Chapter 190: The Legend of the White Snake?

Wang Mintong's look of total resignation made it truly impossible for Xu Jia to tell whether he had genuinely lost his Dharma Power and Divine Ability, or if it was, as those ancient storybooks said, a matter of undergoing repeated trials and tempering.

Zhang Zhenji had once said that this old man had once frequented the imperial palace; surely, without some real skill, how could he have coaxed the late emperor into believing in Taoism, and made the current emperor wary enough to switch his faith to Buddhism, letting the two sides tear each other apart?

However, just standing here suffering was useless; he had to come up with a plan himself. What Xu Jia thought of was to cultivate the Celestial Master Register, open the Jade Altar, and receive the Register from the Three Pure Ones.

Throughout the generations, every Celestial Master received their Register directly from the manifestations of the Three Pure Ones: receiving it from Yuanshi Tianzun meant the Jade Purity Register, from Lingbao Heavenly Venerable meant the Lingbao Register, and from Taishang Laojun meant the Taishang Register.

Only in this way did they become a generation's Celestial Master. Of course, sometimes the Dao Ancestor would not come to transmit it personally; it was also common for the Dao Ancestor's attendants or disciples to transmit it on his behalf.

Come to think of it, Xu Jia also had this treatment. For instance, during his Demon Examination, those two Immortals—one was Qingtong Jun, and the other was Shen Gong. Shen Gong was a Great Master under the Lingbao throne; of course, later generations associated him with "True Person Yuding," claiming he was one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Elucidation Sect. Among folk Dharma sects, there was also a lineage said to be transmitted by Shen Gong, because Shen Gong was a white ape.

He was also a non-human who achieved Didao.

Just as Xu Jia was thinking this, a fragrant breeze wafted over, and Hu Agui leaned in close: "How is it? True Person, can you repay these three thousand taels of silver? This old man is seventy years old; keeping him here means I have to provide for his food and drink. Although I am afraid of him dying here and having Longhu Mountain come knocking at my door, debts must be paid—that is only natural. If it really comes to it, it would be fine for you, True Person, to offer yourself in his stead."

Hu Agui's eyes were as seductive as silk, and she stretched out a finger to lift Xu Jia's chin: "My Love Tribulation depends entirely on you, True Person!"

Yet the next moment, Xu Jia grabbed her finger and snapped it.

"Ah! It hurts!"

"How can you be so ungentle and unchivalrous, True Person!"

Xu Jia said coldly: "Don't push your luck with me. You take good care of this old man. Don't think that just because you have some popular wishes upon you and the blessing of destiny, I wouldn't dare to execute you."

Releasing the broken finger, Xu Jia turned and left.

Hu Agui gritted her teeth and stamped her feet.

Her expression shifted several times, but in the end, she dared not make a move. Although the aura on Xu Jia was not that of an Earth Immortal True Person, the aftershocks of the Dharma battle Xu Jia had engaged in a few days prior had shaken the Dharma Realm; within a radius of several hundred miles, there was no one with any cultivation who had not sensed it.

Xu Jia left Cuichun Pavilion. At the entrance, Zhang Zhenji was still standing there like a blockhead, not daring to look at those young women. Passersby on the street saw him, a Daoist, standing at the entrance of a brothel, and they couldn't help but point and whisper.

Seeing Xu Jia come out alone, Zhang Zhenji opened his mouth: "True Person Xu, where is True Person Wang? Why didn't he come out?"

"He is inside seeking pleasure and is unwilling to come out."

Xu Jia still left some face for that old man and did not mention that he was inside washing menstrual cloths.

"Then what should we do? Besides Daoist Wang, who else can we find? The City God?"

Xu Jia said: "Keep your cool. First, return to Shanju Guan. I need you to prepare the following items. Before we reach the mountain top where we will set up the altar, we must arrange a Dharma Altar."

"What style of Dharma Altar?"

"I need five-directional nets, five sections each forty-nine feet long, forty-nine pairs of Jade Rings, forty-nine mirrors, forty-nine sets of pure red-and-green concentric knots, forty-nine lamps, and forty-nine sets of money, horses, and food offerings."

Xu Jia said: "Prepare three hundred and sixty-five altar positions for offerings."

"Wouldn't that be arranging a Mandala?"

Xu Jia nodded and said: "This is the Supreme Heavenly Altar Jade Grid Dharma transmission, in preparation for receiving the Celestial Master Register. The Daoists in your temple, big and small, need to gather forty-nine in total. If there aren't enough Daoists, young acolytes can make up the numbers, or even lay believers who understand how to chant scriptures will do."

Zhang Zhenji noted it down: "Will that be enough?"

"Of course not."

Xu Jia said: "These are just for setting up the altar; whether it succeeds is another matter entirely."

"What about the scriptures? Which scriptures should we chant?"

Xu Jia thought for a moment: "Chant the Scripture of the Dao and its Virtue, and the 'Orthodox One Dharma Text'. These two will suffice."

Zhang Zhenji nodded: "I will go prepare right away."

He then hurried off. Xu Jia simply strolled through the county, pondering what to do. He passed a fortune-telling stall, and opposite the stall was a pharmacy with "Baozhi Tang" written on it.

"This young gentleman, I see your expression is troubled, and there seems to be a knot of gloom between your brows. I wonder if you have encountered a difficult situation? Why not have a fortune told, so you might find a clear direction."

Xu Jia looked at the fortune-telling stall, which had "Half-Immortal," "Iron-Mouthed Prediction," and "Maiyi" written on it. The cloth used for the stall was an Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces diagram. The fortune-teller's face had a somewhat beastly appearance, as if a goat's head were growing on a human body.

Xu Jia thought of the blind old man from before, who had taught him a form of Innate Divine Calculation, but it could only be mastered if one were blind. Xu Jia's eyes were perfectly fine, so he had not obtained the essence of it.

This old man had "Maiyi" written; could he be of the Maiyi physiognomy lineage? It is said that Maiyi was a disciple of Guiguzi, and Guiguzi was one of the ten sages of the Daoist school; perhaps he had some real skill.

Xu Jia sat down: "How much is the fee?"

"If the reading is inaccurate, I take not a penny. For those who share a karmic connection with me, I also take nothing."

Xu Jia chuckled: "Then why do you tell fortunes? Don't you need to make a living?"

"It depends on fate!" The old man said happily: "I see that this young gentleman and I have a very strong connection."

"Let me cast a hexagram for the young gentleman."

He grasped a tortoise shell containing three copper coins. The shell had already turned jade-like; it looked oily and smooth, clearly an old object.

Xu Jia then muttered: "It would be good if Gui Linggao died soon, so I could use his shell to make an object like this."

Back at the Xu family, Gui Linggao felt an inexplicable chill.

*Swish, swish, swish. *

That was the sound of the copper coins shaking.

For some reason, Xu Jia's heart actually calmed down.

"Heaven above, Mountain below. The Heaven-Mountain Retreat hexagram."

Xu Jia asked: "What is the interpretation of this hexagram?"

"This hexagram means one should retreat while the current is strong; only then is it great fortune. Otherwise, it is great misfortune."

The fortune-teller smiled: "Fellow Daoist, do not meddle in the affairs of my Longevity Sect. Otherwise, let alone an Earth Immortal True Person who has cultivated for two lifetimes, even if a Heavenly Immortal descended to the world, it would be impossible to resist."

After saying this, he gave a ghostly smile and then collapsed onto the fortune-telling table.

Whether this was a spirit possession or a pre-planned hypnosis, either way, it was an Evil Art.

Xu Jia sneered and stood up. If you, True Person Xu, had grown up eating threats, you wouldn't have traveled to America at eighty years of age to open an altar, preach the Dao, and govern San Francisco.

Instead, it ignited a fire of anger within him.

Over at the pharmacy, a young physician ran out, flustered: "He hit the table so hard, why are you not reacting at all? Saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda."

He hurriedly moved to save the man.

And from inside the pharmacy, a young woman in white clothes poked her head out: "Husband, what happened?"

Upon seeing Xu Jia, she stiffened and shrank back.

Good grief, is a performance of the Legend of the White Snake starting up?

This young woman is clearly a snake demon that has transformed into human form.

As for whether it is a thousand-year-old one, Xu Jia is not quite sure.

(End of this chapter)