Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 437 A Master of Clones, Swift and Decisive Decisions (Seeking votes at the end of the month~)

Three years later.

Spring of the 480th year of the Ming Dynasty.

Pingdingshan, Chunyang Hall.

"Master, I have something to report."

A voice requesting an audience came from outside the hall.

"Enter."

Inside the hall, Cheng Xinzhan held a divination slip in his hand, intently studying its contents.

A middle-aged Taoist priest walked in, bowed, and said...
"Master, the disciples for this year's Jiazi year in the Kuaiji region have been sent over. As is customary, they will be accepted by the three families of Danxia Mountain, Baicao Mountain, and Ziyan Mountain. However, there is a child with two hearts among this batch of disciples. Both Danxia Mountain and Baicao Mountain want him and they are arguing over it, which has delayed the completion of the disciple-acceptance ceremony. Do you think it would be necessary for you to go there in person?"

"Two hearts?"

Cheng Xinzhan was somewhat surprised, and then said,

"Let's go and take a look."

However, although he said he was leaving, he didn't move. But the next moment, the void in front of him distorted, a point of light appeared, and then a Cheng Xinzhan appeared.

Cheng Xinzhan, who came out later, strode towards the outside of the hall.

The middle-aged Taoist priest who came to deliver the message was not surprised and hurried after him.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The sect's large-scale disciple-acceptance ceremonies are all held on the Three Dragons Emerging from the Sea peaks, south of the starting section of the Eastern Heavenly Path, behind the mountain gate Zhongling Mountain. This is both far from the sect's core and for good luck.

Cheng Xinzhan arrived at the top of the dragon's forehead, where there was a large plaza above the sea of ​​clouds, offering a very wide view. Five or six thousand Daoist children sat cross-legged in the center of the plaza, the youngest being five or six years old and the oldest fifteen or sixteen.

Sanqingshan has a tradition of accepting disciples every sixty years in its outer regions. These outer regions refer to the southeastern area, encompassing seven places around Yuzhang: Kuaiji, Fujian, Hunan, Yuyang, Qingzhou, Jingchu, and Jinling. Each of these seven places has its own Wanfa sect on the mountain and its own Taoist temples at the foot of the mountain. Like the Yulin Temple on Yuxiu Mountain, these temples at the foot of the mountain also offer guided breathing exercises, specifically the "Tongmai Shenjing Gong," to believers in the surrounding areas. Every sixty years, these temples gather local children under sixteen years old who have cultivated pure spiritual energy and are inclined towards spiritual practice. The local Wanfa sect then assembles all the children from the region and sends them to Sanqingshan.

Furthermore, the Jiazi years for these seven regions are staggered, with each region receiving its turn every ten years. For example, this year is the 480th year of the Ming Dynasty, and it's Kuaiji's turn. Then, in the 490th year of the Ming Dynasty, it will be Qingzhou's turn. The 500th year is Jingchu, the 510th year is Sanxiang, and the 520th year is Yuyang. In addition, because Jinling is the Daoist center of Juqu Mountain, most of its territory follows the Shangqing School, and there are not many Wanfa School practitioners available. Moreover, Fujian is a vast and sparsely populated, undeveloped land, so there are not many people available to recruit. Therefore, these two places are combined into one cycle, which is scheduled for the 530th year of the Ming Dynasty. When the 540th year of the Ming Dynasty arrives, exactly one Jiazi cycle has passed, and it will be Kuaiji's turn again.

As for Yuzhang, the situation is truly unique. As the location of the Dao Capital, there are five ancestral temples of immortal sects alone: ​​Wanfa Sanqing Mountain, Zhengyi Longhu Mountain, Jingming Sanyuan Mountain, Lingbaoge Zao Mountain, and Shenxiao Bingfeng Mountain. In addition, there are several other major sects and large sects, each occupying a separate area. It is impossible for a large-scale recruitment of disciples to occur throughout the entire territory. Therefore, thousands of years ago, everyone agreed not to cross the boundaries. If they wanted to recruit disciples, they should only do so at the foot of their own mountain.

However, the small area at the foot of their own mountain was far from enough to supply the entire sacred mountain. Therefore, the various families in Yuzhang had an unspoken agreement: the small plot of land at the foot of the mountain was usually pampered and cared for, with blessings and talismanic water and elixirs bestowed from time to time. While uniting the people, this also subtly improved the aptitude of the mortals at the foot of the mountain. Only when there was a shortage of exceptionally talented individuals, a lack of successors for those with superior talent, a small lineage with few disciples, or the collapse of a certain lineage and the establishment of a new one, and other such emergency recruitment was needed, would the people at the foot of the mountain be recruited.

This is why everyone unanimously chose to conduct large-scale, regular student recruitment in the surrounding areas and beyond. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Yuzhang Daodu has remained prosperous for so long.

That said, the sect recruits students from various places in rotation, and the sect also takes turns accepting them from different mountains. This year's Kuaiji Daoist children are being recruited by Danxia Mountain, Baicao Mountain, and Ziyan Mountain.

Cheng Xinzhan arrived at the viewing platform.

"The leader."

"The teacher of scriptures."

"gentlemen."

"Programmer."

"..."

As soon as Cheng Xinzhan landed, the heads of the Three Mountains, along with the staff of the Daoist Academy, the Red Dust Academy, and other subordinate sects from various parts of Kuaiji, stood up to greet him, each addressing him differently.

"master!"

The third sister was overjoyed to see Cheng Xinzhan and jumped to his side.

The third sister, now the closed-door disciple of Lord Ren Wushi of Danxia Mountain, is extremely favored and is taken everywhere the mountain lord goes. At the same time, due to her extraordinary talent in the bloodline of the Suanni, coupled with the abundant Danxia Mountain's elixir smoke, she has truly had the perfect combination of timing, location, and people. She has now formed her core and is already a third-realm great cultivator.

Cheng Xinzhan is extremely busy right now and rarely sees his third sister, so he was very happy to see the cat and patted the child's head.

Then, he patted his third sister, gesturing for her to return to her seat. He then nodded to the representatives from all sides, gesturing for everyone to sit down. He then sat in the seat offered to him, looked at the energetic young Taoist disciples below, and smiled.

"Kuaiji sent a lot of people this year. All the Taoist academies have worked hard. I think they should be commended."

"Yes."

The people from the Capital Academy and the Red Dust Academy rose to receive the order.

"Thank you for your grace, Master!"

Representatives from the Kuaiji branch of the Daoist sect and local Daoist temples rose to express their gratitude. Among them, a Daoist priest from Siming Mountain led the group, smiling as he said...
"This is all thanks to you, sir."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

Cheng Xinzhan was somewhat surprised.

The man answered,
"More than a decade ago, the Master vanquished demons in the East Sea, built the Dragon Spine Path and the True Meaning Sect, and drove away the demon dragon of the East Sea. This had a great impact on Kuaiji, which directly led to the sudden prosperity of our Wanfa Sect in Kuaiji, and we even opened many branch sects and academies. When mortals heard that the Master had also embarked on the path to immortality through the practice of the Meridian Opening and Scripture Extension Technique, they all had their children practice it, so we recruited more immortal seedlings."

Cheng Xinzhan smiled upon hearing this and waved his hand.
"How did it get spread like this? Dragon Spine Road was built by all the sects of Haoran together, and the fact that the demon dragon was driven away was the achievement of three True Persons. You've exaggerated it too much."

The man smiled without saying a word, not exaggerating. How could he snatch a promising talent from the jaws of many immortal sects without exaggerating?

Cheng Xinzhan asked everyone to sit down and not to stand up unnecessarily. Then, he looked at Ren Wushi and asked, "Master Ren, how many people are there in total, and how many will you take in?"

Ren Wushi replied,
"Of the 5,683 Daoist disciples, 602 have already passed the tests, physical examinations, bone measurements, and soul examinations. That's more than one-tenth, which is quite good. Basically, each family can get about 200. The seedlings sent from Kuaiji this time are indeed good, both in number and quality."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xinzhan smiled with joy, and then said,
"I heard there's another really good one this year?"

Ren Wushi nodded and said,

"Yes, it's very rare and very suitable for the Danxia Mountain lineage."

"It is also very suitable for the lineage of Baicaoshan."

On Cheng Xinzhan's other side, Lin Wuchen, the master of Baicao Mountain, chimed in.

The master of Baicao Mountain was a middle-aged female Taoist priest, dressed in beige linen clothes, holding a pale yellow duster with a kudzu vine entwined around its handle. She had a kind and gentle appearance and seemed very amiable. From past interactions, Cheng Xinzhan knew that she was indeed easy to talk to, but clearly not today.

Fang Wuyai, the master of Ziyan Mountain, sat on the side watching the excitement.

However, since the process was focused on solving the problem, there was no in-depth small talk; I went straight to the question.
"What exactly constitutes a suitable solution?"

No one failed to answer.

“This child has two hearts, the heart belongs to fire. The external alchemy cannot be separated from fire, and the internal alchemy cannot be separated from the heart. Naturally, he should come to my Danxia Mountain.”

Ren Wushi spoke with a powerful and righteous tone.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded, then looked at Lin Wuchen.

Lin Wuchen then said leisurely,
"In the mortal world, a dual-heart constitution is considered abnormal and a disease because there are two hearts in the chest cavity. When they beat, the noise is too great, and the other internal organs are also compressed. Therefore, this child is easily frightened and weak from a young age. If he hadn't practiced the 'Meridian Opening and Meridian Stretching Exercise' to regulate his breath, he wouldn't have lived to be nine years old. He came to my Baicao Mountain, and I used medicinal baths to warm and nourish his internal organs, which made him feel much better."

Ren Wushi's expression changed. They'd been arguing for so long, but that wasn't what she said! She'd been emphasizing that those with dual hearts possessed exceptional calculation abilities and were skilled at splitting their minds, making them particularly suited to cultivating the array formations of Hundred Herbs Mountain, and had never mentioned their physical weakness. Now, seeing the vice-teacher arrive, she was saying this in front of Xin Zhan, clearly trying to appear compassionate! Therefore, this hot-tempered, straightforward old man immediately retorted...

"What kind of problem is this?! Come to my Danxia Mountain, and I'll find some miracle cures to nourish him!"

Lin Wuchen shook his head.
“Danxia Mountain is too dry. As you said yourself, the heart belongs to fire. Your earth fire is so strong that it can easily agitate the child’s heart and aggravate his fear. Your elixir is fast and strong, but it is nowhere near as gentle as the lotus pond medicinal bath of my Baicao Mountain. Moreover, if this child comes to Baicao Mountain, I will definitely not urge him to cultivate. We will wait until he recovers before discussing anything else.”

"you you!"

Ren Wushi pointed at Lin Wuchen, his beard bristling and eyes wide with anger. He wasn't stupid; he naturally knew that treating the illness should come before cultivating. Besides, what were these difficult matters—the potent effects of elixirs and the oppressive heat of the earth? They were all easily resolved! It was just that she had said it first, and if he followed suit, it would seem that he hadn't considered it beforehand and was imitating her! She was too calculating!
Lin Wuchen ignored Ren Wushi's rude pointing finger and smiled without saying a word.

Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan smiled. As his alchemy mentor, he knew Master Ren's character well. Although Master Ren was straightforward and quick-tempered, he was excellent at teaching, or rather, very skilled at it. He believed that the child would be well cared for in Master Ren's hands. However, in the current situation, the reasoning of the two sides was clearly more compelling, especially from the perspective of the Hundred Herbs Mountain Master. Moreover, in terms of saving and teaching, Lin Wuchen, as the master of a mountain, was no less capable than Master Ren. This child would not be wasted in either of their positions.

That makes the decision easier. Cheng Xinzhan stood up, first patting Ren Wushi's back to soothe him and calm the angry old man down, then said to Lin Wuchen,
"Then I'll trouble Lord Lin to take good care of that child's health. That is the greatest treasure of our Sanqing Mountain. Baicao Mountain should write a plan for raising this child and send it to Chunyang Hall. I'll take a look, and if needed, I can allocate special spiritual materials from the mountain treasury."

Upon hearing this, Lin Wuchen beamed with joy, stood up, bowed to Cheng Xinzhan, and repeatedly said "good."

Ren Wushi was unhappy, but he didn't say anything more.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded, glancing at the children in the square before leaving. With his keen eyesight, he instantly spotted the boy with twin hearts. The child's heartbeat was extremely powerful, like a pounding drum; perhaps he could one day use it to cultivate an extraordinary life-sustaining divine power. However, the child looked extremely thin, with a sallow complexion, and despite his young age, his eyes were terribly gloomy. Perhaps due to the torment he had suffered from illness since childhood, the child's temperament was very melancholy. He hoped that Baicao Mountain would quickly cure his illness, relieve his melancholy, and help him become lively again soon.

After taking one look, Cheng Xinzhan's Qi body disappeared from the spot, turning into a wisp of spiritual energy and dissipating, leaving only a speck of light that vanished into the void.

The three mountain lords present were unsurprised, but the group of Taoists from Kuaiji were astonished by what they saw. They thought to themselves, "Master Guangfa has been out of the public eye for so long; I wonder what level his supernatural powers and magic have reached."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Whoosh!"

As soon as Cheng Xinzhan returned to his Qi body, a jade crane-shaped divination stick flew into Chunyang Hall and landed on the table in the hall, hanging at the very last position in the last row. In front of this divination stick, there were seventy or eighty other divination sticks.

Cheng Xinzhan, who remained behind the desk, took the fortune sticks in order, without moving. He took another one, channeled his magic into it, and the text on the stick was projected into the air, reading:

Presented to the Emperor of Chunyang Palace for his perusal:
Reporting to Gan Jingquan at Moyashan
First, as is customary, every Gengzi year (1900), the temple is closed for the cleaning of books, old papers are removed, and outdated editions are discarded. Moyashan plans to close the mountain for one month, from the first to the thirtieth day of the third lunar month, prohibiting outsiders from entering the entire temple. Please grant permission.

Second, the "Three Essentials of Thunder Talisman Explanation" jointly compiled by Moya Mountain and Shuji Mountain has gone through seven drafts and seven proofreadings and is about to be completed. I would like to request the Master to write a preface. If the Master has the time, I will send someone to present the manuscript.

Pending judgment.

After quickly reading it, Cheng Xinzhan used his hand as a pen and his magic power as ink to write in the void:

"Reply 1: Approved. Please also inform Danxia, ​​Baicao, and Ziyan Mountains that these three mountains have accepted over 600 new disciples today. The library of the Capital Academy may not have enough books for beginners. If so, we need to borrow some from Moya Mountain."

Second: If you are thirsty for knowledge, please send it to me quickly.

After he finished writing, the words were sealed inside the divination stick. As soon as he let go, the divination stick flew away on its own.

Then, he took another fortune stick, which read:

"Presented to the Emperor of Yuanyin Palace for his perusal:"
The report from Yaoguang Mountain was false. Last night, the sky was clear, and observing the stars, the ominous star remained in its position in the southwest, its shape strange, its red light like smoke, completely obscuring the constellation Jing. Furthermore, last night the North Star wobbled, and the auxiliary stars were obscured; a white star fell from the Purple Palace, its tail like a ribbon, heading straight for the southwest, its sound faintly like thunder. In the northwest, a blood-red aura like clouds obscured the stars, making them invisible.

Cheng Xinzhan was taken aback. The Demon Star, needless to say, was none other than the Haha Ancestor, and judging from the astrological signs, his strength was rapidly recovering. As for the Auxiliary Star and the White Star falling to earth, it indicated that a high-ranking cultivator of the Star Dao had ascended to immortality, and given its location in the southwest, it could only be the Left Master of the Doumu Pavilion who had passed away!

He sighed, then replied,
"Read. Continue to monitor the West, and change the report from once a month to once every two weeks. If you are busy, you can ask someone to do it for you. I am working on a solution for the Blood Cloud in the Northwest. Also, please be careful, Wujiu. If anything unusual happens, immediately seek help from the sect. Do not take any risks."

After returning, Cheng Xinzhan continued to collect signatures and approve them one by one.

　Requesting monthly votes and recommendations! Comments and messages are welcome!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)