411: Chapter 29: Ascend to The Three Pure Ones, Enter the Ru Dao Sect_2 411: Chapter 29: Ascend to The Three Pure Ones, Enter the Ru Dao Sect_2 The temple master, Qiankun Bag, these are possessions only the great cultivators above the Golden Core Stage of the Sanqing Taoist Sect have.
That Qingyi Taoist just now, and the old Qingyi Daoist in front of him, they are both great cultivators.
Yet, I have missed the good karma.
The old Taoist watched as many secret scriptures spilled from his pocket, stroked his beard, and laughed, “If you do not perform good deeds, how can you encounter good karma?
Since you have engaged in deception and swindling, you should know you were never destined to have it.”
“Please, senior, enlighten me!
In the future, I will certainly mend my ways!”
The man immediately knelt and kowtowed, thinking he could seize the opportunity to make amends, but the next moment he was captured by the old Taoist.
“The City Guard Office has a complete set of laws to educate you.”
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Three Pure Mountain, a million steps, Taoist temples have appeared.
Through the secret scriptures, Gu Wen knew which current of the Three Pure Ones these temples belonged to and what kind of Inner Strength or external cultivation did they primarily focus on?
Cultivating the Six Arts and various strategems of the Art of War, they had it all.
The Daoist Sect didn’t seem like just a sect; it was more like a university teaching cultivators, with all people under heaven being its students.
[If the Taoist temples were to be ranked into nine levels, then the temples at a million steps would rank lowest.]
Upon seeing this line in the book, a smile unconsciously appeared on Gu Wen’s face.
He had once been told that, indeed, temples could be good or bad, but there were never any that were inferior.
‘For those who have never cultivated, the easiest temples to enter in the Taoist Sect are often the best for hammering out one’s fundamentals.
Reaching the top is naturally good, but most people stay stuck in the middle, so it’s better to lay a solid foundation first.’
‘I had only managed to reach the millionth step and entered an unremarkable temple.’
‘It’s called the Temple of the Gentle Breeze and Bright Moon.’
Walking along the mountain path exceeding ten kilometers in width, one Taoist tile-roofed temple after another appeared, with Daoist boys or disciples soliciting pilgrims at the entrance.
Most of those ascending believed that they were different and chose to continue upward.
Then, another group descended the mountain, their faces filled with dejection, and walked into the temple deemed lowest.
Gu Wen stood in front of a temple shaded by green tiles and old trees, where the signboard read [Temple of the Gentle Breeze and Bright Moon].
Because it’s not on the main road, but a diversion on a side path all the way to the deepest part, it was sparsely populated.
These kinds of temples were not uncommon, the secret scriptures said that not all branches were keen on recruiting disciples.
Those temples set up by the roadside are more like kindergarten; among them, the highest level of cultivation will not exceed the Golden Core Stage.
For after the Golden Core Stage, one could be promoted to cultivate in seclusion within a higher branch.
Before that, these great cultivators of the Golden Core Stage needed to accumulate merit as Dharma-transmitting disciples, and the Temple of the Gentle Breeze and Bright Moon was where she once transmitted the Dharma.
As Gu Wen approached, he saw many tiles with signs of having been smashed with stones, many windows missing corners, in a state of looking deliberately vandalized, yet the Array buried underground was still maintaining it all.
To resist the erosion of the years, to prevent a cultivator’s entire dwelling from decaying during prolonged seclusion, there exists an Array capable of maintaining lifeless objects in their state.
“This was left behind by the ancestor master.”
A familiar voice sounded, and Gu Wen glanced sideways to see a handsome white-robed Daoist standing beside him.
Yun Miao, Venerable of the Supreme Purity.
In the Immortal Land, he was among the great powers that Gu Wen had encountered, as well as one of the biggest supporters of himself and Yu Hua within the Daoist Sect.
Without his presence, the Daoist Sect might have not repeatedly conceded.
Gu Wen slightly bowed and said, “Venerable Yun Miao.”
“No need for such formalities; I cannot accept your bow.”
Yun Miao sidesteps slightly, evading the Saintly bow.
“In terms of strength, you surpassed me by two steps, and at this moment I am hardly half your equal.
In terms of status, you are the ancestor master’s sole disciple; I should be calling you ‘uncle master.'”
Gu Wen shook his head and said, “Hierarchical status cannot replace age, nor can closeness be determined by power alone.
Senior has helped me several times in the past; all this is remembered by Gu.”
“Ha ha ha ha, it seems then that I too possess great good fortune.”
Hearing this, Yun Miao could not help but laugh heartily.
He had known Gu Wen to be a genius with high potential, never imagining he would turn out to be such an outstanding talent, first as a prodigy rare to come by, then as someone with the aptitude to become an Immortal, and now as a Saint.
It took him merely eight hundred years, which even if given to him to cultivate again, he might not be able to return to the Dao Realm.
Yun Miao’s smile fades as he changes the subject, “I have no expectations of you, I helped you back then simply because you were worth it, like when Huayang risked her terminally ill master’s life to send out a Life-saving Treasure, just like how the Daoist Sect initially gave up on you.”
He turns his head to look at the dilapidated temple, with no inclination to avoid the uncomfortable truth, saying plainly:
“When you were still in Bianjing, a huge commotion was caused within the Sanqing Taoist Sect because Yu Hua fell out with the Lord Emperor over you.
Some elders weren’t discreet, and their words spread among the disciples, leading to much criticism.
Young people are inevitably impulsive, and so some destroyed the temple where she transmitted the Dharma.”
At this point, Yun Miao couldn’t help but sigh, his heart still burdened with guilt when recalling those events.
The Heavenly Girl was once viewed as a traitor, along with various unspeakable curses, but she ultimately carried out her mission despite the defamation.
Even though the Daoist Sect never stopped assisting Yu Hua, this was the duty they were supposed to fulfill.
Letting a junior bear the disgrace was a failure on the part of the elders.
Gu Wen asked, “Why did the master choose to leave this behind?”
“I do not know,” Yun Miao shook his head, “Perhaps to make you aware of her sacrifices.
Did she ever tell you about these things?”
Gu Wen fell silent.
He was aware that the Daoist Sect held many opinions about Yu Hua in those years, but she had always just laughed them off.