From a Zhengyi Taoist Child to a Master of All Laws

Chapter 405: Lotus Protects the Body, Ancient Mirror Punishes Evil

"It is said that there were six ghost kings in Shu at the end of the Han Dynasty: Liu Yuanda spread miscellaneous diseases, Zhang Yuanbo spread plague, Zhao Gongming spread dysentery, Zhong Ziji spread sores, Shi Wenye spread malaria, Fan Juqing made people feel sore all over, Yao Gongbo spread five poisons, and Li Gongzhong brought madness. They had millions of ghost soldiers under their command, and they harmed the people everywhere. Countless people died in their brutality.

Afterwards, Zhang Daoling, the founder of the Taoist sect, set up an altar on Mount Qingcheng, rang the bells and chimes, summoned the wind and rain, and fought against the Ghost King.

The Grand Master first set up a high glazed seat to form a Dharma altar. The six ghost generals led their troops to attack. He stood on the glazed seat, and any swords and arrows that approached him immediately turned into lotus flowers. The ghost soldiers lit countless torches and rushed forward. The Grand Master pointed his finger, and the fire burned towards the ghost soldiers instead..."

"It is also because of the meritorious service of the Ancestral Heavenly Master in exterminating the Ghost King that the distinction between humans and ghosts was made, with the division of day and night, to bring blessings to the living beings. His immeasurable merits and virtues eventually earned him a place in the immortal register."

Zhang Daoyuan spoke in a strange tone. He paused for a moment, and then looked around the hall with his eagle-like eyes. "And the talisman and bronze mirror in my hand are exactly the magic weapons that the ancestor Tianshi used to fight the ghost king that day. This talisman is called the Lotus Talisman, which was drawn by the ancestor Tianshi himself and passed to me. It can make people safe and secure and invulnerable to all evil. This mirror is called the Kuanglu Mirror, which was cast by the ancestor Tianshi using Kunlun brass. Any evil creature will be instantly reduced to ashes when it is reflected by this mirror."

"I have questions to test you. The one who can answer first is the one who is destined to answer. You can get a lotus talisman. If you actively answer and can quote scriptures, you can also get the Kuanglu Mirror as a gift."

Zhang Daoyuan talked incessantly, and his words were extremely tempting. The talismans drawn by the Patriarch himself must be extraordinary, and the Kuang Lu Mirror was an ancient treasure worth a fortune in this era. The students of Suzhou Taoist Temple below were discussing the matter, doubting its authenticity.

As if he heard the students' discussions below, Zhang Daoyuan signaled to the disciple holding the jade sceptre next to him, and the Taoist immediately ordered someone to bring up a black jar half a person's height.

The jar doesn't look big, but it is extremely heavy. Two burly workers had a hard time lifting it, and sweat broke out on their foreheads.

With a dull thud, the jar fell in the center of the Bagua altar. After the two workers went down, Zhang Daoyuan stepped on the Gangbu step, held the peach wood sword in his hand and lifted the jar.

A cold wind suddenly blew in the Jade Emperor Hall, making people feel creepy. The disciples below only felt that something was released, but even though they opened their eyes wide, they still found nothing.

The cold wind in the Jade Emperor Hall was getting stronger and stronger. Zhang Daoyuan stood on the altar holding a wooden sword, holding a lotus talisman in his hand, with a dignified look on his face.

"Evil beast, how dare you act so presumptuously here, this Heavenly Master!"

As soon as Zhang Daoyuan finished speaking, the gloomy wind in the field suddenly disappeared, but lotus flowers appeared out of thin air around Zhang Daoyuan, covering him in the middle. Along with the appearance of the lotus flowers, there were bursts of teeth-grinding sounds of metal clashing.

At the same time, a floating black shadow appeared next to the lotus. The shadow seemed to be roaring and was extremely ferocious.

The Taoist disciples below were all horrified, and the timid ones crawled back using their hands and feet, fearing that they would not be able to escape in time.

The few people close to the altar heard the shrill sounds from the void and their faces turned pale, without a trace of blood.

"Don't panic, everyone. This is the little ghost I subdued on Treasure Island. I just happened to use it to display the talismans and ancient treasures today."

After saying this, Zhang Daoyuan straightened his face and pointed the rusty brass mirror into the air.
This was the first time that anyone under the altar had seen a ghost.

The little ghost was only the size of a child, with a green face and fangs, two festering fleshy horns on his head, and only a few yellow hairs on his body. He looked extremely terrifying.

However, this hideous little ghost let out a series of shrill screams under the light of the Kuanglu Mirror, and white smoke kept coming out of his body, trying to escape from the range of the light.

"Evil beast, this Heavenly Master is holding an ancient treasure here, and you still want to escape?"

Zhang Chaoyuan's voice was majestic, like a rolling spring thunder exploding in the hall. The little ghost screamed and turned into smoke and drifted away. It exploded. The atmosphere in the hall was completely exploded.

Most of the people in the hall were disciples of Suzhou Taoist Temple. They had only been in the temple for four or five months and had never seen such a thing as catching ghosts in broad daylight. They were so excited for a moment.

Zhang Daoyuan was giving a lecture, and a group of Taoist priests from Suzhou Taoist Temple were also watching.

Most of the Taoist priests who taught at Suzhou Taoist Temple were brought over from Longhu Mountain by Zhang Miaofa. Even they were stunned at this moment and couldn't wait to go up and take a look at the ancient mirror and talismans.

Only Zhang Miaocheng noticed something, frowned and snorted.
What little ghost caught in the treasure island? Judging from the appearance of the little ghost, it is clearly a green evil ghost raised by the Zhang family's secret ghost raising method.
The process of refining the Green Evil Ghost is against the will of heaven and extremely cruel and inhumane. The Longhu Mountain on the mainland has always shelved it and never dared to refine it. No one expected that the people on the treasure island would be so cruel.

However, he had to admit that humans are visual animals, and Zhang Daoyuan's ghost-catching drama was indeed very effective.

Suddenly, some of the disciples in the field actually called Zhang Daoyuan the Heavenly Master and interacted with him enthusiastically. Zhang Daoyuan also taught and answered questions with an attitude of high moral character and respect.

Zhang Miaocheng immediately saw the old man's intention.

He was usurping his authority and wanted to replace Zhang Miaofa and become the president of Suzhou Taoist Temple!

Zhang Miaocheng wanted to stop him, but in terms of reason and rules, Zhang Daoyuan did not do anything out of line.
The only sore spot is the origin of the Green Evil Ghost, but now the Green Evil Ghost has been reduced to ashes, and no one will believe me if I tell it now.

After thinking it over, he still had no idea what to do. Zhang Miaocheng snorted coldly and had to leave.

After returning to the Imperial Book Pavilion, he wanted to find Li Yang to discuss and report the progress of the search for Zhang Miaofa and Wang Xin in the past few days, but the fifth floor of the Imperial Book Pavilion was empty and the copper lock on the door had been re-melted.

"Where is Li Zhenjun? Does anyone know where he is now?"

After asking a circle of disciples, finally a Taoist boy who was responsible for serving tea and water to Li Yang told him his whereabouts.

"Li Zhenjun said that we are rescuing people too slowly. If we continue like this, we don't know when we can find Dean Zhang and Taoist Wang Xin. He said he would use his own method to speed up the process of rescuing the victims."

"Did he really say that?"

"It's true."

Zhang Miaocheng was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly laughed out loud.

“Hahahaha, Zhang Daoyuan, wisdom cannot defeat supernatural power. No matter how hard you perform to win people’s hearts, no one will remember you today, hahahahahaha!”

Inside the Imperial Book Pavilion, the Taoist boy looked at Zhang Miaocheng, who had a sad face, and suddenly laughed and left. He scratched his head in confusion.
-
Inside the Jade Emperor Hall, Zhang Daoyuan's Q&A session continued.

He really spent a lot of money on it. He didn't have much stock of lotus talismans on hand. Even his disciples could hardly get one on weekdays.
Just as he was enjoying the embrace and pious gazes of the disciples in the hall and had just given out two lotus talismans as rewards, there was suddenly a burst of noise outside the Jade Emperor Hall.

(End of this chapter)