The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 105 Be bold, draw your sword
Zhou Yan was waiting idly, and when someone came to greet him, he was happy to relieve his boredom. However, he did not expect that the seemingly dignified old man would ask about the string on his waist.

Zhou Yan sized up the trio: the dignified old man was sitting, and the two standing beside him.

There were a few kinds of snacks and fruits on the table.

Zhou Yan replied, "I met a musician friend by chance not far from Chang'an City. He played a few pieces for me and then gave me this string. This string has a spirit, and I like it very much."

A musician?
The dignified old man's expression was complex. He paused for a moment, then asked, "Then... how is that musician?"

Zhou Yan replied, "I have never seen him again."

The old man said, "May I take a look at this string?"

Zhou Yan took it off and handed it over.

The room fell silent. Zhou Yan sat down casually, which surprised the white-faced, beardless old man. He instinctively wanted to stop him, but the dignified old man didn't seem to care and even smiled and invited Zhou Yan to eat.

"Come on, have some, young man."

"I'm an old man, I'm too old to eat too much."

Zhou Yan ate the snacks without any hesitation.

It tastes amazing!

Zhou Yan directly recorded the memories of these delicacies, so he could try to use the Kitchen God's divine power to make them next time.

This dignified old man was none other than Li Longji, the most prosperous emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Knowing that the Reclining Buddha Temple holds a longevity ceremony every November, it is a very popular and lively place with many people coming and going. So I brought Chen Xuanli and Gao Lishi to the Reclining Buddha Temple to relax.

Unexpectedly, I heard the strings of an old friend's zither.

When Lei Haiqing joined the musicians, he played "The Song of Rainbow Feathers," which was considered the best of its time. At this moment, the old man looked at the strings of his old friend's zither and thought of the musician with a dark complexion who was proficient in all kinds of instruments, and then he thought of that woman.

The pain of sorrow in my heart felt like being cut by a knife.

The white-faced, beardless attendant was none other than Gao Lishi. He was about to say something when his sharp eyes caught sight of the magic sword Zhou Yan was carrying on his back. For some reason, he felt a pain in his face, as if he had been slapped in the face by this sword once.

Upon closer inspection, one could see the Taoist robe worn by the boy, faintly shimmering with rosy clouds.

？ ！！

"Li Bai's sword, and the Taoist robe of the Canxia Pavilion?"

"Is he Li Qinglian's disciple?"

"A wandering Taoist?"

Gao Lishi wanted to scold the boy, but looking at the sword, certain memories from the past made him stop in his tracks.

A moment of silence fell. Zhou Yan ate some snacks and looked at the Reclining Buddha Temple. Inside the temple, incense was burning brightly, and the sounds of Buddhist chanting mixed with instrumental music created a solemn and dignified atmosphere. Looking at this place, Zhou Yan felt that the Buddhist radiance and the incense smoke from the people had obscured everything else.

His level of understanding is beyond the comprehension of the eyes.

Zhou Yan now has only twenty-two hours left.

If he cannot defeat the great demon here, or find the breakthrough pill that Shen Cangming mentioned, then Zhou will be reduced to a human skin before the Dharma Assembly even ends. However, he still has time to think.

If the flesh and blood are devoured but the soul remains, will it directly transform into a mountain god?

But this kind of monster, I'm afraid it ate its soul, flesh and blood along with it, right?
Zhou Yan tapped his fingers on the table, listening to the Buddhist chanting, yet his mind was at peace and carefree.

if not?
Should I cry?
At this moment, Shen Cangming sneaked into the temple alone to search for his old friend; while Ao Xuantao was ordered to go to the water system near this mountain. Ao Xuantao had three hundred years of cultivation, was born with a dragon seed, and had a strong physique, but he had not yet transformed into a dragon.

To mobilize the water resources of this area, preparations need to be made in advance.

To command all waters to submit with a single decree is beyond the capabilities of a dragon that has not yet successfully transformed into a dragon. Time marches on at its own pace, and Zhou Yan can only lie low, his hand on his sword, waiting patiently.

After examining the strings, Li Longji handed them to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan took the instrument, put the strings back on, and the elderly emperor looked at the bustling North Temple and said, "In any case, Chang'an has been pacified again, the people can live and work in peace, and the Tang Dynasty will eventually return to its peak."

"Young man, what do you say?"

Zhou Yan thought about the history of the Tang Dynasty in his world.

He replied, "...It's hard to say."

Li Longji choked up.

Gao Lishi cried out anxiously, "You, you, you child, how can you be so tactless?"

Zhou Yan ate some snacks: "Then I won't say anything more."

Li Longji was quiet for a while, then said, "After all, the world is still in chaos, so it's normal for you to have such thoughts, young man. However, the Sage is still here. That Third Sage has been the Emperor of Peace for fifty years."

Zhou Yan asked in confusion, "Isn't the Sage his son now?"

Chen Xuanli loosened his grip on the knife.

I felt that this young Taoist priest was a bit too talkative.

This struck Li Longji squarely in the heart, and Gao Lishi turned pale.

Li Longji laughed loudly: "Hahaha, you're right, you're right. I've lived too long and for a moment I still think it's the era of the Holy Emperor Sanlang. I've forgotten that everyone gets old and has to make way for the younger generation when they get old."

"However, do you think this young saint compares to Sanlang back then?"

Who is more like an emperor?

Zhou Yan sensed something was wrong and sized up the trio.

The man standing behind the old man was extremely tall and strong, with a sword at his waist. Although he was dressed in ordinary clothes, he gave off an imposing and majestic feeling, a kind of aura that Zhou Yan had only seen in Shen Cangming and Li Zhenyue.

The old man in front of him habitually bent over, and had no beard.

Zhou Yan had a guess. He closed his eyes slightly, his magic power flowing. In his pupils, he saw the reflection of the dignified old man. His aura had weakened, as if he had suffered a great injury, but the purple aura was still pure.

He knew who the dignified old man in front of him was.

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji.

An emperor who deserves praise even in the entire history of the Chinese people.

Li Longji, meanwhile, was looking at the young Taoist priest dressed in a Taoist robe, carrying a sword and a knife.

Purple energy flowed through his eyes.

Upon seeing the wisps of mountain god's aura emanating from Zhou Yan, along with a connection to him, Li Longji's eyes formed an ancient and intricate character: 【泰】 (Tai).

Li Longji was stunned.

Lord Taishan?!

For a moment, both the old man and the young man fell silent.

Looking at the person opposite him, Li Longji immediately suspected it was the Duke of Taishan, but he quickly dismissed the guess. The Duke of Taishan had successfully achieved the first rank when he performed the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, but he was also too deeply connected with the fortune of humanity.

The An Lushan Rebellion brought a huge backlash to the Duke of Taishan.

When the body dies, the Dao vanishes, and the Dao fruit ceases to exist.

So, is this young man the one who obtained a Dao Fruit from the Duke of Taishan?
However, if that's the case, his strength is far too weak. With such cultivation, he wouldn't even be able to bear the Dao Fruit of the Duke of Mount Tai, let alone seize it.

Could it be that it was the last wisp of Taishan Gong's spirit transformed?
Are you deliberately blocking my way here to ask questions or yell at me?

Li Longji's expression was complicated. He sighed, picked up his teacup, and drank it, saying, "So, what does the Daoist priest think of that Sanlang Sage?"

Gao Lishi noticed that Li Longji had changed his form of address.

Zhou Yan thought for a moment, then looked at Gao Lishi and asked, "May I swear?"

Gao Lishi almost jumped up in a panic: "You, young Taoist priest, don't joke around. This is about respecting elders. How can you say such things to an old man who is so much older than you?"

Zhou Yan popped the pastry into his mouth and said, "Then I won't say anything more."

Li Longji looked at Zhou Yan and said, "Speak."

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and said:
"I've lived too long."

Four-character comment!

It was like being struck by lightning.

Gao Lishi's face turned pale.

In that instant, this high-ranking old eunuch almost blurted out some palace curses. Only one thought raced through his mind: No wonder, no wonder—

No wonder he could carry Li Bai's sword.

Just this one sentence.

Even more arrogant than him!

Li Longji was stunned, then burst into laughter, a hearty laugh. In that instant, Li Longji seemed to see the Duke of Taishan. He asked Zhou Yan, but it was as if he was asking himself, asking that Duke of Taishan, "What if he had died ten or twenty years earlier?"

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and replied:
"The greatest emperor of all time".

Li Longji's laughter gradually subsided. He picked up his teacup and said, "Yes, Li Sanlang has lived up to the Tang Dynasty, but Li Longji has let Li Sanlang down..." As he drank his tea, it was as if he were drinking wine, with endless loneliness in the depths of his eyes.

The morning bell of the Buddhist temple rang out loudly. Zhou Yan picked up his knife and strode towards the temple. When the worshippers and monks saw Zhou Yan, dressed in a Taoist robe, coming to the temple, they felt somewhat out of place.

Zhou Yan extended his finger, the gold lines on it representing Buddha's blessing.

So the people who had just blocked his way all showed respect on their faces, pushed aside the road, and watched with envy as Zhou Yan walked into the Reclining Buddha Temple. The incense stick, more than a meter tall, was inserted into the huge incense burner, and the fragrance spread towards the sky.

Zhou Yan saw a gray-haired woman in a corner of the temple, bending over and talking to a young monk with tears streaming down her face. The monk, however, remained calm and gentle, seemingly unaware that the woman in front of him was his mother.

The woman's face was filled with disbelief:
"You, your father passed away, and you can't even go back?"

The monk put his hands together and said, "Female benefactor, this humble monk is already a monk."

His expression was gentle and calm, and his eyes showed no trace of sadness.

All the things of this mortal world are now in the past.

"The Dharma assembly is about to begin, please forgive this humble monk for not being able to stay any longer."

The woman's face was filled with panic and sorrow. The people around her congratulated her son for truly attaining enlightenment in Buddhism and leaving the world to become a monk. But she thought of the child who had tugged at her sleeve and said with a smile that he would take good care of them.

During years of famine, they said they would sell him to a temple in exchange for some food.

The woman looked at her son, whom she didn't recognize, and called him by his childhood nickname.

The monk did not pause in his steps.

He never looked back.

The woman burst into tears.

All around were sounds of congratulations.

Zhou Yan lowered his gaze and saw a golden line between the young monk's eyebrows, knowing that the physical body was already empty. He realized that this Longevity Sutra ceremony had reached the point of recording longevity titles.

May all Buddhas bestow blessings.

Many children, only eight or nine years old, knelt before the Buddha statue with anticipation in the encouraging gazes of their parents. The monks took out the blessing item, which was the golden powder. Zhou Yan's expression froze.

He should be here, waiting for Shen Cangming.

But he also understood that this golden powder was actually cicada eggs. Once applied to the foreheads and brows of these children, they would turn into human skin within twelve hours. Zhou Yan himself had the cultivation and power to sustain this for a period of time.

These children were completely powerless to resist.

Zhou Yan stared intently at this scene, wondering if it was a lurking, concealed act, or...

Lei Hanwen knelt on the prayer mat, thinking of his mother lying on the bed at home, filled with excitement and anticipation: "Mother, I am about to be blessed by Buddha. When I become a great monk, our family will have rice and noodles to eat."

"If you become a monk, you'll get to eat white flour buns."

He closed his eyes, waiting for the monk's gold-flecked fingers to reach out to him. Suddenly, the gray-haired woman shrieked and tried to pull the children away, but the monks pushed her to the ground.

The old woman with gray hair just cried and wailed:
"No, don't go in!"

Lei Hanwen suddenly felt a sense of fear, but the monk's hand was very strong, gripping him tightly. He wanted to go back to find his mother, but he couldn't move. He only saw the monk looking down at him, his fingers pointing down towards his brow.
The monk's eyes were deep and unfathomable, and suddenly—

A tiny cicada crawled out of the monk's left eye, flapped its wings, and crawled back into his right eye socket. Lei Hanwen's expression froze, his face turned deathly pale, and he screamed, but it was too late; the finger was about to fall.

A chilling whistling sound rose, and the monk's wrist flew out, his robe billowing in the wind. The next moment, flames exploded on the blade, sweeping across the area and incinerating all the golden dust.

boom! ! ! !

All eyes were focused on the young Taoist priest holding the knife.

(End of this chapter)