Martial Cultivator

Chen Chao and Song Lian had no intention of staying at Stone Well Monastery for long. However, just before they were about to leave, the abbot of the monastery personally came to present each of them with a peace talisman.

This abbot was not the wandering monk from back then. By reckoning, he should have been that monk’s disciple’s disciple. Even so, when Chen Chao saw this abbot, he was still taken aback.

He really found it difficult to associate the dark, lean, middle-aged man standing before him with the abbot of a monastery.

He did not look like a monk. He looked more like a farmer.

Noticing the strange looks Chen Chao and Song Lian were giving him, the abbot smiled and pressed his palms together. “Practicing Buddhism, meditating and sitting in meditation every day is one form of it, but so is working out in the fields.”

Chen Chao put away the peace talisman and sighed with emotion. “With Master’s cultivation, I’m afraid that no matter what, you will be able to go to the Paradise after entering nirvana.”

The abbot shook his head. “This destitute monk’s abilities are limited. All I can do is what lies before me. There are some people who do not practice Buddhism and do not understand the Buddhist scriptures, yet what they do far exceeds what this destitute monk can accomplish. So when it comes to attaining Buddhahood, they are the ones who are certain to become Buddhas.”

At this, Chen Chao asked curiously, “In the master’s view, what is a Buddha?”

The abbot answered rather straightforwardly, “One who saves all living beings is a Buddha.”

After saying this, the abbot pressed his palms together and turned to leave.

Chen Chao and Song Lian left Stone Well Monastery and headed toward Ying Prefecture. As for whether they should make a trip to the Morning Dew Sect at the same time, Chen Chao was still hesitating.

During the previous great battle, the Morning Dew Sect had already sent cultivators to the city walls. Although Sect Master Feng Liu had not shown himself, he had also been at the city walls at the time.

After walking a mile, Song Lian finally could not help asking, “I thought that monk was some extraordinary powerhouse too. Turns out he really is just an ordinary monk?”

Chen Chao said irritably, “According to what you mean, whenever I go somewhere, I have to come away with something?”

Song Lian said quietly, “When we came to Danxiao Commandery before, didn’t you also say you were only going to deal with the matter at Luoshui Mountain? And didn’t it turn out that there was also an incredible great cultivator in that city?”

Before Chen Chao could say anything, Song Lian cut him off. “Do you dare say that before you went, you knew absolutely nothing and had no plans whatsoever?”

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow, too lazy to say more. Instead, he returned to the previous topic. “This abbot, however, is no ordinary monk.”

Song Lian was taken aback.

Chen Chao smiled. “Anyone who can bend their waist down to face the fields, unless they were a farmer to begin with, is no ordinary person.”

......

......

For the common people, the lull in the first battle was an enormous blessing. It was yet another victory for the Great Liang Dynasty in these past twenty years. But for the court as it stood now, it was nothing more than an opportunity to catch its breath.

They knew very well that the Great Liang Dynasty was still standing on the edge of a cliff. In fact, one foot had already stepped into empty space. If not for the victory in that previous battle, the situation would be even worse. By now, it would probably have already fallen halfway, with only its two hands desperately gripping the edge of the cliff.

Therefore, during these days, official documents dispatched by the court to the various prefectures and provinces continued to arrive like snowflakes, while the officials of every prefecture and province felt their hearts rise to their throats.

Now, even the most negligent officials was putting in 120% effort. They not only had to complete the tasks assigned by the Divine Capital, but also could not exploit the common people below. Nearly every official was complaining bitterly, yet even so, they still had to grit their teeth and carry out their duties. At the same time, they could not simply act recklessly.

During this period, the number of officials dismissed from their posts, from top to bottom, had already exceeded ten. In truth, only a very small portion had failed to carry out the court’s orders. Most of those dismissed were officials who had used the excuse that, given the current situation, extraordinary times required extraordinary measures.

The imperial court saw the situation very clearly. There were powerful enemies outside, and the entire nation’s strength had to be mobilized to deal with them. But that did not mean they could neglect everything else. If they squeezed the common people until they could no longer survive, then even before the Northern Frontier Great Wall was breached, the empire itself would already descend into chaos.

But this was the Great Liang Dynasty. Had it been any other dynasty, by now it would probably have already descended into complete chaos. They would have had no time to worry about such things.

As Chen Chao and Song Lian continued northward, they saw quite a few official caravans traveling back and forth along the way. Every one of them wore grave expressions and hurried along their journeys.

Temporary victories could make the common people cheer with joy, but for the officials of the imperial court, it was not the same. They knew the inside story, and they knew that the situation ahead would also be difficult, so it was hard for them to feel happy.

Along the way, Chen Chao also kept receiving all kinds of secret reports. The movements of foreign cultivators, unusual movements among the officials throughout the imperial court, and even abnormalities among the great clans and wealthy families would all continuously reach the hands of this Lord Warden Commander.

It was precisely because it was him. If anyone else were to serve as Lord Warden Commander, many things would be impossible to handle. Only Chen Chao could do them.

Not only because his prestige was sufficient, but also because his surname was Chen.

After passing Qingshan Prefecture and briefly traveling through Changping Prefecture, Chen Chao and Song Lian encountered a group of people.

There were five people in total, three men and two women.

The two women, one dressed in yellow and the other in blue, both looked to be over thirty, at an age when one might call them married women, yet still two years short of it.

The woman in yellow was named Li You, while the woman in blue was named Yue Xin.

Both were aliases, somewhat masculine in style.

These two were the stewards of the Hundred Streams Pavilion in Qingshan Prefecture and Ying Prefecture respectively.

Compared with Qingshan Prefecture, however, things were actually much easier on the Ying Prefecture side. After all, it was only after the Morning Dew Sect came into existence that other cultivators gradually began establishing sects here.

As for the three men, their cultivation was all quite high. Two were in the Great Beyond Realm, while the remaining one had vaguely stepped one foot into Nepenthe.

After seeing Chen Chao, this young Lord Warden Commander, the two women offered their respects. Li You then boldly looked Chen Chao up and down. Hundred Streams Pavilion had always been personally overseen by successive emperors. Only now had there been an exception, but they only knew that the person above them had changed; they had never actually seen him in person.

Chen Chao felt somewhat uncomfortable under Li You’s gaze. Just as he was about to speak, Li You smiled and said, “Your Excellency looks much better than in portraits.”

Chen Chao was somewhat helpless. Before he could say anything, Yue Xin beside her immediately added, “The other parts of the portrait can all be painted well, but these eyes of Your Excellency’s, even the finest master of painting would probably find it difficult to capture the spirit within them.”

Chen Chao said helplessly, “Even if the two of you praise me like this, it won’t get you promoted.”

Li You covered her mouth and laughed. “Your Excellency is joking. If it were for high office and generous rewards, who would join Hundred Streams Pavilion?”

That left Chen Chao speechless. Indeed, the Hundred Streams Pavilion had always been a secret institution belonging exclusively to the emperor. Monitoring all the officials and spying on cultivators outside the realm were all part of their duties. It was just that these matters could not see the light of day, so no matter how well one performed in Hundred Streams Pavilion, one would almost certainly spend one’s entire life far removed from high office and generous rewards.

Moreover, unlike the frontier army, where soldiers who died on the battlefield would receive compensation from the imperial court openly and honorably, even if someone from Hundred Streams Pavilion died one day, it would be difficult for outsiders to know.

Even their families, in fact, did not know what they did.

Of course, those who entered Hundred Streams Pavilion generally had no families either.

Chen Chao said, “You’ve worked hard.”

These three words came from the heart. But at this moment, saying them to these two women did carry some suspicion of winning them over.

The two women exchanged a glance. Li You clicked her tongue and said, “If someone else said those words, we would naturally think they were trying to win us over. But if Your Excellency says them, then they’re sincere. After all, what we do doesn’t amount to one ten-thousandth of what Your Excellency does.”

Chen Chao shook his head with a smile. “Chief Steward Li, you’re joking. Back when Yinli’s matter happened, how could it have been accomplished without Chief Steward Li?”

Because of the presence of the Infatuation Daoist Temple, Qingshan Prefecture had always been the top priority of Great Liang’s intelligence network. Quite a few incidents had occurred on the Qingshan Prefecture side over the past few years. The two biggest ones happened one after another. Chen Chao did not let them get involved in the latter one. After all, once Daoist Sage Wuyang returned from overseas, his cultivation realm had already become far too powerful. Ordinary methods and schemes could almost be said to have become completely useless.

But before that, when Yinli attempted to assassinate Daoist Sage Wuyang and seize the position of Infatuation Daoist Temple’s temple master, until Chen Chao, Yu Xiyi, and Yun Jianyue set a scheme to kill him, Li You had contributed quite a lot.

It would have been fine if that matter had not been brought up. The moment it was mentioned, Li You’s face became full of grievance. “We had already planted our pieces in the Infatuation Daoist Temple. For a long time to come, we would have been able to know the movements of the Infatuation Daoist Temple like the back of our hand. But after Your Excellency made one trip there, you knocked everything over. Fine, you knocked everything over, but why did you stop us from taking further action afterward? How could these foreign cultivators be worth trusting? I don’t even know whether the memorial this lowly official submitted before ever reached Your Excellency’s hands. If it didn’t, then this subordinate will say it again here...”

Chen Chao hurriedly waved his hand. He had received Li You’s memorials more than once before. It was only because he did not know how to reply that he had left the matter aside.

As for Infatuation Daoist Temple, because A’Yue was there, Chen Chao had to do this. Of course, he also believed that with Yun Jianyue as temple master all these years, nothing would happen to Infatuation Daoist Temple.

But just as Li You had said, with so many matters, trusting others was ultimately not as good as keeping them under one’s own control.

So Chen Chao could only set those memorials aside. He could not refute Li You, but there was nothing else he could do either.

Seeing Chen Chao wave his hand, Li You stopped talking, though she still looked rather aggrieved.

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