Chapter 16 Flying Boat

Early the next morning, the owner of the house told Qi Xuansu that Qi Niang had left.

Qi Xuansu was not surprised, as Qi Niang was always elusive. After breakfast, he also left this contact point and prepared to go to the Taoist ancestral temple.

The Taoist ancestral temple is located in West Kunlun.

Kunlun is the ancestor of all mountains and the origin of the dragon veins in the world. It is located at the end of the Western Regions west of Liangzhou, tens of thousands of miles away from Huainan Prefecture where Qi Xuansu is now.

It takes at least several months to go from the Central Plains to Kunlun, which is extremely inconvenient. Moreover, the road is desolate and many Taoist disciples regard returning to the ancestral temple to report as the most difficult task.

In response to this, the Taoist sect added flying boats in various places.

The so-called flying boat, as the name suggests, is a large ship that can travel on the sea of ​​clouds. Its manufacturing process is very complicated. It is said that the skeleton of a dragon is used as the keel of the boat, and the dragon ball of the dragon is used as the drive, and then various talismans and formations are used to make the large ship leave the ground and fly in the sky like a dragon. Therefore, the flying boat is also called a dragon boat.

With the flying boat, it only takes one day and one night to go to Kunlun from all over the world.

For this reason, the Taoist sect hunted dragons on a large scale, causing the dragons in the near sea and rivers and lakes to flee to the remote sea where there are few people. Now it is difficult to see them.

Now there are 20 flying boats in the Taoist sect, each of which can carry 100 people. Due to the restrictions on the number of flights and the number of people, non-Daoist disciples cannot take the flying boat. Even if they are disciples of the Taoist sect, they cannot take the flying boat for free.

Jiaolongs love water, and the dragon ball needs to absorb water to replenish its own consumption. If it is on the sea with rich water vapor, the flying boat is like sailing with the wind, and the consumption is very small. If it is on dry land with thin water vapor, the flying boat is like sailing against the wind, and the consumption is very large. Kunlun is located in the northwest inland, and the water vapor is scarce. In order to ensure that the flying boat can reach Kunlun smoothly, it is necessary to use "Xuanhuang" to replenish the water vapor of the dragon ball.

The so-called "Xuanhuang" is mentioned in the "Jiuding Shendan Jingjue": "Take ten catties of mercury and twenty catties of lead, put them in the cauldron, and put them under a fierce fire. The lead and mercury will spit out their essence, which is purple. Use an iron spoon to collect it, and it is called Xuanhuang."

"Xuanhuang" belongs to gold, and gold produces water, so it becomes the "tonic" of the dragon ball and the fuel of the flying boat.

The Daoist sect has set up a Xuanhuang Division to refine "Xuanhuang" to maintain the operation of the flying boat. Many Taoists are engaged in this kind of business. Each person's monthly salary is three yuan of Taiping coins, which is thirty-six yuan of Taiping coins a year. According to the calculation that a family of three spends ten yuan of Taiping coins a year, it can not only support his wife and children, but also have a surplus of more than twenty yuan, which can be said to be extremely generous.

There are more than a thousand Taoists in the Xuanhuang Division, and the annual labor expenditure alone is nearly 40,000 Taiping coins.

The price of raw materials is not cheap either. Not counting the consumption of lead and coal kerosene, one yuan of Taiping coins can buy six catties of mercury, and twenty catties of mercury can refine one tael of "Xuanhuang". It takes about 1,800 catties of "Xuanhuang" for a round trip of the flying boat.

Because of this, the price of taking a flying boat is quite expensive. Each person needs one hundred Taiping coins for a one-way trip. Unless you are on official business and hold relevant certificates, you can ride for free.

Qi Xuansu had no errands to do. If he wanted to take a flying boat, he had to spend 100 Taiping coins to buy a boat ticket. If he was reluctant or had a tight budget, he could only rush to Kunlun by land, and he might not arrive in time before August 15.

After several considerations, Qi Xuansu decided to take a flying boat to Kunlun Zuting.

In addition, flying boats were not always available. Only on the first and fifteenth day of each month would there be a flying boat to Kunlun Zuting. If you miss it, you have to wait for half a month.

Today is July 13th, and there are only two days left until July 15th.

Fortunately, Huainan Prefecture is the capital of a state, and there is a flying boat port on Taiping Mountain outside the city. It is not far away, and it only takes half a day's journey.

Qi Xuansu did not dare to delay and immediately left the city to Taiping Mountain.

Although Qi Xuansu had never been to Taiping Mountain, it was not difficult to find. In addition to its function as a flying boat port, it was also the location of Luzhou Daofu, and there was a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest in charge.

Taiping Mountain is full of mountains, with stone steps built from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside. After Qi Xuansu arrived at Taiping Mountain, he climbed up along the stone steps in the mountains. After walking for about an hour, he could vaguely see the continuous terraces with clear layers. From a distance, it looked like steps built for the gods in the sky. At this time, many Taoists were working in the terraces.

After another journey, the mountain road became more and more steep, and it was ups and downs along the mountain. Finally, he came to a cliff. There was a huge hanging basket here, which was almost the size of an ordinary carriage. The top of the hanging basket was connected to an iron lock, which led up to the vast clouds and mist.

There was a huge cross-shaped mechanism next to the hanging basket, which needed to be turned with both hands. A ninth-grade Taoist priest was guarding the mechanism.

After Qi Xuansu showed his certificate, he walked into the hanging basket. The ninth-grade Taoist priest next to him turned the mechanism, and then heard the "click" sound of the mechanism, and the hanging basket began to rise slowly. It turned out that there was a noose winch on it, which pulled the hanging basket up.

The basket kept rising. Qi Xuansu looked up and saw only white mist. After a while, he could see clouds floating over his head. After another while, he was in the clouds and looked down. He could only see a vast expanse of white and nothing.

After a long time, the basket stopped. He had reached the top of the mountain. The first thing that caught his eye was a huge archway made of white jade. On the archway were four golden characters "Peace and Worry-free", which shone brightly in the sun.

Ordinary people would think it was a philistine who actually made the names of Jin Yuan and Yin Yuan into a memorial arch, but those who knew the inside story would not think so. They would only think that the Taoist sect was grand and majestic, because the names of Jin Yuan and Yin Yuan came from this building. You can get the archway. It can be said that this archway came first, and then worry-free money and peace money came.

Not far from the archway is a huge wheel, which is ten feet high. It is slowly turning and flowing continuously. The giant wheel is connected to many long unicorn arms, leading to nowhere.

It was Qi Xuansu's first time coming here, and he felt extremely shocked.

The top of the mountain is the same as below. There is also a cross-shaped mechanism next to the huge winch. There is also a ninth-grade Taoist priest standing there. He is already not surprised to see Qi Xuansu's appearance. He introduces: "That is the Tianji Wheel. Only Taoist brother can do it." It is because of this thing that there are nine Tiangang Wheels in the mountain, which maintain the operation of the entire Taiping Mountain. "

Qi Xuansu didn't understand the word "run" very well. It was simply the word "run". Of course he knew what it meant. As the saying goes, "the sun and the moon move, one cold and one hot". To put it bluntly, it means running over and over again, but the mountain It is a dead thing and cannot move like the sun, moon and stars. How can it move?

But he didn't want to show his timidity and continued to move forward without asking further questions.

After passing the archway, there is a straight stone road, and then there is an extremely long step.

When he got closer, Qi Xuansu suddenly discovered that these steps made of unknown materials were actually movable and divided into two. The left side moved up and the right side moved down. As long as he stood on the steps, he didn't have to take a step. It will go up and down with the steps under your feet. A clear "click click" sound came from the bottom of the steps. Qi Xuansu looked carefully and saw through the gaps between the steps that gears of various sizes were rotating continuously.

Qi Xuansu was even more surprised.

Are these steps alive? Is it also because of that Tianji Wheel?

In the blink of an eye, the steps have reached the end, and there is a magnificent palace, three feet high, with carved beams and painted pillars, and the main color is white, just like a palace in the sky. There is a huge sundial and a huge hourglass on the left and right in front of the door to calculate the time. Stepping into the palace, the floor is paved with black marble, which is like a mirror and can reflect people's shadows.

Qi Xuansu accidentally raised his head and glanced up. The dome of the palace was actually a star map. He didn't know what kind of material it was made of. The big and small stars not only emitted faint light, but also moved slowly according to a certain pattern. At this time, During the day, it is not obvious. If it is night, I don’t know what a magnificent scene it is.

At this time, Qi Xuansu was like a country bumpkin entering the palace, feeling dazzled.

In any case, Qi Xuansu, a seventh-grade Taoist priest, has seen some things in the world. Even if he is like this, it is conceivable that if ordinary people come here, they will definitely think that this place is a fairyland in heaven. It is no wonder that some people call the Taoist ancestral court "Heaven". Bai Yujing.

Qi Xuansu calmed down, looked around, and found a black marble counter not far away, and walked quickly over.

Standing behind the counter was a beautiful female crown who was also a ninth-grade Taoist priest. Seeing Qi Xuansu showing the ultimatum, she smiled and asked, "Is this fellow Taoist going to the Kunlun Ancestral Court?"

Qi Xuansu had already put the prepared large ticket in his sleeve pocket. At this time, he took out a large ticket with a faint scent of ink and said in a deep voice: "A boat ticket to the ancestral court." ”

"Okay." Nu Guan took the official ticket with a denomination of one hundred yuan Taiping money, skillfully took out a special jade plaque and handed it to Qi Xuansu, "Fellow Taoist, please go to the back hall to wait for the flying boat. Please show it when boarding the boat. Fellow Taoist's ultimatum and this jade tablet."

Qi Xuansu took the jade plaque and looked through it. There was nothing surprising about it, except that the number "sixty-three" was embossed on the front, which meant that Qi Xuansu was the sixty-third person to take this flying boat.

Qi Xuansu put away the jade plaque and followed the direction of the female crown's finger to the back hall.

When I came to the apse, I suddenly felt enlightened.

The entire north-facing wall of the apse is not a masonry structure, but replaced with Western glass, so the scene outside the hall can be clearly seen.

I saw a lake outside the hall, shining with colorful lights in the sun.

Inside the hall are futons arranged like a chessboard. At this time, there are many people sitting in twos and threes. They are all Taoist disciples, mostly sixth-grade Taoist priests and fifth-grade Taoist priests. There are also a few fourth-grade wine-sacrifice Taoist priests, like Qi Xuansu. Seventh-grade Taoist priests are rare. After all, one hundred Taiping coins is not a small amount. With the wealth of a seventh-grade Taoist priest, it is not easy for him to be so extravagant.

However, no one dared to underestimate Qi Xuansu. The seventh-grade Taoist priest who could spend one hundred Taiping coins to ride on the flying boat was going there again.

The Kunlun Ancestral Court probably has a great background.

Many people just glanced at Qi Xuansu and then closed their eyes again, closing their eyes to rest.

Qi Xuansu sat down cross-legged in an inconspicuous corner, closed his eyes and rested, waiting for the flying boat to arrive.

It is not difficult for an innate person to meditate for two days without eating or drinking.

A day passed like this, and suddenly someone said: "The flying boat has arrived."