Chapter 196 Done

Chapter 196 Done

Chapter 196 Done
In the Lingyan Pavilion, Gao Jiong, Yang Su and Yang Xiong were all dressed in black and sitting at the table with serious expressions. They would make a final review of Xiao Xia and Yang Yichen's performance today. Both of them had completed three designated tasks, especially Xiao Xia who actually completed four tasks and took first place in the martial arts examination, which was quite outstanding.

Yang Yichen's admission has been successfully approved. Now they are discussing Xiao Xia's admission. In front of them is the detailed information of Xiao Xia's completion of various tasks.

The mission to Tuyuhun was to test Xiao Xia's ability to handle crises, the pacification of Liao in Bashu was to consider Xiao Xia's ability to lead troops in battle, and the crackdown on the Chang'an Baoguo Society was to test Xiao Xia's intelligence. Finally, an imperial examination was added to test Xiao Xia's martial arts.

Xiao Xia is excellent in all aspects, the only shortcoming is that he is too young, his personality is not mature yet, and everything is not stable yet, which makes the three of them a little worried.

Gao Jiong said slowly, "Since we accepted him, we have already considered the age issue. We can't wait until he performs well in all aspects and successfully completes the assigned tasks before worrying about his age. This is unreasonable. I think we should put aside the age prejudice and formally accept him into the association."

After Gao Jiong finished expressing his opinion, he glanced at Yang Su again, who nodded, "He is specially designated by the emperor and is the heir to the royal family among the Lingyan Pavilion warriors. Considering this special peculiarity, I also think that he has no problem, and I agree to formally accept him into the association."

Gao Jiong and Yang Su looked at Yang Xiong together. The one who was really concerned about Xiao Xia was Yang Xiong. Xiao Xia was the royal heir among the Lingyan Pavilion warriors designated by the emperor. In fact, he was the successor to Yang Xiong and Yang Da. The two were old, and they could not wait until they were unable to move before looking for the royal heirs to join the society. That would be too late. So they should train the heirs first, and when they retired, the royal heirs could take on the responsibility of the Lingyan Pavilion warriors.

From this point of view, Yang Xiong fully agreed with the emperor's decision, but Yang Xiong's only concern was that although Xiao Xia was also a member of the royal family, his surname was not Yang. To put it bluntly, his identity was not very orthodox.

In addition, Yang Xiong has another little idea. He hopes that his son Yang Gongren will become the royal heir of the Lingyan Pavilion Warrior. Yang Gongren is now the manager of the Lingyan Pavilion, but he is not a Lingyan Pavilion Warrior, which makes Yang Xiong a little regretful.

Over the years, Yang Xiong has been hoping that the emperor would agree to let his son join the society, but the emperor never expressed his opinion, which made Yang Xiong quite disappointed.

However, Yang Xiong also knew that the emperor had a reason for choosing Xiao Xia, and it was not just a momentary impulse. Now Xiao Xia had completed all the tasks, if he continued to obstruct, he would probably anger the emperor.

Yang Xiong finally nodded, "I have no objection. I agree to his formal membership!"

"Then it's decided!"

Gao Jiong made the final decision, "Officially admit the two into the association. Yang Yichen will join on December 30th, and Xiao Xia will join on January 16th next year."

All three of them signed the two people's membership approval forms, completing the final approval process.

According to the regulations, after the one-year observation period, the two will automatically become Lingyan Pavilion warriors. Xiao Xia's expiration date is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so he will become a Lingyan Pavilion warrior on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. On that day, his nameplate will be hung in the Lingyan Pavilion.

It was getting dark and everyone entered Jingyuan Road, but it was still thirty miles away from Jingyang County, but it was already dark.

The group found a small river, lit a bonfire by the river, and grilled the lamb legs they brought with them. Each person brought three war horses, one for riding and one for carrying supplies.

Although they had only more than 20 people, each person could carry three war horses, which was something only the Sui Dynasty could do. This was why the Sui Dynasty army was so powerful because it had sufficient war horses.

The Sui Dynasty succeeded the Northern Zhou Dynasty. The generals and officials of the Northern Zhou Dynasty’s army were mainly Xianbei. Even if there were Han people, they were mainly Han people who had been sinicized and attached great importance to animal husbandry.

This meant that after the Sui Dynasty inherited the Northern Zhou Dynasty, it was able to control a large number of pastures, especially the Hexi pastures, which were the fundamental guarantee for the Sui army's war horses.

In addition, the Sui army won many battles against the Turks and seized a large number of war horses, which brought the Sui Dynasty's war horse holdings to more than one million. Only with a large number of war horses could Xiao Xia and his party carry more than 60 war horses.

After dinner, Xiao Xia came to a nearby pine forest, climbed up a big tree, swallowed five Spring Rain Pills, and once again entered the final stage of foundation-building practice. Once he entered the final stage of foundation-building practice, he could not stop practicing. He had to practice every day. If he stopped, all his previous efforts would probably be wasted.

Yuan Shoucheng was on the big tree opposite him, guarding Xiao Xia's final practice. He knew very well how dangerous the last step was and must not be disturbed by the outside world. Yuan Shoucheng, contrary to his usual free and easy attitude, was extremely vigilant in guarding Xiao Xia's practice.

There was no conversation that night. At dawn the next day, Xiao Xia finished his training, packed up a little, and set out again.
Traveling during the day and resting at night, time gradually came to November. As time went by, Xiao Xia was getting closer and closer to the moment of building a great foundation. He could feel it himself. The chaotic feeling he had when practicing before was gone, just like all the mud and sand sank to the bottom of the water, and the water became clearer and clearer. That night, the team arrived at Huining County in the north of Lanzhou. Huining County in the Sui Dynasty was not the same as Huining County in the Tang Dynasty. Huining County in the Sui Dynasty was renamed Guangwu County in the Tang Dynasty. It was the only way to enter Lanzhou from the Hexi Corridor, while Huining in the Tang Dynasty was hundreds of miles away.

When they arrived at Huining County, the city gate was closed. They found a small inn outside the city and stayed there reluctantly. The feeling in Xiao Xia's body became stronger and stronger, so he didn't bother to eat dinner. After taking five Spring Rain Pills, he closed the door and entered a state of cultivation.

The chaotic space when he was practicing became extremely clear, but at this moment, a powerful force surged out, and the Dantian world suddenly became extremely chaotic, as if a volcano erupted, magma flowed everywhere, and the red magma was violently churning deep in his Dantian, as if the end of the world was coming. His defense line was almost collapsed. At this moment, he felt someone stuffed a handful of Spring Rain Pills into his mouth and poured water into his stomach.

Then a voice whispered in his ear: "The way of nature is natural. Everything is born and destroyed naturally. Let it go."

Xiao Xia felt relieved and gave up all his defenses. He seemed to have become a bystander, standing on a high place watching the volcanic eruption, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

The levee that was about to collapse soon became solid again, as if it had changed from gas to solid. No matter how the fiery red magma churned and roared, it could not break down the solid levee.

As time passed, everything returned to calm, the surging magma completely disappeared, and the solid defensive embankment also disappeared without a trace. Xiao Xia's Dantian world returned to its state of nothingness. Everything no longer existed, even the previous sense of clarity was gone, just like a vast and boundless universe.

Xiao Xia slowly opened his eyes. It was already daybreak. His heart was empty and he felt extremely lost. He slowly stood up, and with a thought, he instantly entered a state of breaking barriers. His perception was completely different again, and the situation around him became exceptionally clear. It was as if the video resolution had been upgraded from smooth to high-definition.

Xiao Xia felt confused. He knew that he had successfully built his foundation, but he did not feel the slightest bit of ecstasy of success. His heart seemed to be still in a state of emptiness, and he had not yet completely come out of the state of completing his foundation.

At this time, there was a fierce noise downstairs and someone was crying loudly. Xiao Xia opened the door and saw Xu Min sitting at her door.

"Why are you sitting here? Where is my master?" Xiao Xia asked puzzledly.

Xu Min quickly stood up and said, "Master Yuan has left. He asked me to guard the door and not let anyone disturb the general!"

Xiao Xia was startled and asked anxiously, "When did he leave?"

"About five o'clock!"

Xiao Xia understood in his heart that his master must have left without hesitation because he had completed his foundation.

He sighed secretly in his heart and asked again: "Did my master leave any words?"

Xu Min nodded and said, "He asked the general to practice for another ten days or half a month, taking two pills every night, and then it will be done. However, no one is needed to guard him during this period."

This should be a kind of consolidation. Xiao Xia nodded. At this time, there were more crying sounds coming from the lobby downstairs. It seemed that many people were crying. Xiao Xia asked curiously, "What happened?"

"I don't know either!"

Xiao Xia walked downstairs quickly and saw a group of Hu people sitting in the lobby. They all looked terrified, and many of them were covering their faces and crying.

Captain Cao Taiyue stepped forward and whispered to Xiao Xia, "They are a group of Hexi merchants. They encountered horse bandits last night. The people are fine, but all the goods and money are gone."

(End of this chapter)