Chapter 78: The Trouble of Purple Bamboo

  Yingke Mountain was built by the disciples of Ziyang Sect with great effort, such as Caohai and Nanhai Song, which require special care and maintenance. However, the Purple Bamboo Temple is still a bit beyond their reach. Zhang Tongyuan is somewhat dissatisfied with Zi Yun Zhenren, who is more ambitious than his predecessor and has a desire to dominate the Orthodox Taoism. This is not necessarily a bad thing, after all, having ambition is good, but the performance of the Purple Bamboo Temple is not quite up to Zhang Tongyuan's expectations.

  The Zixiao Temple has a good relationship with the Zhongxiao and Xiaoxiao factions, even those that are both righteous and evil. These factions naturally regard the Zixiao Temple as their leader, while the Zixiao Temple is wary of the Yunqing Gate, Leishan, and Qingping Gate of Beizhou. Except for the Qingping Gate, which has always had a bad relationship with the Zixiao Temple, the Yunqing Gate and Leishan are both large factions with rising ambitions. Especially the Yunqing Gate and Leishan, whose leaders are young and talented, with outstanding disciples emerging one after another. Furthermore, the recent coldness of the demonic sect towards the Zixiao Temple has led to frequent interactions between the Yunqing Gate and Leishan, which also makes the Ziyun True Person somewhat displeased.

  Years later, the Righteous and Evil Alliance Conference will be held every ten years. With the support of many small and medium-sized factions, the Purple Bamboo Temple still becomes the leader, and the Righteous and Evil Conference will be held at the Purple Bamboo Temple. At that time, the orthodox and evil sects that have joined the alliance will send masters to participate, and they will also accept new small and medium-sized factions as allies, jointly defend against the invasion of evil people, and hold a young master competition between the righteous and evil sects.

  At this time, the fierce fire sect was under the command of the Purple Bamboo Temple, and it was directly under the command of the Purple Bamboo Temple. For Ziyun True Person, the revival of the Purple Bamboo Temple had already been completed by 60%. What Zhang Tongyuan was not satisfied with was that the two successive leaders of the Purple Bamboo Temple were too strict internally. Those who entered the temple must have excellent roots and qualifications, and others were not allowed to enter. After entering the temple, they were divided into three, six, and nine grades according to their individual cultivation levels, with the number of auspicious clouds on their Taoist robes as a distinction of status. Zhang Tongyuan was third-grade, and he was an elite disciple with duties. Those who were second-grade were also elite disciples, and those who were first-grade were at most responsible for miscellaneous tasks such as repairs, transmitting orders, searching for materials, guarding the mountain gate, etc.

  The internal management of the Purple Bamboo Pavilion has a strong Confucian flavor, with the head of the pavilion being the most powerful and unquestionable. The other sect leaders are like vassals, each managing their own affairs. The Purple Sun Sect is directly under the pavilion's leadership, with strict levels within. For example, if Zhang Tongyuan needs a stone from Bohai, he doesn't need to go find it himself. He just needs to give an order to the elite disciples of the Two Clouds, and they will send one of their own to take care of it. Ordinary disciples also like to do tasks for higher-ranking disciples or sect leaders, and if they do a good job, they might be promoted to become one of the Two Clouds. As a Two Clouds disciple, they can enter the library to read books and practice meditation without having to do miscellaneous chores.

  Everyone seems to be making progress on the surface, but Zhang Tongyuan knows that because of this, the power struggle in Ziyang Sect is particularly intense, especially in the Purple Cloud Hall. The sect master can promote his own disciples, and the position of sect master is fiercely contested. Usually, there are several people competing, one side wins, and they reward their own disciples with promotions. As for those who lose power, some will surrender, while others will be demoted. Zhang Tongyuan believes that internal power struggles are the biggest problem in Ziyang Sect. However, to control Ziyang Sect, one must use the art of governing people. High-ranking disciples can let lower-ranking ones run errands, enter the library to study, and even practice closed-door meditation. Lower-ranking disciples can only learn some superficial Taoist techniques, and to make progress, they have no choice but to fawn over others or even bribe them. There have even been cases of female disciples offering themselves to the elder protectors of Ziyang Sect in exchange for promotion to the rank of Second Cloud Disciple.

  However, it is precisely because of this that the Zixiao Temple, especially the disciples of the Zi Yang Sect, pursue their cultivation more than other sects, with few who are pure and simple. Their overall strength has always been at the top of the righteous path, and they can also rival the Demon Sect.

  The most famous part of the Purple Bamboo Pavilion is the Book Storage Hall, which contains countless documents and Daoist scriptures. In front of the pavilion, people record their experiences with royal swords, Daoist techniques, and mental methods. The two disciples of the Auspicious Clouds can enter and choose one system for themselves, such as those who like to wield swords or those who like thunder magic, which is further divided into five elements of thunder and mixed-element thunder. Daoist techniques are also divided into five elements, qimen, and array methods. Only one system can be chosen, and it is not allowed to browse through all the books. Zhang Tongyuan chose the method of driving swords, entered the Driving Sword Pavilion, and later studied various documents and manuscripts from previous generations, gaining a deep understanding of the royal sword. His fate was extraordinary, and he inherited the White Rainbow Sword, breaking through boundaries and using the Golden Elixir to wield the sword, which can be said to have no precedent in history.

  The benefits of this method are that the disciples specialize in one technique, and their progress is rapid. However, the drawback is that the disciples only specialize in one technique, which is too limited. Nevertheless, the rules are set by humans, such as Zhang Tongyuan, who is a master himself, has the favor of the sect leader, and does not pursue power or status. After being specially approved by Ziyun True Person, he can freely browse and cultivate all the Taoist techniques in the Cangshu Hall. Although this is reasonable, it lacks fairness, making those below him more aware of the use of power. Entering the Purple Bamboo Pavilion, becoming a disciple of the Two Auspicious Clouds, achieving success in cultivation, gaining the favor of the sect leader or the gatekeeper... This is the direction of struggle for the disciples of the Purple Bamboo Pavilion.

  The times create heroes, look at Zhang Tongyuan, not even half a bit of the temperament of a cultivator, speaking coarsely and provoking trouble. To say nothing of comparing him to Ximen Shuai and Lin Fan, even if compared to the monk Absoluteness who has been wandering outside for years, his immortal aura would be weaker by three points. Lin Fan had interacted with Zhang Tongyuan several times and thought that Zhang Tongyuan was intentionally unbridled, this was due to dissatisfaction with certain things, but he didn't dare to resist, so in his frustration, he adopted this attitude.

  ……

  "Lie Huo Lao Zu." Gu Yan stood still, looking forward more than twenty feet away, a middle-aged man and a young man were playing Go under a pine tree. The middle-aged man's face was solemn, every move he made was very serious, all of which had been carefully considered beforehand. And the young man was Xie Feng Zi, the first of the eight great masters, with a large calabash on his back, intently focused on the game.

  Xie Fengzi felt someone was looking at him, preparing to raise his head. The middle-aged man, also known as Lie Huo Lao Zu, said: "You are in a disadvantaged position, with no other thoughts in your heart, only then can you turn defeat into victory!"

  "Yes!" Xiao Fengzi ignored those people.

  "Xie Fengzi." Lin Fan introduced the young man's name, who had ambushed him and Ximen Shuai twice in the Blizzard Mountain.

  Xie Fengzi's eyelid twitched, and he fell. Lian Huo Laozu let out a light sigh: "You lost, face the wall for three days."

  "Yes!" Xiao Fengzi didn't say another word, stood up and walked to a pavilion at the edge of the cliff, sat cross-legged half a step away from the pavilion, facing the wall motionless.

  Laozu of the Blazing Fire stood up and walked forward to Zhang Tongyuan's face, bowing his body: "I have seen the Left Guardian."

  Zhang Tongyuan smiled: "Laozu Liehuo, you're a master of a sect after all. You're also several years older than me. How can you be so polite? How can I bear it?"

  Liu Huo Lao Zu replied, "I dare not be called Lao Zu, my real name is Zhang Lie, the Liu Huo Sect has been disbanded, Zi Xiao Temple did not abandon me, appointed me as the sect master of Zi Xiao Temple's Liu Huo Sect, I will definitely work tirelessly for Zi Xiao Temple until death."

  Zhang Tongyuan smiled and took a step forward, saying in Lao Huo's ear: "Listen up, old Wang Ba, don't try this trick on me."

  "With reverence for the teachings of the law, Zhang Lie will certainly reform."

  Qingshui Zhenren is ruthless, while Lihuo Laizu is sinister. Lin Fan looked at him and thought to himself that Lihuo Laizu's plan might not be just about the sect master.