Chapter 206: The Era of Clamor

Just out of the alley, Wang Wang Daoxuan smiled, "This Battalion Commander Huang knows how to protect himself..."

The matter at Shangjin Town was too big.

At the same time, it was also a massive merit.

Battalion Commander Huang came out to handle the errand, and he was also arranged with a troublesome Company Commander Liu on the side, which showed that his status in the Commandant's Office was somewhat awkward.

A massive merit was not necessarily a good thing.

After all, this matter had just begun. If he were to lead it and continue investigating, who knew if someone would intentionally drag their feet.

Once a mistake was made, even his life would be hard to protect.

And his illness just happened to divide the merit, taking a step back to find a vast sky, letting others continue the investigation.

Another scheming old fox...

Although he sighed, Li Yan had no interest in court matters. He walked through the streets and alleys with Wang Wang Daoxuan, preparing to return.

Just then, chaos erupted on the street. Commoners fled in all directions, and street vendors along the way hurriedly pulled their stalls back, not caring how many bottles and jars were broken.

Immediately after, the sound of heavy footsteps and armor friction came, and it was a troop from the Yunyang garrison, wearing armor and holding long spears, passing through the street.

Accompanying them was a Captain riding a horse.

Very quickly, a roar rose from afar: "The Regional Military Commissioner has ordered: all those who attack the Government Office are to be arrested!"

In the square outside the Yunyang Government Office, chaos erupted...

On the street, the onlookers fled in all directions.

Various curses came from outside the Government Office.

"Murder!"

Terrified screams followed...

Li Yan's eyes narrowed, and he said in a low voice, "Daoist Master, let's go quickly; let's take another route back!"

With that, he turned around immediately.

Wang Wang Daoxuan also shook his head slightly and followed closely behind.

They passed through several small alleys and climbed up a stone path on the hillside, and they were already far from the place of right and wrong.

The north side behind Yunyang Prefecture was all slopes, getting higher as they walked, and at the same time, they saw the scene outside Yunyang Prefecture.

It was already in chaos, with troops wandering everywhere, arresting the troublemaking Tujia people, and fires had started in some places, rising with thick black smoke.

Li Yan shook his head, "Yunyang Prefecture is getting more and more chaotic. Who knows what big trouble will happen? Tomorrow, after getting the Daoist certificate, we will set off immediately."

With the city in chaos, the two had no interest in strolling, so they quickened their pace and, in less than three sticks of incense, returned to the Zhejiang Guild Hall.

Outside the guild hall, many people were standing and looking into the distance.

Judging by their appearance and conversation, they were all Zhejiang merchants, and Chen Chen Ji Zu was among them, all with solemn expressions.

Among them, one person caught Li Yan's attention.

That was a tall, burly man. Unlike other merchants, although he also wore a squire's robe, his face revealed a fierce aura. With thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a full beard, he looked more like a person from the martial world.

What was more special was the large parrot standing on his shoulder.

Since ancient times, the Shenzhou had parrots, commonly known as "Yingge."

A poem from the Tang Dynasty mentioned: Long Mountain has ten thousand fathoms, parrots nest on its peak.

But the one before them was particularly special; not only was it huge, but its colors were also very bright—colorful and very eye-catching.

It looked more like the large macaw parrots from the rainforests he had seen in his previous life.

However, its size seemed even larger.

"Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

Seeing the chaos in the city, the parrot seemed very excited, its feathers standing up, pinching its throat and cursing.

A merchant next to it saw this and laughed, "Brother Luo, you are from a literary family; why is the parrot you raise so rude?"

"This is nothing!"

The man laughed, took out a dried fruit to feed the parrot, and shook his head, "This little thing wandered the sea with me. Everyone I deal with is a rough person, so naturally, it couldn't learn anything good. Sometimes its cursing is very unpleasant."

As he spoke, he said with doting eyes, "It's also thanks to this little thing for delivering messages, otherwise I would have been buried in the sea and never been able to return."

Hearing this, the others became interested.

One of them said in a low voice, "The chaos in Yunyang Prefecture won't end for a while. Why doesn't Brother Luo continue talking about what you saw at sea?"

"Let's go, let's go; we are waiting to hear the important parts!"

The crowd chattered and crowded the man into the guild hall.

Li Yan's heart moved. He hurriedly pulled Chen Chen Ji Zu aside and asked, "Is this person just back from overseas?"

Chen Chen Ji Zu smiled, "This person is named Luo Luo Rulie, from the Luo family of Jiangnan. He is naturally active, has superb martial arts, and was one of the first people to organize a fleet to go out after maritime trade was opened."

"Originally, the harvest was abundant, and the Luo family was thriving because of it, but they encountered a shipwreck, the fleet was wiped out, and the capital was lost."

"Coming here this time is to persuade some Zhejiang merchant guilds to fund him so he can rebuild his strength and go to sea again."

"But this matter is too risky, and he has had an accident before, so there are not many willing to make a move. Therefore, this person wanders through the merchant guilds of various states, telling of his experiences at sea, hoping to find someone willing to invest."

"If Little Hero Li is interested, you can go and listen."

Li Yan was naturally interested. Since he had nothing to do anyway, he told Wang Wang Daoxuan to return to the room to pass on the news, while he followed the merchants into the side room of the front courtyard.

Many people had already gathered here, all Zhejiang merchants.

Luo Luo Rulie was vividly recounting his experiences overseas.

"Japan is not very interesting. Now the Toyotomi clan is in power, calling themselves the Taiko. They have just unified the country, but there are still evil spirits causing trouble in various places."

"But there is quite a lot of silver there. Some merchants specialize in trading with them to exchange for silver and return to the country, making a handsome profit."

"Also, the unlucky ghosts who failed in the war against the Toyotomi clan have many turned into ronin pirates, harassing everywhere, and I've killed quite a few..."

"The countries in the South Seas are rich in spices and gemstones. The key is that there are some heavenly spiritual treasures that these simpletons don't recognize, but now they have learned to be smart and are following our people to search everywhere."

"The sorcery wind there is strong, and there are Dharma lineage inheritances that flowed from the Shenzhou, but they have gone astray, and their occult techniques are sinister and bloody, which is very troublesome..."

"Further south, there is another continent, referred to as 'Luosuosi' in the 'Island Barbarian Records.' They are all natives, and there are many poisonous creatures..."

"Nowadays, there are many Red-Haired Barbarians at sea. These people are looking for gold everywhere. Every time they arrive at a place, they plant a wooden cross, which is very annoying, and I've fought them many times..."

"There are also some pirates, very disgusting. We destroyed their ships, and after catching sheep, they would throw them all into the sea."

"Why is that?"

"Tsk tsk, you don't understand this. Sailing at sea for several months, sometimes when they get desperate, both good-looking men and ewes will suffer."

"True beasts!"

"Brother Luo, have you encountered any strange things at sea?"

"Strange things naturally exist. The most fearful is encountering ghost ships, chasing you in the middle of the night, and disappearing without a trace after dawn..."

"Also, I have seen mermen..."

This Luo Luo Rulie had a good mouth and amazing eloquence. When telling strange stories about the sea, he was rhythmic.

Of course, there were more stories about getting rich.

Li Yan listened for a while and vaguely sensed that this time should be the Age of Discovery.

But unlike his previous life, many evil spirits and monsters in this world truly existed, so the difficulty of exploration was even greater.

Moreover, many places inherited strange powers.

According to Luo Luo Rulie, nowadays, if one goes to sea without an occultist following, one will definitely not return. The Feng Shui Dharma lineages in Ganzhou also have people following them to sea, starting to study the Feng Shui terrain of the sea... Guanzhong is located inland and is still mainly agricultural, relatively closed, while Ezhou connects the north and south but already has signs of chaos.

Only the port cities of the coastal states have large handicraft workshops springing up like bamboo shoots after rain.

Silk, tea, porcelain... are in short supply.

With fleets going to sea, exchanging for large amounts of gold, silver, and treasures, various legends of getting rich overnight are widely circulated in coastal areas.

This is a chaotic yet surging era!

Li Yan listened with yearning, but he was not in a hurry.

For him, continuing to practice and constantly improving his strength was the right path.

Returning to the side room, it was already noon.

After having a casual lunch, Li Yan recounted what he had heard and stated his plans.

In the current Yunyang Prefecture, signs of chaos had already appeared. Even if they had some ability, they were alone, and it would be unwise to get involved in any trouble.

Therefore, they would leave immediately after getting the Daoist certificate tomorrow.

First, head to Unlike Yichang to treat Yan Yan Jiuling's mother's illness and fulfill the promise, then head to the blessed land of Mount Zigai to investigate what had happened.

!.

Afterward, they would take jobs everywhere to prepare for building the building on Mount Mount Wudang.

After making up his mind, the others returned to rest. After all, the journey to Unlike Yichang was long, and they had to conserve their energy.

As for Li Yan, he took several books on occult arts, carefully examining them while pondering.

There was no help for it; the occult techniques in the "Northern Emperor Scripture" became more powerful and complex as they went on.

Without understanding occult numbers and Yin-Yang, one couldn't learn them at all.

Now he had mastered the "Northern Emperor Chu Ling Technique," "Northern Emperor Body Protection Curse," "Northern Emperor Divine Movement Technique," and "Northern Emperor Yin Thunder Palm."

Of course, the "Movement Technique" was only half-mastered. To learn how to use the Jia-Ma, one had to understand occult numbers to master the other half of the dangerous curse.

Combining the two would allow one to enter some dangerous places, such as the strange situations formed by the gathering of innate sha-qi.

If trapped by evil objects, this method could also be used to escape.

Besides this, he also had to learn a new "Northern Emperor Disaster Elimination Technique," specifically used for undoing curses, collisions with evil, and possession by ghosts.

Of course, these were all basic occult techniques.

The "Northern Emperor Scripture" he practiced belonged to the Northern Ghost Emperor among the Five Direction Ghost Emperors under the Northern Yin Great Emperor of Fengdu. He was the Supreme Yin God, named Nuogao, governing Luo Feng Mountain.

Further down, it involved its fundamental occult techniques.

The first to master was the "Northern Emperor Mysterious Water Escape," which was the escape technique of the Northern Ghost Emperor. Because Luo Feng Mountain was located in the Extreme Yin Sea and the north belonged to water, the water escape was its specialty.

After initial mastery, there were two abilities: one was to raise Yin mist around, borrowing water mist to hide, which could be used for escaping or killing enemies.

The second was to enter the water, borrowing the escape technique to shuttle back and forth, and being able to hold one's breath for a long time.

With the improvement of Daoist practice and sufficient escape technique cultivation, one could even combine water mist with Yin thunder. Once the occult technique was displayed, one would no longer fear being surrounded and could even injure or trap enemies over a large area.

This was the escape technique, by no means just for running away.

Of course, to learn the "Northern Emperor Mysterious Water Escape," the "Divine Movement Technique" and the occult numbers of the Escape Armor as foundations had to be mastered proficiently.

After reading continuously for two hours, Li Yan felt dizzy.

Occult numbers were indeed difficult to learn. This was still because Wang Wang Daoxuan had explained many foundations to him; ordinary people couldn't even get started.

After putting down the book, Li Yan took a copper ball from his bosom.

The copper ball was solid, with many tiny indentations around it.

Whoosh!

Li Yan tossed the copper ball up, then pulled out his blade with a clatter. As the copper ball fell, he flicked his wrist, and the back of the blade lightly flicked it.

Accompanied by a crisp sound, the copper ball jumped up again.

This was the method taught to him by Yufengzi of Mount Hua.

The copper ball was smooth, and the indentations were extremely tiny. One had to have extraordinary eyesight, hitting the indentations exactly to make it jump vertically.

Moreover, the force had to be just right.

No matter how the copper ball rotated, when it fell and was flicked up, it had to maintain the same height.

This method, first, could practice blade control, and second, was to practice strength.

The so-called "Hua Jin" (Transforming Strength) was the ability to use dark strength as one wished—meeting roundness with roundness, meeting squareness with squareness. If an enemy attacked with dark strength, it could be easily transformed away.

This was precise control over one's own strength.

When the copper ball and the blade collided, without pressing the blade to unload the force, but instead using dark strength to transform it away without making half a sound, that would be entering the Hua Jin stage.

Ding ding ding!

Li Yan felt carefully. As the copper ball fell, he swung his blade—left flick, right sweep, upward lift—every strike hitting precisely.

No matter how his body changed, the height the copper ball jumped remained the same, and the sound became smaller and smaller.

Moreover, this method could be used forever.

Once thoroughly proficient, he could switch to a completely smooth copper ball without indentations, or even increase the quantity.

Before he knew it, it was dark.

After having a casual dinner, Li Yan packed his luggage for tomorrow, adjusted his breathing, lay down, and entered dreamland.

……

In the middle of the night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Li Yan, lying on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes.

He smelled a special odor. Although very faint, it couldn't escape his olfactory supernatural ability—it was a scent of grass and wood, mixed with a fishy smell.

Judging by the smell, it was actually a tiny humanoid!

Paper person, grass person, or some kind of occult technique?

Li Yan remained calm and slowly gripped the Dust-Severing Blade.

That aura was very careful, not making any sound as it crawled in the hallway, actually arriving outside Lu San's door.

Li Yan's mouth curled up, waiting to see the joke.

"Squeak!"

Sure enough, a sharp cry came from outside the door.

In the silent night, it was exceptionally clear.

Li Yan grabbed his blade and leaped out, but after seeing what it was, he was full of surprise.

It was indeed a tiny human figure, but it wasn't any grass or paper person; it was a monster half a foot tall, its skin like dark tree bark, a pair of green eyes crawling on all fours like an animal.

It was shrouded in black mist and Yin qi, its figure blurry, bumping around, clearly wanting to escape.

However, from Lu San's room, more than twenty large hornets had already flown out, vibrating their wings and surrounding it completely.

In their team, there was another hidden member, which was the demon gourd carried on Lu San's back.

This demon gourd could release poisonous hornets, which were very aggressive, but it was very obedient. Lu San fed it honey regularly every day and then offered incense, making it a powerful protective Dharma artifact.

What kind of monster is this?

Looking at the strange little person, Li Yan was full of surprise.

Lu San also pushed the door open at this time, looking at the little person on the ground, also full of confusion. Only Wang Wang Daoxuan, who also came out, had his eyes light up,

"It's a Wood Guest!"

"This kind of little spirit is said to hide in the deep mountains of southern Jiangxi, western Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangxi. Very few people show themselves; how could it appear in Ezhou?"

"Catch it first."

Li Yan strode forward, about to take action.

Just then, a fat figure pushed the door open from across the way, ran over in a hurry, and begged:

"Everyone, everyone, show mercy."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 207 =====