Chapter Fifteen: The Disciples of Quanzhen

  The police dragged me into the cell, threw me to the ground and left me there. I looked like I had been tortured. My master was both shocked and angry. "How could a disciple of Quanzhen be treated with such humiliation?" he exclaimed, helping me up. His eyes were wide open, panting heavily, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Who did this to you? Tell your master, I won't let him off easy. Quanzhen will not tolerate such humiliation."

  The master's voice was very low, and the suppressed anger could be heard. I reckon that if I mention a name now, the master will use magic to retaliate against him. Of course, it's just maybe, but I don't want to say those things now. Looking at the master with a hint of bitter smile: "Master, I'm fine, but can you give me two more talismans in the future? This one talisman is used once and then it's done, and it can't kill the evil spirit in one go. If not for the Nine-Character True Words Spell, I would have been finished off by now, and wouldn't be able to see you again..."

  He was stunned, Master looked at me and didn't know what to say. A talisman? A nine-character mantra? Master's face turned red: "Tell me clearly, what's going on?"

  I leaned against the wall, took a deep breath, and slowly recounted what had just happened. Master's face changed several times as he listened, and finally, after muttering to himself for a while, he suddenly shouted at me: "You fool! That talisman wasn't meant for you to use to hit ghosts with, it was a protective charm, used to intimidate evil spirits into not daring to approach you. The protective charm has no attacking power, so of course it wouldn't have much effect on the ghost. You're an idiot, as long as you have the protective charm, malevolent spirits won't dare get close to you, naturally they won't attack you... Wait a minute, you said that when you punched out, the protective charm suddenly ignited?"

  I nodded, and was scolded, feeling a bit depressed. Who knew that was an amulet? Looking at Master's bitter smile, I said: "Who made you not tell me clearly? I thought I could beat the ghost to death with one punch, so I was full of joy, wanting to use that talisman to eliminate the ghost in one go. Thinking like this, I swung my fist and it actually ignited."

  The master was stunned, swallowed hard and spat out saliva, suddenly thought of something, and stared at me incredulously: "You just said you used the Nine-Character True Words Curse to destroy the evil spirit?"

  Watching the master's surprise, I felt a bit strange, but still nodded and carefully recounted the situation at that time. The master listened, squatting there in stunned silence for half a day without making a sound. After a long while, he suddenly jumped up, punched the wall with his fist, unable to say whether it was from crying or laughing: "It's really true that people can be driven mad by others! I spent over ten years of hard work just to achieve some success in mastering the Nine-Character True Words Spell, and now you... this is unbearable!"

  The master sighed for a moment, then turned his head back to me and smiled mysteriously: "Young one, since you have such great talent, I'll teach you the Golden Elixir Great Way of the Quanzhen School ahead of time. You must take good care of yourself."

  Every time the master mentions Quanzhen, he becomes spirited and his sloppy image is instantly retracted, with a somewhat dignified appearance. Unfortunately, after saying it, the old state will sprout again. I just came to a conclusion that the master was born sloppy, and things brought by heaven cannot be changed by human effort. Of course, the master would not know what I think in my heart, otherwise, I estimate he would beat me up.

  I took the Golden Elixir Great Way secret book from Master's hands, and I couldn't wait to open it and take a look. However, after flipping through a few pages, I was stunned. I looked up at Master, hesitated for a moment, then let out a sigh: "Master, why are there no methods for subduing demons and exorcising evil spirits? Why is everything written in incomprehensible things?"

  Master's face sank, and he glared at me fiercely: "Rotten wood - rotten wood, the Golden Elixir Great Way of the Quanzhen Sect is the most superior technique. As the saying goes, 'one aperture penetrates, a hundred apertures penetrate', the method is fundamental, the skill is just an appearance, the Golden Elixir Great Way is the method, one method penetrates all methods, and those skills will naturally be completely understood."

  As the words fell, the master stood with his hands behind his back, one hand pinching his chin whiskers, and indeed had a somewhat otherworldly air about him: "Under heaven, all Daoist sects are inferior to Quanzhen; the Quanzhen school's cultivation of the Golden Elixir is the path to becoming an immortal. Those other Daoist schools that use talismans, elixirs, and so on are merely lower-level sects. The techniques practiced by those Daoist temples you know about, like Maoshan and Longhushan, are nothing but tricks - these are things that cultivators of the Way do not bother with. Techniques are just a kind of clever trickery; they rely on the power of heaven and earth to work. Cultivating the Great Way of the Golden Elixir is cultivating one's own body, whereas those techniques are merely ways of borrowing the power of heaven and earth to achieve clever effects."

  He paused, and the master's expression became even more solemn: "The legacy of Laozi, the teachings of Donghua, the transmission of Zhongli and Lü, the opening of the sect by Chongyang Zhenren, with the aim of combining the three teachings, refining one's essence, energy, and spirit, and benefiting others through self-cultivation. The Golden Elixir Great Way of Quanzhen is transmitted from Han Zhongli and Lü Dongbin of the Eight Immortals. This is the foundation for achieving immortality. According to legend, our ancestor Wang Zhe, also known as Chongyangzi, met the immortals in Gan River Town during the Zhenglong period, and received the Golden Elixir oral teachings from Han Zhongli and Lü Dongbin. He then retreated to Mount Zhongnan, cultivated for three years, and emerged during the Dading period to spread his teachings in Shandong, recruiting seven great disciples: Ma Yu, Tan Chuduan, Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong, and Sun Buer. They were known as the Seven True Disciples of Quanzhen, marking the beginning of the Quanzhen sect."

  I later learned from the materials that the ancestor of Quanzhen Sect was a legendary figure. It is said that the ancestor Wang Chongyang, also known as Chongyangzi, was from Xianyang, Shaanxi Province. In his early years, he had been a martial arts champion and served as an official, but later resigned and retreated to a secluded life. In the fourth year of Zhenglong, he met immortals in Ganhe Town, who were said to be Han Zhongli and Lü Dongbin, and was taught the secret of alchemy. He spent his whole life practicing and finally became an immortal, making his life full of legendary colors.

  The ancestors of the Quanzhen School, Qiu Chuji, Ma Yu, Tan Chuduan, Liu Chuxuan, Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong and Sun Bu'er, were known as the Seven True Disciples. Among them, Qiu Chuji, the founder of the Longmen sect, at the age of 74, traveled over 30,000 miles from Mount Kunyu in Shandong to Central Asia, where he met Genghis Khan and achieved the historic feat of "one word stops killing" and the Han-Mong love story. He was revered as a "divine immortal", worshipped as a "national teacher", and took charge of Taoist teachings throughout the country. Gradually, the Quanzhen School absorbed and merged with the Taiyi Dao, Zhenda Dao and Jindan Southern Sect, laying the foundation for its great development.

  After the Yuan Dynasty unified the country, the Quanzhen School went south to spread its teachings and exchanged alchemical techniques with the Southern Branch of the Golden Elixir. The two schools shared a common source in their internal alchemy theories, and Chen Tuan's "Five Ancestors Seven Truths" system was widely accepted. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Yuan, the Quanzhen School and the Southern Branch of the Golden Elixir formally merged into one. The True Great Way also merged with the Quanzhen School.

  During the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Boduan's lineage, which emphasized internal alchemy cultivation (mainly Chen Tuan), was incorporated into the Quanzhen School and called the Southern Branch, while Wang Chongyang's teachings were referred to as the Northern Branch. When the Quanzhen School developed in the north during the Jin-Yuan period, there was also a school in the Southern Song region that specialized in internal alchemy cultivation, known as the Golden Elixir School of the Southern Branch.

  This school took Zhang Boduan as its founder and emphasized the importance of cultivating one's vital energy before cultivating one's spiritual nature. After the Yuan Dynasty unified Jiangnan, the Southern Branch merged with the Quanzhen School (Northern Branch), and both revered Donghua Emperor, Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, Liu Haichan, and Wang Chongyang as the Five Ancestors.

  They also transmitted the Northern Seven Truths (the seven sons of the Quanzhen School: Ma Danyang, Tan Chuduan, Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong, and Sun Buer) and the Southern Seven Truths (Zhang Boduan, Liu Yongnian, Shi Tai, Xue Daguan, Chen Nan, Bai Yujian, and Peng Zong). After the merger of the Northern and Southern Branches, the school was still called Quanzhen Dao, which became one of the main branches of Taoism in later generations.

  Within the Quanzhen School, some smaller sub-sects emerged, such as the Qingxiu (Pure Cultivation) and Shuangxiu (Double Cultivation) sects within the Southern Branch. The Northern Branch also had various lineages transmitted by each of the Seven Truths, among which Qiu Chuji's lineage, known as the Quanzhen Longmen School, was the most prosperous.

  However, at that time I was very depressed. Now I need something to survive, not to cultivate immortality, and I don't have this wish either. Seeing Master's serious face, but not daring to provoke him, I just dryly laughed: "Master, can you teach me a few life-saving moves? Otherwise, if I'm killed by that Thai guy, I won't be able to help Master spread the Quanzhen Sect in the future."

  As I spoke, the master's face slightly cleared up, and after a moment of contemplation, he took out an old book from his bosom and handed it to me. The book was an ancient edition, with characters written in small script using a brush pen. As I flipped through it, I found that it contained incantations and techniques for various spells. On the fifth page, there was even the Xuan Guang Technique that the master had once demonstrated. I couldn't help but feel overjoyed, as this was exactly what I had been looking for. Of course, I didn't dare let the master think too much about it, so I carefully put away both secret books.

  However, the master glanced at me and hummed: "Actually, with a nine-character mantra, even ghosts can be dealt with, but you insist on using those inferior spells, sigh..."

  The master sat cross-legged beside me, looked at my listless appearance, and couldn't help but chuckle. He made a lotus shape with his hands, muttered to himself, and I didn't know what the hell he was doing. But as soon as he touched my brow, a warm current surged into my body, and in an instant, I felt like I had recovered my strength.

  He sprang up from the ground and rushed to his master in surprise: "Master, this is the legendary qigong, awesome!"

  "Awesome, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. This is a sect's healing technique, just borrowing the power of nature to recover physical and mental strength. Haven't you heard of white magic? It's all connected. The powerful ones can even revive the dead." Master glared at me with annoyance.

  I didn't believe what the master said, but I was very interested in it. Just as I was about to ask the master for a discount, he stepped on my idea and glared at me, humming heavily: "The method is the foundation, you should follow me to practice the Golden Elixir Tao, and you will naturally understand everything later, don't put the cart before the horse."

  I let out a dry laugh, but didn't say anything. However, after a moment's thought, I had an idea and my expression turned serious: "Master, I think that Thai guy definitely won't give up easily. We can't just wait for him to make a move, why don't we also engage in a battle of wits with him?"

  The master frowned, looked at me and said with a somewhat gloomy face: "Needless to say, I've already fought him before. This Thai guy is not simple, unfortunately, neither of us won or lost. If he controlled the evil spirit, you might not have survived."