Immortals of the End Times

Chapter 6 006: The Art of Guiding Qi, Traces of Immortals in the Han Dynasty
"It turns out that this ancient book was purchased by Professor Nan from a merchant in his early years and was given to me by Zhixia. It is indeed of great significance."

Zhao Wuji had long heard of Huang Tingjing's great reputation, but had never had the chance to find it.

When those two madmen from the Supreme Sect brought him a handwritten copy of this scripture last time, he hesitated for a moment before politely declining it to avoid trouble.

Unexpectedly, his future wife has now delivered ancient books to him. This wife is quite useful after all.

"The two madmen last time had handwritten copies, but my fiancée has the original. Could it be that the merchant who sold the book to Master Nan back then kept a secret and sold the same book to multiple people?"

Zhao Wuji was puzzled.

But with the precious book before him, he decided to read it first and then decide what to do next.

After having dinner, Zhao Wuji closed the door in his cultivation room and began reading ancient books.

The "Inner Landscape Chapter" of the Huangting Jing is a part of the Huangting Jing.

It takes "contemplating the inner spirit" as its core, and emphasizes cultivating the three dantian (upper, middle, and lower dantian) through meditation, breathing, and preserving essence, in order to achieve the goal of curing diseases, prolonging life, and even ascending to immortality.

Unfortunately, the ancient book given by Nan Zhixia was only the first part, which only described some of the methods of breathing and preserving essence, but not much more.

After his spiritual energy became stronger, he was able to comprehend ancient texts much faster.

He quickly finished reading the entire ancient book, and his first Yang Pearl was activated, finally lighting up the first set of tadpole characters, bringing his progress to 70%.

A line of text appeared: "Seventy-two Earthly Fiend Techniques - Guiding".

Although the technique was only revealed by name and not truly deciphered, it still excited Zhao Wuji and gave him great motivation.

For the past few years, he had never been able to draw out the techniques within the Yang Pearl, and he had no clue about the methods of guiding or ingesting it. Now, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.

"If we find the next chapter, we should be able to decipher the guiding technique. At that time, we might be able to truly embark on the path of immortality and cultivate immortality."

"I wonder who that book merchant was back then, and whether he still has the next ancient book in his possession."

Zhao Wuji flipped through the ancient book over and over, reluctant to put it down, but in the end he put it down.

He would never take the initiative to go to the Nan family to find Nan Zhixia.

Since the woman is not yet married into the family, she needs to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

But today he really wanted to go find Nan Zhixia immediately.

"With the Immortal Seeking Festival approaching, the Immortal Craft Festival is about to begin. Perhaps I can use this opportunity to meet Zhixia."

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Wuji immediately wrote a letter and instructed his servants to deliver it to the Nan residence first thing the next morning.

The next morning.

Inside the Nan family mansion, amidst pavilions and waterside terraces, Nan Zhixia, dressed in a sky-blue palace gauze dress, with a slender figure, was browsing a letter. Dimples appeared on her cheeks, and she smiled and shook her head after reading it.

"Miss, shall we reply to Lord Zhao? I'll go prepare pen and ink."

"A pretty maidservant asked from the side."

"No, while the servants of the Zhao family are still here, go and tell them that I am not feeling well lately and will not be attending the grand event. We will reschedule for another day."

Nan Zhixia gave the instructions, waving her hand with a gentle and graceful demeanor.

She was indeed feeling unwell, but it was due to an injury sustained in a fight several days ago, making it inconvenient for her to go out.

Fortunately, her public identity was perfectly legitimate, and she was under the protection of the cult leader.

Even the protectors and elders of the sect were unaware of this identity.

She only switches to her church identity and reveals her true self when there are church activities.

Therefore, even though the Dharma protectors of the Japanese sect were arrested some time ago, she was not worried that it would implicate her.

The only problem is that the sacred artifacts within the church have not yet been obtained.

That sacred artifact also possesses spiritual power in this degenerate age, and it is related to the opportunity to embark on the path of immortality, so it cannot be lost.

As for Zhao Wuji, she had already anticipated that he would ask her for advice after reading the ancient book.

I didn't expect the letter to arrive so late, it's obvious that she only opened the package she sent recently.

Since Zhao Wuji is so indifferent, she will be even more indifferent, as a small lesson for him.

Zhao Wuji waited in the mansion for half a day, only to receive a message from a servant that Nan Zhixia was unwell.

"I'm not feeling well. Could it be that I'm menstruating and have a cold uterus?" Zhao Wuji counted the days and patted his blockhead.

He hadn't actually kept track of Nan Zhixia's menstrual cycle in the past few years.

Nowadays, it's not appropriate to use acupuncture to dispel cold as an excuse to visit and inquire further.

"Zhi Xia only said to arrange another day, perhaps there's still information about the second part of the ancient book."

Zhao Wuji thought to himself that he could only suppress his thoughts for the time being.

"My lord, Lord Tao has sent a letter."

At this moment, Xiaoyue came to report with a letter.

"Oh? Break it down and read it to me."

Zhao Wuji had many friends in the Daoist alchemy world, but Tao Fei was the one with whom he had the best relationship.

His ancestor was Tao Hongjing, a master of alchemy during the Southern Dynasties.

The family was demoted in their early years due to their involvement in the "Red Pill Case," and subsequently turned to business to build connections.

In the past two years, Zhao Wuji and Tao Fei have frequently corresponded to discuss alchemy techniques.

They also hoped to obtain from him the "Collected Annotations on the Materia Medica" or "True Scriptures" left by his ancestor Tao Hongjing, even if they only obtained a few words or fragments, which might lead to the discovery of some kind of earthly evil technique.

The young apprentice Xiaoyue obediently read aloud to Zhao Wuji, mentioning that they had found some clues about the alchemist Li Shaojun from the Han Dynasty who was refining elixirs.

The clue came from a female knight-errant who asked him to go with her in the letter.

When Xiaoyue read the last paragraph with extra reminders, her pretty face turned bright red.

"Hmm? What extra reminder did Brother Tao give?" Zhao Wuji asked in surprise.

Xiao Yue's eyes were almost watering. She hesitated and stammered, "Lord Tao reminded me that the heroine is big-breasted and beautiful. He has already fallen for her. Please help me refine a batch of Golden Spear Blazing Fire Pills as an aid."

"cough!"

Zhao Wuji coughed, took the letter, glanced at it, and shook his head. "Brother Tao is still as mischievous as ever. However, it turns out to be a clue about Young Master Li's alchemy. This..."

"My lord, do not learn bad things. There are many vixens in the martial world."

The young apprentice Xiaoyue couldn't help but remind her, muttering, "I've heard there's a demoness who knows the art of seizing yang energy; it's quite terrifying."

"Yes, Xiaoyue, you're right. Don't worry, I'm not like Brother Tao. Besides, I'm engaged, so I won't go looking for women."

Zhao Wuji was actually somewhat tempted, but not by the busty female warrior.

Legend has it that in the fourth year of the Yuanshou era of the Han Dynasty, the alchemist Li Shaojun refined "Taiyi Golden Elixir" for Emperor Wu of Han and cast a bronze deer-shaped vessel as an alchemical furnace.

Later, this alchemy furnace was even obtained by Emperor Song, and it is truly remarkable that Tao Fei was able to find clues to it.

In the past, there were tides of spiritual energy, and many talented and extraordinary people emerged.

Perhaps by finding some dregs from past alchemical furnaces, one can discover traces of immortality.

Unfortunately, he held multiple positions, and many concubines and empresses were waiting for him to administer acupuncture, so it was really inconvenient for him to leave and search for them together.

All he could do was write a letter to encourage Tao Fei, telling him not to just stare at the breasts of the beauties in the martial arts world, but to look for more clues about Li Shaojun.

Once the matter is accomplished, the Golden Spear and Fiery Pill will be readily available.

With Nan Zhixia's situation temporarily put on hold, Zhao Wuji had no other choice.

Fortunately, the grand gathering for seeking immortality will begin in two days.

As a rising star in the "Seeking Immortality Gathering" in recent years, he has already received an invitation, and there may be some ancient books appearing at the gathering.

Over the next two days, Zhao Wuji took turns going to the inner palace to perform acupuncture and treatment on the two empresses, and collected seven strands of yin energy.

He also submitted his application to the Imperial Medical Academy for treatment at the Jingqing Palace, a place known for its cold palace.

Soon, two days later, the Immortal Seeking Gathering was officially held on the Vermilion Bird River in the inner city.

Because Emperor Zhang Zhaoming has been fond of seeking immortality and enlightenment in recent years, the Immortal Seeking Gathering has become an increasingly popular event, attracting many powerful and wealthy people every year.

This meeting is also one of the important channels for obtaining various kinds of information.
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(End of this chapter)