Number Five's Message

Chu Yuanzhen's eyes lit up. Instead of being annoyed, he smiled expectantly and said, "The sparring just now was a bit boring. Feel free to use any special techniques you have."

Xu Qi'an nodded and said, "I'll only make one move. After that, our sparring will be over."

This was in case Chu Yuanzhen retaliated after taking the first blow, turning him into a pincushion. At that point, Xu Qi'an would die at the age of twenty.

Chu Yuanzhen pondered for a moment, then asked, "After using your ultimate technique, you will enter a period of weakness?"

"The top scholar is indeed clever and quick-witted!" Xu Qi'an nodded in admiration, "Yes."

"What kind of secret technique?"

Upon hearing their conversation, Emperor Yuanjing looked at Luo Yuheng beside him.

Luo Yuheng shook her head. She actually knew, but she didn't want to waste her breath arguing with Emperor Yuanjing.

Her nonchalant demeanor caused Emperor Yuanjing to frown inwardly. As the supreme ruler, he possessed hundreds of thousands of miles of the Great Feng and controlled the lives and deaths of his subjects.

But in front of this woman, he became an emperor with nothing to offer, utterly powerless.

Emperor Yuanjing had always wanted to cultivate with the Imperial Preceptor in order to achieve longevity, but every time he brought up this idea, Luo Yuheng would ignore it or make excuses.

In front of this second-rank Daoist master, he seemed like a poor boy with little wealth. This greatly discouraged Emperor Yuanjing.

Clang!

Inside the garden, Xu Qi'an sheathed his black gold longsword, returning it to its original sheath.

Then, he took a lunge step, lowered his knees slightly, and slowly placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing to draw it.

His breathing was steady, his emotions calm, like the shore before a tsunami, his vital energy contracting and collapsing into his body.

Chu Yuanzhen looked serious, pointed his fingers like a sword, and with a gentle gesture, summoned a tree branch to hold in his hand, using the branch as a substitute for a sword.

Clang. As Xu Qi'an flicked his thumb to wield the black-gold longsword, he visualized a roaring golden lion in his mind, and with a deep, resonant roar, he drew his sword.

Chu Yuanzhen's ears were suddenly pounded, as if a thunderbolt had exploded above his head. Immediately afterward, he saw a thin line of blade energy flash by.

At this critical moment, the top scholar calmly offered the tree branch he was holding.

Boom!

The moment the branch touched the blade's energy, a violent shockwave instantly swept through the entire garden. The artificial hill beneath Chu Yuanzhen's feet exploded first, followed by the pavilion behind him, whose four pillars snapped in response, and whose roof was blown off and shot into the sky.

The calm pool water surged into a raging torrent, crashing and spraying, threatening to collapse the quiet room behind her. Luo Yuheng parted her red lips slightly. "Freeze!"

The violent shockwave froze for a moment, then disappeared.

In the arena, Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged, a knife across his knees, looking dejected.

Chu Yuanzhen's sleeve ripped in half, revealing his powerfully muscular forearm. He slowly bent his fingers, then released them, repeating this several times to ease the pain, and sighed:

"Impressive, impressive! If you were at the fifth rank, this strike could have severely injured me."

Damn it, my all-out attack only resulted in utter loneliness. Xu Qi'an thought to himself, raised his head, mimicked Xu Erlang's expression, and said calmly:

"As expected of a strong person capable of fighting Li Miaozhen, I, Xu, humbly admit defeat."

Xu Qi'an was also a very proud person, and his arrogance was no less than that of the scholars at the Cloud Deer Academy. Chu Yuanzhen smiled and nodded.

Emperor Yuanjing glanced at the garden, then turned to look at Luo Yuheng, the stunningly beautiful female imperial advisor, who stared intently at Xu Qi'an.

Seeing this, Emperor Yuanjing smiled broadly, "Chu Yuanzhen truly deserves to be called an outstanding disciple of the Human Sect. This level of cultivation is rare. Xu Qi'an is still far behind, but after all, he is only a Silver Gong (a low-ranking official), and he still has room for improvement."

It seems like they're praising Chu Yuanzhen and belittling Xu Qi'an, but actually it's the opposite. A mere silver gong was enough to cause Chu Yuanzhen to lose his sleeve. And there are many, many more silver gongs like that in the Nightwatchers's office.

Luo Yuheng forced a smile.

Emperor Yuanjing became even more delighted and said with a smile, "I have other matters to attend to in the palace and cannot stay any longer. Imperial Preceptor, please see me off."

Luo Yuheng gestured for him to proceed.

At this moment, Xu Qi'an, who was in the courtyard, suddenly called out, "This humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Chu Yuanzhen also bowed, but did not speak.

Emperor Yuanjing and Luo Yuheng had no choice but to stop. The former, his gaze filled with authority, swept over Xu Qi'an, who had already been promoted to Silver Gong. Unusually, he didn't keep a stern face and nodded, saying:

"A brilliant duel, Xu Qi'an. You have considerable talent; do not let down the imperial court's cultivation of you."

Xu Qi'an replied fluently, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty. I will dedicate myself to your service until my dying breath."

Emperor Yuanjing nodded in satisfaction and walked side by side with Luo Yuheng towards the outside of the temple.

Empty words of praise, without any real action. Xu Qi'an watched the two figures walk away and curled his lip.

Once the two figures were out of sight, Chu Yuanzhen said, "Brother Xu, please wait a moment. I'll go change my clothes."

Having said that, he turned and went to the quiet room.

A few minutes later, the door to the quiet room opened, and Chu Yuanzhen called out loudly, "Brother Xu, come in and have some tea."

Xu Qi'an stepped across the threshold and saw Chu Yuanzhen sitting at the table, wearing a moon-white robe, while the blue shirt with the broken sleeve was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Brother Chu, where did you get these clothes? Where's that blue robe?" Xu Qi'an pretended to look around.

"I have a storage Law Artifact," Chu Yuanzhen poured him a cup of tea and explained gently.

"Well, I also want to say: Wow, Brother Chu, you're really amazing! Is that some kind of hidden Law Technique?! How can anyone be so honest? Pah! You didn't give me a chance at all. Even more honest than Li Miaozhen!" Xu Qi'an thought to himself, but asked without changing his expression, "Can I take a look?"

Chu Yuanzhen shook his head. "The senior who gifted me this Law Treasure instructed me not to show it to others lightly."

Refusing someone should be done openly and honestly.

"It's alright, it's alright," Xu Qi'an said regretfully.

The corresponding warnings, which Master Jinlian had also given him, were mainly to guard against the Daoists of the Earth Sect. After all, the Earth Sect is a sect that has been passed down for thousands of years. Although it split many years ago, its foundation is still very deep.

We must not be careless.

"Brother Chu, you're not a student of the Cloud Deer Academy, are you?" Xu Qi'an asked.

"I studied at the Cloud Deer Academy, and later went to the Imperial Academy." Chu Yuanzhen didn't hide anything, letting out a sigh, "When I was young, I was full of ambition and had a bellyful of talent that I wanted to offer to the emperor. Knowing that the students of the Cloud Deer Academy were not valued, I left the academy to study at the Imperial Academy."

"So how did you resign from your official post?"

"Because scholars are useless, and learning literature cannot save the Great Feng, I simply resigned from my official post and became a commoner, wandering the world with a sword," Chu Yuanzhen sighed.

I know a guy who thought studying medicine wouldn't save the country, so he went off to become a writer. Xu Qi'an slammed his fist on the table and exclaimed, "So cool!"

No wonder Chu Yuanzhen only gave a perfunctory bow when he saw Emperor Yuanjing earlier, without offering any greetings. He had noticed this detail, and now, connecting the dots, it seemed that the one who truly disappointed Chu Yuanzhen was this emperor obsessed with cultivation.

The two drank tea and chatted, with Chu Yuanzhen doing most of the talking, telling Xu Qi'an about his experiences from his many years of travel.

"The northern barbarians number only a million, while my Great Feng, a single province, has tens of millions of people. Yet, for thousands of years, the barbarians have always been a thorn in the side of my Great Feng. Do you know why?"

"Because the northern barbarians have the bloodline of ancient Gods and Devils."

"Ancient Gods and Devils?" Xu Qi'an, puzzled.

"It is said that at the beginning of time, a group of gods and demons were born who could move mountains and fill seas, and pluck Gods and Devils and seize the moon. Later, they became extinct. The northern barbarians are said to be descendants of Gods and Devils, and this is not without reason. They are born with strong bodies and the strength to lift heavy objects. From time to time, infants in the tribe exhibit atavistic phenomena, such as scales growing on their bodies, a single horn growing on their foreheads, a giant snake tail growing out of their bodies, and growing to be two zhang tall by the time they are three years old. All these strange phenomena confirm this saying."

"Based on these phenomena, the historians of the Great Feng Dynasty deduced that during the primitive period, there must have been an era in which Gods and Devils were active. In that era, humans were as weak as ants and could only rely on Gods and Devils to survive, which is why the northern barbarians exist today."

"And we are the human race that rose to prominence later."

"No, don't Gods and Devils and demons and humans have reproductive barriers?" Xu Qi'an argued inwardly as he asked, "I suspect it's a hybrid of human and demon, not some Gods and Devils. After all, the northern barbarians and the northern Demon Race are allies."

Regarding this question, Chu Yuanzhen pondered for a long time before saying, "As for the existence of Gods and Devils, I've heard a theory that the Gu God sleeping in the Abyss of the Southern Frontier is Gods and Devils that survived from ancient times, and is also the only Gods and Devils."

Is the Gu God an ancient Gods and Devils? This question can be asked of Number Five, Xu Qi'an. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he made a connection. "So, during the Battle of Shanhai Pass, the northern and southern barbarian tribes were allied?"

"That's a good idea. All we know is that the northern and southern barbarian tribes have always maintained a relatively friendly relationship, mainly because they are separated by the Great Feng, and both are coveting this piece of land, so they are natural allies. But it's also possible that their Gods and Devils bloodlines keep them in a relatively friendly relationship."

Chu Yuanzhen exclaimed excitedly, "If the historians knew this line of thinking, they would be extremely thrilled!"

The conversation continued.

"Beyond the territory of the northern barbarians, further north lies the polar region, where the cold can freeze you from the inside out. Yet, traces of life still remain. I once saw a peculiar race with human heads and fish bodies. They possessed intelligence but did not understand human language; they could communicate through gestures."

"Their tribe is predominantly female, and often one male is assigned to multiple females to impregnate them. Apart from mating, the male doesn't have to do anything else; hunting is left to the females."

Xu Qi'an said with great envy.

"However, due to overwork, males often do not live past twenty years, and their offspring are still predominantly female."

Therefore, boys should maintain their integrity and protect themselves, and not let women lust after them, Xu Qi'an said with peace of mind.

"Every sixty years, they face a crisis of genocide because all the males die out, leaving no one to impregnate the females. It just so happens that I went to the Arctic that year."

Xu Qi'an asked in shock, "And then you successfully got the female pregnant?"

"Puff"

Chu Yuanzhen spat out a mouthful of tea, which landed on Xu Qi'an's face.

"Why did you make that guess?" Chu Yuanzhen asked in shock as he handed over the handkerchief.

"Please continue," Xu Qi'an waved his hand, refusing to answer the question.

"That year happened to be the year when the males of their race became extinct. In order for the race to reproduce, some females would transform into males and bravely take on the heavy responsibility of reproducing the race."

"The queen of the race will be the first to change her gender; it is her inherent duty. After becoming queen, she will have a large harem, summoning all her daughters to her palace."

My head is full of complaints, I don't know how to even begin to express them, what should I do?! Xu Qi'an exclaimed, "The wonders of creation are truly astonishing."

After chatting for another quarter of an hour, Chu Yuanzhen laughed and said, "Don't just listen to me. Everyone in the capital knows your great name. Your glorious deeds must be talked about in restaurants and teahouses."

"Let's talk about those cases with Chu."

"That's a long story," Xu Qi'an said, straightening his posture.

"Then let me start with the tax silver theft case. At that time, my second uncle was involved in the tax silver theft case and knew that he was about to die, having harmed others. After I learned about this, I said to my second uncle: 'Second uncle, don't panic. This case is full of flaws. In my eyes, it's just a small trick. I can solve it in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.'"

"But I must admit that I was young and arrogant back then, and underestimated the heroes of the world."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Chu Yuanzhen became interested.

"It took me two incense sticks to solve the tax fraud case."

Xu Qi'an started with the tax silver case and continued talking about the Fufei case. Chu Yuanzhen held his teacup, not taking a sip, and listened with utmost concentration.

He frowned in confusion when he heard the part that puzzled him, but after Xu Qi'an explained the inside story, he suddenly understood and smiled.

"Brother Xu's judgment in solving cases is truly divine; I admire you greatly."

Chu Yuanzhen's heart stirred, and he thought of this Lord Xu's cousin, number three. He had previously guessed that number three was related to the soaring pure energy of the Temple of the Second Saint, and believed that Daoist Jinlian had given him the fragment of the Earth Book because he valued number three's special qualities.

After learning about Xu Qi'an, the cousin of number three, he believed that this young man was also exceptionally talented. On the surface, Master Jinlian gave the fragments of the Earth Book to his cousin, but in reality, he harbored the idea of taking both brothers.

Now that he has witnessed Xu Qi'an's abilities and talent, he is even more certain of this guess.

"Master Jinlian is indeed cunning and shrewd."

Just then, Chu Yuanzhen suddenly felt a pang of anxiety, realizing that a message had been sent by the holder of the fragment. He immediately said, "I'm going to the outhouse."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Qi'an, sitting opposite him, said almost simultaneously, "I'm going to the restroom."

The two were silent for a moment, then Xu Qi'an said without changing his expression, "Brother Chu, please go first."

Chu Yuanzhen nodded, got up and left the quiet room. He estimated that the relay of messages between the members of the Heaven and Earth Society would not be finished anytime soon.

If Xu Qi'an went to the outhouse first and returned shortly after, it wouldn't be good if they bumped into each other.

After the footsteps faded into the distance, Xu Qi'an took out a small jade mirror to check the message.

[5: I've been scammed out of my money, what should I do?]

This was exactly what he expected and expected. Xu Qi'an's lips twitched. Considering his status as a dead man, he did not send a letter to inquire.

After a few seconds, I saw Chu Yuanzhen's reply: [Four: What happened? How was the money stolen?]

[Six:50, where are you now? How far are you from the capital? How much money have you been swindled out of? If you have nowhere to eat, see if there's a temple nearby and go there to beg for alms.]

Pfft. Xu Qi'an covered his mouth, almost bursting out laughing.

It's traditionally monks who beg for alms. If someone goes to the temple to beg for alms on the 5th, how do the monks feel?

[Second: It's one thing if you get swindled out of money, but as long as you don't get swindled out of people, that's all that matters. Your tribe is really something. Don't you know to send an elder to accompany a young girl all the way to Great Feng?]

[1. Remember not to do anything that violates the laws of the Great Feng.]

[Nine: Hey, Five, if you're not far from Southern Frontier, you should go back. It's dark and the roads are slippery; the world is a complicated place.]

Everyone was so worried about Number Five. Xu Qi'an touched the mirror several times, then withdrew his fingers. He felt so uncomfortable and wanted to chime in.

P. S.: Please give me recommendations and monthly tickets! Haven't you voted in a while, guys? I'm only 2,000 Extended Net Moon away from surpassing the previous place. Please give me your support, and I'll update more chapters, sob sob.

Today is another day of writing 10,000 words; I'll update first and revise later.