Chapter 173: Buzhou Mountain (End)
Lu Ren had never thought that he had only wanted to get down the mountain safely, but in the blink of an eye he had turned into the strongest terrorist in history. Faced with such a bizarre development, Lu Ren himself felt flustered.
The first priority at the moment is definitely to break the current embarrassing situation.
In order to prevent his teammates from saying anything shocking, Lu Ren quickly lowered his head and called out, "A Bing."
But A Bing did not respond to Lu Ren, the tentacles were still wreaking havoc, and Lu Ren's height did not drop at all.
Lu Ren called out again uncertainly: "A Bing?"
A Bing still didn't respond. Not only did it not respond, but the twisting of its tentacles became even more violent. Lu Ren sat on the pink rabbit, swaying from side to side, at a loss for a moment.
Because within the tentacles of the ruins, Sanqing, Siyuan and Dongjun seemed to be struggling - let's call it a struggle. As for whether it was a struggle or using the cover of the ruins to take revenge, only the parties involved could tell.
Although ruins are rare, a single one is not that difficult to deal with.
Although there are unexpected changes, they are still within the controllable range.
From the perspective of the people in the ruins, the biggest threat on the field is still each other, so even if they are engulfed by the tentacles, these people are still using their spiritual power. The reason is that they are all too strong. If they are not strong enough, Ah Bing can just retract the tentacles obediently.
But when these great gods started to make a fuss, in an instant the extremely masculine and masculine energy began to run rampant in A Bing's stomach, just like countless atomic bombs exploding in A Bing's body.
A Bing felt pain and naturally struggled and twisted.
However, A Bing's appearance itself was confusing enough. As he struggled, his outer tentacles twisted and waved in the air even more violently, even breaking several giant white jade pillars.
On several occasions, he indiscriminately attacked everyone present without distinguishing between friend or foe.
Who would believe that such a ferocious monster wasn't here to cause trouble?
Donghuang Taiyi, who was originally laughing, gradually stopped smiling when he saw that Lu Ren had not yet taken back the remains. He helped to persuade him, "Ah Ren, although these celestial beings are really fucked up, you must not make a mistake of principle."
Having said that, Donghuang Taiyi had a new respect for Lu Ren this time: "He usually looks like a good guy, but I didn't expect him to be so arrogant behind the scenes." Donghuang Taiyi looked at the twisted tentacles of the ruins, "He is worthy of being my brother-in-law."
At the same time, Lingbao hurried and finally succeeded in following Lu Ren's footsteps to this place.
Even though Lingbao was well-informed, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide when he saw the octopus in front of him stretching its tentacles like a monster: "Wow, what a big octopus."
Seeing his child looking so surprised, Li Boyang couldn't help but correct him, "What octopus? That's a ruin."
Ling Bao nodded: "Yes, yes, Xu Hai, his tentacles look delicious."
Li Boyang:?
After all this talk, aren't you still looking at an octopus?
The people below were still in the mood to joke, but Lu Renke, who was sitting on A Bing's head, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot: "A Bing, A Bing——"
A Bing was so busy feeling the pain that he had no time to pay attention to Lu Ren.
Lu Ren watched as a white jade screen on the east side was smashed by A Bing and a white jade desk on the west side was broken, and he felt like he was about to stop breathing: if he were asked to pay for it, all his savings over the years and his lifetime salary would probably not be enough.
Deposits: Danger!
Lu Ren touched his heart and comforted himself: They are all external things and are not important.
What’s important is that the entire Bureau of Investigation of Foreign Households, from the generation of Shen Huang to the present, has made great efforts and held great expectations to finally get to this day, and this situation must not be destroyed by him.
At this moment, Lu Ren happened to touch the hard object in the pocket of his jacket - it was the wishing box that Shan Gui specially asked him to bring with him. It was the interest he had deposited in Tianlu Bank for so many years. It is said that as long as he silently recites his wish in his heart at the moment of opening it, his wish will come true.
"I hope all this can have a happy ending." Thinking so, Lu Ren solemnly opened the wishing box.
Suddenly, there was a huge golden light.
Humans are very small, weak, and have a very short lifespan. But they are also very powerful, because as long as they have a firm belief, they can pass on the torch and set the blaze ablaze. Perhaps because they are so weak, they are more determined than any other race.
Something strange happened in the Sanqing Hall. The people who were just watching the excitement suddenly felt something was wrong. They looked at each other and flew towards the top of the ruins without thinking twice. However, they were stopped by violent tentacles halfway through the flight.
It turned out that although A Bing was in pain, he still did not forget to continue protecting Lu Ren, and the violent tentacles actually stopped everyone present from approaching Lu Ren without distinguishing between friend and foe.
The most anxious one among them was Qilin Cub, because Lu Ren and A Bing were both his most important people. However, Qilin Cub was the youngest, had the least combat experience, and was the first to lead the charge. He was accidentally hit in the face by A Bing's tentacle and was thrown out.
Just when Qilin Cub thought he was going to hit the ground with his handsome face, a force came from his arm. Qilin Cub looked back and found that Lingbao, who had built a snowman with him before, was standing behind him and smiling at him: "Lu Yang, are you okay?"
The Qilin cub shook his head. Although his face hurt, he was a little man and couldn't lose face in front of his friends. The Qilin cub wiped his nose. Although tears were already in his eyes, he still pretended to be calm and said, "Of course it's okay. This little pain is nothing."
Lu Ren, who was standing on the top of the tentacle, had no time to care which friendly soldier A Bing had accidentally injured, because in front of Lu Ren, a huge water mirror was spreading out.
This water mirror looked extremely familiar to Lu Ren.
Sure enough, in the next second, a more familiar-looking blade was placed across Lu Ren's neck.
Lu Ren was surprised. He looked at the water mirror and could only see the knife being held on a slender bronze wrist that passed through the water mirror. The person holding the knife was still hiding behind the water mirror, so he couldn't see his face. But then, he heard the girl's smiling voice coming from behind the water mirror: "Are you demolishing houses again?"
Lu Ren immediately recognized the owner of the voice: "Maitreya!"
Although the previous encounter with Maitreya was not perfect, Lu Ren still felt happy from the bottom of his heart to have an extra helper at this critical juncture, even though this helper was holding a knife against his neck for some reason.
"Fool." Maitreya's true body walked out of the water mirror. Looking at Lu Ren who was still happy even with a knife against him, he couldn't help but said, "Have you forgotten how badly I tricked you before?"
Lu Ren was just panicked, not stupid: "Of course I remember! But, didn't you come to help me?"
This shouldn't be the case. He just made a wish that the incident at Mount Buzhou could be resolved perfectly. The water mirror appeared after he made the wish. In theory, Maitreya should be here to help him... right?
Maitreya glanced at Lu Ren, speechless about his unprovoked self-confidence, but Maitreya said nothing in the end. He just sank his energy into his Dantian and shouted in all directions: "Mitreya, the governor of Shanjian City, is here to bother you."
The sound spread throughout the venue like ripples, successfully reaching the ears of everyone present, including the five people who were making a fuss inside the ruins.
In an instant, the fight inside the ruins stopped.
Because at this moment, everyone realized that this meeting would definitely change the future landscape of the Ten Realms - it had never happened in a million years that the four realms had gathered together.
The inside of the ruins became quiet, and A Bing gradually calmed down.
Lu Ren took this opportunity to pat the pink bear and called out again: "A Bing."
This time, A Bing successfully heard Lu Ren's shout. A Bing instantly shrank back into the pink bunny. As A Bing returned to the nest, Lu Ren's height became lower and lower, and finally he successfully landed on the ground.
Sanqing, Siyuan and Dongjun, who seemed to be covered by tentacles, were naturally safe and sound. It was no problem for them to fight ten Xuhai alone. When the black tentacles retreated, the five people were seen standing tall, without any trace of embarrassment. But the eyes of the five people were not very friendly. They were looking at Maitreya beside Lu Ren, and Maitreya looked back at them without fear.
Finally, it was Shangqing who spoke first and asked Maitreya, "I wonder why the governor of Shanjian City came here from afar?"
Maitreya replied, "I came to collect my debt." After that, she glared at Lu Ren fiercely, and then said, "I also came to repay my gratitude."
Maitreya gasped while speaking, and when she finished the first half of the sentence, Lu Ren's heart almost stopped for a beat: "It's over, it's over, you're not coming to me to collect the debt from Mount Xumi." That would be like inviting a wolf into the house, making him vulnerable from both sides.
But fortunately, the second half of Maitreya's words finally made Lu Ren breathe a sigh of relief: "That's a close call, it seems that the wishing box is still useful."
Given Maitreya's tsundere personality, it would be enough to just listen to the second half of her words.
Hearing this answer, Shangqing couldn't help but frowned - the addition of Shanjian City Realm Bureau made the situation suddenly complicated.
Originally, the Buzhou Mountain Boundary Bureau had already won over Jiuyou. As long as the two sides put pressure on Kunlun at the same time, no matter how they talked, the result would be more or less biased. Judging from Maitreya's attitude, the Shanjian City Boundary Bureau seemed to favor Kunlun, so the situation became two against two. Although on the surface they seemed evenly matched, the Jiuzhou Island Mountain and River Cauldron was in Kunlun's hands, and the result would only be worse.
Moreover, Jiuyou...will he really compromise with Buzhou Mountain for half a piece of the Ghost King Seal?
Thinking of this, Shangqing looked at Bian Cheng who was standing aside watching the excitement. In Shangqing's eyes, that face that was exactly the same as Lu Ren's also explained some seemingly true and false problems.
Bian Cheng noticed Shang Qing's gaze and even performed an exaggerated Western etiquette like a gentleman, but Shang Qing did not react at all and just looked away as if nothing had happened. The four realms had been scheming against each other for a long time, and it was not a big deal if someone backstabbed someone.
In fact, there were few things that surprised Shangqing.
While thinking this , Shangqing saw his Turbid Realm spiritual treasure sitting on the steps and playing cat's tangle with the Qilin cub.
Shangqing:?
Shangqing's first reaction was to look back at Taiqing and Yuqing. Yuqing and Taiqing were still observing Maitreya seriously. Seeing this, Shangqing breathed a sigh of relief without making a sound. He couldn't help but scold Lingbao in his heart: "Poor child, he failed at the critical moment."
Immediately, Shangqing returned to his serious look.
The Three Pure Ones looked at each other, brainstorming wildly in their heads.
Lu Ren had no idea of the undercurrents going on beneath the surface.
Unlike the fearless and rebellious girl Maitreya, Lu Ren is just an ordinary person who has just gotten into trouble. All he wants now is to find a place to dig a hole and bury himself in it.
While Maitreya and the Three Pure Ones were confronting each other, Lu Ren quietly moved behind Si Yuan and Dong Jun and whispered, "I'm sorry, I..."
Si Yuan interrupted Lu Ren's next words: "It's not your fault."
Lu Ren thought Si Yuan was comforting him, and continued, "But, I..."
But before Lu Ren could finish his next words, Dong Jun interrupted him: "Si Yuan is right, it's not your fault. Rather, thanks to you, the situation is now more favorable to us."
Lu Ren was very happy to hear that he had helped: "Really?"
Dong Jun smiled and said, "Of course it's true."
Dongjun's eyes and eyebrows were relaxed, and he didn't look like he was lying to comfort Lu Ren. Seeing this, Lu Ren finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had no intention of staying in the center of the storm, so he walked towards Yinglong and Lu Qingzhou. He instinctively felt at ease standing next to his own people in an unfamiliar environment.
Of course, Lu Ren was not so calm that he could just pretend nothing happened. He could feel that all eyes were focused on him. Some of them made Lu Ren feel like a thorn in his back, but he could only ignore everyone's attention and walked forward with his head down, finally standing behind Yinglong, Lu Qingzhou and Donghuang Taiyi.
The three of them also cooperated and used their height advantage to shield Lu Ren from those scrutinizing eyes.
Lu Ren finally got a chance to catch his breath.
At this time, Lu Ren dared to secretly look out from the gaps between people. Only then did he realize that this place was full of old acquaintances. Even Bian Cheng, who was standing not far away, was smiling and waving at him.
Lu Ren, who had stretched , was successfully frightened back by Bian Cheng's smile.
"Probably not holding back anything good."
However, realizing that there were so many acquaintances there, Lu Ren's originally panicked heart calmed down completely. He boldly looked in the direction of Sanqing, wanting to see what these enemies from outside the Household Registration Investigation Bureau looked like.
What Lu Ren didn't expect was that while he was looking at Taiqing, Taiqing was also looking at him.
Lu Ren saw Tai Qing's deep eyes, and just this encounter made Lu Ren suddenly feel that the air around his body became heavy, and the whole person felt as if he was immersed in sticky water, and it became difficult to breathe. His breathing became rapid, and he gasped for air, but it still didn't work. He knelt on one knee on the ground with a weak breath.
The people standing in front of Lu Ren soon noticed his abnormality. They called out Lu Ren's name: "Ah Ren, Ah Ren."
But Lu Ren could no longer hear clearly. He felt a sharp noise playing automatically in his ear canal, causing him to have no time to care about the concern of the people around him.
The commotion here was hard not to attract other people's attention. Seeing this, Si Yuan frowned and said to Tai Qing: "What do you mean, Tai Qing Jun?"
"He is a human who trespassed into the Sanqing Temple. Why shouldn't I punish him lightly and warn him severely?"
What Si Yuan didn't expect was that someone answered Tai Qing's question faster than him.
Li Boyang said: "Of course you can, but please calm down, Taiqing Jun. He is just a human being and cannot withstand too much pressure."
Shangqing didn't know what Taiqing was thinking after hearing this, but Shangqing himself breathed a sigh of relief and thought, "Fortunately, fortunately, I'm not the only one whose elbow is bent outward in the turbid realm."
At the same time, two barriers fell on Lu Ren, isolating him from Taiqing's pressure.
One of the barriers came from Maitreya, who seemed determined not to give the Buzhou Mountain Boundary Division a good look: "So this is how Buzhou Mountain treats guests. Today I have really opened my eyes."
The other barrier came from Biancheng.
Facing Taiqing's gaze, Bian Cheng just smiled, as if everything was self-evident.
Originally, Taiqing just wanted to give Lu Ren a warning and test the positions of Jiuyou and Shanjian City. But now, there was nothing he didn't understand. He was now in a state of being attacked from both sides.
At this point, the Buzhoushan Boundary Bureau, who had recognized the reality, was finally willing to sit down at the negotiation table, lowering their stance and discussing what to do in the future.
Taiqing waved his hand, and the Sanqing Hall, which had almost become a ruin, instantly returned to its original state. The difference was that the small table originally used for banquets disappeared, and was replaced by a long conference table.
The length of the conference table would naturally determine the seating arrangement, and people who were not important would naturally sit closer to the side, so Lu Ren consciously took Qilinzi and A Bing to sit at the end. Unexpectedly, halfway through the meeting, he heard Si Yuan say, "Lu Ren, please sit forward."
Lu Ren stopped, but hesitated: "Not good."
Yinglong then said, "What's wrong with that? The Jiuzhou Island Mountain and River Tripod is yours now. Who is more qualified than you to sit in the front? Does anyone have any objection?"
Maitreya and Bian Cheng both sat down as if nothing had happened, showing no objection at all, as if this arrangement was the most reasonable.
Sanqing already understood the situation on the field, so naturally he wouldn't say anything.
The first joint meeting of the four departments officially began.
The meeting was actually hastily convened, and the number of people who came was unexpected. Naturally, no one could prepare a speech, so they got straight to the point at the beginning. All tricks were ineffective, so the Three Pure Ones simply laid their cards on the table: "You return the Mountain and River Cauldron of Kyushu Island, and we promise that the Four Realms will not interfere with each other and will have no more dealings with each other."
Dong Jun said, "What should we do if you tear up the agreement after we return the Kyushu Island Shanchuan Ding?"
This worry is indeed not groundless speculation.
Yuqing said, "So what do you want?"
Si Yuan's deep voice came: "The four realms officials joined forces to reinforce the barrier. If you want to open the barrier set by the combined power of the four realms officials again, you can only gather four realm officials again. You can't move rashly."
The spiritual power composition of different realm officials is different, so the barriers they cast are naturally different. The barrier set up by the four realm officials together has an ever-changing flow of spiritual energy, which naturally cannot be opened by a single realm official.
This was the best solution Shen Huang could think of at the time - close the door and lock it, with the key guarded by the four realm officials, which could effectively prevent any of the four parties from suddenly launching an attack.
Maitreya did not find this view easy: "Do you know how much spiritual power it takes to create a barrier that encompasses the ten realms?"
The Shanjian City Realm Office is still recuperating since the incident at Mount Xumi, so it is not easy to suddenly provide so much spiritual power.
The meeting was still going on and everyone was arguing about something.
Lu Ren didn't understand what was going on, so he could only stare blankly with his face in his hands. He only knew that after the general direction was set, everyone started to discuss the details of strengthening the barrier, and finally, to ensure that the four boundary officials would not interfere with each other.
Lu Ren couldn't help but think: If they don't interfere with each other, then wouldn't people in the future be able to experience the different scenery of the four realms like him? And they wouldn't be able to make so many strange friends.
Thinking of this, Lu Ren looked up at his friends from other realms—Maitreya, Bian Cheng, and Li Boyang.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, these people could barely be considered his friends. If the barrier was deployed, would he never see them again?
Lu Ren, his eyes wandering around the table, inadvertently saw Qilinzai and Lingbao sitting at the very end - they were passing notes to each other. Although Qilinzai and Lingbao thought they had done it perfectly, the smiles on their faces betrayed them successfully.
A thought came to Lu Ren's mind, and he murmured in a low voice: "No, the barrier is not the best solution."
In an instant, the verbal battles at the conference table stopped and everyone looked at Lu Ren.
Bian Cheng even asked directly: "Oh? Ah Ren, do you have any better ideas?"
Lu Ren didn't expect that these people's ears were so sharp, and he was a little confused for a moment.
However, having your thoughts heard may not necessarily be a bad thing.
When faced with questions, Lu Ren rarely gave any definite answers in his life. He would usually say: "Probably", "Maybe", "Possibly", "I'll try my best" ...
But at this moment Lu Ren raised his head, his eyes were more determined than ever before.
"Yes." Lu Ren said to everyone, "If possible, I think what the Four Realms Department should do is to jointly build a school instead of building a barrier, so that all the children from the ten realms can go in and study together."
This answer made Taiqing stunned for a moment, and then blurted out: "Ridiculous."
The races in the ten realms are all different, some have feuds, and some are natural enemies.
Compared to Taiqing's blunt response, Shangqing said more tactfully: "Although you have good intentions, do you know what will happen if a wild dog and braised pork are locked in a classroom?"
Lu Ren looked back at Shang Qing with clear eyes: "I don't know, but as a god, you must know, right?"
Shangqing naturally cannot make a conclusion either.
Lu Ren looked at the Lingbao and Qilin cub who seemed to understand but not quite, and continued: "Long-term isolation will only make the four realms unable to see each other clearly and demonize each other's existence. Over time, it will be difficult to see what the other realms are like. However, if we let children whose concepts have not yet been formed come into contact with each other and understand each other, they can rely on themselves to understand each other's true appearance. Maybe one day, the barriers will really disappear."
This statement was too idealistic, but before the Three Pure Ones spoke out in opposition, someone had already expressed their opinion.
"I agree." Bian Cheng was the first to raise his hand and speak. He still had a half-smile on his face, and it was hard to tell whether he was moved by Lu Ren's words or just wanted to watch the fun.
Maitreya was the second to raise his hand to vote: "I agree too." As long as the Shanjian City Boundary Bureau does not need to provide manpower and material resources, Maitreya will raise both hands in favor.
Needless to say, Si Yuan and Dong Jun, when Lu Ren started speaking, as long as they didn't interrupt him, it already made their attitude clear.
What can the Buzhou Mountain Realm Official, who has the Kyushu Island Mountain and River Tripod in his hands, say?
Finally, the Three Pure Ones also said, "Okay." They thought this was just a small compromise, but it was only after thousands of years that they realized for the first time the weight of these two words.
Education is a unique invention of mankind. It may seem insignificant, but it is a sharp blade that will last forever. It will destroy all the cognitions established by the Four Realms and reshape a brand new world.
A world where all races can live in harmony.
