Embers of Sword

Chapter 558 Twenty-Four Hours (Part Four)
Upon hearing this answer, Master Yanwei's lips twitched slightly.

What is this word?

What is daily spiritual practice? It's very simple... farming, raising cattle, and herding sheep, is that spiritual practice?

"As expected of senior brother."

Master Yanwei sighed softly, "Senior Brother's current realm is beyond my comprehension. However... Master is Master after all. Senior Brother, it would be best to be cautious in your words and actions when you enter the back mountain this time."

Having said that, he took a step back and his figure disappeared into the mist.

Master Xuanzhi silently watched Yanwei's figure disappear.

Master... he is still Master...

He lowered his eyes and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

……

……

"You came."

The thick fog on the back mountain was blown away by the wind, the mountains were turned upside down, and the sky and earth were separated into one line. A black-robed figure could be vaguely seen sitting in the crevice of the steep mountain rocks.

The Great Master Chongkan sat between the mountain rocks, three feet off the ground.

He looked with a hint of relief at the Xuanzhi Zhenren in the distance, whose Taoist robes were clean and spotless.

“I thought you would continue to farm in Qingnang Mountain.”

Taoism advocates pure and tranquil practice.

Many disciples have been criticized for leaving the sect too many times.

However, Master Xuanzhi is a counterexample.

Over the past hundred years, he has left the Taoist sect only a handful of times.

"Master..."

Master Xuanzhi said softly, "This disciple also wishes to continue farming. It's just a pity..."

He paused.

"Over the past year, the rice in the spiritual fields of Qingnang Mountain has neither new seedlings nor old leaves, and it has not grown no matter what."

"Over the years... Qingnang Mountain has become a place where the Taoist energy converges."

"A bountiful harvest at Qingnang Mountain, a bountiful harvest for the Taoist community."

"Qingnang Mountain is barren, and so is the Taoist community."

Master Xuanzhi raised his head and said, word by word, "Master Xiaoyaozi is in seclusion in Tianyuan. Now, Master is in charge of the Seven Schools of Taoism and is in charge of the overall situation. This should be a prosperous year with the return of fortune. However, this fortune has not flowed into Qingnang Mountain. This disciple dares to ask, where has the fortune accumulated by Taoism in recent years gone?"

"Are you here to demand an explanation?"

Grand Master Chongkan spoke in a deep voice, but there was no anger in his eyes.

"This disciple... dares not."

Master Xuanzhi shook his head and said, "There are some things I have to say, and some things I have to do."

"All these years... you haven't changed at all..."

Chongkan smiled.

He said in a broad voice, “Over the years, my senior brother has been in seclusion at Tianyuan Mountain, entrusting the great cause of Taoism to me. I must live up to his expectations… The return of the Taoism’s thousand-year fortune is no small matter. You don’t need to worry about this fortune. I haven’t misused it. It has all gone to where it should go.”

"so."

Master Xuanzhi showed no sign of stopping, pressing for an answer: "Where...is the place you're talking about?"

The entire Great Chu Dynasty had only four dragon veins.

The reason why the Daoist sect and the Great Sui Sword Palace are able to transcend worldly affairs is because their main sects each occupy a dragon vein.

The Daoist earth veins are guarded by Qingnang Mountain. To outsiders, Master Xuanzhi appears to be nothing more than a farmer, living a secluded life on the mountain. However, his work is of paramount importance. In a sense, he is the primary guardian of the Daoist earth veins today.

Without the suppression of Qingnang Mountain, the earth veins and fortune of the Taoist sect would definitely be deviated!
"..."

This time, Grand Master Chongkan did not choose to answer directly.

The great master's face showed displeasure.

Chongkan flicked his sleeve and said in a deep voice, "Although you are the master of the Longevity Abode, there are some things... it's best not to meddle in them!"

"The Great Chu Imperial City".

Master Xuanzhi lowered her eyes and softly uttered four words.

The back mountain was deathly silent.

A chilly wind blew by, and Grand Master Chongkan's expression grew even more solemn and serious. "Master has been accumulating the Daoist sect's fortune... is it to use it as a wedding gown to be sent to the Great Chu Imperial City, is that right?"

Master Xuanzhi looked up and stared directly at the black-clad figure high above in the distance.

He came to the back mountain today not to seek answers.

He came with the answer.

The master of Changshengzhai (Longevity Abode) is detached from worldly affairs and only knows how to cultivate himself—this is the biggest misunderstanding people have about him.

He sees some things more clearly than anyone else.

He stayed on the mountain for a hundred years.

Flowers bloom and fade, spring goes and winter comes, a hundred years pass.

Since the day the headmaster went into seclusion, some subtle changes began to occur within the Daoist sect. The younger disciples who were the masters of the sect might not have noticed... but True Person Xuanzhi had been watching them silently.

He could tell that his master and Jiang Ningyin were connected; otherwise, the young master of Jiang Ningyin would not have joined the Taoist temple.

My master, like myself, lives in seclusion on the mountain.

But my master is different from me. My master has Zhu Daoren as his eyes and disciples of the Daoist sects all over the world as his hands.

My skills and abilities are limited to Mount Qingnang.

Master... has connections to the heavens.

Ultimately, given Master's current status, all he does is for one thing.

Beyond the Yang Shen realm, a further step.

The wind picked up.

A person in the sky.

One person on the ground.

A master and his apprentice gaze at each other from afar.

"Xuanzhi, haven't you crossed a line?"

Grand Master Chongkan still did not answer, but coldly replied: "Do I need to explain to you what I want to do?"

Xuanzhi Zhenren was somewhat disappointed upon receiving this response.

“That wicked empress of Renshou Palace proposed to borrow the dragon vein’s fortune for her own benefit a hundred years ago.”

Xuanzhi said with some sorrow, "The Emperor banished her to the Cold Palace... out of consideration for past favors, he did not punish her severely. But now the world has turned upside down, the Demon Empress is in power, and the four realms of Da Chu are in chaos. The law of cause and effect is unforgiving. This Demon Empress is now forging an array to gather energy, wanting to gamble with the fate of Da Chu. She should be stopped no matter what. It would be fine if you didn't intervene, but why did you have to use the fortune of the Daoist sect to add fuel to the fire? Do you really think that if the Demon Empress gains any benefits, she will share them with the Daoist sect and with you?"

"Xuanzhi!"

Grand Master Chongkan rebuked him in a deep voice: "I see that you have become accustomed to a good life these past few years and have forgotten the etiquette of the Taoist sect... How dare you be so insolent! You have no respect for elders and speak without restraint!"

"..."

Master Xuanzhi fell silent.

"What I do is none of your business."

"How you use the energy of this door is none of your business."

Chongkan sat cross-legged, with a majestic Dharma image appearing behind him. Although the world was vast, the Dharma image looked down upon him like a cage.

His voice was cold, leaving no room for negotiation.

"You...go back."

Every word and phrase is like the ultimate truth of heaven and earth, like a divine decree.

However, Master Xuanzhi did not move an inch.

He stood there, looking up at the towering statue.

After a long time.

Master Xuanzhi said earnestly, "Master, you are wrong."

"This gate... is not your gate alone."

"If you take the wrong path or do the wrong thing, anyone can stand up and point it out."

The words fell to the ground.

The clouds overhead gradually thickened and darkened, with wisps of lightning flashing between them.

Master Xuanzhi looked up, and directly above his head, a massive shadow rapidly expanded, and expanded even further—

It turned out that the majestic Buddha statue had reached out its hand.

(End of this chapter)