Thief Emperor

Chapter 680 The deal is done, Zhenwu teaches personally!
Huang Chao had no experience in leading troops except when he was the county magistrate of Shucheng County. The fact that he was able to command 5,000 soldiers showed that he had a talent for leading troops.

Now, in just ten days, they have captured Tangzhou, successfully expanded their army, and even want to continue to advance into Yuzhou. This progress is certainly beyond Li Yun's expectations.

However, Li Yun had no previous intention or plan to attack Yuzhou. Even if he could do so now, Li Yun wanted to wait and see for a day or two to see whether the Huang Dynasty would obey his orders.

Anyway, the battlefield in the Central Plains is not a matter of one or two days. Instead, it requires stability at this time.

At least, he had to wait until Li Yun had finished dealing with the matters in Wudang before he could go back and make arrangements for Huang Chao.

Because of its 200 years of worship of Taoism, Taoism is now a very influential sect. Although Li Yun has a status at this time, he is still not orthodox. He needs to unite some forces that can be united and stand on his side.

Of course, if it was just about uniting the sect's forces, he wouldn't need to be there in person. He could just let the local officials do it. Li Yun came to Wudang this time to add some divinity to his own reputation.

In this way, at least in the territory he has already occupied, his position will become increasingly stable and gradually become the orthodox one.

Cui Shouyi, the head of Zixiao Palace, walked beside Li Yun, leading him up the Mingshen Road of Wudang Mountain. After walking for a while, this Taoist priest looked back at Li Yun and said with a smile: "I have been on this mountain for many years. In the past, when nobles came, they all rode in sedan chairs up the mountain. Only the king has walked with me for such a long time, and his face is not red and he is not out of breath."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I grew up in the mountains. Not to mention this kind of mountain path, even a wild path is as easy to walk on as flat ground. When it comes to mountain climbing, the Taoist priest may not be better than me."

Taoist Cui smiled and said, "I can see that Your Majesty's breathing is long and deep. A mountain path is nothing to Your Majesty."

He paused and said, "Before Your Majesty came to Junzhou, stories about Your Majesty were spread all over Junzhou."

Li Yun was not surprised, he just smiled calmly: "It is said that I am a bandit, right?"

Cui Shouyi lowered his head slightly and did not respond.

Li Yun smiled and asked, "Master, do you think I look like a bandit?"

Master Cui shook his head honestly and said, "Not at all."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Master, if you think I am not a bandit, then I am not a bandit. As for whether I am a bandit or not, the history books will have their own opinions in the future."

Cui Shouyi nodded silently and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, your name is destined to go down in history now."

Li put his hands behind his back and laughed: "It's possible that he will be infamous forever."

The two men walked up the mountain and soon arrived at the mountain gate. Another sect leader, along with a group of Wudang disciples, came forward to pay their respects. Li Yun just looked at them and said with a smile.

"Let's go up the mountain. I want to pay homage to the Great Emperor Zhenwu."

A group of Wudang disciples followed Li Yun up the mountain, while Li Yun chatted with the two masters.

Li Yun was not quite sure what the Wudang Mountain in the other world looked like, but the Wudang Mountain in this world did not have a sect with gang attributes.

This is the Taoist temple of Zhenwu Emperor, and it is also Zhenwu Emperor who is worshipped here. Each of the nine palaces on the mountain has a leader. However, there are indeed some old Taoist priests of higher seniority who practice in the mountain. Now, the leaders of the nine palaces are mostly their disciples or even their grandchildren.

Some old Taoist priests, who are over a hundred years old, are still very brisk and really like living gods.

It was still spring, and the flowers and plants on the mountain were in full bloom. Li Yun followed a few Taoists, climbing the mountain, enjoying the scenery and chatting about some things in Wudang Taoism. It took more than an hour to reach the Taihe Palace on Tianzhu Peak.

In front of the Taihe Palace, a group of Wudang Taoist priests had already lined up at the door. After seeing Li Yun, they all stepped forward, bowed their heads and saluted, saying, "Greetings, King Wu!"

An old Taoist priest with mostly white hair and a lean appearance also bowed to Li Yun along with the others. Cui Shouyi hurried forward and introduced him to Li Yun: "My lord, this is my mentor, and the most senior Taoist master in Wudang today, Ziyang Zhenren."

Li Yun stepped forward, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Boy Li Yun, meet the old Taoist priest."

Although this Ziyang Taoist is over 90 years old, he is vigorous and looks quite healthy. He looked at Li Yun, returned the greeting and said with a smile: "Your Majesty and I are from the same family. I am also surnamed Li, and my common name is Bo Duan."

Li Yun said with a smile: "When I went up the mountain just now, I heard Master Cui talking about the real person. The real person is more than sixty years older than me. Maybe he is an elder from the same clan as me."

The Ziyang Immortal smiled and did not respond. Instead, he stepped aside and said, "I am just an old Taoist priest in Wudang who is about to die. I am not worthy of the title of Immortal. Since Your Majesty has arrived in Wudang, please follow me to pay respect to the Patriarch Zhenwu."

Li Yun smiled and nodded, followed the old Taoist priest into the main hall, lit three incense sticks on the golden body of Emperor Zhenwu, and worshiped. Then, accompanied by Meng Qing and Su Zhan, he followed the True Man Zi Yang to the backyard of Taihe Palace.

Under a quiet pavilion in the backyard, the old Taoist priest sat across the table from Li Yun. He looked up at Li Yun and smiled softly, "Your Majesty has practiced the inner family's method, and has already returned from the acquired to the innate. Your cultivation is quite good."

This world does not have those extraordinary powers that can go high and low, at least not in Li Yun's cognition. But kung fu does exist. Martial arts masters like Pei Zhuang have already cultivated internal strength. If they don't hold back, they can really kill people with just a punch or a palm.

As for what this Zi Yang Zhenren said about returning to the innate from the acquired, it was not that mysterious. It probably meant that Li Yun's breathing method had been practiced by him to the point where it became natural and there was no need to deliberately control it.

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and said with a smile: "When I was young, I lived in the mountains. I vaguely remember that an old Taoist priest passed by and taught me some methods, which I still benefit from today."

Upon hearing this, Master Zi Yang lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then looked up at Cui Shouyi. Master Cui shook his head slightly and said, "Teacher, this is not the Wudang method."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I think it could be the Wudang method."

The old Taoist thought for a while, then shook his head slightly at Li Yun and said, "Looking at the king's spirit and aura, if we talk about self-cultivation, there may be someone on Mount Wudang who can beat the king, but if we really fight, I'm afraid there are only a few who can beat the king."

"Your Majesty, you have cultivated for more than ten or twenty years and have achieved this kind of achievement. This is definitely not the Wudang Dharma. There is no such profound Dharma on Mount Wudang, nor is there a Dharma that specializes in attacking and killing."

“This is definitely not the Wudang way.”

Li Yun stopped the teacup in his hand and the smile on his face faded. When he was about to speak, the old Taoist priest changed the subject and said seriously: "This is the magic refining method of Zhenwu Patriarch."

"It is the magical power passed down to the king by the Zhenwu Patriarch!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was stunned.

Cui Shouyi and other Wudang disciples were all stunned and stood there, dumbfounded.

Even Li Yun was stunned. It took him a while to react. After drinking the tea in the cup, he laughed dumbly: "I don't know how many novels and strange stories will be written about this Taoist saying, and how many supernatural stories will be published in the future."

Zi Yang Zhenren also lowered his head to drink tea. He looked up at Li Yun, then lowered his head slightly and said, "My lord, Wudang is the lineage of the Zhenwu Patriarch. The Patriarch must be willing to protect us, his disciples and grandchildren."

"Besides, who can prove that the one who originally taught the Dharma to the king was not the Zhenwu Patriarch?"

Of course, this kind of statement cannot be falsified. After all, even Li Yun himself has a very vague memory of this period.

But no matter what, the deal between him and Wudang, or with the Zhenwu Patriarch, has been concluded, and both parties have achieved their goals.

Li Yun needs to expand his influence and cover himself with a mysterious, divine veil.

And Wudang... needs to survive, needs to continue its Taoist tradition, needs... to continue to prosper.

With this statement, if Li Yun achieves great success in the future, then the founding emperor Taizu can also be said to be a disciple of Wudang. The only difference is that this disciple has a higher "generation" and is the direct disciple of the Zhenwu Patriarch.

When the time comes, Wudang will definitely publicize this matter vigorously.

On the contrary, if Li Yun failed in his career, this statement would not be spread on a large scale, and when other "courts" asked about it in the future, the Wudang Taoists could easily say that they were forced by Li Yun.

Anyway, there's no harm in this.

Li Yun looked at the old Taoist priest and said with a smile: "Master is right. No one can explain this kind of thing clearly."

He said calmly, "Then I will accept it with a bold face."

As he spoke, Li Yun smiled and said, "I am very interested in Taoism, and I also want to learn from the Taoist breathing method and the magic refining method of the Zhenwu Patriarch."

"These few days, I will be staying in Wudang Mountain."

"I will go down the mountain again in seven days."

After staying there for seven days, this statement was actually confirmed. Li Yun was tied to the Wudang Taoist sect on the political level.

True Man Zi Yang stood up and bowed deeply.

"Wudang...I couldn't ask for more."

(End of this chapter)