Chapter 156: Advancing to a higher level and the "forbidden land" of Mubei Forest
"What did you say, Old Xu?"
At the edge of the snow pit, Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then he was no longer sleepy:
"Secret passage? Did you just mention secret passage?"
However, in the face of his urgent questioning, the warrior who was sitting cross-legged in meditation remained silent.
Okay, intermittent IQ is online... Zhao Duan sighed, but did not dare to ignore it. He carefully chewed on the two key words "Eleven" and "secret passage".
He still remembered that the last time he mentioned the empress's initiation, Old Xu talked about the knowledge of the I Ching's marrow cleansing and rebirth.
It can be seen that the Emperor Taizu in front of him can, to a certain extent, give feedback to his words.
"Just now I only mentioned the Yuanzu Temple... which means there are two key words associated with it. Secret passage? Could it be that the Yuanzu Temple is not as simple as it appears? Is there something hidden within?
Hmm... Zhenbao didn't say anything. Either she's deliberately concealing it, which is perfectly normal. How could she casually share the secrets of the royal family with a mere outsider like me... or, she doesn't know much about it either."
The latter guess is bold, but not impossible.
The empress ascended the throne unexpectedly, the old emperor died a violent death, and the crown prince also died...
Therefore, it is logical that the empress failed to inherit some of the royal secrets when she ascended the throne.
Of course, with the Empress's level of cultivation, she could investigate on her own, but if it was a method personally arranged by Emperor Taizu in the past, it would not be surprising that the Empress could not see through it.
"Eleven...what does this number mean? Is it related to the secret passage?"
Zhao Duan'an was clueless and wanted to continue asking the mentally retarded Old Xu, but he saw a middle-aged warrior with frost and snow covering his cotton coat and his hair and beard as messy as weeds shaking, stand up and continue walking towards the north.
"Oh...wait a minute."
Zhao Duan sighed and had to suppress the mystery temporarily and try his best to keep up with the other party.
After walking for several more hours, the wind and snow showed no signs of abating. Instead, they grew stronger as they moved north.
In order to keep out the cold, Zhao Duan had to move the Qi machine around the clock.
When he was exhausted again, he climbed a hill, his legs gave way, and he fell to the ground in the snow, lying in a "big" shape, gasping for breath and exhaling a mist of saliva:
"No...I can't move anymore..."
Old Xu stopped and looked down at the young man lying on the ground with his arms and legs spread out. There was undisguised disgust in his eyes, as if he was looking at a pile of garbage.
Zhao Duan pretended not to see it and complained madly:
"I'm not saying I'm okay with trekking through the snow, but can we at least walk on flat ground?
This rotten place is so deep that one foot is too deep and the other is too shallow. It's no easier to walk than the desert. You're still trying to climb higher. How about we find some branches, I'll make a sled, and you pull me along..."
Sled dogs and the like, it’s exciting just to think about it.
The corner of Old Xu's mouth twitched slightly, and he stopped looking at him. He put his hands behind his back like a master, looked towards the north, and said:
"This is the northernmost point of this trip."
Huh? Zhao Duan was taken aback. It wasn't "the end of this journey," but emphasized the northernmost point.
"Aren't we going further north?"
Zhao Duan climbed up and used his hands and feet to reach the top of the hill. Through the wind and snow, he could see a long stretch of black on the distant horizon.
He had seen it a few days ago and thought it was the destination of this trip.
Old Xu shook his head: "That's not where you should go now."
Zhao Duan was curious: "What's further north?"
Old Xu pronounced the words: "Mubei Linhai."
Zhao Duan was surprised. "That forest north of the Great Yu Dynasty, outside the territory?"
He had heard about this, that at the northernmost tip of the continent, there was snow and wind and endless forest, and that was a land that the Dayu Dynasty had never set foot on.
But because it is too far away, people know little about it.
Except for practitioners, ordinary people rarely have the opportunity to come here in their entire lives.
"Old people? Are you talking about the people who survive in the Mubei forest? Why do you call them that?" Zhao Duan asked curiously.
He gradually discovered the benefits of the Martial God Map. He could stay at home and travel across thousands of mountains and rivers to see the world that the Emperor Taizu of Dayu had set foot in in history.
It is a world full of mysteries.
"If you reach the realm of heaven and man, you can come here." said Old Xu.
"...Is the worldly realm okay? I feel that the celestial realm is a bit difficult, well, difficult in every sense of the word." Zhao Duan bargained.
Old Xu ignored him and just said:
"During this journey through the snowy plains, you've been constantly breathing in and out your Qi to keep warm. Your Qi is now incredibly strong and can be released and received freely. You can try practicing the Swallowing Cloud Breathing technique. Watch out."
Zhao Duan hurriedly got up, his eyes wide open.
Seeing the middle-aged warrior in front of him, who was extremely sloppy and had hair and beard as messy as weeds, he suddenly took a deep breath, his stomach swelled, and there was a loud rumbling sound.
Woohoo——
A scene that left Zhao Duan dumbfounded appeared.
As Emperor Taizu swallowed, the snowflakes in the sky were swallowed into his stomach madly.
It was like a giant dragon sucking water. From his perspective, the trajectory of the wind and snow in the sky formed a giant tornado.
The tornado was so huge that it was unimaginable, almost covering the sky, and its end was hidden in his gaping mouth.
At this moment, all the snowflakes within a radius of ten miles were sucked into its stomach.
The world is clean.
The sky over the snowfield was clearer than ever before, and Zhao Duan's vision was no longer obstructed.
He gazed into the distance and took in the vast forest full of vitality, consisting of countless tall, lush green trees.
There are also giant birds circling above the forest.
Suddenly, an indescribable, huge and invisible gaze came from the depths of the forest, instantly spanning thousands of miles and covering Zhao Duan.
The Mubei Forest was alarmed.
Rumble, the earth began to tremble.
Countless wild beasts rushed out of the forest, led by a large pack of wolves. Behind them, there were vaguely large creatures approaching this side.
"Old...Old Xu..."
Zhao Duan felt cold all over, and suddenly understood why his cheap master wanted him to be strong enough before coming back.
Because, perhaps only by reaching the "heavenly realm" can one protect oneself in this place far away from the human world.
The next second, Old Xu suddenly spit out endless clouds of air towards the north, and a huge cold current came out of his mouth.
The snowfield was like a raging sea, raising huge waves of level ten. The strong wind carried the ice and snow, turning them into rolling waves, sweeping towards the Mubei Forest.
The wolves running in the front were instantly swallowed up, frozen to death, and turned into ice sculptures. The countless beasts behind them fled in terror, and their huge will seemed a little surprised.
"Let's go." Old Xu raised his hand and patted Zhao Duan's shoulder.
Seeing that he looked like a useless guy with weak legs, he helplessly picked up his belt, carried Zhao Duan around, and headed southeast.
“…”
Zhao Duan said nothing from the bottom of his heart, and the scene just now kept turning over and over in his mind.
The warrior puffs up clouds and spits out mist, and with one breath, a thousand miles of ice can be frozen.
How powerful was Lao Xu during his peak period?
Isn’t this still a “human immortal”?
What is the will of the forest?
Zhao Duan felt the snowflakes falling again, sprinkling on his head and face. He began to feel curious about the world outside Dayu.
"Hey, Lao Xu, where are we going next?"
"Go east and I'll take you to the green mountains and the sea."
…
…
Inside Yuanzu Temple, early morning.
When Zhao Duan opened his eyes and woke up from his "dream", he felt an indescribable comfort in his body, and every cell in his body was cheering with joy.
He could clearly feel that the thickness of the Qi in his Qi Sea had at least doubled.
This means that the power unleashed when he draws his sword is at least doubled.
In addition, Professor Lao Xu's "Swallowing Clouds and Exhaling Method" is also imprinted in my heart.
He had a mysterious premonition:
As long as he wanted, he could change the color of the "qi" in his body, which was like the "true qi" in martial arts novels, into... frost true qi?
Without anyone reminding him, he already understood that he had advanced to the high level of mortal realm.
The next step up is to reach the Divine Chapter Realm.
"His Majesty?"
After a brief distraction, Zhao Duan was surprised to find that Xu Zhenguan did not leave like last time, but was still in the temple.
The beautiful woman in white sat cross-legged on a cushion, facing him, and seemed to be meditating as well.
Beside him were several empty wine jars.
Xu Zhenguan's eyes were closed, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, illuminated by the faint morning light coming through the crack in the temple door.
Her skin is as white as ice and her crystal-clear face is calm and elegant, like a fairy descending to the mortal world, making people have no desire to defile it.
Her fair wrists rested on her crossed legs, her slender fingers formed a seal, and her black hair fell like a waterfall.
The long skirt was slightly transparent, which was not noticeable from a distance, but now, when observing it from close up, one could vaguely see that the skirt was no less long than Princess Yunyang's...
"What are you...looking at?"
Zhao Duan's aesthetic activity was interrupted by a cold voice. He quickly raised his head and met a pair of meaningful eyes.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty...Are you awake?"
"Yeah. You..."
"I've broken through to a high level."
"……very good."
There was a brief silence, and finally Xu Zhenguan broke the slightly strange atmosphere.
She stood up gracefully and waved her hand, and jars of wine were sent into the wine cellar.
Zhao Du'ante stepped forward attentively, turned the candlestick, and with a "click" sound, the tunnel entrance closed.
Could it be that... the so-called secret passage refers to this wine cellar?
He suppressed his curiosity and tried not to show any abnormality.
By now, he had already realized that his practice of the Martial God Diagram might be different from that of outsiders.
At least when chatting with Ma Yan, I learned indirectly that when he was practicing, the Taizu he met only spoke when he was teaching martial arts.
The rest of the time it was just like an image, far less "intelligent" than the Old Xu he met.
Therefore, for the sake of safety, Zhao Duan suppressed the idea of asking the empress about the "secret passage" and the "huge will in the Mubei Forest".
Flatterer smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for helping me break through!"
Xu Zhenguan glanced at him dimly, said "yes" softly, and walked out:
"Go to the bedroom and take a bath, then leave the palace. The Xiuwenguan will convene in a few days and someone will notify you."
"Oh, good!"
Zhao Duan hurriedly opened the temple door for her.
The door creaked open.
A night passed and it was almost dawn outside. Fortunately, a small court meeting was held yesterday, so the empress would not attend court this morning.
No time was wasted.
Outside the Yuanzu Temple, two rows of palace servants holding lanterns still stood with their heads bowed.
Zhao Duan and Xu Zhenguan practiced in the ancestral temple for a night.
This group of people actually stood outside silently all night.
No, there's one more person.
The "Big Ice Tuozi", who was wearing a female official's robe, a wingless black gauze, a plum blossom makeup on her brow, and had a cold and elegant temperament and a very neutral beauty, witnessed the two of them walking out.
His eyes first fell on the empress's dress, and when he saw that it was not messy, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the smiling Zhao Duan again, he felt a sense of suffocation for no reason:
"Your Majesty...Saint Anne."
(End of this chapter)
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