The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 198 This is your fate!
"Yuan De Chong Mei Yue Hui" in "The Book of Posthumous Titles" means that although Song Huizong was a king who lost his country, he had high attainments in the field of art, was good at flower and bird painting, and was able to create his own style, thus his temple name was "Hui".

In other words, the temple name "Hui" is not a bad posthumous name, it is much better than posthumous names such as "Li" and "Yang".

But Zhao Ji was determined to become an emperor of all ages, and he was obsessed with some beautiful posthumous titles, such as "Wen" and "Ren". "The Holy, Wen, Benevolent, Virtuous and Filial Emperor" would be a good choice.

He was totally unable to accept the mere word "Hui".

Moreover, temple names and the like are definitely given after the emperor's death. How could he have a temple name when he is still alive?

Master Zhan did not respond to Zhao Ji's angry look, but waved his hand to Jia Rong beside him and ordered:

"Go to the study and pick out a history of the Song Dynasty and give this 'Emperor Yuqing Sect Master Wei Miao Daojun' a good look."

Although Jia Rong was not a well-educated man, Song Huizong was so famous that he had no choice but to know him. After hearing Mr. Zhan's instructions, he also wanted to watch the fun, so he stood up and ran out with a smile.

The entire book of "History of Song Dynasty" has a total of 496 volumes, which is a very thick stack. Jia Rong certainly would not move all of them. He only picked out the important one, brought it back, turned to the section about Song Huizong in "Chronicles of Emperors", and handed it to Zhao Ji to read.

Zhao Ji couldn't wait to take the book and began to read it quickly.

Zhou Bangyan, who was standing next to him, also hurried over, peeked behind Zhao Ji, and watched carefully.

Others actually wanted to see it as well, but due to their status, they did not have the courage. Only Zen Master Zhiqing, relying on the fact that he was an outsider, came to see what was written in this "heavenly book" with great enthusiasm.

The "History of Song Dynasty" was compiled by the Yuan Dynasty prime ministers Toghto and Aluto. What good words can be said about the Song Dynasty in it? Especially the evaluation of Song Huizong, which even uses parallel sentences. The text is as vicious as it can be.

"…The end of the Song dynasty was due to Huizong. Huizong was frivolous, but he held the highest position. When faced with a crisis, he indulged in selfish desires, abandoned the great achievements of the previous dynasty, and promoted a policy of destruction and chaos. He indulged in impulsiveness, worshipped sightseeing, was hypocritical, changed the rules and regulations, indulged in pleasure, and lost his ambition. He indulged in lust and lost his morals. He greatly damaged the way of governance and disrupted the rules of the court…"

The more Zhao Ji read, the more nervous he became. He turned the pages so quickly that Zhou Bangyan, who was standing behind him, frowned.

"This, this, this... this is fake, this must be fake!"

After seeing the Jingkang Shame, the fall of Tokyo, the naked men leading sheep, the abduction of father and son, the suffering of the emperor and empress... and so on, Zhao Ji was completely devastated.

Zhou Bangyan was also sweating profusely, pointing at Master Zhan and cursing:

"Demon way!"

"I don't know where he learned some strange skills, and then he made up some words to pretend to be the "Book of Heaven". He dared to come here to disrupt the government. His crime is unforgivable!"

"Your Majesty, quickly call Lin Lingsu and other Taoist masters over here to capture this evil Taoist who is misleading the people with his lies and behead him as a warning to the public. Otherwise, we will inevitably repeat the mistakes of the Shang Dynasty."

After all, he was a scholar, and was very good at suppressing factional disputes. He labeled Mr. Zhan as an "evil demon" right away, hoping to eliminate future troubles.

It's a pity that Master Zhan was a real evil spirit, not one of those swindlers. Seeing that he dared to be so rude, he snorted coldly, raised his hand and pointed, and there was a "boom" of thunder out of nowhere, and a flash of lightning appeared out of nowhere and fell on Zhou Bangyan's head, and then Zhou Bangyan fell to the ground and twitched.

Master Zhan manipulated the blessed land to create a low-voltage fixed-point discharge and gave Zhou Bangyan an electric baton massage.

At this moment, everyone was silent, even the mad Zhao Ji came to his senses a little, looking at the unlucky guy lying on the ground with smoke coming out of his head and faint sparks flashing, he swallowed his saliva and said hesitantly:

"What is written in this book is really, really hard to believe. Let me go back and read it carefully first..."

At this point, he naturally knew that his identity had been exposed long ago, so he no longer concealed it and changed his name back to what it was.

Master Zhan did not stop him, but waved his hand casually and said calmly:

"This future is a secret of heaven. Considering that we are old friends in heaven, I am making an exception and letting you see it. Whether you believe it or not is actually not important."

"Most of these immortals come to the mortal world to experience disasters. What happens in the future is your disaster."

"The catastrophe is there. It's you, but it's also you. Everything is up to you to decide."

"It's just that according to the rules of the Heavenly Court, one can only ascend after the calamity is over. Even the Great Heavenly Venerable Zhang Bairen is no exception. If you want to ascend and return to your position, you cannot escape this calamity."

"Of course, if you can't stand the glory and wealth of this world, then you only need to do what is written in this book. You will definitely be remembered in history and become a wise ruler. But it is impossible to achieve enlightenment and ascend to heaven."

After he finished speaking, he ignored Zhao Ji's ugly expression, waved his hand at Jia Rong, and ordered:

"Go and take out the rest of the History of the Song Dynasty and bring it back to Emperor Shenxiao."

Jia Rong went to the backyard with a smile, and took some servants with him to move out the pile of books and handed them over to the imperial guards who were following Zhao Ji.

The expression on Zhao Ji's face changed several times in an instant. Finally, he politely bowed and said goodbye:

"Thank you very much for the generous gift from the Heavenly Lord. I will return to the palace to discuss with you all how to build a temple to worship the Heavenly Lord."

Master Zhan frowned and waved his hand to refuse:

"I became an immortal through spiritual practice. The incense and offerings from this world are useless to me. After I built a temple to worship, I heard people nagging me day and night. It was very annoying. You should stop doing these useless things."

"I am not being polite to you. I am speaking the truth. If you dare to make a random sacrifice, then be prepared that I will not be polite to you."

After hearing this, Zhao Ji was surprised and asked:
"The most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and warfare. Since ancient times, sacrifices have been the most important affairs of the dynasty."

"From the Great Heavenly Venerable to the mountain gods and land gods, and even the ancestors of our families, which one of them doesn't need sacrifices from the human world? Why doesn't the Heavenly Venerable want sacrifices?"

Mr. Zhan then said nonsense:

"The one you are talking about is a god, and I am an immortal."

"The gods have divine duties and serve in the heavens. They need to be responsible for the operation of all things in the world. They are rewarded for their merits and punished for their faults. Therefore, they attach great importance to the incense offerings from the human world."

"The immortals are outside the Three Realms and are not in the Five Elements. They respect the Heavenly Court but do not obey it. Even if the Heavenly Court needs the immortals' help, they have to discuss it with the immortals."

"The immortals are free and unfettered, wandering freely in the nine heavens. Their actions are not subject to cause and effect, so naturally there is no reward or punishment. Incense and fire are naturally useless to the immortals."

"Gods are often granted titles by the heavens. Even ordinary mortals can ascend to heaven and become gods with just one decree."

"Even the canonization of the human court will be given some face by the Heavenly Court. After all, the human world is also a part of the Heavenly Court system and is also responsible for the affairs of the human world."

"Zhengyi Dao is the leader among them, responsible for the communication between the human world and the heavens."

"And immortals are ordinary people who refine the spiritual energy of the world, refine essence into qi, refine qi into spirit, refine spirit into emptiness, and finally cultivate to become immortals."

"This process is entirely based on my own efforts and has nothing to do with the canonization of the Heavenly Court."

"Back then, Emperor Huangdi had 3,000 concubines and achieved enlightenment and ascended to heaven. This was the method of cultivation he used."

"It's just that these methods require too much talent and diligence. Ordinary people simply can't do it, so they have long since fallen into disuse in the mortal world."

"The Emperor of Divine Sky is the god of heaven, so he will be punished to go down to the lower world to experience tribulations if he does something wrong. I am an immortal and can travel freely between the various realms without being restricted by the rules of heaven."

Zhao Ji was fascinated by what he heard and wished he could ascend to heaven and become an immortal right away. He decided not to be a god this time. Wouldn't being an immortal be a hundred times more carefree and happy than being a god?

He subconsciously bowed his hands and prayed:
"Please grant me the method, I want to learn the cultivation method."

After hearing this, Mr. Zhan frowned and said:
"You are originally the Emperor of the Divine Sky who descended to the mortal world. Once you have completed the calamity, you can return to heaven and be your own Emperor of the Divine Sky. Why do you want to learn this cultivation method for no reason?"

Zhao Ji kept begging, and Master Zhan had no choice but to use the "Supreme Yoga Tantra" magic again and give it to him.

"This cultivation method is extremely difficult. If ordinary people don't practice it from childhood, it will be very difficult to even get started."

"Moreover, the key to cultivation is perseverance. You need to persist every day to make progress."

"Even if one has been practicing since childhood and is able to endure hardships and persist, it still depends on one's natural talent. Ninety-nine percent of people in this world do not have that talent, so it is difficult for them to achieve enlightenment and become immortals."

Zhao Ji was overjoyed when he got the secret book. He didn't care about the harsh words from Master Jinzhang. He just smiled and kept thanking him.

Master Zhan could only sigh and shake his head:
"Well, since you don't want to listen to my advice and insist on giving it a try, then I'll leave it to you."

"Take your people and leave. By the way, tell the believers around here not to kneel and pray in front of my house. I am impatient to hear them praying and harassing me."

Zhao Ji said goodbye and led everyone out of the house, carrying Zhou Bangyan out as well. He also had people disperse the surrounding believers and forbade anyone to disturb the peace of the Zhan family.

Zhao Ji left, but the Zen Master Zhiqing refused to leave. He stepped forward and bowed deeply, "I am Zhiqing, the humble monk, and I am honored to meet you, the immortal."

Master Zhan was impatient to waste time talking to Zhiqing. He was not Zhao Ji and had no use to him. He waved his hand and adjusted the direction of gravity in the blessed land. Then the monk Zhiqing flew up into the sky involuntarily and was thrown out of the gate, faster than Zhao Ji and others took the elevator.

"Ah..." Zhiqing's feet left the ground for the first time, and his limbs were dancing wildly in the air. He was so scared that he kept screaming, fearing that he would fall to the ground and die.

But Master Zhan had perfect control over the blessed land. When Zhiqing landed, he only felt a gentle force coming from below, which paved the way for him. He only rolled a few times on the ground without any injury.

This immediately made him behave himself. He didn't dare to stay here and make noise anymore. He ran away in shame. After returning, he asked people to invite all the eminent monks in the surrounding area to come to a meeting to discuss the matter of the immortal coming to the world.

Zhao Ji saw the monk Zhiqing fly over his head with his own eyes. He was secretly shocked, but also secretly glad that he was the descendant of the Emperor of the Divine Sky and that the Heavenly Lord had given him face. Otherwise, he might have followed the footsteps of Zhou Bangyan and the monk Zhiqing. After these people left, Jia Rong curiously asked Master Zhan:

"Master, the Song Dynasty has been gone for hundreds of years in our place. How come we are in the Song Dynasty again?"

Mr. Zhan smiled and explained:
"This flower is a world, and this tree is a bodhi. There are countless small worlds in the universe. The world we were in before was one of them, and the world we are in now is another one."

"Time is a long river that flows endlessly. Naturally, the speed of flow is different in different worlds. In that world, the Song Dynasty has already perished, but in this world, the Song Dynasty is still in its middle stage. There is nothing to be surprised about."

"In different worlds, history will naturally be different. We can't just copy what's in history books. Who knows, some world might be full of gods and monsters!"

Jia Rong suddenly understood.

"No wonder the master asked Yang Yougong to ask if there are any immortals or Buddhas living in the world at the beginning!"

"Hey, Master, just now you called this tyrant the Emperor of Divine Sky. Could it be that he is really the Emperor in heaven?"

Hearing Jia Rong ask such a stupid question, Master Zhan immediately rolled his eyes in annoyance and said disdainfully:

"Of course I lied to him!"

"If the Emperor was like this, the Heavenly Palace would have been destroyed long ago."

Xue Pan couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and said with a gloating look:

"But I think Song Huizong really believed it!"

"Haha..." Master Zhan sneered, "This guy has lost his mind. He is crazy about becoming an immortal. Others just try to coax him with words, but he really takes them seriously."

Jia Rong then asked:
"Master, you have given him the History of the Song Dynasty. If Emperor Huizong of Song follows the history books and gets close to virtuous officials and keeps away from villains after returning, then wouldn't everything be different?"

"It's different, so it's different!" Mr. Zhan said indifferently.

"The fall of the Song Dynasty and the rise of the Jin and Mongolian dynasties have caused chaos everywhere, and countless people have died. If he really reforms and puts an end to this terrible situation in the future, it will be a good thing!"

“But I think it’s very risky!”

"Although Emperor Huizong of Song was largely responsible for the fall of the Song Dynasty, the main reason was that he emphasized culture over military power, which led to the lack of military power."

"After the Little Ice Age arrives, it is inevitable that the northerners will invade the south. The imperial court is too weak, and it will fall sooner or later."

"Now that the civil officials are so powerful, it is absolutely impossible to ask them to transfer power to the military officials."

"Even if they know that there will be frequent wars in the future and that they will die without the use of force, they will only believe in their own wisdom and think that they can solve all problems with wisdom."

"Uh..." The two illiterate people were confused. "Master, what is this Little Ice Age?"

"After a few years, the winter climate will be much colder than in previous years," explained Mr. Zhan.

The two of them still didn't quite understand what they heard. "Why is it getting colder? Isn't the weather changing with the seasons? But is it a punishment from heaven?"

“…Just take it as that!” Mr. Zhan waved his hands helplessly, too lazy to explain further.

On the other side, Zhao Ji and others returned to the palace with a pile of history books. The court officials had already received the news and came to inquire.

Zhao Ji had all the history books thrown to the court officials. He did not even look at them himself, but hurried back to his bedroom, opened the secret book of "Supreme Yoga Tantra", and carefully read the practice methods contained therein.

He had heard from the Heavenly Venerable before that he would have to go through many tribulations before he could transform himself into an immortal and return to his throne. This was quite difficult for him to accept.

He was born in an imperial family and had been pampered since childhood. He had never experienced any hardship. How could he be willing to experience any disaster!
In the past, he also often meditated and took pills, but the method of cultivation was probably just something of the mortal world. After years of hard training, he still couldn't resist the decline of energy and gradually became unable to do it.

Now it is good. He has obtained the true immortal method and has the support of endless precious medicines in the world. He can definitely cultivate to become an immortal and become an immortal, instead of having to go through tribulations and become a god.

But when he opened the secret book and took a closer look, he was dumbfounded.

This secret book has both pictures and texts, and the key points of the movements, precautions, etc. are written in great detail. But the problem is that there is no content about taking pills and refining medicine, it is all about external skills.

Aren't Taoist practices supposed to involve meditation and chanting scriptures?
Why are there so many different movements? Could it be something like Shaolin Yi Jin Jing?

But he had read the Yi Jin Jing before, and the movements in it were very gentle and simple. How could they be as strenuous as this "yoga"?
He tried a simple exercise, something called "plank", and gave it a try. However, he was out of breath after only a dozen breaths and couldn't hold on any longer.

How can this be good?

The voice of Zhan Tianzun's words echoed in his mind again, making him even more upset.

Is it possible that his qualifications are so bad?
Or does it mean that to achieve this magical skill of "Supreme Yoga Tantra", one must go through extremely hard work like those clumsy warriors?

No no no, absolutely not!
It is said that those who work with their minds serve others, and those who work with their bodies are served by others. This method of cultivation must be practiced by smart people. How can one endure it like a stupid person?

Just as he was feeling distressed, the sound of bells and bracelets jingled outside, and someone asked softly:
"Why is the official so distressed? But did the immortal make any excessive demands?"

Zhao Ji looked up and saw a beautiful woman in palace dress coming with several palace maids and eunuchs.

She had a beautiful appearance and elegant temperament, eyebrows like distant mountains, eyes like autumn water, willow-shaped eyebrows, phoenix eyes, a straight nose, and lips like red. She was wearing a palace dress embroidered with gold thread, her hair was tied up high, and a golden hairpin on her head swayed gently with her steps. She did not wear any gold or silver, but every piece of jewelry revealed her identity and taste.

"Oh, it turned out to be Wei Wanrong." Zhao Ji threw the secret book in his hand onto the table and said dejectedly, "That immortal didn't make any requests. He even refused when I wanted to build a temple for him."

"But it is precisely because he has nothing to ask for that I am troubled!"

"If there is anything he really wants, whether it is gold, silver, treasures, jade, rare treasures, wealth, fame and title... I am the richest man in the world, and I can give it to him."

"As long as he takes my things, then when I ask him for help, he will be too embarrassed to refuse and will at least give me some benefits."

"But he doesn't want anything!"

"Take a look..." He pushed the secret book in front of the beautiful woman, "This is the cultivation method I obtained from the immortal, but this method is completely different from what I got from Master Lin before, and I can't practice it at all. I even suspect that this secret book is fake."

The beautiful woman looked down and felt a little moved, but she did not reach out to take it. She just refused and said:

"How can I read this kind of immortal law casually?"

Zhao Ji smiled and said:
"You are also someone close to me. You even gave birth to my son. Why can't I trust you?"

Wei Wanrong no longer refused, and took the secret book. She flipped through it and said with a smile:
"Since the emperor trusts me, I will take a few more glances. If I gain something, I will pass it on to Gou'er so that he can also get some of the immortal energy."

After looking at it for a few seconds, she suddenly rolled up her sleeves, pulled up and tied her skirt, bent her legs and twisted her waist, and made some strange movements.

Zhao Ji watched carefully from the side and saw clearly the contents of the secret book.

"You, you..." Zhao Ji was shocked and pointed at her in amazement, unable to speak clearly.

Wei Wanrong blushed, put her legs down, bowed and apologized:

"Before I entered the palace, I once learned dancing from the dancers in my family when I was young. I just saw that there seemed to be some shadows of the basic dance skills in these many movements, so I tried to practice them. Who knew that I could do it easily."

"I am a concubine and I have been impolite. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"No, no, no, I don't blame you!" Zhao Ji was overjoyed. "Since you can practice it, it means that the things in this secret book are not false, but I don't know how to do it."

"Pass on my decree. From now on, Wei Wanrong will be promoted to Consort Wei Xian, and will be conferred the title of Longde Palace to specifically guide me in the practice of this immortal technique."

Naturally, the matters within the palace were decided by Emperor Zhao Ji. The eunuch immediately drafted the edict, quickly completed the process, and announced the edict in the palace.

After hearing this, many concubines in the palace felt hatred and jealousy in their hearts, and they only regretted that they did not seize the opportunity and let this little bitch steal their chicken.

With this clear benchmark, many concubines immediately knew the emperor's intention. Whether it was to cater to the emperor's ideas or simply for the magic itself, these concubines all tried their best, each showing their magical powers, trying to get a copy of the magic and practice it diligently.

There were numerous factions and circles of all sizes in the inner court of the imperial palace. It was almost like a big sieve, and it was impossible to keep secrets at all. It didn't take long before all the concubines had a handwritten copy of the immortal spell and began to practice diligently.

Not only were they eyeing the magic, but even the powerful families outside the palace were also coveting it.

Who doesn’t want to cultivate and become an immortal?

In the past, the Taoist priests in the mortal world were always the ones that attracted them. Now that the true immortal has been born, are they really going to miss him?
It’s a pity that the true immortal doesn’t like to be disturbed by mortals, and does not allow people to gather around the place where the immortal palace fell. Otherwise, the Daxiangguo Temple would have been filled with carriages, horses, and sedan chairs.

After hearing that the government had obtained the magic, these powerful people were not idle either. They also used various means to get a copy of the magic.

For a while, paper was in great demand, but anyone who could afford it could get a copy of the "Supreme Yoga Tantra".

Let’s start practicing yoga together!

(End of this chapter)