Chapter 504: The Dispute Between North and South

Qingxu Sect, the place where the Sect Master cultivates the Dao, has an elegant environment.

The bamboo is lush and the forest is deep, with a stream flowing slowly through.

Tan Kong is dressed in Daoist robes, his spirit soaring.

Beside him, a young man wearing hemp clothes says: "Junior Brother, you want to use Uncle-Master Jiang's resources to enter the Academy.

Tonight is a good opportunity.

Tonight, you will guard the Dao Soldier together with Jiang Boye's disciple, Xia Yang.

At that time, you can talk to him and explain the pros and cons clearly.

That Xia Yang is merely an Ordinary disciple, his family background and talent are quite mediocre; if you clarify the benefits and harms, he should know what to do.

Remember, you are both disciples of the Sect; do not let this matter lead to bloodshed."

"Many thanks for informing me, Senior Brother, I have noted it." Tan Kong's expression is somewhat impatient.

Seeing this, the young man in hemp clothes can only emphasize: "That Xia Yang is a disciple whom Uncle-Master Jiang values quite highly; do not use force against him, lest you offend the Uncle-Master.

If so, I fear the Uncle-Master's resources will not be given to you."

"Mm-hmm." Tan Kong nods, bids farewell to the young man in hemp clothes, and leaves this bamboo forest.

One hour later, Tan Kong appears at the Front Mountain.

In the Front Mountain, there are many pilgrims.

At this time, Tan Kong is accompanying a pilgrim into a guest room.

After entering the guest room, a look of respect appears on the pilgrim's face.

"Young Master, I have brought the things you need."

This person holds a finely crafted sandalwood box and places it on the table.

Tan Kong opens the wooden box, inside which are placed a dozen sticks of incense.

In the Holy Sect, incense has a special meaning.

Burning incense is a ritual to complete a sacrifice; people pray to and communicate with the gods by burning incense.

And the people of the Holy Sect also like to light a stick of incense in their rooms in daily life.

Precious incense, once lit, has a refreshing fragrance that can make one's state of mind peaceful and is helpful for cultivation.

Moreover, some specially made incense also has benefits for the human body, serving to prolong life.

Tan Kong looks at the incense and sniffs it lightly: "Dragon Pattern Incense, one stick of incense for one tael of silver; it's a bargain for that old fellow."

Among many types of incense, Dragon Pattern Incense belongs to a relatively precious kind.

Its value is equivalent to the same volume of silver.

There is also higher-grade incense, with a value equivalent to the same volume of Gold.

Tan Kong puts the incense away and asks: "Are you sure the incense is foolproof?"

"This incense was made by that great person himself; it is absolutely foolproof," this person says obsequiously.

Hearing this, a look of awe also appears in Tan Kong's eyes.

That person is the truly big figure.

And he is the one worth serving.

"Go back and tell that big figure that the matter he entrusted will certainly be completed by Tan Kong.

Tan Kong will also join the Academy and accept the remaining benefits."

Beside him, the old man nods hurriedly: "Young Master, you must be careful in the Qingxu Sect."

"Mm." Tan Kong nods, holds the box, and leaves the guest room.

Night falls.

Lin Chao changes into loose clothing and arrives at the valley.

Tonight, he and Tan Kong will guard the Qingxu Sect's only Dao Soldier.

The Qingxu Sect's only Dao Soldier is in the thatched cottage in the valley.

Lin Chao arrives early and sees a thin figure.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Tan Kong." Lin Chao greets him as usual.

This Tan Kong is a newly accepted disciple of the Qingxu Sect Master.

According to his master, he is also the son of the Chamber of Commerce president in Luo Ma County, which can be considered a wealthy family.

Seeing Lin Chao, a kind look appears in Tan Kong's eyes: "Junior Brother Xia Yang, right? I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that I would be on duty with you."

Lin Chao also casually echoes him.

The two go together to the thatched cottage where the Dao Soldier is kept.

A faint fragrance permeates the air.

In the thatched cottage, many sticks of incense and candles are lit.

However, approaching the thatched cottage, Lin Chao feels a chill and cannot help but shiver.

Seeing this, Tan Kong smiles: "Junior Brother must be guarding a Dao Soldier for the first time.

Our Qingxu Sect's Dao Soldier is named Gou Han.

The place where the Dao Soldier resides can turn the area into a Cold Domain."

Lin Chao shows a look of surprise: "The Dao Soldier is actually so strange."

However, this level is not as good as air conditioning.

"The reason why a Dao Soldier User can suppress one hundred and thirty prefectures is by relying on the Dao Soldier.

We who cultivate Literary Arts and enter the Academy to cultivate, our life's pursuit is to be able to receive the imperial court's reward and obtain a Dao Soldier." Mentioning this, Tan Kong's words carry a look of longing.

"I don't know what a Dao Soldier... looks like; I really want to touch one." Lin Chao glanced at the thatched cottage, feeling some anticipation in his heart.

He wanted to go in and test whether the Dao Soldier had any resistance toward him.

If there were resistance, then he would have to change his strategy and could no longer enter the academy.

Otherwise, he would be viewed as a follower of the Great Brightness Sect.

Such people are all wanted criminals of the imperial court; how could they cultivate Literary Arts to perform meritorious service?

"Junior Brother Xia Yang, do not be reckless.

Dao Soldiers are strange; not just anyone can make contact with them.

If we have not cultivated our Literary Arts to the Nascent Soul realm, making rash contact with a Dao Soldier will cause our minds to become chaotic, lead us into madness, and greatly reduce our cultivation.

And for some Dao Soldiers, the Literary Arts cultivation required to control them is even higher," Tan Kong said.

Hearing this, Lin Chao could not help but nod.

This person Tan Kong seemed quite decent, even willing to tell him these things.

"My cultivation is currently only at the Golden Core stage; even if I obtained the lowest-grade Dao Soldier, I would be unable to use it." Mentioning this, Tan Kong's eyes were filled with a look of lament.

Lin Chao asked: "One must be at least at the Nascent Soul realm to control a Dao Soldier?"

Hearing this, Tan Kong nodded: "Dao Soldiers are too miraculous; if one's cultivation is too low, rather than saying one is controlling the Dao Soldier, it is more accurate to say one is being controlled by the Dao Soldier."

"Doesn't that mean that for the imperial court, all those at the Golden Core stage are useless?" Lin Chao inquired.

He knew that the entire Qingxu Sect currently only had a few Nascent Soul cultivators.

The rest were all at the Golden Core stage or below.

If they cultivated their whole lives and could not reach the Nascent Soul realm, thus unable to obtain the qualifications to control a Dao Soldier, wouldn't all their previous efforts be in vain?

That would be too wasteful.

Hearing this, Tan Kong took an extra look at Lin Chao: "Junior Brother Xia Yang, did Uncle-Master Jiang not tell you about the North-South conflict?"

Hearing this, Lin Chao looked puzzled: "I do not know."

He only knew that the groups from the South and the North had always had disputes.

Tan Kong then said: "Actually, thirty years ago, among us Southerners, a true sage appeared; his name was Gongshu Ji.

He founded the Gongshu School and proposed the 'Dao Soldier Division Theory', wanting to change the pattern where Northerners hold power and seven-tenths of the world's Dao Soldiers belong to the North."

Lin Chao did not know much about these things.

After all, he had no channel to obtain information.

"The North-South conflict has been great since ancient times; the root cause is the issue of Dao Soldier ownership.

The Dao Soldiers in the world have a fixed quota.

For every one more the Northerners have, the Southerners have one less.

In our Zhenyuan Kingdom, the number of Southerners is fifty percent higher than the number of Northerners.

However, the Dao Soldiers controlled by Northerners account for seventy percent of those in the world.

Dao Soldiers represent military force and represent power; controlling Dao Soldiers means controlling power.

Those Northerners who control Dao Soldiers, even if they die, will not let the Dao Soldiers in their hands flow to the South.

Therefore, the Northerners have always been powerful, and the Southerners have always been weak."

As Tan Kong spoke, a complex look appeared in his eyes, "Therefore, many Southern students say that having talent is not as good as having a good background.

Our Southern students are not inferior to Northern students in terms of talent; some are even superior.

The North-South conflict became increasingly serious, and the imperial court also made some changes.

Thirty years ago, they conducted a North-South Examination as a trial.

As a result, among the top one hundred, there were seventy-two Southern students.

Gongshu Ji was the first among them.

But so what?

What use was that?

That year, the Zhenyuan Academy admitted one hundred heaven-gifted talents from one hundred and thirty academies; among them, seventy were Northerners and thirty were Southerners.

This caused dissatisfaction among Southern students, so the imperial court immediately banned the North-South Examination.

The North-South Examination was just a flash in the pan; now many people do not even know about that examination."

Hearing this, Lin Chao said: "There are too many geniuses, and too few Dao Soldiers."

"The world does not lack geniuses; what it lacks is Dao Soldiers," Tan Kong said. "What does it matter if one's talent is high? As long as one can control a Dao Soldier, who controls it doesn't matter? Of course, it is best if one's own people control them."

The level of talent only determines the speed of cultivation.

Once the minimum requirement for controlling a Dao Soldier is reached, the gap between talents is actually useless.

A person's strength, or rather their combat power, depends on the Dao Soldier they control, not their cultivation.

Therefore, others do not care at all how stunning your talent is.

"So, the biggest conflict between the North and South is actually that resources are insufficient, which is to say, the number of Dao Soldiers is insufficient," Lin Chao sighed.

Anyone could see this kind of thing clearly.

"So, Gongshu Ji was truly stunning and peerless; the 'Dao Soldier Division Theory' he created could mass-produce Dao Soldier Embryos.

This kind of Dao Soldier Embryo is replicated and forged based on an existing Dao Soldier.

Although a Dao Soldier Embryo is not as good as a Dao Soldier and has a limited number of uses, it can still exert some of a Dao Soldier's power.

It is just that it causes some damage to the original Dao Soldier.

Back then, Gongshu Ji proposed gathering all the world's Dao Soldiers in one place to manufacture Dao Soldier Embryos in batches.

If that were done, the number of Dao Soldier Users in the world would increase tenfold or hundredfold.

Then, the national strength of the Zhenyuan Kingdom would double."

It is a pity... Gongshu Ji died suddenly before he could promote his "Dao Soldier Division Theory."

"The Gongshu School also became a taboo, and only in our southern academy are there still some members of the Gongshu School," Tan Kong said calmly.

Lin Chao was not surprised upon hearing this.

Gongshu Ji's approach seemed very beautiful and idealistic.

But... this was cutting the flesh of the existing Dao Soldier Users.

Letting old Dao Soldier Users bring out new Dao Soldier Users.

How could those vested interests be willing?

"Dao Soldier Embryos also became contraband.

As for the 'Dao Soldier Division Theory,' it also disappeared," Tan Kong said, then glanced at Lin Chao.

"If Junior Brother Xia Yang uses Uncle-Master Jiang's resources to enter the academy, then Junior Brother will be treated as someone from the Gongshu School.

In the academy, you will likely be targeted, and furthermore, it will be very difficult to obtain a Dao Soldier.

After all, those who blocked the promotion of the 'Dao Soldier Division Theory' back then included not only Dao Soldier Users from the north but also Dao Soldier Users from the south."

"Many thanks for the reminder, Senior Brother," Lin Chao thanked him, but as for other words, he did not say them.

He understood the meaning in Tan Kong's words.

That is, relying on Jiang Boye to enter the academy would be dangerous for him.

Therefore, retreat!

Tan Kong looked at Lin Chao, smiled, and did not continue on this topic; he said, "I heard that Uncle-Master Jiang has always loved burning incense.

I recently happened to acquire some Dragon Pattern Incense, which I wish to offer to Uncle-Master Jiang as a gesture of respect.

Junior Brother Xia Yang, you shall be the one to deliver the Dragon Pattern Incense to Uncle-Master Jiang."

As Tan Kong spoke, he turned and left, and not long after, he returned holding a sandalwood box.

Lin Chao took the sandalwood box, a look of curiosity flashing in his eyes: "I thank Senior Brother Tan Kong on behalf of my master."

Is Tan Kong trying to build favor with his master?

The item he sent is truly thoughtful.

Lin Chao knew that his master always lit a stick of incense before going to sleep every night.

However, they were all Ordinary incense.

How could they compare to Dragon Pattern Incense?

"Small matter," Tan Kong said.

The two of them stood guard outside the thatched cottage, entering from time to time to replace the incense that had burned out inside with new ones.

Every time he changed the incense, Lin Chao felt his head becoming dizzy and heavy.

Tan Kong said, his face also carrying a trace of sleepiness: "The incense here, if you smell too much of it, it easily makes one grow drowsy.

If Junior Brother wants to sleep, you can take a short nap.

However, the two of us must not both fall asleep together.

Otherwise, if the incense isn't changed, that won't do."

"Mm," Lin Chao nodded.

He himself was indeed feeling some sleepiness now, feeling dizzy and muddled.

The two stood guard outside the grass hut, taking turns entering to replace the incense and candles.

When the moon reached the middle of the sky, Tan Kong left from outside the thatched cottage.

The sleepiness on his face became more and more severe, and he even yawned while walking.

Lin Chao also looked somewhat sleepy.

Tan Kong glanced at Lin Chao, did not communicate, and leaned against a pillar.

About a quarter of an hour passed, and Lin Chao whispered: "Senior Brother?"

Tan Kong did not respond.

"Asleep?"

Lin Chao revealed a smile.

When changing the incense earlier, he had added something to the incense.

Tan Kong was currently sleeping soundly.

Seeing this, Lin Chao entered the grass hut once again.

Inside the grass hut, smoke curled, and there was a chill.

Lin Chao's gaze fell upon the Dao Soldier Gou Han.

The entire room was complete with Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and Gou Han was the final Gold of the five elements.

It was an iron hook with frost covering it.

Lin Chao looked at Gou Han, his figure slowly approaching Gou Han.

Finally, his hand landed on Gou Han.

A look of relief appeared in Lin Chao's eyes: "The Dao Soldier did not resist me, so... I will not be treated as a member of an evil cult."

However, thinking of something, Lin Chao brought the place on his left hand where a crack had appeared in his dream closer to Gou Han.

A scene that surprised Lin Chao occurred.

The Dao Soldier... Gou Han, was resisting him!

He felt a resistance preventing him from approaching.

Gou Han's entire body was still trembling.

Lin Chao was stunned: "So, what does this make me?"

His master Jiang Boye said that any person of an evil cult, upon approaching a Dao Soldier, would be resisted by the Dao Soldier.

When he approaches a Dao Soldier, the Dao Soldier does not resist him.

However, if he thinks in his heart that the crack in his hand is approaching a Dao Soldier, the Dao Soldier will resist it.

"So, as I am now, is only that crack on my body from an evil cult?"

Lin Chao felt quite surprised.

But fortunately, this does not affect anything.

As long as he pays attention, he can still control the Dao Soldier.

Anyone who is not resisted by a Dao Soldier and is not a person of an evil cult is qualified to control a Dao Soldier.

Of course, the premise is that he must have the opportunity to control a Dao Soldier.

(End of this chapter)