On My Travels, I Studied Under Yun Zhi of the Ask Dao Sect
The governor's residence is located in the very center of Hanshui City, the power hub of the desolate state. The residence has seven courtyards and seven exits, and is protected by defensive formations inside and out.
This place served as both the governor's residence and office. As Lu Yang moved through the residence, he saw many officials rushing around, carrying documents and taking off and landing, extremely busy.
This isn't just walking fast; it's actually flying.
Before meeting with the governor of Huangzhou, Lord An had already informed the governor of the intelligence. As soon as the governor saw Qiu Jin'an and his party, he warmly greeted them and shook hands with them.
Lord An still needs to arrange a city-wide search for Meng True Lord, so he must take his leave now.
"Fellow Daoist Qiu, I've long admired your name! My surname is Lü, and my given name is Ke. People call me Old Lü." Governor Lü was a talkative man. Although he had been busy with the recent ghostly calamities, he was still full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue.
"Greetings, Lord Lü." Qiu Jin'an smiled, not addressing him as Old Lü.
The last person to be so familiar with him was one of the Nine Disciples of the Ask Dao Sect, who left a deep impression on me.
Qiu Jin'an's father was the previous Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect. In his youth, he accompanied his father to visit the Ask Dao Sect, where he met the enthusiastic Nine Disciples of the Ask Dao Sect.
At that time, he was young and ignorant, and misjudged people. He did not see that the Ask Dao Sect Seeking Sect were full of evil intentions. The Sixth Elder, Feng Ya, was the only exception. She was out of place among the Nine Sons of the Ask Dao Sect, but she was always involved in doing bad things.
Therefore, he is wary of people who are overly friendly.
"You know, the previous governor had to throw a birthday banquet for his daughter all the time, and he invited a lot of people. Not only did he invite people, but he also brought a lot of gifts without reporting to the court in advance. Now look what happened, he was dismissed and imprisoned, along with several supervising officials and figures from several major sects in the desolate state." Governor Lü complained bitterly.
This is one of the reasons why we are so busy now. There is a shortage of manpower, key positions are filled temporarily, and scheduling is difficult. Even the ghost problem has to rely on the nearest Corpse Driving Sect for help.
"Old Xu, who has been on leave for a long time—oh, that is, the Minister of Justice—has finally had enough rest and is dealing with them."
The Minister of Justice announced to the public that his old friend had died suddenly and that he needed to ask for leave to see him one last time.
"As a result, His Majesty distrusts the officials of the desolate state and has pulled me, who is in charge of money and grain, to take my place, forcing me to leave the capital and go to the desolate state."
"Oh right, I was the only one talking. I didn't have a chance to ask who these young men are." Governor Lü realized and noticed Lu Yang and the others.
"These three are disciples of the Ask Dao Sect, my juniors. I'm helping to look after them. This is Zhao Po, a disciple of the Grand Elder of the Corpse Driving Sect. He also witnessed the entire battle just now."
Upon hearing that Governor Lü was an official in the capital, Qiu Jin'an did not mention that Lu Yang was a disciple of the Silent Daoist.
"Solid foundation, full Golden Core, these are all outstanding young talents." Governor Lü nodded and offered a few words of praise. "Fellow Daoist Qiu, please tell us about the battle just now."
This is the most important thing right now.
Qiu Jinan recounted in detail Lu Yang's encounter with Huang Ming, his victory over Huang Ming, Meng True Lord's intervention, and his own account of Meng True Lord's defeat.
"So, it was True Lord went to various places to capture evil spirits and threw them into our Hanshui City?" Governor Lü was furious, finally finding the culprit behind today's busy work.
No wonder there are so many evil spirits. It seems they've captured all the ghosts of the Great Xia Dynasty, and even the ghosts of the East Sea haven't been spared!
It would be a miracle if it could be cleaned up!
"The ghostly scourge of Hanshui City couldn't have been accomplished by one person alone; I suspect he had accomplices," Qiu Jinan said.
"They've got me figured out that I'm new to the position and not yet proficient in using the power of the nation's destiny!" Governor Lü had no idea about the power of the nation's destiny before; it was only recently that the newly appointed Emperor Xia told him about it.
"We also need to pay attention to Huang Ming, who has dissipated his cultivation and is now rebuilding. In the past, we only focused on ancient cultivators in the Body Integration Realm and overlooked the possibility that some of them might have dissipated their cultivation and were rebuilding!"
Governor Lü sighed, "It's no use even if we notice. Once their cultivation is scattered and they start over, it's like being reborn. It's very difficult to find their roots."
"Enough. I will report the matter of dispersing my cultivation and starting over to the imperial court later. The most urgent task now is to deal with the ghost problem."
"I previously thought the ghost problem was caused by the Nine Nether Sect, since the Nine Nether Sect has quite a few ghosts of its own. Now that it has been confirmed that it was the work of the Great Yu cultivators, the matter is serious. The Great Yu cultivators do not raise ghosts. They went to great lengths to capture vengeful ghosts in various places and threw them into Hanshui City. It must be more than just causing trouble. They must have other purposes!"
Governor Lü's face was gloomy, and he wished he could tear these Great Yu cultivators to pieces.
"Excuse me, is it possible that they are setting up an array?" Lu Yang raised his hand and asked cautiously.
"Formation?" Governor Lü and Qiu Jin'an were both taken aback, pondering the two words as if they had thought of something.
When Lu Yang was in Yanjiang County, the then leader of the Yanjiang Clique, who also served as the county governor, set up an array throughout the county in an attempt to absorb the lifespan of everyone in the county and increase his strength.
It was with this in mind that Lu Yang asked the question.
"It's entirely possible they're setting up an array!" Governor Lü slapped his thigh. He'd been so busy these past few days that he hadn't considered this possibility.
He came to a huge sand table, clapped his hands gently, and the sand rippled and rose and fell like sand waves, eventually taking shape and becoming the image of Hanshui City.
He took a Squad Commander from his pocket and threw it onto the sand table. The place where the Squad Commander landed was the place where there was a ghostly disaster.
Each Squad Commander also has the type and level of the ghost marked above it.
"Hiss, looking at it this way, it really does resemble a formation." Governor Lu was overjoyed to see that Lu Yang's guess was very likely the answer.
"As expected of the Ask Dao Sect, a great teacher produces a great student. May I ask who your master Ask Dao Sect?"
Lu Yang: "..."
Before telling the truth, Lu Yang wanted to know how much hatred Governor Lü had for his master.
"I am a disciple of Yun Zhi of the Ask Dao Sect."
Lu Yang respected his teacher and dared not mention his master's name when he was away from home.
Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang with disdain, thinking, "How shameless."
"Yun Zhi? That name sounds familiar." Governor Lu thought for a moment, but he had never heard of an elder named Yun Zhi in the Ask Dao Sect.
"My master rarely leaves the sect, and few people know about her."
"So that's how it is."
Governor Lü did not try to recall who Yun Zhi was. Neither he nor Qiu Jin'an were skilled in formations. He ordered his men to invite the formation masters in the city to study what formations the Great Yu cultivators had set up in the city.
Soon, several elderly men with gray beards were invited over and stood by the sand table to observe and deduce the simulation.
Fortunately, these array masters were all male cultivators.
Several array masters worked together and quickly reached a preliminary conclusion. After listening to their preliminary conclusions, Governor Lü said to Qiu Jin'an, his expression more relaxed than when they first met. "Young friend Lu's guess is correct. The cultivators of the Great Yu are indeed setting up an array, but it is a lost array. We need to deduce it for a while before we can know its function and how to break it. Let's wait a moment."
Seeing that the opportunity was right, Qiu Jin'an cupped his hands and said, "Since you have some free time, would the Governor allow me and this young man to use the power of the nation's destiny together?"