Chapter 150

On the viewing platform, the masters of the three families of Sanqing Mountain, Gezao Mountain, and Xishan bowed to each other.

The younger generation below yielded to each other and acted generously, so naturally, these elders had face.

Although the Bingfeng Mountain had the intention of seizing the opportunity, in other words, they were also brave enough to be the first. Moreover, they had achieved real results, and the other three families also congratulated them.

Bingfeng Mountain's faces were full of smiles, but they also scolded that they would definitely teach their disciples what humility was when they returned.

The platform was harmonious, and let's look at the stage.

Cheng Xinzhan looked at Hao Jiansi.

Hao Jiansi was a second-realm Daoist of the Ganlin Office of the Penglai Division of Shuji Mountain, and came from the same lineage as He Jiyuan. According to seniority, he was He Jiyuan's Uncle-Master.

When Cheng Xinzhan was listening to lectures at the Ganlin Office, the master was Daoist Jianping, who was He Jiyuan's master and Hao Jiansi's senior brother.

He had seen Hao Jiansi several times when he was on duty, and he was also a young man with talent, otherwise he wouldn't have been accepted as a closed-door disciple by the Office Master of the Ganlin Office.

Cheng Xinzhan reached out and said,

"Fellow Daoist, please first."

However, Hao Jiansi shook his head and said in a low voice,

"Others don't know, but can Cheng Xinzhan not know? My Ganlin Office is responsible for rain, but doesn't know how to clear the sky. Draining and solving waterlogging is the business of the Clear Sky Office. If I go first, this rain won't stop."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded with a smile; he knew the skills of the Ganlin Office.

So he bowed to the rest of the people and stepped onto the dharma altar.

The whole field was watching.

Cheng Xinzhan waited for a while. Finally, the last Shenxiao Sect disciple summoned clouds and rain. The rain was drizzling, and the clouds were miserable, neither falling much nor scattering cleanly.

He didn't want to borrow the momentum of this miserable wind and bitter rain.

Fortunately, the rain summoned by that person was small, and today was a warm and sunny spring day, so Cheng Xinzhan didn't wait long before the sky above his head cleared up again.

He faced north and released a long table from the cave stone.

The long table was very tall, reaching the position between a person's chest and abdomen. The tabletop was charred black and covered with tortuous branch patterns. This was a dharma table made of thunder-struck jujube wood.

This table was dug out by him from the ruins of a collapsed Daoist temple in the wilderness of Jinyuan when he was traveling outside.

There was a deep mark on the tabletop. One look and one knew this was a dharma table placed in front of a deity statue for incense burners. This circle of marks was the base mark left by the incense burner after being placed for a long time.

The dharma table was made of thunder-struck jujube wood and had been offered incense for I don't know how many years, so it already had yang properties, which was why it could remain intact under the ruins of the Daoist temple.

Subsequently, he threw out a scroll. The scroll automatically unfolded and hung in the void on the right side of the dharma table. It was exactly:

"Haotian Twenty-Eight Constellation Star Lord Standing Image Screen—Fragment—Bai Hu Seven Constellations Chapter—Warring States Rubbing Edition".

Cheng Xinzhan's first visualization image.

Subsequently, he hung another long scroll on the left side, which was,

"Haotian Twenty-Eight Constellation Star Lord Standing Image Screen—Fragment—Green Dragon Seven Constellations Chapter—Warring States Rubbing Edition".

He bought it from the library after he had money.

Next, there were two scrolls, one in front and one behind. The one in front was the Xuanwu Seven Constellations Map, and the one behind was the Vermilion Bird Seven Constellations Map.

Sanqing Mountain didn't have these two fragment maps, so he entrusted Eleven Niang to find them for him, and only then did he make a set.

"Cheng Xinzhan is going to set up an altar method! Where did he learn it from?"

On the viewing platform, Ying Jingsong asked Zhao Wuji.

Zhao Wuji shook his head and replied,

"Later, he learned thunder art in the Five Thunders Courtyard. It should have been taught by the elders. To be honest, I don't know how much those elders have taught Cheng Xinzhan.

"I don't know how many times I have begged those elders to help bring disciples in the mansion, but they just wouldn't, saying they wouldn't teach disciples. But a few years ago, they met Cheng Xinzhan, who had such high talent, so they scrambled to teach him. I heard that the elders even took turns!"

Ren Wushi listened from the side, and his thoughts became even firmer.

On the dharma altar of the square, Cheng Xinzhan took out a candlestick and an incense burner.

The candlestick was nothing special, a candle from the Miao village. There couldn't be no candles in the Miao village. Once it got dark, every family had to light them, using candles made from a kind of tree oil unique to that side.

The incense burner, like the dharma table, was obtained from the ruins of the Daoist temple in Jinyuan.

The incense burner was already tattered when it was first obtained, and subsequently, it was walked through the furnace fire of the Weaponry Courtyard again, melting some refined gold into it. At this moment, it was shining in the sun.

The incense burner was placed in the deep mark of the long table, fitting perfectly.

Inserting incense, it was the incense from Zhangxiang Town.

Subsequently, he took out a book and placed it on the table, right behind the incense burner. The book title was "Thunder-Suppressing Demon Record".

He took out three more pieces of paper, on which portraits were drawn. These were the character illustrations he drew when writing "Thunder-Suppressing Demon Record".

They were exactly the Divine Thunder-Suppressing Thunderbolt True Person holding a Hu tablet, the Divine Thunder Autumn Official General holding a golden mirror, and the Water Thunder Xia Guan General holding a drum hammer.

This was not all. He also took out a bronze water basin.

This bronze water basin was called Star-Moon Dew Basin, which he picked up from a street stall of a fellow disciple of the Eastern Heaven Dao. It was a magic treasure used by a disciple of the Dew-Receiving Valley, and its grade was not high.

Under the clear night, starlight and moonlight fell into the basin, forming dew drops, which could solidify essence when taken.

But at this moment, it was used by Cheng Xinzhan for another purpose.

He took off the gourd from his waist and poured half a basin of clear water into the basin.

Subsequently, he bit his fingertip and dripped a drop of blood into it.

After the blood dripped into the clear water, it didn't disperse, but faintly turned into a dragon shape.

Pushing the water basin to the side of the candlestick, instantly, the dharma table, the four-direction constellation map, the incense burner, the candlestick, the thunder god book and painting, and the water basin all emitted bright light.

The altar method was completed.

He took out five blank talisman papers.

These were given to him by the elders of the Five Thunders Courtyard when they taught him the altar method.

As for why the elders of the Five Thunders Courtyard taught him the altar method, it was because no one in the Yingyuan Mansion was willing to learn this thing anymore, and it just happened that Cheng Xinzhan was willing to learn everything and learned everything fast.

And the reason no one learned it was because the heavenly gods and earthly deities in this world gradually disappeared. Although the dharma imprints of gods in heaven and earth still existed, practicing the altar method also required the altar master to respond to these god dharma imprints. Practicing the altar method was much more difficult than in ancient times.

He spread out the first blank talisman paper, took out a talisman brush, and began writing on the spot.

Everyone saw that the Cheng Yifu had just put down the brush, and a leisurely wind had already started on the square.

There are many deities of the wind, such as the three great gods: Wind Uncle, Han Xian, and Xun Lang, as well as their subordinate wind officials. In ancient times, Cheng Xinzhan would not have needed to think twice; he would have sent the talisman directly to the Thunder Department, and the deities there would naturally have issued orders to the Wind Office.

However, at this time, where were there any Thunder Departments in heaven and earth? To invite the wind, one had to stimulate the imprints left by the wind god in the human world.

Although Cheng Xinzhan practiced wind arts, he hadn't visualized the wind god, so this time he invited the Bai Hu Jianbing God Lord of the West. He had held the "Bai Hu Seven Constellations Chapter" for many years, so he naturally had visualized the Bai Hu stars.

After writing the divine text in the Wind Script, he held the talisman high in offering, pointed his hand at it, and recited,

"Wind come!"

The talisman burned in the high sky, and the stars of the Western Seven Mansions flashed in the heavens, forming the shape of a tiger.

Everyone vaguely heard a tiger roar.

The tiger roar turned into a wind roar.

Instantly, a gale blew.

It was exactly 'wind follows the tiger'.

Cheng Xinzhan's robe was blown into chaos, and the firelight of the incense burners on the four sides of the square was blown into flickering.

Pine waves rose all over the mountain.

And inside the golden hall, the high true ones had words.

"This is sending a dispatch and burning a talisman. Duxing, I truly never imagined that there are still young people today who know how to perform such ancient altar rituals."

A majestic and high-reaching voice rang out.

Lu Duxing's smile couldn't be restrained, and he bowed and replied,

"Tian Shi, this child is intelligent and loves to learn. I don't even know where he learned it."

The Vice Sect Master of the Shenxiao Sect sighed and said,

"Only what this child summoned is the true celestial phenomenon. There is moisture in the wind. Look, the birds have smelled the moisture in the wind and are already returning to their nests. The previous few summoned wind, but it was just for show, just going through the motions!"

Everyone nodded.

It was indeed so. The spring swallows all over the sky sensed the moist wind and hurriedly carried mud back to their nests. These beautiful elves didn't know what was going on today, why there had been rain several times intermittently today, especially the previous few times, rain suddenly came, but they were drenched through. Fortunately, this time, the wind reported the news to them in advance.

At this moment, Cheng Xinzhan began writing the second talisman. He had never meditated on the deities of the Cloud Office, so this time he was petitioning the Azure Dragon Meng Zhang Divine Lord of the East.

After meditating on the stars of the Bai Hu, he had gone to the library of Little Wan Mountain and found the "Azure Dragon Seven Mansions Chapter" to meditate on the stars of the Azure Dragon. Furthermore, after returning to the mountain following the True Malevolence Cave-Breaching at Rotten Peach Mountain, Hongmu Ridge and Azure Dragon Cave had sent gifts of thanks. Among the gifts from Azure Dragon Cave was a star chart of the Eastern Azure Dragon, which he had studied earnestly at the time to practice the art of pacing the stars and treading the Dipper.

He wrote the prayer in Cloud Script, held the talisman high in offering, pointed his hand at it again, and recited,

"Clouds rise!"

The talisman burned in the high sky, and the stars of the Eastern Seven Mansions flashed in the heavens, forming the shape of a dragon.

A dragon roar, cloud Qi was born naturally, exactly 'clouds follow the dragon'.

In an instant, the sky was dark and the earth was dark, dark clouds rolled, covering the sky and blocking the sun, as if they had arrived at night in an instant.

Black clouds pressed on the group of mountains.

The third talisman was written in Thunder Seal Script, petitioning the orthodox deities of the Thunder Department.

The portrait of the Divine Might Demon-Sweeping Thunderbolt True Person flashed with thunderous light. Ascending to the heavens along with the talisman were the portraits of the Divine Thunder Autumn Official General and the Water Thunder Xia Guan General.

No mistakes, one look at everything!

He pointed his finger at the talisman and issued a command,

"Lightning flash! Thunder roar!"

The talisman and the portraits began to burn.

In the black clouds, the phantom images of the Divine Thunder Autumn Official General and the Water Thunder Xia Guan General flashed. The Divine Thunder Autumn Official General held a mirror, and infinite bright light burst out from the mirror, which was lightning flash. The Water Thunder Xia Guan General beat the drum, and the drum surface vibrated and roared, which was thunder roar.

It was like a fire beast descending from the heavenly pass, exactly purple snakes leaving the Dou Mansion, lightning flashing and thunder roaring, thunderous momentum.

Dark clouds and purple electricity, gale howling, as if the sky was tilting.

Whether it was the Long Hu Mountain disciple who led the charge or the Shenxiao Sect disciple who followed closely, seeing such movement at this time, their faces changed.

Some even suspected, was it that the sky had changed originally, and it was going to be a heavy rain, and it just happened to be caught up by this person?

However, no words came out of the golden hall, so no matter how they speculated, it was useless. So they could only hope now that this Sanqing Mountain kid would be better off if the rain was too big to stop later. No matter how big the momentum was, it was still a loss.

As for not being able to summon rain, no one would think so anymore.

The fourth talisman was to petition the Long Wang.

Before putting down the brush, he dipped the talisman brush into the water basin, used the blood water with dragon power as ink, and wrote the dragon god praise text in dragon script.

He held the talisman high in offering and recited,

"Rain arrive!"

The talisman burned in the air, and the smoke and fire transformed into a divine dragon, weaving through the dark clouds.

After a few dragon roars, heavy rain fell in response.

As the saying goes: the Milky Way leaked in the sky, white waves surged on the mountain top, the momentum was like tilting the sky, and it was as urgent as a flowing sea.

Wind and rain avoided Cheng Xinzhan on their own. He looked at the rain curtain and calculated the points in his heart.

Time passed slowly, heavy rain poured down, splashing countless jasmine flowers on the bricks of the mountain top square.

One inch;

Two inches;

Three inches;

Three inches and forty points.

He raised the fifth talisman. There was no need to guess who he was petitioning; it was naturally the Master of Yang, the Mao Sun Star Official.

The talisman feared neither wind nor rain, burning with golden flames in the air.

He shouted loudly,

"Rain stop!"

The heavy rain stopped abruptly.

The last drop of rain hit the ground, and the point count was exactly three inches and forty-eight points.

At this moment, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the gale didn't stop. The ink clouds were like the sea, waiting for Cheng Xinzhan's order.

Cheng Xinzhan hit a light talisman into the clouds and ordered,

"Wind stop! Clouds scatter! Thunder collect! Gods retreat!"

Thus, Green Dragon and Bai Hu, Thunder God and Long Wang, dissipated one by one.

The clear sky and blue sun appeared, and the spring swallows came out of the nest again.

On the flat-topped mountain, it was silent, only hearing the chirping of spring swallows.

Everyone was looking at the celestial phenomena.

Calling wind and summoning rain, man determines to conquer heaven!

Wasn't this the meaning of cultivation!

"Clap-clap-clap-"

Clapping sounds came from the golden hall.

Instantly, the guests on the viewing platform woke up as if from a dream, stood up one after another, and clapped and cheered, the sound like thunder, lasting for a long time.

Cheng Xinzhan put away his magic treasures, bowed to the four sides, and walked down the dharma altar, preparing to walk towards the Sanqing Mountain seats on the viewing platform.

Hao Jiansi suddenly laughed loudly, didn't go up to the dharma altar, followed Cheng Xinzhan, and prepared to go back!

"This fellow Daoist!"

A Daoist from Gezao Mountain stopped Hao Jiansi and asked,

"Why doesn't the fellow Daoist compete anymore?"

Hao Jiansi didn't look back and said casually,

"Thunder arts cannot be used, Cheng Xinzhan's wonderful method is in front."

The Daoists of Gezao Mountain and Xishan were stunned upon hearing this, and then they all laughed loudly,

"Cannot be used, well said! Cannot be used!"

Subsequently, none of the remaining Daoists went up to the altar, and all left.

Since no one went up to the stage, the Little Tian Shi announced the rankings of this praying for clear weather and rain performance.

"Sanqing Mountain Daoist, summoned rain and cleared weather, followed orders and prohibitions, rain reached three inches and forty-eight points, first place!

"Bingfeng Mountain Daoist, followed orders and rain arrived, followed orders and slowly cleared, rain reached four inches and fifty-five points, second place!

"Long Hu Mountain Daoist, followed orders and rain arrived, followed orders and long cleared, rain reached eight inches and seventeen points, third place!

"The above three, after the meeting, can enter the Fengyin Hall of the Tian Shi Mansion to observe the 'Yang Bin Shi Capital Merit Seal' left by the Ancestral Tian Shi!"

This praying for clear weather and rain performance, everyone saw clearly, and no one had any objections.

Cheng Xinzhan returned to the viewing platform, his ears filled with the praise of his elders and the boasting of his fellow disciples.

This was already the third rule of the Fa Hui, and next was the fourth rule.

Martial arts fighting.

In previous years, this was the liveliest rule, and it had long been boiling, but this year Cheng Xinzhan's array for praying for clear weather and rain was too big, and many people couldn't recover for a long time, so that after the Little Tian Shi announced the entry into the fourth rule, the square was still silent.

The auspiciousness of the passing scene came one after another, and everyone slowly recovered.

The Little Tian Shi also raised his tone and introduced the rules of martial arts fighting.

The martial tournament is a ring-based system, meaning one attacks the ring and another defends it. It is divided into two sessions for the first and second realms. Those who wish to participate simply come to the plaza and watch from around the ring. The winner stays, the loser leaves, and a new challenger steps up.

The top three of the first and second realms could enter the Fengyin Hall to observe the seal.

So many people started to leave their seats, and the Sanqing Mountain side was almost empty. Except for the masters, only Fang Weimin and Cheng Xinzhan were left.

Fang Weimin didn't like fighting and only loved refining pills. It was normal not to go down. Why didn't Cheng Xinzhan go down either?

The masters asked Cheng Xinzhan.

At this time, the people off the field also discovered that Cheng Xinzhan was not there, neither in the first-realm crowd nor in the second-realm crowd.

What's going on? Isn't he peerless in talisman and sword? Why doesn't he come to fight?

Everyone looked over one after another.

Facing the master's inquiry, Cheng Xinzhan answered truthfully. He whispered,

"Disciple has already taken first place in praying for clear weather and rain, and can enter the Fengyin Hall of the Tian Shi Mansion to observe the seal, which is already satisfying. The top three in martial arts fighting can also enter the Fengyin Hall to observe the seal. Why should I occupy this quota again? It's better to give it to others."

Several masters looked at each other upon hearing this.

This sounded like he was giving up an opportunity to observe the seal, which was a humble virtue. But when this child said this, he was clearly certain that if he went down, he would definitely be in the top three, which seemed very arrogant?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 151 =====