Eighty-eight, Yu Xu Gong established rules

  In front of the grand hall of Yu Xugong, on the steps below, a dozen or so people were standing in a row, all of whom were Honghuang cultivators who had come to Kunlun Mountain to pay their respects.

  These dozen or so people followed the original regulations, walked through the formation in front of the mountain gate, and obtained the opportunity to enter under the Yuan Shi Tian Zun. At this moment, standing in front of the Yu Xuan Palace gate, each person's emotions were surging, having gone through thousands of hardships and traveled countless mountains and rivers, only to arrive at this Kunlun Mountain, and after experiencing the trials of the Yuan Shi Tian Zun formation, they were finally able to stand before the gate of the saint. If their emotions weren't stirred up, that would be completely fake.

  Everyone stood respectfully outside the steps of the Jade Void Palace, waiting for Yuanshi Tianzun's summons.

  After a long time, a young boy came out and stood on the steps, looked at the crowd in front of him, and said loudly: "The old master asks you to come in!" Then he turned around and entered the main hall.

  A group of monks followed him into the grand hall, and in front of the Yuanshi Tianzun cloud platform, they knelt down on the ground, shouting: "Greetings to the Heavenly Master, wishing the Heavenly Master eternal life!"

  Yuanshi Tianzun, seated on a cloud platform, had a faint halo of light emanating from behind him, making his entire person seem mysterious and divine. The Heavenly Lord spoke, "You may rise and speak."

  Everyone stood up according to his words and only then did they notice that beside the Yuanshi Cloud Platform, there was still a Taoist standing with a plain face and wearing a moon-white Taoist robe.

  This person is Xun Daozi, who has now truly entered the ranks of Honghuang's great powers and has become a cultivator in the Daluo Scattered Immortal Realm. In the Yuanshi Law Array, he found his true heart, enlightened to the "Dao" he wanted to follow, and finally broke through the one line that had troubled Xun Daozi for tens of thousands of years, attaining the Daluo Scattered Immortal Fruit position, becoming the youngest Daluo Realm cultivator in Honghuang, making Yuanshi extremely pleased.

  Today, Yuan Shi Tian Zun accepted disciples and passed on the great teachings of the Taoist tradition. His eldest disciple had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

  Yuanshi said: "You have passed my test of the formation method, I will accept you as my disciples, are you truly willing to follow me?"

  Everyone listened to Yuan Shi's words and immediately knelt down again, saying in unison: "We are willing to worship at the teacher's gate, hoping that the teacher will not abandon us!"

  Yuanshi looked at the crowd kneeling on the ground and suddenly said, "Ran Deng Daoyou, you and I once listened to the Tao together in the Purple Cloud Palace. I am not your master, please get up quickly!"

  Among the crowd kneeling on the ground, a Taoist wearing a gray robe, with a bun on his head and a thin face, and three-inch-long whiskers under his chin, spoke up: "Lantern indeed is willing to apprentice under Master's door, hoping that Master will not reject him!"

  Yuanshi's face showed a difficult expression, and he hesitated without speaking.

  "Disciple Zhen saw that the Primordial had a look of difficulty on his face, and he bowed down to speak: 'Master, since Fellow Daoist Rulan is also in the Purple Mist Palace listening to the Dao, it's not suitable for him to become Master's disciple now. However, Fellow Daoist Rulan has a sincere heart towards the Dao, so I request that Master grant Fellow Daoist Rulan the position of Elder of our sect, and from now on, we can address each other as fellow daoists, while we disciples call him 'Teacher'. When Master is lecturing on the Dao, Elder Rulan can listen together in the same hall, and also guide us disciples in our cultivation. What does Master think?"

  Yuanshi listened to Xun Daozi's words and made a decision. He then asked, "Is Fellow Duan willing to be the Eldest of our sect?"

  Ran Deng bowed down on the ground and thought for a moment before opening his mouth: "Ran Deng will follow Master's orders!"

  Yuanshi immediately said: "Please have Lamp Elder sit over here!"

  The White Crane Boy sent over a rush cushion and placed it beside the Cloud Platform.

  He lit the lamp and got up to thank Yuanshi, then exchanged greetings with Xun Daozi before sitting down on his meditation mat.

  Xun Daozi actually had some admiration for Ran Deng, who was able to put aside his pride and bow down to a fellow disciple as his master in order to seek the Way. This was truly remarkable; it seemed that among all the disciples of the Purple Mist Palace, only Ran Deng had achieved this, and he had thus progressed much further on the path than others. In Xun Daozi's past life legend, he finally obtained the 24 Dinghai Pearls and merged with the Qiankun Ruler to achieve the unity of the 24 heavens, becoming the Western Religion, and later the Buddhist Three-World Buddha, the Past Buddha, was second only to the existence of the Sage. In this life, Xun Daozi wanted to know how to make Ran Deng return to his senses and truly serve the teachings, so that he wouldn't run off to the Buddhist gate again and become some kind of Past Buddha.

  Yuanshi said to the remaining cultivators who were still kneeling on the ground, "Since you are willing to acknowledge me as your master, I will accept you as my disciples today. You will be the second generation of disciples under my gate and inherit my Jade Void Dao method, carrying on the legacy of our sect's teachings. Remember this?"

  Everyone immediately knelt down and paid homage, performing the ceremony of paying respects to a master.

  Later, Yuanshi asked if they had any titles, and everyone immediately reported their own titles. There were: Guang Chengzi of Taoyuan Cave on Jiuxian Mountain, Chi Jingzi of Yunxiao Cave on Taihua Mountain, Julou Sun of Feiyun Cave on Jialong Mountain, Taiyi Zhenren of Jinguang Cave on Qianyuan Mountain, Wenshu (Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun) of Yunxiao Cave on Wulong Mountain, Puxian Zhenren of Baihe Cave on Jiugong Mountain, Cihang Daoren of Luohua Cave on Putuo Mountain, Yuding Zhenren of Jinxia Cave on Yuquan Mountain, Daoxing (Daoxing Tianzun) of Yuyao Cave on Jinting Mountain, Qingxu Daode Zhenjun of Ziyang Cave on Qingfeng Mountain, Huanglong Zhenren of Magou Cave on Erxian Mountain, Lingbao Dafashi of Yuanyang Cave on Kongtong Mountain, Yunzhongzi of Yuzhu Cave on Zhongnan Mountain, and Nanji Xianweng. There were a total of fourteen people.

  Yuanshi pointed at Xun Daozi and said to the crowd, "This is your eldest master brother Xun Daozi. He will be in charge of handling the affairs of our sect from now on, so you all must listen to his arrangements. If there's anything you don't understand or are unclear about in your daily cultivation, you can also ask your eldest master brother."

  Everyone heard Yuan Shi's words and came to pay their respects to Xun Daozi. Xun Daozi also returned the courtesy one by one.

  In his heart, however, he felt a sense of nostalgia. These fourteen were the backbone disciples of the Primordial Gate of the Exposition of Teachings. At this moment, they looked at each other with a flourish, their faces radiant and spirited; some were elegant and refined, others were calm and serene, while others were majestic and awe-inspiring. The only female cultivator, Cihang Zhenren, wore a white robe, her hair tied back in a bun, her face delicate and beautiful, exuding an otherworldly aura.

  It is said that the disciples of this sect, in the legend of the previous life of the founder, especially in "The Investiture of the Gods", are depicted as having committed a taboo and must have resolved their karma before they can return to their original source and restart their cultivation. This taboo was due to not having beheaded the three corpses for 1,500 years, and this god had committed a taboo, which coincided with the change of dynasties in the human world, resulting in the great calamity of the Investiture of the Gods.

  What is this calamity? Xun Daozi thinks that it's because the three corpses of the cultivator have not been beheaded, and the evil spirits have added fuel to the fire, causing the consequences of their actions to become entangled with the Heavenly Way. Over time, these causes and effects have become unclear, accumulated together, and involved more people, forming a calamity. If it involves changes in human politics, it becomes a great calamity, and the cultivator who broke the rules becomes the main character of the calamity. Only by cutting off these causes and effects can the Heavenly Way open up the blocked path of cultivation. This is Xun Daozi's speculation about the nature of the calamity, but he doesn't know if it's true or not.

  What Xun Daozi could not have imagined was that the Golden Immortals in "The Investiture of the Gods", who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years, gave their own treasures to their disciples who had only cultivated for ten or twenty years, and yet they were powerless against those disciples. They were even beaten by their own magic weapons and forced to flee in disarray. This was also unthinkable for Xun Daozi.

  Now these heroes from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are standing in front of me, paying their respects. I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality in my heart.

  The crowd then bowed to the lamp and said: "Teacher!"

  The lamp also stood up and returned the courtesy.

  For a moment, everyone in the Jade Void Palace was polite and courteous, with a warm atmosphere. The disciples also greeted each other and asked about each other's well-being. Yuanshi smiled and nodded his head on the cloud platform.

  After everyone finished their greetings, Xun Daozi suddenly spoke to Yuan Shi: "Master, now that the great teachings have been established and there are already disciples, we should establish some rules for our sect, so that all disciples can follow them together. It will also serve as a standard for our Yu Xu lineage to travel through the vast expanse of the universe. Please, Master, enlighten us!"

  This is what Xunzi remembered from the legend of the past, after the war between the gods and demons, the disciples under his door were scattered and disintegrated, like a plate of loose sand. Later on, there were even those who betrayed Taoism to follow Buddhism, such as Hui Luosun, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, and Dharma Master Huineng, which led to the decline of Taoism and the rise of Buddhism.

  In this life, Xun Daozi is in the midst of spreading the teachings, but he does not want such things to happen again. Therefore, he sincerely requests Yuan Shi to establish rules and regulations to restrain him. At the same time, Xun Daozi also knows that a large sect without corresponding rules to constrain its disciples will also lead to the disciples acting recklessly, dispersing the sect's aura, and ultimately being unfavorable to the development of the sect. Therefore, Xun Daozi, who is deeply grateful for Yuan Shi's kindness, wholeheartedly considers the well-being of the sect, and these rules must be established.

  Yuanshi listened to Xunzi's words and after a moment of contemplation, he asked: "How should this rule be established?"

  All the disciples turned their eyes to Xun Daozi, waiting for him to speak; Zhu Deng also stared at him with piercing eyes.

  "The disciple humbly replied: 'I believe that our Jade Void Sect should respect the teacher and revere the Tao, with mutual love between teacher and disciples, and unite to promote the greatness of our sect. Therefore, I think that all disciples under our Jade Void Sect should follow these four points: Firstly, respect the teacher and revere the Tao, cultivate with a sincere heart; Secondly, do not betray the teacher or the sect, the teacher does not deceive the disciple, the disciple does not deceive the teacher; Thirdly, love and support each other among fellow disciples, do not harm each other; when a fellow disciple is in trouble, help them with all one's might; Fourthly, do not indiscriminately kill the innocent or bully the weak. I believe that these four points can be followed by all of our Jade Void Sect, and the rest of the details can be established based on these four points. Please, Master, make a decision!'"

  Xun Daozi proposed these four points, actually also for a pure and true dream in his heart, just wanting to build a pure and true immortal sacred place, to fulfill one of his dreams.

  Is it easy for a master not to betray his apprentice, and for an apprentice not to betray his master? Can fellow disciples easily avoid harming each other and help each other in times of need? The cultivators who recklessly kill the innocent, bully the weak, and look down on them as ants; those with great powers can destroy the heavens and earth, hurting countless innocents. Yet, the seekers of the Way still persist for that one dream, also due to a deep-seated obsession in their hearts!

  Yuanshi listened and nodded slightly, then immediately spoke: "You have heard, from now on the Yu Xuanchuan sect will follow the four basic rules proposed by your senior brother. All members of the Yu Xuanchuan sect must abide by them. The specific details will be discussed and decided by your senior brother Shendaozi with you, and then promulgated as the rules of our sect in the Hongyuan, which all those who enter our sect must follow!"

  Yuanshi Tianzun nodded in agreement with the suggestions made by Xun Daozi, and these were adopted as teachings. The Jade Void Palace immediately seemed to have an added air of mystery, and Xun Daozi appeared to have received some kind of mysterious empowerment.

  Xun Daozi and the fourteen new disciples kowtowed to the ground, and Reng Deng also stood up and bowed to the ground. The crowd shouted in unison: "Diligently obeying the Master's (Teacher's) (Respected Teacher's) orders, wishing the Master (Teacher) (Respected Teacher) eternal life!"

  Yuanshi waved his hand and let everyone get up, gave them seats and had them sit down, thus beginning the first lecture for all his disciples...