From a Zhengyi Taoist Child to a Master of All Laws

Chapter 49 Bai Yuchan

There was no seasoning like salt or soy sauce at the bottom of the cliff, so Chi Yanhong found a bunch of honey from somewhere and brushed it on the rabbit meat. The fresh and natural taste of sugar and the aroma of firewood permeated into the wild rabbit meat, making it unexpectedly delicious.

After filling his stomach, Li Yang found a mountain spring near the cave. The spring water was clear and sweet, flowing out from the mountain. It seemed that the Taoists who lived in seclusion in Mount Emei hundreds of years ago also lived such a quiet life.

After satisfying his appetite, Chi Yanhong dug a small hole, buried the rabbit bones and organs underground, stood up, and met Li Yang's curious eyes.

"When I was in high school, my class went to Tiantai Mountain for a study tour. During the trip, I accidentally got separated from the group and met a hermit Taoist woman in the mountains. She said I had a predestined relationship with her and accepted me as her disciple.

Li Yang and Chi Yanhong sat opposite each other in the cave, listening quietly to Chi Yanhong's explanation.

There was no moonlight in the cave, only the sword energy spinning overhead.

Chi Yanhong's eyes seemed to see everything clearly, especially the hint of coldness between his brows, which looked like an autumn chrysanthemum blooming proudly in the frost or a winter plum blossom reflecting the snow under the clear light.

"According to Master, our lineage has a long history. It is not part of the Quanzhen Sect. It is an ancient Qi-eating lineage that has existed since the pre-Qin period."

"But according to my research, strictly speaking, we are actually a branch of the ancient Qi-eating method. The founder of our lineage should be the Qiongshan Taoist of the Southern Song Dynasty, Bai Yuchan."

"Bai Yuchan? Isn't he one of the five ancestors of the Southern School? He seems to be a well-known inner alchemy theorist in history?"

Li Yang was stunned for a moment. Bai Yuchan was no small figure in Taoism. He was the founder of the Southern Golden Elixir School. How did he have a relationship with the Qi-eating lineage?

"Inner alchemy and talisman techniques did not appear out of thin air. They were a helpless reform made by the Taoist sect when spiritual energy was declining. But who was responsible for the reform? There were many efforts made by the ancestors of the Qi-eating sect."

Li Yang nodded, somewhat understanding. He remembered Yuqing Temple's method of nourishing blood, which was also a backup plan created to deal with the decline of spiritual energy.

"When Patriarch Bai Yuchan was young, he inherited part of the ancient Qi-eating lineage, but the inheritance was incomplete. In addition, due to some unexplainable factors, the two most important Yin-Yang Qi-eating methods in the inheritance were scattered outside. After that, Patriarch Bai Yuchan began to travel around the country, on the one hand seeking the way to perform the method, and on the other hand looking for the whereabouts of the two Qi-eating methods."

“I don’t know whether Patriarch Bai Yuchan found the two Qi-eating methods at that time, or whether he found them but could not cultivate them with the spiritual conditions at that time. It was only after receiving the teachings from Chen Nan, the fourth generation ancestor of the Southern School, that Patriarch Bai Yuchan turned to create an inner alchemy practice method centered on essence, qi, and spirit.”

“Perhaps because he couldn’t bear to see the inheritance of the food-eating technique cut off, Bai Yuchan later traveled to Mount Tiantai and left behind a lineage of the food-eating technique. Thousands of years later, it was passed down to my master, and it was already the 38th generation.”

Chi Yanhong spoke with a sigh, it was a blessing from heaven that this ancient lineage could be passed down to this day. For thousands of years, it was the norm for ancient lineages like theirs to wither and die silently like the sword immortal lineage at the bottom of the cliff.

Li Yang suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the ancestor Bai Yuchan was a street stalker in history. He had been to Guangdong and Guangxi, Ganzhou, southern Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, southern Hunan, northern Hunan, Sichuan, etc. His footprints were all over Luofu Mountain, Lushan Mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, Wuyi Mountain, Longhu Mountain, Tiantai Mountain and other famous mountains and rivers.

It seems that this ancestor is also unwilling to give up and wants to find a way out in the end of spiritual energy.

"As for the talismans on my body, they were also passed down by Grandmaster Bai Yuchan. Grandmaster traveled widely and made friends with many sects at that time. These were given to Grandmaster by the Dharma lineage at that time."

"No wonder you have so many miscellaneous talismans on you. You can even find the Tianpeng Sect's Xiao Wu Lei Zheng Talisman that has long been extinct..." Li Yang paused and asked, "But I have another question. How did you know that the spiritual energy has revived?"

This was also what surprised Li Yang the most. When he had just awakened the system's Golden Light Spell and was still confused, Chi Yanhong had already noticed the revival of spiritual energy and even reminded him to make preparations early.

Chi Yanhong's tone changed, his eyes revealing reminiscence: "After I graduated from graduate school, my master passed away, but she left me an ancient lotus seed and told me to pass it on, saying that when the ancient lotus sprouts, Taoism will reappear in the world." "At first I didn't believe in Taoism or anything like that. I just thought it was the old lady's obsession. I also asked a biological expert to check it. The ancient lotus seed had already been petrified without any vitality, so I placed it in my master's former residence. But when I went to pay homage to my master in May this year, the lotus seed suddenly changed..." Chi Yanhong said this, with some shock on his face.

"The petrified ancient lotus seed is right in front of me. Without any water or soil, it is suspended in mid-air and sprouts, then grows lotus leaves and rhizomes, and produces three lotus flowers."

"The lotus was distinctly blue and white, reflecting the color of the water in the room, and the fragrance was fragrant. I sat under the lotus for three days. When I woke up after three days, the lotus had withered. I also quit my job and began to travel around the famous mountains of Sichuan to look for the root method."

Li Yang was stunned for a moment, as if he had thought of something: "Are you sure it was in May this year?"

"May 3rd of this year." Chi Yanhong replied without hesitation.

Now Li Yang was confused. May 3rd was the day when he traveled to Baiyun Temple and replaced the original owner as a Taoist priest. According to Chi Yanhong, the time for the revival of spiritual energy also happened to begin on May 3rd.

The coincidence here is quite intriguing.

Li Yang suppressed his thoughts and continued to ask: "Daoyou, I have one last question."

"what?"

“Since you are not from the Quanzhen sect, why do you only eat vegetarian food in Baiyun Temple and make me eat vegetarian food for half a month as well?” This is what made Li Yang most indignant. Although the white porridge made by Chi Yanhong is delicious, you can't stand eating porridge every meal for half a month!

"There are two answers. It depends on which one you want to hear. One is that it is for self-cultivation. Practicing the food qi method requires the natural qi of heaven and earth. If the turbid qi of meat is too heavy, it will have an impact."

"What's the other reason?"

Chi Yanhong smiled mischievously, with beautiful wrinkles on his delicate nose: "There is another answer. Someone was so cruel that he charged me nearly 20,000 yuan for half a month's rent. I deliberately cooked porridge and pickles for him in revenge, and then went back to my room to secretly eat meat..."

"Which answer do you want to believe, my friend?"

Li Yang was very embarrassed and Chi Yanhong couldn't help laughing. It was a very rare thing to make Master Baiyun embarrassed.

Then Li Yang told Chi Yanhong about the things in Yuqing Temple. When he talked about Xue Ruyi and the method of nourishing blood, Chi Yanhong's eyes showed surprise. It was obvious that she had heard of these two things before.

The Tai Chi diagram on the stone platform in the cave was in the shape of a yin-yang fish. After the conversation, Li Yang and Chi Yanhong sat cross-legged on each side, breathing and regulating their breathing.

After all, the bottom of the cave is where the ancient swordsman lived in seclusion, and the concentration of spiritual energy there is not low, reaching 1.2. It's just that the moonlight is blocked by the clouds and can't shine through, so the speed of Li Yang's Liver Root Method is not very fast.

After one week of meditation, Li Yang was startled by a noise in the cave. Looking in the direction of the noise, he saw a golden toad hitting a mural in the dark, making a gurgling sound in its mouth.

Li Yang's heart moved, and he looked at the stone carving. It depicted a Taoist priest puffing out smoke in the clouds and glow of the sunset, and his face could not be seen clearly.

(End of this chapter)