The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 158: Heart of Stars, Walking in the Light (Part )
The morning light appears and the sun rises brightly.

The next morning, the crowds at the foot of Fuyun Mountain dispersed. Some returned home to recuperate from their injuries, some became frightened and wanted to flee Fengyang County, and some rushed to various places to support other battlefields.

Out of some kind of awe, the foot of the mountain was kept clean, with no signs of settlement and no garbage left.

As they went their separate ways, the news spread that Qiuzhen Temple had repelled the real dragon and successfully resisted the tide of monsters.

The people were overjoyed, running around to tell each other the news, singing and dancing; the practitioners were pleasantly surprised and began to re-evaluate the relationship between the Truth Seeking Temple and the Taiping Sect. They no longer blindly followed what others said or were swayed by rumors, but began to think carefully and rationally.

When the news spread to the battlefields on all sides, all forces were excited and their morale was high. Qiuzhen Temple gave them a good start.

On Cuiping Mountain, the Xuri Sect and the Netherworld were facing each other and were in a stalemate. The former were busy healing their wounds, collecting the remains of their fellow disciples, rearranging the formations, and building defenses, while the latter were busy collecting the souls of the dead.

When the news of the Qiuzhen Temple hiding the half-demon and repelling the real dragon came at the same time, Zhenjun Chaoguang laughed out loud, put aside his worries about the battlefield of Fuyun Mountain, and praised Xuanming highly.

The same was true for Master Chao Tun. When his disciples raised questions and worried that the Seeking Truth Temple and the Taiping Sect were in cahoots with each other, and that this might be a show, the Master of the Rising Sun Sect smiled and said:

"There is a saying in Confucianism: A gentleman is quick to act but slow to speak. We should not limit our view of a problem to superficial appearances. Actions are more honest than words. We should start from the heart when we see people and things. It is a fact that Taoist Xuanming led the Seeking Truth Temple to resist the tide of monsters and repel the real dragon. However, there is no solid evidence for the alliance between the Seeking Truth Temple and the Taiping Sect, only rumors."

Seeing his disciple opening his mouth to speak, Master Chao Tun seemed to know what he wanted to say, raised his hand to silence him, and explained: "Perhaps the Qiuzhen Temple really has a half-demon with bloodline connected to the guardian of the Taiping Sect, but so what? Even fathers and sons and brothers would sacrifice their relatives for the sake of justice, let alone more distant relatives and friends? Is it just a show?"

He glared at his own disciples, angrily saying, "I heard that the demon race suffered heavy casualties, and quite a few great demons fell. There were also casualties in the Seeking Truth Temple. This is a blood feud, and the price is too high.

You have always practiced in the mountains and seldom come down, which has made you ignorant of worldly matters. This is a good thing for the early stages of cultivation, but it will become a confinement later on. When you are done with this, you should go down the mountain and travel for three years."

At Qingya Mountain, after hearing the news, Zhenjun Xianyue smiled slightly, and Kundao Shuiyue also smiled like a flower.

Unfortunately, the county town was sealed and news was difficult to get in.

---

Light and shadow interweave, and time passes like a song.

It has been half a month since the Taiping Rebellion began. Not only is Fengyang County engulfed in flames and war, but the surrounding counties are also experiencing unrest.

There were countless Taiping followers like crucian carp crossing the river, and they were everywhere. Various forces took advantage of the chaos and took the opportunity to kill their opponents. In addition, they had the support of some people, and some forces were betting on both sides. The war situation became a mess, and the Taiping followers' momentum grew like a snowball and gradually became a force to be reckoned with.

In this chaos, Fuyun County seemed like a paradise, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, without having suffered much from the war. Some people who did not want to join the Taiping Sect and were displaced came here in waves, bringing their families with them, traveling through mountains and rivers, and escorted by cultivators, to resettle their homes. Among them were many wealthy businessmen and powerful people.

Every commoner who was accepted, crying with joy, would either kneel down and worship towards Fuyun Mountain on the spot, or climb up Fuyun Mountain or enter Taiyi Jiuku Temple the next day to burn incense and kowtow to express their gratitude, knowing that Qiuzhen Temple played a great role in enabling them to find a place to settle down in these troubled times.

In half a month's time, four generations of Taoists came out of retreat one after another, and the Qiuzhen Temple gradually gained popularity. Some of them received pilgrims and appeased people's hearts. At the same time, under the order of the next abbot Changchunzi, they mobilized the gold, silver, grain and silk in the temple to go down the mountain to help the poor people, assist the Fuyun County government, and help the people settle down and open up wasteland so that their lives could get back on track as soon as possible.

The other part cooperated with the spirit beasts to collect the corpses of the monsters. At the same time, they set up statues of Taiyi Savior God in various places, arranged rituals, placed altars, chanted incantations, and respectfully invited Taiyi Savior God to come to the world, refine the souls of the dead, spread nectar, dispel resentment, purify dirty and foul air, remove foul smells, repair damaged plants and trees, restore vitality, and benefit the mountains and forests.

For several days in a row, Taiyi the God of Rescue led his gods to be busy on the battlefield, starting from the junction of the main vein of Canglong Mountain and the branch vein of Fuyun Mountain, saving batches of dead souls and purifying hundreds of miles. After the 300-mile buffer zone was combed, he led the gods to officially advance towards the main vein of Canglong Mountain, 100 miles, 300 miles, 500 miles, 1,000 miles...

The demons were familiar with Taiyi the Savior of Suffering, and knew that he was the Dharmakāya of Xuanming Zhenren. This time the demons were defeated and the real dragon retreated, and they did not dare to stop him due to the power of the Qiuzhen Temple.

Moreover, the big monsters are mainly active in the depths of Canglong Mountain. A group of them died in the war, and the big monsters are even sparse in the area near the main vein of Fuyun Mountain.

In addition, Taiyi the Rescuer of Suffering treats humans and demons equally. As long as they do not destroy, provoke, or do not do many evil things, even if he meets them face to face, Taiyi the Rescuer of Suffering will turn a blind eye to them. Instead, the mountains and forests where he passes by will regain some vitality and the hostility will dissipate.

Due to various reasons, Taiyi the Rescuer of Suffering has unimpeded access and is even somewhat recognized by the demon clan, who think that this deity may be different from other gods.

---

A month later, when Xuanming came out of retreat, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun had purified and nourished an area of 3,000 miles and refined tens of thousands of undead souls. The remaining undead souls were temporarily collected in the pure bottle to be slowly refined later.

Among them, the demons with heavy karma were imprisoned in the Shinto prison opened up by Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun to suffer and atone for their sins. Those with shallow karma were prepared to reincarnate. The demon souls with some merits were favored by him, taken under his command, and accumulated good deeds to benefit all living beings.

Therefore, in just one month, the Dharma body of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun has gained merits and virtues, and has become more and more in line with the laws of heaven and earth that he symbolizes. His cultivation has greatly increased, and his strength has greatly improved. After he has refined the accumulated undead souls in his hands and further cultivated and sorted out the area of ​​three thousand miles, the Dharma body of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun will surely reach a higher level.

As the main body, Xuanming also benefited from it, and gained a lot of merit and luck: the luck of heaven's favor, the luck of earth's return, the luck of the gratitude of the dead souls, etc. In addition, the achievements of Qiuzhen Temple spread to most areas of Fengyang County, and many people were grateful, so he also gained some merit and luck of humanity.

In addition, the "Huangting Sutra" has the ability to gather scattered luck and suppress luck. With the luck accumulated in the past, Xuanming is now only one step away from the luck required for practicing spirit.

After silently calculating, he was overjoyed. He opened the door, walked out of the hut, and strode out of the Taoist temple. Xuanming stood on the cliff with his hands behind his back, looking at the beautiful mountains and rivers. His worries suddenly disappeared and he felt relieved.

The map of mountains and rivers no longer exists, and half of the laws have disappeared. Although the real dragon was severely injured, he no longer has the support to compete with it. Once the real dragon recovers from its injuries, regroups, and attacks again, he will be afraid that he will not be able to resist.

Even when he was in seclusion, Xuanming was still troubled by it. But now he doesn't have to worry. After his fellow apprentices came out of seclusion, they used Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun to help him relieve his worries.

Right now, Fengyang County is in chaos and war, the people are living in misery, the Taiping Sect is plotting rebellion, and demons and monsters are accomplices. This is a challenge but also an opportunity. As long as you seize the time, slay the demons and monsters, protect more people, sort out the damaged world, and liberate the wronged souls and ghosts, you will be able to gain more luck and impact your spirit training.

If one succeeds in breaking through the realm, he will not be afraid of real dragons, nor will he be afraid of the great spiritual practitioners from all sides. He will have more ability to quell wars and protect the people.

After figuring it out, Xuanming's weathered eyes shone with a strange light, and his whole body flickered with bright light, as if he saw a figure, who in the dark and disordered era was like a towering tree, supporting a world for all living beings, with a heart full of stars, walking in the light, illuminating the darkness and driving away the haze.

After standing still for a moment, Xuanming turned back to the house and called all the truth seekers to watch. Half a cup of tea later, they all arrived.

He got straight to the point and said, "Born in adversity, die in comfort. Although the real dragon has been repelled, it is only temporary. We must be prepared early. Since Taiyi Savior God's purification land has touched the main vein of Canglong Mountain and extended for three thousand miles, we must seize the opportunity to set up formations and defenses three thousand miles away to keep the enemy out, so as to prevent the land veins of Fuyun Mountain from being damaged. In case we are unable to cope with it, we will have more room to maneuver."

"Brother, what you said makes sense. Floating Cloud Mountain is just a branch vein. The ground vein is fragile and has been damaged in the last war. We should place the battlefield on the main vein and pretend to counterattack, which will also scare the monsters for a while."

Xuanxu and the others had no objections and unanimously agreed to discuss the details and division of labor. After the matter was settled, Xuanming spoke again:
"In ancient times, wars have brought disaster to the people. Although Fuyun County has temporarily found peace, the people in Fengyang County are still suffering. Since we cultivators have mastered extraordinary powers, we should do our best to quell the war, help the poor and restore peace to the people in this critical moment. I want to fight in other battlefields. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)