Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 80 Holding the reins of law, inspecting students

Zhang Daoyun poured all the blood talisman he had gathered, carrying with it the resentment and poison of a hundred ghosts, and hurled it at Qi Yun's brow.

At that very moment, Qi Yun's Qi Sea opened, the jade slip of the talisman hung above his head, and the black laws and edicts of the Northern Yin Fengdu manifested.

The blood talisman collided with the ethereal, dark seal image formed from imperial edict runes and adorned with a ghostly head.

"Crack!"

"..."

Qi Yun was stunned for a moment, and a feeling of utter absurdity and ridiculousness welled up in his heart.

"That old devil... he'd been gathering his strength for ages, thinking he'd struck gold, but..."

He could almost picture the stunned and desperate look frozen on Zhang Daoyun's withered, ghostly face.

However, he had no time to think about it at that moment.

The Qihai acupoint is like a burst dam, from which pure Qi surges forth, cleansing the limbs and bones, purifying the meridians and acupoints, bringing a transformative and refreshing feeling.

Just as the true qi circulates throughout the body in a complete cycle, returns to the dantian, and begins to be nurtured and refined on its own.

"boom!"

Deep within his heart, the Crimson Hunting Flame, now several times stronger and more concentrated, suddenly stirred!
It seemed to be attracted by the vast true qi in the dantian, transforming into a blazing torrent that instantly broke free from the heart and rushed straight to the lower dantian!

The Crimson Hunting Flame entered the Dantian Qi Sea and surged dramatically!

The raging flames turned the entire Qi Sea into a furnace!
The immense heat surged into the Qi Sea, forcefully burning the thirty-six strands of true Qi within.

"Chichichi..."

Like refined steel, impurities are mercilessly burned away by the raging flames.

In the blink of an eye, the thirty-six slightly ethereal strands of true qi were forcibly tempered, compressed, and solidified, turning into only thirteen strands remaining!

Each strand is as fine as a hair, yet it is as solid as milky white chalcedony, and the vitality and power it contains are far beyond what they were before!

The true Qi is pure and free of impurities!
At the same time, the jade slip hanging overhead shimmered with light.

The eight ancient seal characters “Northern Yin Fengdu Black Law Edict” slowly faded away, and the surface of the jade slip rippled like water, revealing a brand new, densely packed, mysterious black runes.

These runes were neither made of gold nor stone, neither in seal script nor ancient script; Qi Yun had never seen them before, let alone recognized them.

However, the instant his divine sense touched these runes, their supreme majesty and solemn legal essence poured directly into the depths of his soul like a torrent:

【The Black Laws of Beiyin Fengdu】

[Acting on behalf of Heaven, maintaining the order of Yin and Yang]

(This is the fundamental principle, the glorious law of Heaven, as heavy as a mountain!)
He acts on behalf of the Great Emperor of Fengdu in the Northern Underworld, wielding supreme authority to govern the netherworld and regulate yin and yang, upholding the fundamental laws of life and death and the orderly cycle of yin and yang in the universe.
[Rank: Lower-ranking student]

[Upholding the Vinaya: Break through falsehoods and be without fear. Those who violate this will have their lifespan cut off!]

[Authority: Certificate of Rebirth in the Underworld]

[Law: Resisting Chaos]

The flood of information subsided, the jade slip's radiance receded, and returned to the depths of the brow.

Qi Yun was deeply shaken, feeling a mixture of joy and sorrow.

The good thing is that the Black Law of Fengdu in the Northern Underworld holds the highest position and wields domineering power!

Once in charge, one becomes a representative of the underworld walking among humans, holding a noble status, much like an official among commoners compared to ordinary cultivators.

It also has a natural suppressive power against ghosts and evil spirits, far surpassing ordinary Taoist practices.

What's worrying is that the law is strict, especially the two characters "斩寿" (cut off one's lifespan), which are as red as blood and shocking to the eye!
Like a sword hanging overhead! From this day forward, if one's mind wavers even slightly, or if one becomes fearful and retreats, one will pay a terrible price in terms of lifespan!
This constraint is more severe and direct than any sectarian precepts.

"Fortunately, the Great Black Laws aren't all at once, but one by one. I should be at the lowest rank, only needing to uphold one law!"

Qi Yun then began to study it carefully.

"The rank I've been given is that of a junior probationary student. Well, another intern. It seems that no matter where you are, this probationary period is unavoidable!"

"Breaking through delusion and being free from fear" should correspond to the requirements of my mind and nature, requiring me to be courageous and fearless, not to be trapped by delusions, and to have no worries or fears in my heart!

This resonates quite a bit with my current state of mind. Could it be that this law also originated from within myself? How truly mysterious!

Qi Yun continued reading, “The authority is the permission given to me, the intern. The Great Lawyer is really generous. Even an intern can have permission. This Death Certificate should be for the salvation of the dead and the guidance to Fengdu. It is also the most basic permission that allows me to do the work!”

As for this final law, it must be related to the law I uphold, but what does "resisting chaos" mean? There's no explanation at all!

Qi Yun took a deep breath, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and tried to activate his newly acquired power.

His divine sense sank into his dantian, where thirteen strands of pure, jade-like true qi quietly resided, with the Crimson Hunting Fire gently swirling beneath them, providing a continuous source of heat and nourishment.

He tried again to invoke the authority of the "Decree of Rebirth" or to sense the law of "Rejection of Chaos," but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response.

As dawn broke, the heavy darkness was diluted.

The sky and earth were shrouded in a gray haze.

Qi Yun composed himself, his gaze sharp as lightning, sweeping towards the rooftop where Zhang Daoyun had last been.

A faint, almost dissipating wisp of yin energy emanated from it.

"They haven't been completely annihilated yet?"

He lightly touched the ground with his toes, took a step, and his figure swept past the ruins like a wisp of smoke, landing silently on the roof ridge.

Amidst the rubble, a figure sat cross-legged, his form so faint it was almost transparent, as if he might be scattered by the morning breeze at any moment. It was Zhang Daoyun!

However, at this moment, the fierce and resentful ghostly aura around him had vanished, and a strange calmness appeared on his withered face after experiencing tribulations.

Those eyes, once as black as ink and sunken deep in their sockets, were still devoid of light, but the madness had faded, revealing a clarity that had seen the vicissitudes of life and a deep weariness.

Upon seeing Qi Yun arrive, Zhang Daoyun's ethereal lips moved slightly, and a calm yet weary and weathered voice rang out.

"This humble Taoist, Yunyangzi, greets fellow Daoist."

Qi Yun pointed his longsword diagonally, his eyes sharp as knives: "Old ghost, what tricks are you going to pull now that your soul is about to be scattered?"

A look of extreme bitterness and shame appeared on Zhang Daoyun's face, and he shook his head slightly.

"Fellow Daoist, you are wise. The soul fire is about to be extinguished, and the source is completely dissipated. It is nothing more than a candle flickering in the wind, which will be extinguished in a moment. What tricks can it possibly have?"

His voice carried a sense of exhaustion, as if waking from a deep dream, “Sinking into the path of demons, my mind is clouded, I am as mad as a beast, and I have committed boundless atrocities.”

Only now, as the oil in my lamp burns out, do I find a moment of clarity… Looking back on the past, I am burdened with countless blood debts, sins for which even ten thousand deaths could not atone! This is, for this humble Taoist… the greatest 'fortune'.

He emphasized the word "fate" with self-deprecation, his tone full of bitterness.

He paused, his gaze towards Qi Yun complex and unfathomable, filled with deep emotion: "The cycle of cause and effect is inevitable, and retribution is swift."

Back then, in the ancient tomb of Mangcang Mountain, my master, Fellow Daoist Xuanji, was afflicted with a thousand-year-old corpse poison and was on the verge of death. It was I who risked my life to save him with the 'Nine Yang Rejuvenating Needle,' sacrificing thirty percent of my life essence to give him a chance to live.

Unexpectedly, today I, a humble Daoist, am mired in the realm of ghosts, nearly doomed to eternal damnation. It was you, fellow Daoist, who severed my body, allowing me to regain this moment of clarity and liberation... Heaven has eyes, the Great Dao is clear, and there is indeed no error.

"This humble Taoist priest thanks you, fellow Daoist, for saving all living beings and cutting off the root of this calamity."

He struggled and bowed deeply in the direction of Qi Yun.

That posture was purely Taoist etiquette, carrying a sense of gratitude for surviving a calamity and a deep sense of shame.

(End of this chapter)