At noon three days later, Liu Yu followed Meng Shengming's sword into the sky, left Gaoyang City, flew due north, and went to take up his post at the Tianshi Guards Station in the "Shadow Ghost Forest".
"I wonder where senior brother worked before!" After half a day, the sky gradually darkened, and the red sun fell into the clouds in the distance, dyeing the clouds red. Meng Shengming led the way with his sword, frowning slightly, thinking for a while, and waited for Liu Yu Yu Jian stepped aside and asked in a casual tone.
"It's related to the secrets of the sect. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, brother, but it's actually stationed in a secret mine. It's extremely boring on weekdays!" I don't know why Meng Shengming suddenly asked these questions. Is it intentional to test or unintentional chat? Liu Yu had no choice but to Looking for an excuse to prevaricate.
"It's my younger brother who talks too much. I hope senior brother is not to blame!" When he couldn't find anything, Meng Shengming hurriedly apologized.
"No defense!" Liu Yu replied with a smile.
"By the way! I wonder if junior brother knows the situation of the Shadow Ghost Forest?" Meng Shengming led the way on this trip. It can be seen that he must know the Shadow Ghost Forest very well, Liu Yu asked immediately.
"Senior brother, do you know why there is a faint yin energy in the Gaocang Kingdom?" Meng Shengming did not answer directly, but asked with a smile.
"Why?" Liu Yu really didn't know why this was the case. He had this question in his mind when he was serving as a secular heavenly master in Yannan City.
"Senior brother, have you noticed that the yin energy in the air is getting heavier and heavier this way?" Meng Shengming then asked.
"It's true! Could it be..." After Meng Shengming's reminder, Liu Yu couldn't help but frown. He felt something was wrong along the way.
Not to mention that the density of Yin Qi in the surroundings is getting thicker and thicker, and the places where Yujian flies are becoming less and less populated. Looking at it at this moment, there is not a single village within a radius of dozens of miles below the feet.
"That's right! It's because of this "Shadow Ghost Forest". The Shadow Ghost Forest is located at the junction of Gaocang, Yupei, and Pingyu. It is a large ancient forest of Yinfeng."
"There is a long, high-quality Yin vein hidden under the forest. The source of the Yin energy in the air within the Three Kingdoms is here." Meng Shengming explained.
"I see, I don't know how long it will take to get there!" This reminded Liu Yu of the "Black Haze Poison Forest" in the Black and White Mountains. Could this place be similar to it, but why had he never heard of this place in the sect? When he was stationed in Yannan City, no one mentioned it to him.
"It's almost there, there's still half an hour at most!" Meng Shengming often comes to the Tianshi Guardhouse to deliver food supplies to the guardhouse every month. Sometimes he is also responsible for escorting the Yin Stone mined by the disciples back to Gaoyang City. , it can be said that he is familiar with the road.
…
Half an hour later, the sky turned dark. The two of them used their swords to climb over a high mountain with ridges and ridges. In the middle of the sky, they saw a flat open space in the forest at the foot of the mountain, with little lights looming on it.
After flying closer, I could see clearly that it was a simple camp made up of more than thirty large and small stone houses and earthen houses. In the middle of the camp, bonfires were rising on the broad playground.
"Here we come!" When Liu Yu and Meng Shengming flew over the camp, Taoist Tai Xiong, the commander of the guard, and Taoist Shangxu, another deacon, were already waiting on the playground with several disciples of the guard.
"Junshan has met Senior Uncle Tai Xiong and Senior Brother Shangxu!" After the two landed, Meng Shengming stepped forward to greet them familiarly.
"Disciple Xuanting pays homage to Senior Taixiong, Senior Brother Shangxu!" Liu Yu also paid his respects.
"Who is this junior brother?" Taoist Shangxu asked Meng Shengming.
"Oh! Senior Brother Xuanting came to serve under the order of the sect." Meng Shengming introduced immediately.
"It turns out that Junior Brother Xuanting is here to replace Senior Brother Lu Yi. Welcome! After Senior Brother Lu Yi left office, he has been too busy for me in the past six months. The sect has sent a Junior Brother here." Taoist Shangxu couldn't help but complain. .
"Disciple has been ordered to come here and wait for the orders of the seniors!" Liu Yu paid his respects again.
"Well! The sect has received the order, and Pindao has received it earlier. The nephew followed Pindao to the house to sit down and talk!" Taoist Taixiong, the commander of the guard, was a burly man with a sinewy face, and his right arm was wrapped in a thick In the cold iron arm armor, the huge metal right fist glowed with a cold light.
"Shangxu, you take Junshan to rest first. I have something to talk about with my nephew Xuanting!" After Taoist Taixiong said that, he led Liu Yu towards his training barracks. Obviously, he had something to do with the newly appointed Liu Yu. Want to say.
"I know, uncle, Junshan went to the house with my brother to play two games. I made a wrong move last time and was accidentally defeated by you. I won't let you go this time." Taoist Shangxu is a middle-aged man. The Taoist has served in the Tianshi Guards for many years and is a good friend of Jun Shan who often comes here.
"Sit anywhere you want!" Liu Yu followed Taoist Tai Xiong to a spacious stone house in Yingsai. With a sound of "bump", Taoist Tai Xiong removed the entire thick arm armor from his right arm and threw it on the ground beside the bed.
It turns out that Taoist Taixiong's right arm has been broken, and the thick arm armor is actually a cold iron prosthesis.
"Uncle Taixiong, long time no see!" Liu Yu took off the cold iron mask and said respectfully.
It turns out that Taoist Taixiong is Tuoba Yan. His right arm was cut off by the Huyan Stone at the bottom of Banpingshan Mine. The thick arm armor is a special spiritual weapon customized by someone to replace the lost whole body. right arm.
"Nephew Xuanyu is doing well in the north, how can he offend the Nazne family?" Tuoba Yan sat down. He only got the news from the sect that Xuanyu would come to the guard station to take refuge incognito. What was the specific reason? Not very clear, I only know a rough idea.
"Hey!..." Liu Yu then roughly recounted the story of Nudong's murder and his implication to offend the Zine family.
"Hmph! These northern barbarians were just messing around and lacking in strength. They were killed by the banshee saint. It's none of your business, nephew. Just stay here and I hope those northern barbarians can't be found." Tuoba After listening, Yan couldn't help but feel angry.
"Uncle Master, why did the sect set up a guard station here? What are the disciples' daily responsibilities after being ordered to come here?" Liu Yu asked curiously. Just then he saw that the scale of the guard station was not large, but it was not small either. Uncle Xiong, a late-stage foundation-building monk, must have a reason for stationing here.
"There are high-quality yin veins under this shadow ghost forest, and the yin energy is extremely strong. Many monsters and ghosts breed in the forest. We are afraid that these dirty things will rush out of the ghost forest and harm the surrounding people, so the sect specially set up a guard here. Therefore, we have to protect one side, and the sect is also afraid that evil cultivators will take advantage of the rich yin energy in this place to hide and practice."
"In addition, in the center of the ghost forest, there are natural mines underground. The sect will arrange for disciples to go into the mines to mine Yinshi veins. Just now, you, Senior Brother Shangxu, are the deacon of the mining team. Your daily duty is to protect the mining disciples and go into the mines to mine. Yin stone.”
"And your duty, nephew, is to lead four ghost forest guards to patrol around the ghost forest, defend and annihilate all levels of monsters, ghosts, zombies, bone demons and other dirty things that break out of the ghost forest, and avoid them. Harm the surrounding people." Tuoba Yan said slowly.
"I see, disciple understands!" After hearing what Tuoba Yan said, Liu Yu roughly knew his future responsibilities.
"I wonder how big this shadow ghost forest is? How many people are there in the guard team? What if the scope is too large and the manpower is insufficient and the ghosts escape? Will the sect punish them?" Liu Yu pondered for a moment, then asked again road.
"The Shadow Ghost Forest is the junction of the Three Kingdoms. Our sect only needs to patrol the side of Gaocang Kingdom. There are a few people, but we can just guard some key areas. Even if some fish slip through the net and slip out of the ghost forest, the cities of Gaocang Kingdom Each county has its own Celestial Master, and they will handle it themselves, so there is no need to worry."
Tuoba Yan shrugged, not taking this too seriously. Outside the Shadow Ghost Forest, the concentration of Yin Qi gradually decreased. The further away, the thinner it became. Even if these ghosts escaped, too many of them would take the initiative. Sneak back to the ghost forest. The shadow ghost forest has a strong yin energy, which is conducive to the cultivation of these ghosts themselves.
"The reason why the sect set up a guardhouse here is not just to prevent these dirty things. Forget it, I will tell you when the time comes. You will naturally understand the reason in the future." Tuoba Yan still wants to elaborate, but After thinking about it, he didn't say any more.
"That's right! Uncle Master, this is the disciple's appointment scroll!" Liu Yu took out the red mission scroll issued by the sect and handed it to his superior Tuoba Yan.
"Hey! It seems that my nephew is quite valued among the Xuan generation!" Tuoba Yan unfolded the mission scroll and saw that it said two Qingke Pills per year, and he couldn't help but feel happy.
You must know that another deacon of the guard station, Taoist Shangxu, is a six-prefecture cultivator like Liu Yu, but he is only rewarded with one Qingke Dan every year.
This is because the Shadow Ghost Forest is a special place and the five elements of spiritual energy are extremely weak. You often stay in a place with such heavy Yin energy. Not to mention practicing Qi cultivation, you have to consume your own mana every day to resist the invasion of Yin energy, which is extremely detrimental to your own practice. .
As compensation, the sect rewards the garrisoned disciples with generous spirit stones and contribution points. Deacons who have reached the middle stage of foundation building even receive Qingke Dan as an exception, but it is usually one pill per year. Like Liu Yu, two pills per year. Extremely rare.
The reason for this is because Liu Yu has been stationed in the North for a hundred years and it has been very hard. After returning, he has been stationed in dangerous places such as the Shadow Ghost Forest, and the sect has appropriately improved his treatment.
But even so, the sect can reward more spiritual stones and contribution points.
The most important point is that someone in the sect speaks for Liu Yu. This person is the master Xuanmu Zhenren. Zhenren Xuanmu personally fought for it, and the sect expressed its intention, so he got the two-star treatment every year.
As the commander of Tianshi Guard, Tuoba Yan only takes four Qingke Dan every year, which shows how difficult it is to take two every year.
Tuobayan's right arm was cut off that year, and poisonous gas entered his body. Many of his meridians withered and broke. The family spent a lot of money to find the best healing elixirs and tried to repair them, but they still could not be cured. Only part of the meridians were reconnected and stabilized. His injuries were cured.
Relying on the power of the elixir and more than a hundred years of hard training, Tuoba Yan advanced to the eighth level of cultivation. He advanced to the late stage of foundation building and managed to condense the pseudo elixir, but the golden elixir was already hopeless.
Thirty years ago, Tuoba Yan took over the position of commander of the guard. All the Qingke Dan he had obtained over the years was handed over to his cousin Tuoba Shu to help him advance to the Golden Dan realm.
However, ten years ago, after Tuoba's technique of overcoming the calamity and condensing pill failed, and his soul was destroyed by the Five Yang Heavenly Thunder, the sect rewarded Tuoba Yan with the Qingke Pill, which he transferred to the Tuoba family's treasury every year to provide for the family. Add bricks and tiles to help future generations.
…
In another stone room in the camp, Meng Shengming and Shangxu Taoist Pu Le were sitting across the table from each other. There was a chessboard on the table. On the surface, the two of them were playing chess, looking like they were thinking hard, but in fact they were passing by. Spiritual conversation.
"Junior Brother Meng, does he know the background of Xuanting?"
"My little brother tried several times, but this person was very alert and his words were vague, so he couldn't come up with anything."
"Junior Brother Meng, look at it, is this person appointed to take office normally, or is the sect suspicious and sending this person to investigate?"
"It's hard to say. Although we have always been very secretive, we are afraid that if the sect hears some news from somewhere and sends us here to conduct a secret investigation, it will be troublesome!"
"No, if the sect has any suspicion, just let Tuobayan investigate. Why bother?"
"Having said that, this person has always been wearing a mask and does not show his true face. There must be something fishy in it. In recent years, it is best for us to stop temporarily and find out where this person came from."
"Perhaps you are overthinking, Junior Brother Meng. It is possible that this boy's face was damaged and he is wearing a mask all the time. However, we have not been able to take any action recently. We will wait for brother to observe and observe first."
