From a Thousand Miles Away, One Spear Took a Life

"A spy?"

The Bodhisattva's avatar, speaking in a casual tone that suggested he could neither know nor not know, countered with a question.

"Master Jianzheng is a master of destiny, and his greatest skill is planning. A long time ago, I thought that as long as we could eliminate the three clones of Empress Zhen De and Wei Yuan, we could gain the upper hand."

"Fortunately, I never underestimated him. Through countless closed-door simulations, I gradually discovered some well-hidden spies."

Xu Pingfeng paused for a moment, raised his cup to drink tea, and smiled:

"The Martial Alliance is the secret agent of the Imperial Censor. It is like an army raised in the martial arts world. It does not belong to the imperial court, but it has extremely good combat power."

Most of the time, it is just a force in the martial arts world. But when the court becomes corrupt and the army becomes incompetent, this secret army that is recuperating and rebuilding can play a vital role.

"Specifically used to quell rebellions."

Gara Tree nodded. "The Martial Alliance has already secretly sided with the Supervisor?"

He didn't know much about the forces in the Central Plains martial arts world, and the Martial Alliance wasn't qualified to catch the eye of a First-Rank Bodhisattva.

Xu Pingfeng shook his head. "No, that old scoundrel won't side with anyone. What a pity, what a pity."

The Bodhisattva of the Gara Tree played with the brightly glazed teacup, waiting for the white-robed Warlock to explain.

"This man made a pact with Emperor Gaozu that if the court ever became corrupt and repeated the mistakes of the Great Zhou, he would rise up in rebellion and overthrow the Great Feng."

At first glance, they seem like allies that can be won over.

"Actually, no. The Great Feng of today is different from the Great Zhou of the past. The Great Zhou's fate has run out, it is rotten to the bone, and it is beyond saving."

"After Yuan Jing was beheaded, the new Great Feng Dynasty ascended the throne and was determined to reform. In the eyes of many insightful people, this was a sign of the dynasty's revitalization. The cold disaster was a natural disaster, and natural disasters will always pass. Moreover, the court was also making efforts to provide disaster relief."

This shows that the imperial court was not so corrupt as to be completely ineffective.

"Moreover, in that old scoundrel's view, this is caused by the loss of the Great Feng's dragon energy. Helping the court regain its dragon energy is certainly better than waging a war that sweeps across the Central Plains."

Xu Pingfeng picked up the teapot, added hot tea to the teacup, and sighed:

"What I regret is that the old scoundrel is a martial artist determined to reach the pinnacle of Martial Dao; with different pursuits, it was destined that he could never be an ally."

If someone is ambitious, they would never let such a great opportunity slip by.

Those are true allies.

The Garuda tree listened in expressionlessly.

Xu Pingfeng waved his hand, and the tea tray, porcelain, and other items on the table quickly twisted and transformed, becoming a chessboard and two boxes of chess pieces.

He rolled up his sleeve with one hand and pinched out a porcelain chess piece with the other, placing it on the chessboard with a "thud".

"The extraordinary experts of the Great Feng camp: Supervisor, Head of the Human Sect, Confucian School Zhao Shou, and Xu Qi'an."

Each time a name is called, a piece is placed.

Zhao Shou's mission is to uphold the Confucian School tradition and restore its former glory. For him, it doesn't matter who sits on the throne; he would even prefer to see someone replace the current royal family.

"In this way, Confucian School scholars will have a chance to rise in the ranks. Moreover, Confucian School has been in decline for so long that he is the only third-rank official. If he participates in the struggle for the dragon's aura, he may risk his demise."

"He may not be afraid of death, but Confucian School will not tolerate it. There is no need to worry about him."

Xu Pingfeng put the chess piece representing Zhao Shou back into the chess box.

"Luo Yuheng is about to undergo her tribulation. Although becoming my daughter-in-law has initially quelled her karmic fire, it also means she is one step closer to the heavenly tribulation. Now she needs to balance her growing Law Power and karmic fire. Once the balance is lost, the heavenly tribulation will arrive in an instant."

He also put the chess piece representing Luo Yuheng back.

"Xu Qi'an's cultivation has not yet recovered; he is currently at most the early stage of the third rank, or even weaker. He is not worth worrying about."

He lightly tossed the chess piece representing Xu Qi'an back into the chess box.

"The old scoundrel of the martial arts alliance was already in bad shape. After the battle in the capital, I expected him to be in even worse shape. Now he is probably on the verge of failing to achieve Dao integration and is facing the crisis of physical collapse."

"Therefore, if we want to preserve the Martial Alliance, the Supervisor must personally intervene. The predicament of Yunzhou will then be resolved."

The Bodhisattva of the Garuda Tree clasped his hands in prayer and said softly:

"It seems you've long ago prepared the knife to destroy the Martial Alliance."

Xu Pingfeng laughed and said, "I wasn't fully prepared before, but now, the time has come."

On the border of Qingzhou, in a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of the city.

Jingxin, who had been meditating and cultivating in seclusion here for several days, opened his eyes, slowly got up, and walked out of the dilapidated temple.

He stood in the courtyard, gazing silently into the distance. After a long while, Jingyuan returned from his alms round.

Vajra doesn't need to eat, but as fourth-rank beings, they are still made of flesh and blood and still need to eat.

The two disciples exchanged a glance, and Jingxin sighed:

"I can no longer enter a meditative state."

Jingyuan understood, but still asked, "Why?"

Jingxin said softly:

"Inner demons invade."

"During this period of time, the battle outside Yongzhou City has been flashing through my mind repeatedly, as has the scene of my fellow disciples being killed by him with a single stroke."

"Fear and anger constantly sear my soul, preventing me from finding peace and tranquility."

Jingyuan remained silent for a moment, then asked coldly, "What is the grand ambition you have made?"

Jingxin made no secret of it. "I chose the position of slaying thieves."

The rank of "Slaying Thieves" grants two abilities: to sever all worldly troubles and to slay all worldly enemies.

The former can eliminate one's own troubles, and also eliminate the troubles of others.

The latter is pure violence, erasing the other party's existence from the root; in layman's terms, it's murder.

Jingyuan said calmly:

"Senior brother, this is your fortuitous opportunity."

"Your troubles arose because of him; if you can end them because of him, you will achieve the fruit of slaying thieves and enter the realm of Arhat."

Jingxin's eyes were blank. "Killing him is easier said than done."

Making grand vows is an essential step towards attaining official rank, and there are two models for grand vows related to attaining official rank through slaying traitors.

First: Slay a major enemy of Buddhist School, or kill several sworn enemies.

The grand ambition of killing the greatest enemy of Buddhist School is difficult to achieve, because those who can become the greatest enemy of Buddhist School are not those that even a fourth-rank ascetic monk can deal with.

Killing several sworn enemies is equally difficult; since they are sworn enemies, there is always the risk of their demise.

Second: Slay your own inner demons.

This path may seem simple at first glance, but it is actually more elusive and may never be achieved in a lifetime. Some ascetics even die without ever touching their inner demons.

To purify one's mind and cultivate oneself to attain Arhatship, killing Xu Qi'an is the method with the highest success rate, but also the highest mortality rate.

Jingyuan remained silent.

The Arhatship is something that can only be attained by those with great fortuitous opportunity.

Just then, a secret agent from the Heavenly Secrets Palace, dressed in a black robe and wearing a hood, arrived outside the dilapidated temple along the mountain path.

Jingxin and Jingyuan stopped talking at the same time and looked at each other sideways.

I want to see the two Vajras.

"That's what the spy said."

The orders from my uncle and master have arrived? Jingxin clasped her hands together:

Please come in.

The spy nodded and strode into the temple.

The temple is small, and in front of the overturned clay sculpture of the mountain god, two Vajras with dark gold skin and burning rings on the back of their heads sit cross-legged.

"The Palace Master has a secret message for the two Vajra Guardians."

The spy took an envelope from his pocket and respectfully presented it with both hands.

Du Nan Jingang opened his palm, letting the envelope fly to him and land in his hand. He opened it, read it, and said in a deep voice:

"Are there any others?"

The spy immediately pulled out a metal box, bowed, and said:

"This is what the Palace Master asked me to give to you two."

Du Nan took it, without opening it, and nodded, saying, "We already know."

Upon hearing this, the spy bowed, clasped his hands in prayer, and withdrew from the small temple.

Jingxin and Jingyuan, who were outside the courtyard, watched the spy leave before entering the small temple side by side.

Du Nan Jingang glanced at the two of them:

"The Bodhisattva Garuda has ordered us to set off immediately for Jianzhou to destroy the Martial Alliance."

The Martial Alliance? As Buddhist School disciples from the Western Regions, Jingxin and Jingyuan were completely unfamiliar with this Great Feng Dynasty.

Du Nan Jingang did not answer, but instead opened the small metal box.

A dazzling golden light shone into Jingxin and Jingyuan's eyes, so bright that they instinctively closed them.

At the same time, a vast and powerful force, which made people tremble, filled the small temple space.

The surrounding air became scorching hot, as if we were facing a volcanic eruption, and our lungs felt like they were on fire.

"Smack!"

Du Nan Jingang closed the metal box at the right moment, and the array engraved on its surface activated, shielding it from the terrifying power.

"This is a drop of Essence Blood from the Bodhisattva Garuda Tree, which allows me, or my fellow disciple who is saving me, to temporarily unleash the Vajra Dharma Form."

The ugly Asura Vajra Dufan provides an explanation.

The Essence Blood of the Bodhisattva of the Gara Tree, Pure Heart and Pure Fate, exchanged a glance and held their breath.

Du Nan then said, "That palace master instructed us to head north to Yuzhou to meet up with Ji Xuan and the others."

So this is the history of Jianzhou. I've never heard of it before. Li Lingsu suddenly realized, took a bite of the candied hawthorn, and had to admit that she had some admiration for Xu Qi'an.

This man is both the Left Imperial Tutor and the Princess Consort, and he also has a group of beautiful and charming female confidantes in the capital. He is a scoundrel.

But in terms of both cultivation and knowledge, he far surpasses his peers.

As the Holy Son of the Heavenly Sect, Li Lingsu's pride is inevitable, and he has the right to be.

Before entering the martial arts world, he considered himself one of the best among the younger generation in Kyushu, one of the very elite, and that was indeed the case.

However, among this generation of young people, Xu Qi'an emerged.

All the young talents paled in comparison.

Even seasoned veterans have to admit: the younger generation is truly formidable.

"I see."

Miao Youfang listened with great interest, saying, "I've never heard such interesting history told in storytelling before."

Although he could read, he hadn't read much; at most, he had only received basic education.

Most of our cultural knowledge came from storytellers, just like the Battle of Shanhai Pass back then. Even today, some restaurants and teahouses still repeat the same old stories.

Miao Youfang heard many unofficial and official histories from storytellers and believed that storytellers contained all of history.

"Do you know how secretive, important, and valuable what Xu Qian just said was?"

Li Lingsu chuckled, habitually engaging in banter and arguing.

"You know that now?" Miao Youfang retorted playfully, then asked, "Tell me about it?"

Li Lingsu snorted:

"These secrets may not be useful, but they are definitely inside information that is inaccessible to people of a very high level and without a certain status. This helps you see the true nature of the world and allows you to reflect on yourself."

"Ha, these days you're spouting vulgarities like 'his grandma,' 'this old man,' and 'sleeping with women.'"

Unfortunately, he lacked education, and could only express his frustration with the phrase "Holy crap!" Xu Qi'an concluded in his heart.

Miao Youfang didn't take it to heart. "Aren't warriors just uncouth?"

Li Lingsu was speechless for a moment, unable to respond. After a brief silence, she finally spoke:

"But things are different for you now. Being able to serve as Xu Qian's attendant is a turning point in your life. If you continue to be so vulgar, you will never be able to grace a respectable place."

Miao Youfang glanced at Xu Qi'an, stopped arguing, and pondered for a moment before saying:

"Then how should I change it?"

Xu Qi'an laughed and said, "First of all, you should pay attention to your manners and avoid using vulgar language. For example, change 'You are scum' to 'Are you Li Lingsu?'"

That scumbag actually mocked me as scumbag. Li Lingsu chuckled and said, "Senior Xu is truly modest."

Xu Qi'an pointed at the Holy Son and looked at Miao Youfang:

"Look, here's another example. Let's learn from them."

The little white fox, having overheard the crosstalk performance by three human males, raised her face to look at Mu Nanzhi and said in a sweet voice:

"Auntie, can I learn too?"

Mu Nanzhi pouted. "You'll fail at learning, don't pay any attention to them."

Xu Qi'an glanced back at the reincarnation of the Flower Goddess with a smile, and the latter glared back at him with bright, watery eyes.

"You know so much about Jianzhou, have you traveled there before?"

Xu Qi'an asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time.

Li Lingsu nodded. "Jianzhou isn't too far from Tianzong. My junior sister and I will make Jianzhou our second stop after we go down the mountain."

Tianzong isn't far from Jianzhou, Xu Qi'an silently noted, and continued to ask:

"Do you have a lover?"

Li Lingsu avoided answering.

This piqued Xu Qi'an's curiosity. Li Lingsu never considered himself a scumbag, so he didn't shy away from having casual relationships. He rarely had such a secretive attitude.

A normal relationship would certainly go beyond this; it seems to be a love affair that's difficult to express openly. The problem most likely lies with the woman—is she married?

Thinking of this, Xu Qi'an instinctively turned to look at Mu Nanzhi.

Why are you looking at me like that?!

Mu Nanzhi's eyebrows furrowed, her anger barely contained.

When the topic of lovers came up, Xu Qi'an turned to look at her, clearly placing her in the position of "lover".

The proud and noble flower goddess reincarnated would never admit to being a lover.

Miao Youfang chuckled, "I've heard that the Wan Hua Lou in Jianzhou is full of beauties, each one a national treasure. Brother Li, if you're truly a romantic and amorous man, you certainly won't let them go."

Xu Qi'an nodded slowly:

"That's true. The Wan Hua Lou in Jianzhou is indeed full of beauties, including young girls in their prime, charming and beautiful women, and mature women who still retain their charm. Especially the Wan Hua Lou owner, Xiao Yuenu, is a beauty of unparalleled grace."

"That figure, that face, that temperament, that charm."

Suddenly noticing Mu Nanzhi's gloomy expression, he quickly changed the subject. "Not even worth a hair on Nanzhi's head."

It wasn't exactly flattery; even a beauty like the Imperial Preceptor paled in comparison to the reincarnation of the Flower Goddess.

It's not a difference in facial features or temperament, but a feeling that cannot be described in words.

Xu Qi'an interpreted this feeling as the unique "allure" of the Flower Goddess.

However, it cannot be denied that Xiao Yuenu's overall rating is absolutely top-tier.

"The Wan Hua Lou is full of beautiful women." Miao Youfang said with longing.

Li Lingsu remained silent and rode her horse away, clattering away.

Miao Youfang hurriedly chased after him, flattering and ingratiating himself.

"Brother Li, do you really have a lover at the brothel? I'm not married yet, can you introduce me? From now on, you'll be my brother, no, my father."

Xu Qi'an watched the two lovable characters chase each other away, and heard Mu Nanzhi's sarcastic voice in his ear:

"Has someone's heart flown to Xiao Yuenu's side?"

"Yes, yes, I've already taken her virginity from a thousand miles away with one shot."

Because of those words, Xu Qi'an's head was hit by pebbles all the way.

Yuzhou.

When Ji Xuan and the others returned from their search for a host of dragon energy, they found nine uninvited guests at their temporary lodging.

They were all dressed in black robes, but the difference was that eight of them were slightly bulky, and it seemed that they were wearing armor under their black robes.

The other person was of normal build.

The Azure Dragon Seven Mansions, and a secret agent from the Heavenly Secrets Palace.

Before even stepping into the courtyard, Ji Xuan had already sensed that someone was inside, and greeted them without any surprise:

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

He led Liu Hongmian, Xu Yuanshuang, and the others to sit on the other side, and said in a deep voice:

"What happened?"

Unless there are unforeseen circumstances, the spies from the Azure Dragon Seven Constellations and Yuzhou will not arrive together.

The spy from Yuzhou picked up the secret letter beside him and tossed it away with a flick of his wrist.

Ji Xuan reached out and took it, then began to read it with a puzzled expression.

After reading it, his expression turned solemn.

"Seventh Brother?"

Xu Yuanhuai asked a question.

Ji Xuan gave the letter to the other party.

After reading it, Xu Yuanhuai stared wide-eyed in disbelief:

"Father wants us to destroy the Martial Alliance?"

"The Martial Arts Alliance has a Nine Dragon Host"

PS: Requesting monthly votes.