Chapter 240: First Visit to Dragon and Tiger Temple
Chapter 240: First Visit to Dragon and Tiger Temple
"We've arrived at Hengshan City!"
The river breeze blew gently, Li Yuan opened the window, and saw that the river here was getting wider, enough to accommodate dozens of boats sailing side by side, and the river channel was repaired tall and flat.
There are endless fields on both sides of the river. It is the early spring farming season, and countless farmers are leading oxen and plowing.
"finally reached!"
"Is that Hengshan Dao City? It is said that there are millions of households in the city, and it is one of the ten most famous cities in the world! I want to buy a house and settle down in Dao City!"
"Wow, are those monks from Longhu Temple?"
Li Yuan pushed open the door, and a crowd of people rushed onto the deck, looking around with excitement and excitement on their faces.
The same scene was seen on the boats of all sizes on the river, with a bustling crowd of people speaking in a variety of accents, almost drowning out the sound of the surging river tide.
"It is worthy of being the place where eight rivers meet and the center of Hengshan Mountain!"
The deck was filled with all kinds of discussions.
Li Yuan leaned on the railing and looked out. There were residential houses and even towns on both sides of the river. In front of him, there were hundreds of ships docked on the extremely wide river. This was an ordinary dock in Hengshan Daocheng.
Looking from here, the outline of Hengshan Daocheng can be seen.
Beside the mountains and on the shore, there stands a towering city, majestic like a crawling dragon and as imposing as a huge mountain.
The tall city walls stretched out from east to west for who knows how far, with no end in sight.
The city is open on four sides and faces water on three sides. The Pingjiang Grand Canal, which runs through two routes, six states and twenty-one prefectures, intersects here, passes through the Hengshan City Gate, and goes straight to the estuary into the sea.
"How much manpower would it take to build such a city?"
Feng Zhongyi was also sighing. It was his first time to come to Hengshan City. When he saw the outline of the huge city, he was shocked.
The Zhelong Mansion occupies a large area, but this city is more than ten times larger. Outside the city, various towns and cities are lined up, surrounding the huge city.
"Ye Xianglang must have tens of thousands of people, right?"
Liu Zheng murmured, his heart shaken.
“No wonder some people say that the Pingjiang Grand Canal is the greatest achievement of the Grand Canal in the past thousand years.”
Li Yuan was amazed.
A large city with a population of over 10 million requires a huge amount of resources just to maintain it, not to mention the difficulty of building it. Firewood is a huge problem, among other things.
If it weren't for coal and the Grand Canal, a city of this magnitude would simply not have been possible.
This is indeed the case. Hengshan Taoist City has existed for more than three thousand years, but it has been expanded dozens of times, most of which occurred after the canal was dug during the Dayun period. Before that, it had a population of only a million.
"The prosperity of the Great Fortune is unmatched by any other dynasty, and the achievements of the Great Ancestor are unprecedented!"
On a boat not far away, an old scholar had tears in his eyes.
"It's not easy to live in Daocheng."
Li Yuan muttered to himself that in such a short time when the boat sailed from the relatively narrow river into the dock, he noticed at least a dozen top-grade famous artifacts!
A top-grade famous weapon, in Zhelong and Dechang prefectures, only an elder of a sect and a person who has reached the great level of Tongmai is qualified to own it.
"Are houses in Daocheng expensive?"
Before getting off the boat, Li Yuan heard a lot of people talking. After arriving in Daocheng, most people wanted to settle down.
“Expensive, very expensive!”
The ship docked, and a sailor came up to carry the cargo. Feng Zhong had already glanced at the disciples:
"Hengshan City is divided into two cities, the inner and outer cities, each with 16 city districts. An ordinary two-story courtyard in the outer city costs at least 200 taels of gold. The inner city is probably even more expensive."
"So expensive?"
All the disciples were a little shocked.
"Two hundred taels of gold... Well, my second brother's income from collecting firewood would take him two hundred years without food or drink. This price is really expensive..."
Li Yuan went back to the house to pack his bag. There wasn't much stuff in it, mainly a little mouse and a little tiger cub.
One in his pocket, the other on my shoulder.
Li Yuan wrapped the python skin rope around his hand, picked up the heavy hammer, and followed everyone out of the boat. He glanced around, but didn't see Lao Han, nor did he notice the light of high-level weapons.
"give up?"
Li Yuan was very cautious. The heavy hammer and boots in his weapon talisman were shining brightly. He thought that even if a great marrow refining master suddenly attacked him, he would be able to retreat calmly.
"Unless it's a top-notch expert who is good at stealth assassination and does not carry any weapons..."
Li Yuan clenched the hammer handle.
Walking out from the dock, what comes into view is a wide and straight official road and a huge wooden arch bridge in the distance.
This is a city gate of Hengshan City. There are as many as eight gate holes. The soldiers on duty are strong and capable, wearing armor and holding sharp weapons. There are quite a lot of them, and there are also many experts on patrol.
Li Yuan only took a glance. Without fighting, he couldn't tell the level of these soldiers, but he could tell something from the armor on their bodies and the movements when they walked.
"Change your shape and walk all over the ground..."
The wooden arch bridge is nearly eight miles long and horses are not allowed to go up. Below is another water vein of the Pingjiang Grand Canal, leading to Dingzhou.
Li Yuan was very alert. He glanced around and saw many top-quality sharp blades and occasionally the gleam of famous weapons within 80 meters.
But he walked all the way to the city gate, registered, and entered the city, and did not notice anything unusual.
"Did Lao Han make a mistake in his calculations?"
Li Yuan changed his mind. He noticed that the light of the Wind and Thunder Ruyi Pestle flashed by and Lao Han did not enter the city.
"Anyone who dares to use weapons in the city will be killed!"
"The murderer shall die!"
"Whoever hurts others shall die!"
Behind the long city gate, on both sides of the road, there are twenty or thirty huge stone tablets, each of which is ten feet high and is densely covered with many words.
Several yamen runners held up gongs and shouted the rules that needed to be followed after entering the city.
“The rules are strict!”
Feng had stopped and received a booklet from the yamen runners. The booklet contained various rules and regulations, which were distributed for free.
Li Yuan and others looked at the stone tablets on both sides.
"These stone tablets list all the martial arts masters who did not abide by the rules and were killed by the Dragon and Tiger Temple over the past thousands of years..."
Various sects, wanderers in the martial arts world, officials of the imperial court, and even masters? !
"Changhong Sword Sect, Taoist Yun Zhen..."
Li Yuan was slightly shocked. The Changhong Sword Sect was the Yunmeng Taoist sect, which was as powerful as the Longhu Temple. How could the sect's master be killed and his name be hung on this stone tablet?
Then these two...
Li Yuan changed his mind. The area was very busy and passers-by passing by this Beilin Street would stop and look with expressions of fear and awe.
"Behave yourself."
The disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley looked at each other and felt relieved. Such strict rules were naturally a great thing for them.
Especially Liu Zheng, Wang Peiyao and others, who have achieved great success in body tempering are considered masters in Gaoliu County, but in Hengshan City, they are just like everyone else.
"Let's find an inn first."
Feng Zhongyi had watched for a while, and seeing that there were more and more people passing by, he led everyone away.
Behind Beilin Street, there are tall buildings on both sides, including various restaurants, pharmacies, banks, silk and weapon shops that stretch as far as the eye can see, and pavilions and towers can be seen everywhere.
But there were no vendors setting up stalls on the roadside, so it looked very clean.
"This city covers a larger area than I imagined."
Li Yuan looked around. The buildings around him were at least six stories high, some high and some low, but most of the houses were two stories high. There were various buildings scattered around, numerous but not crowded.
An ordinary street is actually nearly ten miles long. This is the area of the outer city closest to the city wall, which is supposed to be the most remote place.
"To the inner city."
Feng had already called six carriages on the roadside and went straight to the inner city without stopping in the outer city.
He was representing the face of the Divine Weapon Valley on this trip, and staying in the outer city would be a loss of status. But when he arrived in the inner city and found an inn, he regretted it as soon as he entered.
"The Tian-level room costs ten taels of silver a day, the Di-level room costs ten taels of silver a day, the Xuan-level room can accommodate four people and costs two taels of silver a day, and the Huang-level room can accommodate eight people and costs one tael of silver a day..."
too expensive!
He just casually glanced at the wooden sign on the wall and his eyelids jumped, but when he saw a glimpse of many gangsters in the hall, he gritted his teeth and took out the gold note.
"Except for sect disciples, or merchants and officials, ordinary people can't afford to stay in this kind of inn."
If it were Li Yuan himself, he would definitely not stay in this inn. It was just because it was closer to the Dragon and Tiger Temple. Eight days was just one Small Soul-Preserving Pill, which was really a bit extravagant.
"Two rooms with the character '天' in them, eighteen rooms with the character '地' in them, ten heavens."
Fengzhong had already booked guest rooms, so everyone followed the innkeeper upstairs. The Di-numbered rooms were on the sixth floor, while the Tian-numbered rooms were on the ninth floor.
The Tianzi Room was very spacious, with all kinds of facilities available, and spiritual incense was lit. Li Yuan smelled it and realized it was a mind-concentrating incense. Although it was not top-grade, one stick was worth at least one or two taels of silver.
What satisfied him was that the No. 1 room provided hot water, which was available all day long.
Li Yuan put down his bag, told the waiter to get some hot water for a bath, put the little mouse and the little tiger cub in the room, and then opened the window.
The room that costs ten taels of gold a day is naturally in an excellent location. The ninth floor has a wide view, from where you can see the mountain gate of Longhu Temple.
In the Taoist city where every inch of land is valuable, the Dragon and Tiger Temple covers at least several thousand acres, and this is only the city. Most of it is built directly on the mountain. Hengshan City is surrounded by water on three sides and a mountain on one side. The mountains are like dragons, named Longshan. The highest peak is nearly a thousand feet high, with lush vegetation and temples in between.
Further back is Tiger Mountain, where the terrain is flat but the mountains are densely packed.
"This place is really big."
Li Yuan had good eyesight and could see the gate of Longhu Temple from afar.
Four stone pillars a hundred meters high supported a stone plaque with the words "Dragon and Tiger" inscribed on it. The square in front of it was extremely spacious, with no buildings within several miles.
Behind the mountain gate, there are gilded copper tiles, carved beams and painted rafters, and various architectural structures with interlaced brackets. There are hundreds or thousands of heroes and disciples coming and going, creating a scene of extreme prosperity.
"I heard that the divine weapon in the Dragon and Tiger Temple is called the 'Dragon and Tiger Health Furnace'. I wonder where it is..."
Li Yuan muttered to himself.
This inn is very close to the Dragon and Tiger Temple, but the legendary 'Dragon and Tiger Health Furnace' has not shown its brilliance like the previous 'Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer'.
"According to Old Han, more than two thousand years ago, the Dragon Seal Saint Monk discussed Taoism with the Pure Yang Taoist for seven years and completely mastered this Heavenly Destiny Mysterious Weapon, so the Dragon and Tiger Temple has been strong for two thousand years..."
Li Yuan sensed the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer.
The Tianyun Xuanbing and the Shenbing are indeed different, and there are two sets of conditions for controlling them, which is somewhat similar to what Han Chuijun said before.
"Only if two sets of conditions are met can we completely master the Heavenly Destiny Mysterious Soldiers, so that the Mysterious Soldiers will not disappear when the Soldiers' Master dies..."
Li Yuan murmured in his heart, feeling a little curious. Although Old Han didn't remind him later, he was naturally very concerned about this matter and was very curious.
"Sir, the hot water you requested."
There were muffled footsteps outside the door. Li Yuan responded. The waiter from the inn had just opened the door. A muscular man came in carrying a wooden bathtub filled with hot water.
He walked steadily and placed things with care, without splashing a drop of water. His lower body was stable and his arms were muscular. It turned out that he was also a martial artist who had developed internal strength.
"Thank you."
Li Yuan nodded, closed the door, and started taking a bath.
Inside the house, the little mouse huddled under the bed without showing its head, while the little tiger cub squatted at the window, lazily basking in the sun, with its ears sometimes erected and sometimes drooping.
This little tiger was very wild when it was first caught. Even when it was tied with a python leather belt, we were afraid it would run away. But later it seemed to have accepted its fate and stopped running around.
Of course, Li Yuan still tied it with a python leather belt. Spirit beasts of this level were much rarer than magic weapons. If he lost it, he would be heartbroken.
"It's a pity that he is too young. I don't know when he can ride..."
Li Yuan soaked in the liquid medicine, sighed a little, raised his hand suddenly, and with a "pop" sound, the little tiger cub fell back onto the windowsill.
"..."
Looking at the claw marks left on his hands, Li Yuan was not annoyed, but still looked at him with a smile.
After many attempts these days, he can be sure that this little tiger cub is extremely psychic and has a keen sense of the emotions of outsiders.
"call!"
Without teasing the little tiger cub any more, Li Yuan swallowed a few pills, took a bath with his eyes closed, and practiced visualization at the same time.
hum!
In the place of spiritual light, visualize the spiritual self standing in a posture. What I am standing in is a military posture, but it is more than just a military posture.
As Li Yuan's mind turned, I began to visualize my spirit and began to change the stance, from the soldier stance to the white ape stance, the tiger stance, the hawk stance...
After his practice of Shenzu Sutra and Wanren Linglong was restricted, Li Yuan focused all his energy on the visualization method itself.
These days, in addition to changing his root bones and studying the Diagram of the Black Whale that Splits the Sea and the Thundering Sound of the Tiger and Leopard, he was mostly thinking about the visualization method. With the method of worshiping gods and visualization as the core, he began to absorb the essence of other mid- and low-level martial arts.
In this way, one can visualize weapons that embody the essence of various middle and lower-level martial arts, so as to further promote the progress of the Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon Body and increase mental strength.
Call ~
There is a gentle spring breeze outside the window.
At the windowsill, the little tiger looked back. In the bathtub, Li Yuan's naked upper body kept shaking, his skin membrane rippled like water, and there seemed to be countless small snakes swimming and undulating underneath.
Sometimes there was a sound like the growl of a raccoon cat.
Swish!
Suddenly, Li Yuan opened his eyes and glanced at the little tiger cub lying lazily on the windowsill. He stood up, put on his inner armor and a brand new Taoist robe.
After a while, footsteps were heard outside the door, and the innkeeper's voice was much more respectful than before:
"Sir, sir, there is a gentleman named Yu outside the door who wants to see you."
"Yu Xuanfeng?"
Li Yuan had changed his clothes. When he opened the door, the waiter came in with a smile on his face and was very welcoming.
……
"Li... Ahem, Brother Li."
Outside the inn, Yu Xuanfeng was wearing a neat martial arts robe and had a smile on his face. Behind him was a carriage. Seeing that Yu Xuanfeng was a little hesitant, he coughed and invited him to get in.
Li Yuan nodded slightly and took the cat into the car.
"Where's Senior Brother Gong?"
The carriage was very spacious, not only equipped with bookshelves, but also lit with incense.
"Master hasn't come back yet."
Yu Xuanfeng walked into the carriage, took a curious look at the civet cat squatting on Li Yuan's shoulder, and told the coachman to drive.
"Oh?"
"Master went to Huailong Palace. Before he left, he told me to entertain him well."
Yu Xuanfeng felt a little uncomfortable. Although this person was about the same age as him, he was much older than him.
"When can I join the sect?"
Li Yuan didn't care much about Gong Jiuchuan's whereabouts. He just wanted to get started as soon as possible and learn the Dragon-Tiger Hun Tian Hammer.
"You can join the sect anytime, but our great-grandmaster has been in seclusion for several months and there is no sign of him coming out..."
Yu Xuanfeng was a little hesitant.
Seeing him hesitate, Li Yuan frowned slightly and asked in a voice transmission: "But what happened?"
"Master's uncle retreat was in a hurry, and he didn't make any arrangements, so it was somewhat hindered..."
Yu Xuanfeng said it very tactfully.
"for example?"
Li Yuan sighed in his heart. He was actually somewhat prepared. After all, that cheap master was not as reliable as Lao Han.
"Until the great-grandmaster uncle comes out of retreat, you will not be able to become his disciple. Moreover, some people in the sect are questioning whether you have really been accepted into the sect by the great-grandmaster uncle..."
During the telepathic conversation, Yu Xuanfeng was more relaxed and talked about matters within the sect.
"who is it?"
Li Yuan asked.
"This……"
Yu Xuanfeng hesitated for a moment, but still answered: "There are quite a few, such as the deputy head of Longyin Hall, Chu Xuankong..."
"Deputy head of Longyin Hall?"
Li Yuan thought about it, but had no impression.
There has always been very little information about Dao Sect. Yunshu Tower may have it, but Shenbing Valley obviously cannot buy it. But according to the intelligence, the deputy hall master of Dao Sect must at least be a quasi-grandmaster who has achieved great success in blood transfusion?
"Does it have any effect?"
Li Yuan's eyes moved slightly, and he thought of the battle at Xixiong Mountain.
"Influence... not really. It doesn't have much of an impact. If my uncle-master doesn't come out of retreat, it's impossible for me to become his disciple. But after the Dragon and Tiger Banquet, you are already an inner disciple of the Dragon and Tiger Temple. There is no doubt about that."
Yu Xuanfeng replied.
Is it just that I can’t become your disciple?
Li Yuan felt a little relieved, as he thought that seclusion did not mean he would not come out.
But seeing Yu Xuanfeng's strange dark complexion, he suddenly remembered something:
"How long does the master usually stay in seclusion?"
"Maybe three to five months, or maybe one to two years..."
Yu Xuanfeng paused for a moment, and the carriage stopped. The coachman's voice came:
"Sir, we have arrived at the mountain gate."
One or two years...
Li Yuan's eyelids twitched slightly.
"Uncle Li, I will help you register to join the sect first. That elder's order..."
Yu Xuanfeng stood up.
Li Yuan took out Gong Jiuchuan's token and handed it to him.
After getting off the carriage, the tall and solemn gate of Longhu Temple is right in front of us. Behind the gate are various buildings and houses, as well as the faint scent of incense.
【Longhu Temple Gate (Seventh Step)】
[…Made from the ashes of the Dragon and Tiger Health Furnace, mixed with a variety of natural treasures, it contains the subtle divine will of two great master-level warriors…Nourished by the incense of thousands of families, it has developed spirituality and can distinguish between good and evil…]
[Control conditions: Dragon and Tiger Health Furnace Master]
[Control Effect: Level 7 (Pale Gold): Distinguish between Good and Evil, Dragon and Tiger Meet (Incomplete)]
Wow, a divine-level mountain gate!
Li Yuan was stunned.
(End of this chapter)