Controlling the Five Thunders and the Two Worlds

Chapter 407 The Wenshi School and the Shaoyang School

Gu Zhao gave a thumbs up, "It's Wen Shi."

"Good heavens, the Wen Shi Sect still has a lineage?" Daoist Yan Qi asked in shock, then a thought struck him and he couldn't help but ask, "If Senior Brother Yuan He inherited the Chun Yang Sect, what about the Shao Yang Sect and the Zheng Yang Sect?"

Taoist alchemists say: "Wen Shi is the highest, and Shao Yang is the greatest."

This is extremely high praise for the two ancient Taoist schools.

The founder of the Wenshi School was Guan Yinzi, a contemporary of Laozi and the gatekeeper of Hangu Pass. He witnessed Laozi's purple aura coming from the east and was invited to write the Tao Te Ching. He entered the Tao through this and founded the Wenshi School.

Based on nothingness and with the principle of cultivating one's nature, it directly refines the spirit and nourishes the qi. In terms of methods, it is similar to the Zhengyi school, but it cultivates the true yang qi. It is also considered by the Quanzhen school to refine elixirs with qi and directly access the Great Dao.

It is evident that before the Quanzhen sect had any disagreements, the Ancient Daoist sect had already made the choice of cultivating both body and mind, wanting both.

However, both the Tao Te Ching and the Wen Shi School's Wushang Miaodao Wen Shi Zhenjing are extremely difficult, with profound and mysterious language. Although they lead directly to the Great Tao, they are incomprehensible and impossible to practice!

Moreover, the Wenshi School followed Lao Tzu's philosophy of carefree living and non-action, living in seclusion in the mountains and avoiding worldly affairs, and was also known as the Hidden Immortal School.

But reality isn't a novel; how could such a reclusive sect possibly maintain a stable lineage?

Therefore, the Wenshi School gradually disappeared from history, which explains why Master Yanqi was shocked when he heard the news.

“There are indeed more, right here in Nanshan,” Gu Zhao said. “This was told to me by a Taoist priest from Louguan Temple in Nanshan when the Taoist office was collecting statistics on the true Taoists, but that was three years ago.”

Nanshan Louguan was actually the ancestral temple of the Wenshi sect, but it had long since declined in the course of history. Now it has been incorporated into the Quanzhen Longmen sect, and there is also a true Daoist of the Longmen sect presiding over it.

"I heard he's an old Taoist priest, I'd like to go and see him," Gu Zhao said.

“As for Shaoyang…” Gu Zhao thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, “I didn’t see it in the statistical documents of the Taoist Studies Office, but I wouldn’t dare say it’s completely absent.”

The Shaoyang School, another branch of ancient Taoism, originated from Wang Xuanfu of the Han Dynasty and can be considered the predecessor of the Quanzhen School.

According to Taoist classics, Wang Xuanfu, also known as Zifu Shaoyang Jun, founded the Shaoyang School, passed on the teachings to Zhengyang Emperor Zhongli Quan, and then to Chunyang Patriarch Lü Dongbin. The Shaoyang, Zhengyang, and Chunyang lineages were passed down in one line, and finally Wang Chongyang formed the lineage of Quanzhen Taoism.

However, perhaps because of the orderly transmission, after the formation of Quanzhen Taoism, Shaoyang, Zhengyang, and Chunyang were gradually lost, or rather, they were all integrated into Quanzhen Taoism.

For example, Yun Yang is in the Baxian Palace in Qin Province. As a direct disciple of the Quanzhen Longmen School, he cultivates the "Zhong Lü Chuandao Neidan Ji", which is actually the Zhengyang and Chunyang method, and also the Shaoyang inheritance.

As the most famous of the Eight Immortals and the one who left behind the most poems, Chunyang Patriarch Lü Dongbin is the most renowned, and the Chunyang School has survived thanks to this reputation.

According to the statistics of the Taoist Studies Office, in addition to Master Yuanhe, there are two other Taoist temples that are also of the Pure Yang lineage, with practitioners who have achieved success in their Taoist cultivation and can serve as reserve forces for the Daluo Palace.

As for Lesser Yang and Greater Yang...

Gu Zhao didn't dare to draw a conclusion, after all, nothing in this world is certain. People still thought that the Fengyue Sect had been lost long ago, but now the Daluo Palace has three successors of the Fengyue Sect.

Even the Wenshi School has its disciples living in seclusion in Nanshan. Who knows if the disciples of the Shaoyang and Zhengyang Schools might be hiding in some nook and cranny, waiting for the spiritual energy to revive?

……

Qinling Mountains, Nanshan Mountains.

This place is known as the Immortal Capital, the Crown of Grotto-Heavens, and the Number One Blessed Land Under Heaven. The phrases "May you live as long as Mount Nan" and "The Shortcut to Zhongnan Mountain" are also inspired by this place. The Quanzhen Sect in a certain martial arts novel is also located on Mount Nan.

What many ordinary people don't know is that the lineage of the ancient Taoist Wenshi School also exists in Nanshan.

A leisurely white cloud drifted slowly across the sky. Gu Zhao lay on the cloud, slowly heading north out of the Nanling Mountains, passing through the Xuefeng Mountains, Wushan Mountains, and Daba Mountains, before entering the Nanshan Mountains.

But before he could release his divine sense to search for the Wen Shi Sect Taoist priest, whose whereabouts and even his survival were unknown, he saw wisps of blue smoke rising from the temples and Taoist monasteries surrounding Nanshan. At the same time, some young people and even middle-aged people, wearing hiking boots, carrying trekking poles and backpacks, embarked on a journey deep into Nanshan to seek immortality and enlightenment.

"There are many hermits in Nanshan, there must be cultivators among them!"

"There were legends of hermits in Nanshan before, and they were even reported in the news. But later, it is said that more and more people came out of the village, and they gradually disappeared."

"Could it be that they said it on purpose so that ordinary people wouldn't bother them?"

"It's very possible. Also, could the Aotai Line be the place where cultivators reside, which is why it's off-limits to outsiders?"

"Yes, yes, that makes sense!"

"How about we go check out the Aotai Line?"

"What kind of logic is that? How many people have died on the Aotai Line? We come into the mountains to seek immortality, not to seek death!"

"Can't you use your brain for once? Daoist Mingchong, Daoist Yuanhe, Daoist Yanqi, and Daoist Xuning are from Longhu Tianshan, Luzu Temple in Shanxi Province, Qingcheng Mountain, and Laoshan respectively. They are all Daoist temples in scenic areas. Which one is in the deep mountains and forests?"

"Then why are we here?" a woman asked, bewildered.

"Of course it's because it's already overcrowded!" The man who spoke was speechless. "If we go there to offer incense, we'll just be a drop of water in the ocean, blending into the crowd."

“But if we find cultivators deep in the Southern Mountains, that will prove our perseverance and will!” another man said.

The other two men readily agreed, while the two women accompanying them could only nod in bewilderment.

"But isn't this road also a tourist area?" A woman pointed to a trash can not far away, then to a group of people indistinctly visible in the distance ahead. "Are they also here to seek immortality?"

The men, "..."

“I suspect those cultivators wouldn’t be hiding in such a deep place, otherwise there wouldn’t have been the legend of hermits back then. As long as we focus on searching in the mountains, we will have a better chance than going to places like Qingcheng Mountain or Zhenwu Mountain,” the first man to speak said, trying to save face.

The four men and two women were traveling through the mountains when they encountered many villagers living in the mountains, citizens renting houses in the mountains, and even a guesthouse owner who had opened a guesthouse in the Nanshan Mountains.

Then they heard that there were two elderly people living and farming in the area, who had lived there for almost decades.

"They are just two ordinary old men who have lived on this mountain for decades. They have no relatives or friends, and they go out for walks from time to time. They also occasionally teach the children in the village and tell them stories."

“They used to treat villagers’ illnesses, but later the village’s conditions improved and they had village doctors, so they were no longer needed.”

“During holidays, some of the students they taught in the village would bring meat, eggs, milk and other things to visit them. But they didn’t come at other times. The two old men would just grow vegetables and play chess.”

"Could it be..."

"Let's go take a look and see!"

So the six of them bid farewell to the villagers and then came to a secluded spot on two hills behind the village. Sure enough, they saw a few simple dwellings halfway up the mountain. Further on, they saw two old men playing Go under a big tree.

One of the men stepped forward to say hello, but was pulled back by the other man.

"Have you forgotten what the story said?" the man reminded him. "Don't interrupt a master's refined enjoyment. Wait until they finish their game before you greet them."

"Yes, yes, yes!" The others nodded repeatedly.

Even Gu Zhao, who was in the clouds, looked at the group with new respect. He hadn't expected that they had actually found some experts, and two of them at that.

(End of this chapter)