Chapter 52: Qilihe Workshop

"I see firelight swirling around you, but the other four phases are slightly inferior. Is this because you have only opened the Heart Mansion? When I saw Sukong and Suxing, they should have been only a few years older than you are now, but they had already opened all five mansions, just waiting to rush the palace. You are a latecomer, so you can't be worse than us old ones."

Knowing Cheng Yunqi's identity, Daoist Tianfang spoke very kindly, and of course, it might be that the Daoist was such an approachable person, and he was still teasing Cheng Yunqi at this moment.

Cheng Yunqi bowed and said shyly: "Daoist, you are flattering me. My elders have higher talent, and I am hard to reach their backs. Moreover, I haven't opened the mansion yet, just roughly knowing the Zhou Tian, which is really shameful."

The Daoist was a little surprised,

"That doesn't look like it. I see your whole body's fire Qi like a torch, and your Qi and blood like smoke. Walking in the sunlight, it feels even more like harmonizing with the light and dust. I have also seen some inner alchemy Dao cultivators of the first realm. Even those who have opened the Heart Mansion are not as atmospheric as you. In my impression, only Sukong and Suxing can compare with you. But they had also opened the Heart Mansion at that time, hehe, so I just said that I still have to look at you young people."

Cheng Yunqi bowed, "Daoist, you are flattering me."

"But it looks like Wen Sukong's disciple. Both of you have big hearts. One dares to walk, one dares to let go. Can't you stay in the mountains?"

Cheng Yunqi smiled, "Before I entered the mountain, I stayed in a small town. My parents were old and couldn't travel. After cultivating the Dao, I couldn't hold back and always wanted to come out to see other worlds. Daoist, look, the Miao border forest is so magnificent, with stilt houses, golden chickens, and white dogs. If I only stayed in the mountains, I wouldn't know when I would be able to see them!"

Daoist Tianfang clapped his hands upon hearing this, "What you said is very good, Little Friend. I have stayed in this piece of heaven and earth for too long and don't want to move my body. I should learn from you."

Cheng Yunqi said repeatedly that he didn't dare.

The two walked up the mountain for two quarters of an hour, and they could see some palaces. Cheng Yunqi found that the roofs of these palaces were covered with green tiles, and the eaves were made into the shape of a green dragon raising its head, with the dragon head hidden in the lush tree branches, looking mysterious and majestic.

Daoist Tianfang took Cheng Yunqi into a palace. People passing by called him Feather Master, Uncle-Master, or Grand-Uncle-Master, and the Daoist nodded and smiled at them one by one. Thinking that he traveled with Master Sukong and was already at the beginning of the second realm at that time, he should be a third-realm cultivator now, yet he looked so easygoing and was still guarding the mountain gate. It really is that one cannot judge a person by their appearance.

"Master of the House, this is a wandering Daoist from the Biyun Temple on Qingshen Mountain in the East, who wants to register in our Green Dragon Cave. This poor Daoist will provide a guarantee."

The one called Master of the House by Daoist Tianfang was a middle-aged Daoist who looked about the same age as Daoist Tianfang, but his actual age should be much younger than Daoist Tianfang. He nodded repeatedly after standing up and asked Cheng Yunqi to write his name, mountain gate Dharma lineage, and today's date in an account book.

After Daoist Tianfang took Cheng Yunqi away, the Master of the House looked at "Qingshen Mountain Biyun Temple" in the account book and scratched his head. This name seemed to have been heard of, but thinking about it carefully, he couldn't remember what was going on?

After leaving the registration room, Cheng Yunqi looked at the many people bustling opposite, so he took a glance, but found that it was the place to issue order arrows. This was exactly the original intention of his registration, so he asked Daoist Tianfang,

"May I ask Daoist, can a wandering Daoist like me who has registered in your temple receive order arrows?"

Daoist Tianfang nodded, "You just registered in the registration room, so naturally you can. And recently, there has been a lot of movement in the Southern Wilderness, and the temple is worried that there are few people to take the order arrows. But you have just arrived, don't you want to rest?"

Cheng Yunqi said with a smile: "I have rested enough for the past ten years. Now I just want to move more. Please wait for me for a moment, Daoist."

Daoist Tianfang nodded, and Cheng Yunqi entered the affairs room.

In the affairs room, it was crowded with people, some taking tasks and some handing in tasks. Handing in tasks and receiving rewards required queuing, but taking tasks was very convenient. Many red cloth strips hung from the beams, with the task content, reward, and required items for handing in written on them. It was very clear. Under the cloth strips were order arrows with card numbers. If you wanted to take a task, you just had to pick the order arrow and register. The action was very fast, and there was no need to queue.

Cheng Yunqi scanned quickly and found that a few were really suitable, especially the rewards for handing in tasks were exactly what he wanted.

So he squeezed into the crowd, quickly pulled a few order arrows, and then went to register.

The one responsible for registration was a Kun Daoist. She took the order arrow, looked at the card number, and knew what task it was. She first asked,

"What is your name, Fellow Daoist?"

"Cheng Qieqing, Cheng as in grain, Qie as in and, Qing as in water."

The Kun Daoist wrote like a dragon and snake, and muttered in her mouth, "Cheng Qieqing, received three orders, namely: supply talismans to Qilihe Workshop for one month or one hundred sheets, namely: thunder fire refining filth at Qilihe Workshop for one month or fifty times, namely: slay twenty demon soldiers."

After writing, the Kun Daoist said again, "This Fellow Daoist, these three order arrows you received can be used to collect rewards after completing the specified amount, or you can accumulate them and collect them together if you exceed the amount. Also, here, this is the Mirror of Moon Reflection. Sometimes when things are urgent or the tasks performed are not easy to prove, you can use this object to leave an image, but when returning the order arrow, this object must also be returned. Don't lose it; it's very expensive and you'll have to pay for it. The rest is written clearly on the cloth strips. The demon tide is surging, Fellow Daoist, be careful."

Cheng Yunqi nodded and thanked her, took the order arrow and a jade mirror half the size of a palm, and left the affairs room.

Daoist Tianfang saw Cheng Yunqi coming out with three order arrows and said with a smile: "You are really going to be busy as soon as you arrive."

Cheng Yunqi held the order arrow and bowed to Daoist Tianfang, "Thank you for leading me into the mountain and guaranteeing my registration. I won't stay in the temple. I plan to go directly to the front. My long sword has been hidden in its sheath for many years, just like my heart, which is really hard to calm!"

Daoist Tianfang nodded and smiled, "Go, go, young people are all like this. Refining magic, slaying demons, and gaining fame are all good things. But be careful. If you are tired, come back to the temple to rest before going out. This kind of battle is always long."

Cheng Yunqi bid farewell.

————

Qilihe Workshop is about seventy or eighty miles south of Wangchun Mountain, on the same line as Three-River Gorge. It is a small stronghold on the Miao border side of the battlefield. Because there is a river of seven miles, it is called Qilihe Workshop.

Cheng Yunqi galloped all the way with the dog and soon arrived near Qilihe.

Qilihe is a small river, no more than twenty steps wide. It is in a dense forest. If he hadn't checked the road in advance at Green Dragon Temple, it would have been really hard to find.

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Cheng Yunqi went upstream along the river and walked deep into the dense forest. After a few steps, he was stopped by a few Miao villagers, all of whom had small injuries. Cheng Yunqi pulled out the order arrow with the dragon pattern drawn behind his waist and shook it. The faces of those people were happy, and they said,

"So it's the little Daoist master from Green Dragon Temple."

Cheng Yunqi said: "I dare not. You must be the workshop guards. This poor Daoist has received the order arrows for drawing talismans and refining filth. Please take me to the Green Dragon Temple's stall."

The few naturally said okay, and one of them stepped forward and led Cheng Yunqi into the forest.

After walking a few steps, the sound of people gradually became noisy. On both sides of the small river were densely packed thatched huts and mats, and there were wooden houses on some trees. Some people were setting up stalls to sell, some were sitting in meditation to accumulate magic power, and some were healing injuries. Most of them had injuries, and the heads of some demons were thrown on the ground, thinking that they would be taken back to their respective villages or the temple to hand in tasks and collect rewards soon.

Suddenly, a strange face, a little Daoist, appeared. Those passing by all took a few looks, but seeing that Cheng Yunqi had the order arrow of Green Dragon Temple and was followed by Bai Long'er, they had no guard against Cheng Yunqi, and many people took the initiative to greet Cheng Yunqi.

Finally, the Miao workshop guard brought Cheng Yunqi to a thatched hut stall and said that this was the Green Dragon Temple's stall. Cheng Yunqi only needed to set up the flag. The previous stall owner disappeared the day before yesterday, and he didn't know if he was dead or hiding somewhere to heal.

Cheng Yunqi looked at the tables and chairs in the thatched hut, the boxes with the Green Dragon Temple's seal, and a few flags on the ground, with words like "Refining Filth," "Drawing Talismans," "Refining Elixirs," "Repairing Artifacts," and "Healing Injuries" written on them.

Cheng Yunqi walked in and picked up the small flags of "Refining Filth" and "Drawing Talismans" together and inserted them at the door. This was to tell the people in the workshop that Green Dragon Temple had sent someone, and those whose magic artifacts were contaminated or who needed talismans could come here to solve it. ===== CHAPTER 53 =====