Chapter 5: The Change of Divine Light

  Inside the stone house, Li Muran sat cross-legged, with his palms flat on his knees, his eyes slightly closed, his shoulders slightly contained, and his chin slightly retracted, observing his heart.

  This is a "tourist" posture, which is a common method for practitioners of Xian to feel the divine light of their ancestral aperture.

  Li Muran saw in the classics that after opening the light, using the momentum of Guan Guang, you can see the divine light. Generally speaking, the strength and shape of the divine light seen directly reflect the effect of opening the light.

  For example, when using a low-level fire attribute opening symbol to open the light, after success, the ancestral aperture can be seen with a flame inside, usually a fire point or a bean-sized flame; and if it is opened with a medium-level fire attribute opening symbol, the ancestral aperture divine light will be stronger and more obvious, usually a ball of flames, which may also reach the size of an inch. As for using high-level fire attribute opening symbols, according to legend, the ancestral aperture divine light is in the form of a fire spirit, not only a larger ball of flames but can also evolve into various forms, either a firebird or a fire python, extremely mysterious.

  Li Muran really wanted to know what kind of quality and attribute his own light was, which was very important for his future cultivation.

  Only when the cultivation of gongfu and the ancestral aperture divine light resonate consistently can there be the best cultivation effect. Life is short, but cultivation has no end, only by finding the most suitable cultivation method for oneself can one reach a higher and farther realm.

  After a stick of incense had burned, Li Muran opened his eyes and furrowed his brow.

  "What's going on? I've tried several times in a row, but all I can see is a faint glimmer of light, and I have no idea what it is!"

  "Could it be true as Master Mo said, I'm only barely enlightened and have extremely poor innate talent?"

  Li Muran couldn't help but feel a little worried again, the opening of the light is the first step in cultivation, and it's also a crucial step; the opening of the light is the foundation of cultivation, whether the foundation is solid or not directly determines whether the road ahead will be smooth, and how far one can go.

  "No, it must be made clear. Even if it's extremely weak, we need to see clearly whether it's a wisp of flame or a drop of water; is it a wooden sprout or a ray of gold? At the very least, we need to know what its five elements attribute is in order to cultivate the corresponding five elements technique."

  Li Muran continued to work hard on his meditation, but this time he was exhausted mentally and physically. After only a couple of hours, he felt dizzy and sleepy, and if he continued to meditate, he would get a severe headache. He had no choice but to stop and rest, but soon fell into a deep sleep without realizing it.

  I woke up to find everything quiet, the sky had darkened, and a faint moonlight poured into the room through the window, like mercury spilled on the ground.

  "It's already late at night, and I've slept for so long!" Li Muran was secretly shocked, and his stomach growled a few times, he was hungry.

  Unfortunately, he had missed dinner time; in the past, Li Muran also missed meals due to diligent practice, but there were always fellow disciples who would prepare food for him and send it over. However, today, no one did so.

  "I'm afraid it's all gone!" Li Muran sighed, patted his belly: "It doesn't matter, anyway, after a few more hours, the sky will be bright, and I'll eat more in the morning."

  Feeling good, Li Muran decided to try sightseeing again.

  This time, he had just closed his eyes and his mind was not yet fully focused on the ancestral aperture when he already sensed a vastly different situation.

  "So many glories!" Li Muran was overjoyed: "Flickering, like the stars in the sky! Ah, and there's another beam of light that's round and bright, like a full moon!"

  Li Muran opened his eyes and couldn't help but wonder: "Is this just an illusion?"

  He closed his eyes again, and this time he still saw very clearly. In his ancestral aperture, the stars were shining brightly, the moon was competing with each other, and the light of the stars and the moon was magnificent, as if it contained the entire night sky, completely different from the scene during the day!

  "What kind of divine light is this? I've never seen it in any classics!" Li Muran was both shocked and delighted, he repeatedly observed the divine light, indulging in it, his hunger had long been thrown to the back of his mind.

  There was a time when Li Muran seemed to be among the twinkling stars, with the starry sky and moon hanging beside him, within reach; that dazzling light of the stars and moon almost illuminated the entire world.

  "Knock knock knock!" Several knocks on the door interrupted Li Muran.

  "Who is it?" Li Muran put away his tourist pose and stood up.

  "Zhao Shixiong, it's me." A young man's voice replied.

  "Little Wooden Brother?" Li Muran opened the door and saw a thin young boy, who was still holding a basket.

  "Zhao Shixiong, you didn't go for dinner tonight, did you? I've prepared some food for you. It's still hot, eat it while it's warm." The young man said, handing over the basket in his hand to Li Muran.

  Li Muran took over the basket and couldn't help but feel a little grateful: "Thank you, Mu Shidi!"

  This wooden brother, who usually doesn't speak much and isn't particularly enthusiastic towards him, didn't even flatter him like the other brothers did. Yet, at this moment, it was only this wooden brother who remembered to bring him food; this is probably what they mean by "true feelings are revealed in times of hardship".

  "Zhang Shixiong, don't think too much about the opening of the light, there will be opportunities in the future..." Mu Li seemed to want to comfort Li Muran a few words, but he didn't see any disappointment on Li Muran's face, so he stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

  Li Muran smiled and said, "Wooden brother, don't worry. The path of cultivation is rugged and bumpy; if you want to become an immortal, you must go through countless hardships and dangers. What's a little setback like this?"

  Mu Li smiled and said with a sigh of relief: "Brother Zhao can think this way, it's really broad-minded! Time is not early, Brother Zhao has had dinner, rest early, I'll take my leave!"

  "Thank you!" Li Muran nodded his hands and saw Mu Li leave.

  When Mu walked a few steps away, Li Muran suddenly said: "Mu Shidi, this favor of one meal, Zhao will certainly repay in the future!"

  "Brother Zhao is being too polite, it's just a small effort, no need to mention it!" Mu Li waved his hand and his figure gradually disappeared into the moonlight.

  On the second day at dawn, Li Muran suddenly changed his face while closing his eyes.

  "What's going on? How did the Ancestral Spirit's light change back into this appearance?"

  Li Muran was shocked and muttered to himself, he woke up again to meditate, but found that the divine light in his ancestral aperture was still so faint, almost imperceptible!

  But last night, he clearly saw that his ancestral aperture's divine light was like stars and moon in the sky, shining endlessly. How could it have become so dull and lifeless after just a few hours?

  Generally speaking, after enlightenment, there won't be much change, at most it's just a slight adjustment. Someone like him who has such drastic and repeated changes is simply unimaginable.

  Li Muran's eyebrows were tightly locked, and his eyes changed so strangely that he couldn't help but think carefully.

  However, this matter was too strange, and Li Muran's knowledge of the divine light was limited to a small number of ancient books, and for a while he couldn't figure out what it meant.

  "Dong! Dong!" The sound of the bell rang out, and it was the sect summoning these disciples. Li Muran quickly tidied up and rushed to Kaiyuan Peak.

  Zhang Men Cang Xia Dao Ren last night used yuanqi fu to fill the ancestral symbol with yuanqi, and today's opening ceremony continues.

  The opening ceremony went very smoothly, and the ancestral symbol's energy was used up only half, and it took only half a morning to complete. The remaining disciples all received the opening ceremony.

  Among the more than 100 disciples, not a single one was opened by a high-ranking opening symbol. Only seven or eight people were opened by a middle-ranking opening symbol. The rest were all low-ranking opening symbols, and there were even four or five people who failed to open successfully - these few people also lost their qualifications to stay in the Yuan Symbol Sect. Li Muren, who was opened by "废符", is an exceptional case, barely ranking among the opened disciples.

  After the opening ceremony, it was the turn of the various Taoist priests to select their disciples and accept their homage. This process made all the would-be disciples extremely nervous, as they hoped to be chosen by one of the few priests with a good reputation and pleasant disposition. Unfortunately, this was a unilateral decision made by the priests, and the would-be disciples could only passively accept it.

  Several disciples who opened their spiritual aperture at the middle stage were snatched away by several Dao Masters in the first round, and the remaining disciples' qualifications were not much different. When these Dao Masters selected disciples, apart from looking at their special talents, they basically just looked at whether they were pleasing to the eye.

  Seeing his fellow disciples being picked one by one, Li Muran, who had been ignored all along, couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

  If no one is willing to accept him as a disciple, even if he has already opened his spiritual energy, he will not be able to stay in the Yuanshu Sect and may thus sever his connection with cultivation.

  Now that things have come to this, Li Muran has even thought of revealing the extraordinary circumstances surrounding his ancestral aperture's divine light. However, now that his ancestral aperture's divine light has dimmed, even if he were to speak out, how many people would believe him?

  Many of the disciples were selected by various Taoist priests as their apprentices and performed the ceremony of paying homage to their masters, a process that continued until the afternoon, leaving only over ten disciples who had not been chosen.

  These more than ten people are all disciples with poor enlightenment effects, and Li Muran is one of them.

  "Isn't it better to take in a few more disciples?" Cang Xia said loudly, "These disciples also have some potential, cultivate them and they may become talented!"

  Hongxia Laodao smiled and said, "Master Shixiong, when it comes to accepting disciples, it's better to be lacking than to be excessive. These disciples either have poor innate abilities or are unable to endure hardship and lack diligence. Even if they were to embark on the path of immortality, it would simply be a waste of thought."

  Several other Taoist priests also nodded in agreement, apparently sharing the same thoughts as Lao Dao.

  Mo Yunzi added: "Since these more than ten disciples have no sect, they can leave the sect from today and seek a better opportunity elsewhere."

  "Yes!" Four or five young men nodded in agreement and left the grand hall.

  Their faces didn't show much disappointment or despair, but rather a hint of relaxation. Everyone knew that these disciples were all born into wealthy families and had been pampered since childhood, so how could they bear the hardships of cultivation? They had long been thinking of leaving this deep mountain forest one day and returning to the secular world to continue being their own young masters.

  Li Muran was different from them, seeing that he was about to be expelled from the sect, he hastily bowed to the leader and begged: "The disciple is wholeheartedly devoted to the Tao, willing to pay double effort, diligent to make up for clumsiness, asking all the masters to give the disciple one more chance!"

  "Disciples with one heart towards the Tao, sincerely request that each of you, senior and junior masters, give us another chance!" The other disciples who were unwilling to leave the sect and had no other school to turn to also immediately came forward and knelt down together.