Chapter 55: Yuan Ri Arrives

  That afternoon, Liu Xuan submitted a memorial to the prefecture, explaining on behalf of Zhang Ping that it was just a misunderstanding and he was willing to withdraw his impeachment against Zhang Ping.

  The governor of Xiangyang, Wang Quan, also received Kuai Yue's hint and no longer insisted on the matter. The governor of Xiangyang, Li Gui, then went along with it and withdrew Zhang Ping's case of offending his superior, allowing Zhang Ping to resume his original position.

  Although Li Taishou was slow in handling the Zhang Ping case and had not yet come to a conclusion, he acted quickly and efficiently in revoking his appointment. Half an hour later, the matter was settled, and the minor storm at the beginning of his tenure came to an end.

  In the evening, Zhang Ping followed the custom of Jingzhou and personally sent two raccoon dogs to make amends and convey Zhang Yun's apology to Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan gladly accepted the raccoon dogs, and with that, this matter came to a perfect end, and the waves subsided.

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  At this moment, Liu Xuan appeared in front of the Han River. Only at this time would he become another person, a young man who struggled to realize his dreams.

  Liu Xuan could never forget the scene when he first saw Zhao Yun, that sharp shooting technique, that bravery which made him feel like he was invincible among millions of people, that was his dream, and he also wanted to become such a fierce general.

  In two years, Chai Jinzhi will have another opponent to face, and Liu Xuan has never been so eager to learn martial arts like today.

  More importantly, Yu Zhenren helped him find a path to the pinnacle of martial arts. Yu Zhenren has already led him in, and what's left is his own hard work.

  "Water is the spirit of all things, water is also the source of power. The dragon was born in the mountains and forests, with wood as its martial arts, but you will grow up in the waters, so take water as your martial arts."

  Liu Xuan was bare-chested, wearing only a pair of shorts, holding a war knife, and gazing quietly at the dark Han River. In his mind, he was thinking about what Yu Zhenren had said. At this moment, his nose felt cool, and he had a feeling in his heart. He raised his head, and to his surprise, snowflakes were floating in the sky.

  It's fluttering and falling, fine as downy hair. In just ten days it will be New Year's Day, and the land of Jingzhou has its first snowfall. Snow is also a fate of water!

  Liu Xuan smiled, he chewed the Easy Tendon Pill into pieces and drank the entire bottle of Washing Marrow Wine in one gulp. Soon, a raging fire ignited within his body. He bit down on his knife and plunged himself into the icy cold Han River.

  The water splashed up, instantly submerging him. He entered a dark and gloomy world, surrounded by icy currents, unable to see anything. He continued to dive down, as if entering a dark tunnel, giving him a sense of familiarity.

  More than two months ago, didn't his soul also come to this era from a dark tunnel like this one?

  Going down endlessly like this, would he be able to return to the world above again? But the answer appeared quickly - no, he had already touched the soft silt at the bottom of the river.

  Here is not far from the riverbank, with a water depth of about 1 zhang and 7 chi, which is equivalent to 4 meters. He also dived underwater yesterday afternoon and found a large stone here.

  The buoyancy at the bottom of the river was very strong, and he had to find a fixed point for himself. Soon he felt that big rock, like riding a horse, with both legs tightly clamped on the stone block.

  At this time, the elixir in his abdomen was activated, making his whole body feel like it was being burned by fire, extremely hot and dry, as if it was going to melt all his internal organs.

  It was the coldest season of the year, and although it was in the south, the river water was still icy and bone-chilling, as if it would freeze people's marrow, but the dry heat in his abdomen made him feel nothing of this cold.

  Yu Zhenren arranged for his second-stage training course, every night he would enter the water three times, swim 3,000 steps, then dive to the bottom of the water and swing his sword. Each time, he had to swing his sword 1,000 times, and in between, he was only allowed to change his breath eight times. In other words, each time he held his breath, he had to swing his sword at least 120 times, forcing him to swing his sword at the fastest speed possible.

  This is something ordinary people can't imagine, but only in this way can he maximize his power and solidify the potential within him.

  Liu Jing only then understood why he had to undergo a month of cruel training, it was to make him stay underwater for as long as possible, in fact, it was to increase his physical strength and lung capacity.

  At the bottom of the river, Liu Xuan's legs tightly clamped onto a large rock, and he began to swiftly swing his knife in the water.

  The cold and the water's resistance made his sword swings extra difficult, but he gritted his teeth and endured, believing in Jade True Person, who had cultivated a peerless general under heaven, would definitely let him succeed again.

  The dark river bottom, Liu Xuan's knife was swinging rapidly and fiercely, cutting out wave after wave on the water surface, he had gradually adapted.

  After 120 slashes, he floated up to the surface of the water, took a breath, and then dove back down to the riverbed, continuing to wield his sword, again and again.

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  "Whoosh!" He broke through the surface of the water once again, this was his last breath, and this time he would challenge himself.

  Liu Jiong dived underwater and swung his knife with all his might, his arms were numb and weak, every joint in his body felt as if it was broken.

  In the endless darkness at the bottom of the water, he forced himself to wield his knife with all his might, overcoming the numbness and pain in his arms, his teeth almost biting through his gums.

  He had already swung one hundred and twenty times, almost to the limit, but his challenging goal was one hundred and fifty swings. He felt like every cell in his body was about to explode. One hundred thirty-six, one hundred thirty-seven... one hundred thirty-eight. This kind of pain made him unable to bear it anymore. His lungs were about to burst, he was almost in a state of hypoxic coma.

  One hundred forty-eight, one hundred forty-nine...

  He relaxed his legs and his body shot up rapidly. Just as he was about to break the surface, he swung out one last stroke in the water - 150!

  "Whoosh!" He finally broke through the surface, a burst of fresh air hit him in the face, Liu Xuan's entire body went limp, greedily taking big gulps of the fresh air...

  Liu Xuan slowly swam to the shore, at this time his two arms were sore and aching, despite having trained physically for a month, but swinging his sword a thousand times in the water still made his muscles soft and unbearable. Liu Xuan did not have any complaints, this was his willing choice, even if Yu Zhenren was not by his side, he could still persist.

  After a short rest, his physical strength had slightly recovered, and he swam into the Han River again, starting his second course, swimming a thousand steps. It wasn't much, just swimming back and forth on the Han River. This was also a way to recover his physical strength, and he tried to relax his body as much as possible.

  Before long, a back-and-forth dive ended, Liu Xuan took another deep breath and plunged into the dark depths of the riverbed, starting his second underwater sword practice.

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  At this time, the sky was already dimly lit, and poor housewives began to wash clothes by the river, with the sound of "thud! thud!" echoing on the stone surface.

  Liu Xuan leaned against a willow tree by the river, his back to the shore. He took out a small green pill from a porcelain bottle around his neck and swallowed it. This was a medicine prepared for him by Luo Rong, the Daoist master of Qingzhu Pavilion, using Yu Zhenzi's prescription, which had an effect similar to that of hot water bathing.

  He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his muscles relaxed to a state of oblivion, his attention concentrated on a point in his mind, allowing the medicinal power to slowly spread throughout his body. He felt his strength recovering at an unprecedented rate...

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  The New Year is also known as Zheng Dan or Zheng Ri. In the early Western Han dynasty, the Qin calendar was adopted, with the first day of the tenth month being considered the beginning of the year. This continued until the first year of the Taichu era of Emperor Wu of Han, when the first day of the first month of the Xia calendar became the start of the year, a tradition that has been maintained to this day.

  During the Qin and Han dynasties, the main New Year's festival was a sacrificial ritual. The court would hold grand ceremonies, also known as "Grand Court Reception" in history. The emperor would ascend to the throne, receive congratulations from officials and ministers, and accept tributes from envoys of all directions.

  But for ordinary families, the main thing is to offer sacrifices. In order to prepare for this day, preparations need to start very early, from the upper Xin day of October every year, brewing winter wine for the New Year's sacrifice.

  Then three days ago, the family chose a sacrificial officer, and the whole sacrifice was presided over by the head of the household and the officer.

  On New Year's Eve, at noon, Liu Xuan was having lunch at home when a loud and intense knocking sound almost shattered the old wooden door.

  Liu Jiong furrowed his brow, who is this person and how dare he be so rude?

  Liu Jing was about to go forward, but Xiao Baozi rushed into the courtyard instead, "I'll come!"

  The door creaked open with a "creak", and immediately Xiao Baozi let out a cry of surprise, "Tiger Young Master!"

  Suddenly a tall and large black figure rushed in like the wind, instantly blocking out the light in the room. "Jing Ge, do you still have time to eat?"

  It was actually his cousin Liu Hu, who was seen to be covered in sweat, as if he had run dozens of miles, and panted: "Jingdi, your uncle is calling you back to attend the ancestral worship."

  Liu Jue's heart felt a bit relieved, as he had been worried about the sacrificial ceremony for the past two days. He wondered why Liu Biao still hadn't called him, as usually, it was three days ago that their clansmen would gather to discuss the sacrificial procedures.

  Tomorrow is the first day of the first month, and the worship ceremony will start before dawn. Liu Biao hasn't notified him yet, but he knows this is Liu Xuan's first time participating in the ceremony, which concerns his formal adoption into the Liu family, so Liu Xuan has been feeling anxious for the past two days.

  Liu Hu's arrival finally made Liu Xuan breathe a sigh of relief. Although Liu Hu was rough and rude, in Liu Xuan's eyes, he seemed so genuine and lovable at this moment.

  "Come! Come! Let's have lunch together." Liu Xuan warmly invited Liu Hu to sit down.

  Liu Hu came rushing from Xiangyang and spent half a day finding this small house again, he was really hungry. Without being polite, he sat down and took a big bite of the scallion and mutton pancake, eating half of it in one go.

  Xiao Baozi felt heartbroken, that was the pancake she made for Gongzi, not for this old tiger. Liu Xuan smiled and instructed her: "Xiao Baozi, serve a bowl of porridge to Hu Gongzi and make a few more pancakes."

  Xiao Baozi reluctantly agreed and went to the kitchen. Meng Shu brought another bowl of water for Liu Hu, who gulped it down and then let out a long belch, staring at Liu Xuan with wide eyes and asking, "I heard you defeated the Water Wolf?"

  Shui Lang was Zhang Ping's nickname. Although defeating Zhang Ping was an internal matter of the You Jian, such news spread extremely quickly. Within a few days, almost all the swordsmanship schools in Xiangyang and Fancheng had heard about it, leaving Liu Hu in awe. In just this short period of time, Liu Xuan's martial arts skills were already able to defeat Shui Lang.

  Liu Jiong let out a bitter laugh, he didn't want this matter to spread, if it did, it would bring him endless trouble, and many people would come to challenge him, after all, he only knew that one move.

  "Stop talking nonsense and eat quickly! After we finish eating, we'll go to Xiangyang. Aren't you in a hurry?"

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