The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 182: Who is offering sacrifice to the Yellow God?
When the time comes, heaven and earth are full of strength, and when luck comes, all things go well.

The reason why Fuyun Mountain and Qiuzhen Temple were able to reap such a great harvest this time was that they seized the right time, place and people during the Taiping Rebellion.

Xuanming saw this clearly.

Gathering his thoughts and retracting his gaze, he turned his attention to himself. Over the past half month, in addition to observing the advancement of Fuyun Mountain and comprehending the ways of the earth and the principles of life from the inside out, Xuanming also digested what he had gained from reading the "Huangting Zhongjing Yujing".

This time, after nearly a year of seclusion, he achieved great results.

First, he perfected the "Hunyuan Yiqi Jue" and realized the method of practicing spirit from the sutra. Although it only ended at the Yang Shen chapter and he had no idea about the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top of the Head, he was already content.

Unlike practicing Qi, where there are numerous insights and methods of cultivation to refer to, and where one can learn from many, the number of people practicing Spiritual Training is limited, and they can be counted even in the three great dynasties combined, with the Yin Spiritual Realm accounting for the majority. One only has a book on the insights of practicing Spiritual Training, and lacks other references.

In this case, it was already commendable to be able to deduce the cultivation method to the Yang Shen chapter. For a period of time, Xuanming did not have to worry about the cultivation method, and he also deduced the Shen Lian chapter of "Zhou Tian Yang Shen Jue".

There are 360 main acupoints and 360 auxiliary acupoints in the human body. The chapter on training spirit starts with the easy and then moves on to the difficult, and mainly focuses on condensing the spirit in the auxiliary acupoints. Every time a star god is condensed, the body, the soul and the foundation will become three points stronger.

Secondly, his Taoism made great progress. After the Hunyuan Avenue entered the Taishi stage, Xuanming's Taoism successfully reached the realm of Lianshen Yuhua. As long as his magic power and Tao heart catch up, the breakthrough in cultivation will be a natural result.

Then his supernatural powers increased greatly, such as reversing yin and yang, subduing the qi with nine breaths, escaping the five elements, controlling the five thunders, exorcising gods, marrying dreams, swordsmanship, and other heavenly and earthly techniques, as well as supernatural powers such as the universe in the sleeves and the true fire of Samadhi, all improved and their power soared. Some of them even succeeded in becoming laws and evolved into great supernatural powers with incredible power. Overturning rivers and seas was just a piece of cake.

In addition, due to his past experience, Xuanming also comprehended several Tiangang and Disha magical powers:
From the attainment of the great way of the earth, one can realize the ability to whip mountains and move stones, push mountains and fill the sea, and carry flying sand and rocks; from the condensation of star acupoints, stargazing, and the attainment of the Yi Dao, one can realize the ability to move stars and change constellations; from the art of exorcising gods, formations, refining tools, and Yi calculations, one can realize the Liujia Qimen.

In addition, there are also the abilities of riding on clouds, traveling through secluded places, carrying mountains, moving in a divine way, resolving disasters, counting stars, and arranging formations. Of course, if Xuanming wants to master these supernatural powers, he needs to work hard and practice in a focused way, so as to avoid being greedy and ending up with a lack of skills.

Finally, he made a breakthrough in his Shinto Dharmakaya practice. During the Taiping Rebellion, the Dharmakaya of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun and the Dharmakaya of Gouchen Emperor accumulated a lot of merits, obtained heavenly destiny and deeply integrated with the laws they represented. Spirituality and divinity went hand in hand. With the blessing of Huangting Qi, he broke the shackles, ignited the divine fire, and completely turned from virtual to real.

Later, the two gods' autonomous consciousness increased, with Xuanming as the main one but independent of each other. They could cultivate their own magic power and comprehend the laws of heaven and earth, perform their duties as gods, assist the operation of heaven and earth, accumulate merit and luck, and their cultivation was comparable to that of the cultivators who had condensed the holy fetus, and even Xuanming could share some of the luck and merit.

Thinking of this, Xuanming's eyes lit up and his brows relaxed.

At that moment, Qiu Zhen watched the Taoist retreat to further digest what he had gained. He also followed the crowd and went into retreat again. If he had not been promoted in Fuyun Mountain, he would not have come out early after swallowing it all. Now that the matter was over, Xuanming had to continue to chew it slowly.

---

In the fourth month of mid-spring, spring is at its peak.

More and more people came to the Qiuzhen Temple, and the Taoists came out one after another to open the mountain to welcome pilgrims.

The promotion of Fuyun Mountain shocked the people. They had long wanted to climb the mountain to worship the gods and pray for blessings. Once the mountain gate was opened and the news spread, people started going up the mountain with their families in the early morning, offering food in their hands and their clothes wet with morning dew.

Looking up at the towering mountains and seeing the morning light, clouds and birds flying in flight, they were stunned and could not help but marvel at the sight, their hearts filled with awe.

Fortunately, after Chang'anzi and other four generations of immortals came out of seclusion, they worked together to cast a spell and moved the temple to the foot of the mountain. They rebuilt the stairs, so the pilgrims only had to climb 300 feet. Otherwise, just climbing the stairs would consume a lot of the pilgrims' time and energy.

Of course, there is also a temple under construction halfway up the mountain. Generally, people who can climb here have more pious faith and their prayers are more effective. After daybreak, the foot of the mountain is more lively, with dignitaries, wealthy businessmen, ordinary people, servants, artisans, singers, hunters and woodcutters, and all kinds of people, young and old, gathering here.

Regardless of one's social status, the Qiuzhen Temple treats everyone equally. It does not provide privileges to the wealthy and powerful, nor does it look down on the poor. Even people of humble origins can worship the gods.

Today, the temple's statues are no longer few and far between. In addition to the Tianzun Hall, which enshrines the statue of the Taoist ancestor Wuliang Tianzun, there are also the Taiyi Hall, Gouchen Hall, Xuanming Hall, Liuzhen Hall, Hufa Hall and Qunying Hall.

The meritorious service of Qiuzhen Temple in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion was witnessed by all. After the counties were stabilized, the Daxuan court sent rewards. In addition to a large amount of cultivation resources and Taoist scriptures, it also canonized many Taoists.

Taiyi the Savior of Suffering was canonized as Taiyi the Savior of Suffering God, the Gou Chen Dharmakaya was not only established as a true god, but also canonized as the Three Talents Gou Chen God, and Xuanming was canonized as the Xuanyuan Mingde True Lord, and could build temples and worship him in the Great Xuan World and enjoy incense offerings.

Xuanxu, Xuankong, Xuanyu, Xuantong, Xuanyang, together with Xuanyin who had been canonized previously, were canonized by the imperial court as the Six Demon-Slayers. They had statues and monuments erected, and were worshipped openly by disciples and pilgrims of the Qiuzhen Temple.

Chang'anzi and Changqingzi were canonized as Dharma protectors and shared the offerings. Xuansu did not receive any canonization, which could be considered as offsetting his merits and demerits. Changning was a half-demon and did not receive any canonization, but it could be considered as a disguised recognition of his identity.

Inside the temple, candlelight is bright and incense is burning. Since the day it opened, pilgrims from all directions have come in an endless stream, and even pilgrims from other counties have come from all over the country.

Zangdao Peak, Daoyuan.

Xuanming was awakened by the smell of incense.

He opened the door and walked out of the hut. He took a step into the air, holding a whisk in his hand, looking into the distance with a puzzled look on his face.

He had already learned from Xuanxu about the rewards from the Daxuan court to the Qiuzhen Temple during the half month after he was promoted to Fuyun Mountain.

Today, there are many Taiyi Temples and Gouchen Temples in Fengyang County, and there are also some in Huoyang County, Diyang County and Shuiyang County. The various Taoist sects in Fengyang County also enshrine the statue of Xuanming Zhenjun.

The power of this part of incense would not surprise him. The incense that caught his attention came from outside the four counties. It seemed to be very far away. Xuanming's perception was very vague and intermittent. He vaguely saw many people offering sacrifices to the gods, some kneeling and bowing, some bending over and bowing, but the sounds could not be heard clearly.

What's even more bizarre is that these incenses poured into the central Huangji Huangjiao Dharmakaya. You should know that when this Shinto Dharmakaya was formed, the canonization by the Daxuan court had long passed, and the Qiuzhen Temple had never made a statue for worship. It could only be regarded as a wild god, and only a small number of people in Fuyun County secretly worshipped it.

This Dharmakaya was born only for a month and a half, and is not as famous as the Taiyi Jiuku Dharmakaya and the Gouchen Dadi Dharmakaya. It is only limited to Fuyun County. Logically, the news should not have spread that far. Even the belief in the first two Shinto Dharmakayas is only within the four counties, let alone the Central Huangji Huangjiao Dharmakaya?
Puzzled, Xuanming counted on his fingers, concentrated and calculated, but his brows became more and more furrowed, because he could not figure out any information at all, as if he was blocked by a layer of mysterious power.

Something must be fishy when something is out of the ordinary. Xuanming stopped and looked into the distance, his eyes deep as he pondered silently, muttering to himself:
“Why build a temple for worship? Who is behind it?”

After racking his brains to figure it out, he didn't continue to dwell on the matter. The faith in the incense was considerable, and the central Huangji Huangjiao Dharmakāya benefited from it, and his divine power improved by leaps and bounds. At present, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

As for the reason, it is best if it is out of good intentions. If there are any ill intentions, we will just fight against them with our own strength. As long as our cultivation is deep enough and our strength is strong enough, we will be invincible, fearless of challenges, and defeat ten opponents with our own strength.

Xuanming's thoughts became clear, so he returned to the hut and continued his retreat. He was just one step away from completely digesting what he had gained from the Guanyin Sutra. When the time came, he would truly come out of retreat and summon all the immortals to discuss the placement of the disciples who died in the battle and the future direction of the Qiuzhen Temple.

(End of this chapter)