The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 13 Daoyuan Grand Meeting, Five Thunders Law

"The current Holy Emperor is clear-minded and the court is clear about rewards and punishments. Since I, the Qiuzhen Temple, have come down the mountain to help the people and have made great efforts, the imperial envoy promised on behalf of the court:
At the Fengyang County Daoyuan Festival next year, as long as my Qiuzhen Temple does not perform too mediocrely, we will be given two places."

When Xuanming heard this, he temporarily took his eyes off the scriptures and looked surprised. This was indeed unexpected.

This place is special.

There are abundant spiritual inspirations, numerous Dharma lineages, and many practitioners.

A martial artist can split a mountain with one punch, a Taoist master can travel thousands of miles, a Buddhist arhat can be invincible, a Confucian sage can turn his words into a weapon, and a Mohist knight can appear and disappear mysteriously...

To prevent the cultivators from breaking the rules, to stop them from bullying the weak, and also to deter the demons and monsters in the world.

Five thousand years ago, the imperial court joined forces with various sects to create the List of Conferred Gods, promulgated laws, set up government offices such as the Tiandiyuan, Bodhi Hall, Pantheon, and Qiankun Tower, and worked together with the imperial court to control power, assist in conferring gods, and manage the world of cultivation.

Even though the world later fell apart, with the Dasheng Divine Dynasty split into the three great dynasties of Dajin, Daxuan and Daqian and many small countries, the world was divided into three parts, and the countries fought each other for a thousand years, this kind of cooperation remained unchanged.

Qiuzhen Temple is located in Fengyang County of the Great Xuan Divine Dynasty. The Daoyuan Conference is a grand event jointly held by the Great Xuan court and the Taoist sect. It is held every ten years and aims to select outstanding talents from the Taoist sect to serve and practice in the Tiandi Academy.

The true and ultimate truth does not discriminate between people.

Regardless of high or low, rich or poor.

Taoism does not care much about hierarchy.

All major and minor sects and independent practitioners can participate in the event.

However, small sects and independent cultivators have shallow foundations and it is difficult for them to stand out in the fierce competition.

In the past hundred years of Qiuzhen Temple, only one person has successfully joined the Daxuantiandi Academy, and that is Chang'anzi's teacher: Xuan Ye.

He is Senior Brother Xuanming.

It is a stunning talent and there is hope that it will be realized in person.

He is the most outstanding disciple of Qiuzhen Temple in the past hundred years.

As a result, he suddenly died ten years ago. Although the Taoist temple gave a reason, the Taoists were unwilling to believe it and always felt that there was another reason. After all, Senior Brother Xuan Ye had always been steady, so how could he suddenly die?

This incident has always been a knot in Chang'anzi's heart. For this reason, he became depressed and listless. He secretly went down the mountain to find out the truth, but he met with an accident and was seriously injured.

Although he was rescued, his cultivation level declined.

Although this kid looks cynical and heartless, he actually has a deep relationship with Senior Brother Xuan Ye.

Now that he has the opportunity, he definitely doesn't want to miss it.

Glancing at the excited Chang Anzi, Xuan Ming asked knowingly, "Do you want to participate in the Dao Yuan Conference next year?"

Chang Anzi nodded solemnly: "Yes!"

Facing his uncle-master, with whom he had a deep relationship, he did not want to lie, and he also knew that he was the only one who could help him in the entire Qiuzhen Temple.

"A teacher for a day, a father for life."

"I have been an orphan since I was a child, and was brought up by my master. I want to join the Tiandi Academy and find out the truth behind my master's death."

"I beg you to help me, uncle."

With a wave of his sleeve, Xuanming lifted up Chang'anzi, who was about to kowtow with his knees bent, and said impatiently:
"I hate it most when people kneel to me."

"When did you become so pretentious? Hurry up and get off the temple and don't disturb me."

After saying that, he drove the boy down the second floor.

At the entrance to the second floor, the dejected Chang'anzi just walked down the stairs when he was hit on the back of the head by something.

"Ouch!"

He cried out in pain and turned his head, covering the back of his head.

I saw a bottle of ointment floating in front of me, and then a voice came into my ears:

"Boy, I will not be soft-hearted when it comes to teaching you. Get up at 1:00 a.m. tomorrow and fill all the water tanks in the temple. You are not allowed to use your magic power, and you must not give up halfway. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."

"Disciple obey!"

Chang Anzi immediately perked up, glanced at the second floor, grinned, reached out to take the medicine bottle, and muttered softly:
"An old man with a hard mouth and a soft heart."

---

Time flies, half a month later.

Floating cloud mountain, thunder and lightning, shaking the forest.

The white-haired Taoist priest leaped up and down, and when he raised his hand, thunder surged in his palm, with black, white, red, green, and yellow, five colors intertwined.

A three-meter-tall rock was shattered by the thunder and turned into dust, which spread all over the place.

The thunder was like a snake, circling within the tiny space, moving according to the Taoist's will, controlling it in minute detail without leaking any energy.

The mountain breeze blows, and the Taoist robe flutters.

His body was erect and his white hair was flying.

The old Taoist is like a god in charge of punishment, controlling thunder and lightning, majestic and domineering, supreme and noble.

The old Taoist was none other than Xuanming. After testing the power of thunder, he waved his hand to disperse the magic power, looked at the ground where only a deep pit was left, stroked his beard and smiled.

The second time he read the Huangting Waijing Yujing to observe the Dao, in addition to perfecting the Hunyuan Yiqi Jue, he also comprehended two other methods, namely the Five Thunders Orthodox Method and the Yin-Yang Diagram. One was obtained by observing the thunder of the opening of the sky.

One is to understand from observing the twelve gods of the sun and moon.

Both methods are self-defense methods, one hard and the other soft, fully demonstrating the principles of heaven and earth and highlighting the mysteriousness of Taoism.

Thunder is fierce and domineering, and is the best at killing.

Yin and Yang complement and restrain each other, and have both offensive and defensive capabilities.

In the past half month, in addition to contemplating the sutras and gaining enlightenment and daily practice, Xuanming has been practicing two methods, and now he has finally gotten started.

With these two methods at his disposal, he has more power to protect himself in this world and can practice Taoism and contemplate the mysteries more calmly.

Without rushing back to Qiuzhen Temple, Xuanming bent down, picked up a stone from the ground, walked forward for a distance, raised his hand and hit in a certain direction.

After a stick of incense, a pheasant on the campfire was roasted golden and shiny. He turned it over skillfully, sprinkled seasoning on it, and continued to roast it.

Wandering in the mountains and rivers, experiencing nature, and tasting mountain delicacies is a way to cultivate the mind.

Delicious food, delightful.

The scenery is amazing.

Xuanming has developed a tendency to integrate spiritual practice with his daily life. When every step, walking, sitting or lying down is a form of spiritual practice, that will be the time for him to break through the bottleneck, advance to the stage of Qi training, and become a Taoist immortal.

After filling his stomach and extinguishing the fire skillfully, Xuanming stood up and left. With a light tap of his toes, he moved a hundred feet in a single step, as if he was riding the wind, with his clothes fluttering and his posture elegant.

---

He read scriptures to gain enlightenment, practiced cultivation, drank tea and learned calligraphy, and instructed Chang'anzi and Changning. In his spare time, he walked in Fuyun Mountain, enjoyed the mountains and rivers, and learned from nature.

Watch the grass grow and the flowers bloom, see the waterfalls flowing, watch the birds spread their wings, and see the animals multiply.

Xuanming has a good balance between relaxation and tension. His cultivation becomes deeper and deeper, his magic power grows day by day, the truth in his heart becomes clearer, his foundation becomes more profound, but the Taoist charm on his body becomes more restrained, and he has a sense of returning to nature.

Chang'anzi and Changning also made rapid progress.

The former has already gotten started with the new Bagua swordsmanship, while the latter has indeed comprehended the Yin-Yang foundation-building chapter.

The little girl had a good understanding, was clever and cunning, and had read more than 200 volumes of Taoist scriptures at a young age. Although she had to read Taoist scriptures to pass the time because she had been unable to cultivate to the second level, it also laid a solid foundation for her.

She was able to draw inferences from what she had learned and quickly comprehended the Yin-Yang Foundation Building Chapter. If she continued in this way, although she would not be able to fully master this method, she could at least comprehend 70% of it, and use the power of the sun and moon's Yin-Yang to make up for her innate deficiencies, thereby breaking the shackles, entering the second realm, and building a superior foundation for the Tao. It should not be a problem.

As for trivial matters in the mountains, Xuanming didn't care about them at all.

Even when the head teacher's fellow disciple came to him and asked him to take up an important position, he was flatly refused.

Power, fame and fortune are like floating clouds to him.

After living for sixty years, Xuanming has long since become indifferent to everything.

There is only the Tao in his heart, and at most a pursuit of truth. Unless he encounters a major event, otherwise, usually he just wants to be an idle old Taoist.

Read the scriptures to gain enlightenment, and plant flowers and grass.

Now that he is in his sixties, he should not be fighting on the front line, but should be enjoying his retired life.

As for the other junior brothers and sisters, their ages are not much different, and fifty years old is the prime age.

What's more, he has so many disciples and there is no need for an ordinary Taoist like him to work so hard.

Since his senior brother was unwilling, Xuanxu had no choice but to give up.

He didn't want to force the elder, not because he couldn't beat him, but just out of respect.

After the fresh rain in the empty mountain, the weather is late in autumn.

The bright moon is shining, and the clear spring stone is flowing.

As summer goes and autumn comes, Fuyun Mountain is covered with a layer of red, yellow and green clothes. After a few autumn rains, the heat completely disappears and coolness gradually rises.

Seek truth at the temple and ask for advice.

Xuanming was immune to cold and heat, and still wore a thin Taoist robe, which looked even more elegant in the chilly autumn wind.

This year, due to absorbing the Taoist charm emitted by Xuanming during his practice, the old pine trees are lush and green all year round.

The trunk of the tree became thicker and the crown doubled in size, shaped like a canopy, covering the entire temple.

Today he rarely went into the Sutra Pavilion to read the sutras, all because of the young Taoist priest sitting cross-legged under the tree.

After three months of instruction, Changning was finally about to build her foundation. Xuanming was both surprised and not surprised at her rapid progress.

This is not surprising, because Junior Sister Xuan Su regards this girl as a treasure. She feeds her many elixirs and magic medicines on her daily basis, and feeds her with magic chickens and magic eggs all year round, so a large amount of energy is accumulated in her body.

During these three months, under his guidance, the little girl practiced diligently, absorbing the spiritual energy of the sun and the moon every day. Xuanming would occasionally throw in a wisp of yin and yang energy to assist, and Changning's innate origin grew a lot.

It was unexpected because she had made up for the deficiencies in just three months, which was too fast.

If it were so easy to make up for the gap, why would Junior Sister Xuan Su have to worry about it for more than ten years?
After thinking about it, Xuanming always felt that something was strange.

Letting Changning break through in the Taoist Temple not only makes it easier for him to protect the Dharma, but Xuanming also wants to see if he can find out something strange and solve his doubts.

　感谢发个好结局大大的1张月票，感谢2023……9523大大的2张月票，感谢三清门下臣大大的5张月票，感谢2022……1199大大的10张月票。

　　
　
(End of this chapter)