Chapter 199
He has come into contact with several Qiao family members before and after, and now the Qiao family has rescued his son Hai Siyuan from the desert for hundreds of miles at the cost of his own life, so that he can be reunited with his parents and children when he grows old. Naturally, he is very interested in the Qiao family. The goodwill is doubled.
But besides being grateful, he was actually more curious.
He was very curious about the future movements of the Qiao family, and always felt that the Qiao family would cause other big things sooner or later.
What are your future plans?
This question stopped Qiao Mu.
"It has been more than two hundred years and I haven't really enjoyed myself. Most of my memories so far are of hard work..." Qiao Mu looked at the five thousand taels of silver notes in his hand, feeling a little tired.
He had just come out of isolation for five years, and now he just wanted to have a good time.
After dying so many times and practicing hard for more than two hundred years, why can't he be allowed to enjoy it?
"I plan to buy a few of his houses on the outskirts of the imperial capital and collect rent as a tenant..." Qiao Mu said casually.
Hai Wuya and his son were both slightly startled.
He didn't expect Qiao Mu's future plans to be so... normal?
It's simply not like the usual style of the Qiao family.
If Qiao Mu said that he planned to attack the imperial palace tomorrow, the Xianmen Taoist temple the day after tomorrow, and the Taoist sect the day after tomorrow... they would not be surprised.
"Otherwise, what else can I do? I'm already old." Qiao Mu felt a little melancholy.
Before he had time to wander, he was already old.
Fortunately, the iron crotch skill has reached its peak, and it can be said that it is getting stronger with age, and it is not a loss.
“It’s not bad to be a rich man and enjoy things.”
Qiao Mu left with the banknotes.
Next, Hai Wuya was about to leave the imperial capital for Anxi Pass, and he and Captain Haisi Yuanhai had not seen each other for forty years. Qiao Mu was also a bit discerning, so naturally he wanted to give father and son time to get along.
After Qiao Mu left, Hai Wuya looked at his leaving figure with brilliant eyes.
"I never expected that the Qiao family would actually take the initiative to spread the "Sutra of the King of Mount Sumeru" in an isolated city in the desert, which coincides with me."
Hai Wuya coughed a few times, and a faint sickly flush appeared on his face.
During this period of time, he had listened to Hai Siyuan talk about the past events of the lonely city in the past forty years many times. He heard him talk about the death of the Qiao family, and also talked about the blockbuster style of Sword Banishing the Immortal, which made him quite emotional.
"Father, the gap between immortals and mortals is like a chasm. Is there really any hope for warriors like us?" Hai Siyuan finally asked the question.
Although he walked out of the lonely city in the desert, after the joy of surviving the disaster, he felt more disappointed when he saw Kyushu today.
"The gap between immortals and mortals is naturally huge. This is an indisputable fact." Hai Wuya sighed:
"Those who have spiritual roots and can embark on the immortal path are the elites and geniuses selected from a thousand, and those with the best spiritual roots are the elites among the elites."
"For us ordinary warriors, any immortal monk who has successfully established a foundation is an elite."
Immortal monks have a long lifespan, which is even more difficult for martial artists to achieve.
Historically, mortal dynasties did not last more than three hundred years, and it would be a wonder if a highly advanced immortal monk could easily be killed by a warrior with hundreds or thousands of years of accumulation.
"But because of this, the number of immortal monks is actually not too many." Hai Wuya said:
"It seems like a lot, but actually it's because these are the elites and talents accumulated in the history of Kyushu over hundreds and thousands of years, from previous dynasties to the present day."
"In today's era, even if one of the Immortal monks dies, it still takes a long time to become a successful monk."
Speaking of this, Hai Wuya also felt slightly sad.
The smartest and most talented people on the land of Kyushu, those with spiritual roots, have basically embarked on the path of immortality. Not many fools who use their arms as chariots are willing to hang themselves from the crooked tree of martial arts.
Those who can embark on the immortal path are already elites, and the best among them are the elites among the elites. Why should they stand on the same side as the mortals?
Even if he is a genius like Jian Banxian, a leader of martial arts... In fact, his hope of catching up with the Nine Immortal Sects on the Immortal Path is extremely slim.
Even if he could succeed, it would still be a thousand or more years later.
A thousand years can allow mortal dynasties to change three or four times. Even if he really succeeds, Dayan will be gone long ago...
Moreover, as a casual cultivator from a side sect and without any incense to offer sacrifices, how can he be compared with the nine great immortal sects?
"Although the Sword Exorcist is strong, he is not a Martial Saint." Hai Wuya said calmly:
"His technique of slashing the sky and drawing the sword can only be regarded as a 'skill', not a 'dao'."
For example, in a small, poor and weak country, a talented sprinter accidentally appeared and broke the world record in one fell swoop.
So does this mean that this small country’s sprint events are already at the top level in the world?
It would be difficult for other athletes in small countries to replicate his great achievements without his talent.
A figure like Wu Shengren, who is both a top athlete and a coach, and can train first-class or even top athletes, in Hai Wuya's view, can represent the forefront of martial arts.
"The lonely city has been trapped for forty years. You have spent all your energy on surviving and fighting against strangers. You have no energy or ability to explore martial arts." Hai Wuya said solemnly:
"Actually, the Qiao family did not completely lie. In the past forty years, Jiuzhou martial arts has also undergone earth-shaking changes. It can be divided into ancient methods and modern methods."
From a martial arts perspective alone, the veterans of the isolated city who had not been born for forty years were actually lagging behind.
Even if there is a sword-banished immortal in a hundred miles of desert, it cannot represent the forefront of today's martial arts.
This time Hai Wuya went to Anxi Pass, he wanted to do more than just pay homage to the dead.
I even want to see these three hundred old soldiers with my own eyes, as well as the disabled old people who can't go to the battlefield.
The harsh environment of the Baili Desert is a "soul-nurturing place" carefully created by the Immortal Sect, and it can also be regarded as a "sacred place for training" for martial artists.
But if a martial artist wants to improve his martial arts, he needs a lot of nutritious food... An old soldier who can fight hundreds of battles for the rest of his life in that kind of environment is extraordinary.
/
Chapter 225 The Qiao family has gained momentum (4k
On the outskirts of the imperial capital, at the entrance of a house.
The sun shines down, there is an occasional breeze, the shadows of the trees are dancing, and the leaves are rustling.
An old man with long gray hair that almost reached his waist was lying on a lounge chair under the tree to enjoy the cool air. The old man was shaking a cattail leaf fan in his hand, his eyes were half-squinted, and he seemed a little sleepy.
A round-faced mottled cat was also dozing on the treetop, but this cat was a little fatter. If it stayed there for a little longer, the branches would deform and bend under the pressure, and it would fall directly from the tree and hit the old man in the recliner. face.
The old man didn't open his eyes, as if he was predicting the future. He stretched out his hand, held the tabby cat firmly with one hand, took it into his arms, and gently scratched the cat's chin, making the little tabby cat feel as comfortable as the old man. Usually slightly squinting.
"You can steal half a day's leisure from a floating life, but it's hard to be pure."
Qiao Mu lay casually on the couch, his half-closed eyes occasionally scanning the passers-by.
In the morning, he ascends to the Emperor's Hall, and in the evening, he works as a farmer.
A few days ago, we were chatting and laughing in the Jinluan Palace, pointing at the emperor's nose and yelling, asking for the honor of the disabled old man in the isolated city.
When he was done, he walked away, bought a house on the outskirts of the imperial capital, and lived a retirement life.
Although Qiao Mu feels that he is still young, he is already 210 years old. In ancient times, he was a person who could live from the early years of the dynasty to the end of the dynasty.
There is no one older than him in the whole world, and even those half his age are quite rare.
The only people who can compare with his age are the immortal cultivators of the Immortal Sect.
"Retirement life is not bad at all." Qiao Mu shook the cattail leaf fan, feeling quite comfortable.
He squinted slightly.
It was almost dusk at this time, smoke was rising from the neighbors, and the smell of food was filling our nostrils. Children playing on the roadside were greeted by their parents to go home, and there were gradually fewer pedestrians on the street.
A martial artist's ears, eyes, and five senses are very keen, especially a martial artist like Qiao Mu who breaks through the conventions in the way of training and has two hundred years of profound skills.
He could hear the sound of a couple greeting their children for dinner in the house on the left. In a house on the right, there were Confucian scholars studying. In the house on the other side, a woman was holding a feather duster to teach a playful child who came home late and missed his meal. In another house, there were people The couple quarreled, complaining that the alcoholic husband drank during the day...
The lights of thousands of houses produce smoke, and the firewood, rice, oil and salt are another day.
After coming to this world, he rarely had such leisure time.
Usually, he was in a hurry to die, lurking wherever there was danger, and spent more time in prison than on farm food.
This time, my eyes and ears were filled with the lights of thousands of houses around me, which had a different flavor.
Seeing that it was getting late, Qiao Mu also stood up and returned to his house with the cat in one hand.
This house is a common courtyard house in the imperial capital. The layout of the foyer is very similar to the Fang family's old house where Qiao Mu once stayed briefly. It reminds him of the life he once lived in the imperial capital for a short time.
Looking at the empty house, Qiao Mu also felt a little lonely.
He didn't go to the kitchen to prepare a meal for himself. Instead, he stared at himself in the mirror for a long time in the hall.
The self in the mirror looks as old as ever. After entering the realm of divine refining and mastering the true transformation of flesh and blood, Qiao Mu can change his appearance to a certain extent.
Although it won't cause rejuvenation, it can also improve wrinkles and the like.
But the trees have not changed, they just maintain their current aging appearance.
"Most of the two hundred years of life are spent practicing martial arts for two hundred years in dreams, and a small part of it is lived in reality... But life in reality is either about death or on the way to death. It's all for the sake of others. Things are burning to death."
"In the end, I am old, but no one knows me, and I have no old friends. The lights of thousands of houses are in my eyes, but I grow old alone..."
"You're talking about this cheating trick, what kind of extravagant work it is. Wouldn't it be nice to have a sign-in system that's simple and enjoyable?"
Qiao Mu couldn't help but complain.
In the Jinluan Hall a few days ago, I was just being reckless out of habit.
In fact, he has not yet emerged from five years of isolation.
He had developed the habit of talking to himself in the dream, and it was the same now when he returned to reality.
A warm furry thing next to his feet rubbed against his trouser leg. Qiao Mu looked down and saw the little fat cat staring at him.
"Yes, yes, yes, no old acquaintances, no old acquaintances, but there is still a cat as a companion." Qiao Mu whispered:
"But cats can't replace people."
The cat's pupils dilated and it wagged its tail, feeling a little dazed.
After learning the truth about the Ouroboros Immortality Lock, I had a different mood when I looked back at my life.
Every time he dies, Qiao Mu will be reborn and age, appearing in different identities and bearing the name of Qiao's elders.
So he has no old acquaintances.
For example, the person who knew Hai Wuya well in prison was Qiao Zhong, but when Qiao Mu appeared as Qiao Shuanglin again, although he could find a reason to re-teach the perfectly deduced "Sumishan King Sutra" to Hai Wuya in the medical clinic, The relationship between the two parties is no longer interesting.
Another example is Qiao Shui today... To Hai Wuya and Captain Hai, he is just an old acquaintance from the past and an elder in the family, nothing more.
He keeps dying and changing identities. He has no acquaintances around him. Even if he does, he will become a stranger and elder after his next death.
Qiao Mu didn't look in the mirror anymore, but he lost interest in cooking when he was alone.
He thought for a moment, put on casual clothes that were easy to move around, and walked out of the house.
He had lived in the Imperial Capital a few months ago, and he probably had a few things that he had yet to sort out. Now that he had nothing to do, he might as well find something to do.
..
After a while, he arrived at the food market entrance of the imperial capital.
Caishikou is still very bustling just before nightfall, with constant pedestrians passing by.
A few months ago, there was a human disaster here, and it was involved in a fight between immortal monks, but now the traces have been smoothed away, and the collapsed teahouse has been rebuilt, making it lively.
Qiao Mu went to the execution ground where he had been executed, and saw several strange heads hanging on the wooden stakes... Qiao Zhong was not among them.
Those on death row who had committed heinous crimes were not allowed to live in peace after execution, and their heads had to be hung at the market entrance for public display.
Qiao Mu was once one of them, but it was gone now.
"Yes, it's been several months. Even if my head is embalmed, I'm afraid it won't last that long." Qiao Mu suddenly lost interest.
Before he left the imperial capital, he went to Caishikou to get his head back, but he was stopped by Daozhen, a disciple of the Dao Dao Sect, who used a conspiracy to make him go to the lonely city in the hundreds of miles of desert.
He took steps and left along the street.
When he stopped again a quarter of an hour later, he was already in the Fang family's old house.
The Fang family's old house was the residence of Tianlao jailer Fangyuan, and Qiao Mu also lived in his home temporarily...
It was already night, but there were no lights in the old house, it was silent and there was no sound.
Qiao Mu frowned. With his current status, it was actually not convenient for him to contact the former jailer Fangyuan. However, he was bored and wanted to take a look at him from a distance.