Zhiguisi, Tinghuyuan.
This courtyard is usually not open to the public, and even those at the commander level cannot move in. It is one of the core points of the entire Zhigui Division.
The water in the lake is sparkling, with willow trees on both sides, and a winding boardwalk leads to the gate of the courtyard.
Lu Chen came to the courtyard door and knocked gently on the door.
The Yushan Sword Sect's items were sorted out, and he came to pick three things from them. Listening to Master Zheng, Master Zha left behind a lot of good things.
"Come in, the door is unlocked." Lazy words sounded in the yard. Judging from the tone, Mr. Zheng was recovering well.
Squeak... The carved wooden door was pushed open, and the scene in the small courtyard fell into Lu Shen's eyes.
A path paved with aged blue bricks leads to a small pavilion in the center of the yard. The wall facing it is hollowed out and decorated, giving you the best view of the lake.
Mr. Zheng was sitting in the pavilion, holding a cup of tea. There were five wooden boxes on the table and some refreshments.
He patted the box on the table and said with a smile: "There are too many things. I picked five items for you. They are all from Mr. Cha. These things are not simple."
"Master Zheng, how are you recovering from your injury?" Lu Chen came under the pavilion.
Seeing Lu Chen ask about his injury, Mr. Zheng smiled even more, "It is an old injury that has been injured for many years. It is impossible to completely cure it. It has been suppressed."
After that, he looked at the wooden box on the table, "You open it, I will introduce it to you, but according to the agreement, you can only choose three items."
Lu Shen nodded and opened the first wooden box. Inside was an irregular stone with a fast metal texture.
The stone is about the size of a fist, and is pitch black, dotted with stars, like the vast starry sky.
The moment he saw this stone, Lu Chen got a prompt from the panel and could absorb it and transform it into a source seed.
This made him raise his eyebrows, "Such a big source of essence?"
"This piece of source material is different from the broken gold stone. It is an extremely special active metal."
Lord Zheng looked at the swaying jujube tree in the yard, "It can not only help with cultivation, but can also forge precious phantoms, which are rarer than ordinary sources."
Having said this, he looked at Lu Shen and said, "This stone can be used on the instrument knife, allowing it to swallow enough of this special source of essence, which will not only improve the quality of the treasure, but also give birth to a second treasure technique. "
Lu Chen was surprised and asked with some expectation: "Can the treasure phantom contain more than one treasure technique?"
"That's natural. The Noble Phantasm has more wonderful uses than you think."
Master Zheng nodded and said: "And it will continue to improve as the fusion source quality continues to produce extremely mysterious effects."
He said that Lu Chen was a little moved, and then he turned around and opened the second wooden box.
Inside the box is a book of exercises. The cover of the book is not paper, but more like some kind of leather, with "Xuanyin Rakshasa Skills" written on it.
"This technique is not orthodox, it is a weird heresy, but it is within the scope of practice."
Mr. Zheng glanced at the skill, "This skill can swallow weirdness to improve the realm, and store weirdness in the body, and summon it as a thug at any time.
"Moreover, you can also extract a special ability to use based on the strange characteristics of swallowing. It is a very good technique."
This technique is quite powerful... Lu Chen picked up this technique and held it in his hand, which was silky and a little cold, like fine silk.
After thinking about it, he looked at the third wooden box and opened it. It contained a lump of flesh and blood.
This mass of flesh and blood is about the size of a palm, bright red in color, and looks like a bubbling bubble.
Lu Chen looked at this mass of flesh and blood, "Master Zheng, what is this?"
"Among the weirdos, there is a kind of weirdo called ichthyosaurs. They like to store treasures in their bellies."
Master Zheng held the tea cup, "This is the belly of a fish and dragon. It can fuse with the user's flesh and blood, creating a storage space."
Isn't this the Qiankun Bag in the novel? Lu Chen felt a little moved, he just lacked this item.
In previous missions, it was necessary to streamline the items and only eat dry food. If you have this fish and dragon belly, the effect will be different.
"Master Cha's family is really rich." Lu Chen sighed with emotion. It would be difficult for him to get such a level of items even if he had to fight for his life.
Mr. Zheng didn't pay much attention, "He also makes trouble in Liangshan County. Such people can't even enter the city gate."
Lu Chen looked at the fourth wooden box. Inside was a bone bracelet with a total of thirteen beads, which were the skulls of different beasts.
"This bracelet is very strange. It can prevent the wearer from being invaded by strange things, and can also control the strange things." Mr. Zheng explained to him.
Lu Chen was not very interested in this thing and looked at the last wooden box, which also contained the "Glazed Hand" technique.
"This skill is worse than the Xuanyin Rakshasa skill. After practicing a pair of glazed hands, you can touch the existence in the void, and you can even catch spells."
Master Zheng looked at the exercise and thought of Master Zha's hands as dark as ink, and then he stood in the sun with his hands on his hands.
"You can take a look first, think about it and tell me. These five items are all good and suitable for you now."
Lu Chen repeatedly observed the five wooden boxes, and after about half a moment, he said: "Master Zheng, I plan to choose the source material, Xuanyin Rakshasa skill and fish dragon belly."
Mr. Zheng nodded, "I will tell you how to store the fish and dragon belly later. You need to be careful. This thing is quite poisonous."
After that, he changed the subject and said, "The problems here have been solved and I should leave. When do you plan to come to Fucheng?"
"I plan to go to Fucheng at the end of the year." Lu Chen replied, "There are still things to deal with here in the Zhigui Division, and all my friends are here."
"That's fine, I'll be waiting for you in Fucheng." Mr. Zheng nodded and stroked his beard, "I heard from Commander Cheng that you plan to take the Tianjiyuan exam?"
Lu Chen looked at Master Zheng, "I wonder how much Master Zheng knows about Tianjiyuan."
"I came from Tianjiyuan." Mr. Zheng reminded me with some nostalgia: "But with your status, it is difficult to enter Tianjiyuan."
Master Zheng turned out to be from Tianjiyuan... Lu Chen became interested and said, "Master Zheng, please clear up my doubts."
Although Commander Cheng introduced Tianjiyuan to him, he still didn't understand it as well as he did.
"The Tianji Academy's vertical management of the Zhiguai Department is the best way for disciples from poor families to advance." Master Zheng reminded him with a serious expression.
"This road is monopolized by aristocratic families. In thirteen years, no one from a poor family has been able to enter Tianjiyuan. With your current qualifications, I'm afraid it's not enough."
Lu Chen was surprised, "Is Tianjiyuan valued so much by aristocratic families?"
"This involves court battles. For a quota, they will use any means."
Master Zheng sighed, looking a little helpless, "What I can tell you is that Tianjiyuan involves the improvement of the realm after the Taoist realm.
"For ordinary people, when they develop the power of their bloodline, the Taoist realm is the end. If they want to go up further, they must either join a noble family or enter the Tianji Academy."
Lu Chen frowned, never expecting that there was such a secret, that the realm above Taoism was directly monopolized by the higher-ups.
"I will remind Commander Cheng to keep this matter secret, and you must be careful not to reveal it to others." Lord Zheng said in a low tone.
"If you let someone know about it, even if you don't pose a threat, they will kill you casually."
"I understand, thank you Master Zheng." Lu Chen cupped his hands and said sincerely.
…
Liangshan County, city gate.
The sun gradually sets in the west, and the scene outside the city is desolate.
Among the fallen leaves, the soldiers of Songshan Camp were packing up their tents. According to Daqian law, the soldiers stationed in the camp were not allowed to stay overnight in the city without special circumstances.
The setting sun stretched Lu Chen's shadow very long, "Commander Song, if I have time in the future, I will come to Liangshan County to treat you to a drink."
"Then we agreed, I'll come over and kill you when I get the chance." Commander Song laughed and patted Lu Chen on the shoulder.
The two of them fought in Thousand Blades Mountain and were good friends who shared the same joys and sorrows. Now that they are about to part ways, they feel a bit reluctant to part with them.
"Commander Lu is inviting guests to have a drink, but he doesn't call us, isn't it good?" Song Yu stood nearby and joked.
Li Baishan, Wang Tu and others in the rear also followed suit, shouting that it was unfair.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "As long as you come, I invite you all!"
The team packed up quickly. When the afterglow shone on the city, making the soldiers' faces turn red, they were already ready to go.
Commander Song pulled Lu Chen aside and whispered: "You are about to go to Fucheng. Keep in touch with Master Zheng. If you have any difficulties, just ask him.
"Speaking of which, he taught me for a while back then. He is a very powerful person. You can just follow Mr. Zheng."
He glanced at the soldiers behind him and said, "If you're just digging your heart out, it's not easy for us people to get to Fucheng, and it's even harder to go up."
Lu Chen nodded, "Thank you, Brother Song, for your advice."
When they turned back to the city gate, Song Yu and others stood in front of Lu Chen, each with a bowl in their arms.
"Lutou, Baishuiya and the encirclement and suppression battle, I haven't thanked you yet." Song Yu asked someone to bring the wine jar, "If you hadn't turned the tide, our brothers wouldn't have been able to come back."
The aroma of wine filled the air, and everyone was holding wine glasses with extremely serious expressions, "Thank you, Mr. Lu, for saving your life."
Lu Chen took the wine glass. These people may have bad tempers, or they may be straight-tempered, but it cannot be denied.
They don't have many calculations in their hearts, they just have a hot heart.
Lu Chen raised his wine glass, "Without everyone's help, I wouldn't be able to break through the White Water Cliff. Thank you all."
In the dim sunset, the leaves rustled, and everyone drank from their bowls.
They said "take care" to Lu Shen, got on their horses one after another, and set off in orderly formation.
Commander Song held the reins and cupped his hands and said: "The road is heavy, the green mountains are not enough, and the green water is flowing. We will meet again later."
"See you later." Lu Shen cupped his hands and watched the team walking through the smoke and gradually disappearing on the winding official road.
Turning around and heading towards the city gate, Lu Shen exhaled a foul breath. Walking on the busy streets, he rarely felt a sense of belonging.
"Next, we'll wait for the assessment mission from Tianji Academy."
But before that, he still needs to use the source material to strengthen the black gold sword and fuse it with the fish and dragon belly to open the storage space.
Looking at the large and small bags in his hands, Lu Chen couldn't help but look forward to it.
All the way back to the courtyard, the faint moonlight shone into the lobby. Lu Chen cleaned up and took out the wooden box containing the fish and dragon belly.
