I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Dongsheng Shenzhou, Bagua Mountain, the main altar of the Xuanjiao sect.

Two female disciples peeked over the wall towards the main hall, where they saw a group of heavily armored generals standing guard, keeping the Xuanjiao Golden Immortals outside.

The disciple on the left asked curiously, "Who is it? Even the esteemed high-ranking officials are being kept outside and unable to approach?"

The disciple on the right said, "I don't know either, but judging from his demeanor, he must be an important person."

Just then, a male disciple passed by outside the courtyard wall. Two other disciples saw him and quickly jumped down, asking, "Senior Brother Fu, Senior Brother Fu, who came in?"

Senior Brother Fu glanced at the two of them and said, "Why aren't you two practicing your skills? What are you doing here watching the show?"

The two disciples stuck out their tongues and then asked, "Senior Brother Fu, tell us who's inside? We'll go practice our skills once we know."

Seeing their curious expressions, Senior Brother Fu smiled and said, "It is Huo Ling, the Jade Palace Minister of the Eastern Peak Heavenly Qi Divine Palace."

"Ah?!" the two disciples exclaimed in surprise, "So it's Minister Huo Ling!"

They were naturally surprised, as the Fire Spirit True Immortal had achieved remarkable results in governing the Eastern Continent during his years in power in the Eastern Peak.

In recent years, the Eastern Continent has been peaceful and prosperous. Not only is the human world at peace and all living beings safe and sound, but even demons and monsters behave in a disciplined and courteous manner.

In particular, the Fire Spirit Immortal pioneered the implementation of the "Great Dao Decree," giving many beings who wanted to cultivate the Dao but lacked the natural talent and fortune an opportunity to seek and cultivate.

The content of this Guangdao Decree is very simple: it stipulates that each mountain prefecture shall regularly collect a "mountain gate tax" every year, and the amount of the mountain gate tax shall be based on the number of disciples in the prefecture.

The more disciples a temple has, the lower the tax rate; the fewer disciples a temple has, the higher the tax rate. If a temple does not accept any new disciples within a year, an additional 10% temple gate tax will be levied.

However, if the mountain temple accepts new disciples within a year, then a portion of the taxes payable can be offset.

Once this decree was issued, various mountain temples and monasteries naturally had to recruit more disciples in order to avoid bearing the high entrance tax.

But there are many people in the world who aspire to seek immortality and enlightenment, but how many disciples are so talented and blessed?
Therefore, these mountain temples and Taoist monasteries naturally had to lower their standards. Since there weren't that many disciples with natural talent and good fortune, they would accept those who aspired to seek immortality and ask questions.

Therefore, every year, the various immortal sects and dojos in Dongsheng Shenzhou would go down the mountain to accept new disciples, which also gave many people with poor talent and fortune the opportunity to cultivate immortality and seek the Dao.

Leaving aside the others, just look at these two female disciples. They are blessed with natural talent and good fortune, which is why they were accepted into the Xuan Sect.

After all, given the strength of the Xuan Sect, they could afford the annual mountain gate tax, so their standards for accepting disciples remained very strict.

However, many of the two female disciples' friends, lacking natural talent and good fortune, were taken in by other immortal temples because of the "Guangdao Order," thus entering the path of cultivation.

In this way, the Fire Spirit True Immortal has extremely high prestige among the beings of Dongsheng Divine Continent, and the 'Guangdao Decree' is just one of the many decrees she has implemented in Dongsheng Divine Continent.

Of course, there is another point that proves the prestige of the Fire Spirit Immortal in the Eastern Continent: she has the most temples in the Eastern Continent of all gods and Buddhas.

After Senior Brother Fu left, the two female disciples climbed up the wall to watch. They saw that True Immortal Huo Ling walked out of the main hall accompanied by the Sect Leader Tongtian Daojun. After bowing to Tongtian Daojun to say goodbye, he boarded the Seven-Colored Linghua Carriage under the protection of a group of divine generals.

Then the seven-colored Linghua palanquin pierced the sky, flew out of Bagua Mountain, and drew a seven-colored rainbow cloud in the sky.

The two female disciples watched the departing carriage of the Fire Spirit Immortal and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement: "Truly peerless in beauty. I have seen many goddesses and immortals, but none of them are like the Fire Spirit Minister."

After the Fire Spirit Immortal left, the Heavenly Dao Lord turned and entered the main hall, followed by a group of Xuanjiao Golden Immortals.

Upon entering the main hall, the Holy Mother of Fire Spirit couldn't help but ask, "Dao Lord, why did Minister Fire Spirit come here just now?"

Tongtian Daojun laughed and said, "We've come for the mountain gate tax. This year, our Xuan Sect will pay 100,000 purple coins as a mountain gate tax to the Eastern Peak Divine Palace."

"So many?!" The Golden Immortals exclaimed in surprise.

Huanglong Zhenren said, "Daojun, isn't this too much? Do you perhaps agree to it?"

Tongtian Daojun said, "Of course I agree. What if I disagree? Do you want to fight Dongyue again?"

“It’s not impossible,” said Dao Xing Zhenren. “Our Xuan Sect is much stronger now than it was back then. We might be able to defeat Dongyue in another battle. If we win, we won’t have to pay the 100,000 yuan mountain gate tax.”

Tongtian Daojun countered with, "And what happens after the great victory?"

Dao Xing Zhenren fell silent for a moment, and Tongtian Daojun continued, "After the great victory comes the encirclement and suppression by the Da Siming Mansion."

No sooner had Tongtian Daojun finished speaking than a clear voice rang out from outside the hall: "What? Is someone here plotting a rebellion?"

Everyone in the hall turned around abruptly and saw a tall and imposing figure walk in from outside. He had clear and bright eyes, wore a blue robe, had his hair tied up with a hairpin, and wore a white jade hibiscus crown. Every move he made exuded a remarkable and distinguished air.

Tongtian Daojun suddenly stood up from the futon, hurriedly walked down the steps of the hall, cupped his hands and replied, "The presence of Lingtai Zhenjun is an honor to my humble Bagua Mountain."

After saying this, he invited Zhuang Yan to take a seat. Tongtian Daojun raised his hand and pointed, and two auspicious clouds immediately appeared above the hall.

Tongtian Daojun and Zhuang Yan each landed on a cloud of auspicious clouds and sat down. Zhuang Yan then smiled and said, "Just now I heard someone say that they want to fight against the Eastern Peak Divine Palace, intending to resist taxes with armed force. I wonder who has this idea?"

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Dao Xing Zhenren, who quickly laughed and said, "Hahaha, Lingtai Zhenjun, this is just a joke, just a joke."

"Oh, it was just a joke." Zhuang Yan nodded and said with a smile, "That's good. I thought you were having some kind of trouble."

Dao Xing Zhenren smiled and then bowed and stepped aside without saying another word.

At this moment, the boy served the spiritual tea, and Tongtian Daojun picked up the teacup and said, "True Lord, please have some tea."

Zhuang Yan also picked up his teacup and took a sip. Then Tongtian Daojun asked, "True Lord, did you come from Buzhou Mountain?" "Indeed," Zhuang Yan nodded and said.

Tongtian Daojun then asked, "True Lord, you have come from afar. What is your purpose?"

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "There's no imperial decree. I'm here to help you resist taxes."

“Uh…” Tongtian Daojun was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, “True Lord, you flatter me. My Xuan Sect can actually afford the annual mountain gate tax of 100,000 purple coins.”

Zhuang Yan laughed and said, "What? Fellow Daoist doesn't want to save these hundreds of thousands of purple coins?"

Tongtian Daojun's eyes flashed, and he immediately cupped his hands and said, "Governing a sect is like managing a household. If we can save some money, this humble Daoist is naturally willing to do so. May I ask the True Lord for guidance?"

Zhuang Yan said, "Fellow Daoist, may I borrow a few magic treasures?" With that, Zhuang Yan handed a talisman to Tongtian Daojun, "Then, with this talisman, you can be exempted from taxes for ten years."

Tongtian Daojun laughed and asked, "Which magical treasures would you like to borrow, True Lord?"

Zhuang Yan held up three fingers and said, "I know you have many magical treasures, but I will only lend you three this time. Please rest assured, I will return them."

Tongtian Daojun naturally had no doubt about Zhuang Yan's character, so after a moment's thought, he took out the three magic treasures, the Pangu Banner, the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda, and the Eight Treasures Glazed Bottle, and handed them to Zhuang Yan.

"True Lord, what do you think of these three magical treasures?" Tongtian Daojun asked with a smile.

Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "Okay, these three will do."

After saying that, Zhuang Yan raised his hand and waved it, putting all three magic treasures into his sleeve. Then he handed the talisman to Tongtian Daojun.

Then Zhuang Yan stood up and said, "Thank you for lending me the treasures, fellow Daoist. As long as the talisman is handed over to True Immortal Huo Ling, the Xuan Sect will be exempt from the mountain gate tax for ten years. As for these three magic treasures, we will return them to you within one year."

Tongtian Daojun also stood up and said, "If True Lord is of use, then use him without hesitation. There is no need to rush to return him."

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "It's a one-year term. I will definitely return by then. Farewell."

Tongtian Daojun quickly cupped his hands and said, "True Lord, please wait."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhuang Yan's figure vanished from the main hall without leaving a trace.

After Zhuang Yan left, Qingxu Daode Zhenjun said to Tongtian Daojun, "Daojun, it is probably not appropriate to lend those three treasures to Lingtai Zhenjun like this."

Tongtian Daojun laughed and said, "There is nothing wrong with it. If Lingtai Zhenjun wanted to keep my magic treasure, he would not have returned my Qingping Sword back then."

The Holy Mother of the Tortoise Spirit asked, "If an enemy attacks me during the period of borrowing the treasures, how will I defend myself without these three precious treasures?"

Tongtian Daojun said, "Without three supreme treasures, you have no way to defend against enemies? Then my Xuan Sect will find it difficult to gain a foothold in this Yama world sooner or later."

After saying that, Tongtian Daojun waved his hand and said, "You don't need to worry. Go back and teach your disciples well."

Upon hearing this, all the Golden Immortals bowed and said, "Yes, we will obey the Sect Leader's decree."

After obtaining the three acquired treasures from the Tongtian Daojun, Zhuang Yan traveled all the way to a place called Jinping Town in Shewei Kingdom of Xiniu Hezhou.

Zhuang Yan, dressed in a blue robe and looking like a scholar, arrived at the gate of the Zhao Mansion in Jinping Town.

At this time, the area in front of the Zhao residence was very lively, crowded with people who wanted to go in and watch.

This is because Zhao Changchun, the master of the Zhao family, is going to hold an appraisal conference in his mansion and has invited treasure owners from all sides to attend.

If Zhao Yuanwai takes a liking to a treasure at the treasure appraisal event, Zhao Changchun will offer a high price to buy it.

The reason Zhao Changchun held this event was because a monk had recently come to Zhao Changchun's house to preach the scriptures, and Zhao Changchun had given him three dou and three sheng of loose gold.

After the monks finished preaching the scriptures, they left. As they departed, auspicious light appeared, and Zhao Changchun realized that those monks were enlightened monks from Mount Ling.

Therefore, this treasure appraisal conference was held because the holy monks had transmitted the scriptures, in order to collect treasures to offer to the Buddhist scriptures and to show the sincerity of the heart towards the Buddha.

Zhuang Yan squeezed through a crowd of onlookers and arrived at the gate of the Zhao residence. He asked the steward at the gate, "I heard that Master Zhao is holding an appraisal event. When will this appraisal event begin?"

The steward glanced at Zhuang Yan, noticing his distinguished appearance and elegant attire, and then bowed, saying, "It will be held tonight at Shenshi (3-5 PM) in the Pilu Xiang Courtyard of the mansion."

Zhuang Yan then asked, "Have the four treasure lords all arrived?"

The steward added, "They've all arrived and are seated in the mansion for tea. Once the time is right, after the vegetarian feast, they will proceed to the Pilu Xiangyuan to display their treasures."

“Alright.” Zhuang Yan nodded and said, “I also have a treasure on me that I’m about to offer to Elder Zhao for his appraisal. Please let me in.”

The steward said, "Since you've come here to have your treasures appraised, please take out the treasures you carry for us to see."

"What?" Zhuang Yan laughed, "Do you think I would lie to you? Since it's a treasure, how can I take it out in public? If someone has bad intentions, wouldn't that cause trouble for your master?"

Upon hearing this, the butler looked at Zhuang Yan more closely. Based on his years of experience in judging people, he realized that this young man was no ordinary person and might actually possess some valuable treasure.

The steward nodded and said, "In that case, please come in, sir. Someone, lead this gentleman to the main hall for tea."

"Yes." A servant stepped forward, bowed to Zhuang Yan, and said, "Sir, please follow me."

Zhuang Yan nodded, then stepped into the Zhao residence and followed the servant to the main hall. (End of Chapter)