Chapter 748: Smoke and Misery

The next day, before dawn, all the disciples of the old Taoist in Qingling Villa got up early, changed clothes, washed and packed up, and then all the disciples took the morning class seriously.

Gao Hongqing actually got up early in his room, and kept looking at the limited Taoist clothes. In the end, he put on the one he wore yesterday. After all, it was the best clothes, and it looked more solemn.

When he went out, Gao Hongqing looked satisfied when he heard the disciples' voices, which were more orderly and powerful than before.

Walking to the front yard, all the disciples were practicing a set of slow-paced exercises while chanting, and the spells they recited were more powerful than before.

Seeing the old Taoist coming, all the disciples did not stop until they finished practicing the exercises several times. Then, under the leadership of the eldest brother, they gradually stopped and faced the old Taoist.

"Morning, Master~~~"

More than a dozen disciples said in unison, and Gao Hongqing nodded with satisfaction.

"Good, full of energy!"

The disciples' strong desire to perform today is not without reason. In addition to being excited after arriving in the capital, it is also because the master is going to the palace to meet the emperor, and he said that he would take two disciples with him.

This is really nervous and exciting. The disciples are very excited. They have been competing since last night, hoping that they can follow the master to the palace.

Of course, there is an exception, that is the eldest brother Zhuang Shengyi, who will definitely be taken by the master, so the others are competing for another quota.

"Master, breakfast is ready!" "Master, I have also checked the alchemy furnace, and the fire is stable!"

"Well, everything is good! Today, Shengyi and Bomin will accompany the master to meet the emperor!"

"Yes, Master!"

The eldest brother and one of the disciples responded loudly and excitedly, and the other disciples were immediately a little discouraged.

"What are you thinking about? You are all in the capital, pay attention!"

"Yes"

The disciples regained their spirits. They are all in the capital, and there will be plenty of good days in the future. Then they went to have breakfast with the master.

It was different when he came to the capital. Gao Hongqing no longer said the word "breakfast", but "breakfast".

Not long after he finished eating, a man came from the front yard. It was the deputy supervisor of the Sitianjian. Gao Hongqing hurried to greet him.

"Master Gao!"

The deputy supervisor saluted first. Gao Hongqing did not dare to be arrogant and hurried to return the salute.

"Oh, Lord Lu!"

After the deputy supervisor came in, he looked at the many Taoists who came out and the conspicuous alchemy furnace in the yard over there, and then approached and said.

"Are you ready, Taoist priest? We will be entering the palace soon. If possible, we must leave a good impression on the emperor!"

"Of course!"

"That's good. The carriage is outside. If it's convenient for you, let's set off now. Although there is still more than an hour, we can't let the emperor wait!"

"Yes, your Excellency is right! Shengyi, Bomin, follow me!"

"Yes, Master!"

The two disciples came over happily, and then Gao Hongqing and the deputy supervisor talked for a while, telling the disciples not to make trouble here, to take good care of the alchemy furnace, and then left the house and got on the carriage.

The carriage passed through the relatively deserted streets of the capital in the morning. When it approached the gate of the palace, the old Taoist priest and the two disciples began to get nervous.

However, the old Taoist priest suddenly had a feeling, and subconsciously lifted the curtain to look over there. It was another carriage approaching the palace gate.

"What's wrong with Taoist priest Gao?"

The deputy supervisor of the Sitianjian who was also in the carriage asked, and the old Taoist priest stepped aside half a body and pointed outside.

"That carriage gave me a very, uh, very special feeling."

The Taoist Gao actually wanted to say that he was very uncomfortable, but he changed his words when the words came to his lips. After all, this was in front of the palace.

The deputy supervisor leaned close to the side curtain and took a look.

"Oh, I forgot to tell Taoist Gao that it's not just you who are summoned to see the emperor today, but also some other magicians, who are also people that the court attaches great importance to. The rules of the law-appraising conference will be issued soon, and the emperor also wants to see the more extraordinary magicians first."

"So that's it!"

The old Taoist didn't say much. It turned out that it wasn't just him who was summoned. He suddenly felt a faint sense of crisis in his heart.

Sure enough, the two carriages entered the palace after being inspected by the imperial guards, and then several more carriages arrived in the palace, each accompanied by officials from the Sitianjian.

As soon as he entered the palace, the old Taoist felt a heavy feeling in his heart, and in the carriages behind, some people were wearing brocade clothes and some were wearing Taoist robes, and they also had a similar feeling.

There was another small court meeting today, but this one was over, but not all ministers had left.

At this moment, in the Imperial Garden, besides the emperor, there were also some ministers including Shangshu Zuo Pushe and Yu Ziye. They said they were appreciating plum blossoms together, but in fact, many ministers knew that the emperor wanted to see the master.

There was a faint plum fragrance in the Imperial Garden, and some special varieties of plum blossoms had already bloomed in this winter month.

The emperor walked in the Imperial Garden with officials, and some officials were talking behind him.

Shangshu Zuo Pushe walked to Yu Ziye.

"Sir Yu, Your Majesty is not really going to meet those so-called masters today, right?"

"Why does Prime Minister Zhou ask knowingly? The Judgment Conference is already the top priority of His Majesty, and this move is not surprising."

Yu Ziye's voice was normal, but Zhou Xiande felt that it was somewhat ironic, so he nodded and said nothing.

The emperor in front walked to a big plum tree, looked at the blooming flowers with a smile on his face, and suddenly looked to the side.

"Lord Sima, have the masters arrived?"

Sima Xiao walked a few steps closer.

"Return to Your Majesty, we have arrived."

"Um!"

The emperor turned around, and many ministers in the rear also stopped immediately.

"My dear friends, today coincides with the meeting. It just so happens that you will come with me to meet some of the high-level masters of our dynasty before the Dharma Appraisal Conference."

Without waiting for any reaction from the other officials, the emperor looked at Sima Xiao.

"Send them over."

"According to the order!"

Sima Xiao hurriedly left after saluting. The emperor and a group of ministers did not leave either. They were waiting under the plum blossom tree. The eunuchs even brought tables and chairs.

After a while, Sima Xiao came over one after another with a group of mages.

There were nine people in total. Gao Hongqing and his two disciples were counted as three people, and the Three Saints of Xiaoshan were also counted as three people. The other three came alone, strictly speaking, they were five places.

The emperor and ministers were either curious, disdainful, frowned or kept their normal expressions, but they all looked at the mage coming over, and they all saluted the emperor when they arrived.

"I/Pindao/I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

With a smile on his face, the emperor looked at everyone and nodded.

"Masters, there is no need to be polite. By the way, who is Taoist Master Gao?"

Gao Hongqing and his two disciples were overjoyed, and the former handed over again.

"Your Majesty, you are just a poor man!"

Although Taoist Master Gao was relatively plainly dressed, he was accompanied by two disciples. His style was not bad at all. He was nervous under the emperor's scrutiny, but he remained calm on the surface.

The surrounding mages also looked at Taoist Gao, wondering why this old Taoist with his disciples was valued by the emperor. In fact, none of the mages know the details of each other.

"I heard that Taoist Master is good at refining alchemy. Is this true?"

As soon as these words came out, several mages around were startled and took a second look at the humble Taoist and his party. Some officials in the court also frowned and couldn't help but make a few comments.

But Taoist people are not humble and do not say anything.

"Back to Your Majesty, Pindao's lineage of alchemy has been passed down for nearly three hundred years. He has been practicing it for many years. It has been passed down to Pindao for the 22nd generation. I don't dare to say that he has made many achievements, but he also thinks that he will not disgrace the master. inherited!"

The emperor's face showed joy.

"I heard that the Taoist priest brought an alchemy furnace, and the fire will not go out for thousands of miles. Is this true?"

Taoist Gao had a smile on his face.

"This is a treasure furnace passed down by a poor master. The fire in the furnace cannot be extinguished, and it will not be extinguished easily!"

"Okay, okay, I really want to experience Taoist Master's alchemy skills as soon as possible!"

The emperor said and looked at the other mages.

"I wonder what all the mages are capable of?"

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, one of the Three Saints of Xiao Shan took a step forward. This move was somewhat overreaching, but he seemed to be dismissive of the others and said to the emperor with his hands raised.

"Your Majesty, the plum blossoms in full bloom in the Royal Garden are really pleasing to the eye, but I heard that the best way to appreciate the plum blossoms is in the snow. Only in this way are they so beautiful. Let me show my humiliation and add some color to Your Majesty's Royal Garden!"

After the words fell, the Taoist turned his head and glanced at the two people behind him. They cast spells and formed seals, while he waved his sleeves toward the sky.

The clouds in the sky were thicker visible to the naked eye. Originally, the sun could still be seen, but it seemed a bit gloomy. When everyone was subconsciously looking into the sky, someone called out.

"Snowing!"

Only then did everyone realize that snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

"It's snowing!" "It's really snowing!" "There was a ray of sunshine just now!"

"Really?"

The emperor also looked shocked and even stood up.

"Is this a mage casting a spell to make snow fall from the sky?"

The man and the two people behind him had proud smiles on their faces and bowed again.

"I've made a fool of myself in front of His Majesty and all your lords!"

Directly changing the weather to make it snow, the impact of this method was too great. Even Yu Ziye and some ministers looked shocked. This is no longer a mortal method, right?

Even Gao Hongqing and the other three mages' hearts were beating wildly. Although it was just a light snowfall, changing the weather was already a very high level of practice. They didn't even hear the other party reciting any spells.

"I wonder how many mages are there?"

When the emperor asked about his name, the last two of the three people also took a step forward and saluted and reported their names one after another.

"The poor Taoist Wang Yi." "The poor Taoist Xu Zhi." "The poor Taoist Ke Fu."

"We are the Three Saints of Xiaoshan!"

"Okay, okay, these Taoist priests are so capable! What skills do these mages have?"

The three people looked at each other subconsciously, and each told some of the magicians' spells, but they could not help but brag about them. Some were inconvenient to show, and some used some small tricks to make the emperor laugh.

Some of them used the "invisibility technique" to blind their eyes, which also made the emperor and other ministers marvel.

Some people even summoned ghosts in the imperial garden, and ghosts appeared in bottles they kept with them, scaring some ministers into screaming.

However, the terrifying appearance of the ghost changed instantly and turned into a graceful and beautiful woman, dancing gracefully in front of the emperor and the ministers. The size of it made many people stare.

Although these methods were even obviously evil, the emperor was very excited to see them.

It was also at this moment, in the nearby study room of Wenqing Palace.

Aroused by the smoky atmosphere in the palace, the Emperor's Sword, which had been passed down by many generations of kings and had been hanging in the imperial study for more than 20 years since the death of Emperor Wuzong, emitted a clear sharp cry.

"Buzz——"

The sound of the sword rang out, as if an invisible wave spread out, and the wizard who was shaking the ghost had goose bumps all over his body, and his ghost instantly shrank back into the ghost-raising bottle.

The light snow in the sky also stopped, and the three saints of Xiaoshan felt cold.

Five of the seven wizards who met the saint, except for the two disciples of the Taoist master, were silent at this moment.