Chapter 8

Zhang Wenfeng raised his head and looked around for a moment. In an instant, the room was as bright as daylight, even casting a faint shadow of his figure.

He blew out the candle in his hand and placed the candlestick against the wall, curiously examining the stone room that required "Yuan Qi" cultivation to open.

The stone room was about five zhang square, with a circular stone platform in the middle, on which more than ten items were placed.

There were ritual disks, ritual bells, ritual ropes, gourds, black bottles, copper toads, jade ruyis, banners, and flags, arranged in an orderly manner. There were also seven or eight swords of varying lengths placed separately.

Zhang Wenfeng did not rush to examine the treasures left by his ancestor. Following the instructions passed down through generations, he walked to the stone shelf marked with the character "Yi" on the left, and opened a stack of items wrapped in oil paper.

The oil paper, which had not been tended for hundreds of years, was yellow and brittle, and a thin layer of dust had accumulated on the stone shelf.

Inside the oil paper, there were three thin books.

The first book had a blue cover with the title "The Upper Volume of Xianling Guan's Anecdotes" written vertically, signed by "Xuanmu."

Zhang Wenfeng wiped the dust off his fingers with his sleeve, picked up the first book, and opened the cover. After flipping through the blank flyleaf, he read the first page of the main text:

"I am Xuanmu, the founder of Xianling Guan. After I leave, the spiritual energy in Qingming will become extremely thin, known as the 'End of the Dharma' era. There is nothing that can be done. To ensure the continuation of the Daoist tradition, I have no choice but to use this method to preserve the lineage of my descendants."

It was strange that Ancestor Xuanmu did not refer to himself as "poor Daoist" or "old Daoist," but used the term "old man."

He turned to the second page and continued reading.

"The universe has cycles. In Qingming, the spiritual energy rises every five hundred years and then falls over the next five hundred years. Each rise in spiritual energy is a wonderful opportunity for cultivators to break free from their constraints and seek immortality. Cherish it and treat it with caution..."

Zhang Wenfeng read through the three thin books page by page, taking about an hour to finish.

After a moment of thought, he rewrapped the books in the oil paper and returned them to their original place on the shelf.

Following the records in the third book left by Ancestor Xuanmu, Zhang Wenfeng walked to the shelf marked with the character "Shu," opened the oil paper labeled "Wood Dharma," and took out the two books inside, placing them in his chest. He did not touch the other items on the shelf for the time being.

Turning to the stone platform in the middle, Zhang Wenfeng scanned the treasures, looking around.

He did not find the pile of "spiritual energy stones" that Ancestor Xuanmu had specifically mentioned in the book, nor did he see any "shiny gem-like" spiritual energy stones on the ground.

Not finding any, he was slightly disappointed.

He guessed that someone had entered the stone room later and taken the spiritual energy stones, which were of great use to cultivators.

After composing himself, he used his fingers to test the remaining treasures one by one.

Indeed, due to his low cultivation, he could not pick up items such as the ritual disk, ritual bell, and ritual rope.

He exerted his strength to勉强解除旁边一柄剑器的无形束缚，从石台上拿起一柄三尺长的暗青色剑鞘，剑柄处微微弯曲，形似竹根，上面篆刻着五个小字：清净碧竹剑。

“噌”，他拔剑出鞘，剑刃如凝霜般冰冷，映得石台和他脸上都染上了一层森森的淡青色。

张闻风打了个寒噤，皮肤上起了一层鸡皮疙瘩，脸上却漾出了笑容。

“仙家法器，好剑！”

一手持烛台，一手将清净碧竹剑连鞘抱在怀里，从地下通道走了出去。

将机关复原，张闻风的脸色已经恢复平静，走出静室，点亮西殿的清油壁灯，吹灭了剩下的半截蜡烛。

虽然得到了宝物，他仍然需要勤俭持家。

观内收入不多，每天大殿内供奉的蜡烛、线香、清油等开销不能省。

解下腰间普通的佩剑，张闻风将新得的清净碧竹剑珍重系好，左手反握暗青色如玉质透着温意的节状剑柄，用元炁缓缓温养。

他目前的修为不够，需要花几天时间慢慢温养完成祭炼。

从怀里取出两本秘笈，一本封皮上写着《坐忘青木还丹术》，另一本写着《元炁化木符咒浅析》。

端坐椅子上，把书放在八仙桌上，借着摇曳的油灯光亮翻阅。

他先看这本比师父传授给他的《坐忘青木还丹术》厚了近半的册子，道观内所有的秘笈功法，以及比较珍贵的法器，都存放在地下第一间密室，以免遭蟊贼偷盗而遗失。

这一看又是近半个时辰，张闻风的眼眸中不时出现兴奋、欣喜、恍然等神色。

玄木祖师留下的功法更加详实，涵盖了诸多木行法术和破境指点。

他算是知道了后天境界之后，不仅仅是江湖上传说的先天境，而是化炁境、渐微境、自在境、金丹境、归一境、超脱境这六大修仙境界。

修炼到超脱境，便能得大自在飞升成仙，成为真正的神仙人物。

长生久视，逍遥得道。

册子上还提及上古时期，修炼体系与五百多年前大不相同，上古的修行法子粗略简单，境界划分只有“黄玄地天”四阶，不同流派的境界实力相差甚大。

后世每一轮灵气回潮，都有才高卓绝之士改进功法，适应灵气回潮的变化。

以便在灵气回潮的五百年间，以最快速度修炼到超脱境，离开青暝天下，去往更高层次的上界。

张闻风暗自庆幸自己应该是这一轮灵气回潮的先行者，机会比后来者大多了。

正看得津津有味时，透过窗棂纸传来后院牲口棚的撕心裂肺的驴叫声，一声接一声“啊呃……啊……呃……”，在寂静的黑夜中，格外显得嘈杂闹心。

张闻风偏头瞥了一眼角落的铜壶沙漏。

这才惊觉快亥时二刻了，时间过得真快。

起身将书册收进怀里，贴身藏好，他得花时间好好将两本册子抄一遍，原本还是放在地下密室稳妥。

张闻风也感觉肚腹空空，饿得慌，把换下来的青锋剑拿在手上，吹灭油灯，打开西殿门走出去，将西殿落锁，摸黑走去后院，先把普通的佩剑放回自己住的茅屋，斜挂在柱子上。

“你个吃货，成天只知道叫唤，是不是没活干闲得皮子痒啊？”

张闻风不痛不痒地训斥了几句黑驴，驴子耷拉着头，垂下耳朵，闭上了嘴。

掌着从茅屋拿出来的发黄风灯，忙活片刻，清理干净食槽和水槽，给黑驴满上草料和清水，今天的驴厩没时间打扫，暂且邋遢一天吧。

再去厨房，给自己做了一大海碗油淋杂菜肉臊子面皮吃了。

他这两餐用掉的清油，都够老瘸子节省着用六七天。

实在是饿得慌，肚里油水严重不足，或许消耗过大，只能奢侈一回填饱肚皮。

张闻风返回后院茅屋，正待把那一堆换下来的衣物抱走，目光扫过床榻。

犹豫了一下，揭开青布垫卷成团，算了，这床薄布衾、麦皮枕头和垫在床榻的稻草统统烧给亡魂吧，柜子里还有一套晒过的干净厚布衾、灰布垫等物品。

将衣物、青布垫、薄布衾等裹成一团，抱去院墙西北角的空地。

再返回团起压得平实的稻草，张闻风突然住手，他从稻草下方的床榻板上捡出一张四指宽约尺长的黄纸人。

翻转查看用朱砂墨勾画的纸人黄符，他脸色变得异常难看。

“‘血煞阴鬼收魂咒’，真是狠毒啊！”

张闻风咬牙切齿，迸出一句话。