Martial Saint noticed Wang Songhe’s subtle emotional changes but didn’t pay much attention.
"Wang Shanhe, why hide? It’s just a fake name, isn’t it? You’re using a fake name and identity too, right? Or should I call you Wang Songhe now? Wang He?" Martial Saint casually remarked.
After hearing these words, Qiao Mu suddenly realized that the disguised stranger before him was the same Wang Songhe he had met years ago.
A hero breaks the law with martial arts.
For wandering heroes, disguising themselves and using different names is actually very common.
Wang Songhe, a bandit wanted by the government, was known to have killed "Qiao Sen," the City Lord of Yan City, right on the street.
However, Qiao Mu’s disguises and change of identity were fundamentally different from others.
His previous identities, like "Qiao Mu," "Qiao Lin," and "Qiao Pifu," were all seen dying in the public eye, unable to be resurrected even by gods. This was witnessed by countless people, with even the remains of his body as evidence, so it was impossible for him to play the fake death and escape tricks.
So, the flaw in Qiao Mu’s disguise was not "Qiao Mu" "Qiao Lin," but rather the "Qiao Sen" who survived in Yan City at the time.
And the main reason he was exposed was because his disguise was removed after being knocked out by Martial Saint."Qiao Zhong, is your real name Qiao Sen? So, the Qiao’s family in Yan City and the Qiao PifuQiao Zhong appearing in Heyang City are indeed from the same family?"
The Martial Saint actually doesn’t care about what Qiao Zhong’s real name is. It’s just that after the incident in Saintess Village, he became curious about the "Qiao’s family" mentioned by Qiao Mu.
After learning that Qiao Zhong’s hidden identity was Qiao Sen, he became somewhat interested.
"Is that it? The secret hidden behind Qiao Zhong’s face is just killing a mere Yan City Lord?"
Killed a Yan City Lord and then changed appearance and disguise to escape to another place?
In Martial Saint’s eyes, such a crime is nothing worth mentioning.
Martial Saint immediately lost interest.
"Just a Yan City Lord, easily disposable… After killing a Yan City Lord, you want to change your appearance and secretly escape? I can’t believe I believed your previous lies, thinking you had the support of countless elders from the Qiao family."
The current Yan City Lord, Wang Songhe…
"Qizheng, you take Qiao Zhong… Qiao Sen and go ahead." The Martial Saint waved his hand a bit impatiently.
"Let’s go to Qingming Town first."
Is this it?
He used to think that Qiao Mu’s disguise was hiding a big secret, but now it seems it’s nothing more than that.
"Qingming Town?" Wang Songhe was slightly taken aback, sensing that something was not right.
He also knew about Qingming Town, located at the foot of the main peak of Qingming Mountain range.
The so-called Qingming Town was originally just a simple village.
As the powerful Great Yan Imperial Court appeared, more and more pilgrims came to climb and worship on the mountain.
Over time, the small village at the foot of the mountain grew bigger and became a town.
Officially, it was still a town under the jurisdiction of the Great Yan Imperial Court, but in terms of population, it was almost the same as Yan City.
What’s more important is that deep in the Qingming Mountain range lies the headquarters of the Xuantian Sect.
Why did the Martial Saint bring Qiao Sen to the foot of the Qingming Mountain? What’s his plan?
While Wang Songhe was pondering, Qiao Mu and the others had already walked far away.
"Wang Shanhe," the Martial Saint reached out and casually threw a cultivator’s storage bag, landing it in Wang Songhe’s hands.
The storage bag looked like an ordinary cloth bag, but it contained space that only immortal cultivators could create for storing and keeping items.
Wang Songhe was a bit confused. He carefully examined the contents of the storage bag and his expression slightly changed.
"The Xuantian Sect cultivator’s Foundation Building method, the ‘Xuantian Treasure Scripture’?"
"Not only the Foundation Building method, but also other symbols, treasures, and artifacts of other immortal cultivators? " Wang Songhe held the storage bag in his hand and felt it was a bit hot.
"Martial Saint, what do you mean by this?"
"We have different paths and cannot collude with each other." Martial Saint’s face remained calm.
"The things of immortal cultivators are useless to me, so it’s better to give them to you, making the most of them."
"In these years, I have not killed many immortal cultivators, but I can gather some immortal cultivation heritage. These things are much stronger than the half-hearted cultivation method you practice."
Wang Songhe trembled slightly. As a solitary practitioner who didn’t join the Immortal Gate, he understood the weight of the gift that Martial Saint had given him with just a few casual words.
Little did he know how many martial artists are willing to serve under the Xuantian Sect’s various temples, just to one day be taught the true mystical teachings of the Immortal Gate and achieve everlasting life.
Before Wang Songhe began his cultivation journey, he was once a second-rank official with high power and authority. However, even the Great Yan Imperial Court was defeated. Therefore, his status as a second-rank civil official was insignificant in front of the Immortal Gate.
So, he tried to obtain some ordinary Taoist teachings from a small sect.
He has been cultivating for over thirty years, although he has some achievements in the Dao of Immortality, his practical combat skills are lacking, and he also lacks corresponding spells.
The proud symbol of the low-level cultivators of Xuantian Sect, the Etching Bone Li Fire Talisman, is a powerful weapon to deal with martial artists. It is natural that someone like Wang Songhe, who started late, would not know about it.
"Inhuman is said to have the aura of a mortal dynasty." The Martial Saint remained calm without any ripples on his face.
"It is said that human emperors possess their own aura, so they cannot achieve immortality. Even if they cultivate the Dao, it would be like fishing the moon from the water… Even if you succeed in your cultivation, you won’t live for too long, unable to achieve immortality."
"Consider this piece as a tribute to your future grave."
After saying that, the Martial Saint turned and left.
He never had high expectations for Wang Songhe’s path, but it didn’t stop him from casually giving something to this old friend.
"The martial way is the only possible way to counter the Dao of Immortality. Wang Shanhe cultivates the Immortal Dao to control the inhumans… This path requires an extremely long time, and it is unlikely to succeed."
"The progress in martial arts is faster than in the path of immortality…. If we think in the long term, time is on the side of us martial artists. It’s just that martial arts is lagging behind too much, so I also need more time."
The Martial Saint ignored Wang Songhe, who had a complicated expression on his face, and walked away by himself.
…………………
The Wuji Association had no good way to search for the Emperor’s whereabouts, so they could only conduct a thorough search from Yan City to the Qingming Mountain range.
The Xuantian Sect is located deep within the Qingming Mountain range, so the Wuji Association can only operate in secret, fearing to alert the enemy.
Until Qiao Mu arrived at Qingming Town at the foot of the mountains, there was no decent information about the Emperor’s whereabouts.
The towering Qingming Peak reached into the clouds, and from the foot of the mountain, one could vaguely see a majestic Taoist temple standing on the high ground. And this town was located at the foot of the main peak, Qingming Peak.
Walking in this town, along the street, most of the shops were small stores selling incense paper and candles.
Qiao Mu found a roadside restaurant, sat down, ordered some food, and casually looked at the street scenery while sitting on a bench.
The town seemed to have a lot of people, with a constant flow of pedestrians.
Among them, there were many pilgrims who came from other places. These pilgrims would often rest briefly in the town and buy incense and candles before climbing the mountain and leaving.
"Actually, several decades ago, this was just a small village with less than a hundred households," Wu Qizheng explained quietly.
"But as the influence of the inhuman grew, Qingyun Temple became the most famous Taoist temple in the vicinity. More and more pilgrims came to Qingyun Temple, and even regarded the temple on the mountain as a holy place of some kind."
"Every day, many pilgrims come from far away just to climb the mountain, pay their respects to the gods, and burn incense…"
Qiao Mu listened silently.
In a past life, the location of Qingyun Temple might have been just a popular Taoist temple with a lot of incense, a larger tourist attraction, and nothing more.
But in this world, it wasn’t that simple.
"I’ve walked around this town, but I haven’t seen any farms or fields. There are mostly shops selling incense paper and candles," Qiao Mu whispered.
The sound was heard by an old man with a limp on the side of the road. He looked over and said with a smile:
"Hey there, are you guys from out of town? You might not understand this."
"In this town, most of the people are merchants selling incense paper, candles, and food. Actually, only a few of them are farmers who have to do hard work."
This old man with a limp had gray hair on the sides of his head and looked a little older than sixty-year-old Qiao Mu.
Although the old man had signs of aging on his face, like age spots and wrinkles, his face was glowing and full of energy, which Qiao Mu rarely saw since he time-traveled.
The average lifespan for commoners in ancient dynasties was not long, even if some could live to old age, they often looked older due to hard labor.
Despite being old, the old man with a limp seemed to have good spirit. If people didn’t know, they would think he had just married eighteen young wives.
"Hey, do you guys earn enough money just by doing business and renting houses to out-of-town tourists without doing any farm work? That’s amazing," Qiao Mu said.
In the previous tourist towns, there were many people who made a living this way, which was why he asked.
"Hey, we’re all common people. Who’s running the shops?" The old man with a limp smiled proudly, as if he wanted to show off in front of the tourists from out of town.
"This is the foot of the Immortal Gate Temple, where the Xuantian Sect’s immortals pity us commoners for our hardships. As long as we recite the scriptures and pray every day, and worship the gods on the mountain, we can live without worries and don’t have to toil in the fields."
"Of course, it’s only for the local town residents," the old man said with a hint of pride.
It’s not easy to obtain the town residents’ registration.
The Great Yan Imperial Court has imposed heavy taxes and strict policies for the past few decades. Other towns have already collected taxes for almost twenty years. It’s rare to have enough food to eat with the frequent famines.
Under such circumstances, there is a town at the foot of Qingming Mountain where the residents can live without worries as long as they recite scriptures and worship the gods. It’s like a paradise on earth…
If it weren’t for this place being managed by the Immortal Gate Xuantian Sect and the difficulty of obtaining town resident registration, there would be a flood of refugees from all over Nan Province trying to enter this town.
"The local town residents…" Qiao Mu pondered for a moment before suddenly speaking:
"Old brother, judging from your accent, are you from Yan City?"
"Hmm? You can hear it?" The limping old man was slightly surprised, and his face smiled even more.
"We used to be people from Yan City, but we ran away because of the famine at that time."
"We’ve had a lot of hardships on our way to this town, and this old bones of mine almost didn’t make it. Later, it was the Immortal Elder from Xuantian Sect who took pity on my old age and allowed me to enter this town."
In the beginning, I was a famine refugee, old and weak, living from day to day.
Now, I am a resident at the foot of Immortal Gate mountain, with no worries about food and clothing. Life has changed tremendously.
It’s not surprising that the limping old man is beaming with joy, full of spirit, and unintentionally showing off in front of Qiao Mu, the outsider.
"It sounds like Immortal Gate has done a great thing. The Immortal Elders from Xuantian Sect are truly great people."
"Actually, it’s because of your kindness and the accumulation of good deeds, my old brother. That’s why you have this good fortune. When a person grows old, they can also have a great turn of fortune. As an outsider like me, I don’t have the same blessings."
Qiao Mu’s words made the proud limping old man happy. He had originally planned to leave with his crutch, but now he felt enjoyable talking to him and stopped to chat for a few more sentences.
The old man with a limp gradually opened up after hearing kind words.
Qiao Mu first subtly asked if there have been any abnormalities in the town lately, like the whereabouts of Emperor Yonghe.
After getting no information, Qiao Mu felt a bit disappointed and finally asked:
"But there’s one thing I don’t understand, my friend."
"You say these Xuantian Sect immortals are kind-hearted, allowing the townspeople to have no worries about food and clothing without working."
"But in this world, money and food are always necessary."
"Where do the townspeople get the money and food they need?"
The old man with a limp was startled, thought for a while, but couldn’t figure out the reason.
"Could it be that the immortals of Xuantian Sect create something out of nothing?" asked Qiao Mu again.
"Maybe the immortal elders are the ones who created them," the limping old man believed him.
Anyway, in the eyes of ordinary people, the immortal elders are very powerful, they can create money and food out of thin air, which is very reasonable.
Clang, clang, clang.
At this moment, the sound of melodious bells rang out in the town.
A servant wearing Taoist robe came out from the small building, carrying a large bucket of rice porridge.
"The immortals from Xuantian Sect are distributing porridge… I won’t talk nonsense with you anymore," the limping old man hurriedly walked with his crutch.
……………
Clang, clang, clang.
The sound of the town’s bells spread far, penetrating the faint mountain mist, all the way to the halfway up the mountain where the Taoist temple was located.
Emperor Yonghe stood on a hill not far from Qingyun Temple, looking down on the town below, feeling a bit sad.
Where does the money and food for the leaders of Xuantian Sect come from? Can he not know?
"The Immortal Gate looks righteous, but all the blame falls on the court, on me."
"Working with Xuantian Sect this time is actually like getting firewood from the fire… but I’m not acting blindly without a backup plan." Emperor Yonghe pressed something on his waist and felt a little relieved.
"It all depends on the day we worship the gods."
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