After a night of supper that lasted all night, the next day he accompanied Shen Ying in admiring the snow scenery for half a day. Only then did Lu Zheng return to the county town after having lunch at noon.
On the way, he passed by the Liu house and found that only Liu Qingquan was at home, being pressed by Madam Liu to study and read, while Liu Qingyan had gone to Renxin Hall with her father early in the morning.
While seeing patients and diagnosing, she continued to teach Du Yueyao medical skills at the same time.
Having agreed to visit Wuxiu Zhuang in ten days, Lu Zheng carried some wine and tea, and ascended Shaotong Mountain to Baiyun Temple.
Daoist Yuting had long since left, Daoists Yuanjing and Mingjun had gone to the neighbouring county to exorcise ghosts, leaving only Daoist Mingzhang on the mountain.
“Tsk tsk, to be able to call a great demon from the southern border a brother, truly impressive!”
The two sat in a pavilion on the uphill path in the backyard of Baiyun Temple. Lu Zheng brewed the tea and poured a cup each for Daoist Mingzhang and himself.
Daoist Mingzhang drank the hot tea in one go, exhaled a breath of white air that turned into a small white crane enveloped in smoke and clouds, circling the pavilion twice before slowly dissipating.
“I didn’t expect Hu Zhou to have such an identity either,” Lu Zheng said with a laugh.
“Fortunately, that tiger demon isn’t one for indiscriminate killing, otherwise our small Baiyun branch temple wouldn’t be enough for him to slaughter.”
Lu Zheng laughed upon hearing this, “If Brother Hu were that kind of demon, Hu Zhou wouldn’t have been born.”
“Indeed so.” Daoist Mingzhang took another light sip of hot tea, smacked his lips, “Your tea has a light and ethereal aroma, is it tea from Lingnan Road?”
“It’s a type of tea from the Hundred Thousand Mountains, called Feixian Bi. I bought it in Yongzhou.”
“Good tea, even among southern teas, there are probably few ordinary teas that can compare,” Daoist Mingzhang said with a laugh, “You put thought into it.”
Lu Zheng smiled faintly and said calmly, “As long as it suits Master’s taste.”
Crossing between two worlds, the wine is better in the modern one, but the tea is stronger in the ancient one.
The Da Jing Dynasty had long mastered the art of stir-frying tea leaves, perhaps due to the good natural environment and faint heavenly spiritual energy. Although they were all ordinary teas, the quality of ancient teas far surpassed that of modern ones.
Although he didn’t know about those special supply teas limited to a few jin per year, the most expensive teas Lu Zheng had bought on the market didn’t match the ancient fragrant teas.
What a pity, Lu Zheng wasn’t in the system, otherwise with this unique tea alone, he could probably connect with many big shots.
So for these ancient fine teas, he only brought some home, and the rest he enjoyed here himself.
“You went to the southern border for a wedding, and your master benefits from it,” Daoist Mingzhang said with a laugh.
Today, besides the fine tea from the southern border, Lu Zheng brought a package of dried mushrooms, two fine jade plaques, and three beast skin scrolls.
“They are all gifts from friends in the southern border, and I can’t use them all,” Lu Zheng said with a laugh.
Daoist Mingzhang laughed heartily, then while admiring the snow scenery, he tested Lu Zheng on his understanding of the cultivation in ‘Xiantian Yunhua Qi Fa Zhen Jing’ and ‘Taiqing Du Xuan Yu Qi Xing Yun Mi Fa Zhen Jing’.
…
“Not bad, not bad.”
Daoist Mingzhang nodded repeatedly. With Lu Zheng’s current cultivation, he was already very proficient in qi method cultivation and various usable cloud methods.
“Given your progress, you’ll soon be able to cultivate to the subsequent realms in the books. Plus, you’re not listening to the Dao at Baiyun Temple every day, so I’ll explain it to you first.”
“Yes!”
So Daoist Mingzhang explained to Lu Zheng the details of control, transformation, simultaneous application, and so on in cloud methods, then began to explain various precautions for subsequent cultivation.
Not to mention, besides Baiyun swordsmanship, various incantations in Xing Yun Fa, there were also techniques like Baiyun Big Hand Seal, Xing Yun Bu Yu, Teng Yun Jia Wu.
Lu Zheng blinked, curious in his heart, but didn’t interrupt, just listened carefully and noted it down silently.
After speaking for half a day, drinking some tea, eating some pastries, the sky gradually darkened.
Daoist Mingzhang stopped speaking, “Hm, it’s getting late, you should go back.”
Lu Zheng helped pack up the teapot and cups, “I’ll accompany Master down the mountain.”
Daoist Mingzhang shook his head with a laugh, “I’ll send you down the mountain.”
“Eh?”
Lu Zheng was stunned upon hearing this, about to refuse, when he felt his feet lighten.
White clouds condensed out of thin air, then gathered into a mass, appearing under his and Daoist Mingzhang’s feet.
The next moment, the white clouds lifted them both into the air, floating out of the pavilion, slowly flying towards the foot of the mountain.
Teng Yun Jia Wu!
“Master! You can fly now?” Lu Zheng asked in delighted surprise.
Daoist Mingzhang waved his hand, saying calmly, “It’s just a bit more convenient for travelling, not worth mentioning.”
Lu Zheng, “…”
Before long, Daoist Mingzhang brought Lu Zheng down to the foot of Shaotong Mountain, not far from the official road.
“Alright, your master won’t see you further, head back to the city soon.”
“Yes, Master.”
Lu Zheng bowed to Daoist Mingzhang in farewell. Daoist Mingzhang nodded, white clouds rose under his feet, and he flew back up the mountain.
Carefree and unrestrained, drifting and dashing, truly enviable.
“Damn it! Envious… Work hard! Be diligent! Keep going!”
Lu Zheng clenched his fist, pumping himself up, “Jade Seal, upgrade!”
“Buzz!”
“At least it’s something that can draw qi yun from the heavenly Dao, put in some effort! As soon as the cooldown ends, we’ll upgrade, aiming to fly by next year!”
Jade Seal, “…”
…
Returning to Tonglin County, Lu Zheng crossed to the modern rental apartment, then changed clothes and returned to his large flat.
Speaking of which, he and Liu Qingyan had been out for nearly a month, but of course not completely without returning.
On the way to the southern border, they were inseparable, hard to cross.
But once at Dingfeng Mountain, after Liu Qingyan followed Wang Yuzhi touring around, Lu Zheng could occasionally find time to return to the modern world.
Call his parents, accompany Lin Wan shopping, eat lunch, and even squeeze in a warm weekend.
Timing handled steadily, no issues on either side.
So in Lin Wan’s view, Lu Zheng had just returned to irregular routines, without long absences.
Opening the door, upon hearing the noise, Lin Wan poked her head out from the gym.
“You’re back!” Lin Wan’s eyes brightened, and she came forward.
With a single ponytail, upper body in a crop top sports vest, lower body in tight elastic shorts, feet in running shoes.
Clearly, Lin Wan was running and exercising in the home gym.
“Back.” Lu Zheng nodded, taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack.
“Have you eaten?” Lin Wan asked.
“No.” Lu Zheng shook his head.
“Shall I cook you a bowl of noodles?” Lin Wan asked.
“No.” Lu Zheng shook his head, “Don’t want noodles.”
“Then what do you want to eat?” Lin Wan blinked, “There’s still the saozi you made in the fridge, noodles are convenient and tasty.”
Lu Zheng kicked off his shoes, embraced Lin Wan, and went back into the gym, “I want to eat you.”
“Ah!”
“No, I’m all sweaty!”
“Let me rinse off, really, just two minutes, woo—”
