"Brother, these villains have been operating in Jiaozhou for a long time, and they may even have connections with the local authorities. We can't report them rashly, or we'll alert the enemy."
Wu Que searched the Fairy Temple from top to bottom, gathered the cash and land deeds together, and spoke to Huang Shang.
Huang Shang leafed through the land deeds and noticed that quite a few were ancestral lands, plots set aside to maintain ancestral graves and clan shrines. He marveled at how painstakingly the Ming Cult had planned things, then replied, "Brother Hua, you've thought this through. That's indeed the prudent course."
As everyone knew, the martial world was full of experts, but those who challenged the imperial court never came to a good end.
The Ming Cult in this world had risen in rebellion again and again, commanding tremendous influence. Its accomplishments hadn't relied on martial arts experts alone.
This method of consolidating landholdings was particularly impressive.
The Song dynasty did not restrict the consolidation of land, and land and property changed hands frequently.
There was a saying: a thousand-year-old field could have eight hundred owners.
That showed just how often land changed hands.
Often, an entire plot of land measuring one qing would be sold off in scattered pieces, until it belonged to dozens of different households.
Even the estates of wealthy families were scattered here and there, sometimes spread across different prefectures and counties.
The Ming Cult had seized this opportunity to quietly buy up land, then conspired with the local gentry.
That gave them roots. They were no longer mere bandits of the martial world.
No wonder Fang La later dared to declare that he would divide the realm with the imperial court along the river, then destroy the Great Song within a decade or so.
Of course, Fang La had grown far too arrogant by then. He truly believed victory was certain.
The Ming Cult of this era was still building up its strength.
After looking through the deeds, Wu Que had an idea.
They had no need for these lands, but Huang Shang's family could use them to build up their influence.
In the Song dynasty, to become a wealthy and respected official family that could prosper for generations, one needed not only the status of a scholar-official but also local roots.
Huang Shang's family was far too poor. So in the original story, although Huang Shang had passed the highest imperial examination, he had no backing at court, and his official post offered no lucrative opportunities. The people of the martial world had wiped out his entire family in no time.
Wu Que felt he ought to resolve Huang Shang's worries for him.
Moreover, this He woman had used the name of the Fairy to establish connections with officials and gentry throughout Jinghu South Circuit. That was quite a substantial handle to have on her.
Huang Shang was taking his examination here. If some fool tried to obstruct his Provincial Examination, they could make them pay for it.
Wu Que felt he ought to pave Huang Shang's road to success.
Thinking about it, he had a long and heavy task ahead of him!
Wu Que didn't dare waste time. He walked toward the two women.
The old woman and the young woman sat slumped on the ground, but there was no fear between their brows. They had started muttering under their breath.
Without a doubt, it was that same "I burn my shattered body, the sacred flame blazes" routine.
Watching from a distance, Huang Shang was inexplicably reminded of Madame Roland's words during the French Revolution.
"O Justice, Justice, how many crimes are committed in thy name!"
Religious teachings were, for the most part, good. They encouraged people to do good and face hardship with a positive attitude.
The trouble was, those who put them into practice often twisted the teachings for their own gain, turning them into tools for religious brainwashing.
The Ming Cult, for example.
You couldn't judge the Ming Cult solely by Zhang Wuji's generation. In that era, fighting the Yuan dynasty was politically correct, and with the protagonist on their side, it seemed as if they had merely been misunderstood by the orthodox factions.
In reality, after the Ming Cult was introduced from the Tang dynasty, it fell out with the authorities after a brief honeymoon period and went underground. From the Five Dynasties through the Song and Yuan, it kept rebelling.
Was it really the case that the authorities forced the people to rebel every single time?
Give me a break. It was nothing but the ambition of would-be rulers cloaked in the name of justice!
The Ming Cult proclaimed themselves the light, so naturally their deeds took on a symbolic meaning.
Take the Crusaders, for example. They were terrorists who killed without batting an eye, yet they believed they were carrying out God's will.
And so, He and Zhu Yan had no intention of confessing. No matter how Wu Que tried to threaten or tempt them, it was useless.
Wu Que thought for a moment, then looked at Nightingale and sent her a message: "I know you have Truth Serum from the Harry Potter world. Do me a favor and get them to talk."
Nightingale sneered. "We're rivals. You expect me to help you?"
"No, we're rivals on the inside and partners against outsiders!"
Wu Que corrected her. "Don't forget the Queen and the Prince. We took Huang Shang away from them. Do you think they'll let it go? Right now Huang Shang is taking the Provincial Examination. Once he's finished and returns to the Capital to take the metropolitan examination, that'll be the second round of the contest."
Nightingale's eyes darted around. Wu Que continued, "Besides, I've been thinking. Maybe there's no need for us to compete with each other at all. We could become companions and share Huang Shang's Character Card!"
Nightingale froze. "Become companions?"
There were three kinds of arrangements among Reincarnators: pacts, companions, and teams.
A pact meant a temporary alliance. Companions were two to four Reincarnators traveling together, while a team consisted of five or more.
Xu Yue and Xu Feng, for instance, were siblings, so the Main God Temple had designated them companions. Every time they entered a world of the heavens, they entered the same one and completed their missions together.
Wu Que now invited Nightingale: "If we keep fighting like this and undermining each other, in the end neither of us will get what we want. We'll be left holding an empty basket. Better to join forces. Besides, once Huang Shang grows powerful, he can look after one person or two just as easily."
Nightingale fell into thought.
Wu Que's words weren't without reason.
Huang Shang secretly liked her, but once the Love Potion wore off, who knew? These old-fashioned ancients were so coy. If he bottled it all up and never said anything, that would be a problem.
As companions, they would have a much better chance of winning Huang Shang over with the two of them working together.
By then, she would have Huang Shang's heart. Even if Wu Que got his body, how could he possibly compete with her?
Nightingale thought she was quite the schemer. She nodded demurely. "I'll think about it!"
Leaving aside the two Reincarnators' secret deal, Huang Shang was turning over the battle in his mind, reviewing what he had learned.
Zhu Yan's strength was no small matter.
Her inner power and mastery of technique were both impressive enough to make her name in the martial world.
Yet he had been formally practicing for only a little over two months.
Two months against twenty years!
And he had won!
To be sure, the element of surprise had played a part, but it also proved that Huang Shang's approach was right.
At that moment, he could feel a surging force stirring faintly between his brows, driving his qi through his limbs and bones.
This was the result of having initially developed his Ancestral Aperture.
This concept appeared often in wuxia stories: one had to open the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians, allowing qi and inner energy to circulate freely through the entire body, before one's inner power could reach its full potential.
But in reality, the phrase "opening the meridians" wasn't quite accurate.
Those meridians were already open.
The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon had a saying: "A hundred illnesses arise from blocked meridians."
There was also a folk saying: "When the meridians are blocked, you'll suffer a stroke just walking down the road."
If a person's meridians were blocked badly enough to cause a stroke, what good would practicing martial arts do?
So rather than opening the meridians, it would be more accurate to say one was widening them.
The meridians were already open, but they were extremely narrow and fragile, unable to withstand inner energy and only allowing blood and qi to flow through.
Only when a martial artist widened the meridians enough for them to bear inner energy could their power increase.
Since the meridians were so fragile, the process was naturally difficult.
The more sophisticated the inner arts, the more efficiently and safely they could improve the process.
That was why martial artists pursued divine techniques.
But even the finest inner cultivation methods required great care and gradual progress.
Huang Shang was different.
Rather than widening his meridians one by one, he had used his Upper Dantian, the Ancestral Aperture, to refine a trace of subtle, pure qi. He then circulated it through every meridian, forming a complete circuit.
As the qi circulated through this circuit, his meridians widened naturally, and his inner power grew at astonishing speed.
Others started from zero. He had begun with the Ren and Du meridians already open.
Get on first, pay later.
Now that was one slick move.
Indeed, no one else practiced martial arts like Huang Shang.
Those who had obtained higher-level inheritances were in worlds where the natural qi was abundant, so there was no need for them to go to such lengths.
Those who lacked the right conditions could only practice step by step in low-martial worlds. They had no way to do this either.
"I can't get carried away. My qi is still weak. I can't compare with those experts."
"But those experts also started out weak. By the time they opened the Ren and Du meridians and began circulating qi through the major circuit, they were already quite old. Their vitality was beginning to decline, and they needed inner energy to sustain their lives."
"Look at it that way, and perhaps I can catch up to them in power within twenty years!"
"And that's without even counting improvements in Literary Qi or the growth of my spiritual soul."
At that thought, Huang Shang looked toward the Examination Hall. "The imperial examination is my chance to make a leap in strength. Provincial Examination, here I come!"
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