The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 25 All roads lead to Rome, but some people are born in Rome

The Picture of the God of War...it sounds so domineering...Zhao Duan felt excited.

However, when he saw the "screen"-sized stone mural in the center of the first floor of the pavilion, his expression turned dull.

He turned his head and looked at Eunuch Hai suspiciously:
"You call this a 'painting'?"

My heart seemed to be saying: Are you fucking kidding me?

All I could see was a messy series of knife and sword marks and potholes on the surface of the grayish-white stone wall, vaguely outlining the contours of the mountains and rivers.

There is a palm-sized stick figure standing on the mountain, looking at the sea of ​​clouds and half a "sun" in the distance drawn with simple lines.

Well, if I want to give a vivid comparison, the quality of this "Martial God Picture" is comparable to Zhu Zhishan's "Chicken Pecking Rice Picture" in Stephen Chow's "Flirting Scholar"...

Eunuch Hai smiled and said:
"You question Taizu's painting skills?"

"I dare not!" Zhao Duan said ashamedly when he saw the big hat being put on him:

"Emperor Taizu's paintings are wild and unconventional, but I am short-sighted..."

Eunuch Hai waved his hand and said with a smile:

"Young people can't help but laugh. Emperor Taizu's paintings are indeed ugly. His Majesty has also said this privately many times... However, it's not about beauty or ugliness of a painting. What's important is the meaning it contains!"

"Meaning?" Zhao Duan chewed on the word.

The old eunuch in the dragon robe said "Hmm" and took out a pill wrapped in yellow paper from his sleeve:
"This is the 'Spirit Nourishing Pill'. Take it, sit cross-legged on the ground, and wait for the medicinal power to activate your blood and qi and strengthen your spirit. Then you can try to feel the 'intention' in the mural, enter meditation, and comprehend the inheritance of the God of War...

Oh, if you have achieved success in your practice and your spirit is strong, you can gain enlightenment just by standing here, but your foundation is too shallow, so it will be easier with the help of elixirs."

You're beating around the bush and saying I'm a weakling... Zhao Duan followed his instructions and asked curiously while sitting cross-legged and waiting:
"What are we going to do after we enter meditation?"

Eunuch Hai said:
“When you first visualize, you will have the illusion of entering a painting world and stay in the painting for a short time. You don’t need to do anything, just look at it.”

Mysterious... Zhao Duan calmed down and stared at the mural.

After a while, Dantian became hot and the qi and blood in the body gradually boiled. This was the effect of the medicine.

The mind becomes clearer, there is a sense of swelling between the eyebrows, and the six senses become sharper.

He could vaguely hear the sound of wind whistling, and the marks on the stone wall in front of him were rippling like water waves.

"No matter what you see later, don't be surprised. Remember, what you see in the painting is not real..."

The old eunuch's voice gradually weakened.

In a trance, Zhao Duan seemed to sink into the deep sea, and all the calls from the water surface were obliterated.

The light was also swallowed up by the darkness, and the body had a strong sense of weightlessness. With nowhere to hold on, it continued to sink towards the bottom of the sea.

The state of absolute darkness lasted for about ten heartbeats, and then the darkness was torn apart by a ray of brilliant morning sun.

The world suddenly became bright.

Zhao Duan discovered that he was no longer surrounded by the imperial palace, and Eunuch Hai was no longer by his side.

He was standing on the top of a towering mountain. The endless green mountains before him were swallowed up by the sea of ​​clouds. The whistling wind blew on him, making his hair flutter and his clothes shake.

Above the sea of ​​clouds, the rising east sun shines on the earth and illuminates the entire world.

"Is this the world in the Martial God Scroll?"

Zhao Duan was extremely surprised. This world was so real that he subconsciously squinted his eyes to avoid the strong light.

He saw in front of him, in the center of the mountain, standing a middle-aged man with a sturdy build, black hair draped over his shoulders, and a strong martial arts temperament.

Suddenly, the man began to practice boxing, his movements were very slow.

As he breathed, a golden "morning glow" like flames flowed on his body surface, which was extremely mysterious.

Zhao Duan was in a trance, his mind was drawn away, and he imitated the other person's actions almost instinctively.

Imagine rays of golden light engulfing you.

……

Deep inside the martial arts hall, Eunuch Hai closed his eyes and rested after Zhao Duan fell into meditation and sleep.

According to his experience, there would be no changes when visualizing the Martial God Picture for the first time, but soon he opened his eyes.

"what?"

Eunuch Hai was surprised to see that Zhao Duan's breathing became deep and long, his exposed skin turned red and hot, and his joints made crackling sounds.

Immediately, Zhao Duan, who was meditating, groaned and lightning flashed on his body.

With him at the center, a circle of light golden ripples spread out, disappearing in an instant.

Zhao Duan suddenly opened his eyes, and broke away from the scroll, feeling the white energy flowing through his meridians in surprise:
"I... advanced?"

Eunuch Hai was also slightly surprised and said with a smile:
"It seems that the elixir has taken effect. You were close to breaking through to the present, and with the help of the great elixir, you have entered the middle level of the mortal realm. It is not surprising."

Mortal bodies are divided into three grades: lower, middle, and upper. Zhao Duan was stuck in the lower grade for many years, but now he has been promoted to the middle grade in one fell swoop.

"Is this so..."

Zhao Duan was stunned. Although the other party's guess was logical, he had a vague feeling that the truth was not so.

Eunuch Hai asked with a smile:

"How about your first visualization? How far is the mountain?"

Zhao Duan hesitated and said:

"What do you mean?"

Eunuch Hai explained:

"This Martial God Picture records the scene of Emperor Taizu walking and cultivating. Taizu walked along the river, across the plains, and climbed to the top of the mountain...

The visualizer, when entering for the first time, will appear in different locations based on the degree of suitability with this inheritance... The more suitable one is for this path, the closer one will be to the mountain...

All you have to do is to follow Taizu's footsteps through daily visualization and climb toward that mountain.

Along the way, if you pay attention to those traces, you will gain a lot. When you climb the mountain and come to Taizu, you can receive his teachings and obtain Taizu's teachings...

Oh, by then, although you are a warrior, you can also master "martial arts" comparable to magic...

As for which martial arts you can learn and how many, there is no fixed number. What each priest learns is different... This is similar to the inheritance of a sorcerer.

The difference is that sorcerers get their spells from the gods, and we get them from scrolls."

Ah, this... Zhao Duan opened his mouth, wanting to say that this was not the same as what he saw. He tried to test it:

"May I ask, how far was that mountain back then, Grandpa?"

Eunuch Hai smiled proudly:
"In the past, when I first visualized, I was already standing at the foot of the mountain. That's how I became what I am today and assisted three emperors."

From his words, it seemed that this result was already extremely good.

Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment and asked:

"What about your majesty? How far is it from the top of the mountain?"

Eunuch Hai exclaimed:

"Your Majesty was already halfway up the mountain when he first stepped in."

Zhao Duan was silent.

If we say that Xu Zhenguan, who was only in his twenties and had already entered the realm of "the world", was at the pinnacle of cultivation in this world, then this was also the case.

What about someone like him, who just entered and stood next to Emperor Taizu on the top of the mountain?
Moreover, he had a vague feeling that he had just completed a set of punches in the painting, as if... he had acquired some kind of "martial arts".

"Something's wrong!... It doesn't make sense that a person of an outsider like me would be more suitable for this path than a member of the royal family... Could it be that I am the illegitimate child of a royal family? Oh no, if I marry the empress, wouldn't it be chaos..."

Zhao Duan’s mind was a little confused.

All roads lead to Rome. He was born in Rome. What should he do? It's urgent.

(End of this chapter)