The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 243 The Haunted Temple of Seeking Truth, A Wisp of Yang Spirit

Inside the quiet room, an old Taoist priest with white hair sat cross-legged.

Xuanming first familiarized himself with the Samadhi True Fire Divine Power, then digested the Conferred God Technique, and after recovering his essence, energy, and spirit, he devoted himself to breaking through to a higher realm.

Before this, he flicked his sleeve and threw out a peach wood sword. The sword flew thousands of miles and pierced the head of a great demon, saving the troublesome Li Zizai and the spirit deer Changshou.

"Master!"

"master!"

After the initial surprise, both the human and the demon felt guilty.

They sneaked out.

If I get caught this time, I'll definitely be severely punished when I get back.

Li Zizai and Changshou instantly looked worried, but then the situation took an unexpected turn, and a voice came from the peach wood sword.

"When you are out and about, be careful in your actions, avoid being hasty or impulsive, do not act rashly, observe and think more, do more good deeds, and carry my sword with you. Do not use it unless absolutely necessary."

As for the punishment for your sneaking out, it depends on how you conduct yourself this time..."

After giving a brief instruction, the peach wood sword flew into Li Zizai's sleeve. The man and the demon were overjoyed and bowed in respect.

"Disciples, please remember Master's teachings."

"This little demon will remember Master's teachings."

In the quiet room, Xuanming's eyelids twitched.

Young eagles must eventually leave the nest.

You can't stay under your own wings forever.

Li Zizai and Changshou now possess considerable strength and have cultivated numerous supernatural abilities; it is time for them to leave him and travel.

Only by suffering losses can one grow rapidly and truly understand the vastness of the world.

The act of leaving without saying goodbye.

We can settle accounts when we see them.

After settling Li Zizai and Changshou, Xuanming focused on seclusion and dedicated himself to breaking through to the next realm.

The magical power flows through the lower dantian, into the middle dantian, and finally to the upper dantian, circulating in a clockwise and counterclockwise manner, repeating endlessly.

Inside the entrance hall, the spirit shines brightly.

The nine-thousand-foot primordial spirit broke through its limit and began to climb steadily, one foot, two feet, three feet...

The magical power within his body rose like the sea, his meridians were widened again, his acupoints expanded, and his Dao body was tempered.

Xuanming was enveloped in a mysterious Daoist aura.

Within the Primordial Dao Domain, the Dao Tree, which had been gathering strength for a long time, burst forth. Its roots extended downwards, becoming deeper and thicker, while its branches stretched upwards and outwards, becoming higher and wider. The Dao Domain became more stable, the Primordial Qi became more concentrated, and the Primordial Intent became more profound.

The Taiji Heaven also expanded, and as the water rose, so did the boat.

Xuanming was immersed in the Dao realm, single-mindedly focusing on his breakthrough.

The essence flower in the lower dantian grew larger.

In the middle dantian, the qi flower expands to twice its original size.

The divine flower slowly condensed in the upper dantian.

---

Fengyang County, Fuyun Mountain.

An aged figure walked through the mountains and forests.

It appears and disappears, drifting aimlessly.

White hair flying in the wind, holding a whisk in hand.

He was enjoying the scenery and drifting like clouds.

Sometimes, illusory figures appear in various places in Qiuzhen Temple: Xuanfa Hall, Patriarch Hall, Zhenjun Temple...

The key point is that it only appears at night.

A new disciple who was getting up at night bumped into the old Taoist priest at the outhouse door. The priest handed him a toilet stick and then disappeared in the blink of an eye. The disciple was so frightened that he ran away in a panic, crying loudly.

Some of the younger disciples stole food at night, but the old Taoist priest snatched it away. The food turned into wisps of smoke and disappeared. When they saw that the steamed bun in their hands was still there, they thought it was an illusion. They opened their mouths and took a bite, but it tasted like wax. Only then did they realize what had happened. Feeling wronged and scared, they burst into tears.

A young and vigorous disciple, who was undergoing the hundred-day foundation-building process, had been enduring hardship for several days. Unable to persevere any longer, he was about to leave to avoid his fellow disciples and prevent himself from developing any romantic feelings for them. Just as he reached the wilderness, he saw an old Taoist floating in the air, beckoning and smiling at him. This frightened him so much that he lost all desire and was filled with fear.

One night, a disciple who couldn't sleep got up to practice his swordsmanship and happened to encounter an old Taoist priest. The old priest was holding a bamboo branch and demonstrating his swordsmanship. His eyes shone with a strange light, and the difficulties in his swordsmanship were easily resolved.

One disciple, unable to sleep, held a Taoist scripture and continued to hypnotize himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an old Taoist appear silently and sit by his bedside, also studying the scripture and uttering Taoist chants. He then drifted off to sleep.

……

For several nights in a row, it was the same.

Those who encountered the old Taoist priests were all sixth-generation disciples.

They are either too young or have an unstable temperament.

When the third and fourth generation Daoists emerged from seclusion, they were greeted by rumors of hauntings at the Qiuzhen Temple. They suspected that the ghost of one of the fourth generation Daoists had fallen outside and returned, or even that the ghost of a third generation Daoist who had fallen outside had returned.

Or perhaps someone is playing tricks.

Moreover, it belongs to the view of seeking truth.

If it is an outside ghost, it will be deterred by the Daoist energy and protected by a great god, and will not be able to enter Fuyun Mountain.

Moreover, it seems rather unbelievable that they encountered the same old Taoist priest at the same time, leading one to suspect that the old priest had cultivated some kind of clone technique or cast some kind of illusion.

After several days of investigation, the True Masters of the Seeking Truth Temple gathered together, their expressions strange. Xuan Yang spoke first:

"Why does that sound so much like Senior Brother Xuanming?"

He immediately shook his head in denial:

"Senior Brother's soul lamp is still burning; nothing could have happened to him."

The assembled masters remained silent.

They also had doubts.

Finally, a mysterious final decision was made:
"Whether it is Senior Brother or not, we'll find out soon enough. Tonight, we'll bring out Senior Brother's soul lamp, and it will be clear at a glance whether it is Senior Brother Xuanming or not."

The assembled masters nodded in agreement and unanimously approved the plan.

---

That night, the night was deep, and the moon and stars were few.

Two generations of true masters from the Seeking Truth Temple gathered together.

A three-zhang altar was erected in front of the Wendao Temple on Zangdao Peak to invite the Taiyi Savior God to manifest his divine power and descend to the mortal realm.

Xuanxu, in his capacity as the sect leader, wielded the inherited magic sword, his hair disheveled, and performed a series of ritualistic steps. After finishing his sword dance, he summoned the Yin-Yang Mirror and invited the Xuanming Soul Lamp. He then used the Yin-Yang Mirror to envelop the Soul Lamp, guided it with the inherited magic sword, and requested the assistance of the Taiyi Salvation God.

Searching for the figure of the white-haired old Taoist priest.

The magic sword hummed, automatically rose into the air, and rotated like a compass needle, stopping directly in front of it after two rotations.

The immortals were stunned to see the magic sword still. Logically, the magic sword should have flown out and automatically searched for the old Taoist's location. If it had nothing to do with Senior Brother Xuanming, the magic sword should have fallen to the ground instead of hanging in mid-air.

How can this be explained?
Just as they were wondering what was going on, Xuan Yang exclaimed with delight, "Look!"

All the immortals looked up and gazed.

An old Taoist priest with white hair drifted over.

Exactly—

"Senior Brother Xuanming!"

"Uncle-Master Xuanming!"

"Uncle-Master Xuanming!"

A mix of emotions including astonishment, shock, and fear.

The next moment, they gasped.

This was because a second, third, and fourth person appeared, and in the blink of an eye, a dense crowd of white-haired old Taoist priests surrounded the altar.

This scene sent chills down the spines of all the cultivators, leaving them momentarily confused and on guard.

Before they could ask, the Xuanming spoke in unison: "Don't panic, this is just a wisp of my Yang spirit. I have returned to revisit my sect and rediscover my original aspirations. I also took a wisp of divine soul from the Soul Lamp to perfect the Divine Flower and thus break through to the next realm."

As soon as he finished speaking, the many Xuanming merged into one divine soul, majestic and righteous, like a warm sun, gentle and radiant.

The surrounding night was illuminated.

The flame of the soul lamp on the altar transformed into a stream of light and merged into Xuanming's body. The Taiyi Salvation God also spoke:
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, you are about to achieve the perfection of the Divine Refinement stage."

Xuanming returned the greeting: "Fellow Daoist, congratulations."

Only then did the assembled immortals believe it.

His attitude changed drastically, and he became beaming with joy.

Accompanied by the assembled masters, Xuanming retraced his steps through the Dao Inquiry Academy, looked at them, and smiled:

"I will return in a year at most, and then we can drink and have fun together again."

The lingering sound echoed in the air as the Yang spirit dissipated into scattered stars. Xuanxu led the way in bowing, saying, "Respectfully seeing off Senior Brother."

After Xuanming left.

As the group of immortals snapped out of their joy at the reunion, Xuan Yang exclaimed in surprise, "What did Senior Brother just say? What we saw was merely a wisp of his Yang spirit?"

Xuan Kong: "Senior Brother has reached the Yang Spirit stage!"

Xuan Tong: "That's not all. Didn't Senior Brother say he wanted him to break through to the next realm?"

The assembled immortals fell silent.

After a long while, Xuanxu finally suppressed his excitement and managed to send out four words: "Three Flowers Gather at the Top!"

(End of this chapter)