Sword of Coming

The old boatman continued to work on the bottom of the river, and the ferry boat went straight downstream like a fish, speeding like lightning.

In the turbid water in the eyes of ordinary people, for the old boatman, it was like seeing fire, and the little bits and pieces of water transportation essence were even more pleasing to look at.

On the waterway leading to the River God Temple, lonely ghosts would occasionally wander by. When they saw Old Zhouzi, they would kneel down and kowtow.

The water transport of the Swinging River is rich, and the river god did not plunder all the money and collected it in the temple. This makes it much less likely that the unjust souls who drowned here will become ghosts who have lost their minds. This is also a meritorious deed, but the Swinging River Temple The price paid for this is to slow down the gestation speed of the incense essence. Over time, one pound is lost this year and eight taels are missing next year. The incense essence that should be used to shape and temper the golden body is missing a considerable amount. In the eyes of the river god elsewhere, it seems that this river god is really out of his mind.

He is a landscape god who relies on the incense of the human world, and is not a Taoist. The key point is that the Yaoying River Temple only recognizes the beach of bones as its foundation, and is not included in the landscape genealogy of any dynasty. For this reason, the emperors and vassal monarchs of the dynasties in the upper reaches of the Yaoying River, The attitude towards the temple built outside the jurisdiction is very subtle. It will not be banned without being enshrined, it will not be supported by the people going south to burn incense, and it will not be blocked by the passes along the way. Therefore, the river god Xue Yuansheng is still a person who does not belong to a continent. The water god of the obscene temple with orthodox etiquette actually pursues the illusory virtues of fetching water from a bamboo basket. Can he keep it? What’s the point of planting a tree here and blooming somewhere else?

Merit is the most unpredictable thing. If it is included in the genealogy of the gods, it is equivalent to being well-documented. As long as the luck of the mountains and rivers in a place is stable, the court's etiquette department follows the steps, and after inspection, rewards are given as usual. There are many sequelae, and the court of a country will It will invisibly help to resist and eliminate many karmic obstacles. This is the benefit of ensuring harvests due to droughts and floods. But without that important identity, it is difficult to say. Once a common person succeeds in making a wish, who can guarantee that there will not be a messy entanglement of cause and effect?

The goddess who walked out of the mural was in a bad mood and looked gloomy.

When it comes to their respective avenues, it's hard for Lao Zhouzi, an old neighbor, to say anything. The comforting words at this time may not be just adding salt to the wound.

The eight paintings of Goddess and Heavenly Officials in the Mural City have been around for a long time, even older than the Pima Sect. When the ancestors of the Pima Sect crossed the continent and came to Beiju Luzhou, it was very difficult. They chose the southernmost point of the continent. It was a last resort. At that time, he offended several domineering swordsmen in the north and was unable to gain a foothold. Since he wanted to stay away from right and wrong, he accidentally unearthed these ancient murals of unknown origin, so he regarded the beach of bones as a place. Being in a geomantic treasure land is also an important reason, but the hardships here are not enough for outsiders to understand. Lao Zhouzi personally watched the Pima Sect being established bit by bit. He only dealt with the evil forces of the ancient battlefield who occupied the most territory. Bingyin General, no less than twenty Earth Immortals from Pima Sect died for this reason, and even two Jade Pu Realm monks died in battle. It can be said that if they had not been squeezed out, they would have been able to open a mountain in the middle of Beiju Luzhou. Today's Pima Sect is very likely to be among the top five sects. This is based on the premise that the Pima Sect monks have never had sword immortals and have never invited sword immortals to serve as worshipers at the mountain gate.

In fact, this was the first time that Lao Zhouzi saw the true form of a goddess. Among the eight heavenly officials and goddesses in the past, there was the "Chun Guan", one of the goddesses. The ban was used to briefly communicate with the monks in the world. In the early years, the goddess visited the Yinghe Temple, but not long after that, the goddess Chun Guan, like Chang Piao and Zhan Kan, chose the person she wanted to serve and left the Skeleton Beach. . At that time, the two parties secretly agreed that Lao Zhouzi would help them set up one or two symbolic tests. In return, they were willing to help the Yaoyuehe Temple three times in the future when the temple was in danger. After that, Baogai and Lingzhi also left the Mural City one after another, and for more than five hundred years, the three murals fell into silence. The Swaying River has now used up two opportunities to tide over the difficulties, which is why Lao Zhouzi is so concerned about it. , I hope that new opportunities will fall on the heads of lay people or monks, and Lao Zhouzi is happy to see them come to fruition.

Over the past thousand years, the situation has changed. Among the five goddesses in the murals, one died in battle for the master, and two chose to fight with the master to kill. Only the goddess of beheading, commonly known as the "immortal staff", and the spring goddess who disappeared for unknown reasons remain. Among them, the shabby scholar chosen by the former is now a monk at the top of Yizhou Mountain in the Immortal Realm. She is also one of the few monks other than sword cultivators who have achieved Taoism in the team that went to Daoxuan Mountain.

The goddess on the ferry was not accompanied by the colorful deer on the scroll.

Probably because of this, the murals have not faded. Otherwise, Lao Zhouzi would have to accompany the goddess to the point of embarrassment.

After waiting for a long time, I finally selected a person who would serve him through life and death. However, he didn't have any discernment and failed to pass the test as big as a sesame seed. He just rubbed oil on the soles of his feet and ran away.

If the Mural City becomes a white scroll again, wouldn't it make this Heavenly Official and Goddess homeless? How is this different from the drowned ghosts swimming in the swaying river, and the ghosts wandering in the ghost valley of the Bone Beach?

As for the true roots of these eight goddesses, even though Old Zhouzi is the river god here, he still has no idea.

Not surprisingly, the Pima Sect monks also know very little about it, and it is very likely that the three remaining senior ancestors only know a little bit about it.

The strangest thing is that the Spring Official Goddess had an honest and secret meeting with Lao Zhouzi. She confessed that they had no memory of themselves and had been sleeping for an unknown period of time until the monks of the Pima Sect opened up a cave and influenced them. Formation, they woke up. The eight murals seemed to be on separate sides of the Mural City, but in fact they were connected into one. According to the monks at the time, it was a broken secret realm. They also relied on the landscape buildings, flowers, plants, ancient trees, He used books and other relics to make deductions, trying to follow the clues and find out his life experience. Unfortunately, there is always a chasm and a fog that cannot be solved.

Approaching the River God Temple, Lao Zhouzi couldn't help but sigh.

The goddess standing on the other side of the ferry also sighed quietly, especially lingering and pathos, as if it was a kind of natural sound that has never been seen in the human world.

Lao Zhouzi couldn't help but complain a little about the young man. What was he thinking? He had observed secretly before and found out that he was a very bright-minded person who also respected rules. He didn't seem to be stingy. Why did he start acting stupid when good fortune came to him? Is it really something you shouldn’t have in your life and can’t catch it? But that's not right. Being able to add the goddess' blue eyes and a body of ten thousand gold to leave the scroll speaks volumes in itself.

The goddess turned her head and glanced, "The male monk who was standing by the river earlier was not one of the three ancestors of the Pima Sect, right?"

Lao Zhouzi shook his head, "I recognize all three ancestors on the mountain. Even if they come down from the mountain and show up, they are not heroic people who like to use deception."

The goddess thought for a while, "Looking at his demeanor, I remember that one of my sisters had taken a liking to someone in the early years. He was a young foreign Jindan monk. She almost fell in love with him, but his temperament was too ruthless. She followed him. If you don’t endure hardship and don’t get angry around people, it will be boring.”

Lao Zhouzi was stunned for a moment and asked about the approximate time.

After getting the answer, Lao Zhouzi had a headache and said to himself: "It can't be that pervert named Jiang, he is a bad guy who is so bad that he oozes pus."

Unexpectedly, the goddess nodded and said: "It seems that the surname is indeed Jiang. At that time, young people were quite popular, saying that one day, even the gods and sisters would not look down on him, and he would be the one who was at home or not. All eight paintings must be taken away and enshrined properly so that he can eat and drink in front of the scrolls every day. However, this man's words are frivolous, but his mood is not vulgar."

Lao Zhouzi wondered: "This guy was a romantic and merciless man back then. Why is he so ruthless and boring?"

The goddess shook her head and said: "Our method of observing people directly points to the mind. Not only is it very different from that of monks, it also seems to be different from your landscape gods. This is a magical power that we are born with. In fact, we do not I think it's all a good thing, but at a glance, there are only turbid inner lakes, dirty thoughts, or caves full of snakes and scorpions, or bewitching things with human heads and monster bodies, many ugly scenes that are unsightly. So we often They will deliberately fall asleep, out of sight and out of mind. In this way, if they suddenly wake up one day, they will probably know that the opportunity has arrived, and they will open their eyes."

Lao Zhouzi praised: "The vast world is full of magic and extraordinary things."

The deer-riding goddess suddenly turned her head and looked towards the mural city, narrowed her eyes, and said with a stern look, "How dare this guy break into the mansion without permission!"

Lao Zhouzi's face was expressionless.

I thought there was no need to guess, it must be the infamous Jiang Shangzhen.

Over there in the Mural City, a large area of ​​secret lanterns on the mountain suddenly went out. There was something wrong with the lanterns that were supposed to be bright and needed to be replaced every hundred years. This naturally caused panic. Once the great monks fought here, they could hurt Pima. The foundation of Zong's Shanshui Formation, if the mural city collapsed, the consequences would be disastrous. Therefore, several direct monks from the Pima Sect's Ancestral Hall who were responsible for guarding the three murals flew into the sky and looked at the commotion and chaos, trying to find the culprit. Once the culprit is identified as a monk who destroyed the mural city and took the opportunity to steal the paintings, they have the right to execute him on the spot and kill him first and then punish him.

Near the picture of a goddess on one of the walls, while the guarding monks of the Pima Sect were distracted and looking into the distance, a wisp of green smoke first clung to the wall and swam like a spiritual snake. The prohibition on the magic of opening the mural itself disappeared in a flash, like raindrops falling into the lake. The movement was subtle, but it still made the nearby Immortal Monk from the Pi Ma Sect frown. He turned his head and looked around, but could not see any clues. Still uneasy, he confessed to the goddess of the mural, walked in the wind, came to a foot away from the mural, and used the unique magical power of the Pima Sect. A pair of eyes showed a light golden color, and his eyes scanned the entire mural to avoid missing it. Any clues could be checked twice, but no abnormalities were found in the end.

The ancient mural in front of you is one of only three blessings left in the city. It is an extremely important one among the eight pictures of female officials in the heaven. In the secret files of the Pima Sect, the goddess depicted in the painting rides a colorful deer and carries a A wooden sword with the seal inscription "Kuai Zaifeng" on one side of the sword has a respected status, ranking second, but its importance is still as important as that commonly known as the "Immortal Staff", but actually named "Zhan Kan" by the Pima Sect. Above the goddess, that's why Pima Sect would let a golden elixir earthly immortal who is expected to reach the upper five realms to supervise here.

The middle-aged monk could not find the answer, but he still did not dare to take it lightly. After hesitating for a moment, he looked at the shop next to the "Lightning" goddess picture in the mural city, and told the young man with the sound of the ripples in the heart lake, asking him to return to Pima immediately. Zongzu Mountain, tell the Zushi Hall that there is something strange here with the Deer Riding Goddess, and be sure to ask an ancestor to come here to inspect it in person.

Although the young man had gone down the mountain to help his childhood sweetheart in business and was very unhappy, but when encountering big events, he was in a very stable mood. He said goodbye to the girl, walked out of the shop, looked solemn, clasped his fingers together, and lightly stamped his feet. Immediately there was a The land under the jurisdiction of the Pima Sect broke out of the ground, and a beautiful cardamom girl appeared. She had her arms raised, holding an awe-inspiring unsheathed ancient sword, but she never left the depths of the Pima Sect. In the underground palace at the root of the mountain, when Tuo Jian appeared and respectfully handed out the ancient sword that had to be sharpened underground all year round, this pretty "earth woman" used a blinding trick so that no one could see it under the earth immortal.

The young man thanked him, put his fingers together, and with a slight touch, the ancient sword trembled and flew away through the air. The young man stepped on the sword, and the tip of the sword pointed directly at the top of the mural city. It rushed forward in an almost straight line, and was caught by the landscape formation. The thick layer of soil that was blessed by it did not hinder the young man from wielding his sword. One man and one sword rose into the sky, breaking through the sea of ​​clouds that resembled a "white jade belt" from the ancestral mountain of the Phi Ma sect, and quickly headed to the ancestral hall.

The middle-aged monk fell back to the ground, stroking his beard and smiling. Although this young nephew was not in the same branch as him in the ancestral hall, everyone in the sect respected and liked him.

Pima Sect has many rigid rules. For example, except for a handful of people, the rest of the monks must start hiking at the Sword Hanging Pavilion halfway up the mountain. Even if the sky is about to fall, you must still walk obediently. And this young man who had been secretly recognized as the owner of the semi-immortal weapon since he was a child was one of the exceptions. It is not impossible for middle-aged monks to fly their swords to send messages back to the Patriarch Hall, but there are so many hidden secrets here that even the young man himself is unaware of them. This is also the mystery of mountain monasticism. "Knowing is not knowing." Others have pointed it out. It seemed that he knew it, and the opportunity that might have come his way was gone.

Therefore, it is best to let the young man report the matter and let him bear more of the consequences. It may not necessarily lead to success, but at least it will not be a bad thing.

Although the Pima Sect is very generous and does not mind outsiders taking away the blessings of the eight paintings of goddesses, the young man is the most hopeful of seizing the opportunity of the Mural City on his own since the establishment of the Pima Sect. When Zong was building a large landscape array, he broke ground and dispatched hundreds of mountain-building puppet warriors, as well as dozens of mountain-moving apes and mountain-driving dogs. They almost turned the mural city upside down for more than ten miles. , as well as so many great monks who left their names on the ancestral tree of the Pima clan, have not succeeded in finding the ancient sword left by the founder. And this semi-immortal weapon is said to be inextricably linked to the deer-riding goddess. There is no trace of involvement, so the Pima Sect wants to fight for the opportunity of this mural. If God does not take it, he will be blamed.

The young man was above the sea of ​​clouds, wielding his sword and going straight to the Patriarch Hall.

Among the three ancestors of Pima Sect, one is in retreat and the other is stationed in Guixi Valley, continuing to expand territory.

The only ancestor who was responsible for sitting on the top of the mountain stood at the door of the ancestral hall and asked with a smile: "Lan Xi, are you so anxious, is there something wrong with the mural city?"

The young man holding the sword repeated what Senior Brother Jindan said.

The old patriarch frowned, "Is it the picture of the goddess riding a deer?"

The boy nodded.

The old master grabbed the young man's shoulder, shrunk the mountains and rivers, and arrived at the mural city in an instant. He first sent the young man to the shop, and then came to the scroll alone. The old man looked solemn.

Only then did the middle-aged Jindan monk realize that the situation was serious and beyond imagination.

The old patriarch sneered: "What a good fellow, you can break the double restriction between the two families silently and break into the secret realm."

The middle-aged monk's expression changed slightly.

The old man waved his hand, "Be careful, it's a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain. You can go to Lanxi to protect it. Don't be too nervous. After all, this is your own territory. I have to go back to the ancestral hall and burn incense and knock on the door according to the rules."

The middle-aged monk nodded and went to the shop.

Over there at the store.

The girl asked quietly: "What's going on?"

The young man smiled and said, "I went to the Ancestral Master Hall."

The middle-aged monk walked into the shop, and the young man asked doubtfully: "Senior Brother Yang, why are you here?"

The middle-aged monk smiled and said, "Just take a look."

The young man in front of him, although he has only cultivated in the cave realm now, is his junior brother named Pang Lanxi. The young grandfather is a guest minister of Pima Sect. He is the chief author of all the Goddess Gallery in the store. Pang Lanxi is extremely talented. Lan Xi is the embryo of a sword immortal that has never appeared in the Pima Sect. He is also the founding disciple of one of the three ancestors of the Pima Sect. He is also the closed disciple, because this person is known as the most lethal person in the south of Luzhou in Beiju. Ancestor Yupu, who is ten years old, once swore in the ancestral hall to only accept one disciple in his life, so the ancestor accepted Pang Lanxi, who was still a young boy, as his direct successor. This should have been a gratifying and congratulatory event, but he had a weird temper The ancestor told the Pima Sect not to make any noise, and only said one sentence that was very consistent with the ancestor's temperament: Don't worry, wait until my disciple reaches the golden elixir level and then entertain everyone. It won't take a few years anyway.

The middle-aged monk looked at the carefree Pang Lanxi and smiled bitterly in his heart, "Junior brother, this is a critical period for your great path."

In a secret realm that looked like a fairy palace, a middle-aged man suddenly appeared, staggered, shook his sleeves, and said with a smile: "Finally I got what I wanted, I can come here to see the peerless grace of the fairy sisters."

He shouted softly: "Hey, is anyone here?"

He walked slowly, looked around, and admired the scenery of the fairyland. Suddenly he raised his hand, covered his eyes, and muttered: "This is the boudoir of the fairy sisters. I must not see anything I shouldn't."

To the north of the Skeleton Beach, a young female crown came to the top of the mountain where the sect was beginning to take shape. As the youngest Xianjia sect leader in the history of Beiju Luzhou, she alone drove an Xianjia ferry given by Senior Brother Tianjun and headed south quickly. , as a treasure of the immortal family, the floating cloud boat is faster than a cross-continent ferry. It can actually fly directly in the clouds of two places thousands of miles apart, just like a monk shrinking to an inch, and flash past without making a sound.

As for the shop run by the young swordsman wearing a bamboo hat and the local monk stationed on the border of the Ghost Valley on the Skeleton Beach, he purchased a thick book that specifically explains the precautions of the Ghost Valley. The book records in detail many taboos and dangerous places. He sat aside and basked in the sun, slowly flipping through the book, not in a hurry to pay a toll, and then went into the Ghost Valley to practice, sharpening his knife and chopping firewood.

It was a warm winter day. The young man looked up at the sky. It was cloudless. The weather was really good.