Chapter 36

Wufeng Dao, also known as the Quanzhen Wufeng Sect, was founded by the patriarch Wufeng Zhenren, who revered Wang Chongyang as the ancestral master.

In his previous life, Yang Chen received the legacy of Wufeng Zhenren, but he never had any interaction with the descendants of Wufeng Dao. He always cultivated in the Zhongnan Mountains until the establishment of the Chinese Daoist Alliance, when he was assigned a position and began to deal with secular matters.

Therefore, Wufeng Dao was a small sect that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Yang Chen. In his previous life, he even thought that Wufeng Dao had long disappeared from the annals of history, with no one to inherit the Daoist tradition.

He never expected that Wufeng Dao still had a sect leader... and elders! And four generations of disciples!

Under the guidance of Yuxing Zhenren, Yang Chen entered room 8021 on the eighth floor of the Jinzhou Grand Hotel, where he saw the white-haired sect leader of Wufeng Dao and the three elderly elders with wrinkled faces!

After repeating the gesture he had made before Yuxing Zhenren, the thirteen people in room 8021 all knelt on the ground and said in unison, "We pay our respects to our great-grand-uncle (great-great-grand-uncle, great-great-great-grand-uncle, great-great-great-great-grand-uncle)..."

The seniority is so high...

"Everyone, please rise." Looking at the fourteen people, including Yuxing Zhenren, Yang Chen sighed inwardly. No wonder Wufeng Dao remained obscure even in the era of the great explosion of spiritual martial arts.

Among these fourteen people, Yuxing Zhenren, who did not hold any position in the sect, had the highest cultivation, but he was only at the third stage of the Falling Star realm.

The sect leader, the oldest and white-haired elder, was merely at the second stage of the Falling Star realm, and it seemed he hadn't even figured out how to reach the third stage.

Among the remaining three elders, one was just a step away from entering the third stage of the Falling Star realm, but Yang Chen noticed the aura of death around his forehead, indicating that he was barely holding on to life to make it here!

Apart from these few, among the remaining nine people, three were ordinary people with no trace of spiritual energy! Although they were young, around twenty-five or twenty-six, their potential was not much better than that of their sect leader...

After a quick glance, Yang Chen had a general understanding of the current state of Wufeng Dao.

Yang Chen sighed inwardly and asked, "Are all the disciples here?"

Yuxing Zhenren replied, "Great-grand-uncle, one of them is busy with the summer harvest at home and couldn't make it... so he didn't come. The rest are all here."

"Summer harvest?" Yang Chen was taken aback.

Yuxing Zhenren, with his fists clasped and bowing, smiled bitterly, "Wufeng Dao has been passed down to this day, but the Daoist tradition is incomplete, and the number of people has dwindled. If it weren't for the ancestral temple in the mountains, the disciples might have lost their hearts to cultivation..."

This was also the main reason why Yuxing Zhenren left his hometown and ventured out into the world.

Yang Chen touched his nose and turned his gaze to the sect leader, who could barely straighten his back, and asked gently, "The Wufeng Lunxianjing should not have been lost. Why has it come to this?"

A Daoist tradition is a set of ideas and a spirit, which also includes Daoist techniques, talismans, and spiritual treasures that are not easily passed on to outsiders.

However, the core of Wufeng Dao is the Wufeng Lunxianjing. Mastering the Wufeng Lunxianjing, even if one doesn't reach the fifth or sixth stage, with decent potential, becoming a fourth-stage true cultivator is definitely possible!

In the current era, a Daoist temple with a fourth-stage true cultivator should not be reduced to the point where disciples have to farm to survive...

Looking at the dozen or so people in front of him, apart from the sect leader who still looked somewhat decent, the three elders, two high priests, three disciples, and four grand-disciples... which one didn't have the marks of farming on them?

Yang Chen found it hard to imagine how the once-renowned Wufeng Dao in the southeastern shore of Poyang Lake in Nanhu Province could have declined to such a state.

Sect leader Chen Shidong, upon hearing Yang Chen's question, a hint of shame flashed in his cloudy eyes. He bowed slightly and said, "Great-grand-uncle, you may not know... over a hundred years ago, during a time of great turmoil, a group of late Qing soldiers stormed into the sect demanding money. When they didn't get it, they started killing... that disaster almost wiped out all the disciples of Wufeng Dao, and we have never recovered since..."

"Mount Wufeng and Wufeng Dao, as I know, have a great reputation within a hundred miles of the southeastern shore of Poyang Lake. Even if the Daoist tradition was lost, wouldn't the devout men and women still come to worship?" Yang Chen was still puzzled, "A temple with just a dozen people shouldn't have fallen to such a state, right?"

"This..." Chen Shidong found it hard to speak.

It was the first elder, Wu Haozheng, who smiled bitterly and replied, "We are ashamed... over forty years ago, another new temple was built on Mount Wufeng, cutting off the spiritual vein of the mountain. Since then, we have felt no spiritual energy in Wufeng Dao..."

A spiritual vein is a broad concept, referring to a small area where energy particles are abnormally active. According to Daoist thought, this means there is a spiritual vein beneath the earth, making the area rich in spiritual energy.

In reality, the so-called spiritual vein is a misconception. The true reason is that the magnetic field under the area is stronger than in other places, thus attracting more energy particles.

When Wufeng Zhenren chose to build Wufeng Dao on Mount Wufeng, it was precisely because of the active energy particles on the mountain, which could greatly benefit cultivation.

Hearing this, Yang Chen became even more puzzled and asked, "One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, let alone the site of the ancestral temple! When others built a new temple on Mount Wufeng, didn't you try to stop them?"

"How could we not try to stop them? But..." the first elder Wu Haozheng gritted his teeth, "The leader of the new temple is a fifth-stage Daoist true cultivator who coveted the spiritual vein of Mount Wufeng. We tried to stop him, but we couldn't! Not long ago, our third brother couldn't help but shout a few times outside the gate and was almost killed by their Daoist technique!"

"The other side came with overwhelming force, ruthless means, and the support of the local government. How could we be their match?" Yuxing Zhenren added, "If it weren't for the appearance of Great-grand-uncle, Wufeng Dao would have disappeared from Mount Wufeng in just a couple of years!"

Since he had received the favor of Wufeng Zhenren, Yang Chen couldn't ignore this matter!

There was no need for Yuxing Zhenren to exaggerate or incite him. He nodded and asked, "What is the background of the other side? After being neighbors for over forty years, you should have figured it out, right?"

"The leader of the other side is named Xiang Daoxian. He was originally the law enforcement elder of the Immortal Palace on Balong Mountain. For unknown reasons, he left the Immortal Palace and stayed in the capital for over ten years. After returning to Nanhu Province, he did not return to the Immortal Palace on Balong Mountain but established his own sect and built a new temple on our Mount Wufeng, naming it the Immortal Palace... Over forty years, the Immortal Palace has expanded several times, and now most of Mount Wufeng belongs to the Immortal Palace... They have also planted many tall bamboo trees on the mountain, completely blocking our Wufeng Dao from view. Without a guide, ordinary people can't even find Wufeng Dao on the same mountain!"

Yang Chen quickly filtered through all the memories he could recall, but he didn't remember any information about this Xiang Daoxian... He was puzzled and calculated the time on his fingers, which didn't seem right...

"According to your account, the Immortal Palace has been on Mount Wufeng for over forty years. The leader, Xiang Daoxian, was originally the law enforcement elder of the Immortal Palace on Balong Mountain, so he must be quite old... He stayed in the capital for over ten years. How old is he now?"

"Probably around a hundred..." the second elder Wu Yuanbing, who had been wandering outside for years, said uncertainly.

"No, he celebrated his 108th birthday last year, so he should be 109 this year!" the first elder Wu Haozheng corrected, "Even his eldest disciple is almost 85 this year..."

Yang Chen was stunned and puzzled, "The Daoist technique of condensing qi can extend life, but it's impossible for a fifth-stage cultivator to still be lively at 109 years old, right?"

"Great-grand-uncle is right..." Sect leader Chen Shidong said shamefully, "Xiang Daoxian is already old and frail, not as powerful as before... but his disciples are all very strong... we are still no match for them..."

Yang Chen didn't know what to say for a moment! He decided to be straightforward and asked, "So your purpose in coming here is to ask me to take action and deal with this Immortal Palace, right?"

A hint of joy flashed in Yuxing Zhenren's eyes, but he showed a humble and obedient expression, bowing slightly and replied, "Great-grand-uncle is insightful... Mount Wufeng has always been the site of our Wufeng Dao. The Immortal Palace is a group of bandits who took it by force..."

"Enough." Yang Chen waved his hand, cutting off Yuxing Zhenren's words. He was a shrewd person and could see through Yuxing Zhenren's ulterior motives.

He asked the sect leader Chen Shidong with a stern look, "How many disciples of Wufeng Dao are permanently stationed at the temple?"

"This..."

"Tell the truth!"

"Great-grand-uncle... apart from me, only these two are permanently stationed at the temple..." Wu Shidong pointed to the first elder Wu Haozheng and the third elder Li Chunxiao, his face full of embarrassment, "Since the Immortal Palace was established on Mount Wufeng, most of the devout men and women have gone to the Immortal Palace... many don't even know about Wufeng Dao!"

"How many people are there in the Wufeng lineage, including family members?"

"Great-grand-uncle... in total, there are about thirty people..."

"Do they all farm for a living at the foot of Mount Wufeng?"

"Not all... few stay in the hometown to farm. Most are out working or doing small businesses..."

"No one cultivates?" Yang Chen's gaze fell on the young people who were completely ordinary, and his expression turned grim.

"Can't even fill their bellies, how can they talk about cultivation..." Yuxing Zhenren said softly.

But Yang Chen's cold gaze instantly turned to him!

"Why did you leave Wufeng Dao back then?!"

"I..." Yuxing Zhenren was startled.

Yang Chen didn't give him a chance to defend himself and asked sternly, "As the only third-stage cultivator in Wufeng Dao, facing the decline of the ancestral temple, the dwindling of disciples, and the imminent loss of the Daoist tradition, you chose to leave Wufeng Dao and enjoy a life of leisure outside, ignoring the safety of your fellow disciples and treating the younger generation like grass... Yuxing, do you know your crime?!"

"Great-grand-uncle, I..." Yuxing Zhenren was terrified by Yang Chen's murderous gaze but did not admit his fault. Instead, he suppressed his fear and replied, "I was forced to leave Wufeng Dao back then... if I hadn't been struggling outside all these years, Wufeng Dao would have closed down long ago..."

Sect leader Chen Shidong also defended Yuxing Zhenren, "That's right, Great-grand-uncle. Yuxing is right... without the financial support he provided over the years, Wufeng Dao would have been unable to survive..."

"How much does he send to Wufeng Dao each year?"

"Probably around 7,000 to 8,000..."

"Ha ha..." Yang Chen couldn't help but laugh, "7,000 to 8,000? Yuxing, Yuxing, what a generous amount!"

"Great-grand-uncle, I..." Yuxing Zhenren stopped arguing and lowered his head in silence.

Yang Chen continued, "Even if the lack of spiritual energy on the mountain affected your cultivation, you shouldn't have ignored Wufeng Dao for so many years. Now, you act loyal and devoted when I'm here! I ask you, what are your true intentions?!"

The last light reprimand carried a hint of mental power. To others, it might not seem out of place, but to Yuxing Zhenren, it was like a thunderbolt, piercing his soul!

This was both Yang Chen's question and Yuxing Zhenren's own question.

He was startled and his face showed confusion...

Indeed, what are my true intentions?

If it weren't for my master's kindness in taking me in and nurturing me in Wufeng Dao, how could there be the current Yuxing Zhenren?

Recalling the hopes the sect leader, the first elder, and the second elder had placed in him before he left Wufeng Dao, and the burning passion he felt when he descended the mountain, wasn't it to save Wufeng Dao from its crisis and make it rise again by seeking help from the outside world?

But the temptations of the secular world gradually led him astray. He began to enjoy the life of being flattered and respected, and he fell in love with young and beautiful women, and the feeling of spending money lavishly!

The words of the sect leader and the elders before he left the mountain still echoed in his ears. Thinking back to his original intentions, Yuxing Zhenren felt an urge to cry!

So many years had passed, and he had gone from a young man in his thirties to an old man with gray hair.

What about his pursuits? His ambitions? His ideals?!

Yang Chen's light reprimand was like a thunderclap and a warning bell.

The Daoist, overwhelmed with emotion, shed tears and said hoarsely, "I have sinned... please punish me, Great-grand-uncle!"

Kneeling on the ground, Yuxing Zhenren realized his mistakes.

Yang Chen, changing his stern expression to a smile, clasped his hands together and said softly, "To know one's faults and correct them is a great virtue. Your lack of progress at the third stage of the Falling Star realm might be due to losing your Daoist heart. Now that you have repented, it is a good deed... today, I will grant you a blessing. Whether you can use this opportunity to reach the fourth stage depends on your own destiny."

As he spoke, Yuxing Zhenren, kneeling on the ground, felt a warm energy flow from the Baihui point on his head into his spiritual palace. A tremendous amount of energy erupted from the center of the room, scattering and then converging with a surge of spiritual energy!

Yang Chen, with his hands in a seal, smiled, and a golden light appeared behind him, making him look like a celestial being!

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