Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 168 Heaven and earth are the forge, cause and effect are the copper; past karma and karmic obstacles all enter the furnace!
Qi Yun stared at his outstretched hands. His fingers were distinct, his palm lines were clear, and the faint blue veins under his skin were faintly visible. They felt warm and real to the touch.

He clenched his fist tightly, his nails digging into his palm, a sharp pain shooting through him. This was no longer the ethereal manifestation of his primordial spirit, but a real, tangible body of flesh and blood.

"The Inner Realm is a place for spiritual cultivation, a haven for the primordial spirit, a realm of illusion... How can it transform the illusory into the real and bear my true body?"

His heart was filled with turmoil. His gaze swept over the revitalized courtyard once more. The bluestone slabs, bamboo fences, green vines, spiritual flowers, and even the silent alchemy furnace in the center were all real and tangible, filled with spiritual energy, no different from the outside world.

This far exceeded his understanding of the inner landscape, almost to the point of... opening up a new world and reshaping the universe!

Just how incredible was the supernatural power and cultivation of the previous master of the Five Viscera Observation?
Amidst the turmoil in his mind, Qingyun's cold, repetitive voice echoed once more: "An anomaly... usurping my position... the great calamity of attaining enlightenment..."

"An anomaly!"

Qi Yun muttered those two words to himself, his eyes suddenly sharpening.

Yes, I am the biggest "outlier"!
He was not a person of this world; his soul came from nearly thirty years in the future. A bizarre time travel made him the "Qi Yun" of this sacred mountain.

"Could it be that because of my 'abnormal' body, I am not bound by certain inherent causes and effects of this world, and thus able to enter this inner realm?"
And this cause and effect of the Five Organs Observation is what Qingyun should have obtained.
Qi Yun thought of the legend he had heard from the mountain village.

A mountain dweller went up the mountain to chop firewood and accidentally entered the Five Internal Organs Temple. A boy opened the door for him, gave him water, and guided him down the mountain.

If I am an anomaly who traveled from another time, then what about the mountain people who strayed into this place?
Those who were able to enter this inner realm were naturally destined, yet they were stopped at the gate. The water they were given was merely to prolong their lives, which was considered an explanation of cause and effect, and they were sent down the mountain.

The boy I saw back then had turned into a stone figure and was located on the hillside outside the Five Organs Temple. What happened during that time?
What happened to the Five Organs View that caused it to turn into a stone figure and leave the Five Organs View?

Or was he himself turned into a stone statue and banished by the Five Viscera Theory?

If that's the case, Qi Yun deduced a fairly complete line of reasoning based on the clues he had obtained:

Qingyun lingered in the Five Organs Temple to plot the creations within.

The condition for obtaining these treasures is fate, which is cause and effect!

It is clear that it lacks the necessary karmic conditions, yet it forcibly occupies this place, and over the years, it has dismissed those who were truly drawn into this place by karmic causes.

This prevents the Five Organs View of Cause and Effect from being passed down, thus making oneself the sole inheritor!
Such forceful interference with cause and effect ultimately backfired.

He was turned into a stone man by the Five Internal Organs Temple and banished from the temple.

This gave me the opportunity to enter the Five Viscera Observation and obtain the jade slip!

Qi Yun immediately realized that the footsteps that had been chasing him in the mountains were probably a backup plan that Qing Yun had left for him!
The footsteps were indeed blocked by the gate of the Five Internal Organs Temple and could not enter.

After obtaining the jade slip, the Five Organs View collapsed, and he gained the Crimson Hunting Fire, which he used to burn it to ashes!
At that moment, I completely took on the cause and effect, and the backlash on Qingyun was completely dispelled. At that time, his strength must have been far inferior to mine. He dared not face me and immediately fled down the mountain!
Still not giving up, they wanted to replace me!
Thinking of this, Qi Yun suddenly remembered the broken jade pendant in his bosom.

That jade pendant, obtained from the Qingyang Palace in the present world, must be an extraordinary treasure of the Qingyang Palace.

It contains a large amount of the incense power of Qingyang Temple, which will erupt at the critical moment and turn the tide!
Qi Yun initially thought it was an accident and that he was just lucky, but Qing Yun directly believed that someone had interfered in the matter.

According to Master Gongyang, the temple has an extremely ancient origin. Legend has it that "the Immortal Master Taiqing ordered the boy of the Green Emperor to transform a sheep in Shu," which led to the establishment of the Green Sheep Market, which later became the Green Sheep Palace.

Is my time travel related to this matter?

Qi Yun's thoughts grew increasingly profound, as if he had fallen into a bottomless sea of ​​clouds, surrounded by mist, unable to grasp any reality.

The threads of cause and effect are numerous, tangled and intertwined, their reach seemingly transcending the river of time.

Qi Yun suddenly felt a dizzying sensation, as if his soul was being pulled by the endless void.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his turbulent emotions, and his eyes regained their clarity and coldness.

"Enough! To dwell on these things now is like trying to catch the moon's reflection in the water; it will only disturb our minds!"

He secretly realized, "Qingyun is a thief himself, and now he's crying 'I'm a thief!' It's really laughable!"
He saw me as a robber, and I saw him as an enemy!

No matter how many hidden stories there are, the current situation is ultimately a battle for the Dao, a fight to the death!

He is merely someone who stole a portion of cause and effect, and has quickly reached this point through evil methods. I am the legitimate successor, holding the jade slip in my hand and possessing the Crimson Hunt in my body. What do I have to fear from him?

Although my cultivation period is short, my progress is not slow. I have already reached the middle stage of the Transformation Realm, and the road ahead is clear!
Once I fully grasp the wonders of this inner realm, my cultivation will surely advance by leaps and bounds once again!

Thinking of this, a surge of confidence dispelled all doubts.

The most urgent task is to find out exactly what secrets are hidden in this reconstructed "inner landscape"!

His gaze sharpened, he cleared his mind of all distractions, and strode forward.

At this moment, apart from the small courtyard and the platform outside the gate, which were rebuilt on the ruins of the original Five Organs Temple and were still bathed in the clear sunlight, the rest of Shenxian Mountain had quickly dimmed and returned to twilight as the pillar of light from the alchemy furnace disappeared.

Qi Yun walked to the boundary between light and darkness and reached out to test it.

An invisible wall of energy blocked their path. They pushed against it with all their might, but it remained completely unmoved and unshakeable.

"Previously, the interior was desolate, and the entire Shenxian Mountain was accessible; now that it has been revived, it is limited to this small area, and the rest has not yet been opened up."

His mind raced, and he immediately turned and walked towards the courtyard.

Pushing open the door, Qi Yun went straight to the alchemy furnace.

The furnace body was simple and solemn, with hidden mysterious patterns. He raised his hand and pressed it on.

In an instant, the phantom of the alchemy furnace between the three dantian in his body trembled violently.

The physical alchemy furnace before them rapidly etherealized, transforming into intertwined golden lines that writhed and flowed like living things.

Their thickness varies and their brightness differs. The thinnest ones shimmer like hair, while the thicker ones resemble pulsating veins. They intertwine and bind each other, forming a complex and unpredictable giant network of light.

Qi Yun focused his attention and observed closely. He saw golden threads flowing and intertwining in the void, each one as clear as glass, with countless tiny light and shadows floating in the air.

Suddenly, several golden lines flickered, revealing several clear figures.

Song Feng stood with his sword in hand, his robes fluttering as if a cold glint was flashing in the air; Yan Chifeng glared angrily and brandished his blade, the blade slicing through the air with a faint rumble of thunder.

Xuanqing smiled as he made a hand seal, a wisp of ethereal true energy swirling around his fingertips; Xuanji lowered his eyes in contemplation, his aura rippling like waves around him.
……

All the figures are so lifelike, as if the deity himself had descended.

At that moment, however, an exceptionally dark golden line trembled violently, its light and shadow shattering.

What's most unsettling is that the faces of the figures appearing in the lines shift wildly between Qingyun Tongzi's youthful appearance and Qiyun's handsome features.

Sometimes it solidifies into the round, childlike eyebrows and eyes, and sometimes it twists into the resolute outline of Qi Yun.

The two faces, like trapped beasts locked in a struggle, tore at each other repeatedly amidst the flickering golden light, revealing an indescribable eeriness.

Qi Yun's heart trembled violently, and he suddenly became clear-headed. This was the thread of cause and effect! What this mysterious alchemy furnace refined was neither pill nor medicine, but the most mysterious cause and effect in the world!
The wildly twisting golden thread was clearly Qingyun using heaven-defying methods to steal his causal foundation, attempting to substitute one thing for another!
Upon this thought, the Crimson Hunting Fire surged forth from his dantian, flowing straight through his palm and fingers into the alchemy furnace, scorching the obscure line of cause and effect.

The golden thread immediately twisted violently, and wisps of black energy rose up, struggling and hissing like a living creature.

Suddenly, Qi Yun heard Qing Yun's shrill scream, as if tearing silk!

As the black mist dissipated, the light and shadow on the line suddenly froze on the true face of the stone boy, and remained unchanged.

At the same time, the causal line itself suddenly thickened several times, with golden light flowing around it, solid and real.

"The cause and effect of the theft have returned."

Qi Yun extinguished the fire and stood still, his mind racing. "The Crimson Hunting Fire can actually sever cause and effect within the alchemy furnace... But what is the ultimate use of this furnace in refining cause and effect?"

Thinking of this, Qi Yun immediately activated the jade slip again to check!
The illusory image of the jade slip floating in front of him appeared as if by his will, and the third page was filled with flowing light, like a river of stars.

Beneath the originally ancient and mysterious image of the alchemy furnace, countless profound Dao patterns now intertwine and recombine, resembling living things.

Lines of new text gradually appeared in the golden light, each word exuding an ancient and profound Taoist charm:

【The Furnace of Cause and Effect】

Heaven and earth are the forge, cause and effect are the copper; past karma and karmic obstacles all enter the furnace.

【Taoist Traces and Gold Sand】

By refining the vast and entangled cause and effect, one can obtain some gold dust transformed from "traces of cause and effect".

It can refine and deduce the treasures of heavenly secrets, enhance one's understanding of the supernatural powers of time, and even slightly increase one's affinity with the Great Dao of Cause and Effect.

One use consumes fifty Karma Seals.

【Golden Hook Fishing in the Sea】

Holding the "Golden Hook of Tracing Causes," and using thought as bait, we plunge into the vast sea of ​​cause and effect.

It can provide omens of future fragments of the bait, and can also forcefully pull a thread of cause and effect with a specific target, temporarily breaking through the barriers of time and space.

One use consumes fifty Karma Seals.

[False causes lead to false effects]

Using a token as a guide, combined with a false cause, one can refine the seed of the false cause.

This plant can be planted on a person or in the ground, forming a false connection that attracts tiny fruits.

One use consumes fifty Karma Seals.

[Zhou Tian Deduction]

By deducing specific causal chain changes, we can glimpse future branches!
The activation is determined by the number of causal seals.

[Karma Seal: Zero] (Obtainable by refining one's own karma!)
After reading it word by word, Qi Yun was shocked. It was as if an invisible thunderclap had exploded in his heart, or as if a vast wind had swept over his primordial spirit, causing his aura to freeze for a moment.

What is written on it is no ordinary technique, but rather transcends the realm of supernatural powers. Instead, it points directly to the supreme Dao of cause and effect!
His gaze sharpened, and without the slightest hesitation, he focused his mind on the alchemy furnace.

The faint phantom of the alchemy furnace within his body and the actual alchemy furnace in front of him hummed simultaneously, their energies intertwining and resonating, forming a unified whole.

"Refining!"

With a low shout, the Crimson Hunting Fire surged forth from his dantian, intense yet not scorching, instead carrying a clear and penetrating Daoist intent that saw through illusion, and flowed powerfully into the furnace beneath his palm.

hum!
The alchemy furnace trembled violently, and the ancient runes engraved on its walls lit up one after another, shining brightly.

The countless crisscrossing, shimmering, and varying thicknesses of the golden threads of cause and effect within the furnace, like a slumbering galaxy suddenly awakening, shone brightly and surged forth.

Upon closer inspection, each golden thread seems to contain countless tiny fragments of images, sounds, and emotions, appearing and disappearing, carrying the origins and demise of countless living beings.

In the next instant, the sparkling, crystal-clear golden sand grains were forcibly extracted and stripped from the boiling, burning golden threads of cause and effect. As if drawn by an invisible force, they scattered and gathered into a fine stream of golden sand, swirling and surging toward the heart of the furnace.

Gradually, it coalesced into a surging, golden mist containing strange Daoist principles.

Qi Yun focused his mind and saw many thin, pale-colored, and shallowly connected lines of cause and effect.

Such as the Wang family father and son, Qin Weimin, Zhao Tiezhu, the people of Songjiazhuang, the Zhou family father and son, etc...

Under the scorching heat of the Crimson Hunt True Fire, the past scenes it carried flickered and faded rapidly, and the thread itself quickly became transparent and blurred. Finally, like morning dew meeting the sun, it quietly dissipated and disintegrated, turning into the purest nourishment and merging into the ever-growing torrent of golden stardust.

These were all worldly ties he felt he had severed completely, grudges and debts.

However, there were also several causal lines that, though seemingly thin, were exceptionally resilient. Not only did they not break under the scorching of the Daoist True Fire, but they also became more solid and radiant, like refined gold, exuding an unshakable and heavy texture.

The most striking one, with its deep color and hint of bluish-black, is clearly related to the owner of Xinglong Pawnshop!

Qi Yun's heart suddenly stirred, and scenes from the past flashed before his eyes:

In the consignment shop, the other party was all smiles, and he received a precious jade pendant.

Although no bargaining was made, the money and goods were exchanged, and they believed it was a fair transaction, with the cause and effect settled.

However, the jade pendant he had acquired from Qingyang Palace had unleashed incredible power during the previous anomaly and life-or-death moment, saving him from danger!
The karmic consequences surrounding this treasure are far greater than the value of the gold and silver paid for it on that day!
"So that's how it is!" A profound realization welled up in Qi Yun's heart, making him suddenly enlightened.

Every drink and every bite is preordained.

The outward appearance is clear, but the actual debt is much deeper!
The weight of cause and effect lies not in the amount of wealth, but in the depth of the burden and the severity of the karmic connection!

Before he could examine and investigate in detail who the other unusually strong causal lines were connected to, the light mist inside the furnace, which was condensed with countless golden dust Dao traces, had already reached its peak!

boom!
A flash of blue light appeared on the top of the furnace, and a highly condensed and pure golden beam of light suddenly shot out. Its momentum was magnificent, faster than lightning, and left no room for dodging. It went straight for Qi Yun's ancestral aperture between his eyebrows!
"Uh!"

Qi Yun's body trembled slightly, and he felt a burning sensation between his brows, as if he had been branded with some kind of mark.

In an instant, he saw a pale gold talisman, neither real nor illusory, perfectly round and simple, containing endless causal and profound Daoist charm, slowly condensing and taking shape on the illusory image of the alchemy furnace in his ancestral aperture between his eyebrows.

It floats on the vast sea of ​​consciousness, exuding a tranquil yet powerful aura.

Beneath the talisman, a number seemingly composed of countless tiny threads of cause and effect quietly emerged:
【nine】

The seal of cause and effect has now been completed into nine seals.

(End of this chapter)