The strong, cold mountain wind beat against the fabric, creating a faint sound.
Inside the spacious tent, Zhao Douan sat cross-legged, his eyes closed, his hands forming a virtual embrace in front of him.
With each breath, two fine white streams flowed out of his nostrils and then retracted, appearing quite mysterious.
As he completed a full cycle of breathing, his inner Qi reached its peak, and he abruptly crossed his thumbs in his virtual embrace.
With him as the center, the air around him rippled outward, and then a hazy and indistinct "Golden Bell" slowly emerged, enveloping him.
After maintaining for a moment, it dissipated.
Zhao Douan opened his eyes, the Green Lotus mark on his brow slowly faded, and a smile appeared on his lips:
"No wonder the Buddhist 'Golden Bell Shield' is a classic; it's truly difficult to learn, but I've finally grasped the basics."
Since the Spring Festival, some days have passed. After leaving the city, Zhao Douan repeatedly pondered while on the road, trying to learn the Buddhist protective Magic from the "Sea of Consciousness Green Lotus."
Initially, the Empress slashed the Divine Dragon Temple, and Master Xuan Yin protected the entire temple with the Big Golden Bell Shield, resisting the momentum of the Empress's three swords at the Heavenly Human Realm.
Although Zhao Douan is a Martial Artist and can condense Gang Qi for protection, when it comes to defense, the Buddhist Golden Bell Shield is indeed the most exquisite among various techniques.
"Though I haven't fully mastered it yet, its initial form already equals the full force of my Gang Qi protection. As for the rosy clouds' protection, it can hardly keep up with my realm. Once I thoroughly grasp it, my survival capability will greatly enhance. With the buffs on me now, I might even withstand a few moves from the Da Jing Monk without being instantly killed."
"It's a pity, though my cultivation has slowed down recently, I'm still stuck at Middle Grade, and a significant gap remains to reach the top-grade Divine Chapter... Well, it's fast enough; one shouldn't be too greedy..."
"But in a few months, Zhenbao might be going for some Sealing, it's a headache..."
Zhao Douan, the Imperial Consort, feeling anxious, suddenly heard footsteps approaching, then the slit of the tent was pierced by a knife sheath, accompanied by the voice of his female colleague, Haitang:
"Come out for a meal; we should reach Feng City by the morning."
Zhao Douan lifted the tent flap, and the morning mountain light suddenly poured down; he was in a sheltered mountain valley.
There was no snow around, only wild grass, but the mountain wind, slightly moist, was distinct from the cold of the Capital.
Yesterday, this team disguised as a regular merchant convoy had crossed the boundary between Linfeng and Coastal and officially entered the Marine Road area.
Specifically, it's the region of "Feng City," known from intelligence to be the headquarters of Kuangfu Society.
At this moment, the entire group of horse-drawn carriages was parked, and the ground was densely packed with pitched tents. At dawn, the east rose with fish-belly white, several Jinyi Captains posing as escorts or merchant guards had already awakened, starting to feed horses, fetch water from nearby streams, and gather firewood.
Preparing to start fires and cook meals, a busy scene unfolded.
——This time, to assist Zhao Douan in capturing the rebels, Ma Yan generously drew elite forces from various halls of the Imperial Court, complemented by Zhao Douan's direct lineage from Lihua Hall, forming this "merchant convoy."
In the central tents of the team, aside from Zhao Douan, other familiar faces were also emerging.
"Morning, Brother Zhao!"
From the opposite tent, a short, plump young man with a rounded face emerged yawning, clutching a hemp rope, tugging at his wrinkled cotton robe, while binding a large bamboo tube wrapped in cloth onto his back with the rope.
This was none other than one of the Zhu Dian disciples from the Heavenly Master Mansion: a descendant of the Artisan God, Gongshu Tianyuan.
Having successfully advanced to the "World" realm on New Year's Eve, Gongshu Tianyuan appeared radiant; despite the journey's fatigue, his complexion was far better than when he worked at the Heavenly Master Mansion's workshop. He turned to look at Haitang, who wore her hair in a high ponytail and supported her knife sheath, curiously asking:
"Mr. Hai, has my junior sister returned?"
Last night, Haitang, who shared a tent with Jin Jian, glanced at the messy plump man disdainfully and pointed her chin toward her tent: "She returned just at dawn."
Faintly, you could hear soft, tiny snoring from the open tent slit.
Jin Jian, the young priestess, who stayed out all night, returned to catch up on sleep in the morning, wrapped herself in the tent, sleeping sprawled out. Upon hearing someone call her, her ears instinctively twitched and then curled up, blocking external noise; she even kicked her legs.
"Who would've thought the mysterious, ethereal genius priestess is not only a night owl with reversed sleep patterns but also actually snores?"
Zhao Douan chuckled, gaining a deeper understanding of Jin Jian throughout this short journey.
The presence of two disciples from the Heavenly Master Mansion in the team was naturally due to Zhao Douan's recruitment.
After advancing to the "World" realm, Heavenly Master Mansion's priests have the rule of going out for experience; Zhao Douan, therefore, wouldn't pass up such good allies.
Jin Jian and Gongshu Tianyuan both showed great interest in capturing rebels, feeling thrilled to finally use their skills, ready to descend the mountain and strike against evil.
It's just a pity that the Little Heavenly Master Zhong Pan's status is too high, unwilling to engage in mundane conflicts, and not close enough. Zhao Douan couldn't use personal connections to invite him, which he found quite regrettable.
From two other tents emerged Lang Shiba, with disheveled hair, a curved knife at his waist, recently released from prison.
And Ji Yue, who had been awake early but, owing to social anxiety, stayed unwilling to leave his small tent.