After the Great Dao died

Chapter 51 I'll Be the Spirit-Holding General

Meanwhile, in the servants' quarters in the west courtyard, Chen Lingxi was immersed in the divine chamber, using his supernatural powers of sight and travel.

After circulating Qi to the third floor, the area of ​​the Divine Chamber has expanded to two thousand feet in both directions, no longer limited to the Bao Su Marquis's mansion and one or two surrounding streets and alleys.

His consciousness drifted out of the high walls of the Marquis's mansion with that wisp of smoke, over the rows of rooftops and eaves, across the ferry crossing and long street in the west of the city, and landed straight on the surface of the Yuan River.

It was late spring, the river was just beginning to rise, and the waters were vast and misty.

There were quite a few boats coming and going on the river. Some were cargo ships with a very deep draft, some were ferries with awnings gently swaying, and a few gilded painted boats were moored on the shore, with the sounds of string and wind instruments faintly audible.

Chen Lingxi's perspective, however, stopped on one of the ships.

The boat was larger than an ordinary pleasure boat, its hull painted in dark vermilion, its cabin doors tightly closed, and copper bells hanging at its four corners, yet it remained silent as the river breeze passed by.

Only one person was standing on the bow deck.

Lin Suri.

He stood with his hands behind his back at the side of the ship, his black brocade robe fluttering slightly in the river breeze.

His extremely pale face was expressionless, and his deep, abyss-like eyes beneath his arched brows were gazing at the vast, misty river, lost in thought.

Through Lin Suri's perspective, Chen Lingxi took in the surrounding river scenery.

The river water shimmered with a bluish-gray light in the twilight, while the distant mountains on the opposite bank appeared like dark eyebrows, their peaks still covered in snow and merging with the evening clouds.

Several egrets took flight from the shallows, skimming across the river and creating a trail of tiny splashes.

Just then, a small boat sailed in from the distance on the river.

The small boat was inconspicuous, with a worn-out awning and a boatman squatting at the bow, his movements slow, just like any other ferry passenger you could see on the river.

The small boat approached the ship where Lin Suri was, the cabin curtain was lifted, and a person walked out of the cabin.

The man was slender, wearing a long cloak and a straw hat with the brim pulled down so low that it covered his entire face.

The cloak was made of very ordinary material, a dull gray, like coarse cloth that had been washed many times, yet it seemed to have its own unique charm.

The man stepped onto the gangway, boarded the ship, and stood a few steps away from Lin Suri before stopping.

First, she took off her straw hat, revealing an oval face and a pair of peach blossom eyes, her eyebrows and eyes exuding charm.

She then removed her long cloak, revealing a sleek black outfit underneath, showcasing her shapely figure.

It was Wang Chu, the manager of the South Courtyard.

Chen Lingxi was somewhat surprised.

Over the course of two years, he had seen Wang Chu many times. This woman always had the air of a manager in the South Courtyard of the Marquis's mansion, and she walked with a graceful and charming gait. She was the dream bedmate of countless servants.

But just now, when she was wearing a straw hat and a cloak, she looked completely different.

His aura was almost completely concealed, and his figure and gait were entirely different, just like a raccoon that had retracted its claws and blended into a group of wild cats, leaving no trace of its presence.

Wang Chu curtsied to Lin Suri and said, "The two Maha envoys are on Mount Cuojin."

Maha Messenger?

Chen Ling listened carefully.

As Wang Chu spoke, he took something out from inside his cloak and presented it with both hands.

It was a wooden box.

The box was small, about the size of a palm, with a dark wood color and no carvings, except for a small copper clasp embedded in the seam.

It looks just like an old wooden box used by ordinary people to store odds and ends, and is not particularly eye-catching.

Lin Suri took the wooden box, and with a gentle flick of his finger on the copper clasp, the lid popped open.

Chen Lingxi's pupils suddenly narrowed slightly.

Through Lin Suri's perspective, he could clearly see that there were two pills lying in the wooden box.

The pill was about the size of a longan, perfectly round like a pearl, with a smooth surface without a single flaw, and gleamed with a faint bluish light in the twilight.

What alarmed him even more was that there was a thick layer of spiritual energy rising and swirling around the two pills, like two clusters of azure flames quietly burning on the surface of the pills, making the small space in the box glow with a bright green light.

The spiritual energy was so rich that it was the Dragon-Attracting Powder obtained from Zhao Yong before. However, the spiritual energy contained in it was much thinner compared to the two pills in front of him!

Chen Lingxi held her breath, her attention fixed on the two pills: "These two pills are enough to allow me to reach the fourth level of the Qi Circulation Realm!"

Lin Su Ri was always taciturn and rarely smiled.

Chen Lingxi noticed that You had rarely shown any emotion on his face during this time.

But at this moment, as the young master of the Marquis's mansion looked at the two pills in his hand, a glint of light flashed in his deep eyes, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up slightly, revealing a smile.

"The alchemical cauldrons used by Wu Maha Na are becoming increasingly extraordinary."

He offered a word of praise.

Chen Lingxi's heart skipped a beat.

"Wu Mohe, the alchemical cauldron."

Chen Lingxi repeated this to herself.

My curiosity grew stronger.

At this moment, Wang Chu lowered his head, as if he had not heard Lin Suri's words.

She stood respectfully to one side, her hands at her sides, her peach blossom eyes fixed on the boat plank beneath her feet, never lifting them even slightly.

Lin Suri closed the wooden box and put it into his sleeve. He then turned around and walked to the sandalwood table in the boat, where he sat down.

On the table were writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. The ink in the Duan inkstone had been ground to the perfect consistency. A gold brush rested on a brush holder, its handle engraved with cloud patterns, gleaming faintly in the twilight.

He picked up the gold pen, spread out a plain white letter paper, dipped the nib in ink, paused for a moment above the paper, and then began to write.

Chen Ling saw it clearly.

"Consort Chun is about to travel to Yuanjiang Prefecture, which must be for the sake of the Ancestral Mountain Mother Qi. The fragment of the cauldron in her possession will surely come with her."

If we can obtain the treasure mirror, it will be of great help in finding the complete cauldron.

In just a few lines, it penetrates the back of the paper.

The ink spread out with extremely fine, rough edges on the plain white letter paper, as if each word had taken root on the paper.

Chen Lingxi took in these lines of text, and her heart sank.

Consort Chun.

This name is a thorn in his side, causing him pain.

His parents were beheaded at the execution ground because of this woman's words.

Now this woman is coming to Yuanjiang Prefecture, and she even has a fragment of a bronze vessel called a mirror.

After Lin Suri finished writing the letter, he put the gold pen back on the shelf, picked up the letter, and gently blew on it until the ink was completely dry.

Wang Chu stepped forward and accepted the letter with both hands.

She put the straw hat back on and the drab gray cloak over her shoulders.

The straw hat pressed down, obscuring the captivating charm of her oval face.

The cloak was wrapped around her, concealing her shapely figure.

In the blink of an eye, the charming female manager had vanished without a trace, replaced by an ordinary passerby with a hunched back and a gloomy aura, someone who would not have been given a second glance even if thrown into a crowd.

Wang Chu bowed to Lin Suri again, then turned and stepped down the gangway, returning to the small awning boat.

The boatman pushed off with a bamboo pole, and the small boat gently swayed away from the main boat, slowly heading towards the opposite bank of the river. Before long, it disappeared into the vast twilight and river mist, never to be seen again.

Lin Suri stood up from the desk, walked back to the ship's side, and stood with his hands behind his back.

Dusk had settled on the river. The last rays of the sunset were swallowed by the night, and the river turned from bluish-gray to inky black. The distant mountains were reduced to blurry silhouettes, as if someone had drawn a heavy stroke of ink on the horizon.

A few fishing lights flickered on the opposite bank, their cold, eerie light casting long reflections on the water, which were then shattered into fragments of gold by the gentle waves.

He just stood there, motionless, gazing at the vast, misty Yuan River, lost in thought.

The journey was incomplete.

Chen Lingxi suddenly opened her eyes.

He was still sitting cross-legged on the hard bed in the servants' quarters, the moonlight shining brightly outside the window, and the peony in the corner swaying gently in the night breeze.

The moonlight fell on his face, and the light in his eyes was much brighter than before.

"Did Lin Suri also get in touch with Wu Mohe through Zhao Yong?" he muttered to himself, his brows furrowing slightly.

He pondered for a moment, then turned his thoughts back to the two pills.

"Legend has it that Wu Mohe can revive the dead and heal broken bones because of the fragment of the cauldron that Lin Suri mentioned could be used for alchemy?"

"Is this Wu Mohe also an immortal from beyond the realm?"

Chen Lingxi fell into deep thought.

Lin Su Ri was from outside the realm, Crown Prince Ying Chi was from outside the realm, and the cultivator surnamed Chao was also from outside the realm.

Now it seems that this immortal martial arts master, who is claiming to be a rebel king, is most likely one as well.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why he possessed a pill-refining cauldron and how he was able to refine pills with such astonishingly rich spiritual energy.

"The pills..." Chen Ling's eyes were filled with eagerness as he suddenly remembered what Wang Chu had just said.

"The two Maha envoys are on Mount Cuojin."

Cuojinshan.

He had been to that mountain, where he found the fragment of the Purple True Treasure Qi, and where he also witnessed Prince Ying Chi using the treasure bottle to drive away the assassins.

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and went through the clues in her mind several times.

After a long while, another image suddenly flashed through his mind.

—In the East Hall of the Beast Fighting Palace, he stood with his hands behind his back, his face calm, and uttered those nonsensical words to Crown Prince Ying Chi.

"I once saw a young man with a long sword at his waist, whose aura was astonishing and extraordinary. He called himself General Zhiling."

At that time, he only made up this name on the spot in order to save face in front of the Crown Prince.

The General Zhiling is a fictional character; he is merely a figment of his imagination.

But now, he suddenly had an idea.

"Ying Chi's cultivation is extraordinary, probably not inferior to Lin Suri."

With a treasure like the Purple True Bottle in his possession, even a fragment of purple energy was considered a great opportunity in Lin Suri's eyes.

He stood up, his eyes gleaming: "Even with the Hidden Edge Technique, he still can't see through my cultivation level."

"Since that's the case..." Chen Lingxi's eyes flickered.

That young man, with a long sword at his waist, astonishing vitality, and who called himself the Spirit-Holding General.

There was no such person in the world before, but what about in the future?

He reached into his robes, and with a slight thought, the Qiankun Bag quietly appeared in his palm from the void of the divine chamber.

The legendary sword that slays gold appeared in his hand.

The pale gold patterns on the precious sword gleamed with a cold, eerie light under the moonlight; the blade was sharp and menacing, its chill penetrating to the bone.

The power of sparks and thunder lay dormant within the blade, waiting for him to unleash it with his spiritual energy.

Chen Lingxi gripped the knife, looking down at her own calm eyes reflected in the blade.

"What if I become this non-existent Spirit-Holding General?"