The name Yizhou, inherited from the Han Dynasty, encompasses the plains, mountains, and rivers of Shu. Rongcheng, nestled within the Yizhou plains, earned its name from the abundance of hibiscus flowers. Surrounded by mountains and traversed by a major river, Rongcheng boasts a rich water system, fertile land, and abundant natural resources. Throughout dynasties, it has been designated a major grain-producing region, earning it the nickname "Land of Abundance."
Su Rui and the others followed Monk Zhiliao to a place called Jiangjia Village on the outskirts of Yizhou Rongcheng. Nestled between mountains and water, Jiangjia Village was a perfect place for a rest and recuperation. At the end of Jiangjia Village stood a temple called Liu'an Temple, presided over by Monk Zhishan, a registered disciple of Monk Banbian, one of the Three Elders of the Emei Sect.
It was said that the monk Zhishan was originally a murderous bandit, but was later influenced by the monk Banbian and became his registered disciple. Realizing that he had committed too many evil deeds in his previous life, he hoped to accumulate merit in the second half of his life to atone for the sins he had committed in the first half, so that he could be reborn into a good family in the next life and practice the great way of karma.
Su Rui likes listening to stories very much, but the monk Zhiliao only has a general understanding of the experience of his senior brother monk Zhishan, and has no way to arrange some exciting clips for him.
Monk Zhiliao and a few others knocked on the gate of Liu'an Temple, and were led by a young monk into a Zen room. The incense burner was already lit in the room, making the whole room warm like spring.
A burly monk with a face full of flesh was sitting on a cushion behind the incense burner, meditating with his eyes closed.
When he heard the sound, he grinned and laughed: "Isn't this Junior Brother Zhiliao? I've been looking forward to your coming for a long time!"
The monk's resounding voice echoed through the meditation room. However, his face, thick with flesh and fierce, looked even uglier when he smiled than when he cried. Su Rui lamented that this man looked like a bandit, and they had forced him to become a monk. Master Banbian was truly wasting his talent.
"Hello, Senior Brother Zhishan!" Monk Zhiliao first greeted him politely, then pointed at Su Rui and the other two and introduced them to Monk Zhishan one by one.
Su Rui and others followed Monk Zhiliao and bowed to Monk Zhishan.
After a few pleasantries, Monk Zhiliao got straight to the point: "Brother Zhishan, the century-long sword duel between good and evil is approaching. Those evil disciples have been very active lately, acting recklessly and repeatedly provoking us righteous men. I intend to find an opportunity to teach them a lesson. Later, I learned from various sources that disciples from Mount Wutai have occupied a manor outside Rongcheng and turned it into a den of evil and prostitution. They specifically send their disciples to search for beautiful women and abduct decent families in and around Yizhou City to enjoy and entertain guests. Little monk, I intend to gather some righteous knights to engage in a small sword duel with the evil spirits from Mount Wutai. I hope to gather them together and annihilate them in one fell swoop, while also destroying the den of evil! I wonder if Brother Zhishan could lend me the Lu'an Temple to facilitate my invitation of these knights?"
Monk Zhishan laughed again, revealing his supposedly benevolent and ferocious appearance, and said, "Exterminating demons and defending the Way is a good deed, and it is exactly what I, Senior Brother, desire. Junior Brother Zhi, please proceed with your actions!"
Monk Zhiliao clasped his hands together, chanted a Buddhist name, thanked Monk Zhishan, and then led everyone to settle down in the temple.
Su Rui was arranged to stay in a guest house in the backyard. Just a few steps away was a forest of stele, and the environment was quiet and peaceful.
The guesthouse is not big, only about twenty steps long and wide. Inside the guesthouse there is a wooden cloud bed, a cushion, a wooden fish, a hanging picture of an arhat, and a green lamp. The layout is very simple and plain.
Chi Jiao was arranged to stay in the guest house next to Su Rui, and the layout inside was almost the same as Su Rui's.
At this time, there was a corpse in front of Su Rui and Chi Jiao. It was the body of a disciple of Zhushan Sect whom Su Rui had killed in the market. Due to the emergency situation at the time, he had to put it into the Qiankun bag of Taoist Huo Ya. He took it out at this time because he planned to touch the corpse to see if he could get some good things out of it.
Chi Jiao would never do something like touching a corpse, so Su Rui had to do it himself. He asked Chi Jiao to come over just to help watch over the corpse in case it suddenly came back to life.
First, Su Rui unexpectedly found a recipe for brewing wine on the corpse's chest. This recipe, called "Secret Recipe for Jade Blood Wine," primarily uses animal blood, along with a large amount of mugwort and other ingredients. It warms the body and invigorates the bloodstream, making it ideal for activating circulation in a new body after using the Soul Transfer Technique. This wine is easy to brew; as long as you can get a large enough container, such as a suet jade bottle or a purple gold red gourd, you can usually drink it for a year or two.
Su Rui remembered very clearly the "real job" of making wine assigned to him by the law enforcement elder, Uncle Zhou. Now that he had the recipe for making wine, he could make some wine during the break between sword fights and take it back after the fight to report to Uncle Zhou!
Afterwards, Su Rui searched for a long time on his chest and waist, but did not find the Qiankun Belt. However, with Chi Jiao's reminder, he found a copper ring on the middle finger of his right hand.
It was only after Su Rui got it that he discovered that this unremarkable copper ring actually contained a Sumeru mustard seed space of considerable size. Now, in this Sumeru mustard seed space lay a pile of scattered mechanical man materials, several strange vines, a mechanical man wrapped in heavy armor, and a fiery gem emitting infinite light and heat.
Su Rui pulled out a vine and discovered it was dry. Its surface was covered with a hard, plastic-like crust, smooth and resilient. He recognized it as the same vine used to craft the armor for the automaton. He struck with his Purple Swan Flying Sword, but was unable to penetrate it. This showed just how formidable his defense was.
Su Rui searched through the vines and found that they were completely dry. The plant had grown very long and had no fruit. He only found two seeds. The seeds were like iron bells, covered in a layer of black and tough skin. It was unknown whether they could germinate.
Su Rui discovered that the heavily armored automaton was only half-finished, seemingly missing something. He found several animal skins next to the automaton, revealing the materials and steps for its construction, though they were incomplete. The skins revealed the automaton to be a bronze heavy armored rattan armored automaton.
At that moment, Su Rui took out the hot gem that was emitting infinite light and heat and handed it to Chi Jiao.
When Chi Jiao saw this treasure, his eyes lit up. "This is a rare item that seals a wisp of Taihuo Poison Flame. Taihuo Poison Flame is the purest and most powerful destructive flame, and only a few treasures like Xuanyin True Water and Tianyi True Water can overcome it. I never thought it would be sealed in a piece of ore. It's unbelievable!"
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