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

Master Xulin's display of skill astonished everyone. The teacup was made of solid ceramic, yet it shattered into pieces with his effortless grasp.

Li Wenjie was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed "Old Immortal!" Liu Yingying and Song Ling were moved. They went up to examine the broken pieces on the table, then squeezed the teacup in their hands, their faces full of disbelief.

"Is this the same Taoist priest you were talking about, the one who swindles and cheats people?"

Song Ling looked at Liu Yingying, who swallowed hard: "Who knew the Li family would actually bring out a living deity?"

Li Qiang went the furthest, even changing his way of addressing Master Xulin, calling him a reclusive sage at every turn.

Old Taoist Xulin didn't want to talk to them anymore, and closed his eyes again as if he had entered a meditative state.

After the dinner party ended, the group exchanged a few more polite words. Li Qiang then waved his hand and arranged for Master Xu Lin to stay in the best suite at the restaurant. Liu Yingying and Song Ling then got up to say goodbye.

Watching Song Ling's figure disappear into the elevator, Li Wenjie adjusted his glasses, his eyes gleaming.

"I heard you've been pursuing this Taoist Association lately?" Li Wenjie glanced sideways at his younger brother, Li Qiang.

Li Qiang sat slumped on the sofa, eating grapes that the waiter had peeled and handed to him, muttering, "After eating so many delicacies, it's nice to change things up occasionally and try some small sparrows."

Li Wenjie squinted: "You took a little too long this time."

"Don't worry, it won't be long before Liu Yingying strips naked and lies on my bed herself." Li Qiang chuckled, his finger tracing the smooth chin of the waiter beside him.

"I think the other person who came today doesn't seem to be from the Taoist Association in terms of demeanor and speech."

"This is the first time I've met this woman. She seems to be Liu Yingying's high school classmate, a professor at some university..."

"A university professor...?"

Li Wenjie stroked his chin, his eyes narrowing.

Seeing this, Li Qiang's initial feelings for Song Ling immediately diminished by more than half.

The last time I saw my brother with this expression was at a charity gala when Li Wenjie saw a female celebrity.

That female celebrity is quite popular; she just landed a role as the second female lead in a hit domestic drama and looks down on them, these country bumpkins from the county.

But the next morning, the actress, who had initially looked disdainful, emerged from her brother's room with red, swollen eyes and unsteady gait.

From childhood to adulthood, he could only take things that Li Wenjie didn't want, and he wouldn't dare to snatch things that Li Wenjie wanted.

On the surface, his older brother was the head of the Li family and a promising young entrepreneur in Qingshui County, but behind the scenes, he was spending far more money than he was.

Anyway, Li Qiang didn't recognize most of the women who brought their illegitimate children to the old house to see the old lady every year...

Li Qiang trembled slightly, then nodded: "Brother, I understand. I'll go and find out more about this woman for you right away."

Li Wenjie nodded, quite satisfied with his younger brother, and got up to pull out his car keys and flash them: "Let's go, I'll have the finance department transfer your money for this month."

As he spoke, he pushed open the door, habitually straightened his suit, and resumed his demeanor as a gentle and refined young entrepreneur.

……

Night, Baiyun Mountain.

In the White Cloud Hall, Yi Chuan frowned slightly as he looked at the message sent by Song Ling.

The profile picture is of a youthful anime girl.

Looking at his WeChat Moments, he realized that the professor was from Sichuan University, a highly educated intellectual, which made Yi Chuan, who had dropped out of high school, feel somewhat ashamed.

Yi Chuan didn't know where Song Ling got his WeChat. After finishing his Qi cultivation in the evening, he opened his phone and saw a friend request from this professor from Sichuan University, followed by a barrage of messages.

After reading through them one by one, his heart sank.

These days, if a Taoist temple or monastery is located deep in the mountains and forests and rarely visited by people, then naturally no one will care about it. But if it's a place that people with nothing better to do can walk to, and the environment is a bit better, then it will most likely be targeted and developed into a tourist area.

His Baiyun Temple is quite a coincidence; it has mountains and a temple, and the environment is quiet and secluded. It's just the right place to climb up after a good sweat, and it does indeed have a history of fifty years.

Once targeted, the Land and Resources Bureau, the Taoist Association, and the Culture and Tourism Bureau will engage in investment maneuvering and backroom deals, essentially sealing the deal. Before, with the old abbot in charge, having served for fifty years and holding a significant position, these people couldn't touch him. Now that the old abbot is dead, all sorts of shady characters have appeared.

Tourism development isn't just about having mountains and scenic spots; it also requires stories, history, and influential figures to attract tourists.

Clearly, twenty-year-old Yi Chuan couldn't live up to the hype surrounding this expert, which is why the Li brothers spent a lot of money to hire someone from outside.

"A high-ranking Taoist priest from Maoshan? He can crush a teacup silently. He can't be a charlatan pretending to be a god. I just don't know if he's a true practitioner."

Yi Chuan put down his phone, sensing the increasing amount of light energy filling his lungs.

After absorbing spiritual energy over the past few days, he could clearly feel that the concentration of spiritual energy in Baiyun Mountain was far inferior to that of Yangping Mountain two thousand years ago.

He didn't know if this was a common phenomenon. After all, Baiyun Mountain wasn't a famous mountain or river. But two thousand years ago, the concentration of spiritual energy was so high that even in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were only a handful of cultivators. In this era, finding a cultivator would be even more difficult.

"It seems that we'll really have to resort to some tricks if we want to save Baiyun Temple."

While I was still thinking of a solution, my phone started buzzing again. I opened it, and it was another message from Song Ling.

After thinking for a moment, he replied that he didn't know if there were any original historical documents about "Yujing". When Song Ling replied that the original documents were all confidential and that taking pictures was not allowed, Yi Chuan lost interest and threw his phone aside.

Next, Yi Chuan began to manipulate the nine-section staff he had brought back from the Eastern Han Dynasty.

He had absorbed the Dao Fruit from the Nine-Section Staff, and the crescent mark on the back of Yi Chuan's hand had visibly become rounder.

As Yi Chuan absorbed this Dao Fruit, he also discovered that he had gained some wonderful abilities.

But what surprised Yi Chuan was not these abilities, but a tiny cut he found on the staff.

In the flickering candlelight of the White Cloud Hall, Yi Chuan placed the Nine-Section Staff on the table, turned on his phone's flashlight, and carefully examined the staff. Below the golden band at the top of the staff, there was a dark indentation embedded in the staff.

Although it is very small, it does exist.

You should know that this nine-section staff contains the Dao fruit, and it is almost impossible for external forces to destroy it, let alone in the Eastern Han Dynasty when iron smelting was not advanced.

Even now, having absorbed that Dao Fruit, the staff remains as hard as steel, leaving not a single white mark when struck against a rock.

So, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, what weapon and what person could destroy the Nine-Section Staff?

Recalling Zhang Jiao's exhausted and dying appearance in Guangzong City during their last meeting, Yi Chuan narrowed his eyes.

A true cultivator destined for heaven, protected by a nine-section staff containing Dao fruits, could he really reach that level?

"It seems that some interesting things happened down in Yangping Mountain during the twenty-five years I was sealed off from the mountain..."

In the tranquil hall, Yi Chuan tapped the nine-section staff with his knuckles, his mind racing with thoughts.

-----------------

In the following period, Yi Chuan seemed to return to the peaceful life he had led at Baiyun Temple for the past three years.

There aren't many pilgrims going up the mountain; most of them are elderly people from Shaping Village at the foot of the mountain. People from other villages wouldn't make a special trip to Baiyun Temple unless it's for a wedding or funeral.

The daily incense offerings were barely enough for Yi Chuan to enjoy a bowl of steamed egg custard. Accustomed to poverty, Yi Chuan had no plans to make money for the time being. Every day, besides receiving worshippers, he would sit cross-legged and absorb Qi, and his demeanor became increasingly ethereal.

One morning, as the last rays of dawn entered his mouth and nose, Yi Chuan's brain suddenly buzzed.

He keenly sensed an extremely faint current of energy slowly floating within his internal organs, intertwined with the six rays of light.

This is a state that has never appeared before when consuming Qi.

As Yi Chuan breathed, the airflow gradually transformed into a cool sensation, flowing into his limbs and meridians... until his entire body was slowly nourished by this coolness, feeling indescribably comfortable and wonderful.

Yi Chuan's mind jolted. The cool sensation flowed through his body and suddenly gathered into a ball, as if transforming into a silver dragon that rushed down and coiled around his lower abdomen. Then it continued to condense and compact.

That is what people commonly refer to as the dantian.

The energy slowly swirled and coiled in his dantian, eventually condensing into a faint wisp.

"Once the Dao body is formed, magical power will naturally arise!"

Yi Chuan suddenly stood up, his eyes revealing an indescribable joy.

As the first trace of magical power appeared, it seemed to send a signal to the body. Six clusters of light swirled together, and magical power continuously generated and flowed into the dantian.

By noon, Yi Chuan had thirty-six transparent, luminous filaments in his dantian.

"Thirty-six magical powers—that should be my limit with my current level of Qi cultivation!"

Yi Chuan, like a child who had just received a new toy, immediately locked the gate of Baiyun Temple and ran happily to the back mountain.

The old abbot had previously cultivated several vegetable plots on the back mountain, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, and other vegetables, which served as an important source of food for the Baiyun Temple.

After the old abbot passed away, Yi Chuan was devastated and wasted some time.

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Yi Chuan arrived at the back of the mountain. The vegetable garden was indeed overgrown with weeds, as he hadn't tended to it. He took a hoe and cleared all the weeds away. Looking at the malnourished seedlings, he ignored the mud and sat cross-legged on a large blue stone.

With a single thought, he entered a meditative state, closed his eyes, and a wisp of magical power in his dantian immediately spread and evaporated like clouds, spreading out from the pores of his body at an extremely fast speed.

In an instant, something seemed to change in the world.

The noisy chirping of cicadas in the woods stopped, and large swaths of thick clouds were blown across the sky by the wind, stretching out over the back mountain, creating a somber atmosphere throughout the world.

Two more strands of magical power dissipated from his dantian.

As the clouds gathered and the sky grew darker, all sounds disappeared from Yi Chuan's ears.

until--

Tick ​​tock!

The first drop, the second drop, until the mountain rain continued, the pattering sound becoming a continuous murmur.

It's raining.

The rain wasn't heavy, but it shrouded the entire mountain landscape in a misty haze. Yi Chuan opened his eyes; his Taoist robe was already soaked by the mountain rain.

"I say, all things grow."

He sat calmly on the bluestone, waved his sleeve at the vegetable garden, and the originally dry and withered seedlings became greener, and the underground roots absorbed the water and nutrients from the soil as if they were having fun.

As the mountain rain pattered down, the seedlings shook their tender leaves and then began to grow at a visible speed. Cucumbers started to climb, tomatoes started to bear fruit, and the green vegetables grew vigorously, forming a clump that reached Yi Chuan's knees, appearing even greener under the wash of the rain.

The rain came quickly and went quickly. Before long, the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, and the vegetable garden in front of Yi Chuan had changed its appearance.

"Due to changes in celestial phenomena, the 'Rain Prayer' consumes three times more mana than the 'Spirit Wood' spell, requiring three strands of mana."

"If more mana is consumed, the spell's effect will be stronger, but it's unnecessary; mana regeneration is too slow."

Yi Chuan opened his eyes and sensed that it would take about three or four hours for his mana to slowly recover. In this era of scarce spiritual energy, every bit of mana was extremely precious.

"We can eat fresh vegetables tomorrow."

A cool mountain breeze swept by, and looking at the cucumbers that had already formed stems in the ground, Yi Chuan closed his eyes, took a deep breath of the scent of the mountain soil after the rain, and felt a sense of peace in his heart.

This was the first time he had used magic.

……

For the next few days, Yi Chuan ran to the back mountain every day, like a child who had received a new toy. Every day, the plants in the vegetable garden on the back mountain grew and withered.

Almost every few days, Yi Chuan would return to the Taoist temple carrying a basket of vegetables and fruits.

With an abundance of vegetables, he learned from the old abbot to make various kinds of pickled vegetables and sauerkraut. Yi Chuan enjoyed it immensely and never tired of it.

During this time, Song Ling contacted him on WeChat several times, sometimes sending him Eastern Han Dynasty seal script and asking him to help translate it.

Yi Chuan, engrossed in planting vegetables, tried to pretend he didn't see it, but unfortunately, Song Shanxin was indeed a cunning person.

Yes, it's the kind that's very rich.

The old Taoist priest said that they, as Taoist priests, were meant to guide those with predestined affinity.

Through repeated monetary transactions, the two gradually became acquainted, and Song Ling was increasingly astonished by Yi Chuan's mastery of ancient seal script.

Yi Chuan also learned that Song Ling would be staying in Qingshui County for a period of time for a research trip on the ancient Shu folk customs of the Chengdu Plain.

This purely monetary transaction continued until Song Ling made an invitation.

"A conference for discussion and research on several issues concerning the development of tourism resources in Shaping Village, Qingshui Town."

Hmm, just hearing that makes me lose all desire to participate.

Yi Chuan was about to refuse when Song Ling immediately sent a message.

"This meeting will discuss the future of Baiyun Temple."

For half a month, no one came up the mountain to disturb him. Yi Chuan thought that the cultural tourism group and the Taoist Association had forgotten about this small Taoist temple. But he didn't expect that they had already arranged everything for him without his knowledge.

I felt cold and shivering.

"I will be there on time."

After replying to a message, Yi Chuan put down his phone and focused on making kimchi.

"It's a pity that the wheat I painstakingly cultivated in Yangping Mountain is almost mutated. I wonder if any of them have survived after two thousand years."

Yi Chuan felt a pang of regret. The vegetables he cultivated using the "Spirit Wood Technique" did taste better than other vegetables, but they were still slightly inferior to the spirit wheat he had cultivated on Yangping Mountain for more than ten years.

……

The seminar was held at a manor owned by the Li family in the suburbs of Qingshui Town.

Today, Song Ling wore a light-colored dress, revealing her smooth calves and white socks. She wore her hair in a bun, and the frameless glasses on her nose added a touch of intellectual beauty to her look.

With his head down, he aimlessly kicked away the pebbles on the ground with his black leather shoes when a voice suddenly rang out beside him.

"Dr. Song, why aren't you going in yet? The meeting is about to start."

Looking up, Song Ling's expectant eyes dimmed instantly. It turned out to be Li Wenjie, who had just gotten out of the car.

"It's okay, I'm waiting for a friend."

"Are you waiting for Liu Yingying?"

"No, it's another friend."

Responding politely with a smile, Song Ling lowered her head again, her smooth legs kicking at the pebbles on the roadside.

Li Wenjie's expression froze for a moment, but he quickly regained his gentlemanly demeanor and calmly walked into the manor.

"Hey, what are you standing there for?"

After a long while, a somewhat casual voice was finally heard.

Song Ling smiled slightly, but when she looked up, her face regained its usual aloofness as a Sichuan University PhD.

"Yes, I'm waiting for a friend."

"Haven't we seen him yet?" Yi Chuan glanced suspiciously behind him.

"Never mind, he's too late, let's not wait for him."

"Master, why are you so late? The meeting has already started!" With her fingers pinching Yi Chuan's sleeve, Song Ling walked briskly into the manor with Yi Chuan.