Longzang

Chapter 31 Ancestral Worship Ceremony
Zhang Sheng picked up a blank piece of jade paper, and a cyan sword aura shot out from his fingertip, and a visualization diagram appeared on the jade paper.

He handed the jade paper to Wei Yuan and said, "After much deliberation, I have decided to bestow upon you the 'Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon' as the foundation for your body forging. Please study this visualization carefully first. During cultivation, you will use this visualization as a bridge to communicate with heaven and earth, absorbing their spiritual energy to forge yourself. Being able to communicate with heaven and earth and borrow their power during the body forging stage is truly a superior cultivation method. However, fortune and misfortune are intertwined, and the dangers during cultivation are far greater than with other cultivation methods. No matter what you see or feel during cultivation, you must always guard your mind and consciousness, and never be alarmed or afraid."

After giving detailed instructions, Zhang Sheng took out three pills and said, "These three Cleansing Heart Pills were specially obtained for you by your master. They can slightly improve your physical constitution and aptitude. There are still three days before the ancestral worship ceremony, so taking one pill each day will be beneficial for your worship of the ancestral statue."

Wei Yuan memorized the visualization diagram and began to practice according to the method.

According to the "Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon" diagram, the physical body is the foundation of everything. The first step in cultivation is to visualize the diagram within the sea of ​​consciousness; the size of the visualized diagram signifies the quality of the foundation. Then, using the visualized diagram as a guide, one absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and one's own fortune to forge the body. Once the physical body and primordial spirit are fully forged and transformed into an immortal embryo, the visualized diagram will ignite with vitality, just like the real world. Reaching this stage signifies the completion of body forging and the beginning of condensing the Dao foundation.

Wei Yuan possessed extraordinary temperament, and within moments he became completely absorbed in the world around him.

Zhang Sheng then took out a Cleansing Heart Pill, placed an incense burner in front of Wei Yuan, and put the pill into the burner. The burner was lined with charcoal, and as the charcoal burned, a wisp of fragrance wafted out from the burner's opening, converging into a single line that seemed to possess a spirit and entered Wei Yuan's nose.

Wei Yuan's vision was initially shrouded in darkness, but now he caught a whiff of the fragrance of a medicinal pill. As the fragrance entered his body, it instantly transformed into wisps of warmth that slowly spread throughout his limbs and bones, bringing an indescribable comfort. Under the blessing of the fragrance, a glimmer of light began to emerge in his sea of ​​consciousness, illuminating a small world. He could vaguely make out a large rock in the center, upon which sat a jade toad, and above it, not far away, hung a full moon.

After the visualization image was successfully manifested, the wisps of incense found their direction and flew into the visualization image one by one, making the visualization image clearer and more stable with each wisp of incense.

Wei Yuan continued to circulate his internal energy, and after an unknown amount of time, his vision suddenly blurred, and the scenery changed completely.

At this moment, Wei Yuan felt as if he had become that jade toad, his eyes fixed on the full moon in the sky, constantly breathing in and out of it. This feeling was so real that for a moment Wei Yuan couldn't even tell whether he was a human or a jade toad.

Fortunately, he remembered Zhang Sheng's advice and remained calm and composed no matter what strange phenomena he encountered.

At this moment, in Wei Yuan's eyes, who had transformed into a jade toad, the full moon in the sky was no longer a flat, false moon, but a huge sphere that seemed within reach. Strands of moonlight continuously overflowed from the full moon, which Wei Yuan then swallowed in large gulps, turning it into part of his body.

After an unknown amount of time, Wei Yuan, who was breathing in the moonlight, suddenly felt his body grow larger, and the small world around him became very cramped, making it difficult to even turn around.

Just then, Wei Yuan heard a chime, his consciousness withdrew from the jade toad and returned to his body, and then Zhang Sheng's voice rang in his ears: "It's ready."

Wei Yuan finished his practice and stood up, only then noticing that the morning light had already appeared outside the window; unknowingly, the night had passed.

Zhang Sheng inquired about Wei Yuan's progress in cultivating his internal energy, offered some pointers, and then told him to rest. Wei Yuan hadn't yet reached the point where cultivation could replace sleep, so he returned to his bedroom and fell asleep, waking naturally an hour later.

During the day, Zhang Sheng taught Wei Yuan basic cultivation knowledge, while Wei Yuan cultivated on his own at night.

Wei Yuan became much more proficient during his second cultivation session, quickly achieving a state of complete absorption and transforming into the Jade Toad once more.

He felt the confinement of the surrounding space again, as if he were trapped in a cage, making even turning around difficult. Wei Yuan was unable to move and could only try to inhale and exhale the moonlight. With each sip of moonlight, Wei Yuan felt his body become more solid. As he inhaled, Wei Yuan suddenly saw a colossal creature faintly emerging in the full moon, followed by a wisp of familiar black energy appearing within the moonlight, which Wei Yuan swallowed in one gulp. As the black energy entered his stomach, Wei Yuan found that his senses immediately expanded slightly, finally breaking through the invisible barrier and extending into the void. Many invisible particles floated in the void, which could be drawn by his consciousness and merged into the earth beneath him. As the number of drawn particles continued to increase, the ground beneath Wei Yuan finally expanded a little, and the constraints on his body lessened accordingly.

At this moment, in Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness, there was a piece of land about ten feet in diameter. On the ground was a large rock, and a snow-white jade toad was lying on the rock, looking up and swallowing the moonlight. At this moment, a piece of land the size of a palm appeared at the edge of the land beneath the rock, slowly turning from ethereal to tangible.

The newly formed plot of land had just solidified when Wei Yuan was awakened by Zhang Sheng. As usual, Zhang Sheng inquired about the cultivation process and then determined that the shadow Wei Yuan saw in the full moon was a reflection of his own destiny, and the black energy mixed in with the moonlight was drawn from Wei Yuan's own destiny.

On the third day of cultivation, Wei Yuan saw the shadow in the full moon from the very beginning. He then inhaled black energy while exhaling moonlight, and a new ring of land appeared on the ground beneath him.

Three days of cultivation passed in the blink of an eye, and all the Cleansing Heart Pills were used up. Next was the ancestral worship ceremony.

That morning, Wei Yuan finished getting ready early and meditated for half an hour under Zhang Sheng's guidance. Only after making sure his mind was pure and sincere did he head towards the Ancestral Hall.

The Ancestral Hall stands atop a high mountain, its rocks rugged and precipitous, with a waterfall cascading from the heavens, eventually forming a mirror-like lake at its foot. Everywhere on the mountain grows colorful flowers and trees, their fragrance permeating the air. It is said that if a mortal spends even a moment here, inhaling the scent of these divine trees and blossoms, they can extend their lifespan by ten years. A jade-paved staircase winds its way upwards, leading directly to the summit.

Wei Yuan was carried by Zhang Sheng using Taoist magic. Every breath, Wei Yuan's vision would blur, and when it cleared again, he would be a hundred feet away. Wei Yuan tried hard to make out the details and finally realized that when his vision blurred, the surrounding scenery was actually rushing past at a rapid speed, but it was difficult to distinguish because the speed was too fast.

Even at Zhang Sheng's pace, it took him a while to reach the Ancestral Hall. By then, several hundred people had already gathered in the square in front of the hall.

The Ancestral Hall is a hundred feet tall, and the two large red bronze gates are thirty feet high. I wonder what kind of immortals would need such tall gates.

The palace doors swung open, revealing a statue of the patriarch standing thirty feet tall. He appeared to be a young cultivator, even somewhat immature. It was said that the patriarch had not yet reached adulthood when he achieved his Dao foundation, thus his appearance remained unchanged until his ascension to immortality. The statue had one hand behind his back and the other holding a scroll, while four immortal swords floated around him.

The statue was incredibly lifelike; the robes seemed to be truly fluttering in the wind. That was fine, but the four immortal swords had no support whatsoever; they simply floated in mid-air.

Wei Yuan was led outside the hall by the officiating Taoist priest to wait for his name to be called, along with all the newly accepted disciples.

The Taoist priests called out the names one by one, and the new disciples worshipped in batches, grouped by region, with some in groups of five and others in groups of seven or eight.

The initiation instructions for new disciples outline the procedure for worshipping the patriarch. Disciples must kowtow seven times and then silently recite the eulogy. The eulogy, approximately a thousand characters long, mainly recounts the patriarch's deeds, describes the current state of affairs in the human world, and expresses the original intention of entering the palace for cultivation. The eulogy contains no incantations, but if a new disciple is sincere and upright, and possesses a strong foundation and good fortune, they may gain the patriarch's favor and receive blessings.

Zhang Sheng obtained two of the four immortal swords' sword energies, using them as a foundation to achieve immortality, causing a sensation at the time.

(End of this chapter)