In the courtyard, Chen Yun did not immediately agree to assist.
He looked at Cai Rujin and asked, "Who is capable of defeating you?"
Although Chen Yun had not opened the view of Qi, he could still feel that Cai Rujin was only a step away from the status of Master.
Such an extraordinary cultivation.
This can already be considered an elite combatant in the mortal world.
Of course, he wants to know what the real strength of his opponent is.
Cai Rujin counter-asked, "Have you ever heard of a man named Liang Zhen, Uncle?"
Chen Yun was stunned, "Liang Zhen, the White-Clothed Scholar?"
Cai Rujin nodded, "Yes, that's him."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yun couldn't help but furrow his brow. He had certainly heard of this person.
Liang Zhen's given name is Liang Ai. When he was young, he went to meet Liu Xiang, who had passed the imperial examination.
Liu Xiang said to him, "You are young and talented, with clear and elegant thinking. If you were to take the imperial examination, you would surely become a great figure in no time. However, you need to change your name; otherwise, you will not achieve prominence. The character 'Ai' is composed of the character 'Yu' (rain) followed by the character 'Ye' (visit), which means visiting someone under the rain – how can one be seen? You might as well change your name to 'Zhen', which is composed of the character 'Yu' (rain) followed by the character 'Chen' (horse). The character 'Chen' can also mean a dragon, and a dragon meets rain and can transform – thus it symbolizes a favorable omen for success."
Liang Zhen then changed his name and later "successfully passed the imperial examination and became famous throughout the kingdom."
The most significant achievement of this person is that he assisted Gao Jixing and his son in establishing Nanping.
He never agreed to be an official, always serving as a strategist to Gao Jixing and his son in white robes.
Nevertheless, his position in Nanping was equivalent to that of a prime minister, so he was known as the White-Clothed Scholar.
If it were just for these accomplishments, Chen Yun would definitely not furrow his brow.
As he understands it, this Liang Zhen is an ancient monster who has been alive for countless years.
No one knows what kind of cultivation method he practices, but it is known that he has mysterious abilities that even gods and ghosts cannot fathom.
The most important thing is that this person is the leader of the martial cultivators in Jing Prefecture.
If anyone angers Liang Zhen to the point of enmity, it's the same as offending all the cultivators in Jing Prefecture.
Chen Yun isn't afraid, but he doesn't know Liang Zhen's methods, so he asks again, "Can you gain insight into his situation by fighting him?"
Cai Rujin sighed bitterly, "We have about twenty to thirty cultivators on this side, all of whom have been defeated by him. I struck a blow and was suppressed, but he spared my life because of our common background in Daoism."
One move to defeat?
According to this, Liang Zhen's cultivation must be at least a Master.
As for whether he has attained immortality, Chen Yun feels that he should not have.
Otherwise, Uncle Zheng Wen wouldn't have sent Cai Rujin to ask him to come out of retirement.
Chen Yun pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, since you've come to me, I'll accompany you. However, I cannot go today. I have some important matters to attend to and need to summon my avatar to maintain the position."
Cai Rujin said, "No hurry, the battle is not a matter of one or two days."
Chen Yun asked, "I remember that the new government was just established not long ago. Why do you want to wage war on the outside?"
Cai Rujin explained, "The situation can be traced back to the Liang Dynasty..."
He roughly explained it.
Chen Yun then understood what the situation was all about.
The founder of Nanping is called Gao Jixing.
When he was young, he used to be a slave in the household of Zhu Wen's adopted son, Zhu Yu Rang.
He then followed in the south and north campaigns, accumulating numerous military achievements, and eventually became a warlord who held power over a region.
Later, the Later Liang was overthrown by the Later Tang, and Gao Jixing courted the Later Tang Zhuangong Li Cunxu, and was awarded the title of "Nanping King."
Exactly for this reason, the Nanping regime emerged.
Although the Nanping regime was established, it was small in territory, consisting of only three prefectures, and the collected taxes were insufficient.
Therefore, Gao Jixing exhausted all his brainpower and came up with a way to make money: highway robbery.
Jingnan served as a necessary route for the various states in the south to pay tribute to the central Chinese dynasties.
This allowed Gao Jixing to thrive, seizing a great deal of goods.
About two years ago, the Former Shu was overthrown by the Later Tang.
The Later Tang's Li Jicheng plundered forty thousand gold and silk worth from the Shu region.
They sent ships down the river to Luoyang, which passed through Gao Jixing's territory.
Gao Jixing was just worried about not having enough money to spend. Upon hearing this news, he immediately intercepted the ships and looted them with his troops.
Upon hearing this news, the Later Tang's Li Shizun was furious and sent someone to demand compensation from Gao Jixing.
To his surprise, Gao Jixing acted foolishly and defiantly, refusing to admit anything.
Li Shizun had no choice but to swallow his anger again.
Unexpectedly, Gao Jixing took advantage of the situation and asked for two prefectures as a gift from Li Shizun.
At that time, the Later Tang's position was also unstable.
Li Shizun was indeed trying to gain the favor of Gao Jixing at that time, and agreed to his request.
However, the governors of the two prefectures were still appointed by Li Shizun.
Unexpectedly, Gao Jixing was brazen and audacious. After obtaining the two prefectures, he actually drove out the two prefectural governors appointed by Li Shizun and replaced them with his own nephews and nieces.
Li Shizun faced Gao Jixing's despicable behavior with great anger and ordered to strip him of all titles and honors. He then commanded Shan Nan Dong Dao Node Guan Liu Xun to attack from the north, Dong Chuan Node Guan Dong Jiang to attack from the west, and the King of Chu Ma Shen to attack from the south, thus encircling Nanping on three sides.
Li Shizun's well-laid plans did not turn out as he had intended.
Firstly, Dong Zhang did not heed the call to action and did not deploy his troops.
Ma Shen only sent the commander of troops to water forces, Xu De Xun, to garrison Yuezhou and observe the situation passively.
Faced with Liu Xun's offensive, Gao Jixing firmly defended the Jiangling Mansion and refused to engage in battle. At the same time, he sent a letter to the Wu Kingdom seeking help.
Xu Wen was quite active and immediately dispatched his fleet to go upstream.
Li Shizun's strategy of attacking from three sides suddenly turned into a joint attack by Gao Jixing and Xu Wen against Liu Xun's forces.
Actually, at this point, Liu Xun could still struggle with the offensive.
Who would have thought that Liang Zhen stepped in and conjured the wind and rain, causing the Jiangling area to enter the rainy season prematurely. This caused many of Liu Xun's northern soldiers to fall ill.
The Later Tang court naturally had a group of cultivators who joined the Warring States for help.
Li Shizun immediately requested the cultivators to join the battle.
Later, Cai Rujin and a group of cultivators rushed to Jiangling.
Unfortunately, they were easily repelled by Liang Zhen alone.
After hearing the detailed account, Chen Yun blinked and asked, "This Liang Zhen, how long did he make it rain in Jiangling?"
Cai Rujin carefully recounted, "It was about a month."
It rained for a month straight?
It seems that Liang Zhen is no ordinary person.
Chen Yun can infer that Liang Zhen's cultivation might be in the mid-stage of Master, and his cultivation level is higher than his own in terms of status.
That explains why Cai Rujin and the other cultivators were not able to fight back.
Chen Yun felt assured in his mind, "Alright, you can stay here for the night. Tomorrow, I'll go there and resolve it quickly, defeat Liang Zhen for you, and make sure he never dares to help Nanping use his abilities again."
Cai Rujin asked carefully, "Master, will you bring your disciples and divine weapons with you to defeat Liang Zhen?"
Chen Yun snorted derisively and said, "Why would I need to bring my disciples and divine weapons?"
Cai Rujin awkwardly smiled, "Just asked out of curiosity."
Cai Rujin really asked out of curiosity?
Clearly, it was not.
It's evident that Cai Rujin has long been aware of the remarkable feats Chen Yun has achieved over the years and knows that this young master uncle now has an illustrious reputation.
However, in these remarkable events, Chen Yun's disciples and divine warriors often play a significant role.
Therefore, Cai Rujin guesses that Chen Yun's greatest combat power comes from the disciples and divine warriors he has gathered from somewhere, and that his own personal strength may be average.
Why does Cai Rujin have such an idea?
The main reason is that Cai Rujin and Chen Yun have been separated for too long, and his impression still remains from the time at Daoist Observatory.
At that time, Chen Yun hadn't even reached the level of a low-level mage.
Even if it's been over two decades or thirty years since then.
Cai Rujin still doesn't think Chen Yun has reached a profound level of cultivation.
After all, Cai Rujin is also a practitioner of the internal elixir art.
Knowing the rapid progress of this cultivation method.
His current extraordinary talent and quality have allowed him to cultivate for over a hundred years, but only just barely touched the edge of Master-level cultivation.
So, Cai Rujin guesses that even if Chen Yun has made rapid progress, he is currently at most on par with his cultivation level, or slightly higher, like an early Master-level cultivator, but certainly not a match for Liang Zhen.
Yeah, he wouldn't dare to use techniques like observing one's Qi to test the uncle, so naturally he wouldn't know Chen Yun's true cultivation level.
Fine, even if Cai Rujin had really used the art of observing one's Qi, Chen Yun's current realm is indeed in the early stage of Master-level cultivation, consistent with his guess.
To be precise, Cai Rujin doesn't know how powerful Chen Yun's combat power really is, which is why he asked whether to bring his disciples and divine warriors along.
He's afraid that Chen Yun might not be able to handle it.
But now Chen Yun has said he won't bring his disciples and divine warriors.
Cai Rujin dare not ask too many questions out loud, but he is extremely worried in his heart.
...
Chen Yun had Wu Xingde arrange a guest room for Cai Rujin, while he returned to the inner courtyard.
He found Wang Siyan, who was sewing him a new outfit, "Siyan, I'm going out for a trip tomorrow. I should be back in one or two days. You should stay at home nicely and try to go out as little as possible when I'm not here."
Wang Siyan put down the needlework and smiled, "Master Yun, you can rest assured that I don't like to go out and expose myself."
Chen Yun grunted and sat on the chair by the door, casually asking, "I've been staying in Luoyang for the past few years. What do you think I should do?"
To refine one's mind through worldly experiences, it's certainly not possible to stay at home and do nothing.
He hasn't thought of finding himself a "job" yet, so he's chatting with Wang Siyan.
Wang Siyan tilted her head and said, "What are you good at, Master Yun?"
Chen Yun smiled, "Don't you know what I'm good at?"
Wang Siyan pursed her lips and smiled, "My meaning is that you should choose a profession based on your abilities."
That's right.
Choose a profession based on what I'm good at.
Chen Yun carefully considered.
Chen Yun pondered carefully. He knew he had many skills, but it was impossible to enter the secular world to teach people about cultivation.
Moreover, he couldn't teach people how to wield weapons like a warrior.
After careful consideration, Chen Yun thought that it would be best for him to enter the secular world as a "teacher".
To teach children from poor families for free.
This way, not only can it refine one's mind, but it can also accumulate some good karma.
He had a general idea, "Siyan, after that, you can rent me a slightly larger house. I want to set up a private school for a few years, huh, the kind that doesn't charge tuition fees."
Wang Siyan hurriedly said, "Alright, I'll keep an eye out for it."
...
The next morning, at dawn.
As Chen Da arrived here, Chen Yun immediately set out with Cai Rujin to Jiangling.
Because Cai Rujin doesn't have the ability to travel quickly like Chao Ruojin's Gold-like Land Step.
Therefore, when they arrived, it was almost noon.
Chen Yun hadn't had the chance to meet Kong Xun, the Later Tang's Prime Minister in Charge of Military Affairs, who had come to replace Liu Xun in commanding the troops.
He followed Cai Rujin to the camp where cultivators lived.
There were about 20 or 30 cultivators in the camp, both male and female, old and young.
Upon seeing Cai Rujin and Chen Yun walk in, everyone, without a word, stood up abruptly.
Among them, an elderly man holding a dragon-headed cane asked with admiration, "Gentleman, are you Master Cai Rujin's senior uncle Chen Pu?"
Chen Yun nodded and said, "That's me."
As soon as the words fell, there was an immediate stir in the tent.
"Ah?"
"Is it really Master Chen Pu?"
"What, I actually got to see Master Chen Pu, who is renowned throughout the southern and northern regions?"
"Master Chen, your great reputation, we all know about it. Today, we are fortunate enough to meet you personally. I... I am really too excited."
"Master Chen, can I ask you some questions about cultivation?"
"Master Chen, I once saw your boundless technique in Dengzhou..."
A group of cultivators were all excited and surrounded Chen Yun.
Standing to the side, Cai Rujin was a bit stunned. Although he knew that his young uncle had made a name for himself far and wide, he really hadn't expected that Chen Yun would have such a high position in the hearts of these cultivators. As soon as he entered, these cultivators were like fans following their idols, continuously pursuing him without stop?
(End of Chapter)
