In the north of Dongzhou, there is a quiet small courtyard.
Li Ping'an was lying under the tree, looking at the sky, slightly lost in thought. The fairy in white who was leaning next to her closed her eyes quietly, as if she was sleeping soundly.
"What's bothering you recently?" Qing Su asked softly.
"Huh? Nothing."
Li Ping'an smiled casually, feeling the softness of her glistening skin with his fingertips, but his heart felt peaceful.
He said: "If you get bored, just go and live in the heaven. It's okay to be outside all the time."
"This place is quiet and quiet, and it is indeed suitable for retreat."
Qingsu gently rubbed her forehead:
"It's true that you rarely show up recently, Yaochi and Ningning should not be left out in the cold.
"You can't. You only have the road in your heart now, so you won't get close to them."
Li Pingan quickly said yes.
He asked: "Master, do you think that if I insist on taking the path that I think is right, but the result is not as good as the path arranged by Old Man Wanri, then can I be considered a success or a failure?"
"My own success."
Qingsu said quite easily:
"Your temper is that you worry too much. In fact, you don't need to think too much about it. What monks cultivate is to have a clear conscience.
“Those who have great ambitions set their destiny for the lives of living beings, and those who seek peace of mind will be safe themselves.
"Isn't that what it is?"
"Uh... Master, what you said actually makes some sense."
Li Ping'an couldn't help but start a conversation, but it had nothing to do with romance.
When he is around Qing Su, he can always feel a rare sense of peace of mind.
He asked: "Master, do you think it's better for me to comply with Old Man Wanri's arrangements, or to explore on my own?"
"Of course you have to go your own way."
Qingsu closed her eyes and whispered:
"I believe in you. You will not interfere with the operation of heaven and earth in the future, and will let heaven and earth evolve on their own. This is actually enough.
"After all, who has the power to decide the fate of others?
"Do what you think is right, pursue the peace of the Taoist heart, and then step into the emptiness of the Taoist heart... You should also blame me for this. I just taught you how to fight before."
Li Pingan smiled and said nothing.
The theory is easy to say, but it is extremely difficult to actually implement it.
Easier said than done, nothing better than this.
"Are you feeling sleepy during your recent practice?" Li Ping'an asked softly.
Qing Su said: "Fortunately... don't give me any insights. I can just practice Taoism myself. I won't have to fight with anyone in the future. However, I have a few things to ask."
"Oh? It's rare for you to ask me a question. Master, please tell me."
"After creating a new world, do we still need people to patrol everywhere? What will we do? Will we enter a barbaric era like the ancient times?"
When Qing Su looked up, her wonderful eyes were full of bright lights.
Li Ping'an pondered for a few times: "I can't say for sure, but do you still want to do inspections yourself? In fact, there is a huge problem here, and I haven't told anyone."
"what is the problem?"
"How do these current masters enter the new world?"
Li Pingan said:
"This is an inevitable problem.
"It is roughly divided into two categories. One is to let them lose their power and only have eternal life. The second category is to let them follow the changes of the Dao and try to maintain their status in the Dao, that is, to allow them to have both immortality and immortality.
strength."
Qing Su couldn't help but sit up. Her clothes were as white as snow, her silk stockings were like a waterfall, and her white swan neck connected to her almost perfect jawline.
She thought carefully: "Will this affect your decision-making?"
"Inevitable," Li Ping'an put his hands behind his head, "You are my master and my Taoist companion. In the end, you just turned a deaf ear."
Qing Su pursed her lips and smiled softly, thinking about it for a while.
She said: "I think we can divide it by region."
"Divided into regions?"
"Well, everyone will follow you to open the sky. There will be various hardships during this period, including eliminating the innate gods and demons, slaying the chaotic beasts, and strengthening the origin of the world."
Qingsu said slowly:
"Wouldn't it be unbenevolent if Kai Wantian turned his back and refused to recognize others?
"It's just that, throughout the history of the human race, there are often clans that have made pioneering achievements for three generations and become obstacles to the progress of living beings.
"If there were no restrictions, wouldn't the newly opened world be a lot less bright?
"So, I think it's better to use regional restrictions. Within a region, they can fly around and be high up. Outside this region, they are almost the same as ordinary creatures."
Li Ping'an thought for a while and told Qing Suyan his idea about the place of eternal life.
Qing Su praised: "It's pretty good, just do it this way."
Li Pingan smiled and said: "These are not questions, but I can still answer you one thing, which is what we are going to do."
"do what?"
"Have some kids!"
"Hmm... I don't like this one very much. It will make me more worried. Now I am already very worried."
"It's okay. The main thing is to walk around, look around, and look for my hometown to see if I can find a similar place. I now have reasonable suspicion that the star sea world I want to open up may be where I come from.
That cosmic starry sky.”
"Huh?" Qingsu was quite puzzled by this.
"You will know from now on, come and hug me for a while."
"I obey, Lord Taoist."
Qing Su responded softly, snuggled into Li Pingan's arms, and soon subdued Li Pingan.
Uniforms in every sense of the word.
…
After Li Ping'an walked around Chentangguan, he didn't pay much attention to the East China Sea.
He didn't know how Dragon Palace would react.
Just wait for the news.
If there is a conflict between Taiyi Zhenren and Dragon Palace, this matter will also be conducive to the Conferred God Competition. Li Ping'an would be a bit 'derelict' in not adding fuel to the flames.
Just like that, Li Ping'an, who was in seclusion in the dungeon every day, had another small concern - whether there was a fight in the East China Sea.
After more than half a year, he didn't wait for any news from there, but he did wait for a letter from Ji Chang.
The Xibohou, who is now prosperous in Chaoge City, finally confirmed that his fourth son Ji Dan has no contact with the Shang King Di Xin.
In other words, Ji Chang has begun to grasp some information from within Emperor Xin's court through his own operations and the help of some "associates".
Otherwise, how could Ji Chang be sure that Ji Dan had no contact with them?
In response, Li Ping'an just smiled and shook his head without paying much attention.
His period of practice in the dungeon was therefore coming to an end.
Ji Fa warned: "Father said in the letter that he will wait for a thunderstorm day before letting you appear in the backyard. It is best to sit in an open place and sleep. You must be well-dressed."
"Okay," Li Ping'an said with a smile, "Father, are you trying to create some momentum?"
"Momentum?"
"My four sons are blessed by gods, that's all."
"It should be," Ji Fa chuckled, "Although I don't understand the meaning of doing this, father must have his intention... What did father say in the letter to you?"
"I didn't say anything else."
Li Pingan said:
"My father said that he met a guy named Jiang Shang in Chaoge City and benefited a lot from talking to him.
"It is also said that the king gradually began to indulge himself after this ceremony of worshiping the heaven and the victory of the Eastern Expedition. He also selected a group of beauties captured by the Dongyi tribe. He would also favor him during the day and drink wine every day.
Drink more alcohol than water.
"Father is more worried. If the king gets drunk and suddenly convicts them."
Ji Fa muttered: "This is too much of a waste of food...but the king is a king, so he can definitely drink enough if he wants to."
He also smacked his lips.
"That thing is harmful to your health." Li Ping'an shook his head and looked at the pile of bamboo slips behind him. "Let's arrange for someone to burn all the things I wrote."
"Ah? Burned?"
"Otherwise?" Li Ping'an raised his eyebrows slightly, "I just want to give myself some encouragement. I'm writing a book now. What will I do when I get old?"
Ji Fa nodded.
The fourth child is right.
"I'll go find a yard for you right now!"
"Hey, just find me an ordinary place to live in the downtown area."
"Why?"
"I want to observe the common people and find ways to govern the herdsmen," Li Ping'an said nonsense seriously, "so that I can better assist my brother later."
Ji Fa couldn't help but be in awe, turned around and started busy.
Li Ping'an stared at the air in a daze for a while, then stretched out, waiting for a heavy rain and thunderstorm.
Ji Chang's good days in Chaoge City are probably coming to an end.
The game between Zhou and Shang seems to be a game between ministers and kings, but it is actually a game between the newly rising Fang State and the old Fang State, and it is also the collision between the culture of Zhou State and the culture of Shang State.
Of course, the culture of these days is mainly reflected in sacrifices.
Mortals are not enlightened and the spread of books is limited, so everything must be done step by step.
Another half month has passed.
During a thunderstorm, Li Ping'an left the dungeon under Ji Fa's arrangement.
He was thin and had too fair skin. He was lying in the pavilion, dressed in rich clothes, with a rosy complexion and a few Ganoderma lucidum flowers appearing around him - which were actually obtained by Ji Fa secretly.
When the guards in the mansion discovered Ji Dan, they were shocked and ran around shouting, and the whole Xibohou Mansion immediately became lively.
Half a day later, rumors spread in Xiqi City that Ji Dan, the fourth son of Xibohou, had returned from heaven.
Under Ji Chang's instruction, Li Ping'an also personally told the ministers of Zhou about the situation in the heaven. The point is that most of the gods in the heaven no longer care about the affairs of the lower world. They like to drink, have fun, and gradually integrate with the heaven and earth.
This is actually Ji Chang using Ji Dan's words to try to shake the foundation of the Shang Kingdom's sacrificial culture.
Li Ping'an didn't speculate on what ripples this matter would cause in the future;
Anyway, he did as Ji Chang said, did what Ji Chang arranged, and completed Ji Dan's 'mission'.
In fact, Li Pingan can guess it with his toes.
After entering Chaoge City and carefully observing the Shang royal family, Ji Chang gradually lost the fear he had at the beginning. He began to think and plan how to avenge his father's murder and how to let the Zhou Kingdom replace the Shang Kingdom.
The fire of strategy hidden in the sixty-four hexagrams has now begun to burn continuously.
as expected.
Ji Dan's incident spread throughout half of the Shang Kingdom within three months. Almost everyone in the western princes knew about it, and all the princes in the south and north heard about it.
'Most of the gods in the heaven are enjoying themselves and don't care much about what happens in the world. After they enter the heaven, they won't care much about their descendants. Instead, they will control wind, rain, thunder and lightning as gods.'
"God is impersonal and will not be happy or angry because of human emotions."
"What the gods care about is not how many things or people are worshipped. No matter how many people and sacrifices are worshipped, disasters will happen when disasters are due. What the gods care about is just how to make the four seasons rotate and the sun and moon alternate."
These views were all "set up" by Ji Chang, allowing Ji Dan to quietly mix them in when describing his experiences in the God Realm.
Li Pingan is very happy to do this.
What's this?
The theoretical basis for destroying business.
The sacrifices of the Shang Kingdom have been repeatedly emphasized. The Shang Kingdom has continued to pass on the sacrifices for many years. Each generation of Shang kings has become a god to serve God and a minister of God.
If the vassal states do not respect the King of Shang, God will punish them.
At this point, although Ji Chang's motives were not pure, he became a 'progressive' person for social change.
Li Pingan is very happy to see this development.
About half a year had passed since he came out of the dungeon, and the princes in the western part of the Great Shang Dynasty began to spread the praises that Jichang, the Marquis of Xibo, was a born sage.
This was due to Ji Chang's reputation accumulated over the years, and the second was due to Zhou Guo's increasingly expanding strength that he tried his best to hide;
The third reason is because of Ji Dan's return from heaven.
The hearts of princes from all walks of life are eager to move;
There was singing and dancing in Chaoge City.
However, the fire could not be suppressed. This matter spread in Chaoge City, and businessmen began to discuss Ji Chang's reputation as a "sage". All kinds of exaggerated rumors were told.
Ji Chang was keenly aware of an unusual smell.
He declined guests and hid in his mansion to excuse himself from illness.
This matter soon reached Di Xin's ears, and Di Xin directly smashed a wine jar, injuring two beauties who were waiting nearby.
He cursed loudly.
But he is wondering why the name of the sage is not that of the king, but that of his ministers.
Under Ji Chang's butt, there was a small flame again.
However, this matter itself was done by Ji Chang himself, and Li Ping'an executed it perfectly.
In a small courtyard near the downtown area of Xiqi City.
Li Ping'an and the old guards lived in seclusion here, just like in the dungeon, reading, eating, and meditating every day.
On weekdays, he does not need to worry about matters in heaven. Yaochi, Dongwang and his father Li Dazhi can easily handle them.
He can concentrate on enlightenment here.
The East China Sea has always been calm, and Huo Zha has not had any conflicts with the Dragon King of the Dragon Palace.
After eating the cakes drawn by Li Ping'an last time, the Dragon Clan is now focused on improving their moral character. The Dragon King is actively engaged in building the Dragon Clan's customs, and even takes the initiative to send troops to the coast of the East China Sea to eliminate those shrimp soldiers and crab generals.
It seems that the conflict between Dragon Palace and Chentangguan will not arise.
Under the supervision of Master Huanglong, Master Taiyi also restrained himself a lot. When teaching his disciples, he would also teach them to behave in a low-key manner and do things in a high-profile manner, and so on.
The two sects of Chanjie are still secretly active in the Shang Kingdom.
They will not blatantly make friends with the princes like they did before, and they are not in the mood to preach. Instead, they will find those disciples with qualifications and backgrounds, accept them as registered disciples, and leave some treasures behind.
The thinking mode of these two religions is still that of ‘playing chess’.
Li Ping'an was too lazy to care about it and couldn't care about it. After all, both saints wanted to save face. They both wanted to win in the fight to become gods and didn't want to lose.
He just wanted to keep the conflict from getting too intense.
Just as Li Ping'an was thinking whether Ji Chang was imprisoned or whether the Dongyi tribe's comeback broke out beforehand, an unexpected "guest" asked for a meeting outside the Heavenly Palace.
The person who came was not an outsider, it was his adopted sister Yao Ji.
'Didn't she escape the disaster?'
When Li Ping'an saw Yao Ji's frowning expression, he was a little confused. He made some calculations with his fingers and mobilized the power of heaven.