A master of comedy!

Chapter 175 The Sleeping Immortal

Having entered this treasure mountain, how can we leave empty-handed?

"Master Lü, our meeting is fate. I would like to touch your precious sword. Would you be willing?"

Zhou Sheng bowed devoutly before the statue and humbly asked questions.

After waiting a moment, he nodded and continued talking to himself, "If you don't speak, that means you agree."

"This disciple...has offended you."

After bowing, he carefully walked up to the shrine, came to the statue of Lü Zu, and slowly reached out his hand towards the sword behind him.

It feels cold and hard to the touch; it's not a real sword, but rather carved from stone.

The Yazi inside Zhou Sheng's body remained completely still, indicating that the "sword embryo" was not hidden within, otherwise the Yazi would have already moved upon hearing the news.

Could it be that even if I entered using the sixty-four hexagrams, it was all a forced entry, and I was ultimately not destined for the fortune within this cave?

He was somewhat unwilling to give up, so he put more force into his hands, trying to see if he could pull out the stone sword.

However, after killing dozens of people with his Vajra form and drinking a large amount of monkey wine, his muscles, strength, and aptitude have been greatly improved, and he is not yet fully adapted to it.

The statue seemed to have stood for too long and was in disrepair, so it wasn't very sturdy. As a result, when Zhou Sheng pulled it, cracks appeared on the entire statue of Lu Zu with a crack.

The stone sword was indeed drawn, but it was forcibly "pulled" out.

He stared dumbfounded at the sword in his hand, feeling deeply ashamed. He tried to plunge it in, but the moment he moved his wrist, the sword snapped in two with a crack.

"don't want--"

Under his shocked gaze, the sword fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

"It's over..."

……

Sunlight filtered through the pine needles, casting dappled patterns on a bluestone.

A figure was fast asleep on the rock, its snores sounding like a long wind passing through a deep valley, its breaths seemingly possessing a strange rhythm.

Like a tortoise and snake sleeping deep underground.

But at a certain moment, the dragon-like breathing suddenly stopped, as if it had seen an unexpected scene in a dream.

The old man turned over, wearing a shabby Taoist robe, his hair a mess like a bird's nest, but his face was exceptionally rosy in the sunlight, and his skin was as delicate as a baby's.

The snoring resumed soon afterward, but the old man's lips curled up slightly, as if he were having an interesting dream.

……

"Master Chunyang, I did not mean to damage your statue. I apologize to you here!"

Zhou Sheng gave a wry smile. He carefully inserted the remaining half of the broken sword back into place, and then bowed and apologized before the shrine.

"When I return in the future, I will certainly restore your golden statue and offer you many tributes..."

After praying, Zhou Sheng focused his mind on the Luoshu (a magical book), trying to calculate the location of the sword embryo and the five-colored mica, but found that he did not have enough energy.

He opened his eyes, a resolute look in his gaze.

He turned around and left the cave.

If even someone with such an auspicious hexagram can't obtain the opportunity in the cave, then it truly shows that it can't be forced.

Perhaps he could find something by digging three feet deep here, after all, this fairy cave is only so big.

But he was unwilling to do such a thing.

Because he genuinely respected Lu Zu, and admired this sword immortal who once roamed the mortal world, punishing evil and promoting good, and vowing to save all people.

Lü Dongbin can be considered the most down-to-earth deity, lacking any air of superiority or unfathomable authority. Instead, he is playful, witty, and unrestrained. He would offer wine to the dirtiest beggar, redeem prostitutes who have strayed into the world of courtesans, and comb the white hair of lonely old women back to its original blackness…

In his previous life, when he was reading "The Complete Story of the Eight Immortals," he was moved by a story about Lü Zu.

At that time, Lü Zu had not yet attained enlightenment. Zhongli Quan, one of the Eight Immortals, disguised himself as a schoolteacher and taught him the Daoist arts. When he was teaching the magic of turning stones into gold, Lü Zu learned the magic but vowed not to use it.

Zhongli Quan asked him curiously for the reason, and Lü Zu replied that although the technique of turning stone into gold is good, it will eventually turn back to its original form.

Zhongli Quan laughed and said, "If you use the magic of an immortal to turn gold into stone, it will only turn back into stone after five hundred years. What impact will that have?"
Lu Zu shook his head and said, "Five hundred years from now, won't the owner of this gold be very heartbroken?"

"Perhaps he worked hard from dawn till dusk for many years to earn such a small piece of gold. This is what he deserves, and even an immortal cannot take it away from him."

This pure and innocent heart moved Zhongli Quan, who then imparted to him the profound teachings of the Great Dao of Master Lü.

Even after five hundred years, they were unwilling to harm the interests of an ordinary citizen.

How could Zhou Sheng destroy the cave where Lu Zu cultivated himself to become an immortal because of his own momentary greed?
He already felt guilty enough for accidentally damaging the statue, so he shook his head and strode out of the Immortal Cave with firm steps.

The blinding sunlight hit me, the surrounding trees were lush, and the clouds and mist swirled in the distance.

He thought he was going back to Mount Lu, but unexpectedly, he ended up in a completely unfamiliar place.

The towering cliffs embrace the waterfall like a jade bowl, the waterfall hangs suspended in mid-air, and cranes can be seen flying in circles, their white feathers slightly damp.

Rare flowers and exotic herbs, strange trees and unusual rocks.

The air seemed to be filled with the fresh scent of grass and trees, which invigorated the spirit and made one feel lighter.

The pine breeze washes away dreams, and the clouds and water cleanse the dust.

What a paradise on earth!

Zhou Sheng looked around and his gaze fell on the figure sleeping soundly on the rock in the distance.

A piece of green jade lying half-submerged in the stream was visible, its natural stone patterns outlining the shape of the Big Dipper.

An old Taoist priest slept on a rock, his disheveled hair serving as a pillow, his bare feet dangling in the air, snoring loudly, his breaths like a whale inhaling water, turning the fluttering fallen leaves into long dragons.

Each snore made the pine needles tremble.

Before he opened his Dharma Eye, Zhou Sheng saw this disheveled Taoist as ethereal and unfathomable, but when he opened his Dharma Eye, the Taoist in front of him became unusually ordinary.

It seemed to be just a tired old man taking a rest under an ancient tree.

Those bare feet were covered with thick calluses, and the straw sandals beside them were almost completely worn out, as if they had traversed thousands of mountains and rivers and endured countless hardships.

Even the sound of his breathing, which was like that of a dragon in hibernation, became barely audible.

The thunder in his ears had ceased, leaving only a soundly sleeping, elderly man, showing no trace of any spiritual practice.

Zhou Sheng knew that this was the true essence of returning to simplicity.

The more one tries to see with supernatural powers, the less one can see. But if one lets go of the desire for gain and loss, and the thought of utilitarianism, and looks with the most ordinary perspective, one can see the "Tao".

Without a doubt, this disheveled Taoist priest was none other than Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of the Hidden Immortals Sect, who left behind many legends in later generations.

Upon meeting this legendary figure, who was rarely seen, Zhou Sheng felt a surge of excitement, but he kept his eyes down and his mind at ease, suppressing his emotions and remaining calm.

Zhang Sanfeng struck him as being even above the "Bixia Yuanjun" of the Earth Immortal Realm, whose cultivation was unfathomable.

It would have been absolutely impossible for me to come to the place where he was practicing in seclusion without his tacit approval.

This means that Zhang Sanfeng was also observing him.

Zhou Sheng's heart raced slightly. He had a vague premonition that his Fire Heaven hexagram was about to come true.

……

(End of this chapter)