My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

Jiang Li said, "I will go and explain to Master. I am trying to get your consent now."

Jiang Kaishan and Wang Chunhua agreed after discussing for a while, and then Jiang Li drove the donkey cart to the charity cemetery.

Wencai opened the door and saw that there were obviously more things in the car than before. He said happily, "Junior brother, why did you bring so many things this time? It seems that there are no festivals recently!"

Jiang Li smiled and walked over. When he saw Uncle Jiu in the courtyard, he respectfully called him "Master."

Seeing Jiang Li's serious expression, Uncle Jiu took Jiang Li to the hall for a detailed discussion.

When Uncle Jiu arrived at the hall and sat down, he asked, "What happened? If I can help you, just tell me."

After hearing this, Jiang Li knelt on the ground. Uncle Jiu was surprised but did not show it on his face. He just waited for his little disciple to speak.

Sure enough, Jiang Li asked at this time, "Master, you see, I have been practicing very hard in the past three years."

Uncle Jiu replied, "Although you haven't been sleeping or eating for three years in your training, you are still diligent and hardworking. You are much more diligent than Wencai."

Jiang Li continued to ask, "Master, how do you think my progress is? It can be considered fast."

Uncle Jiu was stunned when he heard this, and then said, "Now the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is thin, and your cultivation speed is already considered to be at an upper-middle level."

Jiang Li smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, my level is not slow, but after three years of hard training, I can only reach the third level of Taoist priests. I may not even be able to become a geomancer in my lifetime. I am not willing to accept this!"

Uncle Jiu looked at Jiang Li's grief and anger, and he could do nothing but comfort him, "This is the fate of cultivators like us in the Dharma Ending Age."

Seeing this, Jiang Li continued, "I think Master and several of his fellow apprentices also went through this stage. After years of searching for opportunities but to no avail, they finally let go of their obsession."

"My disciple is the same now. I don't want to enter a treasure mountain and return empty-handed. I also want to find my own opportunity."

Uncle Jiu stood up and frowned, "You want to become a master?"

Jiang Li shook his head and said, "That's not the case. Master, do you still remember what I once said?"

Uncle Jiu pondered and said, "Are you talking about forcibly ascending to heaven with merit? How is this possible?"

Jiang Li nodded heavily and said, "I do have this idea. Master, please come with me to the kitchen and take a look."

Jiang Li then took Uncle Jiu to the kitchen. Seeing the plump and round pumpkins, Jiang Li explained, "This is the result of my three years of careful management and optimization of the pumpkins. The yield per mu is 400 kilograms more than before."

Uncle Jiu looked at Jiang Li in shock, then said happily, "This is true. If you have such achievements, you will have a chance to become the judge of the underworld."

Seeing his master's delight, Jiang Li said slowly, "I don't want to be a judge. I want to cultivate immortality."

Uncle Jiu heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this and said, "Although this pumpkin is good, it is just a grain and cannot fill you up. I'm afraid it will be a long time before you can become an immortal."

Jiang Li said, "It is precisely because I know this that I feel upset. My master and uncle-in-law had to persist on the immortal path for several years when they had no clear path. But now I can see the road ahead but cannot move forward. How can I describe the resentment in my heart?"

Uncle Jiu sighed and said, "Yes, your uncles and I have always relied on our obsessions to go down the mountain and venture out to the world, thinking that persistence will be rewarded. Now that the immortal path is right in front of you, how can you be willing to give up? But what can you do if you are not willing? As your master, I can do nothing about it."

Jiang Li saw that the time was right and threw out his trump card, saying, "I was unwilling to give up, so I asked around and finally found out that there is a theory in the West called science, and one of its branches is called biology."

"The core of its doctrine is to observe and understand living things, so as to decipher the secrets of their rise and fall. If disciples learn this, perhaps they can use this method to specialize in the method of increasing grain production."

After saying that, he knocked his head to the ground and didn't get up for a long time.

Uncle Jiu was furious when he heard this, "You want to abandon your master and join that evil Western cult."

Jiang Li raised his head and said firmly, "Master, please understand. I, Jiang Li, am a Taoist in life and a Taoist ghost in death. I will never have second thoughts. I just want to learn from others and achieve my own ambitions."

"Besides, as a Han Chinese, how can I dare to believe in any Western religion? I just think that some technical theories in Western religions are quite practical, so I want to learn from them to strengthen Taoism."

Uncle Jiu said angrily, "That foreign cult can only deceive people. What practical knowledge does it have?"

Jiang Li asked, "Master has practiced for decades, how many bullets from that foreign gun can he block?"

Seeing that Uncle Jiu was speechless, he immediately took advantage of the situation and said, "Master, you have already said that this is the Dharma Ending Age. Where will our Maoshan go from now on? If we don't seek change now, we will disappear in the long river of history."

Uncle Jiu continued to argue, "Does believing in some foreign religion mean you can save Taoism and Maoshan? This is just your excuse."

Jiang Li said, "My disciple said that I only want to learn the essence and useful things. Moreover, I don't just want to learn Western methods. I also want to learn martial arts from various martial arts schools. In short, I will learn anything that can be learned by paying money."

"When the time comes, we will summarize it and find a way to survive, so that the Maoshan Taoist tradition will not be cut off in the hands of our generation."

Uncle Jiu was a little shaken when he heard this, but he softened and said, "How can you do it by yourself? Even if you learn some martial arts and Western techniques, it's hard to change the situation."

Seeing that his master was finally interested, Jiang Li immediately said, "Of course, I can't do it alone, but I still have my master, two senior brothers, my uncle, and many Maoshan uncles. As long as we join hands, we can definitely pass on the Maoshan legacy."

Seeing his disciple's excitement, Uncle Jiu couldn't help but pour cold water on him, saying, "My status in Maoshan is not low, but I can't integrate the entire sect. I'm afraid what you said is difficult to achieve."

Jiang Li smiled and said, "It's okay if we don't need them. Master has several fellow apprentices who are on good terms with him. We just need to send a message to the fellow apprentices to let them go when they are on the road."

"Collect a lot of various techniques and martial arts secrets. When the time comes, we can use these to establish a Maoshan branch, and can't we continue the Maoshan tradition?"

"When the time comes, Master will be the head of the sect, and let the other uncles be elders. Wouldn't that be a great thing to kill two birds with one stone?"

When Uncle Jiu heard this, he immediately imagined himself wearing a purple robe. Then he came to his senses and said to Jiang Li unhappily, "You almost led me into a ditch. We were talking about you betraying your master. What did you get off to?"

Jiang Li said aggrievedly, "How dare I betray my master? I really want my Maoshan to flourish under the master's hands."

"That's why I took such a risk and went undercover in that Western cult, hoping to learn a thing or two, so that I wouldn't be completely in the dark if I encountered it later, don't you think?"

Uncle Jiu looked at Jiang Li and turned to leave. Jiang Li immediately stood up and followed him. Soon they came to the portrait of the ancestor. Uncle Jiu said to Jiang Li, "Say what you said before again."