Two Realms: Starting with transmitting the Taiping Jing to Zhang Jiao

When Yi Chuan was a child, he would run around the village naked and always heard an adult use a name to scare the little brats.

Shen Xiujun.

A prominent figure in Qingshui County during the 1980s.

He served on the battlefield when he was young, and his face was disfigured by a bullet. After returning, he opened two video arcades in Qingshui County, showing movies during the day and making a fortune.

The stories adults used to scare little kids were mostly from this period.

As she grew older, the old lady became more compassionate. She listened to advice and gradually stopped doing the immoral things she was doing. She also became more honest and began to believe in Taoism to live out her remaining years.

As the cultural tourism group's business grew larger, the two sons fell out. The second son, unable to win, was tricked and imprisoned. The entire group was taken over by the eldest son, Li Jianjun, who secretly reclaimed some of the businesses that the old lady had abandoned years ago.

Li Jianjun has two sons, Li Qiang and Li Wenjie. Both of them joined the cultural tourism group before graduating from high school. The eldest son, Li Wenjie, is very talented. Li Qiang knows that he can't compete with his older brother and is afraid of following in his second uncle's footsteps, so he simply focuses on being a playboy and burying himself in hard work.

Every day, third-tier celebrities, models, female college students, and the like would come to the door with their illegitimate children, demanding recognition. The Li family was large and powerful, and with a wave of her hand, Old Mrs. Shen accepted them all, making it one of the daily gossip topics among the residents of Qingshui Town.

Seeing that the old lady didn't object and was quite happy with her many children and grandchildren, Li Qiang became even more reckless and worked diligently until he met Liu Yingying at a Taoist temple development project half a month ago.

After leaving Shaping Village, they were in a minivan. Liu Yingying and Song Ling squeezed to one side, while Li Qiang sat on the other, his eyes darting around with unbridled lewdness.

Song Ling was unaware of the entanglement between the two, but sensing the strange atmosphere in the car, she frowned and simply closed her eyes to pretend to sleep.

"Yingying, did you just come down from that Baiyun Temple?"

Li Qiang spoke first, breaking the tense atmosphere in the car.

Liu Yingying sneered, "You know perfectly well why. Otherwise, why would Young Master Li be waiting for me in Shaping Village?"

Li Qiang shrugged: "Why get so angry? Come to think of it, this drinking party is actually somewhat related to that Baiyun Temple."

"Your Li family is so wealthy and powerful, why don't you focus on raising your children and instead care about this little Taoist temple?"

Li Qiang was not angry despite Liu Yingying's barbed tone.

"My brother spent a lot of money to invite a high-ranking Taoist priest from Maoshan Wanning Palace. He has already reached an agreement with the higher-ups of your Taoist Association to appoint him as the next abbot of Baiyun Temple."

"To take over as the Taoist priest of Baiyun Temple?" Song Ling, who had been pretending to be asleep, raised her head and squinted her eyes.

Li Qiang leaned back in his leather chair, crossed his legs, and gave a condescending smile.

"That's right. After all, we've contracted the tourism management rights for the next fifty years for several villages around Shaping and Dengjiapo. Among those villages, Baiyun Temple is the only one that can be considered a cultural relic. If we don't make something of it, how will we break even?"

Song Ling frowned. The Li family's procedures were legal and compliant; she couldn't find anything wrong with them.

She had encountered this during her academic research and investigations. This kind of tourism operation is a real estate development that takes advantage of policy arbitrage. All kinds of "ancient towns" across the country are copied and pasted from each other, and that's how they came about.

Moreover, these kinds of projects usually receive tens of millions in local government subsidies, but how the cultural tourism groups develop the projects after receiving the money is entirely up to their conscience.

The car drove for an hour, during which Li Qiang went on and on about the Li family's glorious achievements. Song Ling was getting dizzy listening to him. When they arrived at their destination, she grabbed Liu Yingying and rushed out.

The first thing that came into view was a magnificent high-rise restaurant, with artificial hills and fountains arranged in a pleasing manner in front of it. From a distance, security guards came over to respectfully guide Li Qiang's driver to park.

Qingshui Town is not very developed, and the streets are still old-fashioned cracked cement roads. This restaurant stands out from the crowd, like a crane among chickens.

Curious about the high-ranking Taoist priest from Maoshan that Li Qiang had mentioned, Song Ling pulled Liu Yingying into the hotel.

After exiting the elevator, the two were led by Li Qiang to a private room. The waiter opened the door, and inside, a bespectacled man in a suit was chatting happily with someone next to him.

Opposite the man in the suit, an old Taoist priest wearing a hibiscus crown sat upright.

Hearing the noise at the door, the old Taoist opened and closed his eyes slightly, then closed them again after a moment and entered a meditative state.

"Li Qiang, why are you so late? Master Xulin and I have been waiting for you for a long time."

The bespectacled man in a suit said something disapproving, and Li Qiang, who had just been acting lewd, immediately became incredibly obedient.

"Brother, I was taking a detour to pick up a friend, so it took me a little time."

"Friends?" The man in the suit's gaze swept over Liu Yingying and Song Ling, quite intimidating. Song Ling was alright, but Liu Yingying was particularly uncomfortable, instinctively hiding behind Song Ling.

Seeing Song Ling's calm demeanor in front of him, the man in the suit couldn't help but linger for a couple more seconds.

Li Qiang immediately understood and led Liu Yingying and Song Ling to their seats, arranging for Song Ling to sit near his elder brother.

At the dinner table, Li Qiang was the one initiating most of the conversations. Song Ling kept an eye on the Taoist Master Xu Lin across from her and noticed that he barely spoke. He remained calm and composed with his eyes closed, as if he were meditating.

"Master Xulin is a highly accomplished master of Maoshan Temple, and he is also a prominent figure in Wanning Palace. Many high-ranking officials and dignitaries want to meet him. Now that he has taken over Baiyun Temple, I hope you will take good care of him in future cooperation."

Li Wenjie adjusted his glasses, stood up politely, and toasted the old Taoist opposite him. Knowing that ignoring him any longer would be ungrateful, Master Xulin reluctantly stood up with his teacup.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Li Shanxin."

After saying this, Master Xulin picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp, then placed the cup on the table.

There was no sound, but when he calmly removed his hand, the ceramic teacup on the table had silently shattered into peanut-sized pieces.

This move immediately stunned everyone in the private room.

"Master Xulin lives up to his reputation; his skills are truly remarkable!"

Li Wenjie's eyes lit up. Listening to the flattery of those around him, Master Xulin slowly sat down, a hint of sadness appearing in his eyes.

He is indeed a high-ranking master of Maoshan, but he is not the only high-ranking master of Maoshan.

Although he considered himself to be among the top Taoists in Wanning Palace in terms of cultivation and spiritual power, he was not a direct descendant of Wanning Palace, so the lucrative jobs available to high-ranking officials and nobles were simply not available to him. He could only perform some lowly rituals for the deceased.

Taoist priests also need to eat. Among the various things, wealth, companions, methods, and land, wealth comes first. That's why he accepted the Li family's invitation to come to Qingshui County in Sichuan Province to serve as the abbot of Baiyun Temple.

I know that Li Family Cultural Tourism has a bad reputation and some shady businesses behind the scenes, but why would a legitimate big company hire me?

To make the Li brothers feel that the money was well spent, he had to show off his skills like a street performer.

With a wry smile, Master Xulin said indifferently, "My skills are nothing more than trivial tricks. I once had the good fortune to see an old cultivator on Longhu Mountain whose breath could shoot down birds on branches several meters away."

At this point, Xu Lin raised his head with reverence, his face filled with longing.

"That is the true method of cultivation..."