Chapter 408: Confucian skin, Daoist bones, Buddhist heart, stone statue stirs the world to rebel!

【Days go by as usual, and the grass and trees in the courtyard have sprouted new buds, and the spring atmosphere is getting stronger.】

【People come to visit the small courtyard every few days, especially the head courtesans of the West Chamber Building, who come particularly frequently.】

【The threshold of your small courtyard has almost been worn down, but no one opens their mouth to seek poems. After all, the story of Su Yaya buying one of your poems and one of your paintings for four million taels of silver has long spread throughout Above Bianjing, and a group of women naturally shrink back.】

【During this period, there was an interesting story!】

【Hu Yunniang and Yun Wan won the top ten positions in the Qunfang Banquet and successfully left Yuehua Pavilion, no longer being official courtesans, and restored their status as commoners.】

【Yun Wan and Hu Yunniang used their savings from many years to open a restaurant on Changning Street, where the Xie Mansion is located. They were originally experts in welcoming and sending off guests, plus the fame of being head courtesans and the patronage of former sisters and guests, the restaurant business was booming, and guests were endless.】

【Hu Yunniang and the others specially came to ask you to name the restaurant.】

【You wrote the two words "Taiping" (Peace) and hung them on the restaurant's plaque.】

【At the opening, you also let Sister Wu Tong send a congratulatory gift, which was the liveliest event on Changning Street recently.】

【After Sister Wu Tong returned, she excitedly recounted the grand occasion of the restaurant, seeing a group of Yuehua Pavilion women all moved to tears.】

【For these women who had fallen to the ends of the earth, the status of a commoner, like falling leaves returning to their roots, was enough to comfort the dust.】

【Zhang Yuanlai went to the Academy to study, and Feng Yaya helped out at the Taiping Restaurant after her redemption; life was stable.】

【During this period, many students from the Academy also came to ask for advice on poetry and learning, but after being warned by their teachers, no more students came.】

【The Academy's reaction to the Qunfang Banquet was also mediocre.】

【Zhang Yunzhi was strange; the Academy was not a place that followed the rules, but why would the Academy forbid students from associating with Xie Guan? This made her unable to understand.】

【In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.】

【Xie Yuan used to come every day, but he hasn't been seen for the past few days. Because his martial arts cultivation has deepened, he is exhausted every day and falls asleep after completing the medicinal bath for cultivation.】

【Madam Zhuge invited teachers from the Academy again to teach Xie Yuan the cultivation method of the Primordial Spirit. Half a month passed, and Xie Yuan also entered the first realm of the Primordial Spirit, "Induction."】

【Xie Yuan was overjoyed and specially came to find you to perform his unique skill of the first realm of the Primordial Spirit, "Hearing Sound and Distinguishing Position."】

【He wanted to pass this Primordial Spirit cultivation method to you, but was strictly forbidden by the teacher of the Academy.】

【"The Law is not passed to six ears!" the teacher said seriously.】

【Xie Yuan was somewhat disappointed; he always felt that if he cultivated the "Martial Dao Primordial Spirit," the gap between him and you would become wider and wider.】

【This feeling made him irritable, but he was helpless.】

【Since then, he has rarely come to your courtyard to talk about martial arts and Primordial Spirit cultivation.】

【Gongsun Niangzi came once these past few days. She has left Zi Xiao Pavilion but has no intention of staying in Above Bianjing, only staying in this small place for two months before leaving.】

【Everyone has their own ambitions!】

【As for the matter of your opening, it seems to have been forgotten by everyone, no one mentioned it, and you don't care.】

【Days flowed like water; you still read and cultivate in the small courtyard, and life is peaceful.】

【You live a fulfilling life every day, only changing the night cultivation to the time of sunrise.】

【Just five days later, your dispersed cultivation was fully restored, and because you refined the essence of the sun, your Primordial Spirit can appear in the daylight, not fearing the sun.】

【You must know that to be able to reveal the Primordial Spirit under the red sun, one needs to reach the tenth realm of the Yang Spirit.】

【In this half month, every time Sister Wu Tong returned from the vegetable market, she would tell you a piece of news: the price of rice in the vegetable market was rising every day.】

【The reason is that more and more refugees are pouring into the Jing-Shi Road, and the supply from the government and the imperial court is stretched thin.】

【In Above Bianjing, storms are rising, and people are panicked.】

【Sister Wu Tong, taking advantage of the fact that there is still silver at home, prepared more food to prevent accidents.】

【However, these things have nothing to do with the Nine Great Surnames. Raising the price of rice was specifically arranged by them; now the Nine Great Surnames have rice warehouses in every household, and grain is piled up like a mountain, enough to eat for ten years.】

【Sister Wu Tong once said that many stewards in the mansion recently cleaned the granaries and found that much of the grain had become moldy. The Nine Great Surnames would rather let the grain rot in their own cellars than use it to its full potential.】

【Today at noon.】

【You sent off Zhou Yuner and the others and stood in the courtyard to practice martial arts; you have already reached the fifth realm of Martial Dao, "Spring Thunder." The medicinal power of the Demon Master's "Heavenly Demon Blood Marrow" and Venerable Kumu's "Dragon Eye Bodhi" has not yet been fully digested.】

【Thanks to this, your Martial Dao foundation has become more solid these days.】

【You no longer practice the "Taizu Holy Ape Stance" copied by Sima Ting. Venerable Kumu once reminded you that although the first six realms of this technique have no problems, the upper three realms have buried many hidden dangers and counter-measures, and the descendants of the Nine Great Surnames only use it to build a foundation.】

【The techniques of the upper three realms are only possessed by the Great Qi imperial family, so one can know that there must be tricks in them, and you don't care about it.】

【You practice two Martial Dao precious techniques simultaneously: one is the "Jin Gang Indestructible Body Divine Skill" gifted by Venerable Kumu; this is a Buddhist martial art, and when practiced to completion, the Jin Gang is indestructible and can reach the ninth realm directly.】

【However, practicing Buddhist techniques, I fear it is difficult to enter the Academy of Great Qi. The current Academy will not tolerate someone who knows Buddhist techniques, but you don't care about this.】

【The second is the "Purple Mist Cave Demon True Scripture" gifted by the Demon Master, which is a method of internal energy superposition, with nine layers in total, each layer doubling the internal strength, even comparable to the "Great Huangting" of the Sanzhen Sect, with internal breath as vast as the sea.】

【Your Martial Dao path, practicing both Buddha and Demon, are both precious techniques that can reach the ninth realm of Martial Dao directly.】

【One cultivates the outer bones, skin, and membranes, and the second cultivates the inner dantian, complementing each other and adding radiance to each other.】

【You have already practiced these two techniques to the fifth realm of Martial Dao these days, and the middle three realms are also a matter of course. You estimate that in another half month, you will break through to the sixth realm of Martial Dao, "Winding Fingers," and will also face the second chasm of Martial Dao, the "Upper Three Realms."】

【You take off your upper garment, heat rolling on your body, operating the "Jin Gang Indestructible Body Divine Skill," and a golden luster appears on your body surface.】

【A phantom of a Buddha Arhat condenses behind you; you take a deep breath, and the collision of your two hands actually makes the sound of metal and iron knocking.】

【You set up a fist frame, and the spine behind you twists like a big dragon, making a burst of explosions.】

【You exhale slowly again, the Buddha light disappears, replaced by eerie demonic energy.】

【Two completely different techniques of true qi intertwine in your body; you felt strange when you first practiced, thinking that both sides would be incompatible like water and fire.】

【However, beyond your expectations, the two merged without any conflict.】

【You gradually understand Xie Hong's painstaking efforts at the time; he has always sent you classics of the three schools of Buddha, Confucianism, and Dao, letting you study them.】

【Xie Hong is the life-bound essence condensed with the learning of the three schools as the foundation, not inferior to the Master's fusion of the hundred schools with Buddhist techniques.】

【You sigh in your heart: "It seems that all martial arts in the world are the same; there is a saying, Confucian skin, Daoist bones, Buddhist heart."】

【At this time!】

【You lift your finger slightly, and the clear water in the large water vat in the courtyard surges like a spirit snake, washing the sweat on your upper body.】

【You shake your hair, your skin and membranes swelling, like steam evaporating from the Yunmeng Marsh, and the water vapor on your body evaporates instantly.】

【You put on your outer garment, tidy up your hair, and walk toward the courtyard gate.】

【A hurried figure runs over, followed by a person.】

【The person is Xie Yuan; perhaps because you became famous after the Qunfang Banquet, he dismissed all his former playmates, leaving only Xie Houer.】

【"Brother Guan, something big is wrong!"】

【Xie Yuan arrives in a hurry, his expression excited; as he crosses the threshold, he glances down and sees the threshold broken, and cannot help but be stunned: "Brother Guan, why is your threshold broken like this?"】

【"Sixth Brother, what is the rush?"】

【Xie Yuan hurriedly answers: "Rebellion! Everything is rebelling!"】

【You furrow your brows slightly, and suddenly your heart stirs, asking in a deep voice: "Could it be the matter of governing the Yellow River?"】

【Xie Yuan nods, anxious: "According to the reports from the Ministry of War and the Governor of Jiangnan Road today, the corvée laborers mobilized for the Yellow River went on strike collectively the day before yesterday. In the evening, two supervisors actually joined hands with the laborers and killed the mobilizing general who was guarding them; the situation instantly spiraled out of control. Thirty thousand laborers rose up, took advantage of the night to enter the camp, and killed ten thousand Great Qi garrison troops."】

【"The latest military intelligence says that this Yellow River rebellion has gathered nearly forty thousand people in Jiangnan Road, surrounding the Jiangnan Road prefecture."】

【After speaking, his eyes are still full of shock.】

【Such a large-scale uprising has not appeared in Great Qi for several hundred years.】

【You hear this, your brows locked tightly. So much gold and silver was raised at the Qunfang Banquet, not used to govern the Yellow River; why, after only half a month, has there been such a change?】

【Xie Yuan sits on a stone chair, sips tea, looks into the courtyard, and asks: "Where is Sister Wu Tong?"】

【"She went to the vegetable market on the street."】

【Xie Yuan hurriedly says: "The streets of Above Bianjing are all blocked now, chaos is everywhere, the streets are full of people grabbing food, people are panicked; better let Sister Wu Tong come back quickly."】

【"No matter, she is with the Fourth Cousin, and there are guards from the Xie family."】

【Xie Yuan nods, then shows a look of confusion: "How could this news spread so fast? The imperial court just learned of it not long ago, and the people of Above Bianjing already know."】

【You say slowly: "Perhaps someone did it on purpose, deliberately spreading the news."】

【"If there was no layout in advance to take precautions, how could it be so fast? The civil and military officials stationed at the Yellow River are definitely not all fools."】

【Xie Yuan continues: "The day before the incident, someone dug up a bronze statue in the Yellow River, wearing a red cloth, eyes wide open, extremely terrifying. A Daoist passed by and said this was the Heavenly Evil Star sealed at the bottom of the Yellow River; now that it has appeared, the world will be in chaos."】

【"The supervising general drove the Daoist away, and in the afternoon, the laborers went on strike."】

【"Daoist?" You are slightly stunned; for some reason, the shadow of the Sanzhen Sect appears in your mind—this leader of the Daoist school in the world, could it be that the Sanzhen Sect is involved in this?】

【You ponder for a moment and ask: "What banner are they flying now?"】

【Xie Yuan's expression is solemn: "The banner they are flying is a prophecy that has been circulating in Jiangnan Road—'Do not say the common people are not angry; one day they will burn the homes of the princes'."】

【"The leader calls himself 'Red-Eyed Heavenly Venerable,' and everyone wears a red cloth to show it, also called the 'Red-Eyed Army'."】

【"Alas... this world, after all, is going to be in chaos."】

【Xie Yuan sighs: "The Red-Eyed Army is coming fiercely; if the imperial court reacts slowly, Jiangnan Road fears it will fall into a catastrophe."】

【His tone is heavy, and he continues: "The Ministry of War is gathering troops, but Jiangnan Road is a thousand miles away from Above Bianjing; I fear the distant water cannot save the near fire."】

【"There is one more thing; originally Father was scheduled to return to the capital tomorrow, but now he has been transferred by Prime Minister Su to Jiangnan Road to suppress the rebellion; this... he can't even enter his own home."】

【You nod gently; although this matter is unexpected, it is also reasonable.】

【Under the rule of Great Qi, taxes are heavy, coupled with the Yellow River's rampage and natural disasters, the people are suffering, and uprisings are constant.】

【The laborers mobilized to govern the Yellow River this time are mostly slaves of the Nine Great Surnames. The Nine Great Surnames received silver from the imperial court but did not care about their lives, wantonly deducting wages and rations, causing the laborers to live in extreme poverty.】

【The river governance project is huge, and the labor is heavy. Many laborers died from overwork or plague. Working day and night, most of them could not even live for a month.】

【You look at Xie Yuan's worried expression and ask: "Sixth Brother, why are you suddenly so concerned about the major affairs of the country?"】

【Xie Yuan drinks water again, his tone solemn: "If a man doesn't worry about the country, does he have to think about the belly of a young lady all day? My Xie family is, after all, founded on military merit."】

【"Sixth Brother having this heart is a good thing."】

【Xie Yuan stands up and says: "Brother Guan, don't go out recently; Above Bianjing is also getting chaotic."】

【He looks up at the sky; although the morning sun is high, it is difficult to dispel the haze in his eyes: "This world is becoming less and less peaceful."】

【Xie Houer comforts: "Now that Great Qi has the Academy, and Prime Minister Su sits in the court, Young Master, you don't need to be too anxious."】

【Xie Yuan shows a look of disappointment: "The Academy?... I always feel it is no longer the Academy of the past."】

【"As for Prime Minister Su, he is such a profound and unpredictable great figure; how can we easily guess his intentions."】

【Xie Yuan comes and goes in a hurry, not staying long, and takes his leave.】

【You see him to the courtyard gate, look at Xie Yuan's back as he goes further and further away, and gently close the courtyard gate.】

【Chaos is coming; Above Bianjing is a place occupied by the Nine Great Surnames, and the situation is still stable.】

【But protecting oneself is the best strategy; you have no big tree to rely on behind you, only your own cultivation is the foundation for standing.】

【You recall again after the Qunfang Banquet, when the Great Teacher left, he said: "The opportunity for ascension is within the next ten years."】

【Could it be that only when the world is in chaos will the Ascension Terrace appear in the world?】

【Such a once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity for ascension is right before your eyes; anyone would go all out and fight for it.】

【In the near future, you will clash with great masters who shake the world, such as the Demon Master, Venerable Kumu, the Third Teacher, and the Great Teacher.】

【You walk slowly under the mottled light and shadow of the parasol tree, focused, and continue to cultivate.】

【Every inch of time is so urgent, not to be wasted.】

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 409 =====