Chapter 49: The Silent Flowing Light Treasure Mirror

  Everyone watched as Lin Xiao wore the largest Taoist robe in Pong Mountain, rumbling into the Sizu Hall. The disciples who were already seated stood up one after another. His robust and unmatched physique, along with his bulging belly, made everyone subconsciously move out of the way to create a wider path.

  "No need to sit down, just stand up." Lin Sa said while walking and stretching her arms like a giant mother hen protecting her chicks. "Everyone move forward, no need to line up today, you can all relax a bit, consider it a rest day."

  New disciples added to those who stayed behind last year totaled three or four hundred people. After they were packed in, the hall suddenly seemed much emptier.

  Xiao Qiu saw Fang Fang in the crowd, Fang Fang gave Xiao Qiu a pursed smile, and Xiao Qingtao beside her excitedly waved her hand, attracting the attention of several female disciples. Xiao Qiu smiled back, then quickly turned his head to talk to Da Liang Shen Xiuming, but Da Liang let out a soft hiss.

  The ancestral hall is a rectangular mountain cave, tens of meters high, with the ground and walls made of huge boulders, smooth as mirrors, without any carvings or decorations, simple and solemn, as if designed to make people feel small.

  Lin Daotong stood on the stone platform at the front, facing his disciples. To his left, dozens of steps away, stood a giant four-legged cauldron that was over 15 meters tall. Its age must have been extremely ancient, and its four legs, which were taller than a person, still shone with a bright reddish-yellow color. The body of the cauldron had turned green, making the beast-head patterns on it appear even more ferocious.

  To the right of Lin Xiao, tens of steps away, stood another gigantic bronze bell. The surface of the bell was carved with intricate patterns that resembled clouds rising upwards or some sort of ancient script. Xia Qiu guessed they were probably talismans.

  Standing between the two giant objects, Lin Xiao immediately became a little chubby. The red face that was supposed to be majestic now overflowed with happy smiles. "Today there are many new disciples, and you may not be familiar with the subsequent procedures. I'll introduce it briefly. Later, you will take a look at the Flowing Light Mirror, which will identify everyone's progress over the past month. Those who have taken a look can enter the Ancestor Tower, where they can think of their ancestors, consolidate their cultivation, and confirm their inheritance."

  Lin Xiao's smile slightly faded, and his voice also became solemn. "Although it's an old saying, I still have to say a few more words. The Ancestor Tower is the treasure of our Pongshan Dao sect, and you can enter once a month, which is a great honor and luck. Other disciples of other sects may only have one chance in their lifetime, think about it, how envious they must be of you?"

  Several senior disciples burst out laughing, while the new ones listened intently. Lin Xiao turned around and walked to the wall, pressing his right hand on the stone surface for a moment. On the seamless stone wall, a door suddenly appeared, four feet wide and six feet high, just enough for one person to enter. For someone of Lin Xiao's build, it seemed a bit cramped.

  "Come on in, young lady first." Lin Sa stood at the dark entrance and beckoned.

  The female disciples entered in a steady stream, and Xia Qiu watched for a while before quietly asking Da Liang beside her, "How are they ranked?"

  Xiao Qiu had already noticed that although Lin Du Jiao had never said anything about following order, everyone's positions, including the female disciples' sequence of walking towards the cave entrance, were all in perfect order.

  "Press down here, there are eight houses in total, named after Qian Kun Zhen Xun Kan Li Gen Dui. Kun Zhen Kan Gen live with female disciples, Qian Xun Li Dui live with male disciples. We two are Dui 36 and Dui 37, just right at the end."

  Xiao Qiu was slightly surprised. On the one hand, the ranking of Yangshen Peak was strict, and on the other hand, Daliang could actually recite the names of the eight trigrams fluently. "It turns out that Yangshen Peak is so strict."

  "What's with the pipe?" Da Liang looked puzzled, then suddenly came to his senses. "I forgot you just arrived today. No one is in charge here, everyone is a volunteer, as you know. Everything has its order, and we follow the natural way."

  Xiao Qiu was even more surprised, but at this time many dissatisfied glances swept over, and Dai Liang immediately stood up honestly, refusing to speak again, and used his eyes to hint that Xiao Qiu should stand behind him.

  Xiao Qiu looked around at the large group of extremely obedient disciples, and for a moment, he felt like he was still dreaming. The real him might still be suffering in the cave. He pinched his thigh hard, it hurt, really hurt, but he forced himself to hold back and not make a sound. To verify Da Liang's words, he deliberately walked back and forth at the end of the team.

  Indeed, no one came forward to restrain him, Lin Xiao didn't care, at the two entrances of the hall stood five or six blue-robed Taoist priests, who clearly saw him wandering around in disorder, but did not make a sound to stop him. On the contrary, several disciples discovered the anomaly and cast doubtful and questioning glances at Xia Qiu.

  A month ago, everyone was still in the Mirror Lake Village Hall, learning Meng Yuanhou's "Reversal of Heaven" technique, each one competing with each other, but how did they all become more docile than sheep here? Not a shadow of what Meng Yuanhou called "fierce competition".

  Dali didn't stop making eye contact, Xiao Qiu walked back to her original position, waiting honestly and thinking that she must have missed some important training content.

  The number of disciples in the hall decreased bit by bit, and those who entered from the cave entrance never came out again, apparently going straight to the Ancestor's Pagoda.

  Xiao Qiu was the last one. He walked to the entrance of the cave, Lin Sa stretched out his hand to stop him and said with a smile: "You just arrived today, right?"

  Xiao Qiu nodded, this was not the first time they met. A few months ago, it was this red-faced teacher who led a team to inspect the young people of Ye Lin Town in the museum, and failed to recognize the special feature of Mei Chuan's five-character mantra.

  "You and Qin Lingxue have really made me suffer. I actually missed a Mind-Sealing Curse, what a waste of ten years studying the forbidden sciences."

  "We didn't mean to." Xia Qiu immediately explained, and it was quite unexpected that Lin Du was not at all like a Taoist from the Forbidden Department, he was completely different from Zuo Liu Ying and Mei Chuan An.

  "Hehe, it's because I didn't learn the way well, and has nothing to do with you two. This sentence I said to Qin Lingxue before, and now I want to say it to you: Mei Chuanan is my senior fellow apprentice, you two once gave him great comfort, this kindness from now on will be repaid by me."

  "It's all just words, doesn't count..."

  Lin Xiao pushed Xia Qiu into the cave entrance, "I heard that you have already opened your ears and eyes, very good, from now on you will have great achievements."

  Xiao Qiu walked into the dark entrance, and her good impression of Lin Du's teachings increased a bit more.

  The entrance was very short, and Xiao Qiu walked into a tiny stone house. In the middle of the house stood a half-person-high stone pedestal, on which was placed a large brass shallow basin. There were no lamps or candles in the room, and the only light source came from within the basin.

  Xiao Qiu walked over and found that the basin was filled with clear water. At the same time, a ripple appeared on the surface of the water. Xiao Qiu looked at it for a while before realizing what was strange about this basin of water: it was crystal clear, but it didn't reflect any images.

  It turned out to be the Flowing Light Treasure Mirror. Xia Qiu stared at it, not knowing what to do. He thought that Da Liang and the others had also come for the first time and had all passed through smoothly, so the method shouldn't be difficult. So he stared for a while longer, then stretched out his hand to touch the water's surface.

  The water in the basin suddenly started spinning, and before Xia Qiu could react, he was pulled into the whirlpool, head down.

  It seemed like a long time ago, yet it was just an instant, Xia Qiu stood on solid ground.

  It seemed like a cave, high and without any doors or windows. The source of the dim light was unknown. Xia Qiu had to adapt for a while before she could see her surroundings clearly: he was standing in the middle of the cave, facing all the young people from Ye Lin Town, including Lian Fangfang and Xiao Qingtuo.

  "Isn't it quite interesting?" Shen Hao said excitedly, "Although I've heard them say it several times, but when the Flowing Light Treasure Mirror sucked me in, I almost shouted out loud."

  "I still don't understand what's going on, and you guys didn't even tell me beforehand." Xia Qiu said with a smile, looking around in all directions, unclear where she was.

  "It's easy to forget when you're happy." Da Liang suddenly switched to a mysterious tone, "Xiao Qiu Ge, I've gained insight, and it turns out I didn't know before."

  Xiao Qiu said with a pout: "Awakening will have all sorts of extraordinary reactions, how could you not know?"

  "Oh, forgot, this is also something you don't know, ordinary disciples of Yangshen Peak can't cast spells, no matter how great your abilities are, they won't be able to manifest."

  Xiao Qiu understood that he had tried using his hearing before, but to no avail, and thought it was because he was too weak, when in fact he was restricted.

  "Ke Shen Hao knew he had opened his ears and nose." Xiao Qiu found that there were more and more things she didn't understand.

  "That's because he's going through a tribulation, and everyone wants to protect him. Afterwards, they'll all be concerned about him." Da Liang said enviously, "Really, what does it feel like to go through a tribulation?"

  Shen Hao laughed casually, "Nothing special, the voice is just particularly loud, bear with it and it will pass, anyway, there's always someone teaching protection, so nothing will happen."

  "You will also hear the voices of enemies, illusory voices and the dead." Xia Qiu added casually.

  The eyes of his companions changed instantly, filled with surprise, confusion, and fear.

  "Little Autumn, have you transcended the tribulation?" Shen Hao asked incredulously. "You've been in seclusion all this time, without any protection from your masters, how could you possibly..."

  "I don't know either..." Xia Qiu's mind was a blur, he remembered that he seemed to have gone through not only the thunder tribulation, but also many more trials, but since Shen Yi denied having been to the cave, Xia Qiu became even more uncertain about those memories, they were like a painful dream, only with details that were too real, "as Meng Dou Jiao taught me."

  Everyone's expression returned to normal, and Da Liang touched his chest, "Scared me to death, I thought... Hehe, thinking about it, it's not possible either. Little Autumn is standing here perfectly fine, if there really were any signs of demonic possession, we would have corrected him in time."

  "What's gotten into you?" Xia Qiu had no idea what Da Liang was talking about.

  Shen Hao shook his head, as if trying to shake off something. "I didn't hear the enemy's voice, but I heard my parents' voices at that time, and the voices of other familiar people in the town, asking me for help..."

  The young men lowered their heads, knowing that Shen Hao's tribulation was definitely not easy.

  After a while, Da Liang asked: "Xiao Qiu Ge, are you still listening?"

  "It should be, I just wanted to ask, how did you know the result of cultivation?"

  "When you pass through the Flowing Light Treasure Mirror, it will tell you, the voice is right next to your ear." said Da Liang.

  "Even if there's no progress, it'll still tell you." Lengzi Mufei Huang sighed and felt that he had wasted a month for nothing.

  "But I didn't hear a word." Xia Qiu was stunned, her eyes scanning around, knowing that only she had encountered such a situation.

  (Collection needed, recommendation needed)