One person: I am Li Buren, I cannot bear to do anything!

"But these are the ascensions of our Wudang founders, why would they be so interested in these things?"

"Would these things also be useful to their systems?"

Li Buren was somewhat puzzled.

Dean Deng, with his white beard, stroked his beard, seemingly pondering how to explain to Li Buren.

"I have spent my whole life studying a subject, trying to find the end of spiritual practice."

"A lifetime seems too short for this subject."

"I have searched all the countries in the world with a long history, just to find traces of words left by great practitioners in various countries."

"In Northern Europe, they call it the Path of the Saints; in Tantric Buddhism, they call it the Samsara of Brahman; and in the British Empire, it is called the Gate of Faith."

"Every grand system that has been passed down for thousands of years has its own unique and meaningful name."

"And in Wudang, it has the most authentic and fitting name."

"Ascension".

Li Buren could clearly sense a kind of fiery, fervent passion emanating from the white-haired, blue-eyed old man in front of him.

"Among all cultivation systems and all countries, only Wudang possesses a real, complete path to ascension that is presented to all."

"No one will make any unusual moves before he appears."

"But when he appears in the world—no, not in the world—even the slightest movement will attract the covetous eyes of all cultivators."

"The end is always there, and every practitioner wants to reach the end."

"But we spend our whole lives on the road, without even knowing how far we've come or how far we are from the end."

"So when this endpoint appears, even if it's just an illusion, it's enough to entice everyone to fly like moths to a flame."

Li couldn't bear it and closed his eyes.

Just listening to this old man, you can already sense how many people in the world covet this secret of ascension.

Feeling as if the air around him had frozen, Li couldn't help but frown, as if under immense pressure.

Dean Deng patted Li Buren on the shoulder and offered a few words of comfort.

"Li, don't worry too much."

"You don't know, the situation abroad is not as good as you imagine."

"In your words, it's a situation of warlordism and chaos, and there's still no so-called unification."

"And the secret of ascension is not something that can be discovered overnight."

"We've been chasing this goal for far too long, we're not in a rush, so you don't need to worry too much."

Not only Li Buren, but also the Wudang people present all had a somewhat gloomy expression on their faces.

"Master..."

The Taoist priests of the same generation as Master Yunlong all looked at Zhou Meng.

Zhou Meng didn't say anything, but spoke to Li Buren.

"I can't bear it, come with me."

With that, Zhou Meng nodded to the two elderly foreigners and then led Li Buren out the door.

Zhou Meng didn't say a word the whole way; he just walked silently ahead.

Li hesitated for a moment, wanting to speak, but ultimately refrained from asking.

It wasn't until Zhou Meng led him along a winding path he had never taken before, for a long time, that they reached a clearing at the top of the back mountain that they had never seen before.

And right next to the open space was a cliff with no obstruction whatsoever.

It's worth mentioning that the scenery here is very pleasant, with an almost unobstructed view of the sea of ​​clouds and forests from the cliff edge.

The two of them trudged through the wild grass and shrubs that had grown almost up to their knees to reach the middle.

From the overgrown wasteland where no one had been for a long time, Li Buren could almost tell that this was a wasteland that had not been visited for at least ten years.

"This is a place that only each successive leader of the Wudang Sect can come to."

"Actually, there was no such rule originally. The patriarch said that any Wudang disciple with the ambition to ascend to immortality could come and comprehend it."

"But there were too many people with ulterior motives, so we had to set a rule that only each successive leader of the Wudang Sect can come here."

As he spoke, Zhou Meng led Li Buren to the edge of a cliff.

Unlike the surrounding natural scenery, this place seems to have been meticulously sculpted, with an incredibly grand and exquisite sword rack.

On the sword rack, there was a long sword.

Just like any other longsword in the world, that sword had no unique design and no fancy decorations.

Like every sword, it is simple in its essence, and hardly anyone would be willing to give it a second glance.

However, a true master cultivator would be deeply attracted to this sword.

An aura of "Tao" that is almost tangible emanates from it.

If each of the Eight Extraordinary Skills contains a small part that involves the secrets of reaching the heavens and the possibility of attaining enlightenment.

Even if all eight extraordinary skills were combined, they still couldn't compare to the Dao contained within this longsword.

However, this longsword, which should have been shining brightly, now looks dull and gray.

Li Buren certainly wouldn't be so naive as to think that the sword had simply been left unused for too long and had gathered dust.

"A renowned sword conceals its true nature?"

Zhou Meng nodded.

"Do you remember the sword you asked me for when you went to Longhu Mountain?"

"That sword was actually made based on this model, and it is also a famous weapon of our Wudang."

"True Martial Sword".

Li Buren was startled by the name and subconsciously reached out to touch the famous weapon, which was dusty on the surface but contained a divine charm.

"Smack."

Zhou Meng reacted quickly, slapping Li Buren's outstretched hands.

"Don't touch it!"

"This Zhenwu Sword is the Zhenwu Dao Canon left by Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng. It has its own consciousness, and ordinary people will be injured by its sword intent and Daoist charm if they touch it."

"Only those who can truly gain recognition and acceptance can touch it."

"As for the person who can restore the True Martial Sword to its former glory, they are probably someone who truly has the potential to ascend to immortality, aren't they?"

Zhou Meng looked up, recalling how he had first tried to touch the Zhenwu Sword in a daze, just like Li Buren, only to have his palm cut by the sword's intent.

Li Buren's hand stopped just a finger's width away from the True Martial Sword before he withdrew it.

Seeing this, Zhou Meng looked away with relief and continued to introduce the product to Li Buren.

"Although this Zhenwu Sword is also part of the Zhenwu Daoist Canon left by the patriarch, the Zhenwu Daoist Canon is not just this one sword."

"But what other Taoist scriptures are there...?"

At this point, Zhou Meng suddenly stopped talking, as if he was keeping someone in suspense.

Li Buren was just getting to the crucial part of the story, and he couldn't stand Zhou Meng's abrupt interruption.

"Grand Tutor! Please don't cut this out!"

"Cough cough."

Zhou Meng coughed twice and looked at Li Buren somewhat embarrassed.

"I'm not omitting parts... Actually, I don't know what else in the complete Zhenwu Dao Canon exists..."

"The Zhenwu Daozang has been passed down for too long, and there was a lot of turmoil in recent years, so many things were lost in the process of being passed down."

As he spoke, Zhou Meng looked at the Zhenwu Sword again.

"But in fact, there has been no unusual activity in this place for more than three hundred years, let alone any secret of the True Martial Daoist ascension."

"For some reason, there have been some unusual movements recently, which is why we're looking for them."

Li scratched his head, unable to bear it any longer.

"So how do we determine who should inherit the True Martial Daoist Canon?"

Zhou Meng turned around, his back to the Zhenwu Sword, and looked at the sea of ​​clouds and forests with Li Buren.

"You little rascal, in such a hurry, huh?"

"You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already thinking about ascending to immortality? Are you really willing to abandon your master and your great-grandfather?"

"Hehe, no, no..."

Neither of them noticed that the longsword, which Li had almost touched, was now faintly glowing...