This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 172 The Vanished Temple
The guests visiting Yanzhen Sect this time were a group from Qianren Sect, including Xunyangzi.

At this moment, the atmosphere inside the Immortal Palace of the Yanzhen Sect was not as harmonious as that among the disciples outside. The sect leader, Chang Ruoyu, was not particularly enthusiastic about these visitors.

In reality, many things are two-way street. Some people in the cultivation world don't like the True Path, while the True Path also looks down on those cultivators who deviate from the orthodox path.

This situation is better among disciples with lower cultivation levels, but becomes more pronounced with higher cultivation levels.

Chang Ruoyu's reception of Qianren Sect was mainly based on basic politeness as fellow cultivators of the immortal path, so the atmosphere was rather tense.

Xunyangzi remained polite throughout.

"Well, it seems that Sect Leader Chang is indeed very busy. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by our visit."

Chang Ruoyu glanced at Xun Yangzi and said indifferently, "It's alright!", but inwardly he was thinking something.

Knowing I'm bothering you, and knowing I'm busy, why did you come?

"I wonder what brings you fellow Daoists here? Surely it's not just a casual visit, as the letter stated?"

The Yanzhen Sect cultivates the True Dao, while the Qianren Sect cultivates the True Dao of Military Affairs. If it weren't for the fact that they both have the word "True" in their names, Chang Ruoyu might not even want to meet them.

As it turned out, Chang Ruoyu regretted it after meeting the person. The person who came had a worldly and obsequious face and was not "genuine" at all.

As Chang Ruoyu spoke, a strong sense of distance was almost palpable. Xun Yangzi and his senior brother who came with him exchanged a glance, and the latter nodded slightly.

When communicating with people on the path of cultivation, if you are not also on the path of cultivation, it is best to be straightforward and avoid so many roundabout ways. If they do not approve of you, they will not listen to what you have to say.

"It's not as simple as the letter of inquiry suggests; those are just superficial words. The real purpose is this book!"

As he spoke, Xunyangzi took out a pale golden bamboo scroll from his sleeve, on which a faint spiritual light seemed to flicker with each breath.

As expected, the book attracted the attention of a group of cultivators from the Yanzhen Sect, including Chang Ruoyu. Xunyangzi did not keep them in suspense and explained what the book was.

"This book was acquired by my Thousand Blade Sect in its early years. Now it is shared with the Lingyun Sect. We studied it together but could not find the true meaning. So it was sealed within the sect for many years. However, in recent years we have occasionally made some progress and feel that it seems to be a secret manual of cultivation."

Upon hearing this, the members of the Yanzhen Sect clearly paid even more attention. Xunyangzi smiled inwardly, but maintained a serious expression as he continued.

"Among all cultivators of the immortal path, who does not wish to cultivate the true path? It is only because we feel that our strength is insufficient that we have made this plan to visit a master of the true path with this book. Now we have found your sect. We hope that Master Chang will not hesitate to give us your guidance!"

Xunyangzi was telling the truth. The bamboo slip was indeed very precious and was indeed shared with Lingyun Sect. The scenery and patterns on it were actually restrictions imposed by both sects.

The initial idea of ​​the two sect leaders was actually to befriend a certain Nascent Soul expert and then use the expert's knowledge to indirectly help them understand the contents of the bamboo slips.

However, ever since they had a possible encounter with a master of the Lingxiao Realm, things have gradually changed. Now, both sects have considered befriending the True Dao Sect and have offered some items that could attract members of the True Dao Sect as gifts for exchange.

Of course, he didn't lie, but he hid a part of the truth, because Qianrenmen actually had three bamboo slips, and this time he only took one of them.

After listening to Xun Yangzi's narration, Chang Ruoyu and the others had already focused their attention on the book. Xun Yangzi didn't delay any longer and released his hand, letting the bamboo slip float in the air. Then he pointed at it, and the golden patterns on it unraveled like silk threads.

Before long, the bamboo slips slowly unfurled in the air, and the characters on them began to glow with a golden light.

"Taiyi Record, Volume Two."

However, the bamboo slips were not as intact as they had appeared. When they were unfolded to about a third of their original size, the rest were all broken. Some bamboo slips were broken in half, while others were burned beyond recognition.
"How unfortunate this is!"

An old cultivator from the Yanzhen Sect couldn't help but sigh. Although the others were still excited, they also looked sad. Why were they incomplete?
Xunyangzi also sighed at this moment.

"It is a great fortune to have even this fragment of the scroll."

The cultivators present nodded slightly, and the atmosphere finally resembled the proper interaction between cultivators from immortal sects.

Outside the Immortal Palace, several junior disciples of the Thousand Blade Sect were still waiting. If the exchange failed, they probably wouldn't stay long and would soon leave the Yanzhen Sect with their elders.

Not long after, an elder from the Yanzhen Sect came out of the Immortal Palace and arranged for a Yanzhen Sect disciple to show the younger members of the group around the sect and provide them with a place to stay temporarily, which indicated that the interaction inside was quite harmonious.

This surprised the disciples of Yanzhen Sect somewhat.

When it was finally time for the Thousand Blade Sect disciples to be alone, the junior brother finally told his senior brother what he had seen and what he had been thinking. However, the senior brother was shocked and could only tell his companions to remain calm and that he could only wait until the elder had time to explain.
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At the Ancestral Hall of the Yanzhen Sect, Dao Yanzi had already led Zhuang Lin into the hall. There was nothing superfluous here, except for a huge stone statue standing in the center of the hall.

This stone statue is a portrait of the founder of the Yanzhen Sect. He holds a sword in one hand and a document in the other, standing in the center of the hall looking ahead. It may bring some sense of awe to the disciples of the Yanzhen Sect, but Zhuang Lin obviously doesn't feel much about it.

The ancestral hall is dimly lit, with only a few ever-burning lamps illuminating parts of the area.

Dao Yanzi bowed deeply to the large stone statue, then reached out and beckoned. A point of yellow light shone from the stone statue's hand holding the document, and a scroll of painting more than three feet wide flew down and quickly landed in Dao Yanzi's hand.

"Senior, this is our sect's treasure map of geomancy. Please take a look!"

Dao Yanzi was straightforward and didn't waste any words. After speaking, he directly unfolded the scroll and placed it in the air to float.

Zhuang Lin's attention also fell on the scroll. The scroll was very long, and as it was unrolled, various patterns, mainly featuring the Taihang Mountains, appeared on it. It was a huge depiction of the Taihang Mountains, somewhat like a condensed aerial view of the Taihang Mountains, but it encompassed a wide range of things and was by no means just an ordinary picture.

Whenever Zhuang Lin focused his gaze on a certain point, he would often have the illusion of it being constantly approached from above, and he could almost see all the details, from the mountains and rivers to the trees and rocks.

This was absolutely an extraordinary treasure, and Zhuang Lin was deeply shocked upon seeing it.

"Could the scene depicted in this picture also represent events happening in the outside world?"

Upon hearing this, Dao Yanzi realized that Senior Zhuang had misunderstood.

"Senior is joking. What you described is too profound. Perhaps only the ancient Great Mountain God had the power to create such a geomantic treasure map. The map before us is a record of the scene left behind by my master after spending many years traveling to every corner of the Taihang Mountains, reflecting the changes of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements!"

In other words, to some extent, it can be considered a map of the Taihang Mountains "drawn" by the Immortal Lord Yanzhen back then!
Just thinking about the workload makes even Zhuang Lin feel a chill run down his spine.

How many years ago was it?

Zhuang Lin asked a very basic question, but he genuinely didn't know the exact time and was too lazy to probe further. Dao Yanzi, as expected, didn't think much of it and answered directly.

"If we consider the painting as being completed, it has been 291 years since then. However, the time Master spent from the beginning to the end was different, resulting in a 12-year gap. Therefore, it also contains the changes of the 24 seasons!"

Zhuang Lin nodded, feeling even more awe in his heart.

Looking at this geomantic map again, one can see faint, obscure streams of light connecting the mountains. This should be the so-called direction of the earth's veins, and to some extent, it represents the so-called dragon vein direction that some human dynasties cared about.

Just looking at it like that is like an ordinary person looking at a satellite image, which is somewhat blind. Zhuang Lin then followed one of the landforms to examine it closely. As he delved deeper, the height of his line of sight seemed to be constantly decreasing, and the earth veins became clearer.

At a certain moment, Zhuang Lin's gaze paused, and he saw an ancient temple on the map, with monks meditating, striking bells, and practicing their spiritual cultivation.

This was naturally the scene from back then, but it stirred Zhuang Lin's heart. He continued along the earth's veins and after some time, he discovered another temple, but this time it was a celestial temple.

Dao Yanzi was merely casting spells to maintain the wondrous manifestation of the geomantic map, but he himself was unaware of what Zhuang Lin was looking at. Only after focusing his mind could he see the details he wanted to see; outsiders were unaware of this.

Judging from the occasional changes in Zhuang Lin's expression, it seemed that he had gained some insights!

"Fellow Daoist, does Zhuang know the locations of all the Buddhist temples and monasteries recorded on this geomantic map?"

"How difficult is this!"

With such a clear goal, Dao Yanzi casually pointed at the geomantic map. A beam of light entered the map, and the entire scroll lit up slightly before turning dark, while some parts of the map lit up with spots of light.

This made things much clearer; hundreds of temples lit up along the mountain range on the scroll.

"Then what about the temples of the celestial gods?"

"That's not difficult!"

As soon as Dao Yanzi finished speaking, many new spots of light appeared on the scroll, totaling more than a hundred.

"However, this is the total number. The number of those who truly have the power to offer incense offerings may not be this many; it's probably around this much!"

Before Zhuang Lin could make any further requests, Dao Yanzi activated the geomantic map and caused changes. The originally lit spots of light quickly dimmed, and in the end, the total number of temples of the celestial gods and Buddhist monasteries that lit up was about two or three hundred.

Zhuang Lin's gaze swept over everything, and he asked another question.

"Can you further categorize them into which gods and Buddhas?"

"This is difficult. We can only check each place one by one. Moreover, we need to be careful about the number of places that receive offerings. Some of them, even my master probably hasn't been able to inspect in detail."

"Well then, I will search one place at a time!"

Without saying a word, Zhuang Lin immediately focused his mind on a point on the geomantic map and began to carefully examine the temples, which included various Buddhas, star deities, and even mountain gods.

However, Dao Yanzi's statement was clearly somewhat modest. Everything on the geomantic map was very clear. Even if it did not deeply stir the aura of those temples, just by looking at the appearance and seeing the statues inside, one could know who was being worshipped.

While the browsing might seem somewhat chaotic, Zhuang Lin gradually developed a unique sense of structure. Buddhist temples and shrines were arranged in a certain order within the mountains, with the mountain's shape serving as the center. Following the changes in the mountain's shape, the final destination was often a mountain god temple.

Well, whether or not they truly control the mountain's terrain is another matter, but at least it is a mountain god temple that is said to have received an imperial decree from the Heavenly Court.

As someone with some expertise in formations, Zhuang Lin intuitively categorized the distribution of mountain god temples into three suitable plans: based on the stars, based on the earth's veins, and based on yin and yang and the five elements.

Each of these three arrangements has its own story and a corresponding subordinate "sub-temple," but all three arrangements give people a sense of incompleteness.

This feeling prompted Zhuang Lin to stand silently in front of the geomantic map for a long time, while a sense of enlightenment arose in his heart.

One of the mountain god temples is missing! But it must still exist!
And this temple that has disappeared is probably the Five-Colored Divine Peak, or perhaps the Five Elements Mountain Temple!

(End of this chapter)