Chapter 1: The First Scroll - The Abundant Water Plantain and the Night of Sacrilegious Rain

Deep autumn, cold rain.

Ancient temple, twilight.

A winding path snakes through the gorge, leading straight to this dark mountain hollow.

A cold crow perched on a withered tree outside the small temple lifted its head, gazing blankly at the sky, occasionally lowering its head to glance at the temple inside.

"What are you spying on? Get down here now!"

A deep, oppressive voice, filled with an indescribable intensity and might, echoed like a tiger's roar in the darkness, shaking all the beasts, and exploded outside the pavilion.

The cold crow, startled, flapped its wings and flew high, but after circling in the air for a while, it seemed to find no place to go, and timidly flew back to the branch.

He was being pursued too closely by the Daoist thirty miles away.

From Jingyang Ridge to here, a three-thousand-mile escape, with almost no time to rest, so much so that he had not yet digested the elixir in his stomach, and was now feeling weak.

With a kick, the man with the unkempt hair and beard opened the broken door of the dilapidated temple and glanced at the pavilion roof above the ancient well in the courtyard. His brownish-yellow eyes flickered, and he curled his lips in disdain.

A mere mortal dares to spy on me?

His roar spread, and the pavilion columns and roof trembled, with grass and dirt falling off. The black shadow crouched on the roof only trembled but made no other move.

At this moment, as if his roar had triggered something, the main hall of the dilapidated temple suddenly seemed to shake.

A golden glow emanated from the main hall and shone on the well in the pavilion.

The man with the unkempt hair and beard had long noticed the anomaly at the well.

White mist swirled, as if a tangible form was slowly taking shape, and the golden light accelerated its coalescence.

Startled, the man focused his gaze on the hexagonal well in the pavilion, then looked back at the fading light, his eyes landing on the dilapidated temple.

The strange deity statue, leaning on the main base in the temple, was losing its glow.

Divine will power?

The man suddenly became serious. To be blessed by the power of incense and wishes means it's no ordinary thing.

But this deity statue...?

The man could not identify this grotesque deity.

But having roamed the human world for many years and practiced for three hundred years, he knew that customs vary, and private shrines can be bizarre, with all sorts of deities being worshipped.

But this deity is truly terrifying and hideous.

However, if it were just terrifying and hideous, it would be fine. After all, in the secular world, it's not uncommon to worship strange and demonic beings. But this figure resembles a macaque, and he couldn't immediately recall any deity or ghost with such an appearance.

Protruding forehead, flat nose, protruding mouth, jagged teeth, and an uneven head. The deity statue was missing its arms and lower half, leaving only a clay torso.

It lacked the mighty and robust form and the majestic aura, looking more like something casually molded.

Looking at the dilapidated and messy temple, the main hall's candle stand was overturned, the offering plate had fallen to the ground, a worn-out mat was in tatters, and the damaged grass roots stuck out, revealing the wooden base.

The side hall was empty, but the stone walls were crooked and mottled.

It didn't seem like anyone was coming to worship.

Perhaps this is a unique and powerful demon of this region, known for its efficacy, which is why common people secretly worship it?

But no matter what it is, his innate sense of danger made him feel a crisis.

The creature in the well was forming rapidly, and in a breath, it had already grown into a white-headed, green-bodied, broad-nosed, and wide-nosed monster, somewhat resembling the deity statue.

The monster's eyes were blood-red, and the golden light flashed, with the fierce and hideous flames in its eyes immediately landing on him, revealing a hint of joy. In an instant, it was about to materialize.

Is it a spirit materializing, or a form he cannot comprehend?

The man with the unkempt hair and beard suddenly felt the pressure making it hard to breathe, and the elixir in his stomach, which had not yet been digested, began to throb, almost bursting out.

He immediately sensed impending doom, and his innate sense of danger made his hair stand on end.

This creature wants to devour him, even the elixir in his stomach is affected.

How dare it!

But the overwhelming power of the other party made him feel powerless.

Run or fight.

In his hundred years of roaming and three hundred years of cultivation, he had never felt so helpless, but his nature and blood did not allow him to be captured.

The man with the unkempt hair and beard, without thinking, took a step, and in that step, he transformed into a tiger over a yard long!

His massive head with bristling fur and a blood-red mouth opened, spewing a red and white breath directly at the coiling and twisting form.

The coiling form suddenly expanded, and the swirling mist exploded, scattering into a wave of air, meeting the red and white breath.

"Boom!"

The massive body of the tiger was thrown back three feet, the light dimming.

The entire dark and mottled figure became a blurry shadow, distorting in space, and the elixir in his stomach almost fell out.

Shaken, the tiger transformed back into human form, and the man with the unkempt hair and beard could hardly believe what he had encountered.

A layer of external energy could scatter the elixir he had released to its utmost, and part of it was the elixir he had already digested from the Daoist.

Is this demon really a deity empowered by incense and wishes?

How is that possible?

For a moment, he didn't know what to do, but he knew that once this demon materialized, with the power it displayed, even if he ran now, he would not escape its clutches.

With no choice, the man with the unkempt hair and beard roared again.

In a flash, his hands transformed into tiger claws, with red and white energy flickering between them, and he pushed them forward.

In an instant, the entire space in the pavilion seemed to tear apart, and the pavilion suddenly shattered.

The thatched roof scattered, the four pillars broke, and the air vortex exploded, even the hexagonal well shook.

The materialized giant ape couldn't help but grin, stretching its arms.

To have something willingly come to it, could it be that the heavens have opened their eyes?

Although it was of a lower quality and somewhat impure, it was a tiger, but it also had a human elixir. It could serve as an appetizer.

The giant ape's figure moved, trying to break free from the well, and its lower half was about to fully materialize.

A silver-white streak suddenly appeared in the pitch-black sky, cutting through the heavens and landing on the ground, illuminating the three-thousand-mile-long Yu Mountain and the surrounding towns.

The streak of light, falling from the clouds, made the entire three-thousand-mile-long Yu Mountain and the surrounding towns visible.

Numerous cultivators couldn't help but rise into the air, looking around to see who was facing a tribulation.

The white streak of light flickered, plunging from the sky, and in a blink, it reached the well in the pavilion.

"Ahh!"

"Awooo!"

The man with the unkempt hair and beard's claws, just as they were about to approach the other party, saw the white streak of light from the sky bloom between them, or rather, between the elixir he had released and the materialized giant ape.

A bucket-sized ball of flame with a silver-white streak connected to the sky, suddenly expanded and exploded, instantly swallowing the two intertwined energy vortices and spreading outward.

The giant ape's expression changed from surprise and joy to fear and anger, which the man with the unkempt hair and beard saw.

Before he could react, his entire body transformed back into a tiger shadow, and the remaining elixir turned into tiny specks, dispersing in the air.

"No! Damn heavens!"

"Ahh!"

His vision gradually blurred as he watched the materialized giant ape turn back into a shadow, a glimmer of light flickering and disappearing.

The entire materialized form turned back into a white mist, forcefully pushed back into the hexagonal well, accompanied by a series of coarse and violent curses, sinking a hundred feet into the well and disappearing.

No one noticed that when the pavilion roof was blown apart, a black shadow fell from the roof and, before it hit the ground, was hit by the shockwave from the light, slamming into the stone wall of the side hall, leaving a dent before falling silently.

Thirty miles away, a figure flew through the air, landing on a stone ridge and circling, but could no longer sense the previously clear aura.

The Daoist, landing on the peak of the stone ridge, felt puzzled.

He calculated.

Midnight?

Could it really be that the fierce tiger turned into a demon faced a tribulation?

It shouldn't be.

Even if it had taken advantage of the situation to devour his junior's elixir, it was far from the state of facing a tribulation, let alone such a heavenly tribulation. But the faint aura of the demon was fading, and it seemed to have advanced to a higher level.

Where did it go?

If not it, who faced the heavenly tribulation?

Looking around, the Daoist couldn't understand who or what faced the tribulation in the vast mountains. The Yu Mountain was too extensive, and he could only roughly determine the direction, unable to find the exact location.

After lingering for a long time and sensing the surroundings, he found nothing valuable and could only leave with a sigh.

The ancient temple returned to its usual tranquility, but it was even more dilapidated.

The pavilion was gone, the hexagonal well exposed in the wild, and the courtyard wall was mostly collapsed.

Only a shaky temple remained, with the fallen deity statue and the black shadow that had been slammed into the side hall, curled up in the corner, motionless.

Sunrise and sunset, morning and evening rain.

No one knew how long it had been.

The rain started again, and a group of people appeared on the mountain path, their torches flickering, heading towards the small temple.

The black shadow curled up in the corner seemed to be awakened by the sound of hooves on the mountain path and finally moved.

Chen Huisheng tried hard to lift his heavy head to see where he was.

His vision was pitch black, making him wonder if he was blind.

Feeling around, he touched the uneven stone wall.

His mouth had a metallic taste, and there was something dry and sticky on his nose and lips. He licked it, and it was still blood.

He realized his mouth and nose were full of dried blood.

Except for his left hand, his entire body felt as if it were broken and scattered, in excruciating pain.

This feeling had been absent for a long time.

After he was ten and confirmed to have the Dao seed, he never felt such discomfort again.

Even when he traveled and studied later and faced some dangers, he never felt as bad as today, almost like a half-dead person.

No, wasn't he the county magistrate?

His thoughts became confused, making him dizzy. It seemed like a dream, with the memories of two people intertwined, but which was real and which was false?

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, but the images in his head wouldn't go away. Why was this dream so clear?

He subconsciously touched his clothes and bag.

A long, narrow robe, a cross-collar shirt, and a silk trousers, feeling familiar yet strange.

Familiar because the clothes fit him well and felt close, but strange because he couldn't tell if they were from the Tang, Song, or Ming dynasty. This thought was odd.

Was he really transported here?

Chen Huisheng's mind became clearer, with memories bubbling up like a spring from his heart.

The two sets of memories finally separated, one innate and the other experienced, which was interesting.

This person was also named Chen Huisheng. Was he a soul transfer or a possession?

It seemed he identified more with this identity, which is why he had such thoughts, rather than thinking it was a very realistic dream.

A slight movement brought Chen Huisheng back from his reverie.

His injuries were severe, and he couldn't move, so he focused on the scene before he lost consciousness.

The tiger, it shouldn't have been a person.

He didn't know the identity of the man who was about to devour him, but before he lost consciousness, he saw the man with the unkempt hair and beard transform into a tiger, with its fur glowing and captivating, leaving a deep impression.

Whether it was a demon or a person, he couldn't tell.

He was thrown and slammed into the stone wall, and now, although his entire body was in pain, with broken bones and limbs, it wasn't a big deal for someone with the Dao seed. He just needed to regulate his breath and circulate his energy to recover, and in a few weeks, he would be mostly healed.

The Dao seed, Chen Huisheng finally realized something.

Yes, he was different because he had the Dao seed, the only one among the 120 children born in Liao County's Guzhen Yuanbao Fort in the ninth year of Jingzhen.

Thinking about this, the faint sound of hooves on the mountain path reached his ears again.

He didn't have time to think more, almost grinding his teeth, using his left arm, which still had some strength, to support himself and sit up.

At this moment, through the dim starlight outside the hall, Chen Huisheng finally confirmed he wasn't blind; it was just that the night was dark, and he was facing the wall without any light, so he couldn't see.

The slightly turbid energy in his dantian stirred.

Closing his eyes and focusing, he gathered his spiritual energy from his dantian, and Chen Huisheng used his spiritual awareness to guide the energy in his meridians, a faint energy flow slowly circulating.

The energy circulated three times in his body, faster than expected, which surprised him.

Yes, it seemed there was something more in the depths of his dantian, but he couldn't see what it was with his current state.

Chen Huish