That year, that cicada, that sword

Chapter 485

No matter how big a country is, it will perish if it is warlike; no matter how peaceful the world is, it will be dangerous if you forget war.

The predecessors have exhausted the truth, but no one can say what constitutes a "belligerent". Today's Daqi court has nearly 200 million soldiers, is it considered "belligerent"?
The ancients also said that "the top does not play with soldiers, the bottom does not abandon military, and the survival does not forget death, so that the country can be protected because of the safety of the body." Daqi emperors for two consecutive generations attached great importance to Tianji Pavilion, and they did not hesitate to invest a lot of money, causing the treasury to lose money. Overspending year after year, so much so that Qi Wang Xiaobai had to go to the south of the Yangtze River to raise money and food to help the victims. Is it considered "playing soldiers"?
Xu Beiyou, as half a merchant and half a temple dweller, really wanted to see what this military town, which Li Yanliang joked was piled up with silver, looked like.

However, the scene when he first entered the city made Xu Beiyou a little disappointed, because at first glance, this is an ordinary city, except for a little deserted, no matter the houses or streets, it is not much different from other prefectures in Shanzhou.

Although Xu Beiyou concealed this disappointment very well, Li Yanliang had already considered this point, and took the initiative to explain: "After all, it is a prefectural city, and it cannot be all craftsmen's workshops. This area is mainly a place for people to live. There are many wine shops, gambling houses, and Qinlou Chuguan."

Xu Beiyou asked curiously, "Where is the master craftsman of Tianji Pavilion?"

Li Yanliang pointed to the north, and said: "All kinds of workshops are also divided into three, six or nine grades. The workshop where the master craftsman is located is naturally the first grade. It has always been a forbidden area. If I hadn't held the military order of the governor this time, It is also forbidden to enter."

Xu Beiyou let out a groan, but he wasn't too surprised.

In the first ten years of competition, the Tianji Pavilion inherited from the Mohist lineage was considered to have made great efforts for Emperor Xiao. After the founding of Daqi, Emperor Xiao did not forget this great hero. First of all, Tianji Pavilion was also strongly supported by the imperial court, asking money for money, asking for people to give, sweeping away the decline of Dazheng's last years, and becoming a behemoth second only to the "Three Religions".

Logically speaking, Lan Yu and Han Xuan are at odds with each other in the temple, and Tianji Pavilion is undoubtedly Lan Yu's back residence. Xu Beiyou, as Han Xuan's adopted son, should not "make trouble" on Tianji Pavilion's site anyway. It's just that Xu Beiyou was too curious about this special sect, and Han Xuan also said that Xu Beiyou didn't need to care too much about the temple battle between the two, so he decided to come here to have a look.

Xu Beiyou followed Li Yanliang all the way forward. The interrogation encountered on the road this time was obviously much stricter. However, with a warrant for no disease, the road was still unimpeded. He was stopped until he came to a small black and white unremarkable building. , because the guards here are no longer soldiers of the Northwest Army, but disciples of Tianji Pavilion.

Li Yanliang took out Zhang Wubing's handwritten handwriting and went forward to negotiate, while Xu Beiyou stood aside and stared at the building, frowning slightly.He naturally knew that this unremarkable building was definitely not where the Tianji Pavilion workshop was located. Based on his spiritual perception, the real workshop should be under the ground, but there is a formation operating here, and Xu Beiyou is not good at the way of the soul. People in the Taoist sect, so I can't get a glimpse of the whole picture.

After some negotiations, Li Yanliang and Xu Beiyou were able to enter this building, while the others stayed outside. Several Tianji Pavilion disciples looked curiously at Xu Beiyou who was dressed in brocade clothes, and secretly guessed in their hearts how this person came from. , To be able to make a promising cavalry commander so respectful, but I have never heard of such a young commander in the army, could it be a son of the clan?
Obviously this is not the first time Li Yanliang has come here. He took Xu Beiyou with ease to the entrance to the underground part. After entering, there is a winding stone path tunnel. The stone path is relatively gentle, not steep at all, and very wide. It is enough to allow two carriages to run side by side, presumably because a large amount of supplies have to be transported to it.

The road was unimpeded, and the stone path tunnel with ever-burning lamps embedded in the wall continued to extend downwards, as if the flame dragons at the beginning and the end were not visible. After entering it, Xu Beiyou could already perceive the scale of the place, which was almost equivalent to a Danxia village. The person walked zigzagging for half an hour, like walking in a beehive, passing through more than ten criss-crossing secret passages, the vision in front suddenly widened, and finally reached the destination.

The place is extremely open and vast, covering an area of ​​more than ten acres and a height of more than ten feet. It is supported by ten huge pillars. There are many artificially dug caves on the surrounding walls. Xu Beiyou and Li Yanliang came from one of these caves. As soon as they walked out, various materials and many semi-finished ordnance were scattered on the ground. In the center was a huge copper furnace with a height of three people. The flames were raging and the heat wave was pressing.

Not far from the copper stove, a young man was sitting cross-legged behind a short table. The man was naked from the upper body, and was wearing a pair of black trousers casually on the lower body. With his hair scattered casually, he bowed his head and wrote vigorously in a pile of drawings. Not far from him, there was also a pile of drawings with exquisite compositions scattered around.

When the two of them stepped here, he seemed to feel something, and suddenly raised his head to look at the two of them. This seemed to be a simple action, but it triggered the blazing fire in the copper furnace, and rolled towards the two of them. come.

The air in front of the two of them suddenly distorted, and then there was only a scarlet color left. Xu Beiyou was fine, but Li Yanliang couldn't bear it. His lips were chapped instantly, sweating profusely, and after taking a few steps back, his figure was shaky.

Xu Beiyou frowned, stretched out his palm and lightly circled it in front of his body, and unleashed Sword Seventeen with his bare hands, and saw a long sword energy surrounding the two of them, like a river of moat, separating the boundless fire power outer.

The man let out a sigh, and said in surprise: "It turned out to be a sword master in the realm of the earth fairy, but I haven't seen it for many years. Are you from the sword sect or from the Taoist sect?"

Xu Beiyou calmly replied: "Jianzong, Xu Beiyou."

This person may have been here for too long, and Xu Beiyou only became famous in the past two years, so he was completely indifferent to the word Xu Beiyou, and then asked: "Then whose sect are you from?"

Xu Beiyou replied: "My master, Sun Zhongmou."

The man stood up from the short front, waved his hand to dispel his anger, and said with great interest: "It turns out that he is a disciple of Gongsun Zhongmou. My master is the elder brother of the pavilion master. He is of the same generation as your master, so you and I are also of the same generation." .”

Xu Beiyou couldn't help laughing wryly in his heart. His seniority was not low no matter if he was counted from Han Xuan's side or Gongsun Zhongmou's. But his real age must be at least sixty years old, and he can almost be his ancestor, but when it comes to seniority, the two are of the same generation.

Xu Beiyou also dissipated the sword energy in front of him, cupped his hands and asked, "Have you asked Your Excellency your name?"

The young man smiled lightly and said: "My surname is Wang. I have a single name with a new character. There is no sign. It is now made by a master craftsman of Tianji Pavilion. You can call me a master craftsman, or you can call me by my first name. It's up to you."

Xu Beiyou didn't pretend to be so big as to call a land immortal of the ten-story building realm by his name, but just said a great craftsman.

Li Yanliang stood beside him for a long time, seeing that Wang Sheng still didn't respond to him, a little embarrassment was secondary, but he was afraid of delaying the important matters of the governor, so he could only bite the bullet and cough lightly.

(End of this chapter)