Mount Zhongnan is worthy of being called a Taoist paradise, and it is indeed a place of great natural beauty.

Zhao Rong witnessed many strange people and interesting things along the way, and to sum it up, there are three mores.

First, there are many hermits.

When a group of three people were walking on the steep and dangerous road between cliffs, or on the quiet and winding path in the lush forests, they could inadvertently see the hermit monks sitting cross-legged in caves or on bluestones, eating the mist and breathing the dew, and living their lives in the mountains.

Second, there are many Taoists.

Zhao Rong had known this for a long time. After all, Zhongnan was a country of Taoists. In every village or town that Zhao Rong passed by, there was a Taoist temple with very prosperous incense. Sometimes, the three of them could even see clean ancient temples in secluded and deserted mountains and forests, where statues of gods that Zhao Rong did not recognize were enshrined. After a little inquiry, he found out that they were all built by Taoist priests from Chongxu Temple.

The people of Zhongnan Kingdom did believe in Taoism very much, but Zhao Rong was also a little surprised, because from what he had seen, although Zhongnan Mountain was fertile, there were not many flat lands suitable for farming and convenient living. Now all these good fields were used to build Taoist temples. Each temple was built in a magnificent manner, but it was indeed a waste of money and labor.

But he only thought about it when he was distracted. After all, he was just passing by and there was no need for him to worry about it.

Third, there are many Confucian scholars, or many famous people.

This was something Zhao Rong had not expected, but after traveling for a while, Zhao Rong slowly realized that although Zhongnan Kingdom had established Taoism as its state religion, it did not exclude Confucian scholars, and many middle and lower-level officials were Confucian scholars. It was said that the King of Zhongnan Kingdom, who was fond of alchemy, would often invite some famous Confucian scholars to help govern the country.

Well, a king who likes to make elixirs but also knows how to support scholars. Zhao Rong couldn't help laughing.

However, this phenomenon also created a unique Confucian atmosphere in Zhongnan Kingdom, and nurtured many famous figures who combined Confucianism and Taoism.

Along the way, Zhao Rong has seen noble men with bare breasts, drinking and singing wildly; he has seen scholars who had nowhere to go and cried in despair; he has seen lunatics who took medicine and masturbated in broad daylight in front of a wooden house in a bamboo forest.

I have seen a group of famous scholars searching for a clear stream among towering mountains and lush forests and bamboo groves, drinking and chatting by the winding stream. They talked endlessly and toasted each other. Even when Zhao Rong and his two companions passed by, a drunk man saw that Zhao Rong was dressed like a scholar, so he held a cup in one hand and a pen in the other, and came forward to invite Zhao Rong to drink and write poetry with him. However, Zhao Rong declined, smiled, drank a glass of wine, and continued on his way.

"This Zhongnan Country is indeed interesting, but I am just a passer-by, not a returnee." Zhao Rong said softly.

This straightforward and unrestrained style of behavior reminded him of the elegance of the Wei and Jin dynasties. Perhaps when he got tired of the secular world, it would be nice to retire here?

"What's so funny about it? How can they be so shameless? Just now I saw a man with a red face taking off his clothes and acting like a hooligan at the banquet... What a weird place this is." The little fox demon had a tense face and spoke in an embarrassed tone, but her face was as red as a peach.

Zhao Rong looked at her pink little face and wanted to pinch it gently, but it was just a thought. If he really dared to pinch it, she would probably get angry, just like the last time he accidentally touched her hand. He didn't know who her great-grandmother was.

Although Su Xiaoxiao is a little silly, she listens to her great-grandmother very much. There are so many "great-grandmother's quotations" coming out of her mouth that Zhao Rong can't even count them. Well, it seems that this little fox demon is not that stupid.

"Zhao Rong, don't learn to be a hooligan like them."

"Can being a scholar be called a hooligan?" Zhao Rong said seriously.

"What is that called?" The little fox demon widened his eyes.

"This is called uninhibited, it is the uninhibitedness of being naked and following nature." Zhao Rong said leisurely. "The world is my house, the mountains and forests are my trousers, Su Xiaoxiao, why are you getting into my trousers?"

"Bah!" Su Xiaoxiao blushed and turned away, ignoring him. "Zhao Rong, Xiaoxiao doesn't care about you anymore, just go and learn to be a bad person."

But after saying this, it seemed as if she was really angry. The little fox demon bit her lower lip, and for the first time, she mustered up the courage to reach out and punch Zhao Rong "hard".

After being hit by the pink fist, Zhao Rong covered his chest with his hands, looking painful.

"What kind of boxing is this? It's so powerful and domineering!"

"Are you okay?" Su Xiaoxiao's pretty face turned pale. "It was just a light touch."

"Don't come over here, Fox Fairy, spare me! You are a great man who doesn't bear grudges. A prime minister has a big heart. The moon is setting and the sky is full of frost. The couple is going home together..."

Su Xiaoxiao: “???”

…

Zhao Rong and his two companions stayed overnight at a farmer's house. The next day, Zhao Rong woke up at the crowing of the cock, practiced calligraphy for a while, and then began his daily boxing practice.

There are five types of boxing stances in "Fushan Volume".

Riding on a dragon upside down, stabbing the sword furnace, picking up the elbow, taking a step forward, and lazily tying the clothes.

Currently, Zhao Rong is practicing the sword-forging furnace, which is a kind of finger technique. Ten fingers are tied together to form a hand shape, where nine fingers form a furnace for forging the sword, and the other finger is used to temper the sword.

According to Liu Sanbian, when he was young and went deep into the mountains to practice martial arts, he tied a sword furnace to resist the night cold.

Zhao Rong practiced hard for a while, but when he saw it was getting late, he stopped.

"Brother Sanbian said that the Ascension Realm is divided into three stages: Gold Stone, Clear Void, and Zhenyi. Currently, I already have the sense of Qi and am in the Gold Stone stage. Standing and taking medicinal baths are both for strengthening the muscles and bones."

"If you want to break through to the Qingxu state, you must find the innate vital energy. The innate vital energy is the most fundamental energy of the body. Everyone has it, but the strength varies. Due to my physical condition, my innate vital energy is very weak, so it is extremely difficult to find. The reason why I am working hard to temper my body is to strengthen it with the acquired method."

"Alas, I don't know when I can reach Qingxu."

Zhao Rong sighed and suddenly remembered that someone seemed to have not spoken for a long time.

"Hey, Gui, what are you doing?"

After a moment's silence, Gui's voice rang out in his heart. He didn't know if it was Zhao Rong's illusion, but it was still very low, but not as hoarse as before. It seemed a little clearer?

In fact, if you listen to it every day, you may not feel anything, but these days, Zhao Rong has been busy practicing and traveling, and has not had much time to communicate. Therefore, when he heard Gui's voice again, he could clearly feel the difference.

"I have recovered a little recently. Thanks to your physical training and medicinal bath in the Metal and Stone Realm, your spirit has grown a little stronger, and Fu Shi relies on your spirit, so I have also recovered. Well, you keep working hard to practice."

"When can I find the innate energy?"

"It's hard to say. Your innate vitality is weak to begin with. Now you can only strengthen it. When it reaches a certain level, you will naturally find it. Before that, unless there is an accident, it is impossible to find it in advance."

"If it grows naturally, how long will it take?"

"Based on your current training progress... about a year."

"So slow? What about from Qingxu to Zhenyi?"

“It’s also been a year.”

"What about the breakthrough from Zhenyi to Fuyao?"

"About a year and a half. Well, I'm talking about this assuming nothing unexpected happens and you're lucky."

"That's too slow..."

Suddenly, Zhao Rong seemed to remember something. "Well, I remember it took her about four years to reach the Heavenly Realm. So, I'm pretty fast."

Zhao Rong was instantly filled with energy and felt that his future life of cultivation was promising.

"Who is she?" Gui sneered, "How could she give you such confidence?"

After saying this, Gui said lazily with a contemptuous tone, "Four years to reach the Heavenly Realm. Ha, even if you are a useless person with the worst aptitude for cultivation, as long as you are not born with a defective body, it will only take you three and a half years to practice at your current level of hard work. And she needs four years? How useless is she."

The most useless? Three and a half years? Zhao Rong felt that there was something wrong with this, but he could no longer care about it because he had a bigger doubt.

"She is Qingjun... Concubine Zhao Ling."

Zhao Rong said in a daze.