A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 351: Valley Altar
Duan Rong and his friends followed the crowd, walking neither fast nor slow.

About an incense stick later, they heard a chaotic and noisy sound coming from the front.

After walking along the mountain road and turning a large rock protruding from the side of the road, we saw the entrance to a canyon not far ahead, which was crowded with a large group of people.

Another person, wearing a tight suit and a waist badge, stood on a large bluestone at the entrance of the canyon and shouted, "Don't get stuck here. Go to the sides. There are passages into the valley on both sides."

There were crowds of people, shoulder to shoulder, and the tide of people swept Duan Rong and the others to one side.

Seeing the crowded crowd, Duan Rong grabbed Xiao Yu's hand.

The two held hands and walked forward in the crowd. Xiao Yu glanced at Duan Rong's profile from time to time.

They bypassed another canyon entrance, and the crowds became less crowded at the next entrance.

When Xiao Yu saw that the crowd was no longer crowded, he pulled his hand out of Duan Rong's.

Duan Rong turned his head and looked at Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu's face flushed slightly, and she said softly, "Too many people. It's not a good look."

It didn't matter that they were squeezed in the crowd just now, but now the crowd has gradually dispersed, and if he and Xiao Yu continue to act like this, it would indeed be a bit conspicuous.

As soon as Xiao Yu broke free from Duan Rong's hands, Ximen Kankan and Shen Mizhi pushed through the crowd and ran to their side.

There was a huge flow of people just now, and they were dispersed for a while.

Ximen Kankan looked at the canyon entrance not far away and said, "I just squeezed over to take a look. There's another entrance over there, and it's even less crowded than this one. Let's go there."

Duan Rong smiled slightly. It would be difficult for Ximen Kankan to squeeze to the front given his fat figure.

Duan Rong and his companions followed Ximen Kankan's instructions and went around a little further, eventually arriving at the entrance of another canyon. There were fewer people at this entrance, but the area was much more deserted.

They followed the sparse flow of people and slowly walked into the canyon.

Along the way, no one checked their sect's cloud certificate and review approval slip.

They walked along the mountain path at the entrance of the canyon for a while and then entered a valley.

This valley was surrounded by towering mountains, with five canyons leading into it. At this moment, every canyon entrance was filled with a dense crowd of people.

Whispering sounds echoed in the valley, like the chirping of birds.

Many people looked at the towering mountains on all sides of the valley in astonishment.

Duan Rong stood in the crowd and his scalp felt as if it had been electrocuted and was numbing.

"This is?"

I saw that the mountains on all four sides of the valley had carved the entire mountain into four huge stone statues.

If everyone stood there, they would only be about as tall as the toes of the stone statue.

These four huge stone statues, carved from the entire mountain, are the statues of the Four Great Vidyarajas in the Garbha-tsutsu-sūtra.

"Why is the first test held here?"

Duan Rong's eyes flickered and his mind was filled with thoughts.

The rest of the registered disciples just felt that the four gigantic statues were towering into the clouds and majestic and spectacular.

But what astonished Duan Rong was that this deep valley was actually a huge mandala.

This huge mandala, towering into the clouds, seems to be communicating with the laws of heaven and earth. What a terrifying spiritual pressure it is.

What kind of person can practice the Taizang Sutra here?
Is such an existence really still a human being?

In the center of the four huge statues, that is, in the center of this deep valley, there is a large white marble altar with railings, steps, and steps, all of which are well-regulated and the various carved patterns are also quite exquisite and delicate.

In the center of the altar stood a large cauldron. Inside the cauldron were three tall incense sticks, each as thick as a human arm. The incense was emitting wisps of green smoke that rose straight into the sky above the valley.

Not far from the feet of the four huge statues towering into the sky, there stood an altar, on which were three large black iron plates, on which were placed the heads of cows, sheep, and pigs.

On the ground in front of the altar, sixteen figures were sitting cross-legged on cushions.

They all wore loose Taoist robes and sat with their eyes closed, with a palm-sized incense burner placed in front of each of them.

There was obviously some kind of incense in the incense burner, emitting a faint green smoke and fragrance.

Just then, a group of people wearing tight clothes and wearing badges on their waists came over. These people were all from the Internal History Department.

Duan Rong already knew that the assessment for registered disciples to advance to outer disciples was hosted by the Internal History Department and co-organized by the Judgment and Clan Affairs Department.

But Duan Rong did not see anyone with the badge of the Judgment Zongzhengsi along the way.

The leader of the group was a tall, thin-faced middle-aged man. He walked to the crowd at the entrance of the canyon and took a bronze bell from someone behind him.

He took the chime hammer and struck the bronze chime hard.

"Ding~"

There was a clear and crisp sound, quite penetrating, lingering far away.

The crowd fell silent instantly.

The man glanced at everyone and said, "Listen carefully! When I ring the bronze bell again, the first test will begin. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" A few scattered voices answered from the crowd.

The man continued, "When the test begins, you just move forward. Do you see those two lines? If you cross the white line, you will pass the first test! If you cross the red line, not only will you pass the first test, you can also skip the second one!"

Following the man's words, all the registered disciples looked forward.

A few feet ahead, I saw a very eye-catching white line.

Three feet away from the white line is a bloody red line.

The red line was only about half a meter away from the altar in the center of the valley.

"If you can step onto the altar, you will be exempt from the third assessment and directly advance to an outer disciple!" The man's last voice caused a commotion in the crowd.

"Become an outer disciple directly?!"

"What does this mean?" People in the crowd have already started discussing. "Just walk over there?"

“Who can’t walk?!”

"There has to be some trick! Maybe there's a trap?!"

……

Duan Rong was in the crowd, his eyes flickering. After the man announced the rules, he already knew what this first test was about.

Not long after the man announced the rules, a melodious horn suddenly sounded in the valley.

At the moment the horn sounded, the sixteen figures sitting cross-legged in front of the altar at the feet of the four huge statues towering into the sky suddenly moved.

They flipped their hands, opened the lid of the incense burner in front of them, and sprinkled a kind of spice into the incense burner.

No one knew what the spice was, but the moment it was sprinkled into the incense burner, smoke rose.

They lifted the copper chains on both sides of the incense burner, and their bodies suddenly became as fast as ghosts. With extraordinary skills, they stepped on the folds of the clothes of the towering statue and jumped up and down.

Wisps of smoke rose up from all over the huge statue!

Finally, the sixteen ghostly figures finally came to a stop. Four figures sat cross-legged on top of the statue, each with an incense burner emitting smoke.

On both shoulders of the statue, there are two figures sitting cross-legged, and two smoke beams are rising from the shoulders of the statue!

On both sides of the two big feet of the statue, there were two figures sitting cross-legged, and two smoke beams were also coming out.

There were four other figures sitting on the ground, surrounding the statue, and four smoke beams were also rising.

Sixteen figures, sixteen smoke signals!
Duan Rong looked shocked.

“Isn’t this a smoke offering?”

But as far as he knew, smoke offerings were an auxiliary sacrificial method used when practicing the Divine Art of Blood. And the Taizang Sutra did not contain any steps for smoke offerings...

Just as smoke was rising in the valley, on the top of a mountain somewhere in the southeast of the valley, there were more than ten figures sitting on more than ten white marble chairs standing on the cliff.

This mountain is quite steep, but why is there a white marble chair on the peak? And who are the people sitting on that white marble chair?
At the moment when the smoke was everywhere, a figure suddenly appeared, stepping on the void, flying in the air and landing in front of the people on the mountain.

Standing on the void and riding the wind, only the strong ones in the Cave and Nether Realm can do it with the power of the laws.

The person who came was Zhu He, one of the elders of Taiyi Sect's Council of Elders and also the chief of the Internal History Department.

This person is also one of the only two candidates capable of competing for the next leader.

As soon as Zhu Hefu landed, he clasped his fists and said, "Everyone, I'm sorry. I'm late!"

As soon as Zhu He spoke, several people stood up from their chairs and looked at him.

One of them said with a smile, "It's okay! Director Zhu has to take care of the assessment, and there are many things to do. Besides, the assessment hasn't started yet, so it's not too late."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone snorted coldly and said, "Yes. Mr. Zhu, you are busy with many things, so naturally you don't take people like us seriously. It doesn't matter if you are late. It's good enough that you can come!"

Zhu He's eyes flickered with a fierce gleam, but his face remained as smiling as the wind, without a trace of anger. The man who had challenged him was called Ge Rusong, and he had always been at odds with him.

Although Zhu He did not say anything, someone wanted to retort to Ge Rushong, but Zhu He winked at that person and that person sat down again.

Zhu He walked to his chair and was about to sit down when he heard a faint female voice coming from the far end.

"If Master Zhu doesn't come again, I'm going to let my daughter Hanyan take your seat. I'm afraid the child will stand for too long and play the piano out of tune."

The person who spoke was Lin Youjian, the only female elder in the Taiyi Sect's Elders' Hall. Normally everyone gave her some respect. Even the Sect Master Chu Qiushan was often left speechless by her, not to mention Zhu He.

Zhu He saw that Lin Youjian was scolding him, but he was not angry at all. He smiled and said, "Come, Hanyan, your master has spoken. Come, let you sit down."

Behind Lin Youjian stood a slim female disciple, her hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, and she wore a light blue skirt with a moon-white lining, as if to block the wind and sand on the mountain. Her face was covered with a white veil, and only vaguely visible under the veil was a fair and thin face.

This woman, named Jiang Hanyan, had a sword tied around her waist and a black guqin on her back.

Jiang Hanyan clasped his fists towards Zhu He and said, "Hanyan wouldn't dare! My master was just joking with Master Zhu. Master Zhu, don't take it seriously."

Seeing that Jiang Hanyan was neither humble nor arrogant and responded appropriately, Lin Youjian couldn't help but smile in appreciation.

Jiang Hanyan is Lin Youjian's only disciple.

Those who are accepted as disciples by the elders of the Council of Elders are all the core disciples of the sect, and their cultivation level is at least the Cyclone Realm.

Seeing Lin Youjian looking at Jiang Hanyan with admiration, Zhu He said no more and sat down quietly.

The seat next to Zhu He was empty. That was the seat of the sect leader Chu Qiushan.

However, in recent years, he has basically stopped attending such occasions.

After all, he will step down in six years, and these old guys don't find it strange.

On the other side of Chu Qiushan's empty seat sat Lu Zhongtang.

The moment Zhu He sat down, the two of them just nodded expressionlessly, which counted as a greeting.

As soon as Zhu Hefang sat down, the second horn sounded in the valley.

As soon as the horn sounded, Jiang Hanyan stood beside Lin Youjian and clasped his fists, saying, "Master, the time has come."

Lin Youjian nodded and said, "Yes. Hanyan, you go."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hanyan took a step forward and said to the elders, "My dear uncles and uncles, I am leaving now!"

After Jiang Hanyan finished speaking, her body suddenly leaped up like a big bird and jumped directly down from the cliff.

The elders of the Elders' Council looked at Jiang Hanyan's back and nodded slightly.

Jiang Hanyan was extremely talented and a humble and well-behaved person. Not only did her master Lin Youjian regard her as a jewel in the sky, but everyone in the Council of Elders also had a good impression of her.

in the valley.

The moment the second horn sounded, the sixteen figures on each statue suddenly began to make hand seals with their hands and mutter incantations.

"This is……"

Duan Rong's eyelids twitched wildly.

As the figure on the statue began to make seals and chant incantations, the eyes of the statue surrounded by smoke suddenly began to emit a faint blood light.

At that moment, Duan Rong was almost certain that this was the method of performing smoke offering!

Although he had never seen the practice of smoke offering in the Garbha-Tibetan Sutra, just because he hadn’t seen it didn’t mean it didn’t exist.

After all, he only had the first twelve levels of the Taizang Sutra in his hands, and perhaps the practice of smoke offering was included in the later Taizang Sutra exercises.

Just as the eyes of the huge statue towering into the clouds in the valley flashed with bloodshot, a graceful figure with flying skirts jumped down from the top of a solitary peak in the dark southeast. Its toes touched the treetops and stone walls from time to time, and then it made a series of leaps.

After rising and falling several times, it landed lightly on the altar in the center of the darkness like a leaf falling in the wind.

As soon as Jiang Hanyan landed, he sat cross-legged in front of the large cauldron on the altar with three incense sticks on it.

At this moment, the sound of a bronze chime suddenly rang out at the entrance of the canyon where Duan Rong was.

These registered disciples naturally remembered the rules. When the bronze bell sounded, the test began. As long as they crossed the white line, they would pass the first test.

At the moment when the bronze chime rang, Jiang Hanyan took off the black guqin from behind him on the altar and placed it horizontally in front of him.

Her face behind the veil was calm, and she gently moved her hands, and a clear chant suddenly echoed in the valley...

Those registered disciples at the mouth of the canyon were just about to take action when a clear chant was heard from the altar and an extremely powerful spiritual pressure suddenly descended upon them.

Everyone's body trembled slightly.

Even Duan Rong was no exception, he was not pretending, the moment the spiritual pressure descended, his body seemed to be frozen.

The situation for the other registered disciples was even worse, and many of them turned pale in an instant.

Because they had this feeling the moment the clear singing sounded on the altar, many registered disciples glared angrily at Jiang Hanyan, who was sitting cross-legged on the altar, playing the piano peacefully.

They thought that their pain was caused by the music of the piano!
But Duan Rong was very clear that the ones who suddenly brought down that extremely powerful spiritual pressure were actually the Four Dimensions of Yougu, the four statues with faint bloodshot eyes.

Mantras, seals and smoke offerings awakened the four statues.

However, the sound of the piano coming from the altar was actually protecting their souls, allowing them to withstand the sudden pressure from the four gods without causing their souls to be shattered and die!

This is also the key to the first assessment.

(End of this chapter)