Chapter 1091: Chapter 1: Epic Calamity, Marriage Alliance Replays History?
The small child dashed forward recklessly and disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.
However, Liu Wanliang did not chase after him, only sending guards to search as if it was truly just a relative’s child.
Zhao Xing saw him not moving and remembered that Liu Wanliang had come to see him for something.
"You’ve been daydreaming by the lake every day, the Princess is a bit worried about your situation and specifically asked me to come and check on you," Liu Wanliang said.
"I’m fine," Zhao Xing said, "just hit a bottleneck."
"Mountain Technique gathers Heavenly Fortune, not achieved in a day. Chen An, you also cultivated the Ten Thousand Skill Grass Man, don’t make people worry," he said.
Zhao Xing immediately understood and quickly said, "I’ll go see the Princess at once."
Liu Wanliang smiled and nodded.
Zhao Xing waved his hand, and his clothes shimmered like flowing water, completing the transformation from plain to luxurious in an instant.
Princess You Ruo wasn’t entirely worried about him because he was right under her nose, and apart from zoning out a little too much due to practicing the Mountain Technique, his avatar at home hadn’t shown any abnormalities for decades.
The focus remained on Lao Liu.
Liu Tianning was far away, tens of thousands of miles, and his true self had been in seclusion for years; though he also had avatars outside handling affairs, compared to Zhao Xing, Princess You Ruo was more worried about him.
Since the 26th year of Da Zhi, Liu Tianning’s true self had undergone two major periods of seclusion.
One lasted from the 26th year to the 56th year of Da Zhi, a whole thirty years.
Princess You Ruo had not seen Liu Tianning’s true self for thirty years.
He emerged in the 57th year of Da Zhi.
But that was only once, and they spent less than a month together.
"During the thirty years of seclusion, Lao Liu completed the first stage of re-cultivating the Derivation God Decision."
"But Princess You Ruo didn’t know this because it was top secret, impossible for her to find out."
"Precisely because she didn’t know the reason, she was anxious," Zhao Xing thought as he walked.
"I can’t tell her, can only reassure her that her teacher is well."
Zhao Xing recalled Liu Tianning’s movements: "He emerged in the 57th year of Da Zhi, focused on handling some official affairs."
"In the 58th year, he began secretly inspecting the promotion effects of the Green Seed Law across the nineteen provinces, rewarding and punishing various branches."
"At this time, officials of the Self Sect, compared to the Jingxin Calendar period, had considerably increased, in some state mansions, some Military Minister of Agriculture Officers, the Self Sect’s Minister of Agriculture even surpassed the other two sects."
"This was his capital for contesting the position of Grand Minister of Agriculture, he couldn’t afford not to care."
"After three years of inquiry, in the first year of Yongzhi, he returned to Dao Yuan Continent, entered the Dojo, and made an appointment to battle with Yunzhong Institute’s principal ’Yun Zheng’ from Xuantian Academy."
"By practice, the competition between the three sects, among the candidates for Grand Minister of Agriculture, can have up to a total of ten matches, each a decade apart."
Why up to ten matches? Because if the opponents were beaten into submission in the earlier matches, there would be no need for the subsequent ones.
If they were unconvinced, they would continue the battle a decade later.
During this period, accomplishing various political achievements might convince others, possibly avoiding further matches a decade later.
"After nine matches, if they were still unconvinced, there would be no solution."
"The tenth match would then be the Great Taoism Competition," Zhao Xing thought secretly.
The first nine matches only determined victory or defeat, not life or death.
Even the victor was expected to show restraint, avoiding inflicting grievous harm on the opponent.
After the fight, both parties had to sit down and discuss their doctrines, seeking common ground while preserving differences.
After nine rounds, if still unable to persuade each other, they had to proceed with the Great Taoism Competition.
"Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t come to this, however, Liu Tianning is the principal of Shangluo Academy, he belongs to the Self Sect."
"The Self Sect has never produced a Grand Minister of Agriculture, so it’s certain there would be matches up to the tenth match."
"For example, in the first year of Yongzhi, against ’Yun Zheng’, after Yun Zheng lost, he did not sit down with Liu Tianning for doctrinal discussion, harshly stating that he would fight again in ten years, and then left."
Without even going through the motions, it showed how much resistance Lao Liu faced in advancing to the position of Grand Minister of Agriculture.
Of course, there were also cases where a candidate submitted but had no choice but to continue fighting.
Because they represented more than just personal interests, what they bore was not personal honor, but the interests and honor of a faction.
Knowing something is impossible yet still doing it, there was no other choice.
Dying in the Dojo was better than surrendering! At the very least, it provided an account to supporters who invested large resources behind him: Look, I fought to the death for our ideal, at least I lived up to everyone’s support for hundreds of years.
"In the first year of Yongzhi, Liu Tianning fought a total of eight battles; four people from Xuantian Academy, of the wind, rain, thunder, and cloud branches, four deans or deputy deans, all were candidates."
"Without exception, all were defeated by Liu Tianning."
"However, Ling Tianchen and Wang Tianzhi were not among them."
"This was still after retraining, only at the first level of the Derivation God Decision," Zhao Xing thought secretly. "Liu Tianning’s cultivation talent could truly be called the best among ministers of agriculture, even better than me. In some aspects, I can’t compare to him."
Zhao Xing practiced Mountain Technique for eighty-two years, still stuck at the Heavenly Fortune Perfect Realm, but Liu Tianning reached the first grade in three years.
Of course, he wasn’t nurturing Heavenly Fortune with Mountain Technique but rather with Divine Wood.
There is essentially no difference between the two, only that nurturing fortune with Mountain Technique is slightly more difficult.
And Liu Tianning at the Heavenly Fate Realm had smoother progress, as his family from the founding of the country already controlled a third of the Minister of Agriculture’s Qi Fortune.
The most representative Ten Thousand Skill Grass Man, Liu’s Grass Doll Skill was created by his great-grandfather and reached a new height in his hands.