Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 651 Xiao Wanjun's maiden name

In the process of getting along with Xiao Wanjun, Gu Xu felt more and more that this princess of Da Qi, although a woman, had more of the demeanor of a scholar than those servile courtiers of the previous dynasty.

She is honest, intelligent and knowledgeable.

He has a heart to save the world and a determination to pursue the truth.

For Gu Xu, whether communicating with her about the way of practicing Taoism or discussing national affairs, it was an easy and enjoyable thing.

Because she always speaks her mind, she will neither be overbearing because the other person is of low status, nor flattering because the other person is in a high position and has power.

…………

"Brother Qi Yan."

When Xiao Wanjun heard this familiar yet distant name, her heart trembled and she felt a little surprised.

This was not because Gu Xu recognized that the young man in white "Qi Yan" by the Luo River during the Lantern Festival last year was actually her in disguise - with his current level of cultivation, it was not difficult to see through "Qi Yan's" disguise.

She was just surprised that Gu Xu would suddenly call out this name in an occasion like today.

This caught her off guard and she didn't know how to respond for a moment.

"In fact, sometimes I miss last year's Lantern Festival." After a brief silence, Gu Xu released his hand that was holding her arm, took a step back, and continued, "I think if there were no Princess Daqi and Emperor Daxia in this world, and only Qi Yan, a student of the Imperial Academy, and Gu Xu, a minor official of the Exorcist Department, then perhaps, there would be another beautiful story of meeting a soulmate in the Great Wilderness."

  Meeting a soulmate in the mountains and rivers?

What is this story?

How come there are stories in this world that I don’t know about?

  Your Majesty is truly well-informed, knowing even such obscure and rare stories!

Xiao Wanjun's thoughts became increasingly confused.

Unconsciously, she recalled the test paper she had prepared for the promotion assessment of officials in the Exorcism Department in the autumn of the previous year.

She had spent a lot of time and effort designing the questions on the test paper. The difficulty level increased from easy to difficult, and it could clearly test the candidate officials' mastery of the theoretical knowledge related to cultivation and ghosts.

About 10% of the questions were various obscure and rare knowledge that she had racked her brains to find, covering many aspects such as astrology, feng shui, alchemy and refining.

She felt that in the entire Da Qi, there would be no one who could solve all these problems.

And this was something she did on purpose.

Officials are not allowed to get full marks easily. Some difficult questions are deliberately set up to leave them with some regrets. This can suppress their tempers and make them remain humble even after becoming officials. They will not become proud, complacent, or self-willed.

But she had never expected that Gu Xu, a minor official who only had the first level of cultivation at that time, would hand in a flawless answer sheet.

At that time, Xiao Wanjun, looking at the elegant and graceful handwriting on the scroll, was amazed and couldn't help wanting to sit down and discuss with him. She even proposed to Luo Sishou that he should invite Gu Xu to the princess's residence to serve as the chief historian.

Naturally, her request was rejected by Luo Si Shou without hesitation.

At this moment, looking at the young king in front of him with a clear mind and a handsome body, and with pearls and jade in his arms, their eyes met in the air. Xiao Wanjun felt as if he was in another world, and an indescribable emotion surged in his heart.

"Your Majesty, I chose the pseudonym 'Qi Yan' because my nickname is 'Yan'er'." She couldn't help but explain.

However, as soon as she said this, she lowered her head slightly, as if she regretted it a little.

The nickname of a woman in the Great Wilderness is often a secret known only to herself and her closest relatives.

Even her mother rarely used the name "Yan'er". Only her wet nurse who died young would often call her so affectionately.

  How could I accidentally reveal this to a man?

Seeing her like this, Gu Xu couldn't help but smile helplessly.

Ever since he raised the flag of rebellion in Liangzhou City, he has been thinking about how to become an outstanding leader and make his subordinates willingly serve him.

On the one hand, Gu Xu never hesitated to increase the salary and benefits of his subordinates who worked hard.

After all, if you want the horses to run, you have to feed them with grass first.

We can't be like Emperor Tianxing, who was reluctant to pay salaries to officials while allowing them to exploit the people and seek personal gain.

On the other hand, for the key officials around him, he not only had to meet their material needs, but also had to pay attention to their spiritual pursuits in order to win their heartfelt support.

  For those like Chu Fengge who like to show off in front of others, Gu Xu would write poems for him;

For people like Li Yun who want to advance in their practice and aspire to achieve something, Gu Xu gives him guidance and opportunities;

For eunuchs like Han Shunxi who had no roots and could only depend on others to survive, Gu Xu showed him trust and respect;

As for a wicked disciple like Zhao Yan who betrayed his teacher and ancestors, Gu Xu... he could only work harder at night.

As for Xiao Wanjun, Gu Xu always felt that she was a woman who had long since gotten rid of vulgar tastes.

She doesn't like jewelry, fancy clothes, or men.

In this desolate world where most girls get engaged when they reach the age of 15, she remained single until she was 26 years old.

Moreover, facing Gu Xu's overly handsome face, she always behaved calmly and composed. She neither dodged shyly like an ordinary girl, nor stared at him openly, greedily and eagerly like Zhao Yan.

What impressed Gu Xu the most was when they first met, she was holding a simple folding fan with a poem inscribed on it: "People at that time did not know the tree soaring to the sky, until it soared to the sky, people began to know its height."

Perhaps believing that this princess of the previous dynasty was an ambitious, honest and knowledgeable person, Gu Xu followed the example of the kings in previous history, opened his heart to her, confided his true feelings to her, and treated her as he treated celebrities.

  Now it seems that he seemed to have overdosed himself?

Why did her fair and calm face suddenly blush?

Besides, why did she tell him her maiden name?

He couldn't help thinking: I now have a "Yan'er" and a "Yan'er" by my side, and the pronunciations of their maiden names are so similar.

  If the two of them were together, and someone nearby called out something unclearly, would they both turn around and respond at the same time?

"I see." Gu Xu smiled and pretended not to notice her embarrassment.

Then, the two of them sat down on either side of the desk again.

Xiao Wanjun picked up the pen and paper again and continued to revise "The Secret of Qingmiao".

Gu Xuze looked at her focused expression and fell into deep thought.

After recently instructing members of the "Purple Mansion Army" in the "Daoism Discussion Room", Gu Xu deeply realized that it is an extremely difficult task to read and understand thousands of Taoist scriptures and integrate them.

Even with Gu Xu's hands-on guidance, a cultivator with a high level of comprehension like Li Yun still needs to spend a lot of effort to understand a martial arts technique from the essential level.

However, many more practitioners may only master two or three martial arts techniques in their entire lives, and often find it difficult to comprehend the essence of these martial arts.

But Xiao Wanjun, as a mortal with no cultivation, was able to memorize all kinds of cultivation books and even help him improve his skills.

  Is she really just an ordinary mortal?

Gu Xu narrowed his eyes slightly.

As his mind moved, countless densely packed 'lines of cause and effect' appeared in his field of vision.

These lines extend in all directions with Xiao Wanjun as the center, like light ribbons.

A guess gradually emerged in Gu Xu's mind.

He plans to find an opportunity to verify it.

…………

After a moment, Gu Xu picked up another "Qingdu Order" and entered the "Realm of Discussion of Taoism".

This Qingdu Order belongs to a fake identity he made up - a third-level cultivator named "Su Baiyu" who is good at swordsmanship.

After he was promoted to the saint realm and reshaped his body, his previous congenital deficiencies and weak bones no longer existed. Naturally, he was able to learn close combat martial arts moves.

However, the most important motivation for him to learn swordsmanship was his plan to use his clone to go to the Lingxiao Realm.

Although Taishang Haotian does not have a magic weapon like the "Star Plate" that can see the world like the Purple Star Emperor, given his personality, he must have an unimaginable control over the information of the Lingxiao Realm. At the same time, as a long-time friend and opponent of the Purple Star Emperor, Taishang Haotian must be very familiar with the several powers and common tactics of the Purple Star Emperor.

Because of this, if Gu Xu used these iconic fighting methods in the Lingxiao Realm, even if he was just a clone, he would most likely be discovered by Taishang Haotian and his identity would be exposed.

He must master some completely new methods that are completely different from the past, and these methods must be strong enough to enable him to protect himself in the Lingxiao Realm.

It can also allow him to deal with close-range assassinations from Wu Feng or Sima Feng.

The "Realm of Discussion of Dao" provided him with a perfect practice space, giving him the opportunity to compete with the martial arts geniuses in the "Purple Mansion Army".

"Welcome to the 'Realm of Taoism'!"

As the familiar voice rang in his ears, his consciousness first sank into darkness, and then appeared on a stage floating in the boundless starry sky.

Gu Xu bent down and picked up a simple-shaped scimitar from the ground.

The appearance of this knife is almost the same as the one he used to chop off the head of Prime Minister Tan Heming in the Zichen Palace after he was charged with treason.

Then, he glanced towards the side wall of the ring and saw the name of his opponent -

"Tao Chunting".

He has a photographic memory.

After briefly browsing through the information of the "Purple Mansion Army" monks, he memorized all the members' names, hometowns, cultivation levels, and cultivation methods in his mind.

He knew that Tao Chunting was 24 years old this year, a third-level swordsman from Lu'an Prefecture in Hedong Province, and was proficient in a set of swordsmanship called "White Cloud and Green Ai Sword".

"He is a good sparring partner." Gu Xu said silently in his heart.

He stepped onto the stage and immediately saw Tao Chunting who appeared in a virtual image.

Gu Xu's virtual image at this moment is that of a young man with ordinary appearance, the kind that no one would even glance at if he were in a crowd.

However, Tao Chunting's virtual image has sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, a straight nose and thin lips. He wears a flowing green robe and is extremely handsome.

Gu Xu couldn't help but wonder how long it took him to carefully create this face.

The two men saluted each other with fists.

Then, Tao Chunting took the first step.

He flashed like a ghost and swung his knife towards Gu Xu's head.

As the knife flashed, phantom clouds that seemed to be real appeared all around, and the sharp knife intent rushed towards Gu Xu.

The knife was both fast and fierce.

It can be seen that his skills are very solid and his moves are extremely skilled.

Faced with this swift attack, Gu Xu remained calm and blocked it with his sword.

His cultivation was suppressed at the third level.

He did not use any advanced martial arts techniques, but only adopted the most basic sword style, and his movements even looked a little awkward and clumsy.

Seeing Gu Xu's performance, Tao Chunting was delighted and couldn't help thinking to himself: "Could it be that the matching mechanism of this 'Discussion of Dao Realm' finally showed mercy to me after I lost five games in a row and planned to let me win a game? I was matched with a beginner who can't even use the basic swordsmanship proficiently!"

However, the next moment, the joy on Tao Chunting's face disappeared without a trace.

Because he was surprised to find that Gu Xu's seemingly unfamiliar sword move actually accurately found the weakest point of his true energy in "White Cloud and Green Ai Sword".

The true energy that Gu Xu was using at this moment was not strong, and was on the weaker side among the third-level cultivators.

But it was like a continuous spring rain, silently invading Tao Chunting's sword intent, causing it to quickly disintegrate and weaken.

When the two knives collided, there was no sound at all, just like two balls of cotton colliding together.

Gu Xu was naturally unharmed.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Xu stepped forward and decisively launched a counterattack.

He still used the most basic sword style——

"Poke".

The tip of the knife thrust forward, directly into the enemy's heart.

This time it was Tao Chunting's turn to block with his sword.

His expression was solemn, and his true essence transformed into bluish-white mist, which formed layers upon layers of shield in front of him.

However, Gu Xu accurately found the flaw in the mist and slipped through it like a snake emerging from a cave.

Before Tao Chunting could react, Gu Xu's knife pierced straight through his chest.

"Who exactly is this Su Baiyu?" After Tao Chunting returned to the real world, he frowned and thought to himself, "Why have I never seen a sword cultivator in the Purple Mansion Army who can use basic sword techniques so well?"

However, despite his depressed mood, the "Realm of Discussing Tao" also gave him some comfort.

This defeat did not deduct any points from his points.

In this regard, Tao Chunting did not think that this was a problem with the identity of "Su Baiyu".

He just thought, could it be that the "Realm of Discussion" felt that he had lost too much and began to sympathize with him?

…………

At the same time, in the imperial study room.

In less than half an hour, Gu Xu won nine games in a row in the "Realm of Discussion of Tao".

His sword skills quickly became proficient through repeated actual combat encounters with young martial arts geniuses.

Seeing that his level was upgraded from "Huang" to "Hong" and that the color of the three words "Su Baiyu" changed from black to blue, he couldn't help but reveal a happy smile on his face.

Xiao Wanjun, who was sitting opposite the desk, raised her head inadvertently and happened to catch the expression on his face.

That look of happiness was so pure.

Just like when she saw her brother win the cricket fight, she jumped for joy.

She suddenly realized that the young man opposite her was only nineteen years old, seven years younger than her.

People of his age might still be addicted to playing musical instruments, singing, dancing, and other sensual pleasures.

But he has quietly shouldered the weight of the entire wilderness.

(End of this chapter)