Chapter 148: Receiving the Register

A shout of "Benefactor" made everyone turn their eyes over.

The sword-fighting meeting of the Master of Huanzhu Tower and the West Kunlun rotation battle were things talked about with relish in recent years. These two events also made some young talents well-known, and Cheng Xinzhan of Sanqing Mountain was definitely famous among them.

As everyone looked, many recognized him, and names like Cheng Sanyuan, Cheng Yifu, and Cheng Xinzhan started to be called out.

Cheng Xinzhan bowed to the building, didn't dare to enter, and fled in a panic.

Jiang Nanjing chased him out and said anxiously,

"Benefactor, why don't you come in and sit for a while? All the young generation of Yu Zhang are here."

Cheng Xinzhan waved his hand with a smile.

He had become somewhat famous over the years, but there was no need to keep showing himself. They were all young people; who would want to sit next to a famous figure?

Furthermore, the sword-fighting meeting and West Kunlun rotation battle that made him famous were mostly first-realm and few second-realm. After all, the entire second realm would not increase lifespan anymore, and everyone was busy searching for Gang and Sha and practicing supernatural powers. There were no heroes at the time, which was why he became famous.

Especially at the sword-fighting meeting, those who participated in the sword-fighting were also suppressed in cultivation by the Master of Huanzhu Tower, so nothing could be compared. As for the West Kunlun time, what really made him remembered was not his own ability; one was the reputation of Yifu, and the other was escaping with his life from the hands of a third-realm demon. But here, he also had the help of his uncle, so it was really not worth boasting about.

However, Jiang Nanjing naturally couldn't think of these things and thought that Cheng Xinzhan was deliberately hiding his light, so he respected him even more.

There were really too many familiar people today, and Cheng Xinzhan had no time to talk with Jiang Nanjing for long, so he simply said a few words and parted ways.

He apologized to his fellow disciples, saying that he would treat them to wine after returning to Sanqing Mountain.

Those few people also marveled. Who didn't have a few friends when traveling outside? But it was indeed rare to see someone like Cheng Xinzhan who had people greeting him wherever he went.

So the few people calculated and went straight back to Zique Tower to rest, not wandering outside anymore.

The time soon reached the next morning, and everyone gathered downstairs.

It was still a little guiding Daoist who came to receive them, but this time they didn't need the transport magic treasure of Sanqing Mountain. The guiding Daoist released a rainbow bridge, and everyone stepped on it. The landing point of the rainbow bridge was in the center of Immortal Tripod Mountain, and the starting point was under everyone's feet.

Everyone stepped on the rainbow bridge, and without needing to move, they were carried forward by the rainbow bridge itself.

And there were no less than a hundred such rainbow bridges, colorful, sending guests from all sides to the place where the ceremony was held.

When everyone arrived at the place, they discovered that this was also a flat-topped mountain. The top of the mountain had been leveled and paved with bricks and stones, forming a giant square.

On the square, thousands of Long Hu Mountain disciples stood in rows, all in purple robes and yellow belts, holding whisk, neat and uniform, with magnificent momentum.

On the north side of the square was a row of tall viewing platforms, carved railings and jade masonry, towering and gorgeous. Every five steps there was a green pine bonsai, and every ten steps there was a purple copper incense burner. As for melons, fruits, and drinks, they were all by the side of each seat.

The person who led the way brought the people of Sanqing Mountain to the viewing platform.

In the center of the viewing platform was a staircase, paved with a carpet with green and yellow dragon and phoenix patterns. On both sides of the staircase, Long Hu Mountain disciples stood to welcome guests.

When Cheng Xinzhan walked past the staircase, he also saw Liang Zhenjing standing there, so he raised his hand to greet him.

Liang Zhenjing had repeatedly suffered losses under Cheng Xinzhan and didn't want to respond at all. However, this was the host's grand ceremony, so no matter how awkward he felt in his heart, he had to welcome him with a smiling face at this moment.

He bent down and raised his hand,

"Please, everyone!"

The seats for Sanqing Mountain were arranged on the west side of the highest staircase. This was the second seat for the main guests, which was a top-notch position. The Zique Tower where they stayed last night was also one of the best residences in Yiting Mountain.

With Sanqing Mountain's status in Yu Zhang, they deserved such treatment.

Everyone took their seats, and they also discovered that there was a jade plaque placed on each seat. Cheng Xinzhan picked it up and looked at it. It felt warm and moist, and there were a few ink characters inside the jade plaque, which were:

Commemoration of the 40th Long Hu Longhu Fa Hui.

Cheng Xinzhan put away the jade plaque with a smile. This Long Hu Mountain was really generous. Such top-quality warm jade was excellent for refining magic treasures, making slips, and making talismans, but they gave it away just like that. One was placed on each seat, and there were thousands of seats here.

After he sat down, he discovered that the people of the Jingming Sect of Wanshou Palace in Xishan had already taken their seats, just below Sanqing Mountain. This was the dharma lineage of Xu Xun, Xu Tian Shi.

To the east of the Jingming Sect was the Shenxiao Sect of Bingfeng Mountain. This was the dharma lineage of True Person Wang Wenqing, and later it was revived by Sa Shoujian, Sa Tian Shi, which was also a top-notch Daoist dharma lineage.

Soon, the first seat for the main guests on the east side of the top floor also welcomed guests. Cheng Xinzhan looked and was not surprised at all.

It was the Lingbao Sect of Gezao Mountain. Gezao Mountain was one of the three talisman mountains and was also the dharma lineage of Ge Xuan Tian Shi. And Ge Xuan Tian Shi was the grand-uncle of Ge Hong, the founding ancestor of Sanqing Mountain. In other words, Sanqing Mountain and Gezao Mountain were sects of the same surname, friendly neighbors for thousands of years.

With such strength and dharma lineage status, sitting in the first seat for the main guests, no one had any objections.

Now the top two rows were already full. Adding the Tian Shi Mansion of the host Long Hu Mountain, these were the top five dharma lineages of the Yu Zhang Daoist sect. These five, even if placed in the entire Eastern Daoist sect or the Cosmic Realm, were top-notch families.

Some called them the Four Masters and Two Ges, referring to the four Tian Shis: Zhang Daoling, Ge Xuan, Sa Shoujian, and Xu Xun, plus the Immortal Ge Hong, making five dharma lineages.

This was the reason why Yu Zhang was called the Daoist capital of the world. Five dharma lineages meant five ancestral courts.

Then going down, there were sects like Lushan, Mingyue Mountain, and Yuxu Temple.

And sects like the Jin Xiangzong could only be ranked at the very bottom.

Once the people from Gezao Mountain arrived, the guests were all there.

Once the guests were there, the celestial phenomena suddenly changed. A group of purple Qi drifted out from the east, stretching for a thousand miles, the purple light covering the morning clouds in the sky. In the west, a group of yellow cranes flew into the sky, bringing up a thousand rays of auspicious colors, the sound heard in the sky.

Yellow and purple met, and a Daoist appeared in the sky, his whole body emitting a bright light, making people unable to see clearly.

"Respectfully welcome the Tian Shi!"

The Long Hu Mountain disciples all over the mountains loudly praised and sang,

"Three Days Supporting the Teaching, Assisting the Mysterious and Embodying the Dao. Great Dharma Tian Shi, Thunder Department Province. Tai Xuan Upper Minister, Great Dharma Master of the Capital Heaven!"

The guests on the high platform also stood up. Although they were guests, the one who appeared was the contemporary Zhang Tian Shi of the human world, a fifth-realm True Person, so he was worth them standing up to welcome him.

"Guests, please sit."

Just as everyone's buttocks left the seats, Zhang Tian Shi's voice came down from the sky. The Tian Shi walked step by step, lotus flowers blooming, and walked to the center of the top of the viewing platform, where there was a golden hall.

The Tian Shi entered the golden hall, and soon some Daoists walked out of the golden hall, inviting the heads of each family up. Sect Master Lu of Sanqing Mountain was naturally among them.

Subsequently, there were white cranes coming out of green clouds, earthly Qi surging with golden lotuses, Qilin stepping on auspicious clouds, etc., not to mention. In short, in a scene of auspiciousness, the 40th Long Hu Longhu Fa Hui was held.

The rules of the Long Hu Longhu Fa Hui had always been fixed and had not changed for thousands of years. The first rule was the receiving of the register by new disciples.

A register was something naturally occurring in heaven and earth, copied by immortals, and then passed to the human world. Holding it, one could summon and impeach ghosts and gods, settle and stabilize the five directions, descend demons and suppress evil, and cure diseases and eliminate disasters.

A register was also called a dharma register, and could also be called a talisman register. It was the cornerstone for Daoist sect members to practice and protect the Dao.

And among the many Daoist sects headed by Long Hu Mountain, talismans and registers were distinguished. It was believed that talismans were only magic treasures, while registers were the foundation for commanding primordial Qi, the basis for registering in the heavenly court and ranking in divine positions. Those thrown out to defend against enemies were called talismans, and those placed in the flesh acupoints were called registers.

If one wanted to give an example, if magic power was a soldier, then a talisman was the weapon in the soldier's hand, while a register was the great seal in the commander's tent. With a register, one was inviting the deity onto one's body, and only then could one use magic power and summon spiritual Qi with ease.

Some people simply thought of a register as the life-bound magic treasure of such Daoists. This had some truth, but it was too simple. Because unlike life-bound magic treasures that required cultivators to start refining from the beginning of cultivation and grow with the cultivator's realm promotion, a register could be directly granted, and within the same dharma lineage, a register could be upgraded and replaced, which was far more flexible than a life-bound magic treasure. Sometimes, this type of Daoist could also use magic arts far exceeding their own realm by relying on the register, which life-bound magic treasures could not do.

Besides Long Hu Mountain, those who practiced registers also included Gezao Mountain and Maoshan. There were others, but they were all branch small sects of these three families, or directly invited the registers of these three families.

So these three families were also called the three talisman mountains.

The register of Long Hu Mountain was called the Orthodox One Register, divided into five grades. Today was for new disciples to receive the register, and they received the most basic "Tai Shang Three-Five Capital Merit Scripture Register".

With the promotion of the disciple's cultivation realm, the grade of this register would also be promoted.

Before becoming an immortal, there were five realms. The Orthodox One Register was divided into five grades from bottom to top: "Tai Shang Three-Five Capital Merit Scripture Register", "Tai Shang Orthodox One Alliance Power Scripture Register", "Upper Clarity Three Caves Five Thunders Scripture Register", "Upper Clarity Three Caves Scripture Register", and "Upper Clarity Great Cave Scripture Register".

And what was most mysterious and made outsiders most jealous was that after the disciples of the three talisman mountains passed away, following their last wishes before death, as long as the register owner was willing, the register in their body could be recovered by the sect.

The recovered register could be granted again to new disciples, or turned into a talisman for attacking, which was very powerful.

This meant that a first-realm disciple of the three talisman mountains, after changing to a higher-grade register one day, their mastered magic power and control over spiritual Qi would be directly raised by several levels.

Another point was that no one knew how many talismans the three talisman mountains had accumulated, refined by the lifelong magic power of third-realm, fourth-realm, and even fifth-realm cultivators.

No mistakes, one look at everything!

When Cheng Xinzhan knew the details here, he immediately thought of those corpses under Mingzhi Mountain.

Yes, they were all sects of thousands of years; who didn't have such means?

And could what he knew be everything?

Idle talk aside.

Forty-nine new disciples participated in this register receiving. Cheng Xinzhan looked, and they were all children around ten to fifteen years old, only boys, no girls.

He was somewhat confused, so he asked Zhu Jianrong sitting next to him in a low voice,

"Fellow Daoist, Long Hu Mountain only opens the mountain gate to accept disciples once every three sixty-year cycles, and only accepts so few at a time. How do they continue the dharma lineage?"

Zhu Jianrong looked at Cheng Xinzhan upon hearing this and didn't speak.

Cheng Xinzhan knew that perhaps this occasion was not suitable for discussing these things, so he didn't pursue it.

"Cheng Xinzhan."

Cheng Xinzhan was startled and almost shouted out.

He looked at Zhu Jianrong beside him in surprise. Just now, Zhu Jianrong's voice actually rang in his heart mansion! The voice of another person suddenly rang in the inner landscape world; how could this not startle him?

The Heart Mansion Mao constellation also opened its eyes. At this moment, there was an extra leaping flame in the heart mansion.

However, with just one thought from Cheng Xinzhan, the inner landscape deity could extinguish this fire.

However, Cheng Xinzhan did not do so, but was waiting for Zhu Jianrong's explanation.

"Cheng Xinzhan, this is another wonderful use of my heart acupoint supernatural power, 'Heart-Connecting Fire'. It can transmit words into another person's heart mansion. You are speaking in the heart mansion now, and I can hear it too."

The fire in his heart mansion leaped, conveying such information.

Cheng Xinzhan felt it was very interesting. He sank his thoughts into the heart mansion and said to the flame with a smile,

"Fellow Daoist, this is truly an extraordinary supernatural power. If you suddenly come up with this during a battle, anyone would be scared to death."

The flame conveyed laughter, "My ability hasn't been practiced to the point of perfection yet. Cheng Xinzhan, you didn't set up defenses against me, so my 'Heart-Connecting Fire' still needs some time to reach your heart mansion. If it were applied to fighting, it would be difficult. But it is useful for us to talk privately now."

Cheng Xinzhan felt very magical, "If Fellow Daoist practices diligently, it will definitely be an extraordinary supernatural power in the future."

Zhu Jianrong smiled and said with heart fire, "Cheng Xinzhan, what you asked just now, actually, it is like this: Long Hu Mountain accepts disciples of outside surnames, which is for others to see. In reality, Zhang family members themselves don't need to pass through layers of assessment and can directly receive the register. Naturally, there is no need to worry about the continuation of the dharma lineage."

"Ah?"

Cheng Xinzhan was greatly shocked.

"Actually, this is not a secret among the Four Masters and Two Ges of our Yu Zhang Daoist sect. Long Hu Mountain Tian Shi Mansion is a sect of one family and one surname. Outside registers and inside registers were originally created to continue the clan dharma lineage."

Cheng Xinzhan was full of admiration.

"And when Long Hu Mountain usually brings Zhang family children up the mountain, in order to cover people's eyes, they often change their surnames. If you observe carefully, you will find that as long as they are not receiving the register at the three sixty-year cycle grand ceremony, they are all Zhang family members. Even if they are not surnamed Zhang, they are surnames changed later."

Cheng Xinzhan had nothing to say.

Then according to this, Liang Zhenjing's real name should be Zhang Zhenjing.

The two were talking with supernatural powers at this time, and the ritual of receiving the register on the square had already begun.

The first scene of the register receiving ritual was transmission. Those young boys who had just entered the sect were wearing light blue long shirts. At this time, Long Hu Mountain Daoists were holding trays with clothes and hats and came to these people to help them put on clothes and hats.

Subsequently, there were Daoists holding paper and pens walking to these children one by one, letting these children write their names in the genealogy.

This process could not be explained in a few words. There were procedures like applying for documents, welcoming deities, hanging lists, pulling tables, chanting scriptures, etc. Under the witness of guests from all sides, it appeared very complicated and solemn.

Do you not see, these outside surname people who didn't know how many difficult tests they had experienced before waiting for today, under the witness of the Long Hu Mountain Tian Shi and guests from all sides, watching themselves put on the yellow and purple dharma robes unique to Long Hu Mountain, and writing their own names on the Tian Shi Mansion genealogy with their own hands, they couldn't help but cry with joy!

The second scene of the register receiving ritual was taking an oath and observing precepts.

The oath and precepts of new disciples had to be carried out under the witness of the three masters. The so-called three masters were the recommending master, the transmission master, and the supervision master.

The recommending master was the person responsible for screening and testing when recruiting disciples. Long Hu Mountain opened the mountain gate to accept disciples once every three sixty-year cycles, and didn't know how many people would come, but in the end, only forty-nine were accepted. One could imagine the difficulty of the test. The person responsible for the entire test selection was the recommending master.

The transmission master was the host of the register receiving ritual, often served by the Little Tian Shi. If the Little Tian Shi was not decided, it was generally designated by the contemporary Tian Shi in the Tian Shi Mansion to a virtuous and respected Zhang surname person.

The transmission master was equivalent to the master of these forty-nine outside surname people, and the significance was extraordinary.

Cheng Xinzhan saw clearly that the transmission master this time was the Gongchang Young Master he saw at Bai Yu Capital.

And the supervision master was served by the contemporary Tian Shi, needless to say.

Led by the Little Tian Shi, the forty-nine new disciples began to take oaths and observe precepts. The Little Tian Shi read one sentence, and they read one sentence,

"Abstain from emotions and nature, stop and block faults and wrongs, restrain and cut off evil roots, generate Dao karma, from mortal to saint, from beginning to end, first from precepts and registers, then ascend to truth."

"Abstain from emotions and nature, stop and block faults and wrongs, restrain and cut off evil roots, generate Dao karma, from mortal to saint, from beginning to end, first from precepts and registers, then ascend to truth."

Hearing the Little Tian Shi read the first four characters, Cheng Xinzhan almost laughed out loud. However, he held it back.

He looked at the forty-nine extremely pious children again, and suddenly felt a bit sad.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 149 =====