Chapter 11: Often Walking by the River (First Update, Seeking Collection and Recommendation)

  Still in the secluded small valley, Shen Gong's face was filled with joy, staring at the constantly flipping crane in his hand, smelling the overflowing fragrance, and drooling.

  He had just gone to Qilin Cliff for a visit and found that Yuanshi Tianzun still hadn't returned. Suddenly, he heard the sound of cranes calling in the distance, piercing through the clouds, which immediately stirred up his hidden desire for food over the past few months, causing his index finger to move involuntarily.

  Thus, a crane that had lived in the Kunlun Mountains for who-knows-how-many years was once again brutally slaughtered at the hands of Shen Gongbao. Afterwards, Shen Gongbao returned to his old haunt with ease, plucking its feathers, opening up its belly, cleaning out its innards, the entire process unfolding as smoothly as a flowing cloud or a flowing stream, done with utmost proficiency.

  This time, Shen Gongbao had a different idea and decided to roast the whole crane. Since he last ate the immortal crane with Diao Zhan, Shen Gongbao fell in love with the delicious taste of the immortal crane meat, which was more tender and refreshing than the immortal deer meat. The immortal crane was also small and just enough for Shen Gongbao to fill his stomach, unlike the immortal deer which was too large and he could only eat half of it, wasting the rest, which was a pity.

  Before long, the whole crane presented a golden yellow color, with some juice overflowing, which made it even more delicious. Shen Gongbao was no longer polite, tore off a hind leg of the crane, and started to devour it with big mouthfuls, completely without any image.

  There is a saying: "If you often walk by the river, you can't help but get your shoes wet." Similarly, if you often walk at night, it's strange if you don't encounter ghosts.

  No exception, other disciples in the Kunlun Mountains have their own caves and Daoist temples. Only Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya have not yet come out of their apprenticeship, so they temporarily settled in a place found in the Kunlun Mountains. After coming out of their apprenticeship, they can find their own Daoist temple on the vast land of Honghuang to spread the teachings of the great Tao.

  On this day, Jiang Ziya broke through the barrier and came out, his mood not very good. Because of this closed barrier, his cultivation had still not progressed half an inch, he was extremely worried and frustrated, knowing that his talent was dull, so he could only wander around in the Kunlun Mountains to disperse his melancholy emotions.

  Qilin Cliff, Jiang Ziya stood in front of the gate of Yuxu Palace for a moment, seeing that the gate of Yuxu Palace was still closed, and knew that his master Yuanshi Tianzun had not returned yet, so he went to other Dan cliffs and rocky places.

  Standing at the summit, floating on the cloud top, the beautiful scenery of good mountains and water suddenly improved Jiang Ziya's mood a lot, the gloomy feelings in his heart were swept away, many years of cultivation were like this, his self-regulation ability had long been perfect, the temporary gloom was naturally easy to eliminate.

  Just then, Jiang Ziya, who was floating on the top of the cloud, suddenly heard a crane's cry, its voice was mournful and sorrowful, it made people sad when they listened to it, and tears fell when they heard it.

  "Mount Kunlun is the Taoist temple, a great place, no illness or disaster. The spiritual animals born and raised here should be happy and peaceful. Why do I hear the crane's mournful cry? I'll go take a look." And so he went towards the crying crane.

  There are human words and animal languages. The cranes that Lord Shi hunted were not yet transformed, nor had their spiritual wisdom been opened, so he could eat them with a clear conscience. However, he did not know that when animals are about to die, they often have secret methods to pass on what happened to them to their own kind, either as a warning or for help.

  Shen Gong Bao killed several cranes, and the other cranes on Mount Kunlun naturally felt a sense of loss. Their kin had died in vain, but they couldn't speak out. All the practitioners left Mount Kunlun, leaving only Shen Gong Bao and Jiang Ziya behind. They had no way to appeal for justice, so they could only let out mournful cries to comfort their deceased brethren.

  Jiang Ziya cultivated on Mount Kunlun for many years, and although his progress was slow, like a snail or turtle moving, he also mastered the ability to communicate with the spirits of birds.

  On the Kunlun Mountains, there are many unopened spiritual wisdoms and shapeless spiritual beasts. There are countless immortal birds and beasts, and after many experiments, Jiang Ziya and Xian's abilities have also become as pure as fire, allowing them to communicate freely.

  After communicating with the immortal crane for a while, Jiang Ziya was extremely angry. "You're so bold, Shen Gongbao! You actually committed such an evil act in your teacher's dojo. You're not even human!"

  The Zhenyan Sect is one of the three major sects of Taoism, and all the immortals within the sect are true virtuous immortals. If Shen Gongbao's boastful words about capturing and killing the immortal crane and deer were to spread, the reputation of the Zhenyan Sect would be greatly damaged, and it would become a laughing stock for other sects and cultivators.

  Thinking of this, Jiang Ziya did not dare to slack off and hurriedly went towards the road that the immortal crane had just pointed out, heading for the hidden valley where Shen Gongbao was making his move.

  Shen Gong Bao was now enjoying his meal, with no time to spare. A crane had already been devoured by more than half, and he was now holding onto a crane's wing with both hands, savoring the taste. Meat juice dripped from the corners of his mouth and his hands were stained, even his Taoist robe had some splatters on it.

  Just at this moment, Shengong Bao only heard a loud shout: "Shen Gongbao, how dare you!"

  Shen Gong Bao heard the words and stiffened, turning his head to look back, and indeed Jiang Ziya was pointing at him with a furious expression, trembling with rage, clearly unable to contain his anger.

  Shen Gong Bao was suddenly startled, and he hastily got up, put down the roasted meat, tidied up his Taoist robe, and went to Jiang Ziya's side, flattering him with a smile: "Brother Jiang, I'm just greedy, please don't tell Master about this!"

  "Hmph, if I had known it would be like this, why bother in the first place!" Jiang Ziya said indignantly.

  "Alright, alright, alright. Since I'm a first-time offender, please don't report this to Master, give me a chance to reform and start anew. Will that be okay with you, Brother?"

  Jiang Ziya, seeing this, slightly calmed his anger and pointed to the unfinished crane meat: "What do you plan to do with these?"

  Boom!

  A huge fireball slowly rose, burning all the crane meat and other ingredients to ashes. In an instant, everything turned into gray ash. Shen Gongbao shook his Taoist robe, and a gentle breeze blew up from the ground, blowing away all the ashes, leaving nothing of what had just happened.

  "Heh heh, Shixiong, is this okay?" Shen Gongbao said with a flattering smile, his face looking particularly sly.

  Jiang Ziya stroked his whiskers and sighed, saying: "Younger brother, don't make this a habit. You'd best take care of yourself. If Master Yuanshi finds out, I don't know how he'll punish you!"

  Shen Gong Bao smiled slyly and said, "If Master doesn't say anything, then only heaven and earth will know, and no one else will." That proud and arrogant Yuanshi Tianzun would rather die than lose face. If he knew his own disciple was like this, he might just destroy Shen Gong Bao on the spot.

  Jiang Ziya shook his head and turned around, riding on a cloud to leave, returning to his cave mansion.

  Shen Gong Bao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and muttered, "Fortunately, it was just a false alarm!" He then looked at the ashes of the crane meat and sighed, "What a pity that such a delicious dish has turned to ashes, it's really a shame!"

  Shaking his head, he stopped looking and drove the auspicious cloud to fly away. After returning to the cave, he closed the cave door tightly and started meditating again to improve his cultivation.

  Daluogong, Xuandu Cave, Bajinggong.

  Tai Qing Lao Zi and Yu Qing Yuan Shi Tian Zun sat facing each other, Lao Zi closed his eyes and lowered the curtain, and began to meditate.

  Yuanshi Tianzun did not feel the slightest surprise at this, as since the birth of Sanqing, this great senior brother had always been so, without showing his presence or revealing his true nature. Yuanshi Tianzun also didn't know what kind of realm Laozi had reached by now.

  Although he was proud of himself and claimed to be the best among the three Qing, he had to admit in his heart that this senior brother who was born first was actually the strongest. There was a faint aura of the Dao ancestor on him, which was elusive and hard to grasp.

  At this time, the second sealing of gods in Zixiao Palace has come to an end. The result is self-evident: Yuan Shi Tian Zun and Tong Tian Jiao Zhu naturally did not give in to each other, arguing until their faces were red and their ears were hot, and finally they parted on bad terms, so a third sealing was necessary.

  The other saints were indifferent, hanging high, watching the play on the side, without a word. Only Zhuanti was secretly delighted in his heart, "The Three Purities are divided, and now the two teachings of Xian and Buddhism are fighting each other. As long as we plan carefully, the prosperity of our Western teaching is not far away!"

  Yuanshi Tianzun left Zixiao Palace and did not return directly to Kunlun Mountain, but instead returned to Xuandu Cave with Laozi.

  "Brother, this Tongtian scoundrel doesn't consider us as human beings at all! He doesn't put you and me in his eyes! To search my face like this is really hateful!" Yuanshi Tianzun said with hatred, not hiding his dissatisfaction with the leader of the Tongtian sect.

  In the Three Purities, Laozi did not manifest mountains and rivers. Even if he established a human teaching, he only accepted one disciple, Xuandu. Compared to the expansive teachings of Tongtian, it seems much more natural and effortless. However, Tongtian's master is revered by ten thousand immortals, how majestic! Yuanshi Tianzun considers himself the orthodox leader of Daoism, making him the leader of the Daoist school. As a result, the momentum of Jie teaching naturally arouses Yuanshi Tianzun's jealousy. The teachings of Jie and Tongtian are like needle and awn, so it is difficult for them not to contend with each other.

  Laozi's attitude towards the sects is vague and unclear, seemingly not caring about the sect's strength, as long as they don't destroy the teachings, anyway, as long as he grasps the human teachings, he can rely on the human tribe's luck to be eternal.

  However, Laozi is more inclined towards Yuanshi Tianzun, only because Tongtian Jiao's master collects disciples under his seat and distinguishes between good and evil, but this point makes Laozi not very pleased.

  Thus, when the two sides of Yuanshi and Tongtian are in conflict, they often lean towards Yuanshi Tianzun. As a result, Laozi's relationship with Yuanshi Tianzun is naturally much closer than that of Tongtianism.

  It was also the case that Yuanshi Tianzun appeared very naturally in front of Laozi, without any pretence, and did not hide his dissatisfaction with Tongtian Jiao at all.

  (I just finished the exam, came back to update a chapter, now having dinner, then coding. My previous drafts all need to be revised... which means Qingfeng doesn't have any drafts now, sweating... also thanks to a book friend's suggestion, pointing out Qingfeng's mistake, thank you - Tan Yan)