Lingshan sect, the reception platform.
Every year at this time, the Lingshan sect would send some of its disciples to the major households in the surrounding cities and prefectures, or the surrounding villages and tribes to collect a year's offerings. At the same time, the Lingshan Sect was responsible for providing them with protection.
This is exactly why the Xiyue Li family gritted their teeth and sent sacrifices to Lingshan, not only to provide Li Chengfeng with a way to practice, but also to protect the Li family from being bullied and harassed in Cheng'an. .
For cultivation sects like Lingshan Sect, although the great cultivators have transcended the five ordinary human relationships and escaped birth, old age, illness and death, as a cultivator, as long as they have not ascended to immortality, it means that they still need to rely on the physical cauldron to survive. You have to eat, drink and have diarrhea.
As the saying goes, if you are poor in literature and rich in martial arts, you will ruin your family and practice. Those who study literature do not need to pay too much. Even the poor can find channels and ways for advancement in literature; but this is not the case in martial arts. Practicing martial arts requires honing and tempering from an early age. , If you don’t have money, you can’t hire a famous teacher, you can’t learn the real skills, if you don’t have money, you can’t buy famous medicine, and you can’t replenish the huge physical wear and tear caused by practicing martial arts.
As for spiritual practice, even those from well-to-do families would not even dare to hope for spiritual practice. Not to mention the elixirs and magical herbs that need to be consumed for practice, but also the magical tools and magic weapons that need to be refined and constructed. These costs are astronomical!
It is impossible for a sect to bear these expenses for every disciple. The disciples who have just started need to spend their own money to make up for these expenses. Otherwise, the only thing waiting for them will be eliminated.
It is precisely because of this that the more powerful a practice sect is, the more it requires many aristocratic families to spend huge sums of money to support them every year, and in return, these aristocratic families will have better opportunities to get started and practice.
In front of the mountain gate of the Lingshan Sect, there was a long line of people, all of whom were Lingshan disciples who came down to collect offerings. Each of them was holding a small wish-fulfilling bag in their hands. This bag looked ordinary, but It can accommodate huge things, and all the offerings that everyone receives are contained in it.
The reception platform is located on the mountainside of Niuer Peak of Lingshan School. At the foot of the mountain is a stone road made of stone steps, which leads to the mountain gate halfway up the mountain. Behind the mountain gate is a flat and huge stone platform that is repaired and high. The stone platform is high and majestic. Most of the first people to pay tribute were the clan leaders of various large families. The tall stone platform was built to show the majesty of the Lingshan Sect and make people intimidated.
At the highest point of the high platform is placed a long cyan table with its head raised, and at one end there is a finely carved flower stand. On the flower stand is carved an exquisite and detailed magic circle. Every disciple coming down the mountain places the wishful thinking bag in his hand on the flower stand. Above, the wishful thinking bag will disappear after a faint flash of colorful light. Then, several smoky words will appear on the huge glass mirror inlaid on the side of the flower stand, saying that the wishful thinking bag contains The offering number of Na.
There are three men standing behind the desk, two of them have beards and wear monks' clothes with two green edges. They stand on both sides like stone statues, like door gods on the left and right, to intimidate others and prevent others from taking advantage of money. In the middle of the desk stood a man with a black mole on the left side of his face, named Sun Boyi. Every time he saw a wishful bag "engulfed" by the flower stand and a string of numbers appeared, he would put his hand on a bag in front of the desk. With a slight wave of the hand on this account book, a line of text will automatically appear on the account book, recording this series of numbers.
"The Ouyang family in Dongchuan accepts an offering of five thousand silver!"
"The Dongchuan Liu family accepts eight thousand silver as an offering!"
"The Xie family in Yinzhou receives an offering of 4,300 silver!"
"The Zhao family in Heyue accepts an offering of thirteen thousand silver!"
"The Northwest Zhan Family, accept an offering of... one hundred thousand silver!"
This number shocked everyone in the queue, and they all whispered to each other: "Northwestern Zhan family? Which Zhan family? So rich?"
"Who else could there be? Of course it's the champion Hou Zhanjia!"
"Ah? Aren't they from the northwest? If they don't join the sect in the west, why would they come to our Lingshan sect?"
"What are you talking about! What happened to our Lingshan sect? Lingshan sect ranks third in the world of cultivation sects! How many people want to go to the mountains to practice? How can a mere Zhan family be immune to the secular world?"
"Tsk, stop talking nonsense. Any family with aristocratic status will scatter their disciples into various sects to learn from the strengths of other families! Otherwise, why do you think the Northwest Zhan family can guard the northwest for hundreds of years without falling? I just don’t know if the one coming this time is a dragon or a phoenix?”
"It's really ignorant. Longfeng has already joined other sects, leaving only pigs and dogs. I just don't know if it's a pig or a dog this time."
The champion has three sons and one daughter, each with different talents. They are called dragon, phoenix, dog and pig respectively.
The eldest son, Zhan Qitian, is said to be eight feet tall, can walk like a dragon and move like a tiger, and has strange visions. He showed his otherworldly side at the age of eight. He has amazing talents in both civil and military arts. At the age of twelve, he was admitted as a disciple of the Qiankun Divine Sect. At the age of fifteen, he successfully built the foundation and broke the practice record. At the age of twenty, he even cultivated into an indestructible golden body, which shocked the world!
The second daughter, Zhan Qiyun, is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world. She is also one of the rare talented female practitioners. She was accepted as a disciple of Fengwu Pavilion when she was ten years old. She came to Tiankui when she was thirteen years old. The successful foundation building broke the practice record held by Zhan Qitian, and also broke the earliest foundation building record for a female cultivator, which shocked the world.
But after the dragon and the phoenix, the remaining two sons seemed to have mediocre talents because they lived under the halo of their elder brother and sister. They were called "pig" and "dog" by the world. They thought that one only knew how to eat, drink and have fun, and the other To be conservative and prudent is just to remain mediocre.
A group of people were talking in low voices, and suddenly they didn't know who started. They all fell silent while whispering. The silence spread like waves, and soon the bustling mountain gate became silent.
The man who was recording raised his head and looked at it in confusion, only to see the Lingshan disciples who were queuing getting out of the way. An old man was dragging a cart, and a man in a robe was slowly walking on the cart. Come, everyone saw that the face of the man in the car was burned by flames, his face was terrifying, both eyes were gone, only two terrifying black holes were left, and his flesh and blood were blurred!
This situation was really terrifying, and everyone was silent for a while.
Sun Boyi, who was recording, saw it and was stunned for a moment. He didn't take it seriously, but at first glance, the figure looked familiar. After a closer look, he suddenly became jealous and screamed in grief: "Brother! !”
Sun Boyi rushed over instantly and picked up his brother. He only glanced at it and was shocked by his brother's miserable condition. He turned around suddenly, grabbed the old man's neck, gritted his teeth and said: "It's you ?Did you do it?”
The old man was choked so hard that he couldn't breathe. He struggled and said: "No, no, it has nothing to do with the old slave..."
Sun Boyi's eyes were splitting with anger: "Then why is he like this!"
In just one breath, the old man was pinched until he almost lost his breath. The disciples who were walking down the mountain next to him were so silent that they didn't dare to say anything. At this time, a middle-grade green monk standing nearby said: "Sun Boyi, stop it. !”
Sun Boyi took a few breaths and let go suddenly. The old man fell to the ground and coughed violently. He raised his face and argued hard: "Master Mingjian, I am wronged!"
The green-bordered monk stepped forward and took a closer look at Sun Boyi's brother. His face was full of doubts: "What on earth is going on?"
The old man climbed up, hunched his back, cupped his hands, and said in a hoarse voice: "This old slave is Li Kun, the steward of the Li family in Xiyue, Cheng'an! A few days ago, when the master came to my Li family to accept offerings, he was attacked at the entrance of the alley! The incident happened near our Li family. Everyone in the Li family was frightened and uneasy. They specially sent an old slave to escort the master back to the mountain and explain the matter clearly! I hope all the masters will understand clearly!"
As he spoke, Li Kun kept kowtowing, his head making a clanging sound on the hard bluestone ground.
The green-bordered monk sneered: "Humph, am I sending an old man like you to risk your life?"
Sun Boyi suddenly roared: "Impossible, who would hurt my brother like this for a mere salary!"
The green-bordered monk frowned. He stared at Li Kun with lightning eyes. He saw that although Li Kun looked frightened, he showed no signs of lying. He nodded slightly and said: "The person is still alive, but his mind has been lost. I don't know if he is lying." It can be saved."
Sun Boyi knelt down with a plop and cried: "Master Zhang, I was brought up by my elder brother. He is the only relative in the world. Please ask Master Zhang to save him. Boyi is willing to work hard for Master Zhang!"
Uncle Zhang waved his hand and said: "Since we are all disciples of the Lingshan Sect, we naturally have no shirking the responsibility. If you come, please take it back first, and then we will talk about it after the master uncle has seen it."
At this time, a disciple came forward and helped Sun Boyi's brother up and sent him up the mountain.
At this time, Master Zhang turned to Li Kun and said coldly: "Since you said that he was robbed, it seems that the Li family's offering cannot be handed over this time?"
Li Kun said quickly: "How dare you! The master was killed in the Li family. It is natural that our Xiyue Li family cannot shoulder the responsibility. Here is a supplementary offering of 10,000 silver to express our apology!"
When Uncle Zhang heard this, his originally stern face immediately became a little softer.
"Excuse me?" Sun Boyi gritted his teeth and looked at Li Kun with a fierce look in his eyes, "Your Li family will pay with your life for this!"
"Sun Boyi! Kneel down!" Master Zhang scolded him coldly, and Sun Boyi immediately knelt on the spot with a grunt of fright.
Master Zhang said: "The matter has not been clarified yet, so don't talk nonsense!"
Sun Boyi shed tears, gritted his teeth and whispered: "Yes!"
Li Kun said: "Because there is no master's magic weapon to hold the money, the convoy is parked at the foot of the mountain at this time. I also ask the master to follow me down the mountain to collect my salary."
Master Zhang nodded slightly. He expected that the Xiyue Sect would not dare to play any tricks, so he said to the two disciples: "Let him go."
Then Uncle Zhang looked at Li Kun and said, "Come with me and tell me clearly what happened. If the Li family is innocent, they will be dealt with fairly. If you are found to be a thief, I'll catch the thief... Hum!"
Master Zhang snorted loudly, and the sound was like a heavy hammer, hitting Li Kun's heart hard, causing his already rickety back to bend even more.
Master Zhang turned around and was about to leave, but saw Sun Boyi still kneeling on the ground, gnashing his teeth and with a distorted expression on his face. He scolded: "What are you doing standing still? Why don't you take the account?"
Sun Boyi got up. He glanced bitterly at Li Kun who followed Master Zhang away. He gritted his teeth and wiped his hand on the desk. Suddenly, a line of blood-red text appeared on the desk ledger: Cheng'an Xiyue Li Family, Receive an offering of 10,000 silver!
This line of text is extremely scarlet, as if dripping with blood!
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