Inside the Longevity Tavern, Gu Changsheng and Ouyang Ji, dressed in military attire, sat facing each other, with Yao Xian seated to the side.
Between Gu Changsheng and Ouyang Ji, there was a jar of wine, a scroll of golden script, and an imperial decree.
"Today might be the last time we drink together," Ouyang Ji said with a smile, a hint of melancholy on his face.
Three years had passed, and he had officially entered his sixties, with more white hair on his head than he knew he had three years ago. Sixty years old was considered elderly in the mortal realm, and even officials would have reached retirement age, but he hadn't. Instead, he was wearing armor, looking ready to go on an expedition.
In fact, he was indeed about to go on an expedition.
Ouyang Ji drained the wine in his cup and sighed, "Three years have passed, and you haven't changed at all, but I've gotten even older."
Gu Changsheng said, "You could have refused."
Ouyang Ji drank another cup of wine and said, "In the end, it's still the trouble I caused when I was young. Back then, I was young and vigorous, and I didn't give the other party any face when I spoke and acted, which led to him being angered to death as soon as he returned home, alas!"
Although Ouyang Ji was sighing, Gu Changsheng felt that he was gloating.
Ouyang Ji was not naturally gloating, but he really didn't regret what he had done when he was young.
When he was young, the literary world of the Southern Xiang Kingdom was being blockaded by various countries. As a native of the Southern Xiang Kingdom, he naturally felt extremely indignant about this. So, he debated with the eight great literary masters and even forced Yu Xing, an old man known as a semi-sage in the Northern Zhao Kingdom, to death with a 'Sha Po Lang'.
In his opinion, calling Yu Xing an old man a semi-sage was an insult to the sages of the past. He had been in close contact with Yu Xing, and he admitted that Yu Xing had a deep literary foundation, but his vision was narrow. Although he claimed to be a semi-sage, he always looked down on and insulted the literati of the Southern Xiang Kingdom. In the duel that year, he didn't take him seriously at all, and even denigrated the literary world of the Southern Xiang Kingdom as the dirtiest thing in the world.
In those days, he had just stepped into his thirties, and he was at the peak of his ambition. Faced with Yu Xing's insult, he immediately wrote a 'Sha Po Lang'. This 'Sha Po Lang' was a poem he wrote based on his experience of defeating sea bandits, and it was his most peak work in his first thirty years.
Yu Xing was shocked by the momentum of 'Sha Po Lang' and vomited blood. Outsiders thought he vomited blood because he was angry, but Ouyang Ji knew that Yu Xing's death was reported not long after he returned to the Northern Zhao Kingdom, and that was when he was angered to death.
Literati value themselves, and Yu Xing, an old man who claimed to be a semi-sage, was defeated by a thirty-year-old scholar. Yu Xing didn't have the capacity to accommodate the world, and after being defeated by Ouyang Ji, there were many rumors and gossips, so it was normal for him to be angered to death.
But Yu Xing's death was blamed on Ouyang Ji by his descendants and students.
Ouyang Ji was both a literary and military genius, able to secure the country with his pen and quell chaos with his sword. Yu Xing's descendants and students didn't dare to touch Ouyang Ji's whiskers, but as Ouyang Ji gradually aged, they began to stir.
Until half a month ago, Yu Xing's descendants and his students, who had long been successful, persuaded the five countries to send troops to the Southern Xiang Kingdom with their silver tongues.
Their reason was that the national strength of the Southern Xiang Kingdom was gradually becoming prosperous, and if they allowed the Southern Xiang Kingdom to continue to develop, then the status of their five countries would be in jeopardy. This reason also conformed to the interests of the five countries, because the Southern Xiang Kingdom had become the most powerful country among the six countries. If it continued to develop, it might even annex them.
So, the five countries all found a reason to send letters of war to the Southern Xiang Kingdom, and the five-nation coalition forces divided into two routes to attack the Southern Xiang Kingdom.
The Northern Allied Forces were a three-nation coalition led by the Northern Zhao Kingdom, while the Southern Allied Forces were a two-nation coalition.
Tianrao City is located in the northern part of the Southern Xiang Kingdom, and is only eight hundred miles away from the northern border.
The five countries suddenly launched an attack. Although the Southern Xiang Kingdom was strong, it was impossible to resist the attacks of five countries at the same time. So, many old generals who had retired and returned to their hometowns were recalled by the imperial court. The oldest general was even nearly seventy years old.
Of course, this was on a voluntary basis. The imperial court was forced to take this measure, but the old generals who received the summons did not hesitate at all. They immediately put on their armor and rushed to the capital.
They all knew that this was a critical moment for the survival of the Southern Xiang Kingdom. They were all people of the Southern Xiang Kingdom, and even if they shed their last drop of blood, they would share the country's worries and plead for the people!
Ouyang Ji, as a literary saint who was proficient in both literary and military affairs, naturally received the summons. Ouyang Ji knew that this matter was largely caused by him, so he did not refuse.
"Hmph, a bunch of incompetent people, they only dare to come over when you're too old to move."
Gu Changsheng snorted coldly. How could he not understand the thoughts of Yu Xing's descendants and students? When Ouyang Ji was young, even if they had a million guts, they wouldn't dare to express any dissatisfaction with Ouyang Ji.
But now Ouyang Ji was sixty years old. They hated Ouyang Ji, and they didn't dare to seek revenge from the young Ouyang Ji, but they were not willing to let Ouyang Ji enjoy his old age, so they waited for thirty years, and they waited for the day when Ouyang Ji was old, and finally launched an attack.
Gu Changsheng regarded Ouyang Ji as a confidant, and naturally he would speak out for him.
Yao Xian also frowned. If it weren't for the fact that she had gained experience in the past three years, she might have slapped Yu Xing's descendants and those students to death.
However, the experience of the mortal world must follow the rules of the mortal world, otherwise a single mistake would make her experience fall short.
"Hey, hey, I'm old, but I'm not too old to move, right?"
The person involved retorted Gu Changsheng's words.
Ouyang Ji was depressed. Although he was not as flexible as before, he could still go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, and he was now appointed by the emperor as the commander of the northern front, so even if he couldn't move, it wouldn't affect his performance.
"Old scholar, as your good friend, as long as you call me big brother, I'll immediately help you settle it," Gu Changsheng said with a smile.
"Go, go, go. You old Gu, you always want to take advantage of me. Even if you're really older than me, I can't call you brother," Ouyang Ji said with a look of disgust.
In the past few years, he often drank and chatted with Gu Changsheng about life. Ouyang Ji had vaguely guessed that Gu Changsheng and Yao Xian were not mortals, but so what? He still took it for granted to call Gu Changsheng old Gu, and occasionally when he was drunk, he would call Yao Xian sister-in-law.
He made friends with Gu Changsheng, not because of Gu Changsheng's identity, but because Gu Changsheng understood him. It's rare to have a confidant in life, but it's enough to have one confidant in life.
"The five-nation alliance, you have to be careful of their national preceptors. If their national preceptors take action and launch a decapitation operation, you'll be finished."
Gu Changsheng instructed.
He understood that Ouyang Ji did not intend to let him intervene in mortal affairs. He and Ouyang Ji both knew that even if they intervened this time and the Southern Xiang Kingdom won, what about the future?
The struggle of the mortal world should be solved by the mortals themselves.
"Hehe, immortal masters? I really hope they come to kill me. As long as the national preceptors of the five countries are killed, then the disaster of the Southern Xiang Kingdom can be easily resolved."
Ouyang Ji said with a faint smile, with a faint aura on his body.
Yao Xian was stunned. She had felt this aura from Ouyang Ji before. In the past, she thought it was the aura that Ouyang Ji had cultivated over the years, but now she thought it was not a simple aura.
"Go, no need to send me off!"
Ouyang Ji drank another cup of wine, and then left the Longevity Tavern gracefully.
"What was that just now?"
After Ouyang Ji left, Yao Xian finally couldn't help but ask.
Gu Changsheng said, "That is righteous energy!"
"Righteous energy?" Yao Xian was puzzled. She had never seen these four words in the Yao family's library.
"Righteous energy is an energy that combines the power of heaven and earth with one's own righteousness," Gu Changsheng said.
"The power of heaven and earth? Isn't that something that only saints can attract? He..."
"Literary saints are also saints! His realm has long reached the point of resonating with heaven and earth, but he has not mastered the correct usage. In the past three years, every time I drink and chat with him, I will intentionally or unintentionally give him some guidance."
"But no one has walked this road before, so everything depends on himself."
Gu Changsheng sighed.
Yao Xian's eyes were full of surprise. Ouyang Ji had actually read a saint from his books. Although his cultivation had not reached it, his realm had already reached it.
He was only sixty years old, which was just a young man in the world of cultivation, and he had reached this realm long ago. This "early" may even have been before he created 'Sha Po Lang'.
At that time, he was only thirty years old.
A thirty-year-old saint!
My God!
This is the real literary saint. Confucius was only posthumously conferred the title of saint by later generations, but Ouyang Ji is a person who is called a saint by the world while he is alive!
Yao Xian was very shocked.
