by Yelu Ting?
Yelu Hui took a step forward and stood in front of Lu Yi, shouting angrily, "Deputy City Lord, according to the rules, this person struck the Demon Drum, and the City Lord should personally come forward to deal with this matter!"
Lu Yi frowned and looked at Yelu Hui in surprise: "City Lord? Isn't this me, the City Lord?"
As he said this, Lu Yi took off his deputy city lord seal from his belt and waved it in front of Yelu Hui.
Yelu Hui was stunned. He wanted to explain to Lu Yi the difference between the city lord and the deputy city lord, but he was not good at speaking and felt that he could not explain the difference between the deputy city lord and the city lord.
After hesitating for a moment, Yelu Hui said in a deep voice: "Deputy, deputy!"
Lu Yi laughed wildly, slapped Yelu Hui on the shoulder, and pushed him away easily: "Roosters and hens are all chickens, rams and ewes are all sheep... The city lord and deputy city lord are also city lords! It's just a case, I have taken it, who has any objection? Who disagrees?"
Lu Yi gently tapped the ground with his Zen stick and said with a grin, "I am a very reasonable person. If you have different opinions, you can raise them in person!"
With just such a light push, the entire City Lord's Mansion, along with several surrounding neighborhoods, shook slightly. Many defensive bans in the city were triggered. Strong lights lit up, and fairy patterns spread rapidly on the streets.
The idle people who gathered from all directions and gathered in front of the city lord's mansion to watch the excitement were also shaken by Lu Yi's Zen stick and lost their balance. They screamed and fell down.
Yelu Hui gritted his teeth, his face flushed as he tried to reason with Lu Yi.
In the City Lord's Mansion, Yelu Ting's helpless voice could be heard from afar: "Forget it, the Deputy City Lord is right. The Deputy City Lord is also the City Lord. Let the Deputy City Lord handle this case!"
Yelu Hui was stunned and speechless.
Lu Yi had already looked at the big man who was beating the golden drum: "Hey, man, what's your business? Beating this demon-shocking drum, alarming the whole city and making the people uneasy?"
That big guy...
Well, the Taoist monk who had just changed into layman's clothes and used magic to grow half an inch of hair fell to his knees and shouted, "Master City Lord, please be clear. I am a servant of the Qian family. I am here to report that the Qian family is colluding with evil spirits and is planning to attack the ninth city of Zhenzi in three days... They said they want to take the blood of all the people in the city to refine the supreme magic pill!"
