Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 48 Misty Spirit Mountain, the Old Locust Tree Spirit!
In March in Jiangzhou, apricot blossoms fall like rain.

When the rain stopped, the clouds and mist on the horizon surged, as if a divine being had wielded a brush to cleave the dark clouds and create a sliver of light.

"Rise of the clouds!"

Instructor Zheng Shuqian flicked his wide sleeves, and his blue robe fluttered in the wind.

Five instructors in plain-colored robes were already waiting in the corridor.

Upon hearing the sound, the thirty students from the outer dormitory formed hand seals and released cloud poetry techniques, condensing into more than thirty cloud mounts. The clouds swirled beneath their feet as they rose into the air.

Dozens of clouds swept past the mottled crenellations of Jiangyin County's city wall, meandering towards Wuling Mountain, fifty miles east of Jiangyin County.

"This is a student from the county school, going to slay demons during Qingming Festival, right?"

The soldiers on the city wall all looked up.

The cloud formation moved westward.

Suddenly, a silver pheasant carrying a wild red fruit in its beak broke through the fog and headed towards Wuling Mountain.

Han Yugui, dressed in a snow-white robe with wide sleeves fluttering in the wind, looked down with disdain. The cloud formation beneath his feet hovered at the forefront of the group of young scholars, like a cloud crane with its wings slightly raised and suspended.

This attracted the silver pheasant to circle around it three times, crying out incessantly.

Han Yugui lowered his eyes and glanced at the bird. He flicked his fingertips, and the spirit bird seemed to understand his thoughts. It landed in his palm, spat out a red fruit, and then turned into a stream of light and shot into the depths of Wuling Mountain.

"As expected of the genius young man from the Han family, his family background and appearance are second to none in Jiangyin County!"

"A handsome and dashing figure, that perfectly describes Brother Han!"

Even the silver pheasant was captivated by his elegance. It's truly astonishing!

The other students were filled with envy.

The noble and aloof air about this young master, along with his otherworldly appearance, could not have been cultivated by anyone but a powerful and influential family.

"Brothers, you've misunderstood!"

The extraordinary phenomenon of "Guan Guan Jujiu" was born in my childhood palace, and I resonated with the spirit of the bird, so it was willing to be close to me.

"A mere trick of controlling birds, not worth mentioning!"

Han Yugui played with the red fruit, stood with his hands behind his back on the cloud, and said calmly.

"Thump!"

Cao An gave a clear shout, and the young man made a sword gesture with two fingers. The clouds beneath his feet suddenly surged, and the white clouds condensed into twelve jade steps leading up the clouds.

But then he stepped onto the clouds and ascended, with each step a seven-foot cloud ring blooming from the soles of his feet, his green robes fluttering as if he were treading on auspicious clouds.

“Whoosh!

Whoosh!
Whoosh!

眨眼功夫，曹安最后一跃踏着云阶，到了一千二百丈高空，凌驾众童生云团之上。

"Cao An's literary technique, 'The Cloud Ladder,' is: [The Heavenly Grandson left behind a white silk scroll, suspended in the air at twelve towers.]"
It truly lives up to its reputation!

Suddenly, one of the students exclaimed in surprise.

The students below gasped in astonishment, looking up with envy.

Ordinary students can only fly a hundred feet off the ground at most. And even flying at a constant speed, they cannot easily perform twelve somersaults in the air to reach a height of a thousand feet.

However, Cao An did not stay up there for long—the fierce and cold winds in the sky were extremely detrimental to his energy, and he soon fell back down.

"whispering sound!"

Li Yunxiao scoffed, standing with his hands behind his back on a cloud, disdainful of competing for attention with Han Yugui and Cao An.

Of course, even if you wanted to compete, you couldn't win.

Feeling annoyed, he simply looked into the distance, out of sight, out of mind.

"Hey, where's Brother Jiang?"

Just as Gu Zhimian was feeling envious, he suddenly realized that one person was missing.

"Did he end up in the county college?"

The students looked around, but suddenly Jiang Xingzhou had vanished without a trace.

"exist!"

A faint, ethereal voice drifted from the crowd.

Jiang Xingzhou appeared in a scholar's robe, carrying a scholar's sword at his waist. His cloud-patterned boots glided through a thin, misty cloud, concealing him from sight. This was the natural flight and concealment effect of "Deep in the Clouds," so he didn't need to activate it intentionally.

When flying on the clouds, Jiang Xingzhou was hidden in the light mist, and the students beside him could hardly detect his presence.

The students were then shocked to realize that Jiang Xingzhou had been mingling among them all along.

"This guy!"

Lu Ming's pupils contracted slightly as he muttered to himself, feeling a chill on the back of his neck.

Silently following you without you noticing, who could possibly guard against it?
The bronze compass in the hand of Instructor Zheng Shuqian suddenly hummed softly, indicating that they were almost at Wuling Mountain.

As he observed the performance of the other students, he noticed Jiang Xingzhou and nodded to himself.

Jiang Xingzhou truly understood the art of concealing one's talents, blending in with the world, and remaining unassuming.

This reminded him of a great Confucian scholar of this dynasty who once said, "When an ancient sword is sheathed, its brilliance is concealed by the pattern of fish intestines."

In the wild, unexpected situations may arise at any time.

If the students are training and unexpectedly encounter a powerful demon, or are ambushed by demon soldiers on the battlefield...

Beyond the cloud formation, Han Yugui and Cao An rode the clouds, their outstanding and unique appearance making them a thorn in the enemy's side and a priority target for attack.

Jiang Xingzhou, who was almost invisible among the students, was the one who survived to the end.

Soon,
The group of students rode on clouds, breaking through the mist and heading west, until they reached the eastern suburbs of the city. The outline of Wuling Mountain appeared and disappeared in the mist.

The mountains were shrouded in thick fog, dense forests, countless towering trees, poisonous miasma, and teeming with insects and snakes.

Only a narrow path was carved out in the mountains and forests for merchants and hunters to travel through.

At the foot of the mountain is a temple dedicated to the mountain god and the earth god.

Zheng Shuqian did not lead the students directly into Wuling Mountain.

Instead, wait until noon, when yin and yang are in harmony and the fog gradually dissipates, to fully reveal the local earth god temple. At this time, the view in Wuling Mountain is open, the miasma has receded, and it is not easy to be ambushed by monsters.

At the foot of Wuling Mountain, the students landed and removed their cloud-borne mounts.

"Han Yugui, starting with you, the Qingming Festival evaluation will begin!"

Slay the locust tree spirit!

Zheng Shuqian then took out an evaluation book and a wolf-hair brush from his bosom and said.

"Yes!"

Han Yugui cupped his hands and nodded.

The thirty students from the outer dormitory watched together as Han Yugui slew the demon.

There are too few demons, wood spirits, and stone monsters in Jiangyin Prefecture, so we need to be careful when killing them!

Although each of the students only killed one demon, by observing each other and gaining experience, they gained the equivalent of having hunted dozens of demons.

Han Yugui surveyed the landing spot he had taken halfway down Wuling Mountain.

Here, along the mountain path, the rocks are rugged and the ground is covered with red ferns.

There used to be a 300-year-old locust tree on the cliff, thicker than a person's waist. Now, only a section of the tree stump remains, burned to charcoal by lightning.

Within the cracks of the charred tree stump, the remnants of lightning strikes should still be visible.

This place is very famous in Jiangyin.

Passing through the mountain path, merchants and hunters from all directions would almost always pass under this old locust tree, naturally leaving behind many strange and wondrous tales.

"Having been struck by lightning seven times in three hundred years, it's quite resilient! But I wonder if it's truly dead yet?"

Han Yugui drew his scholar's sword and thrust it into the tree root, the sword's edge swirling around.

"Pfft~!"

The old locust tree stump oozed black sap, and the entire stump suddenly exploded.

There was no trace of the locust tree spirit. If the old locust tree spirit hadn't died, it would never have tolerated anyone digging up its old roots.

"Could it be that it's completely dead?"

Han Yugui looked around in confusion.
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(End of this chapter)