Ruins of the past

As Chu Qiguang and his party got closer to the capital, the green on both sides of the official road became more and more.

The originally gray and yellow land was gradually filled with green. There were fields and villages not far away, and farmers working in the fields could also be seen.

The closer we get to the capital, the more cars, horses and pedestrians come and go on the official road.

Some markets along avenues and stone bridges are already more lively than Qingyang County, Chu Qiguang's hometown.

You can often see rich people wearing silk and satin on the road.

But there were more refugees kneeling on the roadside selling themselves and begging, even more than what Chu Qiguang saw in Shuzhou and Lingzhou.

When they arrived outside the capital, Chu Qiguang and others could see the dense residential areas in the distance, and the houses along the roads were already in a row.

These chaotic houses and markets did not undergo any planning. They were all built one after another by the people who spontaneously settled outside the city over the years during the Han Dynasty.

The dust on the official road was a bit heavy, so Zhou Yujiao hid behind the window screen and watched curiously.

Chu Qiguang looked at the scene outside the city and said, "This outer city alone has a population of hundreds of thousands."

Qiao Zhi said: "Shenjing City is the largest city in the world. The combined population of the outer city and the inner city has probably exceeded one million. But having more people does not mean life will be easier..."

Chu Qiguang glanced outside the window and saw a row of skinny men and women with dull eyes standing on the roadside selling themselves.

And some wealthy businessmen and steward-looking people in brocade clothes were picking and choosing among the crowd.

Qiao Zhi said mockingly: "Hehe...at the feet of the emperor."

Chen Gang drove a carriage to a city gate in the west of the capital.

Today's Shenjing City has been expanded several times since the establishment of the Han Dynasty.

With the imperial palace as the center, there are three areas: the imperial city, the inner city, and the outer city.

In Chu Qiguang's view, this is equivalent to one ring, two rings, and three rings.

Originally, the imperial court wanted to continue to expand, build a four-ring city wall, and expand the city defense array to wrap the outer city.

But halfway through the construction, the late emperor passed away and the current Emperor Yong'an ascended the throne.

Later, the money used by the Ministry of Industry to build the city wall was removed by Emperor Yong'an, and the four rings were not built for a long time.

At this moment, Chen Gang drove to the South West Gate and could see the soldiers at the top of the city with bright armor, bright eyes, and strong bodies. They were all obviously practiced in martial arts.

But there were even more beggars near the city gate, begging from time to time for pedestrians passing by.

When she saw a little boy begging Chen Gang, Zhou Yujiao couldn't help but give him a piece of pop tart.

As a result, a group of beggars swarmed up and said, "Please, Miss, I haven't eaten in three days..."

"This big brother, I can endure any hardship and do any work. Just accept me."

"Miss! Give me some money!"

Seeing that the road ahead was blocked, Chen Gang yelled angrily, his energy and blood circulated in his body, and a wave of heat swept out.

Feeling the heat brought by this energy and blood, the beggars dispersed in a hurry, all scared away.

Zhou Yujiao frowned as she watched this scene, feeling uncomfortable.

She turned to look at Chu Qiguang and said, "Brother! How come there are more beggars in this capital than in our Qingyang County and even in Tianqu Mansion."

Today, under the management of Chu Qiguang, a large number of refugees in Lingzhou have been retrained in agricultural techniques and mastered the Heavenly Demon Foundation Building Technique.

Then started farming on the Chamber of Commerce's fields.

Some have even applied for a loan to rent a piece of farmland owned by the Chamber of Commerce.

Many people who were unwilling to farm entered the city, came to workshops to operate weaving machines, and became workers.

Although life is still hard, in Zhou Yujiao's opinion, it is much better than there are so many beggars and refugees in the capital.

Chu Qiguang said casually: "They lack a job. It is difficult for people to live without a job. So my goal is to let everyone in the world have a job."

Zhou Yujiao asked thoughtfully: "Will there be no beggars anymore?"

Chu Qiguang said: "At least at that time, no matter who it was, as long as they worked hard, they could have enough to eat."

Walk through the South West Gate, just moments after crossing the city wall.

Whether it was Chu Qiguang, Chen Gang, Zhou Yujiao, or Qiao Zhi, they all felt a strange wave sweep through their bodies.

But in the blink of an eye, Zhou Yujiao and Chen Gang no longer felt anything strange.

But Chu Qiguang and Qiao Zhi could still feel a strange fluctuation.

It was like an invisible mountain hanging above their heads, capable of pressing down at any time.

It was like a vast ocean pouring down, wrapping their bodies all the time.

Although Chu Qiguang already knew it, he was still surprised and said at this moment: "Is this the city defense formation of Shenjing City?"

Qiao Zhi nodded and said: "Emperor Taizu of the Han Dynasty inspired the world's spiritual veins according to the "Five Songs of Earth Yuan" and set up the world's best Feng Shui formation. Anyone who enters this formation can have his luck and realm cut off at will on this day. ."

"Even a powerful person can be temporarily knocked back to the fifth realm."

"It can be said that in this formation, the Emperor of Han is nearly invincible."

Chu Qiguang asked curiously: "Then how was this city breached by the demon clan in the first place?"

Qiao Zhi said: "Emperor Taizu measured the world's spiritual veins and compiled them into a book. Only then did he choose the location of the current Shenjing City and the Imperial Palace to set up a large array."

"For the next two hundred years, the imperial court has strictly prohibited anyone from destroying the spiritual veins, just for this grand formation."

Chu Qiguang immediately thought of the incident in Qingyang County where Hao Guy and Shenxian Dao mined Meishan and destroyed the spiritual veins.

He nodded clearly: "Is it the demon clan that has been thinking of ways to destroy the spiritual veins? Want to destroy the capital formation?"

Qiao Zhi nodded affirmatively: "Not only the demon clan, but also the gods are planning this matter."

After entering the capital, Chu Qiguang went directly to the Zhenfu Yamen of the Zhenmo Division to report.

The capital is well connected in all directions, gathering goods from all over the world, and its commerce is more developed than in Lingzhou.

At first glance, the street is full of people and traffic.

However, there were no traffic lights and traffic rules in this era, so there was a traffic jam along the way.

In particular, Chu Qiguang wanted to go to the office of Zhenmo Division, which was the most prosperous area in the capital.

The Sixth Ministry, Dali Temple, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Fifth Military Governor's Mansion and other power departments are all here. A little further north is the entrance to the palace.

After walking and stopping like this, I finally arrived in front of the Zhenfu Yamen.

The commander-in-chief on duty immediately arranged for people to warmly entertain Chu Qiguang.

After taking a few sips of tea, Jingzhou Qianhu Bai Lingxuan had already rushed over.

This Jingzhou Qianhu was the same as the last time Chu Qiguang met in Chaoyao Mountain. He had a Chinese character face, a powerful expression, thick eyebrows and big eyes.

But this time when he saw Chu Qiguang, his attitude became extremely enthusiastic. Obviously, his status as a Taoist Martial God played a role.

On the other hand, it was also because Bai Lingxuan, like him, belonged to the Demon Assassination School.

After the two sides exchanged pleasantries, Bai Lingxuan said: "Your Majesty will summon Lord Chu in about ten days."

"But before entering the palace to meet the saint, there are several Taoist masters in the capital who want to meet you."

Chu Qiguang thought to himself that this is probably what Zhong Shan'e said, the unspoken rules among the powerful people in the court.

It is not only to accept a new Taoist master into their circle, but also to weigh the newcomer's strength.

The confidence of those who have entered the Tao is their strength.

Only by showing strong enough strength can one integrate into this circle and obtain their due status and resources in the court.

Bai Lingxuan added: "I'm afraid one of them has bad intentions towards you, so you should be careful."

Chu Qiguang asked curiously: "Who?"

Bai Lingxuan said: "Shen Guangqi Shen Martial God of the Tianxing Division. The functions of the Tianxing Division and our Demon Assassination School have overlapped. The two parties have been fighting over the years. I am afraid he will not remain indifferent this time."

Chu Qiguang had also heard about this Tianxing Division and knew that it was also a secret service agency similar to Jinyiwei and Dongchang, which was responsible for supervising officials and reporting to the emperor.

The Demon-Slaying School in the Demon Suppression Department also supervises all officials and handles demon-related matters related to officials.

It can be said that the areas handled by Tianxingsi and the Assassin Demon School overlap with each other, which can easily lead to various power struggles.

And this kind of competition and contradiction is what Emperor Yong'an is happy to see.

After chatting for a while, Chu Qiguang asked the other party about something: "Master Bai, does he know which court has the largest collection of books in the capital?"

Bai Lingxuan said: "That is of course Tianyi Pavilion, which contains a large number of classics collected by the imperial court since the founding of the People's Republic of China. However, it belongs to the royal library, and you must have His Majesty's permission to enter."

When Chu Qiguang heard this, he nodded to express his understanding, and then asked: "Can I borrow some of the magic-suppressing division's Taoist rectification methods to have a look at?"

Bai Lingxuan was slightly startled: "Do you want to see the Dharma?"

Chu Qiguang took a sip of tea and said slowly: "Yes, it would be best if it is the inheritance of "The Record of Ten Thousand Ghosts". I am very interested in taking a look."

At present, in addition to continuing to improve his martial arts, Chu Qiguang has two best ways to increase his strength.

One is to obtain the "Dragon and Elephant Great Freedom", the follow-up technique of the "Sumishan King Sutra".

The other is to practice another righteous method to enter the Tao.

Among the four skills of the Demon-Suppressing Division, there are two martial arts and two Taoist arts.

Ever since Chu Qiguang became the Taoist Martial God, he had communicated with Zhong Shan'e many times over the past few days, and he had gained a better understanding of the characteristics of these four skills.

If he were to practice another righteous method to enter the Tao, then the two martial arts "Thunder Roar" and "Xumi Moving Mountain Strength" would definitely not be his first choice.

According to the information he learned from Zhong Shan'e in "Taiying Xi Zou", he needed to take drugs to kill his emotions and have a high belief in Taoist Xuantian. These did not meet Chu Qiguang's requirements.

Although the remaining "Ten Thousand Ghosts Record" is risky to practice, it mainly focuses on the threat of demon dyeing and the danger of ghosts. Once practiced, it will be infinitely powerful.

Especially Lin Lan on Chaoyao Mountain is still waiting for Chu Qiguang, who also needs profound knowledge about ghosts to solve his problems.

Therefore, he is naturally more interested in "The Record of Ten Thousand Ghosts" among the four wonders.

But Bai Lingxuan disagreed with Chu Qiguang's words and persuaded him: ""The Record of Ten Thousand Ghosts" is dangerous and unpredictable, and Mr. Chu, you are already a Taoist Martial God, so you should not take the risk to read "The Record of Ten Thousand Ghosts"."

Knowledge will always bring magic, especially the knowledge of martial arts and Taoism.

But entering the Tao and practicing Dharma is even more dangerous.

Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there have been countless geniuses among generations of cultivators who have gone crazy in pursuit of enlightenment and dharma.

Being able to cultivate into a righteous method is already a great qualification, but it is also a huge burden for practitioners.

To pursue two methods of entering the Tao, especially one of martial arts and one of Taoism... In Bai Lingxuan's opinion, this is simply asking for death.

But Chu Qiguang is very confident in this, because his resistance to magic dye is really strong, and he is not afraid of knowing too much.

But he didn't want to expose this matter now.

Chu Qiguang tapped his fingers on the table and said slowly: "I didn't say that I must practice, but I just want to see it. Isn't "The Record of Ten Thousand Ghosts" so dangerous?"

"This..." After Bai Lingxuan heard this, looking at Chu Qiguang's disbelieving look, he could only shake his head and smile bitterly.

But before they could continue talking, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the room, causing goosebumps all over Bai Lingxuan's body.

At the same time, a cold voice came from all directions.

"I thought what the new Martial God was like."

"It turns out he is such a wild and rebellious person."

"No wonder I can boast of defeating Li Yaofeng in Lingzhou."

Hearing this voice, Bai Lingxuan stood up immediately: "Is it the Demon Envoy Zhao Zhen? Are you here to see Mr. Chu?"

Demon envoy Zhao Zhen snorted coldly, with a hint of persuasion in his words: "Boy, you are already a Martial God. If you don't want to die, don't touch "The Record of Ten Thousand Ghosts" again, lest I have to personally collect your corpse... "

After saying this, Bai Lingxuan and Chu Qiguang who were present felt that the sinister wind seemed to have blown away and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Bai Lingxuan introduced with a wry smile: "The one just now should be Zhao Changsheng and Zhao Zhen Demon Envoy."

"He and his Psychic School have always specialized in dealing with ghost-related incidents in the Demon Suppression Department."

"His method of entering Taoism is the Record of Ten Thousand Ghosts."

He carefully looked at Chu Qiguang's face, thinking that with Zhao Changsheng's advice, the other party would be able to give up his mind.

Chu Qiguang thought to himself that this was one of the two Taoist immortals from Zhenmo Division whom Qiao Zhi mentioned.

Next, Chu Qiguang and his party rested overnight in the Xianliang Temple where officials from other states were entertained.

Early the next morning, a waiter was waiting outside the door.

"Master Chu, my Master Shen invites you to talk."

Chu Qiguang took the invitation and found that it was an invitation from Shen Guangqi, the Taoist Martial God of Tianxing Division.

'come yet? ’ Chu Qiguang smiled slightly and asked Zhou Yujiao and Chen Gang to wait here while he went to attend the appointment.

…

In a garden in the inner city.

Several figures were sitting or standing, all waiting for someone.

"Is that Chu Qiguang coming?"

"Does any of you know how he entered Taoism?"

"Isn't it Lei Xiao?"

"I don't know. Anyway, martial arts is just about those tricks, they're all pretty much the same."

"Oh, here it comes."

As Chu Qiguang stepped into the garden, he immediately felt a total of five pressures coming towards his face.

Various strange Taoist auras and qi and blood auras were mixed together, squeezing into Chu Qiguang's body like substance.

Chu Qiguang looked up and saw several people looking at him indifferently, curiously or expectantly.