Chapter 2: Zhan Biyun

A vast expanse, with no distinction between up, down, left, or right.

"Cough, cough."

The leading Daoist coughed twice, waking everyone from their shock, and then laughed, "Young lay practitioners, follow me forward, no need to be afraid."

The Daoist unplugged the gourd at his waist, and a strand of green clouds flowed out from it. In the shocked eyes of everyone, he took a step forward and stood steadily on the green clouds.

The Daoist drove the clouds and stood ten feet away from the cliff, looking back, "Young lay practitioners, please come forward, the cloud Qi will be born under your feet."

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other. Hearing the mountain wind wailing and the fine rain rolling into the hall and brushing against their faces, they only felt cold in their faces and hearts, and no one dared to move.

And Cheng Yunqi was still immersed in the world of white clouds and mist, his mind swaying. Being called by the Daoist, he heard it as his own name. Without thinking too much, he instinctively took a few steps forward. Suddenly, he stepped into the air. The sudden feeling of falling made Cheng Yunqi completely sober. His heart was in his throat, and he was about to lose his voice, but the touch from the soles of his feet in time made him breathe a sigh of relief, and his lifted heart fell back into his stomach.

Looking down, there was a green cloud under his feet.

Perhaps everything came too fast, Yunqi's face could not keep up with the instantaneous change in his heart, still in that infatuated look immersed in the immortal scenery, but this look fell into the eyes of others, but it had a bit of indifference and calmness.

The Daoist stroked his beard and smiled, "Everyone, since someone has already gone first, why not come quickly?"

After the Daoist finished speaking, he actually said no more, turned to face the immortal mountain, and the clouds under his feet carried the Daoist to float away into the distance, seemingly slow but fast. And the clouds under Cheng Yunqi's feet seemed to be pulled, and followed the Daoist.

Now those in the Ge Xian Hall were anxious. Many people stepped forward one after another, closed their eyes, and took that step. Suddenly, screams rose one after another, but soon, as green clouds condensed on the edge of the cliff, the screams turned into cheers. Some younger ones even shouted:

"I can fly!"

"Dad! Mom! I've become an immortal!"

The Daoist's voice drifted from the front: "You can talk, but you cannot shout loudly."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent again, not even daring to talk.

A hundred points of clouds connected into a line, quickly leaving the Ge Xian Hall and the few people who dared not take that step far behind, rushing into the vast sea of clouds.

Yunqi also learned later how amazing it was that this leading Daoist could differentiate so many cloud carriages in this realm and carry so many mortals to travel in the sea of clouds.

Cheng Yunqi was closest to the Daoist at this moment, so he heard the Daoist ask: "How old is the young lay practitioner this year? And when did you eat the clear spiritual Qi?"

Yunqi first bowed, then said: "Returning to the immortal elder, I will be fifteen years old in September. If I remember correctly, it should be when I was five years old that I suddenly felt as light as a swallow. Since then, I have worn a single shirt all year round, not afraid of cold or heat."

A look of surprise flashed in the Daoist's eyes, and he asked again: "What is the young lay practitioner's name? Where is your home? Are your parents healthy now?"

"The late student's surname is Cheng, the Cheng of Bo Fu, named Yunqi, the Yunqi of the cloud Qi under the feet. My home is south of Jin Sha Creek, called Zhangxiang Town. My parents are old and passed away without illness."

"The young lay practitioner has an extraordinary spirit, is not surprised by things, and is humble and polite. In my opinion, it is not the cloud Qi under the feet, but the Yunqi that can float and look at the world."

The young man replied: "The immortal elder is over-praising, but the name is given by parents, and I only hope that in this life I can live up to what my parents entrusted."

The Daoist nodded and said nothing more.

Cheng Yunqi also looked at the four directions, but as far as his eyes could reach, there were only white clouds, nothing else. He didn't know the height of the sky, the thickness of the clouds, the direction, or the boundary.

The group traveled in the clouds for a full half-hour before the view suddenly opened up.

Full of green.

It was as if they had suddenly stepped from the vast snowy plains of winter into the lush summer realm.

Layer upon layer of mountains stood tall, ten thousand ravines stretched, green pines were the clothes of the mountains, and thin mist was the gauze scarf. Colorful deer strolled among the green pines, white foxes leaped, yellow cranes danced in the thin mist, and golden butterflies spread their wings.

The magnificent rocky peak landscape was like a vast painting in the rain and mist.

And on the towering peaks, there were palace temples embedded in them. There were also high-cultivation Daoists riding clouds and cranes, calling friends and companions at the top of the mountains.

It fully displayed the atmosphere of an immortal family, a mansion of gods.

It turned out that across the vast sea of clouds, Mount Sanqing was right behind the wall of the Yulin Temple. Unfortunately, throughout the ages, many infatuated visitors had traveled all over Mount Yuxiu but had never found the immortal traces of Mount Sanqing.

Every young boy and girl was captured by the immortal realm.

Because he was distracted just now and almost made a fool of himself, Yunqi sobered up very quickly this time. He looked around and soon discovered a problem. Just now, traveling in the clouds, he only felt that the cloud layer didn't know how thick it was, blocking the blue sky and not seeing the earth, but looking back now, it seemed to be just ordinary cloud layers.

Looking forward again, there was another layer of clouds on the immortal mountains, forming a clear step difference with the clouds behind, which was truly strange.

The Daoist was a kind person. Flying in the ink painting, looking at the scenery that he would never get tired of no matter how many times he saw it, he took the initiative to explain to the young boys and girls,

"Everyone, my Mount Sanqing possesses the magnificence of Mount Tai, the strange beauty of Mount Huangshan, the steepness of Mount Huashan, the smoke and clouds of Mount Hengshan, and the quietness of Mount Qingcheng, making it the peak of immortal mountains in the contemporary world.

"Young lay practitioners, look, this mountain in front is called Zhongling Mountain. It shares the same root as Mount Yuxiu and is where the mountain gate of my Mount Sanqing is located. The group of mountains on the left is called the Ten Thousand Tablets Facing Heaven Peak, also known as Little Wan Mountain, which is the residence of the registered disciples in the mountain. If you can pass the examination of Master Sukong Yu today, you will find a cave dwelling here to practice."

Just as he was speaking, the group passed through a vast white cloud and mist. When they came out again, Cheng Yunqi was shocked. In front, there was a giant python standing with its head held high, as big as a mountain. The group flew past it like ants. I don't know what kind of terrifying monster it was.

Those behind saw it one after another and exclaimed. Some almost fell from the cloud carriage.

The Daoist looked and said repeatedly: "Everyone, don't panic. Lord Kuishan has been in meditation for half a cycle and has not moved. We will just bypass it."

So, the group bypassed the giant python from the east. Cheng Yunqi couldn't help but look a few more times. The one called Lord Kuishan didn't move at all. Its body had already accumulated a lot of dust, and even grass and trees grew, vines hung down, and passing birds stayed. But some places were not covered, so you could see dark purple scales, any one of which was bigger than an adult.

"There is a strange scene in front, called Three Dragons Going to Sea. When the sun rises and the sea of clouds surges, this place is like the sea, and the mountain rocks are like dragons, fighting for the cinnabar pearl."

"Daoist brother Jihu, are there new disciples entering the mountain?"

Everyone was immersed in the beautiful scenery. From time to time, Daoists riding clouds and swords flew past, greeting the leading Daoist.

The Daoist called Jihu responded one by one, "Young lay practitioners just picked up from outside the mountain, just about to be sent to Mount Mingzhi."

"Oh, it's Mount Mingzhi!" Someone exclaimed in surprise.

After flying for another half-hour, the mountain tops gradually became denser, and a special long ridge appeared in everyone's eyes. The long ridge extended from the southeast to the northwest, with few ups and downs, like a boundless giant stone screen. The long ridge was dotted with green pines and red cedars, as if carved from red jade and green emeralds.

But this long ridge was too high, higher than the clouds, so Daoist Jihu had to drive the green clouds higher to cross it.

Everyone broke through the clouds again, only to see that above the white clouds in this direction, there were countless rainbow bridges, and neon lights flickered endlessly.

When Yunqi looked closely, where were there any rainbow bridges or neon lights? They were countless sword immortals flying with swords, bringing up countless flowing lights and colors!

Daoist Jihu said: "The mountain gate has a ban. Below the cloud layer, the flying speed is limited, but there are imperial arts, escape arts, and practice methods, all of which are practiced above the clouds. You don't move on the clouds, there will be no danger."

Hearing this, everyone nodded repeatedly, wishing they could shrink into a ball, never to touch the sword light.

On top of the long ridge was exposed yellow stone rock, and a yellow stone road was above the sea of clouds, with no end in sight.

At this time, everyone flew along the direction of the yellow stone road, and the speed was much faster than before. Looking down, you could see Daoists in various robes walking on the road, and palace temples stood on both sides of the road, like a street market in the sky.

"This mountain is called East Pingshan, and this road is called East Heaven Road. Similar to this, there is also West Pingshan and West Heaven Road in the sect. East Heaven Road watches the sunrise over the sea of clouds, and West Heaven Road enjoys the sunset glow. These two mountain roads are located above the sea of clouds and are good places for sect members to breathe essence and practice methods."

Daoist Jihu explained.

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Flying along the East Heaven Road for about a quarter of an hour, the speed of the cloud carriage slowed down, and the height of the cloud carriage decreased, passing through the clouds again. But this time, the time spent traveling in the clouds was much longer than the time spent rising just now.

"Eh?"

Yunqi felt a force coming from under his feet. Looking down, he actually landed.

But people were still in the clouds.

"Young lay practitioners, follow me, don't get lost."

So everyone moved forward in the clouds.

About a hundred steps, the white clouds dissipated.

Cheng Yunqi looked around and found that he was now on a deep mountain path. On both sides of the path were green bamboos, and the mountain wind passed through, the bamboo sea surged, rustling.

"Follow me."

Everyone followed Daoist Jihu through the bamboo sea. Spring bamboo shoots could be seen everywhere on both sides of the gravel path. The green bamboos were stained with the sweet rain of Grain Rain, becoming more and more emerald green, reflecting everyone's eyes as green. The mountain wind brushed their faces, and they only felt that their whole bodies were much more refreshed.

After walking for a quarter of an hour, the view opened up. The first thing that caught their eyes was a long vertical monument with seven large characters written on it:

"Zhan Biyun's Bamboo-Hiding Place."

Everyone stood still under the monument. Behind the stone monument was a bamboo pavilion. The bamboo pavilion had bamboo curtains hanging on all four sides. In the pavilion sat a female Daoist in a bat-pattern purple robe. Her appearance was beautiful, but her expression was quite serious. It could be said that she was in her twenties, or in her thirties.

The female Daoist had a red-yellow glazed ruyi tucked in the crook of her arm, and the brilliance on the ruyi flowed like water, like a living thing.

Daoist Jihu took a step forward and said: "Master Yu, the people from outside the mountain have been picked up."

The female Daoist opened her eyes, looked at Daoist Jihu, nodded and said: "Thank you for your hard work. You go and wait outside the mountain first, and come back here in an hour."

Daoist Jihu immediately bowed and retired.

When the female Daoist's gaze swept over, everyone was a little flustered, but forced themselves to be calm.

"Lay practitioners, I am going to hold a Dharma test. Those who pass can be registered as my disciples. You should all know this."

Everyone nodded, no one dared to open their mouths to speak.

"I will take out your Shuangling, um, which is the Earth Soul among the Three Souls and Seven Souls often said in the secular world, but it will not harm your bodies."

Looking at the quite quiet female Daoist, she said shocking words as soon as she opened her mouth.

"I want to scatter your Earth Souls around. Relying on the connection with the Human Soul, you will naturally be able to find your way back here. My registered disciples will be selected from these people who return their souls.

But remember, you are mortal bodies. The Earth Soul cannot leave the body for more than an hour, otherwise, the soul will fly away and the soul will scatter. When the Earth Soul is outside, the five senses are sensitive, you can go to heaven and enter the earth, and you can see all kinds of strange scenery, you must not linger."

Hearing this, the faces of the young boys and girls turned pale.

"If there is anyone who does not want to take the Dharma test, it is okay to say it. You can come to me to receive a grass ginseng pill and be sent back to the secular world."

Su Kong's words clearly had the taste of examination. Cheng Yunqi was unmoved. Some older ones also didn't have any movements, but there were a few seven or eight-year-old children whose faces suddenly hesitated.

So the examination for entering the Dao is so terrifying?

However, these children were timid, but seeing no one moving forward, they didn't dare to have any movements, just pacing, with countless thoughts turning in their hearts.

Seeing this, the female Daoist changed a way of asking. She pointed, and the incense burner beside her floated smoke.

"Now start timing. When the incense is finished, it will be an hour. If the Earth Soul cannot return to the body before the incense is finished, even the gods cannot save you. Those who are willing to try can come forward and sit cross-legged on the mat."

As soon as the words fell, Cheng Yunqi was the first to step forward and sit on a green-white large bamboo mat in front of the bamboo pavilion.

A smile flashed in the eyes of Daoist Su Kong, but she did not drag her feet in doing things. She took the ruyi and pointed it at Cheng Yunqi. The latter immediately lowered his head, the amplitude was scary, as if he had died.

Everyone was startled. Those who were ready to step forward were scared, and suddenly dared not move.

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(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3 =====