I'm already a Great Luo Golden Immortal, how come you're only Martial Saints?

The old Taoist priest, who had been resting against a withered tree by the roadside, suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing Tang Hao's question, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

The old Taoist priest pondered for a moment and then slowly replied.

"Can divine thoughts interfere with reality, altering all things with a single thought?"

The old Taoist priest's voice suddenly rose, filled with surprise and uncertainty.

"Little child, do you know what you're saying? If it's truly as you say, this is no ordinary protective aura; it's a great divine power of the Nascent Soul realm! Divine thoughts transform the illusory into the real, interfering with the laws of matter! Wherever the mind goes, heaven and earth follow! This is the beginning of a terrestrial immortal!"

He stared intently at Tang Hao, his face contorted with excitement.

"Nascent Soul Realm? How old is your companion? How long has he been cultivating? Did he receive the empowerment and inheritance of an ancient great being? Or does he possess an innate Dao body?"

Tang Hao was stunned by the old Taoist's sudden excitement and the words "land immortal," leaving him somewhat speechless.

He swallowed hard, hesitating slightly.

"Brother Ning is the same age as us, and his cultivation time is..."

Tang Hao thought about it carefully.

"We are fellow cultivators at the same level of the Divine Realm, which means that, at most, he has been cultivating for a year and a half!"

"A year and a half?"

The old Taoist priest seemed to have heard the most absurd joke in the world; the excitement on his face froze instantly, then turned into deep contempt and disdain.

The old Taoist priest chuckled and shook his head repeatedly, his white beard swaying incessantly.

"Ha! Hahaha! You foolish child, spouting nonsense, utterly ignorant of your own limitations!"

"A year and a half? To be able to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, draw it into one's body, and step into the threshold of Qi Refining—that's no easy feat!"

"Those with exceptional talent who can draw qi into their bodies and sense spiritual energy within a year are already considered exceptionally gifted! It takes three to five years to hone their foundation before they can hope to establish their foundation! Once they successfully establish their foundation, their lifespan will increase exponentially, and their magical power will begin to take shape, only then can they truly embark on the path of cultivation! After that, the golden elixir will be formed in the dantian, and the nascent soul will undergo tribulations. Every step is a critical juncture between life and death, often taking decades or even centuries!"

The old Taoist priest's voice was resolute and carried an unquestionable authority:

"Nascent Soul?! That's a realm where one can make initial contact with the laws of heaven and earth, and whose divine sense is capable of interfering with reality! Reaching that level of cultivation makes one a giant capable of founding a sect! You're saying your companion, in a mere year and a half, went from an ordinary mortal to a Nascent Soul? Absolutely absurd! Utterly ridiculous!"

He stroked his beard, his eyes regaining their cloudiness and composure, as if he had seen through the clumsy lie.

"Unless he is the reincarnation of a powerful spirit who perished in the ancient primordial era, retaining his innate wisdom and possessing the Dao fruit within him! Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible! Even if he is the illegitimate son of the Dao Ancestor, he wouldn't be able to even touch the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage in a year and a half!"

The old Taoist priest stopped paying attention, closed his eyes, and his tone returned to its previous calmness, even with a hint of certainty.

"Enough, enough, young man. Don't listen to such nonsense. When we get to Luoyang and meet your companion, everything will be clear. I want to see for myself which deity this peerless genius who has reached the Nascent Soul stage in just a year and a half has descended to earth!"

.......

The horses' hooves pounded the dust on the official road, and Ning Chen and Sun Rongrong's figures appeared exceptionally small in the setting sun.

The harrowing experience at Tongguan has been left behind, but the 300-mile journey to Luoyang presents an even more brutal picture of hell on earth.

The Yellow Turbans were like locusts, and white bones littered the road. As soon as he left Tongguan Pass, Ning Chen deeply understood the meaning of his ancestor's words.

Taoist arts can save a hundred lives, but they cannot alleviate the heavy burden of calamity upon the world.

Along the official road, corpses of the starving lay strewn about, and bones lay exposed in the open fields.

The once prosperous Guanzhong Plain is now a barren wasteland, with its parched and cracked land devoid of any sign of life.

Everywhere you look, there are groups of refugees with their families, their eyes vacant and numb.

The defeated Yellow Turban soldiers, in groups of three or five, were like vicious dogs and wolves, ready to rush towards the crowd that still seemed to have some food left, to snatch the last bit of rations.

Ning Chen had seen broken pots set up by the roadside more than once, filled with nauseatingly murky broth, with jagged white bones churning inside.

Sun Rongrong couldn't help but vomit her lunch as soon as she smelled the odor from afar.

No human tragedy could be greater than this.

Sun Rongrong was pale and followed closely behind Ning Chen. If it weren't for the invisible aura emanating from Ning Chen, which made the bandits instinctively feel fear, they would have been in awe.

Her figure alone is enough to attract countless admirers.

When riding her horse at full gallop, Sun Rongrong's outstanding talent always attracted all sorts of malicious glances. Fortunately, Ning Chen was there to protect her; otherwise, Sun Rongrong, a weak woman, would have died before she could have gone fifty miles.

The two strong horses they seized from the Yellow Turban rebels were initially able to gallop at full speed.

However, due to continuous travel, the dilapidated roads, and the scarcity of water and grass along the way, the two strong horses began to foam at the mouth and collapsed after running for more than a hundred miles.

Fortunately, after arming the monkey troop on Flower Fruit Mountain, there was still a considerable amount of gold bricks left over from the gold bricks that Teacher Luo gave Ning Chen.

With this gold, Ning Chen changed horses repeatedly at several post stations or wealthy households along the way where order still remained, maintaining his speed on the road to Luoyang.

The journey was arduous, and the small group of Divine Realm Travelers became Sun Rongrong's only solace.

During her breaks, she often shared what she and Ning Chen had seen and experienced on their trip with everyone.

"We've arrived at Sanmenxia! It's magnificent! Ning and I both peed in the Yellow River. Ning said it's called being one with heaven and earth, bringing blessings to the East China Sea. I feel like my body and mind have been elevated!"

"Today I saw a group of Yellow Turban rebels crying by the roadside, saying something about the Great Wise Army being defeated... Does this mean the war is over?"

Zhou Tao, who was in the imperial court, replied.

"No, the situation is worse. After Zhang Jiao's commotion, the Han imperial family is no longer able to maintain the country. Warlords are vying for control of the Central Plains, and the empire is on the verge of collapse... Everyone should make plans as soon as possible."

Everyone in the group teased her.

"Rongrong, why don't you take advantage of this opportunity, being alone with a man, to show off your 36E and win over Brother Ning in one fell swoop?"

Every time she came to this spot, Sun Rongrong would secretly glance at Ning Chen, only to see that Ning Chen's eyes were clear and devoid of any romantic feelings, clearly indicating that his mind was not on this matter.

She could only sigh inwardly.

Three days passed in this way.

Tang Hao: "Brothers, the old Taoist priest and I have arrived in Luoyang! Wu Dajin's scallion pancakes were absolutely delicious! The Taoist priest praised us highly when he saw us and accepted us all as guests!"

Qian Quan: "Haha, Brother Ning, I've officially embarked on the path of cultivation! I only went through a simple apprenticeship ceremony, and Master Zhang already passed on the Nine Revolutions Elixir Rejuvenation Method to us! He said it's the fundamental cultivation method that leads directly to the celestial immortal path!"

He then started showing off in the group chat.

"Our sect is called the Zhengyi Sect. Our Nine-Turn Elixir Rejuvenation Technique is unfathomably profound. This technique consists of nine turns: the first turn is Foundation Building, the second turn is Obtaining the Medicine, the third turn is Forming the Elixir, the fourth turn is Refining Oneself, the fifth turn is Rejuvenating the Elixir, the sixth turn is Nourishing, the seventh turn is Shedding the Body, the eighth turn is Obtaining the Mysterious Pearl, and the ninth turn is Reaching the Jade Pool!"

"After arriving at the Jade Pool, one sheds their mortal body and cultivates an immortal body. The first three sections refine essence into qi, resulting in a human immortal body; the middle three sections refine qi into spirit, resulting in an earth immortal body; and the last three sections refine spirit into emptiness, resulting in a celestial immortal body! Upon careful contemplation, it is truly profound! Wonderful, indeed wonderful!"

Ning Chen frowned slightly as he read the message Qian Quan posted in the group chat.

Is it only after the Nine Revolutions that one begins to refine essence into qi?

How come my Purple Cloud Profound True Enlightenment Technique went straight to refining essence into qi in the first level?

And what kind of nonsense is this, the human immortal body, the earth immortal body?

Is this sect really any good?

Zhou Tao chimed in, "The Taoist priest also said that our Zhengyi sect, tracing its origins, is actually the Taoist tradition and foundation left to the human world by Laozi, one of the Three Pure Ones, and that it all originates from the Tao Te Ching!"

Wu Dajin: "Yes, yes, yes! The Taoist priest also said that Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, which was left to the world, is profound and there are very few people in the world who can truly understand it! There is a rubbing of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching on the stone wall inside the Zhengyi Sect, but unfortunately it is too old to be identified."

Upon seeing this, Ning Chen couldn't help but widen his eyes, a look of astonishment on his face.

what?

Isn't the Tao Te Ching the fundamental method of self-cultivation?

To be honest, he relied on the Tao Te Ching to establish his foundation before switching to the Zixiao Xuanzhen Wuyuan Gong.

Why does the Zhengyi sect need to seek enlightenment from the Tao Te Ching again?

Wouldn't it be better to build a foundation directly using the Tao Te Ching?

Tang Hao: "Yes, the Taoist priest also told us that their sect's founder had the good fortune to see the original Tao Te Ching, but unfortunately, he lacked the comprehension and only managed to understand a few words from it, which laid the foundation for the Zhengyi sect."

"He encouraged us to diligently practice the Nine-Turn Elixir Method, saying that if one day we were to see a copy of the Tao Te Ching and comprehend even a fraction of its meaning, we might be able to glimpse the true, supreme Tao, far surpassing what we are currently learning!"