Chapter 1255: The Great Freedom

In the past, when the Heposuo fleet went to the Great Lake to observe the strange phenomena, Ko Wenbin and the others took out kites to play, soaring on the wind, with the river breeze blowing vast and mighty. The sky was high and the road was long; it was a great joy and a great freedom. In an instant, they had an epiphany. Today, paying off the debts and returning to that sense of ease and freedom from the past felt almost the same!

The situation was the same, the realization was similar, and he once again received the favor of the Seventeenth-Layer River Lord.

Liang Qu, sitting in the lotus position, circulated his cultivation technique, stabilized his breathing, relaxed his entire body and mind, and slowly captured the flash of inspiration that had just flickered by. Like catching a swimming fish, he grabbed it firmly!

The sparks of inspiration intertwined, converging into a bridge leading to the other shore.

Heaven, Earth, and Man breathing together.

Heaven and Man in resonance!

He transformed into a salmon swimming upstream in a mountain stream, flicking its tail and sliding its fins, swimming against the current. The path was obstructed and long; it crossed past a starving brown bear, dodged a circling hawk, wove through a ferocious school of fish, and leaped over a meandering waterfall, finally landing back in that warm, calm water filled with green velvet algae. That inner tranquility allowed his entire soul to expand completely and thoroughly.

The expanding soul inflated infinitely, turning into a sleeping giant, standing between heaven and earth. Accompanying this extreme expansion, his bones and joints felt as if they were loosening, stretching out layer by layer.

The resonance of spirit and body fed back into the boundless sea of his lower dantian. The three hundred and twenty-five-fold root sea tide rose and fell, nurturing extraordinary energy in the calm, expanding its edges.

The core of "Wansheng Baoyuan" lies in holding onto one's essence, qi, and spirit, preventing them from internal depletion or external dissipation, keeping them long-term full within the body, embracing the physical form as one, and possessing the ability to circulate on its own.

Before the great battle at the Shuofang Terrace, Liang Qu's root sea was three hundred and twenty-three-fold. After one awakening, it grew to three hundred and twenty-five. At this very moment, he was swimming further upstream!

The White Ape appeared behind him, with golden eyes and snowy teeth, its fur flowing.

Three hundred and twenty-six, three hundred and twenty-seven—

The opportunity was excellent.

"Gulp."

The blood marrow was swallowed into his belly, ground into blood marrow powder, and the two qi of the yin and yang earth veins surged and churned!

The dragon and tiger qi galloped and circulated, transforming and growing, and the intense baleful qi erupted violently.

His shell became scorching hot.

The heart fire burned fiercely, incinerating the yin and yang baleful qi, forging iron into steel, condensing it into pure energy, and pouring it into his limbs and bones. The root sea was restless, pulling the tides of heaven and earth. Above the first Xiandao, the Dragon Court was towering, the golden light was brilliant, and rosy clouds drifted between heaven and earth.

"Sizzle~"

The center of the broken Fubo spear turned red and hot. The Wolf Lord's will was a tree without roots, water without a source, remaining attached to the fracture. During the battle, it retreated step by step, roasting out blue smoke. New branches gradually sprouted from the wound, the spear core fused, and the spear shaft combined.

Inhale.

Exhale.

His chest rose and fell, the dragon and tiger fought, and the long wind in the room circulated back and forth.

Accompanying Liang Qu's breathing, every piece of green jade brick flickered in resonance. Jade-white patterns grew and spread like a giant spider beast, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, until it wrapped around the Blood Wall of the Heyuan Prefecture.

In the wind and snow, the Blood Wall slowly revealed scarlet patterns. They flashed and dimmed, as if a giant dragon were crouching and breathing.

"This—what is this? Did something happen? Brother, should we report this to the General?" A new recruit looked down at the dark red patterns on the wall, looking left and right, panicked.

"What are you afraid of? It's a normal phenomenon."

The veteran guarding the city tower was unfazed and continued to patrol forward. "When a Martial Saint cultivates, they can resonate with the Blood Wall, just like the demon race assimilating heaven and earth, causing the place where they live to sprout mineral veins, making it incomparably hard. Our Blood Wall will become even stronger with this thing."

"So a Martial Saint is cultivating? The Imperial Court is truly amazing." The new recruit was amazed. "With such obvious cultivation, won't the Northern Court on the other side discover it? What if they take the opportunity to attack—"

"Your brain turns fast, but your courage is small. What are you afraid of? Who says that one can't spare a hand while cultivating? Maybe it's a feint, waiting for the Northern Court to attack? And if too many Martial Saints cultivate at the same time, the Imperial Court will restrict Martial Saints from entering the cultivation room and find other secret rooms not connected to the Blood Wall to cultivate. Previously, it was rumored that the Dragon Elephant King gained a lot, and that was when he broke through in a secret room. Maybe he will rise another rank when he comes out again?"

"No way, can he still rise after reaching Heaven Dragon? This Dragon Elephant King just entered Heaven Dragon? Any higher, I'm afraid he'll ascend to become an immortal, right?"

The veteran didn't look back: "Who knows? Those geniuses are not the same species as us ordinary people. Haven't you heard that once the realm is high, it's hard to even have children? Only one such person appears in millions."

"Now this one—I think it should be the Prince of Huai. The Prince of Huai's realm is low, it doesn't affect the battle situation much, and I heard he made great contributions. It's estimated he exchanged for some precious medicine to swallow and refine."

"So that's it. Brother knows so much. Come, Brother, have a smoke, top-quality tobacco leaves! I brought them from my hometown."

The new recruit suddenly realized, opened his armor and lining, grabbed a small cloth bag and a fire starter, and without giving a chance to refuse, directly pulled out the brass pipe tucked in the veteran's waist, knocked out the old tobacco, stuffed it full of new tobacco leaves, and used the fire starter to light it against the wind.

"Hah! Little brother is too polite. Yo, good tobacco leaves! This taste has strength, soft on the throat, with a strong aftertaste. Where is your hometown? Listening to the accent, you don't look like a Northerner."

"Me? I'm from Sanshang. I came to the Western Army to seek a future. This is the golden leaf from my hometown in Sanshang. I only brought three liang."

"Golden leaf, no wonder—three liang of dry tobacco is quite a lot. Your family is quite rich, why run so far to be a soldier?"

"I didn't have the idea to come originally. A letter takes a year to go back and forth. Isn't it because the Imperial Court built some waterway last year? Now it takes a month, so I wanted to come out and explore."

"I remember now, the waterway, the thing that makes you vomit for three days after one ride. I was wondering why there are so many Southerners among the new recruits this year." The veteran bit the pipe, smacked his lips, let it pass through his lungs, and spat out a puff of white smoke into the cold wind. "It's no secret. You'll know after staying as long as I have."

"Then Brother, tell me more. I'll treat you to hot mutton soup tonight—"

"Huo—"

The two soldiers walked on the city wall, their figures blurred by the wind and snow.

In the Flowing Gold Sea, big fish whistled.

The old toad's iconic yellow skin bag disappeared, replaced by a palm-sized small bag at its waist.

"No-Foot Frog, charge!"

Cultivation has no years.

From mid-December to early January, it arrived in a flash. The weather became colder and the snow thicker, wrapped in silver.

Tatta Kai climbed onto the roof and used a bamboo pole to knock down the accumulated snow.

"Click, click, click."

Taking a deep breath, Liang Qu opened his shoulders, chest, abdomen, and back, his bones popping like firecrackers.

Just by observing with the naked eye, a mountain-like thickness emerged spontaneously, as if he were a human mountain.

Introspection of his own body.

Three hundred and fifty-fold root sea flowing.

A small epiphany, medium-grade creation medicine, plus half a month of cultivation, the combination of the three caused his root sea to surge by twenty-five-fold!

Liang Qu suspected that the total root sea of the old monk and the King of Yue combined did not grow as much as his single cultivation session.

The progress of the thousand-fold root sea had already crossed one-third, heading straight for one-half!

Secondly.

The towering nature of the first Dragon Court Xiandao and the structure of the Dragon Court, regardless of the second, were already more precise than the third!

The third stage of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body.

【Seal Heaven and Lock Earth】!

"The Master was indeed right, I am naturally suited for this technique!"

Liang Qu clenched his fists. Without using his heart fire, he grabbed with his five fingers, as if he had solidified and grasped the space within a radius of several hundred zhang. This divine ability was not derived solely from the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body, but had integrated the 【Nether Sea Cage】!

【Nether Sea Cage】 solidifies underwater space, making it difficult for people to move. Its disadvantage is that it is slow to activate, needs to be in the water, and the wave traces are obvious, making it hard to hit.

However, the instantaneous 【Seal Heaven and Lock Earth】 integrated the characteristic of making it difficult to move! It is not just about sealing space and blocking travel!

At the same time, the activation of Seal Heaven and Lock Earth signifies that Liang Qu's Dragon-Tiger Golden Body has reached the third stage of divine abilities!

As the secret, non-transmitted technique of the Hanging Temple, the promotion route of the core golden body of the "Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Taming Vajra Art" is very long and clear, and even comprehensive in function.

【Dragon-Tiger Golden Body】 itself is a powerful defensive divine ability and the root of thick blood.

The second stage, 【Point Earth into Steel】, is similar to a defensive field, protecting and extending to the ground, clothing, and everything around it, making it difficult to be destroyed. Fortunately, Liang Qu sublimated to this realm just after being promoted to Heaven Dragon, otherwise the flower-and-bird double-moon cave bed rewarded by the Holy Emperor would definitely have become a consumable.

The third stage is the current 【Seal Heaven and Lock Earth】, sealing space and blocking the most troublesome travel divine abilities among all divine abilities.

Even the third stage 【Seal Heaven and Lock Earth】 is not the entirety of the golden body divine abilities. At least on the path explored by the Hanging Temple, countless predecessors have followed one after another, and there are a total of five stages.

The fourth stage, 【Draw Earth as Prison】, places restrictions on the existence within the surrounding space. It has similarities with Liang Qu's integrated 【Nether Sea Cage】 version, but it is more powerful and can directly seal a certain characteristic of the opponent.

The fifth stage, 【Instant Invincibility】. The description of this fifth stage in the "Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Taming Vajra Art" is relatively vague. The general meaning is to exchange the long-term silence of the golden body for a moment of invincible-level defense, ignoring any means.

The cultivation of the second stage is still considered simple.

The difficulty of the third stage cultivation began to rise significantly.

Liang Qu was able to reach it so quickly, leaping over the second and third, definitely with the blessing of his own martial bones. This was the direct reason why the old monk came to his door in the past.

The fourth stage, 【Draw Earth as Prison】, is currently only alive and cultivated by one ancestor of the Hanging Temple. As for the fifth stage golden body, it has not appeared for a long time. Perhaps it will have to wait for Liang Qu to break this status quo.

Dao, Qi, Art.

All three are equally important.

The creation arts of the Wolf Lord and Zhang Longxiang are definitely not bad in rank, otherwise they wouldn't have annihilated most of each other, and then if they slashed at a low-rank Martial Saint, they would still almost kill the person.

If he could have 【Instant Invincibility】 at the East Sea Great Hunt, it would definitely be a top-tier trump card.

"Seventeenth-Layer River Lord, my 【Dragon-Slaying】 has also grown to the second stage, but there is no more functional performance. The third divine ability, 【Ying Dragon Killing Scripture】, still remains at the first layer."

Liang Qu observed the scale of the Dragon Courts on the three immortal islands and made an inference.

It's not that he doesn't want to sublimate Dragon-Slaying and the Ying Dragon Killing Scripture, but the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body has a direct route, is assisted by similar and non-similar precious medicines, and has the blessing of martial bones, getting twice the result with half the effort.

Dragon-Slaying and the Ying Dragon Killing Scripture are different.

Seeing the White Dragon King once, he already has six Long Qi in his hands. If another great demon dragon species comes, he can sublimate the Ying Dragon's favor once more.

"The Ying Dragon's favor shouldn't need dozens of layers. The River Lord only appeared with musical rhythm and golden eye transformation at the fifteenth layer, and the Ying Dragon only appeared with the key Heaven Pass Earth Axis at the fifth layer—"

"Waiting for the Dragon People and Dragon Sturgeon clans is too slow, I have to go to the Yellow Shahe to pan and see."

The two great dragon species in Jianghuai, the Dragon People and Dragon Sturgeon, the experts at the Great Demon and Perfected Form levels were basically slaughtered by the Flood Dragon, leaving no scraps to pick up. The remaining ones were protected by the Turtle King and Frog King like protected animals; the E River is in the Northern Court, and he can't go there;

Only the Yellow Shahe within the Great Shun territory, he doesn't know how much remains. Another day he will ask the Holy Emperor for a permit to travel the Yellow Sand.

Collect his thoughts.

The New Year is in late January this year, there are still twenty days left. The Master and the Xu family haven't come yet, and the Cao Shixiong should not have left seclusion either.

Fourteen resources of Unworldly Merit left!

Continue!

【Heaven-Sea Qiong Flower】

【A strange flower growing at the source of the spiritual vein, blooming once every hundred years. When it blooms, the surrounding spiritual energy forms a vortex, like a sea of clouds, filling the root sea.】

【Exchange requirement: Half an Unworldly Merit can be exchanged for one six-petaled Qiong Flower.】

【Note: The spiritual energy is abundant, it is not advisable to refine more than two petals per day, hold under the tongue.】

Water-attribute precious medicine. At the level of creation medicine, the quantity on the exchange list is significantly less than land precious medicine, the types are few, and there is not much to choose from, otherwise Liang Qu would definitely choose something like the Two-Life Flower, which is both similar and non-similar and water-attribute, to develop to the maximum extent.

Six petals fished out from the water.

Plucked two petals and held them under his tongue.

Ze Ding.

Long qi circulated, the Drought Demon floated, and the blue tide surged.

【Water-Ze Essence+】

【Water-Ze Essence: 898,900】

"Well done, well done! Flip him! Flip him!"

"Do him!"

Huaiyin Martial Hall, yellow earth high platform, two teenagers pinched each other's arms, head-to-head wrestling, sweating profusely in the middle of winter.

Students, parents, instructors, local villagers, local officials, tourists from other places—all in all, almost forming a huge scale of twenty or thirty thousand people, encouraging and cheering, lively and extraordinary. At first glance, one would think it was the Imperial Court's Martial Examination, selecting the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

"It's different now—" Lan Tai pillowing his head with both hands.

"What did Instructor Lan say?" Hu Qi turned his head.

"I said, it's different now."

"Yeah, it's different now."

Hu Qi and Xiang Zhangsong stared at the high platform, the sea of people roaring, recalling the small "Yang Family Martial Hall" that used to be in Pingyang Town.

At that time, there were at most thirty or forty people, a yellow earth field, and a large courtyard for accommodation in the back. How much has it grown now?

The "Zhaowu Mr." plaque rewarded by the Holy Emperor hung high in the house, the "Huaiyin Martial Hall" personally named by him shone in all directions, and there were more toilets than the original rooms.

Lan Tai looked around, feeling more than Hu Qi and the others.

He is Kou Zhuang's Cao Shixiong.

Kou Zhuang was born with strong bones, tall and strong, and because he was dull, he appeared steady. He was like a skinny monkey, and others said he looked like the Liang Shidi, and Kou Zhuang looked like the Cao Shixiong.

In the early years, because the county was ravaged by the Ghost Mother Sect, it happened that the Imperial Court wanted to change Pingyang to a prefecture, so he followed the Master to come and eat, thinking of sparring with the Yang Family Martial Hall to show off, but he didn't beat Liang Qu. Ten years later, this directly disintegrated, the entire martial hall was merged into the martial hall, and he became an instructor with the Master.

Kou Zhuang is now also developing under the Prince of Huai.

Many instructors in the martial hall came for this purpose.

Recalling, the two of them were also wrestling like the two on the high platform.

Lan Tai couldn't help but think, in these twelve or thirteen years, is it long or short?

"Roar! Won, won!"

"We are the champions!"

On the high platform, as a teenager fell down exhausted, raising dust, the last teenager stood swaying, cheering like a tsunami.

The final assessment of the Huaiyin Martial Hall officially came to an end. Xu Zishuai personally awarded prizes to the first place of different grades and registered credits.

It's just that the Galloping Horse side looked a little unconvinced at the award winner.

Everyone knew that the most excellent and capable batch of apprentices had already followed the Prince of Huai to the Northern Court to make military contributions. How could they come to participate in a small martial hall competition?

"Phew, finally finished." Xu Zishuai waved, "Go, go, go, is everything packed? Let's go to Heyuan to see the snow together! I heard from the Cao Shixiong long ago that the winter snow is as high as a horse's back. This time I must see if it's true or false."

January 21st.

The weather is cold, with accumulated snow but no wind or snow.

【Water-Ze Essence: 1,546,100】

The root sea was promoted to three hundred and fifty-seven-fold. Liang Qu, with thirteen and a half Unworldly Merits left, calmed his breath, sat for a while, and walked out of the quiet room.

"Oh!"

"Liang Shidi! Such big snow!"

With half his body buried in the snow, Xu Zishuai waved from afar.

"Wuhu, it's Cao Shixiong Xu! Master and Godmother!" A white shadow flashed, the Third Prince flew out, hands on hips, hovering, "Did you bring anything delicious for this Prince?"

"There is osmanthus cake, do you want to eat?"

"Eat, eat, eat!"

Yang Dongxiong, the Xu family, Yu Dun, Lu Gang—everyone jumped off the back of the water spider one by one, even Su Guishan, Xu Yuelong, Ko Wenbin, Xiang Fang Su, and other former colleagues all arrived.

The monkey grabbed the snowflakes on its fur and waved a shovel to shovel snow. Tatta Kai carried the luggage of the master and apprentice, opened his arms, and ran into the tent like a monk carrying water.

The Third Prince hugged with both claws, flicked its dragon tail, its mouth full of sticky glutinous rice osmanthus cake.

Liang Qu bloomed with a smile.

"Uncle, Brother Xu! Why did everyone come?"

"New Year's holiday, not coming is a waste. Following you kid to eat good food, see if the mutton compensated by the Northern Court tastes better!"

"Rare opportunity, stay together for two days, wait for the New Year to take the waterway back to the Imperial Capital, how convenient. The Prince of Huai is not what he used to be, he won't forget his old colleagues, right?" Ran Zhongshi laughed.

"Hahaha, good, good, good, I'll arrange it, I'll arrange it! It's cold outside, go into the house first, Eying!"

Long Eying took off the warmed white bear fur coat and draped it over the Xu family.

Xu Zishuai took down the last two pieces of luggage and looked around: "Hey, Ashui, where is the Cao Shixiong? Why don't I see him?"

Liang Qu said casually: "Cao Shixiong is in seclusion eating qi, I don't know if he can come out before the New Year."

"What?"

Everyone stopped.

"What what, is there anything strange?"

"No—"

"Click."

The iron chain hit the ground, colliding with the floor tiles, making a cold sound.

There was a commotion in front, and pedestrians wrapped in fur dodged.

The road was cleared, and a group of disheveled people with shackles on their feet lined up along the long street.

Xu Zishuai's attention was attracted by this special team: "Eh, who are these people? They wouldn't be Northern Court prisoners, right?"

"I don't know."

Liang Qu didn't know either. He had been in seclusion for a month, so he looked at Eying.

"They are prisoners." Long Eying looked twice, "Maybe deserters, maybe criminals, hard labor sent here. The Shuofang Terrace side is not stable, it's New Year, the soldiers want to celebrate the festival, worried that there are not enough people to watch, some people escaped, so they were pulled back to Heyuan Prefecture. Heyuan Prefecture's supplies are relatively sufficient. Since it's New Year, let them rest for two days."

"So that's it, then it's fine. Ashui, hurry up and tell me, how did Cao Shixiong eat qi? When did he open the mysterious light?"

"Yeah, hurry up, hurry up, is Cao Shixiong going to be Perfected Form this year?"

Noisy, the white mist sprayed from mouths intertwined.

The soldiers escorting the prisoners stopped briefly, bowed respectfully to Liang Qu, and after Liang Qu nodded, continued to escort the prisoners.

There were not many pedestrians in winter, and the noisy commotion attracted many eyes. Lu Xinqing raised his head, looking at Liang Qu in the lead through the gaps in his hair, feeling a bit familiar, but the time was too long, the memory too heavy, and after being redrawn time and time again, the appearance had already blurred into a ball.

It's so good.

Beautiful women, reunited families, glamorous big shots, pawns surrounded by crowds.

He looked up.

The sun in the sky was yellow and dizzy, like an egg yolk, red paper scraps were flying in the air, filled with the smell of sulfur.

A new year.

Liang Qu noticed the gaze, subconsciously swept over, then took it back, and continued to talk.

Disheveled, bearded, appearance unclear.

Can't remember.

Walked past each other.

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