Chapter Twenty-Six: Arrival at Kunlun Mountain

  Qing Xū pointed at Tiě Hǔ who was still lying on the ground and said to Ming Dao, "Please help me remove the seal that Yuán Tōng has set up for him."

  Ming Dao smiled slightly and walked to Tie Hu's side, took a look, and said, "It's okay, this is the Quanji Chan Temple's technique. If it were the Huaxue Zhenjing's technique, it would be more troublesome. It seems that Yuantong is quite fond of this young man, his technique isn't too heavy." After finishing speaking, he lightly touched Tie Hu's brow with his right index finger and then patted the top of Tie Hu's head with the back of his hand.

  Iron Tiger only felt that first his brow was hot, then a warm current flowed into the top of his head and instantly spread throughout his body. Soon his limbs regained their senses and he stood up with a jolt.

  Ming Dao took a glance at Tie Hu's physique and said, "No wonder Yuan Tong wanted to take you as his disciple. With your innate talent, you're most suited for cultivating the Demon-Subduing Golden Vajra."

  Tie Hu rubbed his big head and said in a bad mood, "I'd rather not be a monk! But thanks for making me move again." He had a very bad feeling about the monk.

  Qingxu shouted from beside them, "Tiehu! How dare you speak to Master Mingdao like that! Don't you hurry up and pay your respects!"

  Tie Hu was always obedient to Qing Xu, and as soon as he muttered a sentence, he wanted to kneel down. Ming Dao stretched out his hand and stroked him, saying "Younger brother, don't let him be too polite, it's just a small effort." Tie Hu tried with all his might, but his body no longer listened to his commands, and in his heart, he was greatly frightened and dared not speak again.

  Qingxu didn't look at Tiehu and asked instead, "How did Master know that Yuantong wanted to take Tiehu as his apprentice?"

  "Alas, my junior brother is unaware that the Demon-Subduing Vajra Scepter is a particularly special method among the various Dharma gates of the Jyun Ji Chan Institute. The requirements for the cultivator's innate endowments are extremely strict, and one must have an exceptionally tall and sturdy physique, as well as be born with divine strength and a simple and honest heart. When Master Kong Hearn accepted Yuan Tong as his disciple, he felt that Yuan Tong had two conditions that matched, but Yuan Tong was fond of killing and had a biased temperament, which the master also sensed. However, he thought that good material is hard to come by, and besides, the Buddha's Dharma has no boundaries, so he wanted to use Buddhist methods to transform Yuan Tong's innate evil roots. Who knew that something would still happen? Nevertheless, seeing that Yuan Tong's conscience had not been completely extinguished, he kept searching for someone with better qualifications than him to replace him in cultivating the Demon-Subduing Vajra Scepter, in order to comfort Master Kong Hearn's painstaking efforts." Ming Dao sighed again at this point.

  "Ah, I see! So that's how it is. It's truly remarkable that he has such a mind! From what I can tell, after practicing the Blood Transformation Great Technique, his cultivation conflicted with the Buddhist heart methods he previously learned. When I received his Demon-Subduing Vajra earlier, although his momentum was fierce, the mighty power of the vajra wasn't fully unleashed - this must be the work of demonic obstruction!"

  Ming Dao nodded and said, "Not bad, he is practicing two completely different techniques at the same time. It's inevitable that his internal energy will be in conflict with his demonic energy, which will only grow stronger. The more powerful the Blood Transformation Technique becomes, the weaker the Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle will become. Just now, when he used the Blood Transformation Technique, his killing intent was overflowing, and his demonic energy was surging wildly - not even a hint of a Buddhist disciple's demeanor remained. Fortunately, after all these years of being influenced by Buddhism, as soon as I called out to him, he became alert and retracted his killing intent. Now, the most pressing matter is to find him as quickly as possible and bring him back to Junji Chan Temple, to see if we can restore him to his original state!" After finishing speaking, he glanced at Tie Hu again and thought to himself, "If this young man were to join Junji Chan Temple, perhaps he could truly make the Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle shine brightly." However, he also knew that now was not the time to discuss such matters. Without further ado, he bid farewell and flew off into the distance.

  Xiao Shi Tou watched as Ming Dao's body transformed into a white light streaking across the sky, and he felt a pang of reluctance in his heart. Qing Xu patted him on the shoulder and said, "Little brother, we should also hurry back to the mountain."

  Tie Hu looked at Qingxu with a clear gaze, but didn't even glance at him. He felt extremely wronged in his heart, and tears welled up in his eyes again, but he didn't dare to speak. Xiaoshi Tuo secretly found it amusing, "Such a big guy, how can he cry so easily? No wonder Dashi Xiong runs away when he sees him." Seeing that Qingxu didn't intend to speak, he said, "Dashi Xiong, what about Tie Hu?"

  Qing Xū's furrowed brow, Iron Tiger is more difficult to deal with than Yuán Tōng. Can't hit him, can't scold him, absolutely the biggest nemesis of Qing Xū now. Looking at Iron Tiger again, he's about to burst into tears, it's really worrying!

  Xiao Shi Tou's eyes rolled around, and he beckoned to Tie Hu. Tie Hu hurried over, knowing that this young master was relatively easy-going. Xiao Shi Tou tiptoed up to his ear and whispered a few words. As soon as Tie Hu heard them, his face lit up with a smile, and he nodded his head repeatedly while saying "I know, I know! Please don't worry, Young Master, I'll definitely listen!" He glanced at Qing Xu again and said "Then I'll go home and wait for your good news, Young Master!" After that, he bid farewell to Qing Xu and Xiao Shi Tou, and walked away with big strides, beaming with joy.

  Tie Hu walked away, Qing Xū's face wore a bitter smile as he said "Little Shidi, how could you deceive him and say I would accept him as my apprentice?" Xiao Shi Tou spoke in a low voice, but with his exceptional hearing, he naturally heard it clearly.

  Xiao Shi Tou laughed and said, "I didn't cheat him, Big Brother Master. Have you considered taking Tie Hu as your second disciple first? As for the big disciple, we can make it up later."

  Qingxu listened and thought that Xiaoshi's words also made sense. The Kongtong Sect didn't decide who the eldest disciple was based on who joined first. He had always been thinking about how to find a talented disciple, so he had been avoiding Tiehu, forgetting to take him in as his disciple first. As for the ranking, it could be discussed later. Now Xiaoshi's words had enlightened him, and he laughed, saying "It seems that my younger brother thought this through more clearly, why didn't I think of this before?"

  "it's not that you didn't think of it, but rather that as soon as you see Iron Tiger cry, you want to run away, and yet you still think about these things!"

  It suddenly occurred to them and they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  At the foot of the mountain, looking up at the Qingming Peak that rises straight into the clouds like a sword, majestic and towering, birds flying in circles in the sky, waves of cloud and mist dispersing and gathering, the sound of the wind and cranes echoing in my ears, what a wonderful scene of being carefree and forgetting about the world.

  The little stone looked at the Kunlun Mountains, which it had traveled thousands of miles to reach after experiencing countless hardships, and exclaimed in its heart: "I've finally arrived at the Kunlun Mountains!"

  Under this mountain, I found that the scenery of Kongtong Mountain is indeed worthy of its reputation as "the first mountain in the west", and it also has a reputation for being one of the most beautiful mountains in China.

  It's also great to clear the mind and emotions. Although I have been practicing in Kongtong Mountain for over a hundred years, every time I go out and come back to the foot of this mountain, I still feel like a traveler returning home.

  A small stone pointed at the blue misty peak and asked, "Big Brother Master, does Master live there?"

  Qing Xū suddenly looked stunned, and thought: "I didn't tell you", then said "How did you know!"

  Xiao Shi Tou smiled complacently and said, "This mountain peak is the highest. I think Master's god-like person will definitely like to live there. Am I right!"

  Qing Xuan listened for a moment, and his expression on his face became very strange. After a while, he said, "That is Qing Ming Peak, where the Upper Clear Palace is located. It's the place where our sect's successive leaders have cultivated themselves. Our Master has lived there for 140 years!"

  A small stone looked far into the distance, but was obscured by clouds and fog, and couldn't see anything. He said, "This mountain is so steep, how did they manage to move things up here to build the Qing Palace?"

  Qingxu had guessed that he would ask this question, and he had asked Guangxian the same question back then. With a serious face and a tone of utmost reverence, he said: "That was built by our sect's ancestor, Dafang Zhenren, over 1,000 years ago using his great divine powers. The Upper Clear Palace is 10 zhang high and covers an area of 100 square zhang, with materials selected from thousand-year-old nanmu wood that fears neither water nor fire, solid and unshakeable. Therefore, after going through thousands of years of wind and rain, it still stands upright."

  Xiao Shi Tou's face was filled with admiration as he said, "Master is indeed a god! Eldest Senior Brother, do you think Master has already become a deity?"

  Qingxu shook his head and said, "After Dafang Zushi founded the sect on Kongtong Mountain, he accepted four disciples to pass on the orthodox teachings, then left Kongtong Mountain and never came back."

  Xiao Shi Tou was taken aback and said, "But Master isn't staying here, he's left."

  Qingxu nodded and said, "According to our sect's classics, the place where Dafang Zushi attained enlightenment is in Dongkongtong, and he founded the sect in Xikongtong. We are now in Xikongtong. Whether or not the Ancestor returned to Dongkongtong after founding the sect, I do not know!"

  The little stone was a bit confused and asked again "Where is Dongkang?"

  "I don't know, the ancestors didn't leave any records. You can go to the ancestral hall to find some classics later, they are recorded very clearly. Let's go up the mountain now!"

  Xiao Shi Tuo thought that he would soon see his master, and his mood was both excited and uneasy. What kind of person is Master? Will he like me?

  The answer is just a small stone, everything is in Kongtong Mountain!