The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror

The pacification of the Yang family's rebellion in Bozhou is also a crucial step in Xu Qing and Xiong Chan's attack on the old demon of Black Mountain. The aim is to seize the holy object of the Yang clan—the Weiyang Sword.

This sword was left by the Zhuge clan back in the day and is immensely powerful.

The assault on the old Black Mountain demon is scheduled for early July next year.

This is because the old Black Mountain demon possesses extensive divine skills and boundless mana. Even if he hasn't returned to the Creator Realm, he is still the world's top master. Only in the days leading up to the Heavenly Demon Rushing Seven Lethal Points does the old demon, in his attempt to return to the Creator Realm, unable to leave Changbai Mountain for an instant.

Only in this way can the opponent be prevented from escaping.

Otherwise, even if masters from all over the world are invited to besiege him, the demon might flee when the situation turns unfavorable, and then seek opportunities to defeat them piecemeal, leaving Xu Qing and others helpless.

Additionally, a year of preparation allows time to gather manpower effectively.

Currently, Xu Qing is pursuing a dual strategy. On the other hand, he is inviting masters from around the world to participate in a martial arts tournament held in the Capital.

The tournament is set for the beginning of next year.

In reality, this also serves as an excuse to rally righteous individuals from across the world.

The preparation for the martial arts tournament is entrusted to Xiong Chan.

Xiong Chan's current reputation in the worldly society far exceeds that of Xu Qing.

Moreover, Xu Qing made the connections, introducing Minister of War Hong Xuan to Xiong Chan.

Hong Xuan was the magistrate when the old father-in-law took the child prodigy exam, and they hadn't been in touch for many years.

Because the old father-in-law had previously served as the Assistant Minister of War, he reconnected with Hong Xuan through their past teacher-student relationship. However, their bond isn't as strong as that between Xu Qing and Lord Wu.

They were mere acquaintances before, but now, thanks to Master Feng also being involved with the Military Affairs Office and holding the position of Assistant Minister of Military Affairs, coupled with his experience in the Military Department, the two families have naturally become more familiar.

Additionally, with Hong Xuan as the new Minister of War and joining the Military Affairs Office, he urgently needs achievements. Hosting the first martial arts tournament is indeed novel and can yield political results, aligning perfectly with Xiong Chan and Xu Qing.

This tournament is highly publicized, with Xiong Chan, as the Martial Saint, naturally not participating. However, those who make it to the end are qualified to challenge Xiong Chan to hone their martial skills.

The funding for the tournament won't come from the Court. Instead, it is sponsored by the Immortal Coal Chamber of Commerce from North Zhili, granting them exclusive naming rights. Therefore, this martial arts tournament is also known as the Immortal Coal Martial Arts Tournament.

Furthermore, the Shuntian Times, New Citizen Newspaper, and the Great Ming Newspaper from South Zhili have extensively promoted the tournament.

The Ministry of Rites has also been quite cooperative in this matter.

It can be said that as the first martial arts tournament, its scale is very high, greater even than the martial exam held by the Court.

After all, the Court's martial exam is really just a makeshift effort.

The lack of prosperity in martial exams is not unrelated to the Court's garrison system and the hereditary system for military officers.

Take, for example, Scholar Lei from Jiangning Prefecture. Although he has passed the military scholar exam and gained the qualifications to hold office with scholar privileges, advancing in the military officer system is much harder compared to a scholar advancing in the civil servant system.

This is because the military circle is particularly closed off.

If it weren't for Xu Qing helping Li Gongpu establish connections, he wouldn't have been able to rise in the ranks at all.

Put simply, while a civil servant can relatively fairly level up, a military officer needs to have a decent background to make things easier. This makes it easy for people from common or lower-class military officer backgrounds to be marginalized in every aspect.

Of course, generals who break through in the military system purely based on personal ability are formidable individuals.

For instance, the former General Yu, who came from a hereditary Hundred Households military officer background, was at the lowest rung of the military officer circle.

Yet he managed to carve out his own path and reached the position of a general, nearly at the top for military officers.

On the other hand, Meng Yuxuan, who clearly had a better background, married a wife from the South Stream Wang Family of generations of prominent military households. Madam Wang is also exceedingly formidable in appearance, reputedly possessing martial arts that surpassed Meng Yuxuan, though her only flaw is not having borne a son. Old Meng privately voiced his grievances to Xu Qing several times.

Xu Qing sent Old Meng some fertility medications from the Golden Ray Monastery, but it is still unknown whether they have been effective.

…

…

Juzhou City is now the provincial capital of Qian Nan Province.

The Yang Family rebellion in Bozhou has shaken the Southwest. Former Lingnan Governor Zhou Rucai was ordered to take charge in this crisis as the Governor of Qian Nan Province, temporarily assuming military control over the three southwestern provinces.

It has been said that before the world goes into chaos, Shu is the first to fall into disorder.

If the Yang Family rebellion in Bozhou isn't handled well, it will inevitably unsettle Ba Shu, causing nationwide turmoil.

When Lord Zhou had just arrived in Juzhou City, a few days later, his niece's husband, Xu Liushou, also arrived.

Not only were they relatives, but they also shared a teacher-student relationship from the academy exams.

Now Xu Qing holds an assignment as Hanlin Xiu Zhuan, responsible for supervising the three southwestern provinces, casually holding the Assistant Minister of War position with rights to consult on military affairs.

In reality, it is equivalent to holding both internal officer military supervisor and inspector roles—a classic case of a low rank with high power.

Given his current credentials and accolades, receiving these assignments is only natural.

In simple terms, using an allegory, Lord Zhou is the commander-in-chief, while Xu Qing holds a think-tank position akin to Kong Ming. He can participate and advise on all military matters.

Moreover, Xu Qing didn't come alone; he brought a group of brothers.

These members of the Recovery Society include quite a few scholars.

They themselves also bring house servants and guards, forming a cohesive and effective fighting force.

Lord Zhou compared them to his temporarily recruited governor's standard bearers, finding them not as good as little Xu's Recovery Society brethren.

"Uncle-in-law, how are the circumstances these days?" The elderly and the young didn't have a chance to reminisce about their parting emotions and headed straight to the main topic.

Lord Zhou immediately poured out his woes, "Both the military and commercial support have rotten foundations. In this situation, it is like trying to cook without rice."