Chapter 157: Lunar Method of Refining Form, The Ancestor of Shanju Guan

After establishing the Jin Chan Miao, Xu Jia left that place. He then rode on the back of the large python, Chang Yuying, and patrolled this persimmon grove for a while.

According to what Xu Jia had seen and heard in his previous life, these "Mysterious Female Portals" were all places that hid the wind and gathered Qi, serving as "entrances and exits to Blessed Land and Cave Heaven."

In reality, they were simply "Earth Portals."

The ancients said that Heaven is the father and Earth is the mother; therefore, such treasure lands that symbolize the fertility of the earth often have "Earth Treasures" gestating within them.

As the saying goes, what manifests in the heavens takes form on the earth. If there are stones, wood, or any natural objects that condense into a fetus, it is a "Kunlun Fetus," which refers to an "Earth Treasure."

Logically speaking, Lan Shi Huo is not large and should not have such abundant Earth Qi gushing forth. Unless this is a pit of ten thousand, or a hundred thousand, relying on the decomposition of corpses to act as fertilizer to support these persimmons in hanging heavy on the branches year after year, growing year after year, otherwise there must be a rare treasure.

After patrolling for a while, Xu Jia pointed to a spot and said, "There!"

Chang Yuying followed Xu Jia's instructions and headed toward that spot.

They saw that this place was where the roots of several old trees were intertwined, and a small mound of earth was vaguely visible; these old trees were all competing for this small mound.

Hu Jinhua and Huang Pipo sat on Chang Yu'e and followed behind: "Master Xu, could there be something unusual here?"

"This is a Feng Shui eye, an auspicious location. These large trees look to be two or three hundred years old or more, and they are all competing for this spot, which shows how formidable it is. The entire Lan Shi Huo is also arranged around this place in a converging manner."

Hu Jinhua took a look and said in surprise, "It's true! These trees seem to be able to walk; they are all rushing toward this place."

"Dig!" Xu Jia pointed at that spot and said, "See what it is!"

Chang Yu'e and Chang Yuying were both in the form of soaring snakes and had consumed jade for years; after their tails had turned to jade, they were comparable to drills. Hu Jinhua and Huang Pipo returned to their original forms to shovel the sand and soil.

The old trees had tangled roots that held the sand and soil firmly, but they could not withstand Xu Jia's insistence on digging it up to take a look.

After digging like this, they unearthed a strange object; to be precise, it was a stone coffin.

On the coffin was painted a "Picture of Xi Wangmu and Dong Wanggong Ascending to Immortality."

This gave Hu Jinhua a fright: "Great Immortal, is your Qi-gazing method actually a grave-robbing technique? How did you find it so accurately?"

Xu Jia laughed and said, "Feng Shui in this world is all the same; it is either for the living to dwell in or for the dead to reside in. Although this place looks dirty and smelly on the surface, it is actually refined inside. Presumably, someone discovered it before me and built a tomb here."

"Since it has already been occupied by a predecessor, let's fill the soil back in."

Xu Jia walked up, looked at the ascension picture on the stone coffin, and studied the inscriptions carefully, discerning some deeper meaning: "Isn't this a coincidence? Guess who is buried here?"

"Who?" Hu Jinhua asked curiously: "Could it be your great-grandfather?"

"That's not it. The one buried here is that Ancestor of Shanju Guan, that Earth Immortal True Person!"

"Ah?" Hu Jinhua was startled: "So formidable? Will those Daoists from Shanju Guan come to cause us trouble?"

"They would be too busy thanking us!" Xu Jia looked closely at the coffin inscriptions: "The Ancestor has been missing for so long that they didn't know if he was alive or dead, and they even thought he had ascended to immortality. Who would have thought he was buried here."

Xu Jia deciphered the information from the inscriptions: "This Earth Immortal is extraordinary. He was practicing the Lunar Method, hoping to cultivate his jade-stiffened physical body into a Taiyin Dharma Body. Burying himself here was to use the Earth Qi to maintain his vitality and extend his life." "Then did he succeed?" Hu Jinhua asked.

"Unclear." Xu Jia pointed to the end of the stone coffin: "Look there, tree roots have pierced inside. The power of plants is very resilient; they can even push aside stones. As long as there is a sliver of a gap, they will find an opportunity."

"The vitality he gathered became the secret to the lushness of these plants."

Hu Jinhua turned into her original form and squinted her eyes, wanting to see what was in the gap.

Even though it was pitch black, she possessed the ability of night vision.

"Should we open it and take a look?" Huang Pipo asked: "Since he is an Earth Immortal, he must have a couple of treasures on him!"

"Wouldn't that make me a grave robber?" Xu Jia glanced at Huang Pipo: "I just received a lesson on greed; how could I fall into the same trap twice?"

Yet he sighed: "Since ancient times, the Lunar Method has been the most dangerous of dangers. Since he had already become an Earth Immortal dwelling in the world, he could have kept his Primordial Spirit in the Dharma Realm Blessed Land. Although he couldn't achieve an immortal physical body, he could at least achieve spiritual longevity. It seems he wanted to pursue a higher realm to reach true freedom. Even knowing it was a narrow escape from death, he still dared to try; he is braver than me."

"Hurry and fill the soil back in!" Xu Jia had no interest in finding any Earth Treasure. Even if there were one, it would likely be the remains of the Earth Immortal. The Ancestor of Shanju Guan had already stiffened and turned entirely to jade back then; buried here now, he was likely even more thoroughly jade-fied.

The little demons sighed in regret and covered the soil back up.

After covering the soil, Xu Jia said to Chang Yuying and Chang Yu'e: "Your husband, Chang Yu, formed a bond with this Earth Immortal back in the day. After you go back, you can tell him about this. Also, the Daoists of Shanju Guan can be notified."

Xu Jia then ordered Hu Jinhua: "Set up a maze around here. Don't let our moving of the fresh soil attract some animal to sniff around and dig the stone coffin back out; that would be my sin."

In his heart, Xu Jia actually had a question mark about whether the Ancestor of Shanju Guan could succeed. It was just that when practicing this method, it was taboo to say to someone's face whether they succeeded or failed, so Xu Jia only said, "Unclear."

If it were an ordinary physical body, with tree roots piercing into the coffin, no matter what Earth Immortal he was, he would have turned into nutrients and corpse water. But the Ancestor of Shanju Guan had already cultivated a jade quality and turned into a jade figure; the plants should not be able to pierce through for a while and could only absorb some vitality.

But the Lunar Method is extremely harsh; if the vitality is slightly insufficient, he might truly be dead... it is impossible for him to be resurrected and crawl out of the coffin again.

Hu Jinhua set up a maze around the area, and only then did Xu Jia leave.

But not long after leaving, the newly filled mound of earth began to vibrate.

Slowly, slowly, the stone coffin opened, revealing a jade figure. This jade figure was nearly transparent, and one could see the internal organs and the twelve meridians through this layer of transparency.

This jade figure looked confused, looked at himself, then looked in the direction where Xu Jia and the others had left, and then sat up from the coffin.

The moment he left the coffin and his feet touched the earth, his skin began to transform from jade quality back into a flesh-and-blood body.

After this jade figure left the stone coffin, a ray of light suddenly shone from the earth cave, and one could vaguely see a Five-Colored Jade Ganoderma, shimmering with auspicious light, right beneath the stone coffin.

And in Shanju Guan, the various Daoists were paying respects to the Ancestor when, suddenly, there was a response.

The Scripture Master Daoist revealed astonishment: "The Ancestor has been resurrected!"

(End of chapter)