Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 113: Natural Immortal Seedling
So Chen Guo said to his fellow disciple next to him:

"Brother Yang, can you hold me here for a while? I've been working here all morning and I really can't help but have to go to the bathroom."

This Senior Brother Yang was on good terms with him, so of course he had nothing to say, so he nodded and said:
"Brother, you go by yourself. I'm here."

About three minutes later, a clear bell sound suddenly came from the Mizhen Temple. The sound of the bell was long and pleasant, and it was indescribably comfortable to listen to. It had the effect of subduing ghosts and expelling monsters.

All those unlucky people who are possessed by evil spirits or ghosts will be brought by their families to this place. When they hear the bell, the evil spirits will be scared away.

This bell ringing has a different meaning. It is called the First Ringing of the Golden Bell. It is the local Pavilion Master who struck the golden bell on the red pavilion, indicating that this introduction to the immortal gate has come to an end.

As the bell rang, a Taoist holding a whisk walked out from the main gate of Mizhen Temple, looked around and said:

"Are there any children of appropriate age participating?"

The Taoist spoke softly, but the thousands of people present felt as if he was speaking in their ears and could hear it clearly, so they all knew that it was the magical power of an immortal.

At this moment, a child suddenly shouted from afar:
"Help me, Immortal! Someone won't let me participate in the Immortal Gate Guide."

The Taoist immediately turned around with a serious expression and looked, then waved his whisk and immediately saw that the people in that direction were completely unable to stand, staggering from side to side, revealing one of the boys.

This person is none other than Gong Tianwu!

The Taoist looked at Gong Tianwu deeply and said:

"Come here and talk."

Gong Tianwu strode forward and walked over.

Seeing this scene, Senior Brother Yang suddenly became a little angry and immediately stood in front of him and scolded:
"Little boy, don't talk nonsense. This is not the place for you to play around."

Gong Tianwu ignored him and looked directly at the Taoist in front of him.

The Taoist's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and his eyes were so gloomy that he looked like he wanted to eat someone!
It turned out that this Taoist was named Zi Chengzi. This time he was ordered to come here to select immortal seedlings, and his master repeatedly told him:
He said that the result of the last Immortal Gate Attraction was not good, 20% less than in previous years, so he must make careful selection and strict screening this time to pick out all the good seedlings.

But what Zi Chengzi didn't expect was that this time the Immortal Gate Guidance had come to an end, and the results were actually 30% worse than last year, which made him feel like he had no way to explain himself for a moment.

Now, after witnessing what was happening in front of him, Zi Chengzi was too lazy to say anything more. He lightly snapped his fingers, and Senior Brother Yang's eyes immediately widened, his hands tightly grasped his throat, and he fell to the ground in pain, twitching violently, but he couldn't utter a word.

This man's skills were not bad. When he stomped on the ground frantically, he made a big hole in the smooth and hard paving stone slab, and the dirt was scattered everywhere.
Zi Chengzi simply ignored this person, forced out a smile, and said to Gong Tianwu:

"Okay, now tell me what's going on."

When Gong Tianwu was a blood infant in his previous life, he had learned in detail about the process of leading to the Immortal Gate. He knew that when the golden bell rang for the first time, a real person would come out to give a speech. This was a fixed process and ritual, and almost no sect would skip it.

Because no matter whether it is the righteous or evil sects, they actually regard the matter of Xianmen Yin as the most important thing! After all, this is one of the few opportunities to get free cultivation resources.

Therefore, Gong Tianwu had already predicted the current situation and said simply:

"To answer your question, my name is Xu Tianwu. I am five years and ten months old this year. I am just tall because of my stature. I was born in Duanmen Village, three miles away from this county, on the eighteenth day of the eighth month of the Yiyou year at the hour of Hai."

"As for the boy's age, not too many people should know it. The villagers in Duanmen Village can go and ask at any time. Because both of my parents are dead, I came here alone. Before coming here, I also opened a corresponding certificate at the county government."

After Gong Tianwu finished speaking, he presented the certificate with both hands.

Seeing this scene, a bystander nearby said in astonishment:
"Wasn't your official certificate torn off before? How come another one appeared?"

Gong Tianwu said calmly:
"What I took out earlier was not a government certificate at all, but a handwritten report that looked somewhat similar."

The man was suddenly speechless.

Zi Chengzi took the certificate without even looking at it and directly reached out to touch Gong Tianwu's head.

This touch also has different levels of education, it is called "immortal stroking the top of the head", it cannot accurately determine the specific qualifications, but at least you can know the general idea.

It's like a teacher teaching a class, and the students who listen attentively can tell whether it is natural or technological by just touching it.
Zi Chengzi's face changed drastically and his heart began to pound.

"It can't be such a coincidence, right? I actually found a fairy seedling by myself?"

So he reached out and touched it again, this time extra carefully, which further verified his judgment. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Gong Tianwu also changed, becoming obviously much friendlier and more eager.

At this time, another Taoist nun walked out from the gate of Mizhen Temple. She looked to be about thirty years old, but her appearance was ordinary. After all, beautiful Taoist nuns were actually rare.

Ahem, because beautiful women are subject to too many temptations, it is usually difficult for them to calm down and practice Taoism.

She said to Zi Chengzi:

"Brother, why have you been outside for so long? The Golden Bell will ring twice soon, and we are waiting for you to preside over it."

Zi Chengzi immediately said sternly:
"Junior sister, you came at the right time. These killers are so bold that they dared to secretly stop the boy from coming to participate in the Immortal Gate Guide!! We must follow the clues and get to the bottom of this matter."

This Taoist nun was called Zi Yuzi. She was extremely shocked when she heard Zi Chengzi's words and immediately said:
"Is there such a thing?"

Zi Chengzi said:

"It happened right under my nose! These people are really crazy. Junior sister, you have practiced our Tianyin Dafa much better than I have. It is up to you to find out the truth."

Zi Yuzi nodded, and with a flick of his fingers, he had already grasped a pure white jade flute:
"If that's the case, then I'd rather be respectful than obey."

Then, she held the jade flute upright close to her lips and began to play it with sobs. The tune she played seemed to be an ancient song: Wind in the Pines.

To the shock of the people around him, Senior Brother Yang quickly stopped his painful struggle on the ground, then stood up again with his eyes wide open, and then knelt down in front of Zi Yuzi without saying a word.

No one noticed at this moment that when the flute sounded, Gong Tianwu's pupils suddenly shrank.

Because he could clearly feel that the rhythm technique this woman used was very familiar, and was at least 50% to 60% similar to the True Feather Heart Technique.

And it can be felt that what she has learned is very shallow, and at most she has only obtained the first one or two levels of the secret.

In other words, no matter how talented she is or how hardworking she is, unless she has the ability to open up a new path, her lifelong achievements will be stuck at a certain level and she will be unable to make any progress.

So Gong Tianwu immediately said to Kang:
"Why does this woman use what looks like the True Feather Heart Technique?"

Kang said calmly:
"She used the Heavenly Palace Heart Technique."

Gong Tianwu said sharply:
"It sounds like it's arranged according to the order of Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu?"

Kang did not answer directly, but continued:
"The twenty-eight constellations are divided into four groups, namely the Azure Dragon in the East, the Black Tortoise in the North, the White Tiger in the West, and the Vermillion Bird in the South. Each group has seven constellations. For example, I belong to the Azure Dragon in the East: Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Ji."

"After the Donghuang Bell was broken, the innate magical power Donghuang Yin was no longer audible. However, Dongfang Qinglong, one of the Four Symbols, successfully mastered a new magical power: the True Feather Heart Sutra."

"Correspondingly, the other three elephants have also mastered a new magical power. This woman should have mastered the Heavenly Palace Heart Sutra that the Western White Tiger possesses."

"But the Heavenly Palace Heart Sutra that she mastered is probably only the first level of the formula, and it is still somewhat ambiguous. It must have gone through many twists and turns before it was passed on."

Gong Tianwu frowned, feeling the heavy burden on his shoulders.

If I can obtain the adventure of Kang, then the others can obtain other fragments of the Donghuang Bell, and all those who get the fragments of the Donghuang Bell will be my opponents, and they are the kind that cannot be compromised and will fight to the death.

As soon as he thought of this, his sense of crisis became stronger.

Zi Yuzi put down the jade flute and said:
"Why do you want to stop the children coming to Xianmenyin?"

Senior Brother Yang pointed his eyes blankly and said, "It was Senior Brother Chen Guo who asked us to do this. He said that this kid has a grudge against him, so he asked us to block him and not let him in."

After hearing this, Zi Chengzi’s face turned pale and he waved his whisk violently!
Suddenly, a flash of light could be seen, and all the warriors who were responsible for maintaining order at the scene widened their eyes at the same time, then slowly fell to the ground, twitching in pain!

"Snakes and rats are of the same nest, they are in cahoots with each other!! Today we must eradicate all the evil!"

Zi Yuzi also said grimly:

"That's true. We have been too lenient with these mortals, so much so that they dared to play tricks on us in such a major event as the Immortal Gate Guide."

Zi Chengzi said sharply:
"Both the last Immortal Gate Guide and this one were not satisfactory. It seems that it was these villains who were causing trouble, which made the final Immortal Gate Guide result unsatisfactory!"

Upon hearing this, Zi Yuzi glanced at his senior brother and immediately understood his intention.

That is, no matter what the truth is, we should put the blame on these mortals first - anyway, someone has been suppressed, so does it matter whether it is one person or many people?

In this way, even after returning to the sect, he would have given an explanation to his superiors. Even Senior Brother Zi Mingzi, who came to preside over the Immortal Sect Guidance last time, would have an excuse to ease the situation.

Therefore, Zi Yuzi immediately said sternly:

"Brother is right. We must investigate it and investigate it thoroughly!"

Hearing the loud noise outside, people in Mizhen Temple rushed out one after another. When they saw the scene in front of them, they all looked confused.

Zi Yuzi did not give them a chance to speak any more and shouted:
"Who is this Yang, and who is his master called Chen Guo?"

The martial artists looked at each other, knowing that this would not end well. The Immortal's face turned as dark as a powder keg that could explode at any time.

So they all stood up one after another and pointed at a burly man on the left:
"It's him!"

Master Lin was immediately shocked and angry: Are you guys still human? When we were drinking together, didn't we put our arms around each other and say we were good brothers?

Just as he was about to say something to distance himself from the matter, Zi Yuzi raised his hand, and a beam of white light flew out, taking Master Lin's life. He then said in a cold voice:

"You guys are so bold that you dare to collude with outsiders and secretly intercept the boy from participating in the Xianmen Guidance. What are you thinking? Are you trying to dig up the foundation of our Xianmen?"

After seeing this scene, the other martial artists were also stunned. They thought that as a privileged class, they still had some say in front of the immortal, but they did not expect that he would kill without mercy.

However, these people don’t know that there seems to be only a thin line between immortals and mortals, but behind this line, mortals are nothing but fish and ants!
When this happened, the abbot of the temple here also rushed over. He came here to preside over the sect because he had no hope of advancement, so in terms of status and strength, he was definitely far inferior to Zi Yuzi and Zi Chengzi.

After he figured out what was going on, his head suddenly buzzed and he knew that this matter had become a big deal.

Fortunately, he was also quick-witted, so he whispered beside him:

"Well, Senior Brother, the time for the Immortal Gate Induction is almost up, and there is a boy waiting to be tested here."

Zi Chengzi looked at this junior fellow apprentice deeply, but his gaze softened immediately after it landed on Gong Tianwu:
"Okay, let's get down to business first."

Then he took Gong Tianwu's hand and led him into Mizhen Temple.

The people around him immediately started whispering, thinking that Gong Tianwu was really lucky to have caught the eye of this immortal master.

***
It was not the first time that Gong Tianwu came to Mizhen Temple, but it was the first time for him to be a boy here for testing, so he looked around like a curious baby. Anyway, he was only five years old, so it was not surprising for him to have any reaction.

He soon discovered that the Mizhen Temple here was quite large, which showed that the people above attached great importance to it.

The golden bell hanging on the red building can be seen from afar. It really looks great. When the sunlight shines on its surface, it is very bright and gorgeous, which makes people admire it.

The Zhuge here has only five floors, but just as Gong Tianwu had inquired, the first floor is to test one's physique.

If you pass, then go to the second floor to determine the affinity of the five elements. The third floor is where only certain sects will ask about fortune.

It can be seen that there are more than twenty boys waiting for testing at the door of Zhuge, and these boys have already passed the preliminary test.

So what is the initial test? It means being led by your family members and then coming here to be touched on the head by Shangzhen.

Although this touch on the top of the head seems easy, it actually injects a little spiritual energy into the other person's body.

If you feel that the spiritual energy is like encountering a stubborn stone and cannot penetrate at all, then it must be rotten wood - this is what will happen 99% of the time.

Only after passing this step can you enter the re-examination and enter Zhuge.

Those boys who failed the test have been accompanied by their families and went out from the back of the other side. There are at least thousands of people who were eliminated.

Opposite this group of boys stood three children, each with a dot in the middle of their eyebrows with a red pen. These were the immortal seedlings selected this time.

The distance between them and the other children was only five meters at most at this time, but these mere five meters might very well be a huge gap that would be unreachable for their entire lives!
Zi Chengzi brought Gong Tianwu here, and then rudely cut in line and entered the first floor of the Zhu Pavilion.

At this time, you can see that this first floor is empty, but there is a strange rope ladder hanging down from the nothingness above.

The material of this rope ladder is also unique, it looks lush and green, and it is unforgettable.

After taking a closer look, Gong Tianwu discovered that it actually looked more like the stems and tendrils of a pumpkin or loofah, as if it were alive.

Zi Chengzi looked at Gong Tianwu with encouragement:

"Go ahead, climb this rope ladder and get as high as you can."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu walked forward and reached out to grab the rope ladder, but he didn't expect it to suddenly twist!
So it seemed that Gong Tianwu's grab was about to miss, but his reaction was incredibly fast. He changed direction in the air and grabbed it.

Witnessing this scene, Zi Chengzi was also very surprised. He probably didn't expect that Gong Tianwu could succeed in one fell swoop.

Next, Gong Tianwu calmed down and climbed up the rope ladder.

While he was climbing, he suddenly felt a blur in front of his eyes. The rope ladder, which was only seven or eight feet long, actually extended upwards to the sky.

Looking at the nearby scenery, it had turned into a bottomless abyss with thick clouds and mist.

Witnessing all this, Gong Tianwu knew that this had become an illusion. If the child was not determined, he might have let go and burst into tears.

Of course, such a test was not difficult for Gong Tianwu. He was not in a hurry and climbed up slowly, bit by bit, occasionally stopping to rest for a while.

Soon, Gong Tianwu found that the climbing process was becoming more difficult:
The first is that when you are climbing up, every climb takes extra effort.

Secondly, strong winds, circling cranes, ferocious eagles and other disturbances began to appear around.

But for Gong Tianwu, all of this is nothing but a passing cloud, and it cannot interfere with his determination to move forward.

After climbing for a while, the fog dissipated, and even dark clouds began to appear, with strong winds and heavy rain mixed with hail.

Gong Tianwu was still able to hold on until thunder appeared in the dark clouds. At first, the thunder just flashed around him, but later it directly struck the rock wall beside him.

Suddenly, the rock wall exploded, and the flying rocks even hit Gong Tianwu's face, leaving several bloody marks.

At this moment, Gong Tianwu's whole body shook, and he stayed there for two seconds. Then he felt a flash before his eyes again, and the passage of time passed. He was back in the Red Pavilion and standing in front of the rope ladder.

Zi Chengzi looked at Gong Tianwu from the side, his face full of regret, and he sighed and said:

"What a pity, what a pity. If you were not confused by the thunder sound."

Gong Tianwu's heart sank, thinking to himself, could there be something wrong with this damn test and he failed?
(End of this chapter)