Chapter 179
Deputy General Ma Xuanji
Chapter 179 Deputy General Ma Xuanji
Ten days later.
Lu Qi and Xia Gaosheng transformed into two streams of light and returned to the Tianhuo Taoist Temple.
The two looked quite excited, and it was obvious that the trip was fruitful and quite smooth.
"master."
Li Mo and Liu Yiyi hurried forward and bowed to Lu Qi and Xia Gaosheng.
After the two nodded in response, Lu Qi and Liu Yiyi followed behind them and came to the Heavenly Fire Glazed Golden Light Hall. Soon, a graceful female disciple brought spiritual tea, and a handsome male disciple brought spiritual fruit.
"Daoyou Lu's Six Meridians Sword Technique is truly invincible. The tiger demon was actually overwhelmed and fled. Haha, otherwise, the final treasure hunt would have been quite a bumpy one."
Upon hearing this, Lu Qi stroked his beard and didn't take it seriously.
"I deeply admire your fellow Daoist's Heavenly Fire Transmutation Method and Fairy Yin Xuan's dual cultivation of body and soul. You are truly worthy of being independent individuals who have established their own schools in the externalized land. With the two of you guarding the Southern Barbarian Land, our Destiny Department will have fewer troubles."
The so-called four great independent cultivators, the other two are in the Miao area.
The Miao region is also an uncivilized and barbaric land. People like to worship heaven and earth and advocate the so-called witchcraft. Their behavior is extremely gloomy, bloody and cruel. There will be crazy blood sacrifices between tribes, and even the gods of some primitive sects are often insects that have cultivated into spirits.
"However, by monopolizing the treasure this time, we have completely offended the so-called Three Immortals of Bamboo Mountain, the Tiger Spirit of King Mountain, and the Land God of Cangyuan. Will they come to trouble you two in the future?"
"Hahahaha!"
Upon hearing this, the old monster Tianhuo didn't take it seriously and just shook his head and smiled.
"Although the vast Southern Barbarian Land is more than twice the size of the entire Muzhou and has at least hundreds of gods, both great and small, it is ultimately the heartland of the Central Plains, the world of our human race. Independent cultivators like us are dispatched to the surrounding countries, and the numerous forces are deeply intertwined. The conflicts between some gods are even more intense than those between our human countries."
It is precisely because of this chaos that the southern barbarian land and the Miao border land can only be regarded as special areas and no country has ever been established.
Upon hearing this, Lu Qi nodded.
Li Mo seemed to be thinking about something.
According to what Old Monster Tianhuo said, it seems that there is a certain degree of cooperation between the independent cultivators from different countries.
Right.
Although these people nominally come from different countries, they are still independent cultivators after all. Most of the time, they only talk about the justice of the people.
If the mutual interests are not sufficiently bound, they can turn to other countries at any time. This is probably the reason why the Daqian court established the Recruiting and Appeasement Office.
While Li Mo was daydreaming, Lu Qi stood up and said goodbye.
The two of them quickly rode on the Thunder Eagle King and disappeared at the end of the sky.
The Thunder Eagle King is as fast as lightning.
"You've been at the Tianhuo Taoist Temple these past few days. What insights have you gained about the Eagle King's Thunder Dao?"
After hearing this, Li Mo immediately responded respectfully.
"These past few days, I've gained a lot of insights into the Way of Thunder, especially the way of integrating thunder and rain. It seems to be similar to studying runes. I can use the Way of Thunder to comprehend the power of water..."
Listening to Li Mo's insights, Lu Qi nodded, quite satisfied.
This disciple really made him less worried, which made him compare him with the disciples of his friends in the sect, and he felt more and more satisfied.
For lower-level disciples, cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage are already mid- to high-level cultivators.
But for a sect, a cultivator in the foundation-building stage is just a preliminary step towards transcendence and has a certain potential. There are at least seven or eight hundred foundation-building cultivators in the Lingmu Sect, distributed in various halls.
The vast majority of these foundation-building cultivators have inextricable ties with the Jindan cultivators in the sect.
There are very few true independent players.
Among the many foundation-building monks in the sect, there are many elites with extraordinary potential who have practiced for decades. They often practice diligently in the depths of various halls all year round, trying to explore the path to the golden elixir.
At this level, Li Mo is just a rising star.
His glory during his time in the training hall was hardly worth mentioning to the entire sect.
After all, cultivators who are able to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage all have some glorious past experiences. Every year, there will be so-called geniuses who shine in the final examination. However, decades later, facing cultivators of the same level in the Foundation Establishment stage, most of the so-called geniuses will gradually be lost in the crowd, and only a few will be able to move up to the next level and advance to the Golden Core stage.
Lu Qi thought this in his heart and looked into the distance quietly.
There was a hint of worry in his eyes.
"Next, I will be in seclusion for a few years. During this period, if you need help, you can seek help from the Earthly Branch Fairy Wang Xiyue or Sima Fu, the acting headmaster. I am very confident in your cultivation and interpersonal relationships, but I must remind you of one thing."
Li Mo was a little nervous when he heard this, and listened respectfully.
Lu Qi looked at Li Mo, with a rare kindness in his eyes.
"Though we, disciples of the Lingmu Sect, have the protection of our master and the laws of Daqian, we are still cultivators after all. In the end, cultivators rely on their strength to measure and judge merits and demerits, not so-called moral etiquette. If you truly want to make Bai'an County a better place, what you ultimately need is a higher realm of cultivation and greater strength, not diligently carrying out missions day and night and desperately guarding."
Lu Qi spoke with great sincerity.
"So, in my opinion, your desire to protect your hometown can be the source of strength for your continuous hard work during your Qi training period, but it will also become a spiritual shackle that restrains your ambitions during your foundation-building period... You need a broader stage."
Li Mo stared at Lu Qi in a daze. His master's words touched him a little.
Lu Qi patted Li Mo's shoulder.
"However, Master has said before that these earthly experiences will be of great benefit to your future Core Formation. I can see this from your mastery of the Seven Apertures Returning to the Origin Technique. Master, I see that you have a pure heart, upright character, and firm principles. You only need to accumulate more insights, and when you reach the Core Formation stage in the future, you will be like Master, with clear thoughts, a clear conscience, courageous and unwavering, and invincible!"
"Yes."
Encouraged by this, Li Mo nodded in agreement and continued to practice hard.
a few days later.
After circling over Bai'an City for a while, the Thunder Eagle King landed in the backyard of the Tianming Division.
A large number of inspectors went out to greet him, among whom were many unfamiliar faces that Li Mo did not recognize.
"Greetings to the Captain, and to the General!"
"Greetings to the Captain, and to the General..."
Li Mo's eyes swept across the crowd, and when he saw another inspector general standing next to Zhu Wei, his pupils suddenly shrank.
This person is actually Ma Xuanji from the Shenji Sect!
Li Mo still clearly remembered that when he went to Zhongshan State to participate in the exchange meeting, during the period of reorganization of the Saiwai Camp, this person persuaded him to be the first to take action.
In just two years since we last met, he has already established his foundation.
As far as Li Mo knew, except for himself, all the other disciples of the same level in the sect had not yet been promoted. Jiang Sheng, who practiced faster, was still accumulating magic power at the twelfth level of Qi training. Song Xiang was promoted to the tenth level of Qi training after the dual cultivation ceremony. Tao Ran and Zhao Huaxue planned to hold the dual cultivation ceremony after reaching the peak of the twelfth level of Qi training, which would probably take quite some time.
"Ma Xuanji."
Li Mo muttered this man's name. As the champion of the Shenji Sect's final exam, he should have had a bright future. How could he become an Inspector of the Tianming Division like himself?
Moreover, he is far away from home and is serving as deputy general. There must be something wrong here!
Ma Xuanji also recognized Li Mo.
His eyes widened, revealing an expression of incredible shock.
"Li Mo, Bai'an County is currently undergoing expansion. You will be serving as the general commander here, so I'll need your attention."
"I will definitely do my best."
After Lu Qi nodded, the Thunder Eagle King let out a loud and long roar, quickly soared into the sky, and soon disappeared at the end of the sky.
After seeing Li Mo coming to Bai'an City like this, some unfamiliar faces immediately understood the background of this general flag, which was quite strong.
Li Mo turned around and looked at everyone.
"With so many new faces here, our Bai'an County Tianming Division has indeed grown a lot. Let's get to know each other better."
Upon hearing this, everyone, starting with Zhu Wei, introduced themselves.
Ma Xuanji also pretended to be calm and communicated with everyone, but he obviously felt pressured when facing Li Mo.
Li Mo seemed unaware and remained calm.
The team of fifty-two people has a total of seven flag bearers, and will expand further in the future.
Among the seven small flags, Gao Zhengyi, Meng Xiangqiao, Wang Ping and Huang Yue were all his former subordinates, and the other three small flags were airdropped.
After Li Mo got to know the three of them, he signaled everyone to disperse and get back to work.
Then he asked Zhu Wei and Ma Xuanji to enter his office.
Li Mo is now the general flag officer, and his office has moved to Jiang Feiyan's former office, but there is not much difference.
He looked at Ma Xuanji with a smile and went straight to the point.
"Friend Ma, long time no see."
Ma Xuanji smiled awkwardly, while Zhu Wei was shocked.
"Fellow Daoist Ma, who topped the Shenji Sect's final exam two years ago, has traveled thousands of miles to Bai'an County to serve as the deputy chief of the Tianming Division. This is truly a strange thing, or does...Fellow Daoist Ma have another secret mission?"
Although two years have passed and the other party has advanced to the Foundation Establishment Stage, Li Mo is obviously more confident when facing him.
Ma Xuanji looked at Li Mo, who was looking down at him calmly, and his palms began to sweat.
"General Li, you're joking. I don't have any secret mission. I'm just passionate about doing good deeds, and I just happened to be dispatched here by the commander of the Ministry of Destiny."
Commander?
Li Mo's expression changed slightly.
The Tianming Division is one of the three divisions of the Daqian Kingdom. It is controlled by Siming, a second-rank official of the court.
Below this.
They are the third-rank commanders and deputy commanders appointed by the imperial court, the fourth-rank pacification envoys, the fifth-rank palace guards, and the fifth-rank thousand-householders and deputy thousand-householders, the sixth-rank hundred-householders and deputy hundred-householders, and the seventh-rank general flag officers and deputy general flag officers selected from various sects.
Since the other party mentioned the background of the third-rank commander, it was naturally impossible for Li Mo, a mere seventh-rank general flag, to investigate the whole matter through official channels.
However, the fact that the other party mentioned a third-rank official also contained a lot of information.
This seemed to be a matter of the sect, otherwise how could he, a cultivator who had just established his foundation, have this channel.
"In that case, I will not ask any further questions about this matter. Bai'an County is currently undergoing reform and expansion. The imperial court, the military, and the Lingmu Sect will invest heavily in local development. We are now imperial officials, and our lives are no longer as free as they were when we were students. Your Excellency must always remember to combat crime and maintain order."
"Don't worry, General."
Ma Xuanji responded with a smile.
After a while.
After Ma Xuanji left Li Mo's office, Li Mo looked at Zhu Wei and his expression suddenly became solemn.
"This man came here to serve as the deputy general. He must have a secret mission. I am worried about him. Please help me keep an eye on him."
"it is good."
Zhu Wei nodded in agreement.
The two talked for a while, and after Zhu Wei left, the office became quiet. Li Mo looked at the documents on the desk and made some instructions. Then there was a knock on the door.
"Please come in."
After Zhao Xiaonan entered the office, he handed over two documents.
"Master General, the imperial court and the sect have commended you for your mission."
After hearing this, Li Mo couldn't help but smile, nodded and took the document from Zhao Xiaonan.
The imperial court’s reward for the mission of breaking up the White Moon Organization was a promotion in official rank, an increase in monthly salary, and a one-time reward of five thousand taels of silver.
Compared with the reward for the conspiracy to destroy the Canglong organization, this is much less.
But they had contributed a spiritual material and a refining furnace to the imperial court, so it made sense when you thought about it this way.
The rewards from the sect were not much different from what Li Mo had expected. They were all awarded in the form of contributions to the sect.
"With the contributions from my master from these two major missions, if I accumulate a few more years, it should be enough for my own alchemy needs."
in the afternoon.
Li Mo walked towards his mansion.
Speaking of which, his mansion is really pitiful, having been destroyed twice in a row.
"Mr. Li, you're finally back."
The neighbor's grandmother was wearing a plain gray dress and a headband on her head. She greeted Li Mo with a smile. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and forehead could not be concealed, and her smile was very kind.
The old lady’s surname is Cai. She is 56 years old and has three sons and one daughter.
The eldest son was in the medicinal materials business and made a lot of money, which was used to buy this house. Although the remaining two sons and daughter were not rich, they all had their own families. Now she has many children and grandchildren and lives a happy life.
Li Mo greeted him with a smile.
"Grandma, I remember the earthquake damaged a wall of your house and killed a pomegranate tree. Did the Ministry of Destiny pay for it?"
"Haha, the compensation has already been paid. The wall was repaired when your house was being renovated. The pomegranate tree paid five taels of silver. My three sons all say that this is the best era for the Great Qian Kingdom..."
While listening to what Grandma Cai said, Li Mo looked at his newly renovated mansion and nodded with satisfaction.
(End of this chapter)