Wet viviparity

Chapter 773 The Sound of Wind, Dao Yi Si
Mingyue Tongzi remained kneeling, feeling a cold sweat break out on the tip of his nose.

He had a strange intuition that the teacher was not satisfied with his clever answer.

He now wished he could answer the question again instead of revealing an unserious demeanor during the solemn moment of his first meeting with his teacher.

"Bright moon! Bright moon!"
You squandered a meeting opportunity that so many people dream of. I told you to tone down your laziness most of the time, but you reverted to your old habits at this crucial moment. Once the teacher forms a negative impression of you, you can forget about ever getting ahead in the future.

On the Fire Cloud Bridge, the Moon Boy looked somewhat lost and dejected.

He forced himself to stay alert, bowed, and accepted the order, trying his best not to reveal any ulterior motives.

As soon as he left Yanxu Mountain, before he had gone very far, he bumped into a man carrying a pagoda. In the past, he would have greeted him warmly, but at this moment, he could not think too much about it.

Regardless, this person was an elder, and they had always been on friendly terms. Unable to avoid him, Mingyue Tongzi had no choice but to step forward and greet him, saying, "Greetings, Uncle-Master Zhelong!"

"Ok?"

The other side grumbled in dissatisfaction, so Mingyue Tongzi had no choice but to change his address to "Uncle-Master Wen".

"Why are you in such a hurry? Is something wrong in the mountains?"

"I can't hide it from my master." Mingyue Tongzi felt that Master Wen probably already knew about his master's emergence from seclusion and had come here on purpose to pretend to run into him. Although he thought this, he still cooperated and said, "I am here on my master's orders to go to He Guan to summon Lord Shande and my eldest brother."

"Oh, Senior Brother Lingxu has emerged from seclusion."

Wen Daoyu looked extremely excited, and the pagoda he was holding was shining brightly. He said with great admiration, "Fifty years have passed since my senior brother issued an edict to relieve the drought and spread his kindness to the barbaric lands beyond civilization."

For the past fifty years, I have always followed your strategies, working diligently day and night, never daring to slacken, for fear of failing your immense trust.

Mingyue Tongzi felt very embarrassed listening to his master's self-reflection. He thought to himself, "My master isn't here, and he can't hear what you're saying. What's the point of telling me all this?"

Perhaps he gleaned his thoughts from Mingyue Tongzi's awkward expression, Wen Daoyu coughed and stopped talking.

Wen Daoyu thought to himself, "You youngster, how could you know that you have to say such nice things all the time? Only by saying them often can you express yourself smoothly and let them flow naturally. Even your teacher started out by speaking such sweet words. He is a master in this field, and I can never hope to catch up with him in my lifetime."

"Uncle-Master Wen, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."

"What's the rush? Do you know that your senior brother has been ordered by the mountain gate to provide support outside the Heavenly River Altar in the Hetian Mountain Blessed Land of Luoyin Lake?"

"Has the war reached such a stalemate?"

The Bright Moon Boy exclaimed in great alarm.

"No, it's all bark and no bite."

Wen Daoyu shook his head and said, "Now it seems that Yunyu Temple has sent out dozens of strong warriors from the unorthodox demons to launch a strong attack on the Heavenly River Altar at Hetian Mountain, a blessed land. However, since its construction, this altar has been firmly anchored in Luoyin Lake for countless years. It is a first-class fortress in heaven and earth. Even if the demon immortals in Yunyu Temple come to attack, they can still hold it."

Currently, the strongest among the immortals of the mountain gate are all besieging and attacking the demon lairs and strongholds around the Cloud and Rain Temple at Luoyin Lake. Among them, Jueguang, Luoji, and Huyan are the most powerful, and have already destroyed many demon generals' lairs.

Mingyue Tongzi listened with longing and wished he could go immediately to fight alongside his senior brother and take the life of the demon enemy amidst the dazzling light of magic.

“Let’s go together to summon Lord Shande.”

As they spoke, Wen Daoyu and Mingyue Tongzi set off together. Before Mingyue Tongzi could react, he found himself at He Guan with Uncle Wen in a daze.

"The crane dances in the nine heavens, sincerely praying to the sage for the secret of longevity; its feathers spread across the three realms, forever blessing the world with eternal youth."

Reading the couplet hanging at the entrance of Crane Pavilion, Wen Daoyu was filled with emotion.

Although he did not retreat into seclusion to cultivate like Lingxuzi, he often cultivated in his own Qingtong Mountain Thunderfire Grand Temple and did not come here often.

Returning now, I can't help but reminisce about the past. I'm amazed that while Heguan is still the same Heguan, the feeling it evokes is vastly different. There's an invisible pressure, a pressure stemming from its profound cultural heritage.

Take this sacred mountain, which was transformed from a small blessed land and named "Crane Mountain" by the immortal Qingyang, for example. Originally, the mountain was mostly desolate, with jagged rocks and thorns everywhere. But now, it is crisscrossed with paths and the fields are neatly arranged.

A clear spring is channeled along the roadside, its waters flowing like a jade ribbon, gurgling softly, irrigating a hundred acres of newly cultivated sacred fields.

The rice seedlings in the fields are lush and green, with dewdrops on their tips, shining brightly in the sunlight; in several medicinal gardens, orchids and ginseng seedlings are radiant, and a misty atmosphere pervades the air.

In the field, several strongmen in ochre robes, over ten feet tall, with muscles as taut as the roots of an old pine tree, were wielding stone hoes to cultivate the slope. Although their movements appeared clumsy, they were steady and powerful. With each strike of the hoe, the soil surged like waves, and the pebbles were reduced to dust.

Upon closer inspection, the strongman had thick hair, long arms that reached past his knees, and eyes that shone with a strange light. He was clearly transformed from a monkey from the mountains. However, he had no trace of ferocity around him, but rather a faint aura of Dao. This made Wen Daoyu think of something, and his expression became solemn.

He and the Moon Boy were standing there watching when they suddenly heard a clear cry in the air.

Looking up, I saw a pair of blue-feathered cranes descending from the clouds, bowing in unison and saying, "Greetings, True Man Hidden Dragon, Greetings, Child Bright Moon!"

"The Dao Yi Si has reached its current scale thanks in no small part to the contributions of Shan De Gong."

"The Moon Child sighed."

Although Mingyue Tongzi was cultivating at Yanxu Mountain, he visited He Guan more frequently than Uncle Wen. He had witnessed the rapid changes in He Guan, which prompted him to rethink the relationship between humans and demons.

Wen Daoyu said in an inexplicable tone, "All things have a spirit and can all turn to the Dao. This Benevolent Lord has truly done a great deal of merit."

Upon hearing Uncle Wen's words, Mingyue Tongzi composed himself and looked towards the mountain gate with some worry.

According to my senior brother, the major initiatives that Shande Gong has taken in recent years to establish the Daoist Service Office have been implemented while pushing the bottom line of the Daoist sect. The public opinion in the Three Peaks and One Prefecture is even more ferocious than when Shande Gong first took charge of the Crane Temple. This ferocity may seem as calm as water, but once it is unleashed, it will be like a mountain torrent or tsunami, capable of destroying Shande Gong completely.

Although Mingyue Tongzi didn't have a deep understanding of the ways of this place, he could sense the danger and complexity within from Wen Shishu's ambiguous demeanor.

After passing through the mountain gate and entering the temple, one suddenly hears voices and the sound of metal striking stone ahead.

Turning around the mountain wall, one could see three black-clad men, transformed from bears, and eight Taoist priests, working together to lay a section of suspended walkway under the direction of a leading Taoist disciple.

Three burly men carried a heavy stone slab, as steady as a rock; the Daoist disciples made hand seals to draw in their true qi, suspending the stone slab in mid-air; another disciple used a long chisel to drill a hole and insert a copper wedge, the sound ringing out and sparks flying.

They cooperated seamlessly without any obstacles.

When the leading Taoist disciple saw Wen Daoyu arrive, he quickly led the others to bow and pay their respects.

Wen Daoyu's gaze swept over the three dark-skinned men. Seeing that they had no evil intentions and were well-mannered, he asked, "I heard that there is a preaching academy in the temple. Are you all from there?"

"Reporting to the Master."

Among the three burly men, one with billowing clouds of energy stepped forward and solemnly declared, “We have all completed nine years of study at the Preaching Academy. We have passed the examinations on basic Taoist classics, sect laws, methods for guiding righteous energy, techniques for transforming and strengthening the body, identification of spiritual herbs and minerals, and basic knowledge of talismans and formations.”

Now he is a "Taoist worker" under the Taoist Service Department, responsible for the construction of buildings within the temple with his fellow disciples.

This wicked man spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly, as if he had something to rely on, which displeased Wen Daoyu.

However, given his status, he did not publicly reprimand the wicked man. Instead, he offered a few words of encouragement and inquired about the fortification.

The Taoist disciple from He Guan who was in charge of the construction interjected, "This is the Cloud-Connecting Plank Road, which leads directly to the Taoist Academy on the back mountain. It will be used by serving spirits and seeking immortality for cultivation. The Taoist service department of the temple has ordered that it must be completed within ten days."

Wen Daoyu stroked his long beard, his eyes unreadable, and sighed deeply, "Thunder awakens spring, things change and stars shift; the atmosphere here is no longer the same as it used to be!"

"The Great Way is like the clear sky, and creation does not care about one's origin."

Deep within the Crane Pavilion, an aged voice echoed, and the three demonic men and their disciples hurriedly bowed to the source of the voice.

The aged voice echoed again: "It is truly gratifying that Master Zhelong has returned to the temple. Please come here for a chat."

(End of this chapter)