The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 111: Condensing the Moonstone and Understanding the Three Elements of Water and Moon
After dawn, the whole Yuequan County becomes bustling with vendors setting up breakfast stalls, steaming hot; peddlers carry their loads on their shoulders and walk through the streets, from silence to bustle, it is another kind of peaceful and prosperous scene.

The Xu Mansion was bustling with people and guests.

High-ranking officials, wealthy businessmen and gentry gathered here, Confucian students and farming and reading people also came one after another. Celebrities from Yuequan County and the capital of Guizhou were warmly received by the Xu family.

Although some wealthy people had complaints, they did not dare to complain easily, because the Xu family had passed down farming and studying from generation to generation and had always done things this way, and because a true man was born in the Xu family, they did not want to offend them.

Moreover, because the Taoist Xuanming from Fengyang County has arrived, they had better be safe until they are sure of his attitude.

Guests came one after another, there were ordinary people and practitioners. At noon, all the important people in the county came. Xuan Du and Xuan Ming finally showed up. Looking at the excited crowd, they smiled at each other. This was all expected.

After all, in a county town, real people are rare, some are even one-of-a-kind. Even ordinary real people in the Zhoutian realm are absolutely strong.

After a few polite words, Xuan Du took Xuan Ming away and returned to Songheyuan. The brother and sister had their meal alone and enjoyed the birthday banquet. After becoming immortals, they were qualified to be willful.

After the birthday banquet, Xuanming stayed in Xu's house for a few more days, discussing Taoism with his elder sister and traveling around Yuequan County. It was not until the fifth day that he left in Xuandu's reluctant gaze.

Xuanming led the donkey across the county and bought some fragrant buns. He headed eastward. After walking out of the county, he sat back on the donkey, gazing at the Yuequan County which was getting farther and farther away, feeling at peace in his heart.

He felt much more at ease knowing that his elder sister had achieved immortality, and Xuanming had already taken precautions against hidden crises.

The Yin-Yang Foundation Building Chapter given to the eldest sister was hidden in the jade pendant. After touching it, one would enter its mysterious gate, which was only for her to comprehend and practice. In addition, although the eldest sister had reshaped her Taoist foundation, like Xuanxu and others, she only raised her Taoist foundation from the fourth level to the fifth level, and was just an ordinary real person, avoiding the risk of exposure.

The great scholar's handwriting was restricted by Xuanming. It was difficult for anyone who was not of Xu's bloodline and whose cultivation had reached the fourth level of refining the spirit to get a glimpse of its essence. Once someone forcibly peeked at or snatched it, it would trigger the means contained therein and crush the magical power hidden in it. No one below the level of refining the spirit could stop it.

Retracting his thoughts, Xuanming took out a Taoist scripture and read it with great interest while he was on his way.

When he was traveling in the past, he always did so, observing the road and walking on it at the same time. When walking, he focused on walking on the road, and when riding a donkey, he focused on observing the road. Only by doing both can he achieve the best result.

At the same time, in Songhe Courtyard, Xuandu called his son Xu Fusheng and earnestly instructed him: "This time, our Xu family can get a chance to be reborn, all thanks to your uncle, he has been very kind to our Xu family, you personally draw a portrait and hang it at home for worship, from now on, my brother will enjoy the incense offerings of our Xu family for generations.

You don't need to worry about the county magistrate. I will go to see him in person. Since only the Xu family is offering sacrifices, it does not involve the common people's incense. I believe he will give me some face."

His mother's idea coincided with Xu Fusheng's, so he quickly agreed and went to the study to start painting.

---

Xuanming doesn’t know about this for the time being.

It was not until three days later, when Xu Fusheng led the descendants of the Xu family to offer sacrifices, that he felt something in his heart. He looked towards the direction of Yuequan County, left a trace of spiritual perception, retracted his gaze, and continued on his way.

Since he has come to the Xu family of Cangyue County, he should also go to the Yang family of Tianhe County. He should not favor one over the other and should treat everyone equally. What's more, the second sister loved him as much as the eldest sister when she was alive. After the eldest sister got married, she took even better care of him. Because of his Taoist name Xuan Yang, he was nicknamed "Yang~ma" by the audience of Qiuzhen at that time.

Of course, Xuanming also planned to see the Tianhe River, which was called the River of the Nine Heavens. However, he was not in a hurry and planned to visit Cangyue County before going to Tianhe County.

Compared with Fengyang County, Cangyue County ranks relatively low among the 72 counties of Daxuan, with an area of only more than 10,000 miles and 36 counties under it. Xuanming did not go to the county seat immediately. After leaving Yuequan County, he turned to the nearby Yueya County and stayed there for seven days, watching the natural scenery and tasting the flavors of the world. Afterwards, he carried the local specialty spiritual object Yueya Sand and continued his travels.

One man, one donkey and one bird, they traveled through mountains and rivers, entered county towns, saw the human nature, and observed birth, aging, illness and death:
Xuanming has temporarily served as a teacher in a simple rural school, and has also visited the academy of the county school and the wealthy families; he personally helped farmers harvest grain, and also caused merchants who hoarded rice and flour to suffer heavy losses; he has killed monsters that wanted to eat him in the wilderness, and also fished in the river outside the county town, and gave a snail monster an opportunity; he has slept on a straw mat in a shabby house, and on a high bed with a soft pillow; he has seen an honest peddler who speaks frankly, and a shop owner who is eloquent...

He acts according to his heart, seeks joy in natural landscapes, and peace in the various flavors of life. He is not indifferent to the world, and is not worldly-wise in the face of the mundane world. He tempers his heart in the mundane world, and comprehends the truth in the daily life of firewood, rice, oil and salt. The world in his heart becomes increasingly vast.

Every ten miles he walked, he took a handful of dust; every hundred miles he walked, he took a stone, a leaf, a wild grass, a mountain flower or a bowl of spring water (river water).

He has developed this habit since his trip to Fengyang County. Every time he measures the distance, he measures his spiritual world; every time he collects something, he fills his spiritual world.

Moon Spring, Crescent Moon, Moon River, Moon Pool, Crescent Moon, Waxing Moon, Clear Moon, New Moon... In three months, Xuanming read five hundred volumes of Taoist scriptures and traveled to all thirty-six counties in Cangyue County. He left his footprints everywhere, whether it was mountains, rivers, lakes, streets and alleys, or shabby huts or magnificent buildings.

As autumn ends and winter comes, a layer of white frost covers the ground of Cangyue County in the early morning. A white-haired Taoist priest holding a whisk and a gourd around his waist is leading a donkey near the county town.

Xuanming got the gourd from a deep mountain a month ago. The gourd had grown for a hundred years and was ripe when he entered the mountain. Xuanming had a connection with it, so he exchanged it for another Xuan-level spiritual object and got this object from the big demon who guarded the spiritual gourd.

In the years that followed, he used his magic power to refine it, used the yin and yang energy to refine it, and absorbed the spiritual energy of the five elements to nourish it. Although it is only a semi-finished product now, the spirituality of this gourd is already extraordinary. With time, it will become a spiritual weapon.

Passing through the towering city walls and walking through the wide city gate, a bustling crowd hit him in the face. Xuanming looked around curiously. Whether it was the bustling market, the roofed buildings facing the street, or the passers-by, they all felt novel to him.

It’s not that he is really ignorant, but Xuanming is now becoming more and more simple and natural. Even if he doesn’t restrain himself, sometimes his words and deeds are no different from those of ordinary people.

After tasting the local delicacies, he found a dealer and rented an ordinary house in the bustling city. It had a small square courtyard with a jujube tree, a well and a stone table.

For the next month, Xuanming lived here, traveling around the county town, walking through every street and leaving traces in every corner, gossiping with neighbors and talking about family matters, or going to the market to buy vegetables, bargaining for prices, haggling over every penny, and experiencing the lives of ordinary people.

He finds peace in the midst of the flying dust in the bustling city, and polishes his original intention in the hustle and bustle of the prosperous place. He enters the world of mortals but his heart of Tao is clear, and he sees human nature but has a pure heart. The fire of the world of mortals tempers his heart of Tao, and Xuanming becomes more transparent.

---

The moon is full on the fifteenth day of the lunar month and is bright and clear.

The sky is full of stars and the moon is shining brightly.

Xuanming sat alone in the courtyard, lying on a rocking chair and admiring the moon. The whole courtyard was suddenly quiet, as if isolated from the world, with a sense of leisure, as if living in a human world but without the noise of carriages and horses.

He silently practiced the "Zhou Tian Yang Shen Jue" and his whole body gleamed in the moonlight and starlight. After being away for nearly half a year, Xuanming had become increasingly proficient in practicing this technique and had opened up more than 240 acupoints. His body was surrounded by galaxies and star lakes.

After finishing his practice, Xuanming looked up at the moon in the sky and took out thirty-six things: spring water, stones, sand...

It is a specialty of the thirty-six counties of Cangyue County.

Gazing at these and then looking at the bright moon in the sky, Xuanming suddenly had an idea. He raised his hand to capture the moonlight, and then raised his hand to borrow the starlight. He used the starlight as fire and the moonlight as a furnace. He poured the thirty-six items into the moonlight one by one and tempered them with the starfire.

When it was midnight, the moonlight vibrated, Xuanming withdrew his hand, and the thirty-six objects disappeared. A palm-sized moonstone was suspended in the air, in the shape of a crescent moon, shining silver under the moonlight.

Holding the moonstone in his palm, he examined it carefully for a moment and found that it was just an ordinary spirit stone with a little moonlight power. Nothing special. Xuanming was not disappointed. It was just an attempt out of interest. It would be a surprise if he could get something good, and it would be normal if he didn't.

After throwing the stone to the spiritual deer Changshou for him to play with, Xuanming continued to admire the moon. After a cup of tea, he heard a splash sound of someone falling into the water. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Changshou lying by the well. After a quick thought, he realized that it was the moonstone that was played into the well by this fool.

Having lay down long enough, Xuanming stood up and planned to stretch his muscles. When he reached the well, he looked down and saw the moon stone and the moon in the water.

The moon was above and the moonstone was below. Xuanming was just about to salvage the stone when suddenly an idea came to his mind. He looked up abruptly at the moon in the sky.

Carefully looking at the three-element moon of heaven, earth and water, he felt something in his heart. While practicing the Hunyuan Yiqi Jue, he reached out his hand to absorb a large amount of moonlight and injected it into the moon in water.

The moonlight from the sky entered the water, and the moonstone vibrated. Under Xuanming's control, it also released moonlight, and the moonlight from the ground entered the water.

In an instant, the water and the moon were stirred, ripples appeared in the well water, and a mysterious aura was emitted. The water and the moon were shining, half real and half virtual.

(End of this chapter)