This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 244 The Sun Shines on the Cliff, the Heart Asks the Way

Before dawn, Du Jinxuan had already gotten up and gone to Xiong Xuguang's bedside.

"Junior brother, junior brother, wake up!"

Xiong Xuguang was already having trouble sleeping due to the excitement of the whole night, and he immediately opened his eyes when he heard the sound.

"Brother? What's wrong?"

Du Jinxuan smiled.

"Stop pretending. I could hear you tossing and turning all night, so I knew you were awake. Get up, there's something you can't miss. You might just hit the jackpot if you're lucky!"

Xiong Xuguang sat up in bed and looked at Du Jinxuan with curiosity.

"what's up?"

"Hey, didn't you see the precious bottle in Master's hand? It contains diluted Purple Cloud Spirit Dew, a treasure rarely seen even in the grotto-heavens. Let's hurry out before dawn. If we're lucky, we can collect the Purple Cloud Spirit Dew when it gets light. Then, whoever collects it will get half of it!"

"Huh? Can we go and collect this kind of treasure?"

"Oh, don't worry, I asked my master about this. He came here before and told me that as long as you have the ability to collect it, that's fine. But he didn't say much else. We've come all this way, how can we miss this opportunity? After we collect the Purple Cloud Dew, we'll go to the academy!"

"Moreover, even if you can't collect the Purple Cloud Spirit Dew, ordinary dew is still full of spiritual energy. Drinking a little bit of it is very nourishing. This is a celestial grotto, a place where true immortals live!"

Xiong Xuguang wouldn't hesitate any longer.

"Row!"

Before long, the two brothers sneaked out of the house. In order not to wake the sleeping old man, they tiptoed around, looking somewhat furtive.

Once outside the house, the two quickened their pace. Xiong Xuguang's physical condition had also improved considerably, allowing him to keep up with Du Jinxuan.

Hidden Immortal Valley seemed to be asleep before dawn, with the sounds of insects and frogs adding to the tranquility. However, Xiong Xuguang and Du Jinxuan were not the only ones who had already gone out.

The two had just rushed out of a narrow path when they suddenly saw three dark figures dart out in front of them. Their hearts skipped a beat as they crashed straight into the three people who were also walking in a hurry.

"Ouch!" "Ouch!"

"Who is it?" "Ah!"

Four of the five people were knocked to the ground, and a young child was left bewildered.

The four people who were sitting on the ground complaining seemed to suddenly realize something, and they all stood up and bowed in a very similar manner.

"I was in a hurry and couldn't see the path clearly, please don't be offended!"

"It's a mistake on my part!"

"I apologize for not seeing the path clearly on the side road."

"Uh"

The four apologized to each other, but as they talked, they suddenly felt something was off. They all looked up at each other, and in the dim light, they could vaguely make out that the other person was also wearing a Taoist robe. A little boy wearing a wide Taoist robe stood blankly to the side.

"You are not from the cave heaven?"

"Neither are you?"

Du Jinxuan and the other person each asked a question, and then the people who spoke were all stunned, and then almost in unison asked another question.

"Then who are you?"

After asking the question, both parties paused for a moment, then laughed, and the atmosphere immediately relaxed.

"My name is Du Jinxuan, and my Daoist name is Jingwen. This is my junior brother, Xiong Xuguang. We are from the Taiji Temple!"

"Oh, so you're fellow Daoists from Taiji Temple. We're from Tianqing Palace. My name is He Ruisi, and these two are my junior brothers."

After a misunderstanding and a brief exchange, they realized they were all there to try their luck in finding the Purple Dew, so without saying much more, the five of them set off together.

The people from Tianqing Palace clearly had some experience from previous groups, and they were also exchanging ideas with the people from Taiji Temple.

Before long, the five agile individuals had climbed the ring mountain, but instead of heading to other places with abundant vegetation where spiritual dew could be more easily gathered, they stopped at a spot on the ring mountain.

"It'll be dawn soon!"

He Ruisi from Tianqing Palace said this and looked in another direction around the mountain, where there were clearly still some people.

"Looks like we're not the only ones here!"

Du Jinxuan nodded.

"Since this is our first time visiting the grotto, we certainly cannot miss the sunrise at Hidden Immortal Valley!"

Xiong Xuguang was also waiting, and even pulled a camera out of his cloth bag, a sight that left the people at Tianqing Palace speechless. "Huh? How could you bring that thing in?"

"Master Zhuang gave his permission!"

"what?"

"Stop arguing! The guardian beast of the mountain is coming out of its cave; it's almost dawn!"

The noise suddenly subsided, and everyone's eyes turned to one direction. Without needing to search, when the rooster flew out, it seemed to be covered with a faint golden light, as if the sun had already shone upon it before it rose.

This is an extremely majestic and powerful rooster. Even though it is far away, it can still give people a special sense of oppression, and you can even feel a faint burning sensation when you see it.

Is this a mythical beast?
Xiong Xuguang compared the feeling he had when he saw the demon at the Demon Sealing Rock with the feeling he had when he saw the guardian beast at the mountain now. They were two extremes. Both had a sense of oppression in their auras, but there was a clear distinction between light and darkness.

The rooster flapped its wings and flew to the boulder that often crowed. It glanced casually into the valley and could see everything in it, including some unfamiliar people, but it wasn't surprised.

With its current intelligence, the rooster understands many things very well.

Before we knew it, a faint rosy glow began to appear on the horizon, while other places appeared even darker.

Suddenly, a slight movement of energy stirred in the east, and the rooster immediately looked eastward. Then, it gently shook its wings, and a chaotic yet lively halo seemed to rise from its body, its multicolored appearance making it resemble a dormant phoenix.
"Oh~ Oh oh oh oh—"

The rooster's crow resounded throughout the heavens and earth, and streaks of light rose from its body, as if a halo of light shot straight into the sky. This caused ripples to appear on the morning star and the waning moon above the Hidden Immortal Valley, as if tiny specks of starlight, invisible to the naked eye, were raining down their last vestiges.

The rooster's crow was loud but not jarring; it even had a refreshing effect, instantly dispelling the weariness of some people.

At the same moment, golden rays of light rose in the east, and then the sun's radiance began to truly shine on the earth. Streams of spiritual light, indistinguishable to the naked eye, also flowed through the grotto at this moment of dawn!
Many people stared with their mouths slightly agape, but Xiong Xuguang had already recorded the moment the rooster crowed.

"Sunlight shines on the Cliff of Inquiry!"

Someone in the distance said this, and many people, including those at Taiji Temple and Tianqing Palace, turned to the other side.

Xiong Xuguang had just finished recording a video and then took a few photos of the rooster over there. He then turned around to look in another direction, but what he saw made him feel as if he had been struck by lightning. He stood there stunned, his mind reeling.

The sunrise cast its golden light upon the Asking-the-Quest Cliff, bathing the entire cliff in a golden glow, while the inscription on it, "The Asking-the-Quest Formula," appeared as crimson as blood, as if each character were alive.
The Taoists who came to Hidden Immortal Valley were all people with good aptitude who were still single-mindedly devoted to the Tao in the Dharma-ending Age. Most of them had already awakened their spiritual power in their own Taoist temples and small blessed lands before they came here.

But Xiong Xuguang was clearly an exception. After all, he had not truly awakened his spiritual power, and seeing the "Inquiry Technique" at sunrise was like the moment of "hearing the Dao in the morning"!
The Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to all things. All things carry Yin and embrace Yang, and through the interaction of these two forces, harmony is achieved. Our Tao observes the changes in Heaven and Earth and all things, and thus understands the changes in the mind. Understanding the changes in the mind is understanding the changes in the Tao. When the mind moves, the spirit trembles; when the mind dies, the spirit lives, and thus the Tao is born.
Du Jinxuan and the others stared blankly at the Asking Cliff, and it took them a long time to recover from the shock.

"Just for this moment alone, coming here was worthwhile!"

"Fellow Daoist is right."

"Oh right, Purple Dew!"

"Hehe, let's see who has the best skills. Junior brother, shall we go? Junior brother?"

Du Jinxuan called out to Xiong Xuguang, but received no response. He turned around and saw the latter still standing there, staring blankly at the Asking Cliff.

"Junior brother! Junior brother? It's time to go, stop looking, Master."

Just as Du Jinxuan was about to reach out and grab Xiong Xuguang, He Ruisi quickly grabbed his wrist.

"No! Fellow Daoist, your junior brother is so fortunate and has such great comprehension! Those who can gain enlightenment at Guandao Cliff will surely achieve great things in their future cultivation. None of us are as good as him!"

He Ruisi's words made Du Jinxuan realize what was happening. He looked at Xiong Xuguang in disbelief. He knew all too well that while Xiong Xuguang was a good person with some talent, there was also an element of acting involved in taking him as a disciple.

"Junior brother, he actually..."

Then Du Jinxuan suddenly realized that his junior brother had caught the eye of the master, and the master was very happy to accept him. This already showed that it was fate. How could he be an ordinary person!

"Ah, I'm so envious."

He Ruisi couldn't help but say this, and the two people from Tianqing Palace next to him echoed it.

"But we have to go to the academy for a lesson later, what should we do?"

Du Jinxuan was too worried to think straight, but He Ruisi said cheerfully.

"If you can gain enlightenment by observing the Dao Cliff, the Immortal Master will only be pleased, how could he blame you? Rest assured, this..."

Before he could finish speaking, He Ruisi froze. The others followed his gaze and were also horrified to see that the guardian beast had somehow appeared beside them.

After a moment of stunned silence, everyone bowed respectfully, as their elders had instructed them to always be respectful to mythical beasts.

"Greetings, Mythical Beast!"

The rooster was very pleased with what everyone said, and its eyes showed a human-like look. It looked at Xiong Xuguang, then stretched out a wing and flapped it, signaling that the others could leave.

"Thank you, Mythical Beast!"

Du Jinxuan and the others weren't stupid, so they understood what it meant. They then left to search for the spiritual dew, but they couldn't help but look back over there frequently as they left.

A man stood there looking at the Cliff of Inquiry, while a large rooster stood guard.
(End of this chapter)