Chapter 125 The Grandmaster

Heaven and earth's spiritual energy does not only favor humanity; it also benefits all things, nurturing various spiritual wonders and bestowing the earth with even more majestic vitality.

Animals, plants, and even various grains cultivated by humans all have extremely high yields. An ordinary person with a dozen acres of land, after paying thirty percent in field taxes, could sufficiently support a family.

If it were only taxes.

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

In Dafeng, in addition to the 'renting farmland' tax, there were also levies, tributes, corvée labor, and other items. Among them, levies were mandatory collections when the army set out, and tributes were 'voluntary' offerings to the monarch.

Corvée labor, on the other hand, was something that any adult in this land had to perform for three months each year, used for paving roads, repairing houses, water conservancy, promotion, and even mountain opening and other arduous tasks.

In Dafeng, boys reached adulthood at sixteen, were considered grown at twenty, girls wore skirts at twelve, and had their hair pinned at fifteen.

At ninety years old, some large families could already see their sixth or seventh generation descendants, truly considered a high age.

The old Daoist Wang Quan had internal force and lived a simple, ascetic life, so he did not have to perform corvée labor or engage in production, which was why he could live to be over ninety. Ordinary people rarely lived past seventy.

As An Qisheng walked along, apart from the residents living in the cities who could be considered well-dressed and healthy, the villagers in ordinary mountain villages were mostly sallow and emaciated.

Although few starved to death, it was only limited to not starving.

Dafeng was located in the southeast of the Jiufu Realm, and its territory had all four seasons, without a specific designated season.

The easternmost was scorching summer, the northernmost might be freezing winter, the southern part had spring warmth and flowers, and the westernmost land might be withering.

The central region was still as hot as summer, but by the time he reached Liang Province, it had a refreshing autumn feel.

It was noon at this time.

But there was not much heat.

When An Qisheng stepped out of the mountains and onto the official road, he saw a small teahouse not far away.

Many people were resting in the teahouse, and carriages and horses were parked in a long line outside.

There were no inhabitants for a hundred li north and south of the official road, yet there was a teahouse.

"Interesting..."

A ripple arose in An Qisheng's heart, and with a faint smile, he walked unhurriedly towards the teahouse.

The teahouse was not small, although simple, it could accommodate dozens of people. However, there were obviously more people gathered here, and most of the customers were just holding tea bowls, squatting by the roadside to drink water and rest.

Seeing An Qisheng walking over, few people seemed to care, and they continued to talk to themselves.

Discussing business from north to south, which city's goods had profits, which road had more bandits, which escort agency had a bigger reputation, which roads were cleared, and how many bandit connections were made.

It seemed like just a normal teahouse.

*Chī*

Suddenly, a sound came from the teahouse.

It was the hoarse sound of a neck being slit by a quick knife, and blood spurting out.

*Bang!*

A corpse was thrown outside, the blood soaking the ground.

The other customers seemed to be used to it, without any fear. Instead, they spat and said it was a good kill.

"Escort Liu's skill is as good as ever, killing these bandits is so satisfying!"

A short man in gray clothes cheered repeatedly.

An Qisheng looked at the corpse at his feet and walked towards the teahouse as if nothing had happened.

"Guest, I'm sorry, it's full inside. Why don't you make do outside?"

A skinny man dressed as a waiter bowed and offered tea.

"Old Daoist, I have a seat here, come and sit!"

At this moment, someone inside called out.

It was a middle-aged man with a long knife hanging from his waist.

He was wearing gray close-fitting clothing, with a weathered face and large hands.

"Then thank you."

An Qisheng walked into the teahouse, looking around as if he were quite curious.

Someone muttered in a low voice that this old Daoist had lived to such an old age, as if he had never seen anything before.

"Old Daoist travels alone, without even a horse, what a spirit."

The middle-aged man cupped his fist and said,

"I am Liu Zheng, a head constable from the Changxing Escort Agency."

"Mm."

An Qisheng nodded slightly and sat down, and the waiter handed over tea again.

An Qisheng did not take it, but just smiled without saying a word.

"Is the Daoist afraid that the water is poisoned?"

Liu Zheng shook his head and smiled:

"There are no less than fifty people drinking water in this teahouse. If it were poisoned, wouldn't everyone be doomed!"

He took the tea bowl and drank a mouthful.

The others all laughed, seemingly mocking An Qisheng.

Unexpectedly, An Qisheng was not only not angry but even praised softly,

"So lifelike."

So lifelike?

What does that mean?

Liu Zheng and the others exchanged glances, seemingly very surprised.

But once this hint of surprise appeared, it never went away.

Frozen.

Everyone in the entire teahouse, and even the many pedestrians outside who were chatting, all solidified at this moment, as if time had frozen.

Not just people.

The spittle flying in the teahouse, the dust rising, and even the spiders weaving webs around, all froze at this moment.

Only An Qisheng.

After saying that faintly, he gently touched the stripes and textures on the table, praising:

"Seeing mountains, seeing water, seeing heaven and earth, seeing all living beings, this level of cultivation is indeed extraordinary..."

*Buzz*

A ripple seemed to ripple through the void.

Then the surrounding light dimmed, like a faded black and white photograph. One by one, the figures disappeared like ink marks erased by an eraser.

Across from An Qisheng, on the chair where Liu Zheng was originally sitting, a thin, shriveled old monk with a slanting kasaya and bronze skin slowly emerged.

It was as if a color picture suddenly squeezed out of a black and white photograph, abrupt, but natural.

"Namo Amitabha."

The old monk rotated the Buddhist beads in his palm, and the deep-set eye sockets seemed as bottomless as black holes:

"My skill is not up to par, making the Daoist laugh."

"Indeed, your skill is not up to par."

An Qisheng nodded slightly, and like an elder admonishing a disciple, he commented faintly:

"Above, you cannot see the sky because the sky is difficult to see. Below, you cannot see the earth because the earth is too heavy. But you have not even seen yourself, so only the 'seeing others' step is barely passable."

The Great Sky Wheel Revolving Method (Motian Zhuanlun Fa) is an extremely mysterious martial art.

It is the culmination of the Great Sky Monastery (Da Motian) collecting the spiritual martial arts of predecessors, and it has six realms: 'Seeing Others,' 'Seeing Self,' 'Seeing All Living Beings,' 'Seeing Heaven and Earth,' 'My Connection to Heaven and Earth,' and 'Eternal Residence in the Great World.'

When the four realms are mastered, one can outline a spiritual world that belongs solely to oneself.

One's own spirit resides within it permanently, and whether it is for dealing with enemies or prolonging life, it has extremely incredible effects.

But the spiritual world outlined by this old monk is incompatible with his surroundings, so it is obvious that he has not reached the second realm.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is hundreds of thousands of miles away from the Great Sky's 'My Connection to Heaven and Earth' realm.

*Hū*

The rotating Buddhist beads were pinched in his hand.

The skinny old monk raised his head, and in his deep-set eye sockets, it was as if two will-o'-the-wisps were rising:

"Daoist seems to know a lot about my Revolving Wheel Temple's secret art..."

"I've heard a little."

An Qisheng felt the wriggling human skin scroll in his sleeve and smiled faintly:

"It is said that the Revolving Wheel King (Zhuanlun Wang) cultivated the Revolving Wheel Method to an unprecedented level of 'Eternal Residence in the Great World,' I wonder if that is true?"

The Great Sky Wheel Revolving Method has six realms.

But even the founder, Great Sky, only cultivated to four or five realms, 'My Connection to Heaven and Earth,' and could only briefly pull out his spiritual world around himself to deal with enemies.

But if he reached the 'Eternal Residence in the Great World' realm, then his spiritual world could reside in the world, and as the absolute master of his spiritual world, he would be truly invincible.

His joy and anger would be the weather, and with a single thought, he could demote ten thousand people to pigs and dogs, arbitrarily compile the memories of countless souls, and be a true god in the world!

Unfortunately, the sixth realm was just a realm that Great Sky deduced himself, and even he himself did not cultivate it.

Seven hundred years ago, he exhausted the world to collect countless heavenly treasures and the blood essence of humans and beasts, in order to use the Great Sky Wheel Seal (Mo Tian Lun Yin) to help him cultivate 'Eternal Residence in the Great World,' but in the end, he failed.

He was killed by the Dragon Sparrow Dao Lord (Long Que Dao Zhu) on Mount Great Sky.

But it was rumored that this Revolving Wheel King, who was fourth on the Weaponry Index, had cultivated it.

But An Qisheng did not quite believe it, because in Great Sky's own deduction, once the six realms were completed, one would become a celestial being!

But if that Revolving Wheel King was a celestial being, how could he only be fourth on the Weaponry Index?

"My teacher's skill has reached perfection, and he wants to establish a Buddhist kingdom on earth, and will eventually succeed."

A deep respect and devotion appeared on the old monk's face, as if a fanatical believer had heard the name of his god.

But it also revealed that the rumor was not true.

However, it was also possible that these monks of the Revolving Wheel Temple deliberately leaked the news. He might have secretly cultivated it, and no one would know.

"A Buddhist kingdom on earth?"

An Qisheng raised his eyebrows slightly: "What a spirit."

From the old monk's words, An Qisheng could vaguely sense the Revolving Wheel King's purpose.

He would inevitably walk the path that Great Sky had once walked, exhausting the path of the world.

But compared to Great Sky's grandiose momentum,篡改manipulating the souls of countless people and causing a catastrophe, this Revolving Wheel King was much smarter and more low-key, joining the Golden Wolf Kingdom (Jin Lang Guo), and then using the country's conquest to get what he wanted.

An Qisheng, who practiced the Revolving Wheel Method himself, naturally knew that the Revolving Wheel Temple was even more terrifying than its strength in the martial world.

He even suspected that the Golden Wolf Kingdom might have already been manipulated by them.

"Daoist asked me many questions, I will also ask you a few questions."

As the Buddhist beads slowly rotated, the old monk took a deep look at An Qisheng.

"As you wish."

An Qisheng's expression was calm.

Several months ago, on the Great Dragon River, he retreated and hid before Zhao Changying, half of which was because of this old monk.

At that time, his five internal organs and meridians were not connected, and his sense of crisis was extremely strong.

But as his qi meridian network was only six Yang Kui heads away from completion, his sense of crisis became imperceptible.

And after two months of cultivation at the Righteousness Sect (Xia Yi Men), summarizing and sorting out his own martial arts, that sense of crisis completely disappeared.

"Do you, understand the Revolving Wheel Method?"

An Qisheng's hand paused slightly, and a ripple appeared in his eyes:

"I thought you would ask first, if I killed your disciple."

The old monk's eyes narrowed, and the firelight flared up.

Without speaking, An Qisheng gently tapped the table and said faintly:

"Little monk, take a look, how is my Revolving Wheel Method used!"