Chapter 14: Seeing a Great Man

  Only the clear wind and bright moon were visible, with two people standing on either side of the road. This time, they didn't draw their swords, but instead stood with their arms around each other's waists, coldly smiling. The tassels of the Seven Stars Sword behind them fluttered in the air, rustling in the cold wind.

  Cheng Jun looked at them with interest and said, "Oh, you're back again."

  Mingyue said loudly, "I've told you before, I'm not afraid of you flying to the sky. Chai Niangzi has already gone back, who can stop us now? Come with me." As he spoke, he took a step forward and was less than ten steps away from Cheng Jun.

  The gentle breeze behind him slowed down his tone and said, "What are you afraid of? Originally it was a good thing, the master wanted to ask you about the ghostly symbol, this is not a bad thing. It's just that when that young man from the Chai family came, the good thing turned into a bad one, making it seem like we want to do something to you. How could my master, who is so noble and high-minded, do something that would lower his status? Come with us and clarify this matter, not only will there be no harm, but Master will also reward you heavily if he's pleased."

  The little monk frowned and said: "You..."

  "Moonlight snorted: 'Shut up! We're not in your little temple now, and we're not afraid of you.'"

  Qingfeng closely followed with a hint of a mocking smile and said: "Please, this gentleman."

  Cheng Jun's expression remained as calm as ever, without even a twitch of his eyebrow, and he said, "Please? Where is the please?"

  "What?" Qingfeng frowned and asked.

  Cheng Jun Dao said, "Since you've invited me to the Purple Cloud Temple, there must be a proper etiquette for the invitation. There should be an invitation card and a ceremony, at an auspicious time on a good day, with someone coming personally to invite me, everything following the rules. This unclear and ambiguous summons is like what? Don't let people laugh that your temple has no manners. You children don't understand etiquette, it's not surprising, go back and ask your elders. I'll rest at the Mountain God Temple over there, tomorrow I have some free time, you can go back and prepare the invitation card, and come invite me again tomorrow."

  He said, turning his head to Little Monk: "Let's go." And they went forward.

  The two fools, Qingfeng and Mingyue, were stunned for a moment, only feeling their faces slowly burning with anger. After a while, they both shouted in unison: "Nonsense! Look at my sword!" Two long swords were drawn simultaneously, emitting two beams of light that shot towards Cheng Jun.

  Cheng Jun didn't even look back, taking step after step forward, as if he was about to crash into the sword tip.

  The little monk watching from the side saw the danger and shouted, "Quickly move aside." Before he had even finished speaking, he felt a flash before his eyes, and Cheng Jun's figure was already gone. Only the two small Taoist priests remained, still maintaining their forward thrusting posture, but their hands were empty, their long swords having flown away without a trace.

  The clear wind and bright moon were stunned, but their bodies didn't suffer any impact. They maintained this posture for a while before suddenly coming to their senses. With a startled cry, they rushed forward several steps, their feet landing on the ground as they still grasped the sword hilt, both of them dazed.

  Cheng Jun turned around, placed the two long swords together in one hand, and said: "You two remember, you are Taoist children, not Taoist practitioners. There is a distinction between the sacred and the mundane. A Taoist child attacking a Taoist practitioner is a capital offense that can be punished with death even if it's not reported to your school. You should know these life-and-death rules when you go out in the future. If I didn't consider my relationship with Yuhua Zhenren, I would have taken your lives today, and it would have been nothing out of the ordinary. This is just this once; next time there won't be such leniency." He casually tossed the swords back and said: "Although they're just ordinary long swords, you should still maintain them from time to time. The blades are all worn smooth." He turned his head to face Little Monk and said...

  The clear wind and bright moon heard his faint words, without even changing tone, and didn't know whether to be angry or ashamed, with a purple face. The clear wind wanted to say a few perfunctory words, took over the long sword, but couldn't speak, finally said: "Let's go."

  The two of them turned around and ran away as if for their lives.

  Cheng Jun turned his head and saw Xiao He Shang with his hands behind his back, shaking his head and saying: "What's wrong?"

  The little monk came back to his senses and said: "Your last few words were too powerful, I want to learn from you, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't get your tone right."

  Cheng Jun smiled, he was indeed a genuine 900-year-old, opening his mouth to teach a few younger generations, naturally and effortlessly revealing the tone of an elder, why would he need to pretend? He instead had to intentionally hold back his own aura, this way it wouldn't be too dazzling. He said: "I'm truly kind-hearted. Firstly, they're just children, I don't bother with kids. Secondly, because... of a certain reason, I won't easily kill ordinary people, they haven't crossed that threshold, they're just commoners who've learned some martial arts, I won't lightly execute them, it's just a minor punishment to serve as a warning."

  "Are you really a Taoist?"

  Cheng Jun did not conceal it and said: "It's a cultivator, and it can be considered as half a Taoist."

  The little monk asked: "What is the difference between a Buddhist monk and a Taoist priest?"

  Cheng Jun Dao said, "Originally there wasn't much of a difference, but after the Dao Gate appeared, there was a distinction. You wait for a moment, I'll go follow them and take a look." As he spoke, he waved his hand at him, took a step forward, and entered into the forest.

  The little monk hastily called out: "That Purple Cloud Temple is extremely dangerous..." Before he could finish his sentence, Cheng Jun had already disappeared from sight, and he could only swallow the second half of his words, thinking to himself: I wonder who's more formidable, him or Yue Hua Zhen Ren?

  Cheng Jun followed Qingfeng and Mingyue at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow. Although they were in the vast snowy plain, there was no sign of disturbance, and where he stepped, the snow only slightly loosened, without leaving any footprints. This body technique was truly a remarkable lightness skill, simply using Taoist true energy to propel it. In his past life before entering the path, he had been an unparalleled master in the martial world, and his status in the martial world was not inferior to his later status in the cultivation world. Those two young men, after all, were just ordinary people who had learned some martial arts, and even if Cheng Jun jumped on one foot, they wouldn't have noticed.

  He didn't kill them for a few reasons. Firstly, Cheng Jun himself said that he wouldn't easily kill ordinary people, or those outside the cultivation world. Even someone like Master Ma, he wasn't necessarily thinking of killing him, and this was related to his past experiences. At a glance, he could see that what these two Taoist children were learning wasn't actually a cultivation technique, meaning they weren't part of the cultivation world. This is a normal thing in the cultivation world, just like Cheng Jun said, there's an essential difference between Taoist children and Taoist priests, and they don't count as cultivators, more like servants than disciples. Many senior cultivators' Taoist children do get to learn their techniques, but generally speaking, ordinary cultivators are quite casual when it comes to teaching their Taoist children, whether it's martial arts or nothing at all, just having them serve tea is fine too. Cheng Jun wouldn't think that because they only learned secular martial arts, then Master Yuehua must be a fake too. After all, Little Monk once said that Master Yuehua himself could use the Flowing Fire Technique, and even his disciples could use the Palm Thunderbolt.

  Palm Thunder is indeed a genuine technique, one of the thirteen Taobao great road techniques in the cultivation world. Of course, it's not some high-level technique or anything. In terms of grade, it's only slightly higher than the ghostly paintings he originally created. It can be used whether you're on the path or not. However, looking at the damage to the ice surface earlier, it seems that Palm Thunder has already reached a certain level of mastery. The user should be a cultivator who has entered the path. But there's also a clever way to use Palm Thunder, which is to make it with sulfur and saltpeter, hide it in your palm, and ignite it when needed. If that's the case, then this is just a deceitful trick and can't be used to infer one's cultivation level. Of course, being generous in estimating the enemy, Cheng Jun won't follow the example of Chuang Far to deceive people into underestimating their strength.

  There was one more thing, that was Cheng Jun had to follow them, to see if the Purple Cloud Temple was at the original site of the Wan Ma Temple, and whether it had anything to do with what he was looking for. Although according to time, that thing should be safe and sound, but Cheng Jun still wanted to confirm it with his own eyes, otherwise he couldn't rest assured.

  Passing through a forest, Qingfeng and Mingyue arrived at a mountain pass, flashing into it. Cheng Jun fell back a few steps, carefully looking at the mountain pass, thinking: It's true, this is the Wanyun Valley where the Wanma Temple is located, I've been here in my previous life, although there are some changes, but overall it still looks like its original appearance.

  He waited there for a while before slowly walking in.

  As soon as I entered the mountain pass, I felt a sudden rise in temperature. Just now it was still bitterly cold, but now I feel a hint of spring. In the mountain pass, apart from the continuous pine forest like outside, there is also a carpet of green grass, with scattered wildflowers here and there. Although it can't compare to the true scenery of southern China in spring, it's still a rare sight in this icy landscape.

  Cheng Jun knew that this was not the result of an array, but rather a natural creation. It turned out that the surrounding mountains were high and surrounded the valley, blocking the cold wind from entering, thus forming a warm winter and cool summer, with all four seasons like spring. In the center of the valley stood a Taoist temple, which wasn't very large, with two courtyards in front and back, three large halls, and a tower in the middle with two levels, red walls and black tiles, having some grandeur. There was a flagpole at the entrance, and behind it stood a seven-story precious pagoda.

  Qing Jun's eyes were extremely sharp, and from a distance, he could already see the plaque hanging above the gate of the temple, with the three large characters "Zi Yun Guan" written on it. On either side of the gate hung a pair of couplets: "Phoenix forms surge out of the Three Honored Earth; Dragon momentum generates one Cavern Heaven". At the gate stood a flagpole, and hanging from it was the authentic banner of the Daoist tradition.

  Cheng Jun carefully measured for a moment, and couldn't help but laugh. In his heart, he thought: This old Taoist is really funny. Just by changing the signboard and a pair of couplets, a Buddhist temple becomes a Taoist temple? This is obviously the layout of a temple. Don't mention anything else, just that pagoda in the back, it's enough to expose this fake Taoist temple. This mismatched appearance would make those proud young men from the Taoist orthodox tradition see it and burn down this freak!

  At the same time, a doubt arose in his heart: this old Taoist has a big nerve, Wanma Mountain is a deep mountain and forest, but it's not a particularly remote place. He dares to set up a wild Taoist temple here, could it be that he thinks the Dao Gate has no one?

  Although it's funny, I also put my mind at ease. Since the Taoist priest didn't demolish the Wan Ma Temple, what he wants must still be inside the Wan Ma Temple.

  With a careful step forward to examine, Cheng Jun suddenly felt that the spiritual aperture in his mind was blocked, and he immediately knew something was wrong. He hastily retreated, retreating out of the valley, one step after another, and in one breath, he exited several miles away. In his heart, he thought: "This place's Dao field is strange!"