Chapter 252: Journey to Jiangnan (Part )
According to the plan, the official ships would sail south along the Yingshui River, then cross the Huaihe River westward into the Eyue Road, thus shortening the journey by more than half.

There are several sections of the Yingshui River that are not suitable for navigation due to their steep slopes, unstable riverbed and winding river channels. Fortunately, Xiao Yan was on a mission as the land and water transport envoy of Jinghu and had the power to summon trackers along the way, so the journey went smoothly.

Time passed mid-October and approached early winter. Ji Ruxue stood on the bow with a pale face, gazing at a white band in the sky in the distance with the wind. Finally, she suppressed the slight discomfort in her heart.

She grew up in Fengxiang, a northwest region, and had basically never been in contact with a boat. The cruise ships she had taken in Bianjing were just slow cruises on the river, and she hardly felt anything. But she didn't expect that the journey south would be full of rivers and streams, and the bumpy ride made her feel seasick.

There was no choice. Although Xiao Yan's main mission on this trip was to transport the golden nanmu in Raojiang, he also had the reputation of representing the Daliang court to mediate the war between the Chu State and the Nanping State.

There were not only accompanying officials and Jinwu Guards on the ship, but also various gold, silver and treasures used to make the King of Chu and the King of Nanping cooperate. After all, the mystery of Raojiang was a well-known fact, and it was not certain that these two vassal states would cooperate with Zhu Wen's decree, so naturally it was inevitable to use gold and silver to win over one or two of them.

Therefore, when carrying such a large and complicated thing, water transportation is naturally the best choice. Ji Ruxue also suffered from dizziness during the bumpy journey, which was something she had never experienced before as a person from the northwest who had never been exposed to large ships and big waves.

There was a fishy smell on the surface of the river. Some small boats fishing on the river went around the shore and watched from afar as this large ship from the Central Plains sailed into the Huaihe River Basin.

"So seasickness?"

There was laughter behind her. Ji Ruxue bit her lip and waved her hand without turning her head to indicate that she was fine.

Xiao Yan was still smiling. He sat on the eaves of the bow, stretched out his hand and pinched Ji Ruxue's cheek, and said happily: "I said we should take the land route instead, but you insisted. So, you have suffered a lot following me, right?"

Ji Ruxue glared at him, but she didn't mind the frivolous action. She just curled her lips and snorted.

If someone else was so presumptuous, the cold and frosty heroine Ji, who has now entered the lower heaven level, would have already attacked with her Paiyun Palm. How could anyone, Xiao, be qualified to tease him so easily?

Moreover, on this official ship, Xiao Yan, as the highest official, was accompanied by two assistant ministers from the Ministry of Rites, but since they knew Ji Ruxue was on the ship, they did not dare to show up in front of the young Xiao Wufu.

After all, even if Ji Ruxue was dressed as a man, anyone with a little bit of common sense could figure out something. So when they were passing through Yingzhou, the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites were very considerate and specially dispatched a boat to follow behind, serving as a ferry for the Jinwu Guards and these annoying officials.

Therefore, there were no outsiders on this deck.

Throughout the ages, the reason why power has been pursued by the world is that these two words can easily make people become understanding.

"How can this be considered suffering?"

Ji Ruxue's face turned pale, but she couldn't help but retort to Xiao Yan: "The scenery I saw along the way is more than I have ever seen before..."

Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh, as if he wanted to tease the girl, and said, "As the saying goes, the old friend left the Yellow Crane Tower and went to Yangzhou in March. It's almost winter now, what scenery can we see?"

"Don't bother yourself!" Ji Ruxue raised her eyebrows angrily, slapped Xiao Yan's claws away, and crossed her arms across her chest, as if she was going to ignore this annoying guy.

Xiao Yan laughed loudly, but suddenly put his hand on Ji Ruxue's shoulder, and then he pointed his fingers quickly, tapping her chest several times in the girl's astonished eyes.

Ji Ruxue's ears turned red and she subconsciously widened her eyes, but at the same time, she immediately felt a surge of energy rippling in her heart.

Xiao Yan smiled as he looked into Ji Ruxue's beautiful eyes and said seriously, "When you ascend to the Lesser Heavenly Position, you must focus on 'Qi'. You can think of this Qi as internal strength, but in the Three-part Return to Origin Qi, it is more important than internal strength. When the Dantian is stable, Qi gives birth to all things, and thus life is endless. Other Lesser Heavenly Positions only have one Dou of internal strength, but you can have one Shi. This is the key point. Now, start trying to mobilize this breath of Qi."

Ji Ruxue nodded solemnly and made a gesture taught by Xiao Yan, which was to put two fingers together and hold it in front of her chest.

"how?"

"I think I touched it." Ji Ruxue raised her head, hesitated at first, and then her face became firm, with excitement in her eyes.

Xiao Yan held the bow of the boat and smiled faintly: "Remember the starting acupoints, and follow the order of the Qi Palaces I recite, and circulate them."

Ji Ruxue did not dare to delay, so she closed her eyes gently and began to concentrate on what Xiao Yan said next about the Qi Palace, and mobilized the Qi to flow along the meridians.

After a while, sweat oozed from her forehead and Xiao Yan's voice stopped, but she still refused to open her eyes. She just continued to circulate this breath as hard as she could, over and over again, and never gave up.

Xiao Yan smiled, but suddenly reached out and put his hand on the girl's shoulder, and said softly: "Okay, that's enough."

Ji Ruxue's whole body trembled, then she calmed down, opened her eyes, and slowly exhaled a breath of cold air.

At the same time, she looked surprised, because the feeling of seasickness she had felt before had completely disappeared, and was replaced by an exceptionally clear feeling. Looking around with the help of the wind, she felt that her vision had widened by nearly a hundred meters.

When she lowered her head to look, she discovered that the deck where she was standing had formed a thick layer of ice at some unknown time, with white mist floating around, making it look like a fairyland.

The girl was shocked by the beauty and suddenly looked up at Xiao Yan.

The latter smiled, as if he had seen through Ji Ruxue's thoughts, and said, "This energy seems to be born after birth, but in fact it is innate. It is the purest and most mysterious, regardless of yin and yang, water or fire. In the Guiyuan Qi, it is the energy that penetrates the acupoints and qi palaces of the whole body.

When the Qi and Qi Palaces are united, and the Dantian and Qiao acupoints are connected, the whole body will be filled with only this breath. The whole body's internal force can be mobilized in an instant. For those with deep internal force, the air flow can circulate for several miles or dozens of miles, and the power is so great that they can fight against enemies of several levels higher. Even if they want to control external objects in mid-air, they can do it easily. "

Ji Ruxue seemed to understand, but not quite, she just looked at Xiao Yan with sparkling eyes.

Xiao Yan understood her anticipation, but he just smiled, patted his butt and stood up: "Okay, I have cured your seasickness, and my mission is accomplished. You should consolidate the foundation of the Lesser Heaven Realm. According to the saying in this martial arts world, after my interference just now, you are now in the middle stage of the Lesser Heaven Realm?"

He stroked his chin and nodded, "This strength is enough to dominate a state or a county. Hmm... the title of Lady Ji is well-deserved."

Ji Ruxue ignored the teasing. Even for Xiao Yan, the words were just teasing, which made her feel special.

At that moment, she just whispered; "Thank you..."

The girl knew very well that if she relied solely on her own talent and opportunities, no matter whether it was guidance or practice, without Xiao Yan, she would not have been able to leap from the small star position to the small heaven position in two years. Her progress was so rapid that her practice was as easy as drinking water. This was something Ji Ruxue would not have dared to imagine two years ago.

All she did was to take Xiao Yan back on that snowy night.

that's it.

Xiao Yan looked back, then smiled suddenly, and actually walked forward again, pinching the cold girl's cheeks and rubbing them, this time with both hands.

"If you really want to thank me, then eat well, drink well, grow taller, and think less about unnecessary things."

Ji Ruxue's face was pinched into several shapes, her eyes wide open, as if she thought she was tall enough, but she stood on tiptoe and compared her height with Xiao Yan, and then she immediately became discouraged. In the end, she thought about it, but she couldn't suppress her curiosity after all, and followed Xiao Yan and asked: "The flying control of external objects you just mentioned, is it the sword control technique that Senior Gong Yang mentioned?"

There was a hint of regret in her words. After all, in order to save Luo Xiaobei that night, she didn't have the chance to see Xiao Yan summon seven swords to defeat the enemy. Later, when she heard Gong Yang Zuo bragging, she felt longing again.

If she could also achieve this, wouldn't she be a great help to Xiao Yan?

People always want to make progress, especially when influenced by the surrounding environment. After learning about Xiao Yan's realm, how could Ji Ruxue not have this enterprising spirit?
I didn’t have the opportunity or the experience before.

But she is different now.

"It's not as mysterious as he said." Xiao Yan had obviously seen Gong Yang Zuo's boasting, and he smiled when he heard it, "I left a sword energy mark on each of the seven swords in advance, so that they could be used so smoothly once they were released."

There was suspicion in Ji Ruxue's eyes, like a little fox trying to trick someone.

Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, then suddenly looked up into the distance. After a moment, he smiled casually, without much explanation, but raised his hand and pointed at the open river in front of the boat.

"The so-called mobilization of qi means that the flow of qi can be done in one go, just like using one's arms and fingers to make use of external forces, just like this—"

He put his fingers together, gently lifted them up, and whispered.

"Come."

With this casual shout, the entire river surface became turbulent, and the official ship that was sailing also shook.

Soon, the water in the middle of the river began to ripple, and the waves were rising, as if it was hit by a huge rock, and then suddenly, a water sword rushed up first, with sword energy everywhere, shocking everyone so much that they leaned out of the cabin and looked up in horror.

A moment later, the second water sword rose up, but its blade was longer, its spine was wider, and it also shot up into the sky.

The third sword.

The fourth sword.

Until the ninth sword, all of them were lined up in the air in a row, with countless water droplets flickering and shaking in between, reflecting the sunlight and making it extremely dazzling.

Then, under the shocked gazes of everyone, the nine water swords turned at the same time and flew straight to the south. As they moved, their momentum surged again. Even the first and smallest water sword, after turning to the south, was like a sky-high force, with its tip pointing directly at a black line on the Huai River a hundred feet away that was heading north.

Ji Ruxue raised her eyebrows slightly, and pressed the edge of the boat with both hands habitually, but she suppressed the shock in her heart and looked at it with heavy eyes.

But above the Huai River, a black line gradually appeared, which turned out to be a row of huge river warships!
It’s really a giant ship!
It was even bigger and taller than the official ship they were on!
Each ship had tall masts and sails, and the southerly wind was slightly blowing the sails, and they were coming straight north from the Huai River in an unstoppable manner!

The ship directly opposite was the one Xiao Yan was on!

Even at a distance of a hundred feet, Ji Ruxue had already frowned and could clearly see the big flag on the giant ship, which read "Wu"!

She could see it all, not to mention that she had already noticed Xiao Yan in the south. The nine water swords shot up into the sky and headed straight to the south. It was obviously not just to show off their skills to her.

The huge ship came with the wind, and the Jinwu Guards and officials of all ranks on the Daliang ships could see it clearly, and they were all shocked.

But the giant ship came fast, and the nine water swords were even faster. The water mist covered hundreds of feet and disappeared in the blink of an eye, making the entire river channel white and completely invisible.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang.

The mast of the first giant ship collided with the water sword and then shattered into pieces, and the broken wood spilled all over the river.

There was a panicked movement on the giant ship.

The mast of the second ship was blown to pieces in the same way. After the mist, every once in a while, there was a loud noise that echoed through the river.

It was not until the fifth explosion that the continuous explosion sound suddenly stopped.

However, at this moment, on the Baizhang waterway from the Yingshui River to the junction of the Huaihe River, water mist stretched for hundreds of meters, like a dream.

On the officials' boat following behind the official ship, including the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites, all the Jinwu Guards and their entourage were stunned, staring blankly into the distance with their feet trembling.

"So brave!!"

A loud shout suddenly rang out from the Huai River in the south. Then, a light boat suddenly sailed out from the giant ship behind the water mist. A tall figure stood at the bow of the boat, holding a spear in one hand. His armor was damaged and his shirt was stained with blood, but he was full of momentum and murderous intent.

Behind him, several men in white shirts on the boat each held a piece of bamboo pole, and they cut through the surging river water like arrows from a bow, coming at them with great momentum.

Ji Ruxue grabbed the edge of the boat, turned around to look at Xiao Yan, who had obviously consumed a lot of his internal energy, and whispered, "Don't show up, maybe they are coming for you."

Immediately, the light boat, riding on the rolling waves, arrived in the blink of an eye. The man holding a spear on the boat cleared away the layers of mist and whistled loudly.

"Huainan Zhu Jin, looking for a master to fight!"

Ji Ruxue's scalp suddenly tensed up.

The man holding the spear is none other than Zhu Jin, one of the Two Zhus, who led a hundred cavalrymen to break out from the siege of Zhu Wen's army and defect to the Wu State in Huainan. He was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Wu State's Eastern Camp, and was known as "the better Zhang Fei"!
He can be said to be the most powerful man in Jiangnan and Zhu Wen’s mortal enemy!
Not only her, but also the Jinwu Guards and accompanying officials on the ship behind were startled when they heard the words.

Looking at the huge ships crossing the river from afar, how could one not know that this person was deliberately blocking the river here?

"Impossible, we have clearly already negotiated with the King of Wu in advance. We can just take the route through the Huai River..." The crowd shouted, but several officials immediately put up wooden boards and boarded the official ship where Xiao Yan was.

But Xiao Yan ignored these people, and shook his head at Ji Ruxue who wanted to stop him, then took a step forward and stood at the bow of the boat.

"You're in the way, man."

(End of this chapter)