Chapter 101: Dragon Immortal Lineage

Xu Jia's theory is not mere nonsense; it is the way of the Heavenly Dao, for all things embrace Yin and bear Yang.

Even in a great tribulation, there is a glimmer of survival, let alone in this situation.

At the very least, the Raw Rice Bowl that suppresses the Centipede Dragon Mountain God has been obtained; how is this not an advantage?

"This matter shall trouble you, Master Xu." The City God cupped his hands. "As for the Fox Immortal Hall, from this day forth, you may act at your own discretion within Yushan County without obstruction. As for the position of Underground Lord of Jijuezi Mountain, I can also bestow it on your behalf."

Since the City God was so accommodating, Xu Jia naturally expressed his stance: "I will do my best. After all, my parents are also here. I am no savior, but I understand the Karmic Burden. It is best to pass the test of one's own heart. If one cannot pass this test within, then what is the point of cultivating?"

Hearing this, the City God understood everything; there was no need for empty words. This person cultivated their original heart and did not need to be coerced by morality; they would step forward regardless, even if thousands of people stood in their way! The City God took out three Incense Fire beads: "These are Dao Incense formed by those who cultivate the Dao to honor the gods, known as Great Heavenly Truth Incense. They are favored by True Gods. Most importantly, this is the incense of the Daoists of Shanju Guan. The Daoists of Shanju Guan have a Karmic Connection with the Mountain God, and the deity they worship is him. Even if you cannot awaken the Yushan Mountain God, you can at least awaken the spiritual consciousness of the Shanju Guan abbot, Sa Baogen."

Xu Jia took the three Incense Fire beads, though he held no great illusions in his heart about how much effect they would have on the old Daoist's Yin Spirit. This was because, in Xu Jia's calculations of heavenly secrets, the tribulation of Dizang An required the one who tied the bell to untie it; there would inevitably be an internal tribulation, followed by an external one.

Once the internal tribulation is resolved, the external one will naturally dissipate.

The City God rose to leave; he could not stay out of the city for too long and still had to continue patrolling his territory. Staying here too long might also invite trouble, because it was not just them trying to find ways to deal with the evil disciples of the Longevity Sect; the evil disciples of the Longevity Sect were also trying to find ways to deal with them. These Evil Masters and evil disciples acted in the shadows and often liked to use the hands of ordinary commoners to achieve their own ends.

As long as they do not show their faces or expose effective information, those on the righteous path have no way to deduce or find their true forms.

They lie dormant in the early stage, stir up trouble in the middle stage, and raise the banner of rebellion in the late stage, moving from darkness to light.

It is just like a disease: first, it manifests as a superficial symptom, then it enters the flesh, and finally, it penetrates the bone marrow, leaving no hope for recovery.

It is not yet too late; we are still in the middle stage of them stirring up trouble. If we use strong medicine to treat it, we can still pull this Evil Sect up by the roots.

After the City God left in his sedan chair, he left behind the Qingtian Dam Earth Deity. The Earth Deity said sheepishly, "True Master Xu, this..."

Xu Jia said, "As for the matters between us, let us continue as before. My father is already in contact to build the temple. This matter is not your fault; the City God was going to come find me sooner or later."

The Sparrow Spirit Zhan Ying had already scouted out the news of this matter earlier.

Xu Jia had no time to settle accounts with him; it was not worth getting angry over.

The Earth Deity knew he was in the wrong and handed over a wooden slip. He opened his mouth to say, "This is the true name of this minor deity. One should not receive rewards without merit. Since I have obtained the True Master's help in building a temple and receiving Incense Fire, this minor deity is deeply grateful. As long as it is within Qingtian Xiang, there will surely be a response to every request."

Xu Jia did not stand on ceremony and only said, "Then there will be many troublesome things. I only fear that you will not be willing to manage the trivial matters."

"I am willing! I am willing!"

Seeing that Xu Jia and the City God had such a give-and-take relationship, and that even the City God's attitude was so friendly, the Qingtian Dam Earth Deity was puzzled. How could someone with such a background come to find a minor Earth Deity like him to build a wild, illicit temple? And how could he save the people of Yushan? What confidence did he have? But since his superior had said so, it must be that his own awareness was insufficient.

The Golden Sand Creek Deity and the great-grandfather of Gui Linggao, Gui Suishou, had also not left. The Golden Sand Creek Deity was a loach that had achieved Didao, and the form he took was that of a middle-aged minor official with a gray robe and a handlebar mustache.

He did not even look like an official; the clothes on his body were all patched up. His eyes drooped, his upper body was human, and his lower body was still a loach tail. Bubbles faintly surrounded his body, lifting him half an inch off the ground.

Beside him, Gui Suishou looked even poorer, dressed in tattered rags.

Xu Jia suspected they had rummaged through their chests and cupboards to find clothes that would make them "look poor," but he had not expected to run into the City God.

As for why they wanted to cry poverty, that remained unknown.

Xu Jia tossed Gui Linggao out: "The two of you are Water Officials of Golden Sand Creek, and Gui Linggao is your junior. It does have filial piety; knowing the family is in difficulty, it came to my altar to work as a long-term laborer at such a young age."

The Golden Sand Creek Deity knew Xu Jia was teasing him. However, last time he had gifted an Ink Pill, so there was some Karmic Connection there, even though he said it was to repay the favor of letting Gui Linggao survive the Fish Fu Tribulation, and he wanted to get less involved in this mess.

Xu Jia had killed the Qingfeng Pavilion's rebellious Pheasant Spirit and then invited them; in the eyes of the Golden Sand Creek Deity, this was "knocking on the door" to warn them not to be ignorant, or else they would be next.

He had not expected that Xu Jia did not mean that at all. He had met the City God on the way, and now, looking back at his previous actions, he felt a bit ashamed and embarrassed; it was laughable to think about.

But this was also normal; after all, they just did not want to invite trouble, were focused on pure cultivation, and did not believe that a pie falling from the sky would hit them.

This time, he realized he had used the heart of a petty person to measure the heart of a gentleman.

Actually, they had not measured wrong; it was just that Xu Jia's acting was too good, even fooling the City God, and he possessed genuine ability. His previous desire to befriend the local Earth Deity and the Creek Deity was indeed purposeful. Gui Linggao said, "Our family is indeed poor. For so many years, we have lived under an old tree root in a muddy hole, no deeper than three feet and no larger than a few square feet."

Gui Linggao sighed, "There is no help for it. The creek water is shallow and sometimes dries up; how can one build a Water Mansion? We can only make a mud hole."

Xu Jia had not expected these two deities to be truly destitute. He feared that the Ink Pill was only obtained because an Ink Plum happened to grow to their doorstep.

Thus, he said, "This is precisely the path of the True Dragon!"

"What is a True Dragon? Sometimes it is a Submerged Dragon in the abyss, sometimes a Flying Dragon in the sky."

"It can be large or small, it can rise or hide. When large, it stirs clouds and breathes mist; when small, it hides in a mustard seed. When rising, it soars through the universe; when hiding, it lurks within the waves."

Xu Jia spoke eloquently, which happened to be one of the three discourses on the dragon by Han Yu that he had just recited for his father.

He had simply combined it with his own interpretation of the six lines of the Qian hexagram from the Book of Changes.

He spoke until the old loach was completely stunned. In the end, he was cultivating the "Dragon Path." A loach is a fallen dragon; cultivation is difficult, it is a dish on a human's plate, and it is at the bottom of the aquatic creatures, only able to drill through filth.

"I see that the Creek Deity is also waiting for the right time to fly. Although Golden Sand Creek is but a creek, there is a saying: A mountain need not be high; if there is an Immortal, it will be famous. Water need not be deep; if there is a Dragon, it will be spiritual. Although the two of you live in a humble dwelling, your virtue is extremely high, and you have the demeanor of hermits. Being invited out of the mountains by me today, I have truly struck gold."

The Golden Sand Creek Deity was coaxed into a daze. When it comes down to it, the monsters and grassroots deities of this world, how should one put it, all have "limited culture."

The City God was fine, having a proper official background, a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, who became a god after death.

But these foxes, weasels, or the chicken demon of Qingfeng Pavilion all had simple and naive moral concepts, or perhaps experiences passed down by ancestors, which they guarded, and some had even lost them.

Although this Creek Deity had lived a long time and understood the Dharma Realm, he only had rich "survival experience." His wisdom was still not high. His Dharma Power might be two or three hundred years old, but his wisdom could only be compared to some rural elders, not even as good as a scholar who had studied books.

"Ah! Is Master Xu bestowing a title upon me?" the Creek Deity said excitedly. "Can I also transform into a dragon?"

Xu Jia did not have the ability to bestow a title, but Xu Jia, with his boyish body and two lifetimes of cultivation, still had some weight to his words.

"As long as you are diligent in your cultivation, accumulate Merit, and increase your wisdom, what is difficult about transforming into a dragon?"

These words gave the Creek Deity great confidence, and he immediately said, "This old one, Qiu Jinsha, is willing to follow the orders of True Master Xu and enter the Lineage and the altar."

Xu Jia had not expected that his glib tongue would trick this old loach onto the altar lineage. He immediately said, "You are considered a True God, but you lack a temple. However, that does not matter. Once the temple is built, there will be the Golden Sand Creek Official Temple for you to reside in. This entering the Lineage and the altar is no laughing matter. From now on, you must protect the altar and cultivate the Dharma, and you must not disobey the Dharma Master's orders. I advise you to think it over carefully."

"I am not joking. We, as different species, have obtained the position of a Creek Deity, but the creek water may change its course, dry up, or be dammed by others. In the end, we cannot compare to the Earth Deity, a True God. The Earth Deity and City God are human ghosts, and their wisdom is naturally higher than ours. Our cultivation has its flaws. I have been in Golden Sand Creek for one hundred and twenty years... how could I not see this clearly?"

"So that is how it is." Xu Jia said, "Very well, then I shall permit you to open the Dragon Immortal Lineage, cultivate within the altar, and assist others in cultivating the Water Method."

The Water Method is an important part of the Master's Dharma, the most famous being the "Meishan Water Master," which worships the Altar-Turning Ancestor Zhang Wulang. Later, Lushan also absorbed some of it; for example, the Linshui Lady is the Dharma Lord of the Lushan Water Method lineage, and the Heavenly Master Xu Xun also had merit in controlling the waters and achieved Didao by slaying a flood dragon.

For the Water Method to be efficacious, there must be a master on the altar. Since this Qiu Jinsha is, after all, the True God of Golden Sand Creek, the water vein near Yushan County that originates from Yushan and flows into the Xin River, at least with him on the altar, the disciples' use of the Water Method around Yushan County will surely be highly efficacious.

Hearing that Xu Jia was willing to open a separate "Dragon Immortal Lineage" for him, the old loach was overjoyed and immediately wanted to make a decision.

Beside him, Huang Pipo was even more envious and asked, "True Master Xu, look at me..."

Although Xu Jia did not like her previous little schemes, he did need to use her family's bowl, and he did indeed like Huang Silang and Huang Jiuniang.

Thus, he said, "You shall open the Yellow Immortal Lineage, which is the same as the Fox Immortal Lineage. It is just that you do not have the official position of a True God, so your position will certainly be below the Dragon Immortal. I hope you will achieve success in your cultivation soon and become a True God. Even if it is unranked, or just slightly better than an Earth Deity, it is still better than being a wild immortal."

Hearing that she had been included in Xu Jia's establishment and was not being made things difficult for, Huang Pipo let out a sigh of relief and was overjoyed: "I will certainly work wholeheartedly for Master Xu and achieve the true fruit soon!"

Gui Linggao's grandfather, Gui Suishou, expressed that if his grandson were added to the genealogy, would his own entry come before or after his grandson's? Thus, he did not add his name to the genealogy; however, he cultivated alongside Qiu Jinsha, and as the Prefecture Assistant of the Jinsha Xi Shuifu, he was always wherever the Water Deity was.

(End of this chapter)