Chapter 6: The Eavesdropping Disciple

  "Hmph, if I had known today why bother with the past! Now saying one's heart is set on the Tao, it's already too late!" Mo Yunzi said coldly.

  "Ask Master Cheng for mercy!" Li Muran and the other disciples all thought that Master Cangxia was the most approachable, so they all pleaded with him.

  "..." The Celestial Immortal's eyebrows furrowed, revealing a hint of reluctance.

  Hong Xia Laodao said disapprovingly, "Why must the Master make things difficult? Can't bear to ruin the sect's rules for these few useless disciples? It's a pity that the Master announced the closure of the sect and stopped accepting apprentices thirty years ago. Otherwise, he could have simply accepted them as apprentices and wouldn't have missed out on 'talent', haha!"

  Upon hearing Chi Xia Lao Dao's sarcasm, several disciples felt both ashamed and humiliated, their hearts growing even more uneasy.

  "Alright," said Cang Xia Dao Ren after a moment of contemplation, "Zi Xia Shidi is traveling outside and missed this selection of disciples; why not let these few disciples temporarily stay in our sect as temporary auditing disciples? It will be either one month or half a year before Zi Xia Shidi returns to the sect. At that time, we'll see if he's willing to accept these few disciples as his own. If he still refuses, it won't be too late to send them away."

  "By doing so, we won't be violating the sect's rules and regulations, and we'll also have an explanation to give to our junior brother Zixia. What do you all think, fellow Daoist brothers?" asked Cangxia Daoren, stroking his white beard as he sought the opinions of the other Daoist priests.

  "Since the Master has made his decision, we naturally won't oppose it." Hong Xia Dao Ren smiled and turned to Li Mu Ran and others, saying: "You all must work hard, seize the opportunity, and don't disappoint the Master's good intentions!"

  "Yes, thank you, Master!" Li Muran and the other disciples were overjoyed and repeatedly thanked him.

  "That's great, Master Zhao! We can stay in the sect again!" One of Li Muran's disciples said to him.

  The voice was familiar, and Li Muran turned around to look, only then did he notice that Mu Li was also one of the few disciples who were unwanted.

  Only after inquiring did Li Muran learn that Mu Li's fire attribute low-level opening symbol had a poor effect; his ancestral divine light was not a single flame, but a faint and weak fire energy, among the disciples who used fire attribute opening symbols, he belonged to the category with relatively poor aptitude.

  As for the other disciples, the situation was similar, all of whom used low-level enlightenment talismans to enlighten, but the effect was very poor, and their cultivation qualifications were not high, so no one paid attention to them.

  In the following days, most of the disciples were busy with various matters related to their entry. They would also move out from Xinxiu Peak and take up residence in the Daoquan Mountain peak where the sect was located, becoming an official disciple of Yuanshu Sect and a new cultivator in the cultivation world. From now on, they could call themselves cultivators and gradually drift away from the mortal world.

  Li Muran and Mu Li, among others, remained stuck in the New Show Peak. Their identities were only as bystander disciples and did not count as formal disciples, so they didn't need to handle these matters and ended up with nothing to do.

  After several days of exploration, Li Muran finally figured out the changing rules of his ancestral aperture divine light. He found that at night, the ancestral aperture divine light was very bright, like a starry sky and a full moon competing in radiance; but during the day, with the first ray of sunlight breaking through the dawn, the ancestral aperture divine light would suddenly become dim and subtle, almost imperceptible.

  "Why does the divine light of Zuque have day and night changes?" Li Muran was puzzled.

  Isn't this related to the mysterious runes in that mirror?

  Li Muran took out the copper mirror several times, studying it again and again, but he didn't discover any clues, and the copper mirror didn't emit any light again.

  Three days later, inside the grand hall of Kaiyuan Peak, a group of young disciples sat neatly and looked excited. Today, one of their senior brothers would be explaining to them the basic principles of cultivation.

  Li Muran and Mu Li arrived early and sat in the front row so they could hear more clearly.

  "Get up and go to the back!" Seven or eight young men walked in front of Li Muran and Mu Li, shouting loudly!

  "What's going on?! We arrived earlier than them, why should we give up our front-row seats?" Mu Li said indignantly.

  "What's the reason? It's this formal disciple token!" A proud and arrogant young man in brocade clothes pulled out a square token from his bosom and slapped it loudly in front of Li Muran, laughing loudly: "Haha, today's lesson is prepared for us formal disciples. You few are just temporary auditing disciples, what qualifications do you have to sit here? So-called auditing disciples, think about the name, naturally means hiding on the side and eavesdropping, haha!"

  The young man in brocade clothes caused a burst of laughter. In the loud and proud laughter, they couldn't hide their pride as formal disciples.

  Hearing the crowd's ridicule, Mu Li was both ashamed and angry. He pointed at the brocade-clad youth and said: "You with the surname Wen, don't be too presumptuous! Not long ago you were still asking Zhao Shixiong for guidance on drawing talismans, it's simply ungrateful and disloyal!"

  Li Muran also suddenly stood up, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the brocade-clad youth.

  "What do you want to do?" The young man in brocade subconsciously took a step back, somewhat frightened. At this moment, neither of them had cultivated any magic, and if they really started fighting, with Zhao Wuming's painstakingly trained eyesight and physical strength, he would likely be at a disadvantage.

  "It's nothing, let Master Wen have a seat, please!" Li Muran smiled slightly and pulled Mu Li's sleeve, walking towards the back row.

  "Consider yourself lucky!" The young man in brocade clothing let out a sigh of relief and sat down with a pleased smile.

  As soon as he sat down, the young man in brocade clothes let out a "ouch" and suddenly stood up again. On that seat, at some unknown time, a wooden thorn had appeared, piercing the young man's thigh and causing a small wound to bleed a few drops of fresh blood.

  Seeing this scene, some of the disciples who were delighted by the misfortune of others couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh secretly.

  "You!" The young man in brocade clothes was furious, but for a moment he hesitated and didn't know whether to make a scene, after all, he was the one who was in the wrong.

  "Was it you who did this?" Li Muran slightly shook his head and softly said to Mu Li. He himself didn't have the leisurely mood to compete with those young men for a moment's prestige.

  Mu smiled slyly and nodded: "Haha, teach him a lesson, see if he dares to be so arrogant again! Zhao Shixiong, why did you yield your seat? Even if it's reported to the various Shifu, we won't be in the wrong!"

  Li Muran sighed, "Our identities are awkward, we can't make a big deal out of this! If we pursue this small matter and it gets investigated, the sect will definitely punish both parties; you and I are just ordinary disciples, if we get punished even slightly, it's expulsion from the sect."

  "What Brother Zhao said is right. One can only achieve great things by enduring temporary hardships." Mu Li licked his tongue and nodded silently in his heart.

  At this time, a middle-aged Taoist priest in his thirties walked into the main hall, and all the disciples immediately stopped making noise.

  A middle-aged Taoist said in a loud voice: "I am Qingfengzi, I have been in the sect for nearly twenty years, and I am in charge of the Zixiao Temple. Today, I was ordered by the master to come and explain the way of cultivation to you, my fellow disciples."

  His voice was high and round, with clear articulation. Although in the back row, Li Muran and others could still hear clearly.

  "See Senior Brother Qingfeng!" The crowd of disciples hurriedly paid their respects, Qingfengzi slightly nodded his head and returned the courtesy.

  "Zixia Guan! Isn't that the Taoist temple of Zixia Daoren's master uncle? I wonder when Master Zixia will return, and whether he will accept us as his disciples and let us stay in the sect?" Mu Li couldn't help but have all sorts of thoughts and worries.

  "Don't think too much, just listen carefully!" Li Muran interrupted Mu Li, gesturing for him to be quiet.

  After bowing, Qingfengzi lightly coughed and said in a clear voice with a solemn expression:

  "We who seek immortality and ask about the Tao have all heard a phrase: The Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three give birth to all things! Among them, 'Tao' refers to the Heavenly Way, 'one' is chaos, 'two' are heaven and earth, and 'three' are essence, energy, and spirit!"

  "The way of cultivation is actually cultivating these three treasures: Jing, Qi and Shen."

  "Essence is the foundation of the body. Blood vessels and bones all belong to 'essence', which is essence-blood, essence-bones; Qi is the primordial energy of heaven and earth, it is the refined energy between heaven and earth, if cultivated in the body and controlled by oneself, it becomes one's own magical power; Spirit is the general term for mind, will, and thoughts, all your movements are controlled by 'spirit'. The world is vast, there are countless methods for cultivation, but essentially they all cultivate the three treasures of essence, qi, and spirit. This is what is meant by 'all methods do not depart from essence, qi, and spirit'."

  "What's the best way of practicing, isn't it cultivating Jing, Qi and Shen simultaneously?" Li Muran listened intently, unable to help but ask.

  "Good question!" Qingfengzi nodded and smiled, "In theory, it should be that way, but in fact, the vast majority of kung fu techniques are mainly focused on cultivating 'qi'."

  "Why is that?" Li Muran curiously asked back.

  "Because life is short!" Qingfengzi sighed softly and said slowly: "The Great Way has no boundaries, but human lifespan is limited. Can a few decades be enough to cultivate the essence, energy, and spirit to perfection? It's said that our tribe inherited the physical body of the heavenly immortals, with a structure most suitable for cultivating 'energy'. Therefore, most cultivation methods revolve around this point. However, the three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit are interdependent, and when 'energy' is cultivated to a certain depth, the other two will also gradually improve."

  Li Muran seemed to be deep in thought after hearing this, while the other young men grew somewhat impatient.

  "Master Qingfeng, when can we cultivate to the point of riding the clouds and mist, flying swords and slaying enemies?" asked a Wén-surnamed youth in the front row, who couldn't help but ask, as he had no interest in these dull principles.

  "Yes, when can I fly with a sword?"

  "How long does it take to cultivate before you can cast magical spells?"

  “……”

  The crowd of young people suddenly asked in unison, what attracted these young people to cultivate was not the exploration of the Tao, but those gorgeous and mysterious immortal methods.

  Qingfengzi smiled slightly, waved his hand to signal the disciples to be quiet, and then said: "To control the instrument and fly, or to manipulate the law instrument in mid-air, one must project their spirit out of their body; this state is called spiritual roaming. The leader of the sect, as well as all the masters, are cultivators who have reached the spiritual roaming stage."

  "Divine Journey?" Some disciples were even more bewildered, but some had heard of this term.

  "This is the division of the Immortal Cultivation Realm." Qingfengzi continued, "The first step in cultivating immortality is to open up one's apertures and enlighten one's spirit; this point, all of you have already achieved."

  "After that, it is necessary to inhale and exhale according to the law, refine and absorb the primordial energy of heaven and earth, and use the primordial energy of heaven and earth to unblock other meridians and orifices in the body that are blocked by worldly impurities. This level of attainment is called the Qi Meridian Stage. We disciples are all cultivating at this stage."