Calabash Fairy

"Those who have an affinity with Taoism..."

Fang Yan nodded slightly.

After all, he obtained the Pure Yang Sword Blade and half of the Pure Yang Sword Scripture from the Taoist patriarch Lü Chunyang back then, so it is indeed true that he was destined to be a Taoist.

He also had a vague intuition that the person who had given him the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams diagram and had been kind enough to impart the Dao to him must be related to the Daoist sect...

After speaking, Wen Yu took out a jade pendant engraved with the words "Chang Qing" from his bosom and placed it on the table, sighing:

"However, I never expected that you, fellow Daoist, would cultivate alone in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, establish a Daoist temple, and protect all the people here. Now I'm afraid I can't invite you to return to the immortal mountain with me to cultivate."

"Now that we've arrived at the Ten Thousand Mountains, Feng Ling and I plan to explore for a while before leaving."

"This jade token can connect the two of us and is also a token of Changqing Palace. Please accept it, fellow Daoist. If you have the opportunity to visit Changqing Palace in the future, you only need to show this token."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yan nodded with a smile and accepted the evergreen jade tablet from the stone table.

"In that case, thank you very much, Senior Wen Yu."

He could sense that both this person and the Kitchen God beside him were kind to him, especially this person's certain qualities, which made him quite fond of him as well.

Although the Kitchen God is a celestial deity with countless worshippers, when talking to the two of them, he was like a kind old neighbor. Wen Yu also revealed that he always liked to make good connections.

In the human world, wherever there is a stove, there is incense burning for this deity. It is said that food is the most important thing for people, and this deity is one of the most familiar gods to the world.

Of course, there are probably very few things in this world that the Kitchen God doesn't know...

"I knew Zhang Zhengyan before he died, and I even gave him some pointers."

"He was too upright and serious, and could not bear to see the people suffer. His reputation was too great, and he was feared by others. When he petitioned for the people, he angered the then incompetent emperor and was summoned back to the capital. In the end, he was boiled alive."

"After his death, every family mourned, and in later generations, the people spontaneously built temples to worship him, which is how he became the City God."

The Kitchen God shook his head slightly as he spoke.

"That's just the kind of person he is. Even after being thrown into that cauldron, he never regretted it. His only worry was for the people back then..."

Fang Yan had actually heard about this story when he traveled to the ancient ferry city, but most of it had been altered. The story that was circulating outside was quite different from what he had heard from the Kitchen God.

Fang Yan looked at the Kitchen God, and only now did he have a very deep impression of this deity for the first time.

This person was actually somewhat different from what he had initially imagined. He wasn't the aloof, celestial Kitchen God enjoying offerings from the mortal realm. Perhaps this person was actually closer to the human world than these earthly deities...

Not far away, Feng Ling sat cross-legged on the ground, eating spirit honey while scrutinizing the four little demons in front of her with her blue eyes.

"By following that person in your cultivation, you are actually closer to the spirit beasts in our celestial palace than to demons, and it will be easier for you to improve your bloodline in the future."

As Feng Ling spoke, she also examined the pill bottle in her hand.

Feeding their spirit beasts with the finest elixirs like candy—even within the Evergreen Palace, not many people would do that...

With these elixirs, how slow can their cultivation speed be? Their bloodline improvement speed will far exceed that of other demon races.

"Sigh...this small place is really incomprehensible..."

Feng Ling sighed and put the jade bottle down, then looked at Xuan Shui and said:

"Speaking of which, aren't the Xuan Turtle clan supposed to live on the coast of the South China Sea? Why are they here?"

Xuan Shui thought to himself, "Shouldn't it be asking me that question?"

This small Qingfeng Mountain, how come today, not only has the Kitchen God appeared, but even the Changqing Palace from the Eastern Region has shown up here...?

It had been quite frightened just now...

Even if his master was unaware of Changqing Palace, how could he, a member of the Xuan Turtle Clan, not know what kind of existence this leader of the Eastern Region Immortal Sect was?

According to legend, the Palace Master of Changqing Palace once went to the Heavenly Court and listened to the Dao Ancestor preach!

However, Xuan Shui did not hide anything and told the whole story of how his ancestor had divined for him and explained that there was an opportunity for him here.

"I see..."

Feng Ling nodded thoughtfully.

Nowadays, only Changqing Palace in the world can receive the Dao Ancestor's decree. Even if you include Master, Wen Yu, and him, there are only a handful of people who know that this person is one of the Dao Ancestor's decrees who is destined to be with the Daoist sect.

The Xuan Turtle clan was clearly unaware of the Dao Ancestor's decree, but it must be said that the old Xuan Turtle, who had lived for countless years, had quite remarkable foresight...

"Hey~ I've got nothing better to do, and I see that the three of you mostly rely on instinct to refine the essence of the sun and moon and the power of elixirs. How about I teach you a method to increase your cultivation speed?"

Upon hearing this, the three little demons, including Dahuang, nodded repeatedly with sparkling eyes.

Elsewhere, their cultivation speed is already quite fast, but following their master, it's still too slow...

If they could improve their cultivation faster and be able to help their master sooner, they would be very happy!

................................

In Xiahe Village, Yang Sheng, who had been busy all day, was walking slowly home. As usual, he took out incense sticks from the incense box and came to the mountain god statue enshrined in the main hall, but he couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

The mountain god statue in front of him was faintly shimmering with golden light.

"Has the Mountain God returned?"

Yang Sheng's eyes lit up, and he quickly lit the three incense sticks in his hand and placed them in the incense burner. He bowed respectfully, and the voice of the Mountain God reached his ears.

"Yang Sheng, you have done well. We have guests visiting Qingfeng Mountain. Just wait quietly in the village for my summons."

"Yes, Lord Mountain God."

Upon hearing this, Yang Sheng bowed again, feeling a sense of peace he had never felt before...

..........................

The next morning, the Kitchen God and Wen Yufeng stood together in front of the Mountain God Temple to say goodbye and leave.

"Young friend Fang, you can study that incense incarnation method carefully. You will definitely need it in the future. If you ever need to find me in the future, just go to the stove and call me."

"Fang Yan understands, thank you for transmitting the Dharma, Senior Kitchen God."

Fang Yan bowed to the Kitchen God to say goodbye. At this moment, there was a noticeable decrease in formality and a greater sense of intimacy between them, indicating that the Kitchen God had also come to appreciate Fang Yan to some extent.

After the Kitchen God's figure disappeared, Wen Yu and Feng Ling, who were not far away, stepped forward and chuckled:

"Fellow Daoist Fang Yan, Feng Ling and I have discussed it. We may be traveling in the Hundred Thousand Mountains for several years. We may visit you occasionally in the future. Please don't find it troublesome."

Fang Yan smiled and said:

"If Senior Wen Yu would be so kind as to come and visit, I would certainly welcome him with all my heart."

Don't let Wen Yu's unassuming appearance fool you; the Kitchen God said yesterday that he's already traveled a very long distance on a certain main road...

Soon, as Wen Yu and Feng Ling bid farewell and left, Fang Yan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Too many things happened during this trip that were beyond his expectations, but thankfully he can now get some rest....