Free Web NovelChapter 13: Chapter 12: Leaving My Name in the Golden Pen and Jade Scroll
Yunmeng Marsh was boundless and vast, a convergence point for the world’s waterways, nurturing countless living beings. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Spirit Island Immortal Mountains were scattered throughout, appearing as if born from nature yet also crafted by divine hands. They were strewn about like stars in the sky, guarding the central Land Continent.
Legend has it that when the Tai Su Sect was first established, the Sect Founding Ancestor Grandmaster used his Supreme Divine Techniques to move a Land Continent into the marsh, suppressing its Spiritual Acupoints. He then moved mountains and filled seas, placing islands over the branch lines of Spiritual Acupoints throughout Yunmeng Marsh. This laid the foundation for the Tai Su Sect’s ten thousand years of teachings.
The Land Continent at the heart of Yunmeng Marsh was the true home of the Tai Su Orthodox Sect. Upon it stood dozens of Immortal Mountains and countless Spirit Peaks, covered with endless rows of buildings. Islands even floated in the sky, with pavilions and towers faintly visible among them, accompanied by flowing springs, gushing waterfalls, and swirling clouds and mist.
On any other day, one could often see cultivators either riding streaks of light or flying on Magical Artifacts and immortal birds, weaving through the clouds in a truly celestial scene. Today, however, it seemed rather deserted. The sect’s bells had tolled nine times to celebrate a disciple forging a Top-grade Golden Core, and a True Disciple ceremony was being held. While not as grand as a Golden Core Grand Ceremony, it was still an extremely solemn event within the sect.
Normally, all registered disciples present in the sect who weren’t occupied with urgent matters were expected to attend the ceremony. Of course, the sect was not unreasonable; one could simply claim to be in seclusion, and no one would force the issue.
But for ordinary disciples, an event of this magnitude was a welcome opportunity to see the various elders, esteemed masters, True Disciples, and even the Sect Leader. This was why the sect now appeared somewhat deserted.
Dubhe Peak was the foremost among Tai Su’s many peaks. It connected heaven and earth, its summit piercing straight through the clouds like a treasured pillar standing majestically amidst the other mountains, earning it the name Celestial Pillar Peak. To most Tai Su Disciples, Dubhe Peak was both familiar and strange. Many areas on the peak were forbidden to disciples, yet every member of the Tai Su Sect knew the path to the Tai Su Ancestor Hall like the back of their hand.
In the center of the Tai Su Ancestor Hall stood three tall jade statues. The one in the middle depicted a Daoist with a blurred face and a simple Daoist Robe; this was the sect’s progenitor, the Tai Su Taoist. To the left was the image of an old Daoist with long eyebrows that hung to his chest, clad in a purple-tasseled Daoist Robe; this was the Sect Founding Ancestor Grandmaster, Baoxuanzi. To the right was the Revival Ancestor Grandmaster, the fifth-generation ancestor, Jade Longevity True Monarch. Below them on both sides were fourteen slightly smaller jade statues, representing the various generations of ancestors from Tai Su’s ten thousand years of history.
A solemn silence filled the hall as the True Disciple ceremony began. Xuzhuang knelt on a cushion, performing three bows and nine kowtows to the sect’s progenitor, the Sect Founding Ancestor Grandmaster, and the Revival Ancestor Grandmaster. After he rose, a Daoist Child guided him to the last jade statue on the right. Sect Leader Yuanhua Zhenren stood calmly beneath this statue, which was a perfect likeness of him! The Daoist Child announced, "Pay respects to the current-generation ancestor, Master Yuanhua."
That was right. The current-generation ancestor, who was also the eleventh-generation ancestor, was indeed Sect Leader Yuanhua Zhenren.
Due to its size and system, the Tai Su Orthodox Sect differed from many other sects in numerous ways. Within the sect, there might be separate master-disciple lineages, familial seniority, or private friendships. The sect disregarded all such matters. Nominally, all current True Disciples were considered twelfth-generation "disciples" under the current-generation ancestor, Master Yuanhua.
The current-generation ancestor, Master Yuanhua, was himself a True "Disciple" under the previous ancestor, the tenth-generation ancestor. Only when someone from the current twelfth generation of True Disciples achieved the Primordial Spirit realm would they be considered to have inherited the legacy of the Tai Su Orthodox Sect and become the twelfth-generation ancestor. Then would come the thirteenth generation of True Disciples...
Thus, although the Tai Su Orthodox Sect had been passing down its teachings for over ten thousand years, it had only nominally passed through twelve generations to this day.
Xuzhuang knelt again on the cushion before the current-generation ancestor, Master Yuanhua.
Master Yuanhua stroked his beard and spoke with great solemnity, "The Ancestor founded the Tai Su Orthodox Sect and left behind this verse:
"The Tai Su is recorded on the Jade Disc, its form and substance reflecting the origin.
Its virtue and way lead to profound tranquility; its truth and constancy guard the spirit’s purity."
"Today, the disciple Xuzhuang, having formed a top-grade core, is hereby bestowed the Daoist name: Daomiao. He shall be ranked among the True Disciples and his name inscribed in the Jade Scroll."
Xuzhuang bowed low respectfully and performed three kowtows and nine bows to thank the ancestor.
Master Yuanhua nodded and offered a final piece of advice, "The Great Dao is long and arduous. I hope you will hold fast to your original heart and forge ahead."
Xuzhuang replied respectfully, "This disciple will remember."
After paying respects to the three great ancestors and the current-generation Primordial Spirit True Man, another Daoist Child brought forth the Golden Pen and Jade Scroll. This was the register of True Disciples, and Xuzhuang had to inscribe his own name upon it.
The Jade Scroll was a small roll, perfectly sized for the Daoist Child’s two hands. He held it out before Xuzhuang.
Xuzhuang focused his attention on it and felt as if the space within the Jade Scroll was infinite. Name after name appeared, some blazing with light, others plain and dim. Xuzhuang’s gaze passed over the countless names of previous True Disciples until he reached the end, where he saw a few familiar names:
Han Wang, Nangong Yang, Yue Junlan, Yun Yaoguang, Sword Step Master, Sun Suzhen...
Then, Xuzhuang took the Golden Pen and wrote his name in the final spot. From this moment on, the Tai Su Sect’s seven great True Disciples would be renowned throughout the Divine Continent.
The Daoist Child took back the Golden Pen and Jade Scroll and returned it to the Incense Table in the Ancestral Hall. All the sect members and elders in the hall congratulated the Tai Su Orthodox Sect in unison for gaining another True Disciple to carry the Dao...
At this point, the True Disciple ceremony was nearing its end. Everyone began to file out until the Ancestral Hall was empty, leaving only Sect Leader Yuanhua Zhenren and Xuzhuang.
Before Xuzhuang could ask for leave, he heard Master Yuanhua say, "Xuzhuang, come see me on the third floor of Langhuan Tower." In the blink of an eye, he dissolved into a wisp of cloud and vanished. It turned out this had only been an incarnation.
Langhuan Tower was the sect’s library, built upon Xiaotai Peak. However, among the sect’s disciples, most only knew of Langhuan Tower and not Xiaotai Peak. As for the reason why, one look was all it took to understand.
Xiaotai Peak’s Langhuan Tower was not far from Dubhe Peak. At Xuzhuang’s Flying Escape speed, he arrived in an instant. An incredibly familiar sight entered his view: upon a half-mountain that looked as if it had been sheared in two at the waist stood a colossal tower, seemingly built by a giant that could touch the sky. It was constructed primarily of wood. From afar, it seemed to shoot up from the ground into the heavens, piercing the highest clouds. Flying closer for a better look revealed multiple tiers of upturned eaves, terraced pavilions, encircling corridors, and Flying Pavilions of cinnabar red, all wreathed in clouds and mist. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
This was Langhuan Tower.
Entering Langhuan Tower through its main gate revealed another peculiar scene. The first floor alone was over a hundred zhang tall. A normal person standing inside would feel like an ant that had wandered into a city gatehouse. On all four sides were walls of books that rose from the ground to the very ceiling, holding an unknown number of bamboo carvings, jade slips, paper books, and leather scrolls.
The collection, gathered over Tai Su’s ten thousand years, included Daoist Scriptures and Spells, arts of divination and evasion, tales of strange people and bizarre events, heavenly engineering and mathematics, and literature and poetry. It was all-encompassing, lacking nothing. The knowledge contained within was so vast that a common mortal could not learn even a ten-thousandth of it in an entire lifetime.
Countless disciples flew up and down along the walls of books, picking out their desired selections, while others studied diligently on the suspended platforms meant for rest...
And this was only the first floor of Langhuan Tower, the one with the fewest books.
Legend says that in the beginning, any Tai Su Disciple could freely enter and browse the collection. But as Langhuan’s collection grew ever larger, even after the sect elders had filtered out many useless and miscellaneous books, many disciples still lost themselves in the sea of knowledge, unwittingly neglecting their cultivation. They would read ten thousand volumes, yet their cultivation level would stagnate. There were even book-obsessed disciples who entered Langhuan Tower and, before they knew it, had spent their entire lives inside...
Later, the sect divided Langhuan Tower into three floors. The first floor was open to any member of the Tai Su Sect. The second floor required one to be an Inner Sect Disciple to enter, and the third floor was accessible only to True Disciples. Furthermore, a rule was established requiring the daily expenditure of merit points to enter Langhuan Tower.
The first and second floors of Langhuan Tower were all too familiar to Xuzhuang. In his youth, when he first began cultivating, he had been one of those "book-obsessed" disciples among his peers, spending many years here. Returning to Langhuan now, he noticed that many of the familiar faces he once saw poring over books were gone, stirring a sense of nostalgia within him.
