Chapter 298: Sitting on the Lake
In the Qingyun world, immortality has always been supreme. Opera is a third-rate pastime, and no one would have the leisure to pay attention to its inheritance.
Moreover, under the heavy taxes, it was difficult for the common people to survive, and it was a blessing from heaven that these old artists could pass on their craft for three generations.
Some old artists starved to death or were beaten to death because of tax collection. This was not uncommon.
But the good thing is that there are not many people in the folk who can make up stories, and various opera forms can learn from each other, which is why many singing segments have not been lost.
Old man Zhao regarded shadow puppetry as a means of making a living. He only knew that he could get money for performing well, but he did not think it was important where the story came from.
Ji You did not get the key information, but he was not disappointed.
Even the Immortal Sect is deliberately hiding things. If you hear them directly in these recreational singing and performances, then you really need to be cautious.
However, since we can hear similar things from random singing passages, it means that things related to the Night's Watch have not been lost yet.
"Does the old man have a book that he often reads?"
"I have this, it's in my box."
Old man Zhao came to his senses and took out a wooden box with peeling paint from his belongings.
When the lid of the wooden box was opened, some worn manuscripts were revealed inside, which looked to be quite old.
"Can I take a look?"
"Of course you can, sir, please do as you please."
Ji You took out some change from his pocket and handed it to Old Man Zhao, then asked the waiter to bring a chair. He sat in the dim backstage of the teahouse and began to read the handwritten scripts.
This is the original copy of Old Man Zhao’s shadow play.
When an old artist passes on his skills to the younger generation, he will first give the apprentice a pile of storybooks and ask them to memorize them as an introductory lesson.
What is recorded in it are all the selections that the old artist has learned in his life.
Ji You didn't have time to listen to all the performances. After all, all the taverns and teahouses in Qingyun Tianxia not only had performances, but also songs and dances. It would take several months to listen to a whole play.
So every time he heard something he cared about, he would spend some money to directly look through the artist's scripts, like he was doing now, to save time.
He felt a little regretful that he didn't bring his cheap brother-in-law with him.
If it were Yuan Chen, he would be able to stare at it all night without blinking.
But just as Old Man Zhao said, his shadow play came from the adaptation of Sanxianshu.
In order to adapt the story to his own performance, his script had already been adapted several times by his ancestors, and it was interspersed with many original passages that were attractive.
For example, the young ladies from aristocratic families like to hear, "The overbearing prince falls in love with me," and the young men from aristocratic families like to hear, "My fate is in my own hands," have basically changed beyond recognition.
However, Ji You still found some key information. For example, in several scenes in Old Man Zhao's shadow play about great virtue beheading evil spirits, the "great virtue" was always alone.
According to the understanding of shadow play, it is easier to perform alone, after all, one person's shadow is easier to control.
But the drum book that Ji You listened to some time ago was also a story about a lone hero.
Since the same setting exists in different interpretations, the possibility of adaptation is very small.
This is indeed different from what Ji You had originally thought.
He always thought that the Night's Watch was an organization that secretly selected suitable geniuses, pua them, and made them give up the world of pleasure and join the organization for the sake of the world.
But now it seems that the Night's Watch has always been alone.
The life span of a cultivator is longer than that of a mortal, but at most only three or four hundred years. The night watchmen should have been replaced generation after generation, but there is only one person in each generation.
As for the rest of the story, they were too exaggerated and Ji You had no way of distinguishing them, so after thinking carefully for a while behind the dim stage, he returned the script to the box.
As the sun sets, night slowly falls.
The nearby teahouses and taverns became brightly lit, and various nobles from the immortal sects gathered here.
The boss took advantage of the situation and changed the performance repertoire to songs and dances that were popular among the local playboys.
Ji You stood up and left the backstage of the teahouse and returned to the inn.
After staying for a night, Ji You got up from the bed and went out of the city in the dim morning light. He crossed the mountains and forests and finally arrived at the next place with rich spiritual energy.
He then sat cross-legged, and like the previous few days, began to breathe in the spiritual energy, igniting the spiritual fire to refine his body.
When the spiritual energy gradually became exhausted, he got up and left, found a teahouse and paid for a sanxian show.
As this cycle repeated itself, Ji You gradually moved from the border of Zhongzhou to the southwest.
"The opportunity to break through the barrier has almost arrived..."
"Get some spiritual stones and find a place to break through."
Ji You muttered to himself, walked to the nearest city, and found a spirit stone shop.
He had been training non-stop these past few days, and the feeling of tightness surrounding his body had reached its peak, as if there was a layer of elastic barrier wrapped around his whole body, preventing his body from continuing to strengthen.
This is a limitation of living beings themselves, equivalent to a shackle that traps the human body.
This also means that after returning from the holy land of the sages, he spent more than half a year and finally reached the first level of the boundless physical body.
Physical training is different from breaking through barriers.
Body training can be interrupted at any time due to lack of spiritual energy, and the only consequence is the extinguishing of the spiritual fire.
But to break through, one needs to break through the limitations of the physical body directly.
If this process is interrupted due to lack of spiritual energy, the consequences will be serious and may even lead to backlash.
Therefore, he needs to use spirit stones to maintain the continuous flow of spiritual energy, so as to increase the feasibility of breaking through the level.
Thanks to the large number of Snow Demon Stones that were sent to Jiuzhou earlier, the price of spirit stones has returned to its previous level and is not as expensive as it was during the New Yuan period.
He purchased a large amount of spirit stones in the shop, put them into his storage gourd, and then left.
Walking south along the main road in the city and then west, Ji You entered a forest.
Then we walked all the way, crossed the low mountains, and finally came to a large round lake in a low-lying area.
This large lake is surrounded by mist, which, refracted by dewdrops, looks like a blue crystal inlaid in the earth. Spiritual energy is dense and flows around the lake.
Ji You walked to the lakeside and found that there were several young practitioners sitting in meditation not far away.
As if disturbed by the footsteps, the young practitioners who were in meditation all opened their eyes and looked towards Ji You with a hint of vigilance and intimidation in their eyes.
Ji You didn't care and found a flat place to sit down.
There are several small families nearby, so it is not surprising to see other practitioners appearing here.
He straightened his robe, took out the spirit stones from his gourd, and smashed them one by one, allowing the essence of the spiritual energy in the spirit stones to float out.
Seeing this scene, the young disciples who were practicing by the lake looked at each other, then stood up and went to the other side of the lake.
Ji You had already closed his eyes and entered a state of meditation at this time. The rich spiritual energy began to continuously penetrate into his body through his breathing. Then, his mind moved, and the spiritual fire in his body began to burn fiercely.
In an instant, the strong feeling of being bound suddenly came over him, making him feel as if he was pushed into a swamp, and even his breathing began to become extremely heavy.
Fortunately, Ji You was mentally prepared and only let out a muffled groan.
Then he clenched his fists and began to exert force continuously. All the energy in his body gathered from his limbs and began to continuously collide with the invisible shackles.
Peng!
Peng!
Like a god beating a drum, the muffled sound of the separation impact began to grow stronger with his heartbeat.
"Uncle, there are outsiders practicing in our Longquan Lake!"
"Where are they from?"
“I don’t know.”
In a house not far to the west of the lake, the man and woman who had just been in meditation by the lake were already kneeling in the front hall.
This is the ancestral land of the Huai family in Zhongzhou, and these men and women are all descendants of the Huai family.
Although the Huai family is not well-known in the world, it is already considered a relatively large family in this area.
Longquan Lake does not belong to their family, but because the other noble families around are weak, and the richness of the spiritual energy is not very helpful for the enlightenment and practice of the upper five realms, and cannot match the effect of elixirs, some large noble families have no interest in it, so this place was regarded as private property by the Huai family.
At this moment, the elder of the Rongdao Realm who was sitting on the high hall heard that someone had gone to Longquan Lake uninvited, and his face turned gloomy.
"What realm is the person coming from?"
"He has a higher level of cultivation than us. I can't confirm it, but he looks very young."
At this moment, another middle-aged man appeared outside the door: "That man is at the Tongxuan realm just like me."
The elder of the Huai family frowned upon hearing this: "He has reached the Tongxuan realm at such a young age. He must be a direct descendant of a prominent family. But it is still too rude to come here uninvited."
"What do you think, elders?"
"He is already a master in the Tongxuan realm, so I will capture him myself, find out who he is from, and ask someone from his family to come and apologize and take him back."
The white-haired elder stood up from his chair and walked out of the room with his family members.
The Huai family does not exist independently. Just like the Qiu family who are backed by the He family, they also have dependent aristocratic families behind them, so naturally they will not be afraid.
However, when they approached Longquan Lake, they vaguely felt a faint heat.
It was still early spring, and the air was chilly, but the heat was very noticeable.
However, the elder of the Huai family was in a rage, so he did not take it too seriously and continued to walk around the lake under the guidance of the younger generation of the family.
But as they walked, they felt the burning sensation becoming stronger and clearer.
Just as they were beginning to have doubts, a huge pressure suddenly poured down on their shoulders, and at the same time, a trembling breath continued to rise in their hearts.
The elder in the Rong Dao realm was better off. He just felt his head swelling and the hairs on his body standing up. However, the young disciples felt darkness before their eyes and had difficulty breathing.
The faces of the people whose backs were bent by the pressure changed drastically, and they felt the heat in their faces was like the sun.
Then, the majestic energy dissipated.
But after a few breaths, it attacked again.
As it came and went like the tide, they could all feel a force more ferocious than before, as if it was struggling to break free of something.
And when the energy dissipated again, the elder in the Rong Dao realm immediately grabbed two disciples and rushed back to the courtyard, closing the door tightly.
"Elder..."
"Don't make any noise, and inform the children in your family not to go to the lake for the next two days!"
The elder of the Huai family let out a low roar, his forehead already covered with sweat.
So for two days, the Huai family kept their doors closed and no one went out. Only a few elderly people in the family kept investigating secretly.
Three times a day, morning, noon and night, I felt that the aura by the lake was getting stronger and stronger.
Two dusks of rising sun and setting moon, with the spiritual fire surging continuously.
Ji You, who was sitting by the lake, was sweating profusely and his lips were gradually turning pale.
He had broken the restraints many times, and the feeling of tightness was no longer as strong as it was at the beginning.
So he gathered the last bit of his energy, took a deep breath, and rammed into the tight restraints with all his strength.
The enormous force violently crashed through his strong body like a landslide or tsunami. Just when he was almost exhausted, he heard a crackling sound from something inside his body.
In an instant, all the pressure disappeared, and at the same time a feeling of fatigue surged from every part of his body.
The first barrier was finally broken through.
He opened his pair of bright golden eyes. Although beads of sweat kept dripping from his forehead, he felt his whole body refreshed.
The art of body refining is a brutal way. As he broke through the levels, he did not gain any magical powers, but the hardness and pure strength of his body were greatly increased.
After panting for a while, Ji You clenched his fist and swung it forward. The strong wind from his fist instantly caused the lake in front of him to surge.
Then he gently closed his eyes and fell back into the grass.
It was cold in early spring and the flowers had not yet bloomed, but there was an area next to Long Lake where the flowers and leaves unfolded with a puff under the moonlight because of the temperature.
One, two, the stamens gradually bloomed...
When the morning light was dim the next day, Ji You sat up from the grass, and was surrounded by flowers.
It's more tiring than playing with plastic sisters for a night...
After calming down a little, Ji You went down the slope, took off his clothes and jumped into the lake.
After washing off the sweat from his body, he flew out again, and with the evaporation of his Qi, the water droplets on his body were roasted into smoke. Then he continued to breathe in and out spiritual energy until his body began to slowly fill up.
In the entire process of body refining, the step that consumes the most spiritual energy is the breakthrough step.
As the levels are broken through, the amount of spiritual energy normally required will return to normal levels, and there is no need to deliberately seek out places with abundant spiritual energy for the time being.
Next is the second level...
Ji You muttered to himself, looked up at the villa across the lake, and then walked away.
I'm hungry, I need to get something to eat.
He came out of the jungle, and then headed west. He had a big meal in the nearest city, and then continued to train his body and listen to music, going back and forth.
After breaking through the first level, he spared no effort to approach the second level. Without the distractions of worldly affairs, his speed was much faster than in Shengjing.
As for listening to music, he still hadn't found the key.
Perhaps this is the downside of borrowing from each other, most of the singing and acting seem to sound similar.
To the west of the southwest of Zhongzhou is Kangle County, which is also a large county in Qingyun World. It is more prosperous than Guangming County, and many aristocratic families are located there.
Ji You came all the way here and entered the city after a few days.
What puzzled him was that this was clearly a big city, but the city seemed extremely desolate.
There were no pedestrians on the road, only some stray dogs and cats.
The wine shops and tea houses along the street were not open for business. Only a few businesses and a restaurant were operating, but everything was quiet.
Ji You walked into the food hall, found a seat and sat down, then saw the waiter coming with tea: "Sir, what would you like to eat?"
"Just two dishes of the chef's specialty, and a bowl of rice."
"Yes, sir."
Ji You put the silver on the table, and then asked, "Why is the city so quiet? Even the teahouses and restaurants are closed?"
After hearing this, the waiter at the restaurant lowered his voice and said, "Young Master, you must be from another place. An immortal has passed away in our Kang'an City, and singing and dancing are strictly prohibited."
"Which immortal?"
"The immortal of the Lang family was the elder of the Shanhai Pavilion. It is said that he lived for more than a hundred years. He died of old age. Now he has been sent back home, which can be regarded as a return to his roots."
Ji You frowned after hearing this: "It's fine if singing and dancing are strictly prohibited, but why can't we see anyone on the street?"
After hearing this, the waiter lowered his voice and said, "The Lang family has issued an order that all the people should mourn together. Every household should send people to attend the funeral. If you had come earlier, you might have seen the procession with banners."
"Such a big fuss?"
"Ah, the immortal..."
Since the teahouses and taverns in Kangle County were closed, more people came to the restaurant, and the diners around were also talking about the immortal from the Lang family.
Ji You ate while listening, and after clearing his bowl and plates, he left the restaurant and headed for Wangyang Mountain.
The Lang family is one of the in-law families of Shanhai Pavilion. The deceased immortal was named Lang Kun, an elder of the initial stage of Yingtian.
He practiced in the Shanhai Pavilion for many years, and began to seclude himself at the age of 108 to break through the realm and prolong his life. He came out of seclusion not long after the new year this year, and then passed away in the Shanhai Pavilion. He was sent back home by his disciples, finally returning to his roots.
This is what he heard from the diners' conversation, but he was a little confused.
The Yingtian realm is already extremely close to the way of heaven. Maybe he does not understand the secrets of heaven, but he should have a very clear understanding of his own deadline.
Logically speaking, after calculating his own death, he should have returned home early, passed on his skills, and sat in meditation. He should not have died directly on the mountain and been carried back.
Moreover, he died not long after the birth of the new yuan, and was not sent home until now. The efficiency is a bit too slow.
He came to a hillside on the north side of Wangyang Mountain and looked at the Lang family's Taoist temple from afar. He saw white flags dancing above the green mountains, looking like snow waves.
From time to time, immortal cultivators who came to pay homage would fly into the air and land on the top of the mountain with their robes fluttering.
Ji You looked for a while and his eyes fell on the foot of the mountain. He saw a stage with lights on, and it seemed that they were about to start a performance.
In front of the stage, there were people coming from all directions, all dressed in white. They looked like a huge crowd, prostrating themselves on the ground and kowtowing continuously.
The play on the stage was performed for them, in order to publicize the merits of this elder surnamed Lang to the world and make all people grateful.
Ji You had heard of this kind of thing before, but he could only sneer in his heart.
No matter it is the Immortal Sect, the Aristocratic Family, or the Immortal Manor, they all sit in the mountains without doing any production, being worshipped by the people and living off the blood of others.
When such a person dies, I really don’t know what else will be done to be worthy of praise.
Bullying men and women? Suck the blood of the people?
Ji You didn't have the heart to watch this kind of thing. He just thought it was great that another immortal who ate and worshipped for free died in the world, so he turned around and was about to leave.
But at this moment, an opening line suddenly came from the foot of the mountain, causing him to stop suddenly.
"Iron armor condenses with dew to keep the night cold, and evil spirits from all sides are about to break through the fence."
"The sword picks up the broken stars and sinks into the ancient battlements, the lamp supports the lonely shadow and presses down the dangerous mountains."
"The wind whistles in the dead trees, and I think it's the roar of an evil spirit; the clouds split open and a bloody disk appears in the sky.
"I will stay up all night with one promise, and I will never let the night fade away in this world."
The humming voice drifted into Ji You's ears along with the night wind, causing his back to suddenly feel numb, and he turned around to look down.
A martial artist appeared on the high platform, holding a wine jug in his left hand and a sword at his waist in his right hand. He circled back and forth on the stage, dodging and moving flexibly to the sound of tinkling instruments.
Judging from the movements and traces on the props, this is not a newly staged play, but should be a long-standing tradition.
The immortals who sit in the mountains and eat the blood of the people as offerings really have no merits to praise to the people, but no one says that they cannot learn from other people's stories.
Ji You circulated his spiritual energy and floated towards the foot of the mountain.
(End of this chapter)
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