Chapter 29

Yue Qing said, "Master, please rest assured. I have already brought our sect to a level ten times greater than the Wudang Sect!"

"Ha ha ha." Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor laughed heartily, "There are three thousand orthodox cultivation methods and countless side paths in the world. Summarized, they can be categorized into three types: Tianyuan, Diyuan, and Renyuan. Nowadays, cultivators like the Shaoyang lineage use their own true qi and true fluids as lead and mercury, extracting the essence and filling the void, practicing the union of the dragon and tiger, and the inner elixir they refine is the Renyuan Pill. In the pre-Qin era, cultivators extracted the essence from five metals and eight stones, transforming it into lead and mercury, cultivating the yellow sprout, and refining the golden elixir. Consuming it would kill the three worms and lead to immortality, which is the Diyuan Pill. In ancient times, cultivators used the heavens and earth as a furnace, the sun and moon as charcoal, entrusting their primordial spirits to the void, encompassing the vast universe, and finally achieving the Tianyuan Pill. The Wen Shi lineage is like this. Tongxuan Zhenren was a disciple of Laozi, and the Tongxuan Zhenjing he passed down is similar to the Wen Shi Zhenjing, practicing the Tianyuan path."

Yue Qing listened with wide eyes, "If the Tongxuan Zhenjing is so profound, why didn't Master pass it down to us?"

Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor said, "The Tongxuan Zhenjing is written in ancient tadpole script, profound and abstruse, difficult to understand. I have spent hundreds of years contemplating it and have only gained a slight understanding. To refine the Tianyuan Pill, one must entrust their primordial spirit to the cosmic void, not having a single thought at the beginning, otherwise, they will separate from the void. However, without thoughts, one is like a withered tree, devoid of sensation, and cannot achieve success. I specially went to the Great Snow Mountain to find the Snow Mountain Old Demon, exchanging a treasure I refined in the past for the Two Minds Divine Art. Then I entrusted my primordial spirit to the void, not having any thoughts, while my second primordial spirit still presides over the sect on Wutai Mountain. This has been going on for..."

Yue Qing suddenly interrupted with surprise and joy, "So, the one injured by the Three Immortals of the East Sea with the无形sword was just your second primordial spirit? Master, you are still alive!"

"Indeed, the one who fell at that time was my second primordial spirit. The one speaking to you now is my true primordial spirit."

Yue Qing was almost in tears with joy, "Master, since you are still alive, why haven't you come to see us? Wutai Sect has been struggling these past years..."

"I am already cultivating the Tianyuan Pill. Once it is completed, I will instantly become a Golden Immortal and ascend to the immortal realm. I do not wish to be overly involved in human affairs. The path of cultivation must be walked by you yourselves. I cannot protect you forever. Moreover, my primordial spirit is entrusted to the vast universe, and it is a critical time. If I have any thoughts, I will separate from the void and revert to my original form. Now that I have made some progress, the Tianyuan Pill has taken shape, and I can finally speak to you. Yue'er, listen carefully. The Tongxuan Zhenjing is extremely profound, all direct teachings of the Dao. Your uncle once read part of it but found it difficult to achieve and gave up. I also found it hard to cultivate and spent over a decade thinking of a gradual method, which is the Hunyuan True Qi. However, you all thought the progress was too slow and no one was willing to cultivate it. Only you have cultivated it for several decades and have some foundation. That is why I have appeared today to decide to pass the Tongxuan Zhenjing to you. Otherwise, this Dao method will be lost."

"Disciple is ashamed!" Yue Qing, though more diligent than his peers, was driven by his longing for his master, feeling he could not let this unique Dao method created by his master be lost. However, the progress was extremely slow, and he often practiced intermittently, never realizing how important the Hunyuan True Qi was.

Suddenly, countless tadpole characters appeared in Yue Qing's mind, each one moving as if alive, forming the scriptures. Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor explained each word and phrase to him: "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The great Dao is profound and cannot be directly expressed. If it could be expressed, it would not be the Dao. I will not explain the scriptures to you, but I will explain the meaning of each word and phrase and the stories they contain. The specific teachings in the scriptures you must understand on your own."

Yue Qing quickly memorized everything, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.

The Tongxuan Zhenjing has nine chapters, each not very long, but every word is precious and profound. Yue Qing mostly did not understand the meanings, but he carefully memorized the scriptures, planning to ponder them in the future.

"Besides these, there is also an external chapter of the Tongxuan Zhenjing, which I summarized while cultivating the scriptures, containing methods for refining elixirs and treasures. The ancient oil lamp you obtained from Zhu Hong is one of the Taiqing Eight Scenic Lamps mentioned in the external chapter. I only refined part of it. If you want to complete the lamp, you must first master the scriptures."

"Master, are the treasure-refining methods in the external chapter better than those recorded in the Hunyuan secondary volume?"

"Compared to the Tongxuan secondary volume, the Hunyuan secondary volume is all dross! To avoid distracting you and making you focus on external objects, I will not pass the Tongxuan secondary volume to you yet."

"Master," Yue Qing hurriedly said, "When will you pass it to me? Master, you know my character. I have always been steady. For so many years, I have only cultivated the Taiyi Zhenjie and not the Ten Demon Scriptures. I have been focusing on the Five Elements True Qi and have not refined many treasures, putting me at a disadvantage in battles. Master, please teach me now."

"No, the treasure-refining methods in the Tongxuan Zhenjing are all incredibly powerful. If you see them, you will surely become obsessed. Do not complain. When you have cultivated the Hunyuan True Qi to its highest level, return to the Taiyi Palace on Wutai Mountain. There, you can entrust your primordial spirit to the void as I did today, and you will be able to see me. I will then pass the scriptures to you. At that time, you can use the Hunyuan True Qi to open the Heavenly Craft Furnace in the back mountain and refine whatever treasures you wish. Now, you cannot open the Heavenly Craft Furnace, and even if I taught you, it would be useless."

Yue Qing knew that although Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor doted on his disciples, once he made a decision, it could not be changed. Therefore, he did not plead further, "Disciple will follow Master's command and strive to cultivate the Hunyuan True Qi to its highest level." However, he was not very confident. He had cultivated the Hunyuan True Qi for fifty years and only reached the initial stage. To reach the highest level would likely take several hundred more years, and he did not know when that would be.

"Alright, I have passed the Tongxuan Zhenjing to you. I must go now. I will not appear easily in the future. The future of Wutai Sect depends entirely on you."

"Master, don't go! Master, I finally see you, don't... Master! Master!"

Yue Qing's body trembled, breaking out of the state of unity with heaven and earth. He saw that Liu Quan, sitting beside him, also looked anxious, calling out to the master. He patted Liu Quan's arm, "Junior brother, what's wrong?"

Liu Quan opened his eyes, looked around, and said in surprise, "I just saw Master."

"Master? Which master?" Yue Qing asked, as Liu Quan had many masters. Initially, he had a wandering immortal master, then Chali Laofo, and after Laofo's passing, Kuti Elder. Suddenly, he realized, "You didn't see our master, did you?"

Liu Quan nodded excitedly, "Yes! I was practicing the Taiyi Xuan Gong that Senior Brother taught me, and suddenly Master appeared. He was wearing the Eight Trigram Immortal Robe and holding a如意flying dust, just like the statue in the temple. I bowed to him again, and he passed me a Dao method called the Taiyi Hunyuan Sword Sha."

"What!" Yue Qing thought Liu Quan was hallucinating, as Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor had said his primordial spirit was entrusted to the vast universe and could not manifest a form, or it would be rejected by the void. Moreover, the image Liu Quan saw was like the temple statue, but the master had never dressed like that or held a如意.

However, the most unbelievable part was that the Taiyi Hunyuan Sword Sha was the master's signature technique, and only he could use it, even his uncle Sikong Zhan could not. He never expected the master to pass it to Liu Quan.

"The Taiyi Hunyuan Sword Sha requires the foundation of the Taiyi Xuan Gong and Hunyuan True Qi. Did Master teach you both?"

Liu Quan nodded and recited a mantra, which was the essence of cultivating the Hunyuan True Qi.

Yue Qing was stunned for a moment and finally sighed, "Master's power is profound and incomprehensible!"

Taiyi Hunyuan Ancestor's appearance greatly relieved Yue Qing's heavy and tragic mood. First, the master was not dead but still alive and had made great progress in his Dao cultivation, ready to ascend to the immortal realm upon success. Second, he had been struggling to revive Wutai Sect, facing the powerful Emei Sect and fierce peers, feeling overwhelmed.

Although he recently obtained the secondary volume of the Heavenly Book and the Taiyi Five Smoke Silk, once his peers found out, they would surely come to demand and fight for them, including the powerful Uncle Sikong Zhan. Additionally, he was always uneasy about taking Liu Quan as a disciple, as he felt the peers would not accept Liu Quan and would not recognize him as a Wutai disciple. The dual pressures from within and outside the sect had exhausted him.

However, now, the master's existence gave him a sense of reliance. Passing the Tongxuan Zhenjing to him was the greatest affirmation and support. The master personally took Liu Quan as a disciple, and knowing the peers would not accept Liu Quan, he passed his unique Dao method to him. Imagine if someone questioned Liu Quan, and he used the Taiyi Hunyuan Sword Sha, who could doubt him?