Chapter 1: The Seven-Colored Dragon Boat, Azure Pearl...

  "Let's go." Because the distance between Zihui Dao Guan is not far, it looks like he is already old in age, but his face is clear and thin, and his movements are also very agile. Qingxu True Man did not get back on the sedan chair, but instead took out an ancient black scabbard long sword from the sedan chair. This seems to be evidence of Qingxu True Man's great magical powers, and the mountain people who saw the green pine stone and red gemstones inlaid on the black scabbard long sword were again full of praise.

  Luobei followed behind him, and when he walked past the bluestone memorial arch with carvings of qilin on both sides that he had been to before, two young Taoist boys who were slightly older than Luobei, with their hair tied up in a bun, wearing flat mixed yuan hats, and dressed in green Taoist robes, came out from the Taoist temple to greet them.

  Although this Taoist temple has only a dozen or so rooms, it is far inferior to the Medicine King Sect of that day, but it also has its own rules. The Taoists inside saw a blood-stained youth following Qingxu Zhenren and were shocked, but after paying their respects to Qingxu, they went about their business without asking any questions.

  "It seems that this Zi Hui Dao Guan is indeed not an ordinary Daoist temple."

  Luo Bei saw himself and Qing Xu Zhenren enter the Taoist temple, then two Dao children followed and closed the large gate behind them. The two dark-colored gates were several feet thick and looked very heavy, but the two Dao children, who were only slightly older than Luo Bei, closed them without any effort.

  "I just don't know why it was built in this mountain town."

  After Luo Bei underwent a drastic transformation of his skeletal structure through the use of the Zhānxī Kèzǎ grass, although his previous strength had disappeared, he did not become invincible like in the Miao Yi legends. However, Yuán Tiān Yī saw the true purpose of the divine medicine recorded by the ancestors in the giant hall of Luó Fú's transmission: rebirth and bone transformation. This secret medicine, unknown to anyone and passed down through the ancient Miao Yi, actually had the effect of changing a person's innate qualifications for cultivation. It was unclear who had passed down this medicine, as there were no records in Luó Fú's ancestral records, and Yuán Tiān Yī did not know either. However, before this, Luó Fú had never undergone any significant changes, and his cultivation method was to face difficulties head-on, so the generations of Luó Fú's transmission had never considered using this medicine. Now, after undergoing rebirth and bone transformation, Luo Bei could clearly feel that the location of the Purple Hui Dao Observatory did not have much spiritual energy and was not an ideal place for cultivation.

  Luo Bei's understanding of the cultivation world was still extremely pale, except for the one technique he had been taught by his master. For example, the external alchemy method cultivated by Qingxu Zhenren was beyond his cognitive range.

  The most superficial practice of Waidan Dao is to use medicinal herbs that contain the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to refine dan medicine for consumption, which can enhance one's cultivation.

  The history of Waidan and Neidan's Jindan Dafa is equally long, and the reason why this practice has many practitioners is that the method is simple and quick. If there are suitable spiritual herbs, it may take only a few days to refine the elixir, which can be comparable to some practices that require years of hard work. Moreover, most of the world's spiritual veins are occupied by people, even if they know about them, they may not be able to cultivate there. The high-grade spiritual herbs in the Naluo floating dead pool are difficult to obtain for ordinary cultivators, but ordinary spiritual herbs can be bought directly with money and are not hard to find. For those who practice Waidan, whether the place has rich spiritual energy is secondary, the key lies in whether they have enough power and means to obtain spiritual herbs.

  So generally, the sects that cultivate external alchemy, except for a few who avoid the world and cultivate themselves to find spiritual medicine, most of them choose to enter the world, establish power, and use their vast human and financial resources to collect spiritual medicine. Like the Medicine King Sect, they have extremely rich commercial funds, monopolizing the pharmaceutical business in southern Fujian, and as soon as they discover a useful spiritual medicine, they take it for themselves first.

  That the Medicine King Sect, which did not dare to have any excuses under the deterrence of Yuantianyi's Liudao Futi Industry Fire Red Lotus, is already a major sect ranking high in the world's external alchemy cultivation. However, the Purple Hui Dao Guan is only attached to the Shu Shan Men, and it is just a third-rate small sect in the three streams of the cultivation world.

  But as long as one has entered the gate of cultivation, they will not be like those ignorant mountain villagers who muddle along, they must have something to strive for.

  Even if it's a third-rate faction among third-rates, it doesn't necessarily mean they don't have their own pursuits and ambitions!

  "It's strange, I don't know what got into Master, but he brought back a boy covered in blood, looking like a beggar, and now he wants me to follow him everywhere, taking good care of him at all times."

  Qingxu Zhenren's most powerful disciple, Changfeng, took Luo Bei to bathe and change clothes while sizing him up in his mind.

  He didn't know that at this moment, Qingxu Zhenren of Xian Gu Dao Feng was standing in front of a painting. The painting depicted an old Taoist who wore almost the same attire as him, but with a completely different appearance - black hair and a youthful face.

  The person who painted this painting has extremely fine workmanship, and the brushwork is full of energy. Not only did he paint the old Taoist's appearance vividly, but also captured his spirit.

  "Master!"

  Looking at this painting, Qing Xuan Zhen Ren's eyes actually became moist.

  He slowly closed his eyes and bowed again to the person in the portrait.

  When he opened his eyes again, it was as if this world had opened a magnificent door for him.

  Gently turning the Yin Yang Bagua copper mirror on the wall to the left nine times and then to the right nine times, the wall beside the painting silently opened, revealing a secret room of the Purple Seal Taoist Temple.

  A spacious and profound secret passage, with a round night pearl every short distance, shining brightly like daylight, without any hint of darkness. However, on the walls along the way, where there should be some ancient collections of Ziwu Taoist Temple in grid arrangement, there were instead pairs of small urns. These urns looked no different from ordinary small wine urns, but what was inside them was actually a pair of yin-yang purple river cars connected to an infant!

  Qingxu Zhenren continued on his way, and there were over a hundred altars along the path. Even if all of them used yellow talismans to suppress it, they seemed unable to dispel the bloody and evil aura that originally filled the majestic and bright secret realm.

  The narrow path continued to wind downward, and suddenly opened up into a vast underground stone chamber deep within the mountain range. This large underground stone chamber, spanning tens of meters in diameter, contained several copper racks upon which rested various magical instruments such as demon-repelling mirrors, swords, feather dusters, etc., some of which emitted a radiant glow, indicating that they were imbued with spiritual energy and were likely precious treasures. However, the most captivating object was a towering furnace situated at the very center of the stone chamber, reaching several meters in height.

  The alchemy furnace appears to be made of bronze, with a base like a square tripod and four legs that have been cast with patterns of four different strange beasts. The majority of the legs are buried underground, while the body of the furnace above the base is in the shape of a double-layered gourd, with another gourd-shaped air vent below. The entire alchemy furnace is engraved with ancient, rustic inscriptions, and no fuel can be seen, but fierce flames emanate from the lower air vent, illuminating half of the stone room and emitting waves of intense heat that are almost suffocating. Clearly, this alchemy furnace is connected to the earth's core fire, burning day and night without cease.

  The fiery light emanating from the Dan furnace window cast a reddish glow over Qingxu Zhenren's entire body, but he didn't look at the Dan furnace. Instead, he gazed intently at the wall opposite him and said softly, "Younger brother, I've finally gathered all the materials needed for the Purple River Rebirth Technique."

  On the wall opposite the Qingxu True Person, a person was actually hanging!

  No, this person can't even be considered a human being! Because this person is completely dry and withered, without a hint of flesh or blood, giving the impression of a desiccated corpse that has been dead for many years. And this desiccated corpse-like person was wrapped in a tattered Taoist robe, which looked like it had been hung on the wall for ages, to the point where if you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for an old worn-out robe hanging on the wall.

  But if you look closely, you will find that the wall behind him is engraved with various talismans and incantations, and under his tattered Taoist robe, you can vaguely see five mysterious iron chains passing through his skeletal body, firmly fixing him to the stone wall.

  This person is actually the junior brother of Qingxu Zhenren?

  Is he still alive?

  "You still want to call me your junior brother?" The person who was hung on the wall like a corpse, suddenly spoke up with a cold smile. "It's clearly a demonic method of forcefully seizing someone's body, yet you still dare to say it's the Great Law of Reincarnation in front of me!"

  "Junior brother." Qingxu True Person didn't argue with this person, and his eyes burst forth with a frenzied light. "Guess what kind of talented person I met in town today?"

  Generally, people with a cold smile don't speak.

  But the Clear Void True Man of the Xian Gu Dao Feng burst out laughing like a madman, "Junior brother, you probably can't imagine, today I met a mountain child, his bone and meridian, is actually seizing the creation of heaven and earth! I can guarantee that even if it's those so-called Golden Immortals from Kunlun who are at the top of their cultivation, they may not be able to surpass him in terms of innate talent!"

  "How do I know you're not a madman who's lost his mind and mistaken?"

  "Am I mistaken? The child is right in front of me now, and I can bring him before you at once!"

  "What's the point?" The corpse-like person hung his head down, as if he didn't even want to look at the fake person clearly.

  "What's the big deal?" The Qingxu True Man, who had been laughing maniacally just a moment before, suddenly fell silent and gazed at the person on the wall with an expression like a dried-up corpse. He let out a sigh and said, "Junior brother, don't you understand yet? I've gone through countless hardships and have only just finished collecting all the materials needed for alchemy, and then I encountered a rare and precious body - this is fate!"

  "Pah!" The corpse-like person on the wall suddenly became enraged, "Heaven's will? If heaven wasn't blind in both eyes, how could it have allowed a depraved and insane person like you to succeed?! Do you even have the face to mention heaven's will?!"

  Qingxu Zhenren suddenly became agitated, "Junior brother, after all these years, you still don't understand? I made this choice precisely because I want my Purple Emblem Daoist Temple to one day rise to fame! Otherwise, with the strength of my Purple Emblem Daoist Temple, we would always be dependent on Mount Shu's sect, having to curry favor and take orders from others! If it weren't for you deliberately blocking me back then, I wouldn't have ended up trapping you in this place."

  "Nonsense!"

  "You're cultivating the medicine of forced seizure, apart from those innocent women and children who died at your hands, you also need fresh blood and living souls. Even if you manage to deceive people today, if it's discovered in the future that you used this evil method, our Zihui Daoist Temple might be completely destroyed!"

  "You're just thinking of your own selfish interests! And yet you still claim to be doing it for our school!"

  "Hypocrisy at its finest! Even if you spare my life, it's just to satisfy your perverted desires, so someone can witness the shameful things you can't reveal, and not let them suffocate in your heart, driving you mad!"

  "You are such an unfeeling and unjust, hypocritical little person, you don't even deserve to call me your junior brother! You don't even deserve to be the master of the Ziwei Taoist Temple!"

  For a moment, the corpse-like person on the wall suddenly became furious and roared loudly, causing the iron chains to clank!

  "Since ancient times, one general's success has been built on the withered bones of ten thousand men!" Amidst the furious roar of the corpse-like man on the wall, Qing Xū Dào Ren's forehead also bulged with blue veins, his temples throbbing violently. "You and I have cultivated for a lifetime, but it's just this one cultivation, this is the limit of our innate talent. I spared your life to let you know that you are greatly mistaken! I want to show you how my Purple Emblem Daoist Temple can proudly lift its head!"