Chapter 1 Shangqing of Maoshan

Shangqing of Maoshan. Since the mountain was closed last time, the Shangqing School has been deserted. Although Celestial Master Ge, a *shijie* immortal (one who achieves immortality through corpse liberation), has revived from Shangqing, he did not choose to stay.

With the mountain lord missing, Shangqing School, one of the Three Mountains, has lost a pure Yang-level figure to guard the mountain gate. Its control over the surrounding Taoist temples has immediately decreased significantly. The only good news is probably that the lunatics of Biyou Palace and the Seventy-two Sects of Lower Maoshan have suddenly disappeared.

Biyou Palace is in charge of the Seventy-two Sects of Lower Maoshan. It was originally the source of Shangqing in the inner world, established by the Zhuhuo (Vermillion Fire) Heavenly Palace to compete with the Southeast Dharma Sect. Of course, it was also a new lineage set up to replace the "Upper Maoshan." Zhuhuo Palace even gave the Qingping Sword to the Lord of Biyou Palace, and even condoned the Lower Maoshan cultivators to kill Shangqing cultivators everywhere, even the pilgrims. In the end, this was also due to the internal factional struggles within Shangqing in the inner world.

But all of this stopped after two Shangqing patriarchs of Zhuhuo Palace died.

The huge mountain gate is deserted.

Ji Xiang pushed open the Shangqing Mountain gate and sensed several familiar auras, but they were much fewer than before.

Of the thirty-six Shangqing Sect Lords, probably half are gone now.

"It's you!"

A blue-robed Sect Lord was praying for several pilgrims. Seeing Ji Xiang suddenly appear, his expression suddenly changed! He immediately called the other Taoist temple guards to replace his work, while he vigilantly greeted Ji Xiang.

Of course, those few pilgrims also saw Ji Xiang who had suddenly arrived, and they all showed curious expressions.

A black-robed Taoist, never seen before.

However, during the founding of the Ming Dynasty, a black-robed monk helped. Could it be that the Taoist in front of them was imitating the ancients, trying to make a name for himself?

Some pilgrims couldn't help but discuss and chuckle.

Eccentric people exist everywhere, they just laughed it off, nothing strange.

However, the black-robed Taoist, who looked harmless and could even be commented on by the pilgrims, gave the Sect Lord great psychological pressure.

"What brings the Dao Lord here? Shangqing has not seen any Zhuhuo Immortals descend in the past two years."

The blue-robed Sect Lord looked tense and invited Ji Xiang to talk aside.

"The Sect Lord of the Arctic Heavenly Heart Sect? I remember you were ranked fifteenth in the Shangqing Mountain gate."

The blue-robed Sect Lord was taken aback, and then nodded: "I didn't expect the Dao Lord to remember me."

"You are the only one from the Heavenly Heart Sect in the Shangqing Mountain gate, of course I remember." Ji Xiang still had an impression of this fifteenth Sect Lord. He was one of the three great cultivators who initially came out of the mountain gate to intercept him, and he also used the thunder method of the Heavenly Heart Sect, which was unique in Shangqing.

"In the past, you Sect Lords should have been in the inner mountain, and it was impossible to come to the outer mountain to pray for pilgrims, right? Has Shangqing School become so dilapidated in two years?"

Hearing this, the blue-robed Sect Lord's expression suddenly dimmed a lot:

"Without a pure Yang realm cultivator guarding the mountain, and the Dao Child also missing, no immortals from Zhuhuo Palace have descended or passed on the Dharma again. The surrounding Taoist temples gradually do not respect Shangqing's orders, and have turned to other places, or have been covered by some other forces. Shangqing's position as one of the Three Mountains is also precarious."

"And we are limited in talent, and it is difficult to advance to the pure Yang realm in just two years. Several Sect Lords previously forcibly broke through, and all were burned to death by the fire of the sun, turning into blue smoke and passing away."

"Also, some Sect Lords were killed by foreign enemies when they went out to preach..."

The blue-robed Sect Lord's eyes were dull. A thousand-year-old great sect, just a blink of an eye in this long period of time, has declined so severely this time. If it continues in this state for a few more years, I am afraid that the Shangqing School will fall out of the Three Mountains.

As for Ji Xiang, when Ji Xiang came in, he originally had no grudges with the Shangqing School, and was even willing to represent the Taoist Records Division of the imperial court to solve the trouble of Biyou Palace. In the end, the existence of Biyou Palace, as well as the Qingping Sword and the death of Shangqing disciples, were all deliberately done by Zhuhuo Palace, even to reset the inheritance of the Shangqing Mountain gate, which made them disheartened with their ancestors.

The Shangqing Ancestral Talisman is so important, and before its location has been clearly determined, Zhuhuo Palace is already willing to destroy the foundation of the great sect that has been passed down for thousands of years. Is it because all the ancestors are now in the inner world, and as long as the inner world is not broken, no matter where Shangqing establishes its teaching in the outer world, it will never be destroyed or changed?

Then the existence of these people is meaningless.

Therefore, sometimes he also thought that whether Ji Xiang came or not, a great turmoil would occur in Shangqing.

It's just that now, the decline of Shangqing is also inseparable from Ji Xiang.

"Then, there is also a good news and a bad news. The good news is that the people from Lower Maoshan have left the Shangqing territory and completely moved to the southeast region, and no longer besieged our Shangqing cultivators. The bad news is that a large number of people have become their believers and followed them away. There are not many pilgrims in the surrounding areas under the control of our Shangqing..."

"Those dead Sect Lords, in addition to preaching, also died in disputes with the Lower Maoshan cultivators. Now that our Shangqing does not have pure Yang figures to suppress the formation, even if a *xiantian* (pre-heaven) cultivator dies, we can only swallow our anger!"

Ji Xiang was a little puzzled:

"Such a large migration of people, and there is no disaster, but they are leaving to follow a religion. This belongs to the nature of the White Lotus Sect harming the masses. At least half of the Seventy-two Sects of Lower Maoshan are on the wanted list of the government and have become branches of the White Lotus Sect, so... how is the government managing this matter?"

The blue-robed Sect Lord explained that the Korean war had previously mobilized too many troops. The Zhejiang Navy was responsible for the security nearby. Didn't they all go to Korea that time? The pirate trouble near the coast has also gradually recovered, after all, among the pirates, seven out of ten are pirates from the Central Lands, and the remaining two or three are Japanese *ronin*.

Whether Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked Korea or not has nothing to do with the coastal pirates causing trouble. The pirates are not raised by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. If there is a war in Korea, they will not go to Korea, but rob other places.

Of course, these pirates also visited Japan, but in Osaka, they encountered some kind of "natural disaster" and a large number of people died. It is said that someone saw a battle between gods and ghosts, with thousands of miles of red land.

Ji Xiang thought about it, that was when he and Xu Fu were fighting one-on-one. He didn't expect to kill a batch of pirates who were robbing Japan. This matter spread at sea, and the pirates were not fools. Of course, they chose places without gods and ghosts to rob, and no longer went to the southern waters of Japan.

"And besides these navies, the other soldiers..."

The blue-robed Sect Lord's face gradually changed when he said this, but he shook his head vigorously and sighed:

"The power of the Dharma Sect is terrifying! Even we don't know where the Seventy-two Sects of Lower Maoshan, this group of vagrant Dharma practitioners, got this kind of ability!"

"The soldiers are also pilgrims and believers, even the county magistrate abandoned the jade seal, and the yamen is empty. Where are the people in charge of security?"

This time, Ji Xiang was also surprised.

This scene is somewhat familiar.

"Two years ago, a similar thing happened in the north. The Eastern Mahayana Sect confused the local Taoist Records Division and the county government, all because of an evil god named Milong. Some spells cannot be suppressed by national power, and they even completely ignore it, because they took advantage of the loopholes in national power. As long as they are consecrated as righteous gods first, then they will not be judged as evil spirits."

"And the Seventy-two Sects of Lower Maoshan are going to the southeast... this is not good."

The Shangqing School does not know what is happening in the southeast, but Ji Xiang came to solve the problems in the southeast. The news from the Embroidered Uniform Guard is frightening. Now the Southeast Dharma Sect has become a country within a country, and is also colluding with Western Christian monks. With the combination of Chinese and Western, the southeast coast is as solid as gold. The people only know the gods of the Dharma Sect, but do not know the Son of Heaven.

Ji Xiang continued to inquire about the current situation, and then went to the inner mountain familiarly.

The number of cultivators within the mountain gate was several times less than before, and it was deserted. Several Sect Lords who encountered Ji Xiang were terrified, not knowing what Ji Xiang was here for.

When he arrived at the place where Maoshan had set up the formation, he pushed open the gate of the Dayuan Treasure Hall in Shengyou Peak, entered the depths, and came to the *Zhen Ling Wei Ye Tu* (Chart of the Positions of True Spirits).

Clouds and smoke suddenly rose, Ji Xiang leaped forward, his whole body became like a piece of paper, and turned into the *wei ye tu*.

As the rainbow light gradually dissipated, Ji Xiang heard the Donghua bell ringing in his ears.

The Donghua Fairy appeared, looking at Ji Xiang, who had returned to this fairyland in the painting again, in surprise.

"You... you're back?"

Ji Xiang sensed some kind of power and suddenly disappeared. She couldn't find him anywhere. She didn't expect that in just a short period of time, the other party would reappear, and in terms of state...

The pupils in the Donghua Fairy's eyes gradually shrank.

Sun Refining Form! How could he have already ascended to the Immortal Dao in just a short period of time?

This... the cultivators since modern times, have they already become so powerful?

And Ji Xiang also smiled:

"Long time no see, Donghua Fairy, I have brought you two good news."

"Good news?" The Donghua Fairy raised her eyebrows slightly. After being stunned for a moment, she finally remembered Ji Xiang's words and became a little surprised and delighted: "Could it be that the thing back then... is going to be fulfilled here? That is really good news, I owe you a big favor."

"That's one of them."

Ji Xiang spread out his large sleeves: "Secondly."

"Have you ever thought about becoming a 'National Immortal'?"