Chapter 54

After leaving the Seven Stars Palace, the path ahead is not accessible to everyone. A side road branches off the main path, leading to the先天阁 (Xian Tian Pavilion), where the Grand Master Taiyi Huanyuan collected various treasures and rare items from all over, as well as scriptures and notes from the Buddhist, Taoist, and demonic teachings. Unfortunately, after Master Tuotuo passed away, everyone scattered and divided all the contents of the pavilion, with Sikong Zhan taking the most, almost moving half of the Xian Tian Pavilion to Yunmeng Mountain.

Following the main path upwards leads to the Yellow Extreme Palace, which was the place where Grand Master Huanyuan used to give lectures. Every year during the Three Origins Festival, Grand Master Huanyuan would come down from the Taiyi Palace to this place to teach and spread the doctrines to all the disciples. When Grand Master Huanyuan was in seclusion at the Taiyi Palace, Master Tuotuo would lead the group of junior brothers and sisters here to practice and refine their skills.

The scenes of the past are still vivid in memory, but now the people have changed, and everyone sighs with emotion.

Above the Yellow Extreme Palace, the mountain path is sealed by a sea of clouds. Not far from here is the Phoenix Dance Pavilion, from which one can travel directly to the Ice Extreme Cave on Beitaishan Mountain via the Rainbow Cloud Path. If one continues upwards, after passing through 108 steps of white jade cloud steps, one reaches the Taiyi Palace. Only the leader of the Wutai Sect can reside in the Taiyi Palace. Since Master Tuotuo passed away, it has been automatically sealed, with the Huanyuan Lock Immortal Array outside. Only the leader of the Wutai Sect can use Huanyuan True Qi to open the Immortal Array and enter the palace.

Yue Qing knelt at the bottom of the white jade steps, silently praying to his teacher. Then he raised his hands and shot out Huanyuan True Qi. The True Qi, a mix of black and white, spiraled into the sea of clouds. Soon, the milky white clouds began to boil and roll like a pot of boiling water, quickly forming various shapes of birds and beasts, from small squirrels and sparrows to large dragons and whales, wandering and roaring.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Yue Qing was already sweating on his forehead. The cloud creatures finally parted like a curtain, revealing a staircase made entirely of white jade.

Yue Qing, feeling somewhat weak, stumbled as he stood up, almost falling. Liu Quan quickly came to his aid: "Senior Brother?"

Yue Qing waved his hand: "It's fine, it just takes a lot of energy the first time to open it. It will be easier next time. This place is the central hub of the entire Wutai Mountain. Once the Taiyi Palace is opened, the mountain protection array is also activated, and the dragon veins underground are awakened. The essence of the earth and sky within ten thousand miles will continuously converge here. In no more than three months, Wutai Mountain will completely transform. Let's go to the Taiyi Palace and take a look."

Fayuan looked at Yue Qing with shock, because he knew that to open the Taiyi Palace, two conditions must be met: one, the leader of the Wutai Sect, and two, the cultivation of Huanyuan True Qi. There were only a handful of people in the Wutai Sect who cultivated Huanyuan True Qi, about four or five, including Sikong Zhan, but none of them could open the Taiyi Palace. Today, Yue Qing did it!

Yesterday, when Yue Qing and Xu Feiniang told him about the manifestation of Grand Master Taiyi Huanyuan, he didn't believe it at all. Once a person's form and spirit are destroyed, they are completely gone, how could they still manifest? Although he knew his teacher had a heavenly book, he didn't know its name. When Grand Master Huanyuan taught him half of it, he couldn't understand it, and eventually gave up. He couldn't comprehend the realm of "heaven and earth as a furnace, sun and moon as charcoal,寄托元神,锻炼天元 (entrusting the primordial spirit, refining the celestial essence)," so he naturally didn't believe in the manifestation of his teacher. He thought it was just a means for them to gather fellow disciples and claim legitimacy. Now, seeing Yue Qing open the Taiyi Palace, he began to have some doubts.

The Taiyi Palace was created by Grand Master Taiyi Huanyuan, who gathered the essence of the world and refined it in the Heavenly Artisan Furnace. The entire palace is as large as a mountain peak, with steps, doors, windows, and pillars all seamlessly integrated.

The palace has a total of thirty-three floors. The main hall houses the giant statues of Laozi and Tongxuan Zhenren. Laozi is dressed in a Taoist robe, with a gourd at his waist, holding a banana leaf fan in his left hand and a seven-star sword in his right. Below him is a fierce and fierce-looking blue ox, five meters tall, standing on clouds and floating above a misty water pool.

Tongxuan Zhenren stands slightly behind Laozi, wearing a free-flowing headband, holding an ancient lamp in his left hand and a bamboo scroll in his right. Below him is a giant ancient bird, Kunpeng, with its wings spread wide, as if flying over the sea.

Yue Qing led everyone to pay respects to the grand masters, then visited the Wind Pavilion, Rain Pavilion, Thunder Pool, Lightning Tower, Yin-Yang Candle, Four Symbols Tower, and Eight Mystic Pearls.

After leaving the Taiyi Palace, Yue Qing sealed the cloud path and began assigning tasks. Liu Quan was responsible for leading people to clean the various palaces, Xu Feiniang for repairing the abandoned arrays and restrictions, and Fayuan for receiving the returning fellow disciples and introducing them, as well as revealing Yue Qing's plans in advance to gauge their reactions. Yue Qing went to Beitaishan Mountain to prepare to open the Taiyi Heavenly Artisan Furnace.

The Wutai Sect was once prosperous, with over twenty direct disciples of Grand Master Taiyi Huanyuan scattered across various places, some far and some near. The first to return were Hu Shi, the Fire-Winged Vajra, and Sun Fu, the Lotus Venerable. These two entered the sect relatively late and were considered junior disciples. They originally followed Fayuan, though they were not monks, they had shaved heads and wore monk robes.

Hu Shi practiced the Divine Demon Body Refinement Great Law, which, according to the Ten Demon Scriptures, can achieve invincibility when perfected. He can now grab flying swords in mid-air and his monk robe is a magical treasure, made of two pieces connected by jade rings. When activated, it becomes two wings, emitting demonic fire, making him unstoppable, hence his nickname, Fire-Winged Vajra.

Sun Fu practiced the Blood Demon Transformation Great Law, which allows him to emit demonic fire lotuses, condensing flames into lotuses to support the enemy's flying swords. Therefore, everyone calls him the Lotus Venerable.

A few years ago, they offended Wei Fengniang, the Divine Hand of Qingshelu, and were chased to the point of having no place to hide. They fled back to Wutai Mountain to seek Fayuan's protection. Unfortunately, Fayuan was no match for Wei Fengniang. In the end, it was Xu Feiniang who stepped in, fighting Wei Fengniang fiercely and driving her away. Since then, these two have admired this patient and enduring senior sister, becoming Xu Feiniang's loyal followers. Whenever Xu Feiniang sends a flying sword message, no matter how far away they are, they immediately rush back. Therefore, upon seeing a letter signed by Xu Feiniang, they immediately returned.

Xu Feiniang introduced Liu Quan to them, and they immediately called him "Junior Brother." They were willing to work with their senior sister, and didn't care about the future development of the Wutai Sect. Without needing to be assigned, they rolled up their sleeves and started working with Xu Feiniang, and when they saw her increased magical power, their admiration deepened even more.

The next day after their return, Master Zhitong, a disciple of Master Tuotuo, also returned. He always considered himself the direct eldest grandson of the Wutai Sect, with a long history of cultivation, and even looked down on many of his junior uncles who entered the sect later. Upon receiving the flying sword message that Fayuan and the others were reorganizing the sect and reviving Wutai, he felt that such a major event should be led by him, so he immediately brought his four disciples and rushed back.

Master Zhitong is tall and dignified, looking like a high-ranking monk. He studied Buddhism with his teacher Master Tuotuo, unlike Fayuan and the others who were just monks in name. He has a deep understanding of Buddhism, especially the Lotus Sutra, and is often invited by other temples to give lectures. Through his years of efforts, the Ciyun Temple has become extremely prosperous, with many people traveling from far away to Chengdu to worship and offer incense. The number of lay disciples who have taken him as their teacher exceeds one million! Whenever anyone in Sichuan mentions the Ciyun Temple and Master Zhitong, they all praise him for his profound Buddhist knowledge, compassion, and strict adherence to the precepts.

Master Zhitong was not wearing a monk robe but a yellow monk's robe, holding a nine-ring staff in his right hand and a purple gold bowl in his left, with a compassionate expression on his face. Behind him were his four favorite disciples, the famous Four Vajras of the Ciyun Temple: the Mighty Vajra Iron Palm Monk Huiming, the Invincible Vajra Simulated Dharma Huineng, the Multi-Armed Vajra Little Nezha Huxing, and the Multi-Eyed Vajra Little Fire God Huixing. Each of them was over nine feet tall, resembling iron towers, holding the four magical instruments: lotus lamp, treasure staff, jade tower, and golden wheel. They followed Master Zhitong, riding a golden light, and landed in front of the mountain gate. He originally wanted to go directly to the Seven Stars Palace, but the defensive array had already been activated, so he landed at the mountain gate and walked up.

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