410: Chapter 29: Ascend to The Three Pure Ones, Enter the Ru Dao Sect 410: Chapter 29: Ascend to The Three Pure Ones, Enter the Ru Dao Sect Every sect has their own unique entrance examination, mostly related to the characteristics of the sect’s Cultivation Techniques.
However, the entrance exam for the Sanqing Taoist Sect is mountain climbing, and along the path, there are numerous Taoist temples.
As long as you can walk into one, you can start your cultivation journey.
The only restriction is cultivation; apart from that, there’s no competition or danger, and along the way, there are many towns for cultivation.
Gu Wen then arrived at the first stop, Qingfeng City, a city built on a mountain, which originally shouldn’t have been part of the Three Pure Mountain.
At least he didn’t remember Yu Hua mentioning it to him.
Maybe it’s because this is the easiest place to reach, attracting the most seekers of immortality.
Entering the city, a thin man with a shrewd expression immediately came up to him, asking, “Fellow Daoist, is this your first time seeking immortality here?”
Gu Wen nodded, “Indeed, this is my first time.”
“How wonderful, meeting is fate.
I have a secret manual here to give to you, to form a good karma.”
Saying this, the man produced a green-covered book from his sleeve, with the title on the right side, boldly printed in slightly misaligned characters.
[“Ten Years in Taoist Temples, Five Years in Three Pure Ones”]
“Inside are the preferences and Cultivation Techniques of all the Taoist temples on Three Pure Mountain.
If you get this, pursuing the Dao will be twice as effective!”
“How wonderful.”
Gu Wen just needed such a guide, as according to what Yu Hua had said, Three Pure Mountain had 3,600 branches and more than tens of thousands of Taoist temples.
Often, even the Daoist Sects can’t keep a clear tally of how many powerful beings they possess.
A passerby with a helping heart and himself with a need; this too counts as good karma.
Gu Wen was pleased with the friendliness of the Sanqing Taoist Sect and reached out for the manual, but the man stopped him and pulled the book back.
The man then reached out with a smile, “Fellow Daoist, the law should not be lightly passed on, nor should it be sold cheaply.”
Being a merchant, Gu Wen realized what was happening and said, “So it’s about money, then there’s no good karma to speak of.”
“Oh dear, what do you mean, fellow Daoist?
If there is no reward for passing on the teachings, then who will do it in the future?” The man said, “How about this?
I do not seek this good karma; you give me three handfuls of broken spiritual stones, or one mid-grade Spirit Stone, how about that?”
“One handful of broken spiritual stones.”
“One and a half handfuls, can’t go cheaper than that.”
“Then I’ll go buy it somewhere else.”
“One handful it is.”
Gu Wen fumbled through the possessions he got from Chi Yu Zi, with a surreal voice instructing him in his ears to take out the appropriate spirit stone.
“Spirit stones are divided into top-grade, middle-grade, and low-grade.
Top-grade can be absorbed directly, middle-grade needs to be used with some magic artifacts and medicines, and low-grade can only extract the spiritual energy through arrays.”
“One handful is four catties, and broken spiritual stones generally refer to low-grade spirit stones.
Since low-grade spirit stones are impure and often mixed with other minerals, they are mined by smashing them into pieces.”
“When you buy things in the future, be careful and make sure not to exchange top-grade spirit stones for low-grade items.”
Gu Wen perfectly counted out one handful of broken spiritual stones, and the man took them and weighed them, his face looking a bit unpleasant: “Fellow Daoist, you really are meticulous, not giving me a bit more of the spirit stone shards than required.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t earn but that the price for one handful made too little profit.
“Why do you notice it’s exactly the right amount instead of fearing that I gave you less?”
Gu Wen countered, and the man was momentarily speechless, turning away in a bad mood and immediately starting to hustle the next person.
A young boy with a large basket on his back, clearly his first time going up the mountain, with no elders accompanying him.
On Three Pure Mountain the trails are under the entire Mountain Protection Array’s spell restrictions; no one is allowed to use spells.
This prevents many people from trying to take shortcuts and falling to their deaths each year, contributing to the sole danger.
Therefore, many carry large and small bags of spirit stones for resupplying on the way.
“Young friend, you have a kind face.
I have here a peerless secret manual, passed down by a great power from a Daoist sect.
Now that I have met you, it must be fate…”
The young boy was much easier to convince than the stingy man previously; he quickly agreed to buy the manual for five handfuls of spirit stones.
Carefully counting the broken spiritual stones, he even carried a small scale to weigh the spirit stones precisely.
Seeing this, the man softened a bit and only took one handful of spirit stones from him.
The man watched the boy take out a bag of spirit stones from his basket, then glanced at the large cloth bag in his hand.
Upset by the unpleasant thoughts that had clouded his mind before, he hadn’t reacted then, but now slightly calmer, he began to recall.
‘Did that stingy man just take out this handful of spirit stones from his sleeve?’
The man suddenly turned around, his mind still in chaos, vaguely realizing he might have missed a huge opportunity.
Ahead in the distance, a person in blue clothes could still be seen.
The man hastily ran over, bumping into a street vendor’s stall causing some disturbance, and grabbed the person by the shoulder.
“Elder…
Elder, I don’t want these spirit stones!”
The person turned around, revealing a different face.
A sturdy old Taoist turned around, saw the handed-over spirit stones, and hesitated for a moment before gratefully saying, “Young friend, you are truly a godsend, Jiang here didn’t bring money down the mountain, not knowing what to do.”
The man immediately snatched them back to cut his losses, saying, “Wrong person, give them back to me.”
At that moment, a young Taoist ran over, shouting, “Temple master, you forgot your Qiankun Bag.”
The man looked at the exquisitely small bag and heard the name mentioned by the young Taoist, before collapsing to the ground and bursting into crying, thumping his chest.
“My opportunity!
Wuuuuuuh, my good karma!
Three times now, heaven is unjust!”