This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 245 A Rare Moment of Madness

Enlightenment through seeing the cliff is an extremely rare state, and Xiong Xuguang is clearly a very special being in this state.

On a spiritual level, Xiong Xuguang had long accepted that he was a cultivator of the Fengling Sect in his previous life, and he had relived those "memories of past lives" in his dreams and trances many days and nights. In essence, he seemed to have had the enlightenment of cultivation a long time ago.

The story of the dream may contain fictional elements, but Zhuang Lin and others have only constructed a plot; they will not deceive people about the knowledge of immortality.

Therefore, to some extent, the "memory" that Xiong Xuguang felt and his current rational understanding of himself had already merged, and at this moment of enlightenment on the Dao-seeking Cliff, everything reappeared in his mind.
This is no longer just a memory constructed by the plot; it's like a moment of enlightenment that allowed Xiong Xuguang to truly experience "his former self," and even more so, to construct his understanding of the Dao of Immortality in a way that suits his present self.
Time flows on, youth fades in an instant, and all things in heaven and earth, like flowers blooming and withering in a cycle, repeating endlessly—this cyclical principle is the way of heaven.
Two days had passed since Xiong Xuguang woke up from his state of enlightenment. Instead of feeling hungry or thirsty, he felt refreshed.

Looking around, there seemed to be no one, and the rooster was not beside him. He took a deep breath and felt refreshed. He didn't even need to calm his mind to sense the spiritual energy; it was as if he could "see" the activity of the spiritual energy with his naked eye.

"Senior Brother?" "Fellow Daoist He, Fellow Daoist Zhao?"

Xiong Xuguang called out to his surroundings a few times, but no one responded. Then he slapped his forehead.

Oh no! They must have seen I wasn't feeling well and went to the academy by themselves. I'm going to be late!

Xiong Xuguang thought he was still on the first day. The sun was already quite high in the sky. He didn't care about looking for any spiritual dew and hurriedly ran down into the valley.

A series of hurried footsteps continued until they reached the front of the school hall, and Zhuang Lin's lecturing voice inside stopped.

There were about thirty or forty people in the classroom at this moment, and they all followed Zhuang Lin's gaze to look outside the classroom. Xiong Xuguang appeared there with his head slightly shrunken, looking extremely embarrassed.

Oh no, I'm late on the first day! I've embarrassed my master and grandmaster, I've embarrassed the Bureau of Investigation, and I've embarrassed the country!
Zhuang Lin smiled and nodded at the person outside the door; this person had indeed brought some surprises.

"Come in, two people per table, just find an empty seat!"

Hearing no reproach made Xiong Xuguang breathe a slight sigh of relief. He then quickly entered the classroom and walked towards his senior brother, who was winking at him, and sat down next to him.

Compared to Xiong Xuguang's anxiety, Du Jinxuan was extremely excited.

"Good lad, you've really brought honor to our Taiji Temple this time. The entire Hidden Immortal Valley knows that a Taoist with extraordinary talent has arrived, and even the Master himself has inquired about you."

Xiong Xuguang's expression was slightly strange. At first, he thought his senior brother was being sarcastic, but the more he talked, the more confusing it became.

"quiet!"

Zhuang Lin gave a stern warning, and all the sounds below fell silent. He held a book in his hand, glanced at Xiong Xuguang, and the two brothers immediately sat up straight.

"Since some people are new here, and we haven't covered much yet, we'll start by revisiting the fundamental elements of the Five Elements."
-
Although there is still no news about Xiong Xuguang's journey to the Immortal Cave Heaven, the friendly talks he had with the Confucian Immortal at Taiji Temple yielded much more than just a few results.

Since that day, several cultivation sites, including Taiji Temple, that had planted wood spiritual roots and developed minor spiritual veins, began to have closer exchanges with the Bureau of Extraordinary Investigations, no longer ignoring them with indifference.

It can be said that the work of the Bureau of Extraordinary Investigations has truly entered the right track, and there are even more things to do.

In the village at the foot of Yunliu Mountain in Jingzhou, several houses near the foot of the mountain have long since changed owners. Some members of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics who are familiar with Taiji Temple are basically stationed here. At this moment, this group of people are also busy.

Zheng Xing, who is temporarily replacing Xiong Xuguang, is having a video conference with relevant personnel at headquarters.

"The Tai Chi Temple's apprenticeship plan has been finalized, but the Taoist priests have declined our offer to help them with their image!"

"Then let's not overdo it. The Taoist priests of Tianqing Palace and Yuanyou Temple are the same. It's better to be pure. If ordinary people come less, so be it. We can find people to fill the gaps!"

The person on the other end of the video said "yes," and Zheng Xing quickly gave an explanation.

"The Taoist priests should have no objection to this, but we must be careful in selecting the people!"

"Do not worry!"

Zheng Xing couldn't help but add a word of advice.

"Don't send too many soldiers in; they'll be too conspicuous. The Taoist priests may be good-natured, but they're not stupid."

Zheng Xing was a key member of the Bureau of Extraordinary Investigations, and he knew the bureau's style all too well. Sure enough, after he finished speaking, the person on the other end of the video was silent for a few seconds before nodding.

"Okay, let's make some adjustments."

"That's good. By the way, the Taoist priests generally had no objections to the construction plan of Taiji Temple, but they felt it was too extravagant, and I also felt it was inappropriate."

"How to say?"

The person on the other end of the video call was very meticulous and methodical. Zheng Xing smiled; he could tell at a glance that the person came from the military.

“We’re not building a tourist attraction. The key is whether it’s suitable for cultivation. We don’t need to expand the scale too much. As Master Xu said, the wood spirit root of the Taiji Temple’s blessed land is still growing, and the coverage of the formation isn’t that wide. You can’t have only half of the Taiji Temple covered by spiritual energy, can you?”

"Okay, I understand. I'll have someone revise the design."

"No need, no need, just remove a few of the more outrageous buildings, we can't delay any longer!"

"Okay, I'll arrange for materials and personnel to go to Liuyun Mountain within 48 hours!"

The people over there were still meticulous. Zheng Xing smiled and nodded, but then suddenly asked a question out of curiosity.

"May I ask what it feels like to come into contact with spiritual energy?"

"I thought you were a robot!"

Zheng Xing made a joke, then thought for a moment and answered seriously.

"It's hard for an ordinary person like me to describe, and the feeling isn't very obvious, but being there gives me a strange sense of comfort, as if every breath is more pleasant than anywhere else." After much persuasion, Zheng Xing's communication with the relevant personnel at headquarters came to an end, but the related work immediately began.
-
In a house in a residential garden in Qiantang City, Lin Chunming's parents were making phone calls to share the good news with relatives and friends.

Although Lin Chunming had already received an offer from Kyoto University, most schools in the Great Yan Kingdom, even those that admit students through special admission programs, would issue their acceptance letters around the same time as other students.

However, Lin Chunming still chose to take the college entrance examination, which put pressure on the Lin family and the school, as they felt that there might be unforeseen changes.

As it turns out, Lin Chunming maintained a stable mindset and even performed exceptionally well in this year's college entrance examination. Today, the admission notice finally arrived, and Lin's family breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared to his parents' jubilation, Lin Chunming himself remained calm, playing games in his room while chatting with others via voice chat.

The person I was chatting with was a rather special individual; although they were three years apart in age, they had once been classmates.

The person across from me just finished the high school entrance exam and achieved excellent results, and was admitted to a top high school.

Although most people went their separate ways after leaving Hidden Immortal Valley, the second party could make certain reasonable requests, including choosing a new place to live. Naturally, some people took advantage of a reasonable loophole to maintain some contact after leaving the valley.

The person playing games with Xiong Xuguang on the other end of the internet was a former classmate.

Compared to ordinary families, the two, who came from well-off families, had their own personal computers at a young age. Because of their excellent grades, their parents did not interfere with their use of computers.

"Brother Lin, I heard you got officially admitted to Kyoto University. That's great! I didn't expect you to do so well on the exam!"

"What, you found out too?"

"My aunt just called my mom, and her voice could be heard from the living room. I guess my mom will be nagging about this a lot in a while. Sigh, I've been living in your shadow all this time, you damn 'other people's child'!"

"Hahahaha. Well then, you'd better work hard in three years!"

Lin Chunming smiled, his hands never stopping, but as he spoke, he suddenly asked a question.

"Xiao Lan, this summer vacation should be a rare opportunity for us to relax, right?"

"of course!"

"Is there anywhere you particularly want to go?"

On the other end of the voice call was a junior high school graduate wearing headphones and with the curtains drawn. Hearing this, he sat up straight.

"What's up, Brother Lin? Do you have somewhere you'd like to go?"

Lin Chunming also fell silent, and their game characters stopped in place at that moment.

"Would you like to go back to Hidden Immortal Valley? When we left, Master and the others stayed there."

There was a response from the other end of the voice call several seconds later.

"That's how it was back then, but that's because the plan's end date was brought forward. They said they'd only stay a few more years, so by now the place should be deserted."

"But what if there are still people around?"

"There's no 'what if,' Brother Lin. The Liu family's economic forestry projects have already been stopped."

"Don't you want to go back and see? Even if everyone is gone, the place is still there, maybe our home is still there!"

"Brother Lin, why do you suddenly want to go back?"

Lin Chunming stared at the computer screen, slightly lost in thought. The screen displayed a martial arts-themed online game. The graphics weren't particularly refined, but they were very well done, trying to recreate some ancient Chinese style.

"Never mind, I just suddenly missed everyone, and I really missed the old Hidden Immortal Valley. But those days are long gone, and it's a protected area now."

"That's right, we can't even get into the protected area. Maybe we'll run into Master and the others again someday."

Wu Bolan himself wasn't very confident in saying this. Over the years, he had been able to contact a few former villagers, and they should be able to contact some other people as well, but he had never heard of any family being able to contact the Master.

Even in the minds of students like Lin Chunming and Wu Bolan, someone like the Master was someone who would naturally never leave the academy.
A week later, Lin Chunming and Wu Bolan got off a diesel tricycle carrying passengers. They were on the edge of a remote county town. Looking ahead from where they got off, there was a lush forest beyond the road.

One graduated from high school and the other from junior high school, but because they developed well, even Wu Bolan was almost as tall as an adult and was quite robust.

"Brother Lin, we're doing something stupid. My parents will kill me if they find out."

“We used to go into the mountains often when we were in the valley! And since we’re already here, don’t worry, we’re in good health. I even brought a satellite phone and antivenom!”

"You're making me even more scared."

Although one is about to enter high school and the other is about to go to university, they are still somewhat naive at this moment and came here on impulse. But now that they are actually standing here, they are a little scared.

"Didn't you call me in the middle of the night saying you wanted to go too? Now you're going to change your mind?"

"Let's go, let's go! Whoever goes back on their word, I won't!"

The two, carrying backpacks, walked directly out of the highway and onto a dirt road, vaguely remembering that this was the same road they had taken before.

It's hard to imagine that these two well-behaved and excellent students, in the eyes of their parents, teachers, and classmates, would go so crazy.

(End of this chapter)