The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 101: Burning swords as incense and praying for blessings, the old Taoist is leaving

Chapter 101: Burning swords as incense and praying for blessings, the old Taoist is leaving
Someone from the Chu family is coming.

A middle-aged man with gray hair got off the bus.

He was dressed in brocade clothes and had a gentle look in his eyes, as if he was not a warrior but a well-educated man.

It was the current head of the Chu family: Chu Nan.

Behind him was Chu Yunfei, who had already advanced to the Qi training stage.

Xuanyin and Xuantong did not dare to be negligent and performed Taoist etiquette. Chu Nan did not put on airs either. He saluted with his fists, handed the gift to Changning, and strode up the mountain with Chu Yunfei.

Zhenren Yuanji of the Tianzhuan School and Zhenren Sanhuan of the Yuhuan School arrived one after another, but as they did not want to make a big event and were not familiar with other major Taoist sects, the Qiuzhen Temple did not invite other Taoist sects to attend the ceremony.

Although Zixia Sect, Lingguan Sect and others wanted to ease the relationship and establish good relations, they did not have an invitation, and it was not appropriate for them to come uninvited on this day. They just asked Master Yuanji to pass on the gift, as the gift had arrived but the person was not present.

The kindness has been received, but as for how the relationship will be, we can only wait and see. I can’t give you an answer right now.

Afterwards, two more carriages came and stopped at the foot of Floating Cloud Mountain. They were from Cangyue County and Tianhe County respectively. One was a bit plain, with a middle-aged man and a young boy and girl sitting in it; the other was a bit more luxurious, with a beautiful middle-aged woman and a pair of twin girls sitting in it.

"I've met two martial uncles."

After getting off the car, they saw Xuan Tong and Xuan Yin. They brought their children and saluted solemnly. Looking at the Floating Cloud Mountain which had changed drastically, the two middle-aged men were filled with emotions, including envy, pride, excitement and joy.

"Come on up when you're here!"

After receiving the instructions, everyone went up the mountain.

In a palace on the hillside, Xuanming was talking with Hai Fengming. When he saw two middle-aged men with their descendants coming to pay their respects, he immediately smiled brightly, because these two middle-aged men and women were his nephew and niece respectively.

One was born to the eldest sister Xuan Du, and the other was conceived by the second sister Xuan Yang. The former was the head of the Xu family in Cangyue County, and the latter married into the Yang family in Tianhe County.

"Since you are so thoughtful, it is not easy to come back, so you can stay in Floating Cloud Mountain for a while."

The two middle-aged men readily agreed.

Although we corresponded every year, and wrote more frequently after my uncle achieved enlightenment, I was often entangled in trivial matters and the journey was long, so a trip here was time-consuming and laborious, so I naturally had to stay for a while.

Knowing that today was special, they were very tactful and did not just reminisce about the past. Instead, they chatted for a few brief sentences and then stepped aside.

---

The guests were basically all present, and the three generations of Taoists gathered at the temple again. Xuanxu, as the headmaster, stepped out, first bowed his head to thank the guests for coming, and then said loudly to the void: "Please ask the envoy to evaluate!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the wind began to surge outside the Floating Cloud Mountain, and a cloud of auspiciousness carried several people over. Each of them was dressed in the uniform of the Tiandi Academy, and the person leading them was a Jindan realm immortal, the envoy from the Tiandi Academy who was in charge of the promotion ceremony of the Qiuzhen Temple.

The Great Xuan Divine Dynasty has strict requirements for the promotion of major sects and aristocratic families. It is not enough to have a real person or a Qi cultivator in charge to get promoted. Aristocratic families must be passed down for at least five generations and produce talented people from generation to generation. In addition to having a real person, major Taoist sects must also have sect-guarding objects and the Three Thousand Taoist Canons.

Jindan Zhenren came here to verify this matter. When the envoy entered the mountain, Xuanxu bowed and said, "Thank you, envoy."

"The duty lies."

The envoy from Tiandi Yuan was not arrogant, not only because of his high moral character, but also because Qiuzhen Temple was indeed different from other newly-promoted sects. It was not a sect that gave birth to eight True Immortals in just three years, including a Golden Core True Immortal.

Thinking of this, the envoy from the Tiandi Court saluted Xuanming, who immediately returned the salute. Then, without wasting any time, the Jindan envoy took out a treasure mirror from his palm and raised it in the air. A ray of light came out of the treasure mirror, and in an instant the entire Floating Cloud Mountain was shrouded in golden light.

This is the secret treasure of the Tiandi Academy, used to detect whether the Taoist forces are harboring corruption and committing heinous crimes. The golden light shines on everyone, and there are no exceptions. Everyone passes, even Changning is no exception.

After advancing to the Golden Elixir stage, Xuanming tried to inject a wisp of Huangting Qi into Changning's body to strengthen the seal, and found that it was feasible, although it was only effective for three days. After three days, the Huangting Qi would automatically disappear and return to Taiji Heaven, but it was not a problem to pass this level.

Of course, if the Huangting Qi cannot strengthen the seal, Xuanming will not let Changning appear here, and will temporarily take it into Taiji Heaven. Living things can stay there for a day, which has been tested in practice.

After the Jindan Envoy put away the treasure mirror, Xuanxu took off the Yin-Yang Mirror at his waist and the inherited magic sword behind him, and explained that these were inherited items. After testing, they were all spiritual weapons. The Jindan Envoy nodded.

Then Xuanming took a step and invited the Jindan envoy to shrink the earth into an inch, enter the Sutra Library, and climb from the first floor to the third floor, where they saw six thousand volumes of Taoist scriptures. He then took the astonished Jindan envoy back to the palace on the hillside. Xuanyu showed him the precepts of the Qiuzhen Temple. After some manipulation, the Jindan envoy knew what was going on. He asked the Taoist official behind him to record what he saw and heard in the book, and then took out a seal from the Ruyi Bag and gave it to Xuanxu.

"Congratulations, fellow Taoist. From now on, the Truth Seeking Temple has entered the ranks of major sects. My Fengyang County Tiandi Academy has one more Taoist vein to show off."

Taking the seal with both hands, Xuanxu thanked him and led the group to the Bagua altar that had been set up long ago.

The four generations of Taoists each found their positions and stood still, forming a Bagua pattern. The three generations of Taoists ascended the Bagua platform together and landed on Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen and Dui respectively. Among them, Xuanming landed on Qian.

Xuanxu first placed the seal on the altar in the center of the Bagua platform, and then stood still on the Kun position. Behind him were Xuanyu in the Zhen position, Xuanyin in the Xun position, Xuantong in the Kan position, Xuankong in the Li position, Xuanyang in the Gen position and Xuansu in the Dui position.

Taoist priests of all sizes bowed to the altar, and then Xuanming spoke: "Disciples of the Qiuzhen Temple, draw your swords!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of clanging swords rang out, and wooden swords appeared from behind the Taoists and floated above their heads.

Raising his hand and grasping the sword, his white hair flying, Xuanming took the lead in dancing with the Bagua sword, and the other Taoists followed suit and immediately followed.

Hundreds of Taoists danced with swords in unison. The scene was magnificent. The eight trigrams directions under their feet lit up one after another. When the eight trigrams stage was brightly lit, the eight trigrams sword dance was nearing its end.

Xuanming suddenly threw out the wooden sword in his hand, and the other Taoists did the same. Although these peach wood swords were made of ordinary peach wood, they were shining at this moment. First, the wooden swords offered by the fourth generation Taoists merged into the wooden swords of the third generation Taoists, and the wooden swords suddenly grew several feet long. Then the wooden swords of the third generation Taoists merged into the wooden sword offered by Xuanming, and a nine-foot wooden sword was revealed. Finally, Xuanming gently pushed his hand, and the wooden sword was sent into the sky.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, an eight-diagram pattern appeared on the tip of the wooden sword, which fell from the sky, kept getting smaller, and finally landed on the seal. The seal, which was originally empty, now had an eight-diagram mark. From then on, this eight-diagram seal became one of the tokens of the head of Qiuzhen Temple and a symbol of the sect.

The story is not over yet. The spirit crane soars into the sky, the spirit deer runs, the koi and the spirit turtle temporarily fly out of the water and land on the Bagua platform, revolving around the suspended Bagua seal in a three-yuan shape.

As the most senior person, Xuanming was the first to salute the seal, followed by the other Taoists: "I pray to the heavens and the earth. Today, I, the Qiuzhen Temple, burn swords as incense to pray for the people, praying for good weather and a good harvest this year..."

As soon as the words fell, the wooden sword in the sky spontaneously combusted and burned out in an instant, part of it merging into the sky and part of it falling into the ground. An invisible force radiated from the Qiuzhen Temple to the villages around Fuyun Mountain and Fuyun County.

The grass and trees swayed their branches without wind, and they were full of vitality. The poultry and livestock were all excited, and the people felt relaxed. Even those who were sad couldn't help but smile.

After the blessing, Xuanxu put away the seal and invited the guests to take their seats. Xuankong achieved immortality through food, and the spiritual food he cooked himself tasted very good. Xuanyang also took out the spiritual wine he had collected for many years. This promotion ceremony was a great success for both the host and the guests.

In the evening, the guests dispersed and Xuanming returned to Zangdao Peak. As for his adopted nephew and niece and their families, they were placed in the guest house.

After a night, early the next morning, after collecting the purple air from the morning sun, he ordered Changningzi to call his adopted nephew and niece to inquire about their recent situation and give them guidance on their cultivation.

Xuanming did not pay much attention to the impact of Qiuzhen Temple's promotion to a major sect, and left it to Xuanxu and others to deal with. He just checked the fortune of Qiuzhen Temple, and was delighted to see that it had successfully obtained a trace of Three Yuan fortune.

Breathing in and out yin and yang, honing supernatural powers, reading scriptures and gaining enlightenment, walking in the mountains and rivers, setting up stalls to tell fortunes, playing games in the secular world...

Apart from instructing the younger generations in their cultivation, Xuanming's life was no different from before. Three days later, Xuanyin took Chang'anzi, Changqingzi and others out of the mountain and headed for Tiandiyuan in Fengyang County. Before leaving, he went to Jianya and left a sword mark. This has become a tradition of Qiuzhen Temple. All Taoists who officially come down the mountain and enter the world must leave a sword mark on the sword cliff.

Today, the Sword Cliff has become a wonder in Qiuzhen Temple, and the Xuanyin Sword Mark may seem ordinary, but in fact it is sharp and murderous, and can be called the number one killing sword in Qiuzhen Temple.

Half a month later, after several years of practice, Xuanxu and others finally succeeded in practicing the Four Symbols Sword Formation, and they had a thorough understanding of it. Even without Xuanming in charge, the Qiuzhen Temple still had a certain ability to protect itself.

Three months later, my adopted nephew and niece left. It was already the limit for them to stay in Floating Cloud Mountain for such a long time.

Three days after they left, the white-haired Taoist rode a deer down the mountain. Before leaving, he left a sword mark on the Sword Cliff. It was very shallow, as if it was just a light stroke, returning to its original simplicity, but containing the universe and a myriad of auras. Only a true master could comprehend it.

After doing this, he left under the reluctant gazes of Xuanxu and others, holding a whisk in his hand, with a leisurely posture and a free and easy temperament. Xuanming on the deer body looked at the red clouds and the rising sun with a deep gaze.