Great Zhou Martial Immortal

Chapter 4 Princess Mansion

"The Great Dao gives birth to the One Qi, the One Qi divides into Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang become Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth give birth to all things."

"All things are transformed from one Qi, which is divided into Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and so are humans."

"The primordial Qi gives rise to the five internal organs and six bowels. Pure Yang governs fire and is called heart Qi; Lesser Yin within Yang governs metal and is called lung Qi; Pure Yin governs water and is called kidney Qi; Lesser Yang within Yin governs wood and is called liver Qi; Harmonizing Yin and Yang governs earth and is called spleen Qi. When the five Qi gather in the body, one obtains life. By cultivating them according to the method, one can attain supernatural powers."

This is the essence of Qi cultivation.

The "Gold-Swallowing Treasure Manual" focuses on cultivating the lungs and then absorbing gold energy to continuously strengthen them, ultimately achieving the goal of swallowing gold and forging bones.

Lu Chenyuan closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, focusing on his cultivation.

As he held the spearhead in his mouth and breathed deeply, he used his lungs to draw the metal energy into his body. The energy was then refined through the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin and the Large Intestine Meridian of Hand-Yangming, eventually entering the five internal organs and spreading throughout the limbs and bones.

The light from the cold iron spearhead dimmed rapidly, and its spirituality gradually disappeared.

On the contrary, Lu Chenyuan's body began to gleam with a metallic luster, as if it had been coated with a layer of silver paint.

Fine silver light gradually seeped from his pores, his joints made a crisp sound like steel ingots being quenched, and his skin turned silvery-gray.

This is not a simple color change, but a manifestation of the metal element being completely integrated into the very marrow of one's body.

When the "cold iron" metal vapor enters the skin, the pores suddenly shrink into fine, scaly patterns, giving every inch of skin the texture of wrought iron forged through countless hammerings, yet retaining the suppleness unique to flesh and blood. Silver veins faintly emerge from the knotted muscles of the arms, like the flowing water patterns naturally formed during the forging of swords.

His physical strength is increasing rapidly, and the metal energy within his body is growing stronger by leaps and bounds!
Two hours later, the moon was high in the sky.

A crisp click.

The cold iron spearhead shattered into dust, and the last wisp of pure golden energy sank down his throat into his lungs.

Lu Chenyuan trembled violently. The feeling of comfort at that moment was indescribable, like floating on air. He slowly opened his eyes. At this moment, his skin no longer had metallic texture, but the strength of his entire body had reached a new level!

Lu Chenyuan clenched his fists, channeled his inner energy, and clashed them against his chest.

boom!
boom!
It produced a metallic sound!
"Truly worthy of being the Great Tang Celestial Master's technique!"

Lu Chenyuan was very satisfied. He picked up the pestle on the table, squeezed it tightly, and with the opening and closing of his five fingers, he imprinted a clear palm print on the surface of the refined steel pestle: "The power has also increased by nearly double! This is only a sixth-grade spearhead, yet it has the effect of a body-refining martial artist who has mastered the Vajra Technique. What would it be like if it absorbed divine weapons? I'm looking forward to it."

With keen observation, the panel also changed.

[Technique: Golden Palace Scripture (Proficient)]

【Progress: 19/100】

Overnight, I went from a novice to a pro.

Rapid progress.

As proficiency increases, the effects of Qi cultivation become stronger, and the speed of absorption also accelerates.

The Golden Palace Scripture clearly states that holding metal in one's mouth and relying on breathing to generate metallic energy is the lowest level of cultivation. Only when one can absorb all the metallic energy with a mere touch of the fingertip and destroy all divine weapons can one be considered to have entered the inner sanctum.

Lu Chenyuan was satisfied and let out a long sigh of relief. The rewards brought by the cultivation technique far exceeded his expectations. If this continued, he might become an unparalleled general and the second Yuchi Gong.

He is now in the late stage of the second realm. All eight extraordinary meridians in his body, except for the Ren and Du meridians, are open. He can clearly feel that his realm is becoming more and more perfect after absorbing this spearhead. As long as he absorbs two more, he will have enough true energy to open the two meridians and achieve the innate body.

Cultivation cannot be rushed.

After thinking it over for a while, Lu Chenyuan washed up and went to bed. There were still a lot of troubles to deal with tomorrow.

The next morning.

Lu Yashan prepared a sumptuous breakfast, and Lu Ke'er came over to wake him up.

Lu Chenyuan has already woken up. Being a kept man isn't easy. To truly enjoy this lifestyle and reap both financial and romantic rewards, one must first focus on maintaining a good physique, including morning, afternoon, and evening workouts – these are all essential.

A good image and strong abilities are both essential, and both require practice.

Eating and drinking all day long, being lazy and wanting to maintain a good figure and have beautiful women throwing themselves at you is just wishful thinking.

When Lu Ke'er entered the room, Lu Chenyuan had already done thirty minutes of aerobic exercise and was putting on his Kite Guard uniform.

The predecessor of the Kite Guard was the Hidden Dragon Guard, created by Emperor Taizong.

Since the founding of Emperor Taizong's reign, he had been secretly assassinating bandits and rebels in various places and secretly mediating to balance the power of various factions in the court. He was a sharp knife in the emperor's hands. When Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, this knife had other uses, such as monitoring officials and helping him suppress the founding nobles. When Empress Wu came to power, it completely became her private army to eliminate dissidents.

Working together with ruthless officials like Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen, they fabricated charges and created numerous prisons, a truly harmonious partnership.

The rebellion in Yangzhou implicated Xu Jingye and his gang.

The rebellion of Li Chong, Prince of Langya, resulted in a large-scale massacre of the Li Tang imperial family.

Pei Yan, Feng Yuanchang, Hao Xiangxian, and other loyal ministers who opposed Wu were first falsely accused of treason, and then their entire families were killed.

Lu Chenyuan didn't seem to care about this.

—Your country, your subjects, you don't even care about killing yourselves, what does it have to do with me?

Laozi's monthly salary was five strings of copper coins and two shi of rice.

As long as you don't touch my family, I don't care what the rest do.

He felt no psychological pressure about serving as an accomplice of the emperor in the inner guard. Empress Wu loved changing her name, and her new name "Yuanwei" was taken from "Yuan Fei Li Tian," which literally means an eagle soaring into the sky. It signifies that the inner guards were on behalf of the emperor to patrol the four directions and held a noble position. However, this word is not a good word and also refers to people who pursue fame and fortune and strive to climb to the top. The combination of the two is quite intriguing.

The uniform of the Kite Guard is called the "Crimson Feather Robe". It is black with red and gold trim, combining the empress's majesty with the sharpness of birds. It is convenient for stealth at night and can show off its great power in the sunlight.

Lu Chenyuan was dressed.

The dark brocade robe tightly hugged his slender body, with red gold trim flowing around it, as if lava was flowing between the folds. The outer robe was made of "fire-resistant brocade," a tribute from the East Sea, which is fireproof and waterproof. The inner lining was made of ice silk, which is cool in summer and warm in winter. The shoulders were embroidered with three-clawed red kites, and the waist belt was inlaid with gold dragon patterns.

In short: awesome!

"elder brother."

Lu Ke'er watched him stare at himself in the mirror for a long time, nodding as he looked at himself. His vain expression made her wonder if she was the older one. She said weakly, "Time to eat..."

"Ke'er, isn't your brother handsome?"

“It looks good~”

"You're being a bit perfunctory."

"nice!"

"That's pretty much it."

"..."

Seeing his irresponsible attitude, Lu Ke'er pouted in worry: "Brother! Are you really going to the princess's residence today? They'll beat you up again. Why don't you wait a couple more days?"

"Do not worry."

Lu Chenyuan laughed and said, "Even if it's bad, it's still like it was three days ago. With you here, what's there to be afraid of? You'll still be making medicine for me then, and I'll be jumping around again. Besides, I didn't get beaten for nothing. If the princess doesn't show any reaction, then I don't need to keep playing along with her. I'll bring you something delicious when I get back tonight."

He strode forward, head held high, completely unconcerned.

Lu Ke'er was infected by his confidence and breathed a sigh of relief.

After the meal, under the worried gazes of his father and younger sister, Lu Chenyuan walked out of Lirenfang and strode towards Zhengpingfang, where the princess's residence was located.

The morning market is already open.

The streets were bustling with activity, with vendors hawking their wares and pedestrians coming and going. Lu Chenyuan walked among them with steady and powerful steps, as elegant as a crane. Coupled with his handsome face, he was easy to like. However, his crimson feather robe made the pedestrians look fearful and keep their distance.

Lu Chenyuan ignored it and strode westward along Yongtong Street, arriving at Zhengpingfang.

Zhengpingfang was one of the neighborhoods in Luoyang, far more prosperous than the outlying Lirenfang. It was also the location of the official schools during the Tang Dynasty. The Confucius Temple and the Imperial Academy were only two streets away from the Princess's residence, which made it convenient for students to curry favor with the emperor.

Lu Chenyuan had just started his shift when the scholars were already in place, and poems of praise and courtship were being recited one after another.

"I wish I could transform into a thousand pleats of snow-white silk skirt, to glimpse a glimpse of spring in her cloud-like hair."

This is the elegant type.

"Willing to be a bronze beast guarding the palace, bearing the dust from the emperor's shoes every day."

This is asking to be trampled on.

"I wish to burn three thousand scrolls of imperial examination papers and instead enjoy the breeze beneath the hibiscus-scented curtains."

That's rather uncivilized.

"Even a scholar possesses the strength to support the heavens, relying not on mountains and rivers, but only on his own waist!"

Damn it...

Lu Chenyuan was moved.

He couldn't help but look at the person reciting the poem, thinking to himself, "Dude, you're being a bit too explicit!"
Not only Lu Chenyuan, but the entire audience was astonished when the scholar uttered that line of poetry.

All the students looked at him.

The man was handsome, dressed in white, with a folded headscarf. He was quite drunk, holding a wine jug, and shouting loudly, "If the Jade Terrace is allowed to provide bedding, I dare to steal Penglai to use as a bath bottle... *hiccup*..."

Everyone was stunned by his audacity.

Lu Chenyuan nodded. He was a real man; perhaps they could become like-minded people in the future.

"Someone is coming!"

Suddenly, a roar with a Shanxi accent came from inside the mansion.

Immediately following a loud bang, the gates of the mansion swung open, and a squad of guards clad in gleaming armor, wielding long spears and halberds, charged out. They lined up in front of the gate, their spear shafts striking the ground with a muffled thunderous sound, startling the students so much that their faces changed drastically, and they all retreated. Others who had come to curry favor also quietly retreated without making a sound.

Behind the group of people, a burly man as tall as an iron tower stepped out. His crimson python robe stretched taut over his bulging shoulders and arms. His broad, square face was piled high with flesh, and he had a fierce and furious expression.

But hidden within this raging fury was a deep sense of shame and resentment.

Princess Taiping's husband was Wu Youji.

(End of this chapter)