Embers of Sword

Chapter 556 Twenty-Four Hours (Part Two)
The Taoist community has enjoyed a long-awaited period of peace and quiet these past few days.

It's quite ironic, really.

This place should have been one of the most peaceful places in the world, but in the past year it has been plagued by many troubles and has been quite turbulent.

Incense Offering Fast, Supreme Fast, World Fast, Longevity Fast, Jade Purity Fast...

After the fortunes of Beihai reversed, the Five Scholars fell into the mortal world and got into a mess.

Currently, only Zhongmiaozhai and Duobaozhai remain relatively "clean." The former has strict rules, with its disciples living in seclusion year-round, hidden deep within the Taoist mountains, guarding the Taoist's earth veins and the secret realm of Tianyuan Mountain. The former has fewer than ten disciples in total. The latter functions similarly to the Imperial City Bureau's "Weapon Forging Division." The talented individuals who join Duobaozhai are immersed in forging weapons and arrays all day long, rarely venturing out and having no interest in getting involved in the conflicts of the martial world.

Not long ago, Master Lichen of Taishang Zhai went on a trip.

During this trip south, Master Shu Ning of Yuqing Zhai temporarily left the Taoist sect and headed to the imperial city.

In addition to the well-known disgraceful matters...

Of the main sects of Taoism today, only two masters remain in public.

The solitary incense burner, the Candle Taoist.

And the immortal Xuanzhi, the master of the Longevity Abode who had cultivated in the Taoist sect for a hundred years.

"Master...you seem a little different from usual today?"

Changshengzhai, a small courtyard on the mountaintop.

The young Taoist priest, Su Ye, carried two buckets of spring water, swaying slightly as he trudged through the mud.

He picked up the bucket and poured the spring water into the water vat.

Su Ye didn't quite understand.

Why did Master ask him to carry so much water today?

"What's the difference?"

A thin, middle-aged man was working in the fields in the small courtyard. He was wearing a straw hat and a bamboo raincoat. Hearing this, he looked up and smiled.

Well known.

Master Xuanzhi has been cultivating for a hundred years.

But judging from her appearance now, Xuan Zhi looks like an ordinary person in her forties or fifties.

In fact, after cultivating to the Yin Spirit realm, one can suppress one's appearance to a certain extent, so that even at the age of sixty, one still looks youthful and beautiful.

Of course... it's actually just a low-level technique to conceal appearances.

All practitioners are fighting against the passage of time.

Decades pass.

Loose skin, aging muscles and bones, and depleted blood and energy are all things that "disguise" cannot change.

However, Xuanzhi did not use these low-level "disguise techniques".

The core supernatural powers and techniques of the Longevity Sect lie in the word "longevity". For the past hundred years, Master Xuanzhi has spent most of his time cultivating Qingnang Mountain. It was originally a barren mountain, but because of Master Xuanzhi's existence, Qingnang Mountain has become the vibrant mountain it is today.

Several years ago, someone said that Master Xuanzhi was not ambitious.

He spent his days hiding inside the Taoist temple, farming, taming cattle, and raising chickens.

If things continue like this, how can one possibly attain enlightenment?
These voices had once been so loud that they almost turned into curses... All discussions ceased with the battle of drinking poison. The war in the Northern Commandery was urgent, and the Daoist sect went all out to fight, but they suffered betrayal from two Great Masters. Xiaoyaozi and Chongkan were caught in a fierce battle, and Great Master Junshan was also trapped on another battlefield.

Nearly ten powerful demon lords are currently annihilating the Seven Disciples.

Upon hearing the news, Master Xuanzhi picked up her hoe and left Qingnang Mountain.

They tilled the land in the morning and returned laden with spoils in the afternoon. In less than half a day, all the demon lords on this battlefield had perished, the heads of four powerful Yin spirit demons fell to the ground with a clatter, and another powerful demon was suppressed by True Person Xuanzhi and taken back to Qingnang Mountain to become its guardian spirit beast. After that battle, no one dared to accuse True Person Xuanzhi of neglecting his duties and not pursuing the righteous path... After all, the hoe he used to till the land could truly slay Yin spirits!
"I can't really explain it..."

Su Ye scratched his head.

“Starting tomorrow, the medicinal fields and spirit chickens of Qingnang Mountain will be your responsibility to irrigate and feed.”

Master Xuanzhi said softly, "And there's Aniu... This guy has a bad temper. I'll tie him up in the courtyard with the Demon-Binding Rope. Don't untie the rope."

As he spoke, he looked toward the end of the courtyard.

A blue water buffalo is plowing the field, its body emitting a faint golden glow.

This is the great demon that Master Xuanzhi brought back from the battlefield of Beijun back then...

Are you going out?

Su Ye was taken aback.

In recent years, there have only been two disciples on Qingnang Mountain. Senior Brother Su Hong went south with his uncle to fight against the evil sect.

Now, I am all alone on this mountain.

He had assumed that these peaceful days would remain unchanged.

Unexpectedly, just as his senior brothers and uncles left, his master was about to head out. "I suddenly remembered something."

Master Xuanzhi lowered her eyes and smiled, saying, "I may have to leave for a few days..."

He took off his straw hat and raincoat, washed his hands in front of the water vat, and went inside to change his clothes.

Having been a disciple of the Longevity Sect for so many years, Su Ye had never seen his master dressed like this before.

Master Xuanzhi changed into a black Taoist robe and blue cloth shoes.

The mud and filth from the previous plowing were completely removed.

At this moment, he was spotless.

"You hold this for me."

Master Xuanzhi placed the cleaned hoe from inside the house into Su Ye's hands.

"Master?"

Su Ye was a little confused.

Is this the hoe that Master used to slay four great demons in Beijun back then? It's not too heavy to hold... He could clearly feel that after he held the hoe, the way the green ox looked at him changed.

"If he dares to disobey, give him a good beating."

Master Xuanzhi spoke calmly.

He casually waved his sleeve, and a ray of golden light shot out, transforming into a golden rope that bound the old ox.

"You, you, you..."

Su Ye panicked a little: "Where are you going? You're not going to fight in the demon kingdom, are you?"

"Foolish apprentice."

Master Xuanzhi was both amused and exasperated, shaking her head: "We haven't even finished cultivating our own fields, why are we going out to fight?"

Su Ye was even more confused.

If we're not going to fight outside, then what is the purpose of all the instructions and admonitions from our master?
The words have not yet fallen.

Xuanzhi patted her disciple's shoulder and left the courtyard. With her first step, a gentle breeze still lingered. After only three or four zhang, she took another step, and Xuanzhi herself vanished like the wind. Su Ye spread his divine sense but could not see even a trace of his master.

"Don't bother looking. They've already gone far away."

The old blue ox in the courtyard was emitting a low, muffled groan; tired from plowing, it was resting against the wall.

“…Uncle Niu.”

Su Ye, leaning on his hoe, asked somewhat nervously, "Do you know what my master is going out to do?"

He knew that the old ox was a demon lord in human form.

That's how he's addressed me all these years of cultivation.

After being forced back to the Taoist sect by his master.

The green ox then worked in the fields, doing exactly what its master did.

Some say that the old ox was beaten half to death by Xuan Zhi and is now only at the initial stage of Yin Spirit, barely clinging to life.

Some people say that the old ox was brought back to the Daoist sect by True Person Xuanzhi, which can be considered a great fortune. Over the years, he has worked hard and his cultivation has not regressed but advanced. He has already reached the perfection of Yin Spirit and is only one step away from becoming a Great Venerable of Yang Spirit.

However, in Su Ye's eyes...

None of this information is important.

Because the old ox had been plowing the land for ten years.

Whether it's the initial stage of Yin Spirit or the half-step Yang Spirit... if you spend your whole life farming, does your cultivation level even matter?

"I can probably guess something..."

Old Niu gazed into the distance at Qingnang Mountain and muttered in a deep voice, "Your master has gone to find someone to fight."

"Who?"

Su Ye's eyes widened.

Master usually just farms the land on Qingnang Mountain, where would he have any enemies? Where would he need to fight?
"Why ask so many questions..."

Old Niu sighed and kept everyone in suspense: "Your master can't beat that guy. If he had another helper, maybe there would be some hope..."

At this point, Qingniu paused for a moment.

It looked at the hoe in Su Ye's hand with some apprehension, then grinned and said gently, "Good nephew, why don't you untie the 'Demon-Binding Rope' and I, Old Ox, will go and lend a hand?"

(End of this chapter)