The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

"Alright, do as I say."

"Yes."

Fang Sheng left with tears in his eyes, leaving only Fang Zheng in the meditation room.

Fang Zheng stared blankly out the window, remaining silent for a long time.

……

"Brother Dao."

In a city a hundred miles away from Pingding Prefecture, two old Taoist priests greeted each other.

"This humble Taoist priest, Fuchenzi, greets fellow Daoist."

After exchanging greetings, one of the old Taoist priests asked Fuchenzi a question.

"Brother Dao, are you also here on the orders of the Heavenly Venerable?"

Fu Chenzi nodded and said, "That's right, I came here because of the Heavenly Venerable's decree."

During the conversation, the old Taoist priest learned that Fuchenzi was a Taoist priest who had lived in seclusion in the deep mountains for decades, and he was surprised that he had come this time as well.

"The Demonic Cult has poisoned the lives of the people and caused chaos for many years. Now that the Heavenly Venerable has led us to eradicate the Demonic Cult and restore a bright and clear world to the people, how could I, a humble Taoist, not come?"

Fu Chenzi smiled.

At this moment, there are many Taoist priests in this city, all of whom have come in accordance with Jiangning's edict to exorcise demons.

"The Heavenly Venerable has ordered us to gather here. We do not know when the Heavenly Venerable will arrive."

"I heard that the Huashan Sect and Kunlun Sect are almost here, they should arrive today."

The Taoist priests were discussing among themselves when several of them ran through the city shouting.

"The Huashan Sect has arrived!"

"The Celestial Venerable has arrived!"

Upon hearing this, the Taoist priests immediately became agitated and rushed to the outskirts of the city.

At this moment, a large number of Taoist priests had gathered outside the city.

Everyone craned their necks and looked into the distance, only to see a dark line appearing on the horizon, constantly moving in their direction. When it got closer, they realized it was a dark mass of people, seemingly endless in number.

Several large flags stood in the crowd, with the first flag bearing the words "Huashan Sect," while the others were flags of the Kunlun, Emei, and Hengshan sects.

The arrival of the various factions immediately perked everyone up, but what drew their attention even more was the group at the forefront.

The enormous black tortoise, as large as a small mountain, moved its thick limbs, making a thumping sound on the ground. On the back of the black tortoise, a terrifying serpent coiled.

The serpent lay lazily on the back of the black tortoise, its tongue constantly flicking in and out. When its eyes occasionally swept over the crowd, a sense of fear would rise in their hearts.

However, these two extremely rare and ferocious beasts did not attract the attention of the Taoist priests; their eyes were all fixed on the figure on the back of the Xuan Turtle.

dong dong dong.

The black tortoise stopped in front of the group, looking at the Taoist priests. Its fierce aura made the priests feel somewhat uncomfortable.

The serpent also stood upright, its vertical pupils scanning the Taoist priests, and the oppressive aura of the two ferocious beasts immediately spread.

However, neither beast made any move to attack, which relieved the Taoist priests.

At this moment, the figure on the back of the black tortoise stood up, and the Taoists felt the figure's gaze turn towards them.

"We pay our respects to the Heavenly Venerable."

Taoist priests all over the mountain bowed down to the figure on the back of the black tortoise.

The Kunlun and Emei masters behind them were secretly shocked by this scene.

All Taoist priests in the land worship him.

Only now did they finally see the true value of holding the power of the Daoist sect and ruling over all Daoism in the world.

Jiang Ning looked at the Taoist priests and spoke.

"Please rise, everyone."

The Taoist priests then straightened up.

"Everyone, this is the final battle between our righteous path and the demonic sect. This battle is perilous. I will go with you to Blackwood Cliff to completely eradicate the demonic sect, sweep away the evil influence, and restore peace to the world."

"I will obey the Heavenly Venerable's instructions."

The Taoist priests all answered in unison.

Jiang Ning dismounted from the back of the black tortoise and rode in the imperial carriage into the city.

The Taoist priests followed closely behind, escorting Jiang Ning into the city.

At this moment, their gazes were fixed intently on Jiang Ning, filled with respect and awe.

"Junior Brother Sect Leader is truly impressive."

Linghu Chong watched as Jiang Ning was escorted into the city by a group of Taoist priests and couldn't help but sigh.

"That's for sure. The sect leader is now the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable, bestowed by the Emperor Chengtian. All Taoist sects are led by him, so of course he's very powerful."

Liang Fa exclaimed, "This imperial carriage is truly magnificent!"

Not long after the Huashan Martial Arts Tournament last year, Zhu Houzhao sent someone to deliver the imperial carriage to Huashan for Jiangning's daily travel.

The Huashan disciples, including Liang Fa, lacked experience and only thought the imperial carriage was impressive and beautiful. However, those with real knowledge would have realized that the imperial carriage ridden by Jiang Ning was of the same standard as that of the emperor.

This shows how much Zhu Houzhao valued Jiangning.

But Jiang Ning, sitting in the imperial carriage, felt slightly uncomfortable; it was not as comfortable as riding a horse.

Jiang Ning originally intended to ride a horse, but Yue Buqun said that this was the moment to highlight Jiang Ning's majesty, and riding a horse was not appropriate, so he made Jiang Ning ride in the imperial carriage.

Surrounded by Taoist priests, Jiang Ning entered the city. The area outside the city was already packed with people, and the city was even more crowded. Whether they were martial arts practitioners or ordinary people, they all gathered on the streets to see him and cheered for the Heavenly Venerable. In the end, the imperial carriage could hardly move an inch.

Faced with the enthusiasm of the crowd, Jiang Ning stepped out of the imperial carriage and chatted with them at close range.

However, Jiang Ning had a terrible experience with the imperial carriage and decided never to ride in it again, leaving it to gather dust in the warehouse of Mount Hua.

Everyone was very enthusiastic towards Jiang Ning. The martial arts people were alright; although they were enthusiastic, they still knew their limits.

However, the people surged forward, each chattering away, leaving Jiang Ning completely bewildered.

These people regarded Jiangning as an omnipotent god, and made wishes to him. Some wanted to get rich, some prayed for the safety of their sick children, and some wanted to get married. The wishes were varied.

Some women even regarded Jiang Ning as a god who grants children, kneeling down in front of him and begging him to give them a child.

These miscellaneous wishes gave Jiang Ning a headache. Jiang Ning, who had fought his way in and out of the Demonic Sect's encirclement without batting an eye, now had his pupils dilate slightly when faced with the enthusiastic crowd of people.

Especially after discovering that Jiang Ning was approachable, the people became even bolder, pressing close to him and tugging at his clothes. Amidst the clamor, Jiang Ning clearly heard a tearing sound.

Some bolder women, seeing Jiang Ning's fairly handsome face, couldn't resist reaching out to try and take advantage of him, but Jiang Ning noticed and prevented them from succeeding.

Faced with these people, Jiang Ning felt somewhat helpless and could only try to dodge them in the crowd.

Fortunately, a few Taoist priests noticed Jiang Ning's predicament and quickly came to his rescue, pulling him away from the crowd's enthusiasm.

"Hahaha."

At this moment, a villager excitedly raised his hand, holding a strip of cloth.

“I got a piece of cloth from that deity’s clothes. It’s clothes that a deity wore, so it’s sure to bring good luck. I’m going to put it up for worship when I get back.”

"Tch, what's so special about that?"

Some people were disdainful and immediately raised their hands.

"I managed to snag a divine pair of intimate underwear; my luck is definitely better than yours."

Under the envious gazes of the crowd, the commoner was extremely proud, but one of the commoners shouted angrily.

"Damn it, you took my underwear!"

Chapter 778: The Legacy of Quanzhen

"Your Majesty, the people are being a little too enthusiastic."

The Taoist priests who came to Jiang Ning's rescue spoke as they followed behind him.

They didn't understand Jiang Ning's temperament and were afraid he would get angry.

"That's fine."

Jiang Ning laughed: "It's just that I can't fulfill the wishes they made."

All other wishes are fine, but asking him to grant a child is truly outrageous; it's like treating him like a fertility god.

Seeing that Jiang Ning was not angry, but instead smiled and spoke, the Taoist priests breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to themselves that the legendary Celestial Venerable was not so cold-hearted after all, but rather full of human warmth.

Rumor has it that this man killed countless evil spirits and heretics upon his debut, earning him the murderous title of King Ning. Several Taoist priests had only heard of him before but had never seen him in person. Now, after talking to him up close, they found that Jiang Ning was quite easy to talk to, had no strange temper, and was quite amiable.

This made the Taoist priests feel a sense of closeness.

"I have yet to ask the Taoist names of you gentlemen."

Jiang Ning asked with a smile.

The group was flattered and overwhelmed.

"I dare not use such a title as the Heavenly Venerable."

A slightly older Taoist priest quickly introduced himself: "I am Wujizi, and these are my junior brothers, Qiming Daoist, Gushanzi, and Shiquan Daoist."

Wujizi explained as he spoke.

Jiang Ning nodded.

Wujizi suddenly said, "Reporting to the Heavenly Venerable, we are actually of the same origin as the Huashan Sect."

Ok?

Jiang Ning looked at the group in surprise.

同源？

"Which branch of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen Sect do you belong to?"