Chapter 229: Stopping the Procession to Observe the Water, the Dragon Sand High City (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Long winds sweep across the clouds, overlooking the river and sky.

The summer Ganjiang rushes out from the vast, dense mountain ranges in the south, like a dragon that has broken its chains, its scales surging, white waves billowing.

By the time it flows past the west of Nanchang City, whether captured by the immortal energy of the Wan Shougong on the west bank of the Dajiang, or subdued by the massive city of Nanchang on the east bank, the surging river water becomes slow and leisurely here, also becoming the boundary between the immortal and mortal realms.

On both banks here, the vegetation is lush, the layered forests are as green as splashed ink, and near the river shoals, there are knotweed flowers as red as cinnabar, and reeds as green as emerald curtains, resembling neon clouds.

With Wan Shougong in sight, the ceremonial procession of Mount Sanqing gradually lowered its clouds.

At this time, fishermen in the river, anglers by the river, and people from Nanchang City saw the immortals manifesting their sanctity in broad daylight, and one after another, they cried out in astonishment, followed by kowtowing and praising.

Within the procession, Cheng Xinzhan was admiring the Ganjiang. Because every time he traveled from Mount Sanqing to the Southern Frontier or even the Wuling area, he would cross the Ganjiang, he was relatively familiar with it. The Ganjiang is also the largest river within the Yu Zhang region, nourishing this land, so he had always felt a deep affection for it.

At this moment, he suddenly saw a sandbar rising high in the center of the river, the sandbank as white as fresh snow, winding for a hundred zhang, shaped like a coiled dragon drinking from a mountain stream, extremely rich in spirit.

Under the summer sun, the sand ridge glowed brilliantly, like dragon scales reflecting the sun, and a trail of fine sand at the tail of the island submerged into the blue waves, just like a dragon's tail dragging through the waves. Clusters of reeds on the island bowed with the wind like dragon manes, and occasionally, the shadows of egrets swept past, startling up rustling green waves.

Eh?

He looked at the white sandbar in the center of the river, feeling it was quite strange.

He remembered very clearly that the first time he passed by the Ganjiang was after studying the Dharma in the mountains for a year, when he went down the mountain to travel to the Southern Frontier. That was the summer of the 425th year of Ming, and he was only sixteen years old. When he passed by this place, he had not seen any sandbar.

By the third year of his cultivation, which was the 427th year of Ming, at the beginning of that year, the "Peach Capital" broke on the Bai Yu mirror, and he had practiced in seclusion in the mountains for a year, learning refining methods and thunder techniques. At the end of the year, he went down the mountain according to the agreement to deliver New Year pictures to the Miao village; that was the second time he passed by the Ganjiang.

That time, he saw white sand emerging in the center of the river, but at that time, he only saw a tiny bit of white sand.

The third time he crossed the Ganjiang was after he had formed his Jin Dan and went to the Haoran Alliance to take on a task, leading a group of people to the Miao Frontier to rescue Hongmuling. However, there were many people that time, and everyone flew across, so they passed by very quickly; he really hadn't noticed the changes in this sandbar in the center of the river.

Unexpectedly, this fourth time crossing the Ganjiang, compared to the first time he saw the sandbar, twenty years had passed, and the sandbar had changed from a tiny bit of white sand into a white dragon lying across the river, and that dragon spine was almost level with the Nanchang city wall next to it!

Twenty years in the blink of an eye, Cheng Xinzhan also had a sense of the vicissitudes of life. At the same time, he was somewhat puzzled; the quality and color of this sandbar were so white and clean, could it be that there was still some White Stone Mountain in the upper reaches of the Ganjiang?

"Boom—"

At this moment, it was a clear summer sky, when suddenly a thunderclap sounded!

In the blink of an eye, dark clouds gathered, and a violent wind suddenly rose.

Summer thunderstorms come as soon as they are mentioned.

The fishermen in the river, the anglers by the river, the tourists on both banks, and the peddlers and porters, seeing that a rainstorm was coming immediately, could not care about kneeling and worshipping the immortals anymore, and one after another, they fled toward Nanchang City and the bridge tunnels of the cross-river bridge nearby to hide.

Here, one must mention this cross-river bridge that benefits Nanchang City and the nearby villages and towns.

The river surface of the Nanchang section of the Ganjiang is more than five li wide. Naturally, it is impossible for mortals to build such a cross-river bridge. This bridge is actually an immortal trace, built by the disciples of Wan Shougong—this is both reasonable and beyond reproach.

The Yingyuan Mansion of Mount Sanqing will comb through and count the spring thunder every year to prevent the breeding of evil spirits; the Long Hu Sect will send disciples down the mountain to distribute talisman water to cure diseases and save people. As the number one water-method sect in the world of Daoism, Wan Shougong naturally has disciples cutting down monsters and building bridges down the mountain every year.

Even a sect with as heavy a killing nature as the Western Shu Xuanmen, holding the philosophy that those who are not of our race must have different hearts, wishing they could fight and snatch treasures every day, almost killing off all the side-door demonic paths, monsters, and dragons in the Shu land, has never been heard of having disciples who dare to bully mortals. On the contrary, it is often the case that mortals go to the immortal mountains to complain, saying that ghosts and monsters are harming people, and the Shu disciples will definitely put down everything at hand and go down the mountain to eliminate the monsters without a word.

If they don't seek welfare for the people, what kind of famous righteous sect are they?

The disciples of Wan Shougong have built many bridges on the Ganjiang. As for this ancient bridge located upstream of the dragon head of the sandbar, it is the oldest bridge built by Wan Shougong, connecting Xishan and Nanchang, named Shouchang Bridge, and the meaning is also excellent.

At this moment, this thousand-year-old bridge is still seeking welfare for the people, and many people are hiding on both banks of the Dajiang under the bridge, avoiding the sudden rainstorm.

The rainstorm poured down, and smoke and mist suddenly rose on the river surface. The dragon-shaped sandbar was visible and invisible, like a true white-scaled dragon.

In just a short while, the summer rain became so heavy that the world was hazy. In the vastness of water and sky, one could only hear the sound of waves breaking against the shore and the wild dancing of vegetation.

The immortal ceremonial procession of Mount Sanqing naturally did not fear the wind and rain. The entire ceremonial team was a magic array, and at this time, it was emitting five-colored magic light as a whole, isolating the wind and rain outside.

"Stop for a moment!"

Cheng Xinzhan suddenly shouted.

The Wanfa Scripture Master spoke, and the team naturally responded, stopping right in the center of the five-li Ganjiang, above the dragon-shaped sandbar.

"What's wrong, Xinzhan?"

Huo Jingyan asked.

Cheng Xinzhan's fingers calculated in his magic sleeves, and he replied,

"Master Dong, Dean, I see that the current summer flood rain is extremely heavy, and it is very likely to cause a flood. The rain came suddenly, and there are still many common people hiding from the rain under the bridge. The disciple is worried that after the river water rises sharply, there may be the disaster of the river water sweeping people away or even flooding both banks and devastating Nanchang. Why don't we stop for a while? In case there really is a water disaster, we can take action in time."

Huo Jingyan frowned upon hearing this. He knew Xinzhan's thunder techniques; the magic he used to pray for clear skies and rain at the Long Hu Fa Hui back then amazed everyone, saying it would rain a few drops and it would rain a few drops. If he now said there might be a water disaster, then it would probably really happen.

Since he knew there might be harm, and there were many mortals present, and next to it was a huge city, it was really hard to turn a blind eye. It's just that fetching scriptures is also a major event. If the time is missed, it would be extremely impolite, and the Jingming Sect is the most particular about etiquette, so this is hard to handle.

"Let's follow Xinzhan and wait here."

At this time, Dong Shouren spoke and said,

"There is a reason for this, I think Wan Shougong will not blame us."

Thus, the scripture-fetching procession was set above the Ganjiang.

Originally, the common people hiding from the rain under Shouchang Bridge were panicking as they watched the river water gradually rise and the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping at all. But at this time, someone saw the immortals in the sky suddenly stop in the center of the river and look toward under the bridge, so they could guess that the immortals were intentionally waiting, so their hearts were settled, and their worries were dispelled.

Those who followed behind the procession to watch the fun naturally also stopped. At first, they were somewhat puzzled, but after flying closer and seeing the people hiding from the rain under the bridge, they naturally understood the intention of Mount Sanqing and praised it one after another.

Thus, an allusion of "Stopping the Procession to Observe the Water" was formed among the praises.

————

Just when the scripture-fetching procession of Mount Sanqing paused above the Ganjiang, to the west of the Dajiang, the Jingming Ancestral Court was also shrouded in summer rain.

Xishan, also known as Sanyuan Mountain, is the Daoist field of Xu Tian Shi, and its beautiful scenery naturally goes without saying.

Sanyuan Mountain runs north-south, stretching for hundreds of li, with beautiful peaks, winding streams, and deep valleys. At this moment, a heavy rain was pouring from the sky, but when it fell into Sanyuan Mountain, it only turned into a hazy drizzle, wrapping the peaks in mist.

The so-called: green, secluded, handsome, and strange gathered together, which is Sanyuan Mountain.

At this moment, outside Sanyuan Mountain, Wan Shougong also raised an immortal ceremonial procession to welcome them. One could see nine colorful luan birds with wingspans exceeding ten zhang soaring and dancing in the air, and the forty-to-fifty-zhang-long tail feathers were like nine rainbows floating in the sky.

The magic path paved with golden lotuses stretched from inside Sanyuan Mountain to the outside, like a golden bridge hanging in the sky. In addition, there were fish-dragon phantoms jumping on both sides of the golden bridge.

The ceremonial procession of the Nine Luan Welcoming Guests and the Fish-Dragon Jumping Gold is enough to show the importance the Jingming Sect attaches to this scripture-fetching by Mount Sanqing.

At this moment, on the Golden Lotus Magic Bridge, as the host, the people of the Jingming Sect were already waiting.

In the crowd, Shen Zhaoming had already seen the holy image of Sanqing in the scripture-fetching procession from afar, and the immortal music of heaven was also coming from the east. Just as he was looking forward to it, a sudden rainstorm fell, and then the scripture-fetching procession stopped.

Shen Zhaoming was anxious, so he used his magic eyes to look over. Of course, it was not a vertical eye between his eyebrows, but a pupil technique. When he saw the river water rising and pedestrians hiding under the bridge, he immediately guessed the reason why the Sanqing procession stopped.

So he looked at the people around him and asked,

"Master, it is the summer flood season, and a sudden rainstorm has fallen. Should we send disciples to investigate along the river to curb the flood and save the people? Should we go to meet the fellow Daoists of Mount Sanqing?"

Shen Zhaoming's master was a middle-aged Daoist priest, with a dignified appearance and exquisite clothing, but his expression was somewhat rigid. The welcoming crowd all stood behind him, so he must have a high status in Wan Shougong.

This person looked at the rainstorm and said,

"Although it is during the summer flood season, today's date was chosen by the Qintian Si. I also looked at the stars and dew last night, and there shouldn't be rain today."

Shen Zhaoming first thought in the worst direction, "Is it that someone tampered with the timing of heaven, wanting to trigger a river flood and flood Nanchang? Or is it that someone doesn't want our Wan Shougong to be on good terms with Mount Sanqing and deliberately delayed the time for fetching scriptures?"

Daoist Liang Yuan couldn't help but smile when he heard his disciple's guess and said,

"This is Yu Zhang, not the Southern Frontier, and it is under the nose of our Wan Shougong, so who would have the guts? Master has seen it; this rain is completely God's will, there is no trace of artificial casting, it is a variable outside the star calculation."

Shen Zhaoming nodded, "Then we?"

Daoist Liang Yuan turned his head and gave a few words of instruction to the person beside him, and then answered Shen Zhaoming,

"Flood prevention is definitely necessary. Master has already reminded the fellow disciples of the Flood Control Division to prepare. However, we don't need to move first. God's will suddenly brought rain, and there must be a reason. Perhaps it is a Dharma tribulation test for fetching scriptures. Let's wait and see."

Although Shen Zhaoming was worried about his friend, he felt it made sense after listening to his master's words, so he had to wait.

————

The violent wind whistled, and the rainstorm became heavier and heavier, with no sign of stopping at all.

Cheng Xinzhan's expression was solemn. The river water was rising, forcing the common people hiding from the rain under the bridge to keep walking toward the high ground at the bridge root.

"Boom—"

There was another loud noise, but this time, the sound did not come from the sky, but from the ground. Cheng Xinzhan's face changed drastically, and he looked at the upper reaches of the Ganjiang. Even in the rainstorm, one could still see large clouds of smoke and dust rising there.

The mountain body on both banks of the river channel in the upper reaches had collapsed!

Immediately after, one could see the flood like a dragon, the giant waves like mountains, rushing downstream in a mighty manner.

Cheng Xinzhan was like an arrow off the string, leaving the procession and heading straight for the upper reaches.

"Save people."

Dong Shouren was concise and comprehensive.

Thus, all the disciples in the procession, including Huo Jingyan, all moved. Leaving the banners, musical instruments, scripture sedan chairs, and other ceremonial items suspended in place, they flew to both banks of the Dajiang one after another, grabbing the panicked people away from the Dajiang and sending them to the Nanchang city wall with magic power.

Dong Shouren sat in the ceremonial team, guarding the holy image of Sanqing without moving, while his attention was all on Cheng Xinzhan, ready to take action at any time. At this time, his thoughts coincided with those of Daoist Liang Yuan.

Perhaps, this rain outside the calculation was a Dharma tribulation test for fetching scriptures, perhaps it was the will of Xu Tian Shi, and it should be Xinzhan who carries it.

However, Cheng Xinzhan did not think too much at this moment. Seeing that the rain triggered a landslide and flash flood, he rushed up at the first time, which was just that simple.

After rushing out, he remembered that although he had already traveled to Western Hunan at night with his Shuangling Primordial Spirit a few days ago and retrieved the Lotus Dharma Body, Long Hu Jin Dan, and all kinds of treasures, today, to show respect, he had specifically gone out to welcome the scriptures with his physical body.

However, at this time, the tribulation thunder in his physical body had not been refined and dissipated cleanly, and his magic power was not running smoothly. It was not easy to step on the air to fly, and if he wanted to use great magic power to catch the flash flood, he was really powerless. Including the various magic treasures on his body at this time, they were all still undergoing the tempering of the tribulation intent, and it was also not easy to take action.

At this time, he looked down at the Ruyi in his hand.

It seems that this is the only one that can be used.

Green and yellow, water and fire combined, dragon and tiger shape, this look shows that it is a magic treasure specially chosen for him by the Sect Master.

Choosing a day is not as good as bumping into a day, today let's use you to control the water!

Cheng Xinzhan thought so in his heart, so he operated his Jin Dan, extracted the two energies of Rain Gang and Earth Sha from the Jin Dan and attached them to the Dragon-Tiger Jade Ruyi. At the same time, his hand pinched the Five Mountains Seal and pointed at the Ruyi, his heart gave birth to spiritual rhinoceros, and he recited a spell in his mouth,

"Earth Sha turns into a dragon, Kun Yuan is the shape;

Profound water gives birth to a tiger, Kan Qi connects to the spirit;

Dragon suppresses the Nine Abysses, Tiger captures the Cangming;

Profound yellow intersects, mountains and seas can be leveled;

Decree to suppress the flood peak, — urgently like the Five Mountains and Four Rivers Law!"

As the spell fell, the Dragon-Tiger Jade Ruyi disintegrated into two groups of spiritual light and turned into the shape of a dragon and tiger to meet the flash flood. The dragon and tiger changed shapes while flying. The yellow dragon turned into the shape of a mountain, suppressing the flood peak, and the green tiger turned into a group of water waves, going against the current.

And when the dragon and tiger touched the flood peak, it was not as many onlookers expected that the dragon and tiger would smash the giant waves or the giant waves would smash the dragon and tiger. The dragon and tiger just melted into the flood peak like swimming fish, turning into Yin and Yang energies and slowly rotating, dissolving the force of the flood peak coming all the way to open mountains and break rivers.

At the same time, the yellow dragon pulled the mountain stones and gravel to sink quickly, and the green tiger guided the clear river water to flow slowly downstream.

He is strong because he is strong, the clear wind brushes the mountain ridge; he is horizontal because he is horizontal, the bright moon shines on the Dajiang.

Yin and Yang complement each other, differentiation and traction, Cheng Xinzhan used the Dharma intent of Zhenwu Taiji.

As the yellow dragon and green tiger continued to retreat along the trend, the flood peak was gradually dissolved into nothingness. By the time they arrived at Shouchang Bridge, the water level was no longer rising.

And in order to prevent too many mountain stones and gravel from accumulating at the bottom of the river and causing a hanging river, Cheng Xinzhan used the yellow dragon to pull these snow-white mountain stones and gravel to accumulate on the Longxing sandbar in the center of the river, and used the Earth Lung Profound Yellow Qi to ram it, turning the sandbar in the center of the river into a snow mountain in the center of the river.

In this way, even if the Ganjiang has a flash flood again, by the time it reaches the vicinity of Nanchang City, the flood peak will be blocked by this mountain, the flash flood will be divided into two, and the water potential will change from fast to slow, winning a chance for the people downstream to escape.

At this time, a yellow dragon was coiled on the snow mountain in the center of the river, and the mountain top was higher than the city wall of Nanchang City by the river.

Cheng Xinzhan breathed a sigh of relief.

And at this moment, outside Sanyuan Mountain, Daoist Liang Yuan, who witnessed all this with his own eyes, couldn't stop his body from trembling, repeating one sentence in his mouth:

"So that's it, so that's it, so that's it!"

Shen Zhaoming was puzzled. His brother's methods were indeed brilliant, but it shouldn't make his master so unseemly, right?

It was also at this time that a voice resounded through Sanyuan Mountain and also shook away the dark clouds in the sky. This voice was extremely dignified. Shen Zhaoming recognized it as soon as he heard it; it was the voice of the Sect Master Baoyuan True Person, but today is different from the past, and this dignified voice carried an undisguised joy,

"Open the mountain gate wide! All disciples above the third realm in the mountain, follow me out of the mountain to welcome the guests!"