Chapter 50

After listening to the words of the Four Friends of Wudang, Yue Qing said resolutely, "Even so, the deep grace of my master and the deep enmity of Emei cannot be left unavenged! Over the years, my senior sister and I have accumulated a lot of materials. This time, we have also received generous gifts from the three palace masters of Ziyun Palace, which are enough to start the furnace. Due to the lack of manpower, I have no choice but to put aside my old face and trouble the four of you to help." He smiled, "You have been busy in Ziyun Palace for nearly three years, delaying much of your cultivation. This time, we will combine the two efforts and reward you. After the matter is accomplished, we will give you a set of Eight Yang treasures as a token of appreciation."

The Four Friends of Wudang hurriedly declined, "Not to mention our decades of private friendship, just for the sake of your fellow Daoists' spirit of saving the world, we cannot stand idly by. The Eight Yang treasures are your sect's precious treasures. It is said that Jiang Sanguni once refined two of them and used them to dominate the world, defeating many Emei sect experts. Your actions are even more difficult than founding a sect. In the future, you will surely need to widely recruit disciples, so it would be better to pass the treasures on to your disciples."

Yue Qing naturally could not go back on his word and insisted that he must give them the treasures, otherwise he would have to find others for help. Only then did the Four Friends of Wudang finally agree.

The Four Friends of Wudang had been away for many years and were now eager to return to Wudang Mountain. After passing through Guangdong, they parted ways, while Yue Qing and Xu Feiniao headed for Maoshan.

As soon as the four of them arrived near Maoshan, they were discovered by the guardian deities. A golden light appeared in the clouds, and four golden-armored deities, each over ten feet tall, holding a demon-subduing staff, a demon-slaying sword, a demon-taming tower, and a demon-slaying bow, blocked their path: "Maoshan is a sacred place; no rudeness is allowed! Those who wish to pass must ascend to over 5,000 meters or take a detour. Those who wish to enter the mountain can walk up to the gate."

Yue Qing smiled, "Old Li! Old Zhang! Don't you recognize me? Who received my Spirit Jade Bixi incense back then?"

The golden-armored deities focused their eyes, shooting out two beams of golden light, and looked at Yue Qing and the others, then smiled, "It's Daoist Yue and Daoist Xu! We haven't seen you for many years, and your Daoist powers have become even deeper!"

Yue Qing said, "Brother Liu finally let you out. You must have been bored in the pot all these years!"

These four guardian deities were originally evil sect experts from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, contemporaries of the three elders of Emei, and of a higher generation than the famous evil sect master Xuan Yuan Fawang. They were quadruplet brothers who had always acted without restraint and committed countless evils. They were struck dead by the Nine Heavens' Divine Thunder by Maoshan's founder Tao Hongjing, who should have caused their souls to disperse. However, Tao Hongjing calculated that their fates were unique and different from ordinary people, so he used a treasure pot to gather their residual souls and made a pact with them to serve as Maoshan's 3,000 guardians. After 3,000 years, the restrictions on their Daoist powers would automatically失效, and at that time, they would have completed their cultivation and could ascend to heaven to continue being deities.

These four guardian deities had been cultivating for over a thousand years, practicing the Daoist methods taught by Tao Hongjing, and were on the path of becoming earth immortals from ghost immortals. They were now at the peak of ghost immortality. In the past, when Maoshan and Wutai sects were friendly, Yue Qing followed the Grandmaster Taiyi Hunyuan to Maoshan and often saw them, and they were very familiar with each other. Yue Qing even specially went to the Unfixed Island in the Northern Sea to seek the Spirit Jade Bixi incense for them from the Ancestor Xiankong. The four deities had received his incense, making their bodies more condensed, and thus they were very grateful to Yue Qing.

After the patriarch Maolao ascended, the Maoshan sect shifted its focus to the secular world, and the guardian deities were kept in the pot, with only small Taoist boys offering three grass incense sticks daily. Now that the guardian deities were released, it seemed that the Liu brothers were really planning a big move.

After a few moments of casual chat, the guardian deities opened the cloud path and invited Yue Qing to go down, "The patriarch has already prepared tea at the Shangqing Palace."

"Brother Yue!" Liu Buxu was as lively as ever.

Liu Buxuan, with his keen eyes, looked up and down, "In just three years, Brother Yue has made such great progress! It's simply unbelievable!"

Yue Qing introduced them to each other. Xu Feiniao was also familiar with them and exchanged a few jokes. Then he introduced the two new disciples.

Liu Buxuan looked at Lu Rongbo and was surprised, "You are a yuan ying?"

Just as Lu Rongbo was about to speak, Yue Qing said, "She is not an outsider. She is the daughter of Lu Min, who was known as the Land Immortal and cultivated at the Xuan Shuang Cave on Rabbit Cliff in the Mangcang Mountains."

This statement left everyone in the room, except for Xu Feiniao, stunned. The younger generation wondered who this Lu Min was, while Lu Rongbo and Wei Rong were suspicious of Yue Qing and Xu Feiniao's motives. Hearing him reveal her background, their faces changed, and Wei Rong even stood in front of Lu Rongbo, almost ready to release her flying sword.

Liu Buxuan thought for a moment and finally remembered, "That Lu Min is the registered disciple of Jile Zhenren, right?"

Yue Qing nodded, "Yes, when our Wutai sect opened the furnace to refine treasures, my master invited Jile Zhenren. Lu Min happened to meet the Zhenren near Wutai Mountain and joined us to watch. We once drank the Moon Embracing Immortal Brew together."

Liu Buxu now had some recollection and nodded, then looked at Lu Rongbo again, "Niece, how did you end up like this?"

Yue Qing explained, "She had already completed her cultivation and was preparing to ascend to the immortal realm. When her yuan ying left her body and ascended, she was encountered by the Three Phoenixes. At that time, Chuxiao needed to refine divine sand to defend against enemies and was short of manpower, so she sent everyone out to find disciples and servants. The Three Phoenixes happened to encounter her during her ascension, used the magic sand to break the divine light, and forced her down. They brought her back to Ziyun Palace and used the Yuan Yuan Shen Jiao to solidify her body, making her look like this now."

Hearing him recount her experiences in such detail, as if he had been there, Lu Rongbo was very surprised. She thought it was all calculated by Yue Qing using the先天神卦, and she inwardly marveled at the power of immortal techniques.

Yue Qing said, "Jile Zhenren and my master were old friends. We once met your father. Therefore, we are not outsiders. Seeing you suffer in Ziyun Palace, I couldn't just stand by, so I found an excuse to bring you over. Besides, to be frank, your father was only an unregistered disciple of Jile Zhenren, not even a registered one. The Daoist methods he learned could only reach the immortal realm and allow ascension with a yuan ying. Our Wutai sect has the Golden Immortal lineage left by the ancient Tongxuan Zhenren and the Heavenly Immortal lineage left by the Xiyi Laozu. If you join our Wutai sect, you will be the first female immortal of your generation. With your talent and insight, reaching the Heavenly Immortal realm will not be difficult. Of course, if you insist on not joining, we won't force you. After all, a forced marriage is not sweet, and our Wutai sect, though currently in decline, does not force others to become disciples. Given our connection, if you regret joining, you can say where you want to go, whether it's the Xuan Shuang Cave where your father cultivated or the Happy Village where your ancestors lived, I will send you there."

After hearing his words, Lu Rongbo finally understood. It turned out that he had a reason for bringing her out of Ziyun Palace. At that time, the Wutai sect's reputation was not as bad as it later became, and she was not particularly averse to joining the Wutai sect. Although she was somewhat averse to Xu Feiniao, she mostly respected and was grateful to Yue Qing.

On the other hand, as Yue Qing said, her father Lu Min was not even a registered disciple of Jile Zhenren, just an unregistered one, and the Daoist methods he learned were also unregistered. Although Jile Zhenren was held back by his disciples and concubines and did not ascend, he was indeed at the Golden Immortal realm, stronger than many who had already ascended to the Heavenly Immortal realm. However, the Daoist methods Lu Min learned were not very good, and after his body was dissolved, his yuan ying ascended to heaven to become a constrained "hairy deity."

Now, if Lu Rongbo left, she could either return to the Xuan Shuang Cave on Rabbit Cliff to reunite with her son and cultivate for decades, following in her father's footsteps to ascend after her body was dissolved. However, her son had exceptional talent and could definitely reach the Heavenly Immortal realm, even if not the Golden Immortal realm. If he ended up like her, it would be too much of a waste. Although she had once calculated her future and determined that she would suffer in Ziyun Palace and be rescued by the Emei sect, along with her son, the situation had changed. The suffering had not ended, but her fortune had already turned, and she realized that her Daoist powers were limited and she had miscalculated the heavenly secrets.

In a short moment, Lu Rongbo made up her mind. Joining the Wutai sect would benefit both her and her son. Moreover, Yue Qing and the others clearly seemed to be righteous immortals. Although Xu Feiniao had been annoying in Ziyun Palace, she had not done anything unforgivable and had given her the Sun Gourd, a supreme treasure. Therefore, she bowed and said, "I, the suffering Lu Rongbo, am grateful to my junior master for rescuing me from suffering. The great kindness of giving me a second life is hard to repay. Since I have already joined, I will not regret it. If I have any second thoughts, may I be punished by heaven!"

Hearing her words, Yue Qing nodded in approval, had her stand up and meet the other masters, and then pointed to Wei Rong and the Liu brothers, "This child is even closer. He is Lingxu Zi's little disciple."