A Long Road and a Heavy Burden

"Uncle Zhong, do you sense anything?"

"I haven't sensed it yet!"

Having lost track of the Bashe snake, Dong Zhongshu and Wen Weng never expected that Zhang Xuezhou would also be lost.

Wen Weng didn't pay much attention to Zhang Xuezhou, after all, the other party was just a cultivator who wandered to Shu County.

If it weren't for Dong Zhongshu's connections, Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't even have been qualified to enter the prefect's office.

It was only when Zhang Xuezhou taught Dong Zhongshu feng shui techniques that they developed some connection.

But this was hardly enough to make Wen Weng look at him differently, after all, this was a reward he had earned by giving away a lot of medicinal herbs.

In their interactions with Zhang Xuezhou, the two adhered to the principle of mutual exchange between cultivators, ultimately resulting in neither owing the other anything.

But right now, Wen Weng feels that Zhang Xuezhou might owe him a bit too much.

He activated his body's senses and found it difficult to detect the location of the Dingshan Stone within a ten-mile radius.

This only proves that they lost Zhang Xuezhou, and even the Dingshan Stone.

The thought of Zhang Xuezhou absconding with the treasure crossed Wen Weng's mind, causing his heart to race with anxiety.

Among the many things he faced, besides the threat of the Bashe snake, the orderly progress of the academy, and the excavation of the Taiping Weir, Wen Weng felt that the next priority was to find the Dingshan Stone, a standard imperial Law Treasure.

There are more than one Dingshan Stone Law Treasure in the world, but only one belongs to Wen Weng.

A cultivator's Law Treasure are not something that can be acquired one after another. In fact, it is quite normal for many cultivators to possess only one or two Law Treasure in their lifetime, and many cultivators may never even possess Law Treasure in their entire lives.

Wen Weng felt that he had lost a large portion of his fortune.

This made him a little depressed, but before he could prove it, he couldn't just say that Zhang Xuezhou might have run away with the treasure.

He gazed at the endless hillsides and looked at the murky river, his head shaking uncontrollably.

"If we had the Water-Avoiding Technique of the Water Element Sect, this would be much easier for us," Wen Weng sighed.

"The Water Element Sect only has the ability to fight in water, yet they wanted to fight people on land. They would have been wiped out long ago. Where would their water-avoidance techniques come from?" Dong Zhongshu replied, "Some fragments have survived, but very few have actually mastered them."

"Could it be that Brother Zhongshu also sought out the Water-Avoiding Technique of the Water Element Sect?" Wen Weng asked.

"I only managed to get a fragment of the manuscript, which is enough to hold my breath underwater for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn," Dong Zhongshu said. "But that's all I can do; if you asked me to fight underwater, that would be virtually impossible!"

"Our Han Kingdom has been greeted by a completely shattered Eastern land!"

Wen Weng shook his head.

Cultivators value practical benefits the most. If they embark on cultivation, they will possess a skill that can be used. Most cultivators will definitely learn a practical skill.

In the Han Kingdom, cultivators emphasize cultivation levels, which means that only those with sufficiently high cultivation levels can learn useful techniques.

This is at least the current situation for most cultivators.

Without a certain level of attainment, many cultivators are not even qualified to practice cultivation techniques.

If we're going to have everyone practice some incomplete skills, it's better to just fight with knives.

As a cultivator at the Sole Self Realm, Wen Weng had difficulty controlling his Technique Method, while Dong Zhongshu, despite his extensive knowledge and numerous methods, still lacked practical techniques. These were the painful consequences left behind by the previous dynasty after it severed all ties.

Knowing full well that he would inevitably have to face this situation in the future, the Emperor Qin still made this decision.

As a later figure, Wen Weng had no right to criticize Emperor Qin's choices.

For Emperor Qin Huang, it was perhaps a choice made by the times.

In their time, Wen Weng felt there was a great need.

Just as he opened the academy to change the predicament faced by the Han Kingdom, Wen Weng also hoped for more places where everything could be renewed.

He put aside all his distracting thoughts and finally returned to the affairs of the academy.

Although the Bashe was not killed, it escaped downstream from Taiping Weir, allowing his water conservancy project to be put on the agenda.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Bashe, Zhang Xuezhou, and many other things will also unfold simultaneously.

Having eliminated the hidden danger of the Bashe snake lurking in Taipingyan, handling multiple matters simultaneously will not cause any conflict.

"Sir, there seems to be someone floating over there!"

When Zhao Liang's voice came, Wen Weng immediately came to his senses. He reached out and looked out, only to see a corpse lying in the floodwaters at the bend of the river.

The faint sense of familiarity emanating from the figure startled him.

"It looks like Zhang Xuezhou! How did he fall into the water!"

Dong Zhongshu's astonishment further confirmed Wen Weng's suspicions.

"Quick, quick, quick! He didn't swim around to help; he fell into the water and was swept away!"

Wen Weng exclaimed in surprise.

Ren never expected that a True Spirit Realm cultivator would be swept away by the flood while standing by the river.

Low-level cultivators are useless, but he never imagined they could be this useless.

He had previously speculated that Zhang Xuezhou had absconded with the treasure, but now it seems that his Dingshan Stone has also fallen into the floodwaters swept by the Jianjiang River.

As long as the Dingshan Stone is in the river, he can retrieve it sooner or later by searching downstream, but the cultivator's life will be difficult to save.

None of the main figures who fought the Bashe were dead, but the onlookers were gone, which gave Wen Weng a major headache.

"Heaven is jealous of talent! Quick, quick, quick! Go and rescue him!"

Wen Weng called out repeatedly, and Zhang Shu, who practiced martial arts, immediately carried Zhao Liang on his back and walked several steps faster.

"I'll go retrieve it; I can hold my breath for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn!"

Dong Zhongshu took a deep breath, put the Law Treasure fan back into his body, and then jumped into the river.

His body drifted downstream with the river, which was several minutes faster than walking on the muddy mountain road.

"Hurry over there and help Erudite Dong get people out of trouble!"

Wen Weng used a broken tree branch as a cane, trudging through the muddy mountain with uneven steps, and he could only urge Zhang Shu, who also possessed some martial prowess, onward.

"We've been walking for an hour; that cultivator Zhang must have drowned long ago," Zhang Shu said in a low voice. "We don't need to rush to retrieve the body."

"This isn't just fear, it's a certainty!"

Looking at Zhang Xuezhou lying prone on the water, Wen Weng sighed.

"Come help me drag this guy, he's still breathing!"

After Wen Weng and his group had walked for nearly a quarter of an hour to reach the bend in the river, Dong Zhongshu's words came, which surprised everyone.

Before Wen Weng could urge him, Zhang Shu put down Zhao Liang, whom he was carrying, and jumped down.

"He's still breathing, and his body isn't cold!"

When Zhang Shu touched Zhang Xuezhou's body, he felt that the other's body was cold but still had a trace of warmth, and was not completely cold.

He watched the row of small bubbles rising from the water and thought that Zhang Xuezhou's breathing was really tenacious, still bubbling even after falling into the water.

"He is likely a natural-born water spirit, possessing the ability to avoid water," Dong Zhongshu said breathlessly. "It's a pity the Water Element Sect is gone, otherwise this would be the student they searched for so long."

"This natural body of water is remarkable, it's just that it's so difficult to discover!"

Seeing that the person was not dead, Wen Weng was relieved.

"Our great nation of China has never lacked talent," Dong Zhongshu said breathlessly. "It's just that the Water Element Sect is gone, and the innate water body can only be used to make fishermen."

"What a pity!"

Wen Weng sighed in regret.

"Brother Zhongshu, you have a long way to go and a heavy responsibility to bear!"

He sighed heavily, feeling that the road ahead for the Han Dynasty was arduous and long, and he wondered when the Eastern Lands would be able to return to their former glory.