Free Web NovelChapter 304: Chapter 303: Flourishing Incense at the Various Taoist Temples
While Gu Zhao was in seclusion and the other Daoists were vanquishing evil, rumors on Blue Star were becoming more and more widespread.
"Lately, the major Taoist Temples have been bustling with visitors offering Incense."
At a meeting of the Taoist Cultural Exchange Support Office, the presenter explained, "The Mongolian Mine disaster was the origin. Although the rescued miners all signed non-disclosure agreements, that didn’t stop them from flocking to Taoist Temples afterward to offer Incense and fulfill their vows."
Every ordinary person who went through that incident became a firm believer in the existence of Immortals.
What’s that? You say books like Strange Tales of a Chinese Studio, Journey to the West, and Investiture of the Gods are just fantasy novels about gods and demons imagined by the ancients?
Bullshit! They’re clearly real historical records!
Given that this is a modern, technological society where the supernatural is not openly seen, and considering they had signed NDAs, they couldn’t talk about it. But they couldn’t help but express their beliefs through their actions.
So, besides going to Taoist Temples to offer Incense and fulfill vows, they all basically got Taoist Peace Talismans for themselves and their families, brought home Divine Statues of Taishang Laojun, and started reading the Tao Te Ching and Huangting Scripture. Some of the younger ones even bought and began studying Tao Scriptures like the Taiyi Jinhua Principle.
Although they remained tight-lipped with their friends and family, their friends and family weren’t fools!
If only a few of them had started acting this way after being rescued from the mine, you could stretch the truth and say the trauma made their brains go haywire, that they were having mental issues and had become all eccentric and superstitious.
But the problem was, all one hundred and thirty-two of them, every last one, had changed in the same way!
This inevitably made people suspicious. Coupled with the rescue team’s collective silence and rumors of Daoists appearing at the scene, more and more people around them began to believe there might be a supernatural component to it all.
The presenter sighed. "Even the office over at the mine now has a statue of the Supreme Lord."
Hearing this, the room fell into a speechless silence.
"This is the price of asking the Taoist Research Institute for help."
"Actually, after the Berkeley incident, I knew this couldn’t be kept under wraps. It was just a question of sooner or later, and of widespread dissemination versus limited circulation."
"This time, it hasn’t really spread on a large scale yet. You can only call it small-scale circulation."
"That’s right. The Berkeley incident had far more witnesses, but the hype was still suppressed."
The presenter nodded. "After all, without seeing it for themselves, most people won’t believe it. They’ll just treat it as an urban legend and jump on the bandwagon for a bit. Without any follow-up, the hype would have gradually died down."
"But then the Lao Mountain incident happened." Someone shook their head with a wry smile. "At Lao Mountain, that was Mr. Gu himself, recruiting people and revealing his powers in public."
The Taoist Office contacted the three young women and the other large family afterward and learned about the situation on-site.
The women specifically mentioned that the two children had received Wooden Tokens as gifts.
However, once the office staff learned the identity of the person who had acted, there was no further follow-up. They instructed the three women not to spread the story, and they didn’t confiscate the two Wooden Tokens. Instead, they told the family about the tokens’ effects and advised them to be careful with them.
"But similarly, the offerings of Incense at Lao Mountain have also suddenly surged. Some wealthy individuals have even offered to donate to expand Taoism Holy Lands at their original sites on Lao Mountain, like Shangqing Palace, Taiping Palace, and Mingxia Cave."
Zheng Hongsheng, seated at the head of the table, suddenly knocked on it. "Have they received some kind of inside information?"
Everyone in the conference room looked at each other in dismay.
"Celestial Spirit Talismans and Vajra Profound Talismans were distributed to many front-line personnel."
"The information lockdown on the Mongolian Mine incident certainly wasn’t tight enough."
"Although the Berkeley incident happened abroad, many wealthy people have channels outside the country."
After some analysis, they came to a conclusion. "We can’t rule out the possibility that they got information from certain channels, or that they pieced things together from subtle clues."
"Besides, the five of them—Taoist Huai Yi, Taoist Xu Ning, Taoist Xuan Yong, Taoist Tai Xian, and Taoist Jingyi—have also left Lao Mountain."
Zheng Hongsheng said flatly, "Keep an eye on them. Don’t let them disturb the Research Institute."
"Understood." Someone took a note.
Another person joked, "With Calvin’s case as a precedent, I doubt anyone rational would dare to act recklessly."
Everyone laughed at this. "The Taoist Master is experienced. He made preparations long ago."
"So, about the donations and expansions for the Taoist Temples..."
"Accept them! Build them!" Zheng Hongsheng snorted. "It’s better than them donating it to schools in Huaqi Country or buying villas in wildfire zones!"
The topic ended there. No one was particularly concerned. In the face of real power and individual Extraordinary abilities, wealth was essentially useless. Zheng Hongsheng was merely worried that these people wouldn’t recognize who was in charge and would end up making trouble for themselves.
He was more concerned about another matter. "Regarding the promotion and support of Taoism culture, what’s our current progress?"
"The promotional work is proceeding step by step. Taoism culture is already experiencing a resurgence along with the nation’s revival. We’ve added Daoism-related content to the traditional culture curriculum in high schools and included Taoist Cultivation Methods as university electives."
"As for support, we’ve tilted our funding in favor of various Taoist Temples. For Cultivators who persevere in their practice, we’ve implemented the latest subsidy standards to ensure they have no worldly concerns."
Although Zheng Hongsheng wasn’t entirely satisfied, he still nodded. "Let’s take it slow. We can’t be too hasty."
Someone remarked with a sigh, "Everyone in the office who’s in on the secret is trying to cultivate, but it seems none of us have much talent."
Someone else shook their head. "Among the old Daoists who have trained diligently in the temples for decades, there isn’t a single one with poor mental aptitude. They are all sincere seekers of the Dao. But even so, those who can cultivate the so-called Inner Breath are still exceedingly rare."
"This time, Gu Zhao took another five accomplished True Dao cultivators from Lao Mountain. At this rate, it won’t be long before he takes all the True Dao cultivators in the country."
Someone chuckled. "Which is exactly why we’re now trying to increase the base number of potential cultivators."
One person ventured tentatively, "Actually, within our country, it’s not just Daoists who have developed Magical Power..."
Zheng Hongsheng shook his head. "I’ve spoken with Taoist Ming Yu about this. It’s not that they exclude outsiders, but if you’re not of the True Dao, there’s no advantage to going over."
Hearing this, the attendees couldn’t help but exchange confused glances.
Zheng Hongsheng continued, "Given the magnanimity of Taoist Yi Hong and Taoist Ming Yu, it’s unlikely they would lie about such a matter. Therefore, there must be a secret we don’t understand."
Chen Yao, sitting beside him, gave a wry smile. "There are plenty of secrets we don’t know."
But Zheng Hongsheng was optimistic. "We’ve already taken the most difficult first step. Things will only get better from here."
At his words, everyone nodded, and some even began to fantasize about the kind of plots you’d only find in power-fantasy web novels.
