Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 91 Ancient and Modern Taoism, Qianxiu Dharma Assembly
As one of the top sects in the world, Huoyun Mansion has no more than fifty disciples, including old servants, handymen, cooks and dogs.

When Lu Cheng, his predecessor, was in the mountains, he didn't think that cultivating the inner energy was that amazing. He just thought that he would be able to cultivate the inner energy and even make a golden elixir in the future.

But after Lu Cheng took a tour of the world below the mountain, he knew deeply that, let alone cultivating the power of Gangqi, even cultivators at the Ningsha level could already establish their own sects. Foundation-building cultivators with more powerful means could dominate an area, become immortals and ancestors in the area within a hundred miles, and live a happier and more carefree life than the emperor.

There are six Liangang monks who can crush foundation-building monks with a flip of their hands and live in a Taoist temple on Kunlong Peak.

What is a top sect? This is the top sect.

A mountain is famous not because of its height, but because of the immortals living there; a river is magical not because of its depth, but because of the dragons living there. If it weren't for the True Man Chi Shen Zi sitting here and keeping them all imprisoned, these six people entering the Tongxuan Realm would be like a dragon entering the sea, and each of them could stir up a storm in the area.

Of the first batch of twelve disciples, six were practicing Refining Gang, two were practicing Condensing Sha, two died and two went down the mountain.

Of the second batch of twelve disciples, two went down the mountain to enjoy wealth and glory, one went into seclusion, one just returned to the mountain, and the remaining eight all achieved foundation building.

Finally, there are Guan Linxiang, Xia Xixiao, Xu Hanxiang and Xu Xinyu. They are the four disciples that Master Chi Shen Zi has clearly stated he will accept as the last four disciples. If nothing unexpected happens, these twenty-eight people will be all the second-generation disciples of Huoyun Mansion.

Because Jindan Zhenren has a long lifespan, the time intervals between the inclusion of these second-generation disciples are relatively large. For example, Sixth Senior Brother Yi Bin is already over a hundred years old, and the only reason he looks young is because he has been practicing Taoism since he was young and his appearance has remained young. Among Lu Cheng's disciples, the youngest one, like Lu Cheng himself, is forty-six years old, while the older ones are in their sixties or seventies.

The four sisters, Guan, Xia, and Xu, are only in their twenties. Among them, Guan Linxiang and Xu Hanxiang have already achieved the foundation-building stage.

According to records in ancient books, both of them should have natural spiritual roots, with open meridians in their bodies. They had been taking medicinal baths since childhood and began to cultivate at the age of seven or eight. They were probably less than twenty years old when they attempted to build their foundation or even succeeded in building their foundation.

The cultivator with only one spiritual root is a little worse. Under the same cultivation conditions, they can accumulate magic power of the ninth level of Qi training by the age of about 25.

The cultivation efficiency of a cultivator with two spiritual roots is half as slow as that of a cultivator with one spiritual root, and it takes more than twenty years to accumulate mana. The cultivation efficiency of a cultivator with mixed/three spiritual roots is three times slower, and it takes more than thirty years to accumulate mana. The cultivation efficiency of a cultivator with pseudo/four spiritual roots is four times slower, and it takes more than forty years to accumulate mana. This is still the case when they concentrate on cultivation, have not encountered external disasters, are not short of cultivation resources, and their mana is pure and has not encountered bottlenecks.

But it is almost impossible, so it is difficult for cultivators with poor physique to achieve foundation building.

This world has entered an era of great destruction, with the innate qi residing within it, enabling all living things to practice Taoism, and many talented practitioners have emerged. However, this situation will not last forever. After hundreds or thousands of years, the innate qi will gradually dissipate, and the situation where a sect is filled with disciples with extraordinary talents will gradually disappear.

“Teacher Chi Shenzi should be like me, having read ancient books such as the Heavenly Book Notes, and only then would he recruit many disciples to enrich the heritage of Huoyun Mansion. This way, with only a very small investment now, the Huoyun Mansion’s lineage can last for thousands of years.”

"Even if we split up in the future, our fates will still be scattered and circulated."

Nearly a year after Lu Cheng returned to Huoyun Mansion, the Huoyun Dharma Assembly, or Qianxiu Dharma Assembly, was held at Qianxiu Peak, the spiritual vein of Huoyun Mountain.

The sun is warm and peach blossoms are in full bloom all over the mountains.

Clear springs flow, and many mysterious guests gather together.

On the top of Qianxiu Peak, the monks discussed profound theories, debated classics, traded spiritual objects, and practiced swordsmanship.

Life on Kunlong Peak is quite austere, but the cultivators who are concentrating their energy on concentration and refining their energy have some freedom and can set up residences outside. They are also used to having strong mentalities.

But for the disciples at the Qi training and foundation building stages, every Qianxiu Dharma Assembly is like a festival and cannot be missed, especially because of practical needs:
The cultivation of disciples at the Qi training and foundation building stages is all supplied with resources by the sect. The spirit stones are enough to open the spirit gathering formation, but there will be nothing left after spending them all year round. The disciples of the dignified Huoyun Mansion are even poorer than the independent practitioners. By participating in this kind of ceremony, they can earn spirit stones, magic tools and even various skills.

Many things that seem fatal to some small and medium-sized families and second- and third-rate sects are just a piece of cake in the eyes of the disciples of Huoyun Mansion.

On the top of Qianxiu Peak, there is a pavilion used to delegate tasks.

The atmosphere here is obviously different from the transactions and conversations outside in the sunshine.
Inside the pavilion, monks from the Fire Cloud Mansion would negotiate with the client, and then write down the task on a list on the side based on the number of spirit stones and magic tools provided by the client.

The text does not need to be concise, it only needs to briefly describe the task content.

The cultivators in Huoyun Mansion here are not true disciples, but disciples, Taoist children, and servants of those senior brothers Liangang.

In the pool at the top of Qianxiu Peak, there is a blue cold dragon playing in the water. It has ice-blue scales and looks agile and graceful, but there is a demonic aura in its body that has reached the realm of refining Gang.

This is the spirit beast that Third Senior Brother Xuan Ce uses to guard the cave. It was sent out today to guard the Dharma Assembly. If any cultivators engage in private fights, they will be directly fed to the Frost Dragon. This kind of thing has happened before. There have even been cases where it was impossible to determine who was right and who was wrong, and both sides of the fight were fed to the Frost Dragon. Therefore, everyone in the Dharma Assembly was in harmony.

Even if you want to die, being fed to spirit beasts is too miserable.

"Brother Lu, look at that mission!"

Lu Cheng, Guan Linxiang, Xia Xixiao, and the Xu sisters arrived at the Dharma Assembly Pavilion early.

I saw that the tasks at the top were all negotiation tasks:

Miaoyu Grotto owns a spiritual gold vein, and therefore has come into conflict with the monks of Beichen Sword Sect. They hope that a disciple from the upper sect will come forward to reclaim the vein, or at least put aside the dispute and jointly develop it.

Reward: Four hundred thousand spirit stones.

Special note: You can use the Kunxiu of this sect to pay off your debts.

This is typical shamelessness. Miaoyu Cave is close to an evil sect, while the disciples of Huoyun Mansion are often picked from thousands of miles away and are highly valued by their master. If they are really entangled by Kun Xiu from Miaoyu Cave, not only will they lose points in the eyes of their master, but it is hard to say who will gain the upper hand and who will suffer the loss.

However, there are indeed brothers in our sect who took women from Miaoyu Cave as concubines. The facts about the relationship between men and women are really hard to explain.

The son of the head of Changyang Cave accidentally killed the grandson of the old demon withered bones in Wuliang Earth Fire Demon Cave. He hoped that a disciple from the upper sect would come forward to resolve the hatred and save You Yunqi's life.

Reward: Three hundred thousand spirit stones and a fourth-grade, top-grade magical weapon, the Yang Fire Banner.

These commissions often cost three or four hundred thousand spirit stones, and they may not even require any action on their part. Guan Linxiang, Xia Xixiao, Xu Hanxiang, and Xu Xinyu were so dazzled that they were almost drooling.

Lu Cheng watched from the side for a while, and seeing that the four of them had not yet recovered from their shock, he laughed and scolded:
"Don't look at it anymore. This kind of mission that seems to require no hands-on work actually requires the most strength. If you dare to go to the old demon with dry bones to resolve the revenge for killing Sun, the old demon with dry bones will extract your bones and refine your souls. Even the eldest brother will not have time to save you."

"At least you have to be able to escape unscathed from the presence of Taoist Ku Gu, only then you are qualified to take on this mission."

Lu Cheng did not mention his master. On the one hand, it was out of respect for his elder, and on the other hand, Jindan Zhenren realm cultivators rarely take action unless it is a big deal, because they have to concentrate on dealing with the forty-nine tribulations. Because in the two steps of Condensing the Evil Spirit and Refining the Gang, they plundered the true energy of heaven and earth and returned it to their own bodies, so they cultivated an incomparable powerful Taoist foundation, but they also sinned against the heaven and had to go through the forty-nine tribulations.

The ancient cultivators, from Xiantian to Qi training, foundation building, Purple Mansion to Golden Elixir, did not need to go through forty-nine tribulations because they opened up the Purple Mansion and accumulated magic power bit by bit. However, the difficulty of accumulating magic power for hundreds of years was also extremely difficult.

Most of them never reach the peak of their cultivation skills before their lifespans run out.

The Taoism that is being taught today is courageous and diligent. If one cannot overcome the calamity, one will naturally be reduced to ashes. After hundreds of years of hard practice, one will return to heaven and earth. However, once one has overcome the calamity, it is said that one can directly achieve immortality.

One has a superficial foundation in Taoism and shallow magical powers, but has no heavenly tribulations, so he can enjoy a long life. The other has a profound foundation in Taoism and ten times more powerful magical powers, but has forty-nine heavenly tribulations, and no one knows which one is the true way to longevity.

However, the younger generation of cultivators in this world do not have to worry about choosing, because the pure Earthly Evil and Nine Heavenly True Energy in this world are becoming increasingly scarce as cultivators continue to collect them. It seems that after the heaven and earth are completed, the younger generation of cultivators will have to follow the old path of the ancient cultivators and accumulate their own magic power bit by bit.

After a Jindan Zhenren passes through forty-nine tribulations, he is usually extremely weak. Therefore, even most of the disciples of Huoyun Mansion do not know how many tribulations the Red God Son has passed through.

Lu Cheng privately guessed that it was three or four times, because Han Zhi, the Shao Yin of Nanling Prefecture, was a descendant of his master's relative four hundred years ago. Under the forty-nine tribulations, a Jindan Zhenren would only have a lifespan of about five hundred years. It was not that their lifespan had ended, but that it was a heavenly punishment. Few Zhenren cultivators could escape the five hundred-year limit, unless they possessed a secret method to conceal the secrets of heaven.

"According to this calculation, Master's cultivation is truly unfathomable. No wonder Huoyun Mansion only has one Jindan Zhenren, but it can sit firmly among the eight orthodox religions in the Central Plains."

Lu Cheng strolled around the ceremony, thinking about random things in his mind. He also took out spirit stones and bought some spiritual objects and instruments that he liked.

As for the commissioned tasks, the four little guys will choose them. If they don’t like them, they can just return them.

Lu Cheng was not short of spiritual stones and magic tools. He still had some of the Heavenly Book relics from the past. He was well-off and naturally did not need to rush to do things. The reason he came out this time was that he had been practicing day after day and was a little tired, so he came out to change his mood.

In a trance of drunkenness and dreaming all day long, it is hard to find a day of leisure in this life. This is true for ordinary people in the world, and it is also true for those who practice Taoism.

There were artists performing in front and there were quite a lot of onlookers, so Lu Cheng walked over.

The performers are a man and a woman, apparently a couple, and there is also a pair of magical white cranes.

The husband was playing the piano in the middle of the scene, and his wife was dancing around him. The pair of white cranes were surrounding them and also performing a graceful crane dance.

There are flowing springs in the clear pool, dancing cranes in the clouds and mist, melodious music from the piano and graceful dance moves.

After the song, Lu Cheng followed the crowd and put down a spirit stone. Some young men and women went to touch the white crane, but Lu Cheng had no need for it, so he turned and left.

"Senior Brother, Senior Brother Lu!"

At this moment, Xu Xinyu's voice came from behind.

Lu Cheng turned around and saw a girl with fair skin and pretty face in Taoist robes running towards him.

Unless a cultivator has this psychological need or has special skills, there are no ugly girls. After repeated changes in muscles and marrow and improving their physique, their skin will naturally be clean and fair. Even if they do not deliberately change their appearance, a fair complexion can cover up all ugliness.

"Have you found a suitable commission?"

"Well, so they asked me to come over. Please go back and take a look."

“You should call Guan Linxiang, Xia Xixiao to run, and let you, a little girl, run over here.”

"Are they senior brothers?"

Returning to the pavilion where the commissioned tasks were issued, everyone here had something on their mind and naturally looked unhappy, which was completely different from the expressions of the monks who participated in the Qianxiu Dharma Assembly in other places.

"Brother Lu, what do you think of this mission?"

Hearing this, Lu Cheng looked intently at the wooden fence:
The Huang family of Zixia Mountain, the town where the family lives, has recently had some mortals mysteriously disappearing. Initially, it was thought to be the work of low-level monsters. Later, the Huang family's eldest daughter disappeared, so they requested the upper sect to send an investigation and rescue the Huang family's eldest daughter.

Reward: One hundred thousand spirit stones.

Special note: Huang Qingyan, the contemporary ancestor of the Huang family, has reached the fifth level of foundation building, while Huang Huiqian, the abducted daughter of the Huang family, has reached the tenth level of Qi training.

In the town where the Chen family of Zixia Mountain is located, some mortals have mysteriously disappeared recently. It is suspected to be the work of an evil foundation-building cultivator. Are there any disciples of the upper sect willing to go and investigate?
Reward: 20,000 Spiritual Stones.

"Brother, I have already asked in detail. This incident has been going on for half a year since the beginning. It will take half a year to attack mortals. The evil cultivator who is hiding is at most at the foundation building stage. With two tasks costing 120,000 spirit stones, he can take it."

Guan Linxiang came to Lu Cheng and whispered that his analysis did make sense.

Small forces attached to the top sects are usually relatively wealthy but weak in strength, which will attract some evil cultivators to take risks. Then small families like the Huang family and the Chen family will come to Huoyun Mansion to hire cultivators from the top sects to preserve their safety, but because of this they will continue to weaken and find it difficult to develop.

"They are all forces from Zixia Mountain, why don't they act together?"

"These two families live in the same place and therefore have some personal grudges against each other. The Chen family's goal is to find the hidden evil cultivator, while the Huang family's goal is to rescue Huang Huiqian as soon as possible."

"Well, in that case, then take on this task."

Seeing that Guan Linxiang answered questions fluently, Lu Cheng knew that he had already done thorough investigations beforehand. Since there was no hidden danger, he decided to take on the matter.

Both the Huang family and the Chen family had managers here. Lu Cheng brought his fellow disciples to communicate with them, confirmed the content of the mission, and then left Huoyun Spirit Vein and Qianxiu Mountain and headed for Zixia Mountain together.

The rules of Huoyun Mansion are loose. Qi-cultivating disciples only need to report to their foundation-building brothers when they go down the mountain. Foundation-building practitioners can go down the mountain freely for half a year, but those who go down the mountain for more than half a year must inform other brothers.

However, because the sect's ancestor Chi Shenzi advocates hard work, most of the disciples will not leave the mountain for a long time, except for those senior brothers and sisters who have entered the Refining Gang stage and can already set up their own homes. Chi Shenzi is loose in management, but if you fail to cultivate the Earth Sword Foundation, you will really be driven down the mountain.

The Fire Cloud Cave, the ancient sword immortal's lineage, and the path to immortality are right before your eyes. Who would be willing to give up so easily?

After completing the foundation-building process, as the realm of magical power increases, one will revere the master more and more, and will need less strict discipline.

The matter of Zixia Mountain could probably be resolved within half a year, but before leaving the mountain, Lu Cheng still sent a communication talisman to his sixth senior brother Yi Bin to explain the matter, so that there would be no mistake.

"Ahhhh!"

“Hahahahaha, so fast!”

Lu Cheng was good friends with Tang Shi, and was given a flying magic weapon, the Cloud Flag. This magic weapon was not enough for attack and defense in sword fights, but it was useful for long-distance flying to save mana, and it could also carry many fellow disciples with lower cultivation levels.

Guan Linxiang, Xia Xixiao, Xu Hanxiang, and Xu Xinyu are all in their early twenties and still have the mentality of children.

Especially Xu Xinyu, after she climbed onto Lucheng's Calling Cloud Flag, she screamed and made a noise in the sky. When she was young, her hometown suffered a flood, and the Red God predicted her fate. He sent his disciples to search for her in the river, and after finding her, he bought her and her sister with ten taels of silver and sent them to the mountains to practice Taoism since she was young.

Xu Hanxiang was fine, as she already had some memory by then and still remembered her parents in her hometown. As for Xu Xinyu, she had been practicing Taoism and reciting Taoist scriptures since she could remember. This was the first time in her life that she had left the Huoyun Mountains, so how could she not be excited?

Xu Hanxiang also knew this, so she first cast an apologetic look at Senior Brother Lu Cheng. After a while, when her sister had had enough fun, she stepped forward and said to her:

"Okay, be quiet for a moment. How can you behave in front of all the brothers?"

"whee."

Xu Xinyu was still blushing. She threw herself into her sister's arms and stole a glance at her senior brothers who were unable to hold back their laughter. Her little face became even redder.

"It doesn't matter. Practicing Taoism is not just about practicing hard in the mountains. You need to temper your mind and accumulate merits to reduce the calamity. You don't need to look at it. You are lacking in both of these aspects."

"Brother!"

Xu Xinyu cried out in dissatisfaction, and the sound of people laughing came from the Huanyun Banner.

But actually Lu Cheng was not joking: for those who practice Taoism, opportunity comes first, intelligence comes second, and bones last. Especially in this era, even if one has a good bones and makes rapid progress in practice, it will be of no use if one is at a loss when encountering a disaster and is at a loss as to how to deal with it.

Lu Cheng had profound magical powers and the Cloud Summoning Flag was of good quality. One day and one night later, the five of them arrived at Zixia Mountain.

"Where to go first, the Chen family or the Huang family?"

Lu Cheng did not make the decision, but asked for other people's opinions. He knew in his heart that his primary task on this trip was to protect these junior brothers and sisters. Otherwise, let alone earning 120,000 spirit stones, even if he earned 1.2 million spirit stones, he would lose points if he killed the demon with condensed evil spirits and returned without protecting his junior brothers and sisters. On the contrary, it would not matter if the mission failed.

Lu Cheng himself has no shortage of spiritual stones and money. The reason why he participated in the Qianxiu Dharma Assembly and accepted the commissioned tasks was mostly to improve the impression points of the ancestor Chi Shenzi.

Among the twenty-eight disciples of Huoyun Mansion, most of them were obtained by Chi Shen Zi through deducing the secrets of heaven and seeking luck, which could enhance the fortune and luck of the sect.

(End of this chapter)