Chapter 52: Intricate Roots
Qi Xuansu didn't want to pay attention. The water palace was guarded by spiritual officials. These spiritual officials naturally couldn't do anything to the old immortal. But if the old immortal didn't follow the rules and used force to break into the water palace, that would be another matter.
These old immortals certainly wouldn't have the realm of longevity. If there were any immortals, they must be Pingzhang Dazhenren. They were essentially second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests. Because they were willing to retire, the Taoist sect gave them an honorary title of Dazhenren. Therefore, there were only two possibilities for their realm, either the pseudo-immortal stage or the creation stage.
The reason why the Taoist sect had a retirement mechanism was not because the old immortals were old and weak and lacked energy, but because there were too many worldly affairs, which would affect their cultivation. Many people were still willing to fight after they got older. Pseudo-immortals naturally sought longevity, and those who were not pseudo-immortals also wanted to live as many years as possible. The once-in-a-century heavenly tribulation did not mean that the life span was only a hundred years. If the three corpses could be suppressed by various methods, the life span could also be extended. I dare not say that I would live for two hundred years, but living for more than ten or twenty years would not be a big problem.
As for beheading the three corpses, it only makes the three corpses stop attacking one's life, not that the three corpses no longer exist, but more like being suppressed. Therefore, even if it is an immortal who has longevity, after encountering backlash, the three corpses in the body will still take the opportunity to cause chaos, which is the so-called three corpses jumping wildly. If you are not careful, the immortal will also worry about falling. The incarnation of the three corpses is equivalent to recruiting the three corpses and using them for your own use, but there are countless cases of rebellion, and there are also risks.
Before achieving immortality, the three corpses cannot be suppressed, but it is still possible to find ways to delay and resist one or two. For example, taking medicine, but at least it must be at the stage of good fortune, and people below good fortune should not think too much. Moreover, this kind of method usually has a great negative effect, and often leads to a complete stagnation of realm cultivation, which is purely a procrastination. There is no possibility of buying time and then going to a higher level by this method.
But from another perspective, they have spent more time in the human world than immortals.
The old people want to prolong their lives and recuperate, while the young people want to advance and make progress. The two hit it off, so the mechanism of retiring to the mountains and forests came into being. In principle, there is no mandatory retirement in the mountains and forests, but Taoists who voluntarily retire in the mountains and forests will receive various rewards, generally by upgrading one grade. Qi Xuansu now asks to retire in the mountains and forests, and can be directly promoted to a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, but Jinque will definitely not approve it.
There is also a special case. Ordinary second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests who voluntarily retire in the mountains and forests enjoy the treatment of a Canzhi Zhenren. Only when Canzhi Zhenren voluntarily retire will they be promoted to a first-grade Tianzhen Taoist priest and be given the title of Da Zhenren.
The Pingzhang Da Zhenren and the Deputy Zhangjiao Da Zhenren above are not subject to the retirement system. Whether they retire or not, they cannot be promoted to the next level.
This old Zhenren Sun is called Sun Heyu. He used to be one of the thirty-six Canzhi Zhenren. Even if he is not ranked at the top, he is quite powerful. There must be many disciples and old friends. Even if they retire, they still have a certain influence and the residual power is still there.
Qi Xuansu has learned about the past of this old Sun Zhenren through the archives. He was Wang Jiaohe's predecessor. Before that, he served as the Zhenren of Borneo Daofu. At that time, Wang Jiaohe was the chief deputy master of the palace. Sun Heyu was an outsider who was airborne. There was the Zhenren of the Mansion above him and the local snake Wang Jiaohe below him. It was not easy for the Zhenren of the Mansion to be the Zhenren. However, Sun Heyu was already very old at that time. He was obsessed with various external pills and suppressed the three corpses in his body. He rarely took care of things. In fact, Wang Jiaohe took control of the power, so the two not only did not conflict, but got along well.
Later, Sun Heyu simply applied to Jinque to retire to the mountains in advance, and got the title of the Great Zhenren. He did not return to the Central Plains, but took root in Borneo and lived here for retirement.
Because the situation in Borneo was somewhat unstable at that time, Wang Jiaohe was familiar with the situation and was conducive to stabilizing the situation. He took the opportunity to replace the Zhenren of Borneo Daofu. However, Jinque later suspected that the chaos at that time was actually planned by Wang Jiaohe behind the scenes, in order to take over the position of Zhenren of the Mansion.
This made Jinque very angry. The seeds had been planted long ago, and many things later watered and fertilized the seeds. Today, the seeds finally took root and sprouted, breaking through the soil.
Qi Xuansu didn't want to show up, which was a disguised surrender. The old man was concerned about his face and his status, so he just yelled a few words and both sides had a way out. In the eyes of outsiders, the old master still had a big face, and Qi Xuansu didn't care about this false reputation.
But I don't know if this old master Sun is old, or if he took elixirs to suppress the three corpses and his brain was also damaged, or if he hadn't been in Jinque for a long time and forgot many unwritten rules of Taoism, in short, he was a little confused, and he was so persistent that he didn't want to leave.
This influence is too bad.
Even at this point, Qi Xuansu didn't want to face this old master and tear his face directly, because Qi Xuansu's main target was Wang Jiaohe and Chen Shuhua. Before that, he didn't want to provoke too many enemies, but Xu Jiaorong's words made Qi Xuansu change his mind. ..
Xu Jiaorong didn't say it explicitly, but just hinted. Wasn't the old master's reaction a bit too big?
This is interesting.
The reaction was too big, which made him look guilty.
Could it be that there was something fishy about this young master Sun? That's why the old master was so anxious, regardless of his identity and face, and came to rescue him as soon as possible.
Qi Xuansu believed that Xu Jiaorong would not do it without a purpose. After all, she had been in Borneo for a long time. Some things could be hidden from Qi Xuansu, an outsider who had just arrived, but not from her.
This old master Sun may not have any obvious problems that can be grasped, but his grandson is not so easy to say.
Xu Jiaorong then talked about the two families. The Sun family and the Wang family did not have an open marriage, but Sun Heyu's daughter-in-law and Wang Jiaohe's sister Wang Jiaoyan were sisters from the same school. In Taoism, the master and the apprentice are like father and son, and the senior and junior sisters are like real sisters. There is not much difference. Even Zhang Yuelu, who is so unkind, has to have a good relationship with Bai Yingqiong and Xiao Yueru.
In other words, Wang Danqing's aunt and the mother of this young master Sun are sisters. After a while, Young Master Sun can still call Wang Jiaohe uncle, and he is considered Wang Danqing's cousin.
In addition, Sun Heyu's son Sun Jiaofeng also did business with Wang Jiaoyan. He learned from Westerners to set up a company specializing in trade. He dared to do any business, even the slave trade. He mainly sold natives of Borneo, and occasionally sold Westerners. Pirates robbed Western merchant ships and sold them to them, and then they resold them. Qi Muyu also had trade relations with this company. In fact, it was not only Qi Muyu. The Zhang family, the Li family, and the Yao family wanted to do business in Borneo, and they had to deal with them. After all, they were the local snakes, and the strong dragon could not suppress the local snakes.
Qi Xuansu had a hunch that the cargo lost by the large ships that sank due to "accidents" would also have something to do with this company.
No wonder Sun Heyu wanted to retire in Borneo. It was false to have feelings for Borneo, and it was true that he couldn't let go of the real gold and silver.
This is the tangled roots. On the surface, it seems that there is only one Wang Jiaohe, and at most one Wang Jiaoying. But the two of them are just the tip of the iceberg on the sea. Only by exploring deeper can we find the giant under the sea.
Xu Jiaorong and Qi Xuansu are already in the same boat. It was Wang Jiaoying who offended Xu Jiaorong so much that she was no longer as reserved as before. Taking this opportunity, she seemed to be speaking out and provided another explanation.
Chen Shuhua and Xu Jiaorong are actually the rising generation. After all, the biggest difference between the same generation of disciples can be as much as 24 years. Before Chen Shuhua, there was another chief deputy palace owner, also a woman named Du Yuhuan. She was a woman with a good face and a great reputation. She had many connections in Jinque and could call the wind and rain. Later, because of the personnel struggle within Jinque, she retired to the mountains and forests ahead of time.
At the beginning, she was the secretary of the previous great master of the palace before Lan Hexu, and her status was equivalent to that of Xu Jiaorong today.
During this period, something happened. Du Yuhuan once took a sick leave for about a year and disappeared. A year later, the Du family had another child, and they announced that he was an adopted son. But at that time, there was a saying that this child was actually the grandson of the great master. The great master had such a realm of cultivation, so naturally he could not have children, but his son was a useless person with a very average cultivation. He took advantage of his father's position to have a relationship with his father's secretary and gave birth to an illegitimate child.
Du Yuhuan was not forced, but was happy to do so. Sure enough, not long after the child was born, she was promoted to the second deputy house owner, and later to the chief, until the great master ascended to heaven, she had no backing, so she had to retire to the mountains.
Now the great master who is in charge of the house is no longer in the world, and the truth is naturally unknown. However, this child is still in the Borneo Daofu, and married Sun Heyu's granddaughter, and is the brother-in-law of Mr. Sun.
Although Du Yuhuan himself is no longer the chief deputy house owner, his influence is still not to be underestimated. The old relationship for many years is still there, and he is also a big man who can turn the clouds and rain with a flip of his hand.
So Qi Xuansu decided to meet the old master, and he asked Xu Jiaorong to invite the old master to the reception room of the Water Palace.
Xu Jiaorong was the secretary of Lan Da Master. There is a saying that goes, "Don't look at the monk's face, look at the Buddha's face." Xu Jiaorong represented Lan Da Master. Even if he didn't recognize Xu Jiaorong's face, he couldn't give Lan Da Master's face, so Sun Lao Master still followed Xu Jiaorong to the reception room.
Qi Xuansu waited in the reception room. When he saw the two people coming in, he took the initiative to greet them and greeted the old master: "It's a sin to trouble the old master. The old master is old, and he still has to worry about the affairs of the Taoist government. It's our dereliction of duty."
Just now, Qi Xuansu was not there, so Sun Heyu could naturally say something more unpleasant. Now that the two met, it was not good to do so. Sun Heyu still restrained himself, but his tone was still not very good: "You still know how to dereliction of duty."
It was like an elder scolding a younger generation.
Qi Xuansu was just being polite and didn't really want to admit his mistake. After all, he used the word "we", which referred to the entire Taoist government, including Wang Jiaohe and Chen Shuhua, not himself.