Chapter 750: Under the Dai Sect

When they first left the city, the sky was still cloudless.

But after traveling for less than half a day, a fine drizzle began to fall, and then it became heavier and heavier.

Creak, creak~

The carriage wheels pressed over the muddy official road, leaving long ruts.

Two paulownia-oil canopy carriages and five swift horses, the group traveled toward Tai'an under the lead-gray sky.

Li Yan flicked the rainwater off the brim of his bamboo hat and turned his head to look.

Jinan City had long since disappeared into the mountains, rivers, and rain.

But he wasn't looking at Jinan City; he was recalling his conversation with Lu Hongyuan back then...

"Killing? Senior Lu, you might as well speak clearly."

"Does Little Friend Li know of the 'Gentleman Sword' Zhou Zhao of the Mingde Academy in the past?"

"I've heard of him; he was your proud disciple."

"Speaking of which, it's a shameful matter. Three years ago, he broke into the forbidden area of the academy at night, stole a forbidden book, and even killed his fellow disciples."

"Why didn't you take action yourself, Senior?"

"He has changed his appearance and hidden away. It was only last year that he showed his face in the martial world. Now he calls himself 'Vermilion Pen Judge' and has actually obtained a Living Yin Messenger hook-warrant. He even let out word that if I kill him, he will drag hundreds of academy disciples to die with him even if he has to die trying."

"Why choose me?"

"The Grandmaster contention battle is estimated to start soon..."

"This contention will take at least several years. Little friend, your reputation is now widespread. Even if your martial arts are still shallow, someone will come to your door by then. As long as they block you for a moment, the opportunity might belong to someone else. My unfilial disciple's lifelong wish is to become a Grandmaster; he will definitely come to you."

"This..."

"Kong Shangzhao and his family of three generations will be protected by the Mingde Academy from now on."

"If you kill this villain, I can enlighten you on martial intent."

"Deal!"

Killing was not a problem for Li Yan.

Not to mention it was a guy who slaughtered fellow disciples and would definitely come to cause him trouble.

With Lu Hongyuan's protection, Kong Shangzhao could also follow them on the road with peace of mind.

Of course, the more critical thing was the Grandmaster contention battle!

He had heard of it many times before, but outsiders were just looking at flowers in the fog. The Grandmaster Huo Yin he met in the capital was also high and mighty and rarely communicated with him. From Lu Hongyuan's mouth this time, he finally learned the inside story of the Grandmaster contention battle.

Grandmaster is both a title and vaguely became a kind of rule.

Ten is the number of perfection; there have only ever been ten Grandmasters in the history of the Divine Land, without exception.

As long as more than half of the previous Grandmasters die or step down, the new Grandmaster battle will begin.

Each time, it takes several years, standing out in battle after battle.

In the end, it's not about who beats whom, but about beating all the contenders into submission.

That is a kind of despair; if you admit you are not as good as others, your Dao heart will be damaged, and it will be difficult to make further progress in the future.

In short, winners are kings and losers are bandits; either rise in the struggle or fall into loneliness.

Li Yan naturally had no intention of going to challenge anyone; he just didn't know who would come to his door.

Thinking of this, he turned his horse around, shook the reins, and followed the crowd...

Traveling further south, the sky hung lower, and the distant mountains were immersed in blue-gray mist, their outlines like soaked paper.

The wind rolled in from the direction of Mount Dai, carrying the smell of earth and rotten leaves.

The wild chestnut trees on both sides of the official road swayed their branches wildly, sifting down a denser curtain of rain.

The rainwater gathered into small streams in the ruts, only to be shattered by the hind hooves again.

Wu Ba was too large in size, and no warhorse could carry him for a long journey. Plus, he had to protect the luggage, so he drove the carriage. The luggage boxes in the back were all covered with oilcloth, and that Tiger-Crouching Cannon was wrapped in thick felt and tied behind the saddle, the barrel condensing cold light in the rain and mist.

Kong Shangzhao, Fatty Lin, Wang Fu, and Long Yan'er, who were physically weaker, were all in the second carriage.

"Bohai Bohai Qiu Mu..."

Fatty Lin flipped through the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," frowning: "'Bohai Bohai Qiu Mu reaches the Nine Abysses,' the whole book only has this one sentence. Brother Kong, have you found any other clues?"

He didn't think about joining the Twelve Yuan Chen like Kong Shangzhao and Kuai Dayou, but put all his heart into helping his family find the spiritual wood.

"I only know that it last appeared in Jin Ling."

Kong Shangzhao replied truthfully: "Back then, a stranger from overseas arrived and offered Bohai Bohai Qiu Mu as tribute. I heard it was over five zhang long, its bark like dragon scales, hard as iron, floating on the sea for several years without rotting or decaying, just like the finest ambergris; it could only be found by chance."

"As for where this tree grows, no one knows. It's called 'Bohai Bohai Qiu Mu' also because the stranger claimed to come from Bohai and used this item to exchange for an ancient book secretly hidden by the imperial family. Subsequently, this 'Bohai Bohai Qiu Mu' never appeared again."

"Was it obtained by the Great Xuan imperial family?"

"Unlikely. This treasure is too big; transporting it to the capital would definitely be known to everyone. It should still be in Jin Ling..."

Listening to the two discussing, Wang Fu spoke up: "Young Master Lin, is the Lin family in a bad situation now?"

"I won't hide it from you, Daoist."

Fatty Lin said bitterly: "The Lin family's industry doesn't belong solely to my family. Because of the Japanese pirates' chaos, most of the family's experts were killed at sea. If we can't rebuild the treasure ships and go to sea to make a profit, we won't be able to suppress the hearts of the people."

"I don't care about these, but the elders and young ones in the family are afraid they will suffer."

"Rest assured, things will always be solved."

Wang Fu didn't know what to do either, so he could only offer verbal comfort.

After saying this, he looked outside the carriage canopy and changed the subject: "I also misjudged. I thought it would only be cloudy for days, but I didn't expect the rain to be so heavy. Changes in celestial phenomena are indeed becoming increasingly unpredictable."

And just at this moment, Li Yan also rode over and leaned to the side: "Daoist, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach Tai'an today. It's getting dark; let's find a place to avoid the rain later. Aren't you very familiar with this place?"

Wang Fu wandered the martial world in his early years, spending most of his time in Jizhou and the Qilu land.

For a period, he even set up a stall to tell fortunes in Tai'an City for several months.

"Let me think..."

Wang Fu poked his head out and looked around.

"Continuing forward, I remember there is a ruined temple and desolate shrine..."

The evening sky was like splashed ink, the rain eased slightly, but it turned into a misty, damp fog that stuck to clothes and couldn't be shaken off.

On the left side of the official road ahead, a small path covered in grass suddenly branched out, half-hidden behind a slanting locust tree.

The team followed Wang Fu's directions and turned left into this wild path.

Soon, they saw a low temple gate with half collapsed, embedded between dilapidated walls.

The plaque had long since rotted into half, leaving only the remnant trace of a mottled "Tai" character.

"Just here! It's at least a roof tile!" Sha Lifei shouted toward the back.

This desolate shrine was not large, the main hall could only accommodate two or three carriages, so they had to park the carriages outside.

Walking inside, he saw that the deity in the central shrine was unknown whether it was a mountain god or a land god. The mud sculpture had peeled off for the most part, revealing the rotten wood skeleton.

The altar was collapsed, the remnant candles condensed into tears, and the accumulated dust was thick enough to bury feet.

Scattered chaotic grass cushions by the wall had long been soaked into blue-black by the dampness.

The most eye-catching were the few holes in the roof, where daylight wrapped in fine rain threads drilled obliquely into the hall, eroding deep dark puddles on the earth-brick floor.

The eaves dripped and tapped on the broken bricks, the sound like a water clock.

Sha Lifei and Lu San hurriedly moved down the dry food bucket, and Wu Ba drew his blade to split the scattered offering table for firewood.

The fire-striker sparked, and a halo of orange-red light suddenly burst through the gloom in the hall, reflecting the fragments of the god-and-demon murals on the four walls, flickering on and off. ===== CHAPTER 751 =====