() The feeling that Ziyang City brings to Chen Yunsheng is completely different from that of Yeyi City. There are no towering Towers of Babel, no wide and straight streets, no scattered markets, and no tall and stern palaces. There are only low buildings.
There are slums with various buildings and shapes. But this does not mean that the size and population of this city are smaller than that of Yeyi City.
Chen Yunsheng lamented how people could live and work in a building as dense as an ant nest. No matter how difficult the living conditions were, the faces of the people here were filled with smiles like the sun.
This positive energy that melted everything made the depression in his heart melt away by seven or eight points. "Although these people are poor, although they are small, and although they do not know how to practice Taoism, they understand the meaning of life better." Chen Yunsheng pointed to a group in front of him.
Children playing by the water and three or five women chatting and laughing while doing laundry said.
"Most people in the Pilu Kingdom believe in the ancient god Xiaotian, and they believe in those ancient creation legends. However, the royal family does not force people to believe in a certain god, which is rare in Qingzhou Continent." Xue Li explained at the side.
road.
"It's good that people have the right to choose the true god they believe in." Chen Yunsheng nodded in admiration.
Yi Xiaohu dodged a few laughing and playing children and asked: "Master, do you have a goal? Which famous weapon refiner do you want to visit?"
"I heard that there is a family in the Pilu Kingdom that specializes in refining weapons. It should be the Cao family, but I don't know if this family still exists." Chen Yunsheng said.
"Of course there is the Cao family. In Ziyang City, there are only two places where the buildings are of some scale, one is the imperial city, and the other is the Cao family. The Cao family's fame is not limited to Pilu Kingdom, but even as far away as the north
There are also many people from the Lengyue Kingdom who come to seek magical artifacts."
Xue Li walked a few steps, pointed to an iron workshop and said, "This is the property of the Cao family. Look at the door plate with a lock-shaped mark engraved on it. This is the mark of the Cao family."
Seeing this mark, Chen Yunsheng seemed to suddenly return to those days in the phantom space, those yellow sands, and those soul fragments. It was as if those things were right in front of him, as if they had just happened yesterday. Through this, he thought of Liu Xiaoshan, and
The scene on the snowy night at Taibai Peak with Zhuge Jingyu and Ye Chuanyun sorting the fragments of the magic weapon.
Touching the mark, he felt mixed emotions in his heart, a touch of sourness and a touch of misery, and he couldn't help but sigh deeply. Xue Li knew that Chen Yunsheng thought of the past again, and a trace of sadness appeared on his face. Looking at it,
The two of them fell into deep thought, and Yi Xiaohu kept quiet sensibly until Chen Yunsheng returned from memories to reality.
"Let's go and meet the Cao family." Chen Yunsheng took the lead and strode into the workshop.
The light in the room was not bright, and there were metal semi-finished products of different shapes piled everywhere. Even though Chen Yunsheng was well-informed, he still didn’t know what they were used for. A young apprentice kept pushing and pulling the bellows, burning red.
A piece of fine iron in a burning furnace gradually melts into molten iron.
Two big men poured molten iron into the mold, waited for the temperature to cool down slightly, then used sledgehammers to hit it repeatedly until the temperature dropped, and then put it into the fire again.
Chen Yunsheng came to a dilapidated counter. There was an old man standing in front of the counter. His clothes were in tatters, but he exuded a kind of aura that only monks could have. The old man was good at condensing Qi, but his cultivation was not obvious.
Chen Yunsheng said politely: "May I ask if my father-in-law is from the Cao family?"
The old man squinted his eyes and looked at the other person for a while, then said somewhat rudely: "My surname is Cao, what do you want? Just tell the blacksmith to make an ordinary weapon."
"I wonder who Cao Kun is from the Cao family?" Chen Yunsheng stared at him with watery eyes.
The old man's eyes suddenly became sharp, he put down the account book in his hand and said, "Who are you?"
Chen Yunsheng smiled and said: "I only learned about Cao Kun through accidental channels, and I wanted to tell the Cao family."
"He, is he still alive now?" The old man's body was shaken and he looked anxiously at the young man opposite him.
"I'm sorry, I still don't know if you are from the Cao family. May I ask my father-in-law's seniority in the Cao family?" Chen Yunsheng said calmly.
"I am Cao Yang. According to the genealogy, Cao Kun is the grandfather of the current head of the family. In other words, he is the environment of Chapter 318 of the Cao family.
Cao Yang laughed, walked out of the counter, and shouted to the big man who was blacksmithing: "You two are taking care of the business for now, I have something urgent." After that, he made a gesture of invitation and led Chen Yunsheng and others out of the blacksmith shop.
The warm winter sun shone on the street. Although the old man was not young, he walked very vigorously. Without saying a word all the way, he led Chen Yunsheng through a long and narrow street and arrived in front of a mansion.
Compared with many large mansions that Chen Yunsheng has seen, this mansion has nothing outstanding, but it seems a bit unique in Ziyang City. Because opposite it is an endless group of low buildings, where the merchants who buy left and right buy everything.
The place was bustling with soldiers and it was very lively.
When the old man came to the door, two servants who were guarding the door had already come forward. The old man whispered a few words to them, and the two of them ran into the inner hall quickly.
"I have already informed the head of the Cao family that he is very busy and I am not sure whether he is willing to see you. No matter what your purpose is, if you can truly bring news about the ancestors of the Cao family, we will express goodwill to you." The old man
The words were sonorous and powerful, yet without losing grace.
"Thank you." A gentle smile appeared on Chen Yunsheng's face, like the warm sun in the cold winter, which made people feel less hostile.
After a cup of tea, there was a faint sound of footsteps in the inner hall. The two servants were sweating profusely as they ran and said breathlessly: "The master of the house has invited you."
Cao Yang waved his sleeves and pointed at the open door, "Everyone, please."
…
The Cao family occupies a large area and the pavilions are very short. This is related to the tradition of Ziyang City. In this city, no one deliberately limits the size of the town. Every year, Ziyang City is expanding to the surrounding areas, like a giant beast that is not selective about its food.
There is plenty of land here, so there is no need to build the house too high.
Walking in the huge corridor, Chen Yunsheng clearly felt the smell of hard metal. Even the wooden pillars under the corridor were wrapped with a lot of copper. This is rare in ordinary wealthy families. After walking through the corridor,
Several people came to a small flower hall. To Chen Yunsheng's surprise, the roof of the flower hall was actually poured with molten iron on one side, and some anti-corrosion material was applied on it, making it look shiny in the sun.
There was an old man sitting in the middle of the room. He had a lot of gray beard and sharp eyes, and the white hair was scattered on his back. There was no trace of spiritual energy surging on his body, but there was an aura of distinction that Chen Yunsheng did not dare to underestimate.
Before he could enter the room, the old man asked like a bell, "I heard that you brought news about the 20th generation head of the Cao family, is it true?"
Chen Yunsheng came to the house and said calmly: "It's true, it's absolutely true."
At this time, a young man walked out of the shadow behind the old man and whispered in the old man's ear: "Grandpa has disappeared for hundreds of years. This man must be lying."
The old man frowned and suddenly said: "How do you expect me to believe you?" There was a hint of gold and iron in his voice.
"It is said that the Cao family has a seven-heart exquisite lock. If this lock can be unlocked, does it mean that I can be trusted?" Chen Yunsheng was not angry at the other party's doubts.
"Seven Hearts Exquisite Lock?" The old man's voice became a little sharp.
"Grandpa, can he unlock the Seven-Heart Lock?" the young man behind the old man exclaimed.
Even Cao Yang, who brought Chen Yunsheng here, was surprised and turned around to cast a surprised look.
"Is there anything strange about this?" Chen Yunsheng asked. The other party's behavior was obviously beyond his imagination.
After a long time, the head of the Cao family said: "Young man, I don't know what your purpose is here, but don't try to steal the Seven Hearts Exquisite Lock. With your current cultivation level, you can't stop me.
A one-move attack, do you understand?"
"Stealing? Why do you have such an idea? Is there any secret hidden in the Seven Hearts Lock? In my opinion, this is the best way to verify my identity." Chen Yunsheng was a little surprised, but Cao Kun never said that
There is something hidden in the exquisite lock of Qixin.
"Young man, are you willing to make a choice? If you can open the Seven Hearts Exquisite Lock and provide me with the whereabouts of my ancestors, I am willing to treat you as an honored guest of the Cao family. If not, then I can only treat you as a wanted person.
Thief who steals the secrets locked in the lock, I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of this room." The old man's voice was low, like the roar of a beast from the Netherworld, and it was not as loud as before.
"Uncle Master, since they are suspicious, we can find another one, so why bother looking for them?" Xue Li said angrily from the side, still holding a Fire Jue in his hand and getting ready for a battle.
"Master, I think what the senior brother said makes sense, why put yourself in inexplicable danger." Even Yi Xiaohu, who was the least sensitive to foreign objects, felt the old man's terror and rarely said such words.
Chen Yunsheng smiled at them, turned around and said, "It's a deal, I'll do as you say. But before I unlock the exquisite lock, I have a question."
"Please speak." The old man's tone returned to its original tone.
"What secret is hidden in the Seven-Hearted Exquisite Lock?" Chen Yunsheng said seriously.
"Since you have already made your choice, there is no harm in telling you. Our ancestors once sealed seven secret techniques into the seven artifacts of the Seven Hearts Exquisite Lock. However, over time, the method of opening the Seven Hearts Exquisite Lock was buried by the unscrupulous descendants of the Cao family.
.At that time, my grandfather, Cao Kun, was the last family head to master this technique. It was his sudden disappearance that caused this technique to be lost." There was a hint of sadness in the old man's tone.