"This is a storage bag. You will also have it when you come to the sect in the future. It is not a rare thing."
Tang Ping said, and piled the food on the table to one side, and said, "Now that you have taken it out, let's take a look. This is the map of Central Continent drawn by the Tang family themselves. Over the years, the Tang family has been traveling everywhere, and every day After arriving at a place, I just added a few strokes on the Tang family's own map, and that's it, but it's probably much rougher than the sect's map."
As she spoke, Tang Ping unfolded a paper tube and pressed it down with the food box on one side. The other side was still raised, so she took Xiaobai over and asked her to press the upturned paper edge on the other side with her paws, and then said to Yanxuan "Come on, Sister Yan, let's look for your home first."
Yanxuan looked at the map with interest and said while looking at it: "My home is in Caixiang City in Nanyao."
"Southern medicine, southern medicine." Tang Ping scratched a white finger on the map. After searching for a while, she pointed at a place and said, "It's really hard to find it here. "
Yanxuan looked carefully and saw a small black dot in the dense landscape marked on the map. Next to it were two words the size of a mung bean: Nanyao, followed by an even smaller word like sesame seeds: Ruan.
"I can't help it. It seems that Caixiang City can't be found on the Tang family's map." Tang Ping said a little apologetically.
"I really didn't expect Nanyao to be so small. I thought Caixiang City was big enough. I get lost every time I go out. I didn't expect that I couldn't find Caixiang City on the map."
Yanxuan thought that every time she went out, her mother would take her with her, otherwise she would really get lost. But when she thought of her mother, and then looked at the little black dot representing Nanyao Country, Yanxuan couldn't help but feel a pain in her heart. , I don’t know how much mountains and rivers separate me from my hometown, and I don’t know how my mother is doing now.
"The Southern Medicine Country is indeed not a big country. Perhaps Caixiang City can be found on other maps specifically recording Southern Medicine, but I don't have that kind of map."
"What does the word Ruan mean?" Yanxuan asked, pointing to the small character Ruan.
"That means that the Nanyao Kingdom belongs to the Ruan family. Think about it, is your Nanyao emperor's surname Ruan?"
"Yes, that's right." Yanxuan nodded. According to her seniority, one of her aunts in the family was the concubine of the leader of Nanyao Kingdom, and the emperor's surname was Ruan.
"Here, this is Fuquan, my home is here." At this time, Tang Ping pointed to a place for Yanxuan to see. Sure enough, there were two words next to a black dot: Fuquan, followed by an even smaller word: Tang.
It turns out that Tang Ping's home is there, Yanxuan thought.
"Well, that brat's home is here. Hey, it's a big country. The emperor's surname is Tian." Tang Ping found Qian Chao's Qi State on the map.
Yanxuan looked at the map. The large piece of paper was full of pen and ink. It was the first time for her to see such a map, but she could also identify mountains, lakes and rivers from the map. This map is extremely exquisite, with mountains, peaks, lakes and rivers marked in an orderly manner. Between these mountains, rivers and rivers, small black dots represent each country. The densely packed small black dots are spread on the map, each black dot. There are a few words at the end, telling people who look at the picture what country it is and which family it belongs to.
Yanxuan looked at the mountains and rivers and the densely packed countries in the article, and couldn't help but sigh: "There are so many countries!"
"More than seven hundred and forty." Tang Ping said.
"What?"
"I said there are probably more than 740 countries in Central Continent, large and small."
"There are so many!" Yanxuan was shocked and asked Tang Ping, "That means there are more than 740 aristocratic families in total, right?"
"The number of aristocratic families is much greater," Tang Ping said with a smile. "It cannot be calculated like this. The larger aristocratic families can control a country, but there are still many small aristocratic families that do not have the strength to control the country. They only have one county and one county." , more small aristocratic families can only live alone. In addition, there are some large aristocratic families who are not interested in controlling any country. The entire family hides in the mountains and forests outside the world, so there are too many aristocratic families. Anyway, I don’t know How many aristocratic families are there in the world?"
"Then where are we now? Can we find it on the map?" Yanxuan asked.
"Well, then we have to change the map," Tang Ping said, grabbing another paper tube and spreading it on the table, still pressed by the food box and Xiaobai.
This map is obviously different from the previous map. In addition to the same landscape logo, the most obvious thing is that the paper of the map is painted with different colors, such as light blue, light red, lavender, etc., which will make the map different. The map is divided into irregular areas.
"This picture shows the distribution of Zhongzhou sects and aristocratic families. The different colors represent the spheres of influence of different sects. Here," Tang Ping pointed to the light blue area and said, "This blue area is the Five Spirits Sect. We are in Youming Valley, where is Youming Valley? Where is it? It’s here! It’s really hard to find.”
As he spoke, he pointed to a place on the map for Yanxuan to see. Sure enough, in the corner of the map with the words Wulingzong, there was a place marked with three very small words "Youming Valley" and a flower painted on it. Little lotus.
"What is this?" Yanxuan asked Tang Ping, pointing to the small lotus flower.
"Oh, that, it should be Little Lotus Lake. My Sixth Grandpa told me about it. You can reach it by walking along the road in front of our door and over a mountain col. It doesn't seem to be too close, but it is said that it is this young singing We can go and see the most beautiful place in the valley in the future." Tang Ping looked at the place where Yanxuan's finger was and said.
Yanxuan looked at the other colored places on the map. The names of the countries on the previous map were all gone, but it was obvious that there were a lot more black dots, some big and some small. Next to each black dot, there were small characters indicating a For the existence of the family, there is only a small black dot and a Ruan character in the location of the Southern Medicine Country. All the black dots are densely distributed in different color areas.
"Generally speaking, the family in which color on the map belongs to the sect represented by that color. Sister Yan, you see, this area is our Wuling Sect, this is Muyang Sect, here is Meng Cailou, Meng Cai Above the building is the Sky Cliff. Below Muyang Sect is the Lion Forest, and here, this is Jiu Genyuan, which is the farthest away from our Wuling Sect."
"What about these?" Yanxuan asked, pointing to some small and relatively fine pieces of color.
"Those are relatively small sects. They are much smaller in number than our Five Spirits Sect, so they occupy a much smaller area. However, we cannot underestimate them. As long as they can establish a sect, I will Grandpa Six said that we must not underestimate them, there are always some things that others cannot compare with, and that is the basis for their foothold, otherwise they would have been annexed by others long ago."
"Annexation?" Yanxuan didn't understand.
"What do you think? The big fish eating the small fish thing is the same everywhere. This picture was drawn about fifty years ago. I dare say that the boundaries between the various sects here must have changed. If What else could it be if it wasn't annexation? Even though the big sects have always been harmonious and harmonious, in fact they were fighting behind the scenes, but it's just not convenient to put it on the table."
"A Ping, what do the immortals do with these lands? They have become immortals and fly around, why don't they care about the things of mortals?"
"Of course not. There are probably two reasons. My sixth grandfather also told me. One is that most good things are born. Even if you can't see them now, who knows what good things you will find in the future. Of course what you get is yours, and if you have a large territory, you will have more opportunities."
"The second reason is because of people. Whether it is a sect or a family, if you want to strengthen yourself and continue the inheritance, you must have people. However, most practitioners are busy with their own practice. How can they have so much time to marry and have children? Of course, practitioners There are also descendants, but not many after all. The main sources of monks are mortals with spiritual roots. You wouldn’t think that the Five Spirits Sect only relies on the first-class election every sixty years to replenish newcomers, right? The monks of the sect are in various places. When walking around, discovering children with spiritual roots is a big deal for them. The larger the place, the more people there are, and the chances of discovering children with spiritual roots that can be cultivated are greater. Therefore, sects will try their best to expand their territories. .”
"That's it." Yanxuan said, feeling that the bad relationship between this sect was similar to the relationship between uncles in his own family.
"Then, A Ping, what is the purpose of our practice?" Yanxuan asked the last question in his heart.
"Wow! Sister Yan, you asked this question, I really don't know how to answer you." Tang Ping said in embarrassment.
"Am I too stupid to ask?" Yanxuan asked carefully.
"No, your question is not too simple, but too difficult. I asked my father and my sixth grandfather about your question. My father's answer is very simple. If you practice cultivation, you can live longer. You know. Sister Yan, as long as you enter the Qi refining stage, the life span of a monk can be at least one hundred, fifty or sixty years old. Sister Yan, have you heard of how many people in your family can live to be a hundred years old? Let alone a hundred years old, in this world, Seventy years old is rare."
"Then what did your sixth grandfather say?"
"Climb over the mountains beyond the mountains and see the sky beyond the mountains." Tang Ping said.
"It's over?" Yanxuan asked.
"Yes, that's what he said. Although my sixth grandfather is annoying most of the time, sometimes what he said makes sense." Tang Ping said.
"Climb the mountains beyond the mountains and see the sky beyond the mountains." Yanxuan nodded slowly while repeating this sentence.
"A hundred, fifty or sixty years old, I thought that all those who practice Buddhism can live forever."
"Nothing is that cheap. However, as your cultivation level improves, your life span can increase accordingly. The higher your cultivation level, the longer your life span. In fact, I would say that monks are the most afraid of death. Otherwise, why are you being sarcastic? Are you thinking about improving your cultivation?"
"A Ping, why do you practice?" Yanxuan suddenly asked Tang Ping for no reason.
"What do you think?" After hearing this, Tang Ping looked at Yanxuan with a smile.
"Is it to climb over the mountain outside the mountain..."
"That's right! Of course I want to see the whole world. Ha!" Tang Ping said and waved her fist, grabbed a piece of candied fruit from the food box and stuffed it into her mouth.
While eating, he said vaguely to Yanxuan: "Sister Yan, you don't know that I am not liked by the elders in my family. First, I have a wild temper and love to cause trouble. There are many people in my family who are about the same age as me. The children often complained to me; secondly, my father could not be considered a monk, so he basically had no status in the family. Therefore, they looked at me with the same face, which made me look down upon. So I actually don’t have a good impression of the Tang family. .”
"Are you not happy in your family?" Yanxuan asked.
"Well, I'm very unhappy, but no one bullies me. My sixth grandfather has almost lived in the Tang family since he found out that I have spiritual roots, so even if I get into trouble, there are still people to protect me. Who did I bully? His parents I don’t dare to go to my Sixth Grandpa to argue with you, but after a long time, it becomes boring.”
"Later, my sixth grandfather told me that I was a scourge to the Tang family. He wanted to take me to the Wuling Sect to practice and he would not allow me to stay at home, so I came here."
Yanxuan sighed in his heart, blaming himself for being stupid. He thought that Tang Ping was a doormat at home like him, but he didn't expect that she was a little devil that no one in the family could offend. However, it was right to think about it. After meeting this girl, how did she behave like someone who could suffer a loss?
"Sister Yan," Tang Ping looked at Yanxuan and said, "You have asked me, and now I also ask you, why do you practice?"
