Chapter 104: The Capital of Xiong City (Part 1)

  Xiao Ziyang thought for a moment, beckoned to Zhong Hui and Zhou Jizai, calling them over. He patted the storage bag at his waist, pulled out a book, and on its cover were written the five large characters "Wu Hu Duan Men Dao". This was indeed the revised edition of the "Wu Hu Duan Men Dao" sword manual that Xiao Ziyang had compiled based on the pointers from the martial arts master.

  Xiao Ziyang handed over the knife spectrum to Zhong Hui and then repeatedly instructed the two to thoroughly reform their past mistakes, from now on they are not allowed to indiscriminately kill innocent people, after learning martial arts they must be chivalrous and righteous, help those in trouble.

  Watching Zhong put the precious knife into his bosom, Xiao Ziyang ignored him and looked at his own unyielding gaze, instructing Zhou Ji to take himself to the horse carriage and leave.

  With her eyes closed and leaning against the carriage, Xiaoziyang was carefully thinking about her plans for the future, having already put the two little thieves she had just subdued out of her mind.

  He never thought that his prank today would create a legendary hero known throughout the land as Zhong Hui, the great chivalrous hero.

  Fu'an City is located on the shores of Qinglian Lake, the most affluent of the Jiuhu Lakes.

  Qingyuan Lake is shaped like a gourd, with an abundance of fish and shrimp in the lake. The fertile fields along its banks stretch for thousands of miles, making Anzhou on the south shore one of the most affluent places in the entire Western Liang Empire.

  As the second largest city of Western Liang, Fu'an Dock is busier than Xiangyang.

  Xiao Ziyang arrived at the dock and easily found a warehouse, booking a large dragon ship to depart for Xiliang's capital city, Jin'an City, early tomorrow morning.

  For some reason, he did not return to Ganzhou according to his agreement with Song Nanjing.

  From Anzhou Prefecture City Fu'an City to Jin'an City, nearly 5,000 miles away, Xiao Ziyang took a whole month to travel downstream on the large dragon ship.

  Xiao Ziyang took a spacious cabin on the upper deck, and after boarding, he closed the door and did not come out. He spent his whole day contemplating Taoist scriptures in his mind and refining his magical skills...

  Xiao Ziyang found that the Taoist scriptures sent into his mind by "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" had a profound and mysterious atmosphere after careful consideration. The Taoist scriptures recorded in "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie" and "Ming Huo Jue" were mediocre and lacked this atmosphere.

  Among these three Taoist books, there are not a few repeated Taoist texts. If we put the same Taoist texts together for comparison, if the Taoist texts in "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie" and "Ming Huo Jue" can be compared to the calligraphy written by a rural teacher; then the Taoist texts in "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" can be compared to the masterpieces of famous calligraphers.

  The strokes of his brush can subtly reveal the heavenly and earthly atmosphere represented by Taoist scriptures, but Xiao Ziyang's learning is shallow and he cannot understand it for the time being.

  During the journey, Xiao Ziyang spent two hours every day practicing the "Clear Mind and Spirit Chant", two hours meditating to replace sleep, and almost all of his time was used to imitate and ponder the Taoist scriptures and practice magic.

  One month later, Xiao Ziyang had compressed the casting time of Wu Xing Jian to half a breath, and the release time of Wu Xing Dun to one breath. Barely usable in actual combat.

  As for the Ling Jia Technique, as a second-level spell, it consists of thirty-two strokes, among which there are five strokes that resemble a maze-like second-order stroke. Xiao Ziyang felt dizzy just looking at them, let alone practicing them. Moreover, his current magical power was not enough to cast this technique.

  According to the introduction in "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie", a cultivator like Xiao Ziyang who has just successfully condensed his method can release 20-30 first-level spells such as Huo Dan Fa, Jin Zhen Fa, Mu Ci Fa, Shui Dao Fa, and Tu Mao Fa, which is already considered to be quite powerful. However, Xiao Ziyang can release more than 50 of the Wu Xing Jian spell in one breath, clearly making him a strong cultivator among his peers.

  As for the Spirit Sword Technique and Spirit Shield Technique, one must fill their dantian with spiritual energy before attempting to condense them. The complexity of these techniques is something that Xiao Ziyang doesn't even want to think about.

  Ling Jian Technique first requires condensing the Ziyu Fa Li into a crescent-shaped flying sword. During the condensation process, hundreds of Dao Wen must be infused into the flying sword, among which there are more than 30 second-level Dao Wen that resemble a maze. Furthermore, outside of these hundreds of Dao Wen, six second-level Fa arrays must also be set up as a framework!

  If Daowen is likened to words, then Fa Zhen is painting, and it's that kind of meticulous and intricate fine-brushwork painting. Its complexity is simply unimaginable.

  Fortunately, after the cultivator infuses his spiritual thoughts into his magical powers, while cultivating and enhancing his magical powers, he will also inadvertently enhance his spiritual thoughts. At the same time, as his spiritual thoughts are enhanced, his intelligence will also be improved; otherwise, something like a magic array, which is so complex, would not be something that an ordinary person's wisdom could grasp.

  Ling Shield Technique is simpler than Ling Sword Technique, with a second-order array as the core and three first-order arrays as auxiliary. The Taoist scriptures that serve as the link are also much fewer than those of the Ling Sword Technique, with only two hundred first-order Taoist scriptures and ten second-order Taoist scriptures. However, this is still not something that Xiao Ziyang can afford to master at this time.

  The Yongzhou where Jin An is located has the smallest area among all states, only about half of the area of Chuzhou. However, its population is the first among all states, and its prosperity is also the first among all states.

  The entire territory of Yongzhou is located within the Jiuhu Plain, and it's not an exaggeration to say that it's a fertile land of thousands of miles. Moreover, almost all of this vast fertile land is high-quality paddy fields. The abundance of grain produced here not only supplies the western regions but also exports to countries along the coast of the Western Sea. The Yongzhou Plain is even known as the first granary west of Mount Taichu.

  The large dragon boat that Xiao Ziyang was on was called the Wang An. Among the passengers on the boat, there were many who, like Xiao Ziyang, had never been to Jinan City before. So early this morning, when they heard from the sailors that they would arrive at noon, everyone rushed out of their cabins and stood at the bow of the ship, hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary number one city in the world as soon as possible.

  Xiao Ziyang also blended into the crowd, he too couldn't wait to see this majestic capital of Xiliang that his father had spoken so highly of.

  The first thing that caught Xiao Ziyang's eye was a rather strange mountain peak. It was strange because the mountain could hardly be called a mountain, as its height and width were completely out of proportion. The base of the mountain was more than ten times wider than it was high. From a distance, you would definitely think it was just a small mound.

  Today, the wind is gentle and beautiful. The thick fog on the Jiuchuan River has dissipated early, and standing on the high deck of the Dalong ship, you can vaguely see the vast land on the north bank of the Jiuchuan River in the distance. If you compare this hundred-mile-wide river surface with the small hill that looked like a mound just now, you will be surprised to find that the base of the small hill is actually half wider than the river surface.

  Anyone who is slightly familiar with arithmetic can easily calculate that the strange mountain, which looks like a small mound of earth, is actually a huge mountain peak with a circumference of 400-500 miles and an altitude of 10,000 meters.

  The Jiuxi River narrows and accelerates as it approaches its confluence with the bitter sea.

  The speed of the Great Dragon Ship also accelerated. As the Great Dragon Ship moved forward, the true appearance of that strange giant peak gradually appeared before everyone's eyes.