Chapter 196: Gazing at Qi in Dexing

The altar Xu Jia wants to set up is no ordinary altar; it is a "Tian Shi Jade Altar," which differs from a "Gold Altar," "Silver Altar," or "Thunder Altar."

It is an altar established for the conferment of the Celestial Master Register.

A single sheet of Register Text is merely a file in the Immortal Register, but it is what is officially recognized. Xu Jia has bypassed the step of going to Longhu Mountain; to request a Register from the Three Pure Ones, the scale of the sacrifice must be grander, as it requires offering sacrifices to the basic main deities of the entire Daoist pantheon of immortals.

Aside from the Jade Clarity Yuanshi Tianzun, Supreme Clarity Lingbao Heavenly Venerable, and Great Pure Moral Heavenly Venerable.

There are also the Haotian Golden Gate Jade Emperor Great Emperor, Earth Queen Imperial Earth Deity, Eastern Florescence Upper Minister Wood Duke Qingtong Daoist Lord, White Jade Tortoise Terrace Nine Spirits Supreme Truth Golden Mother Origin Lord, Central Heaven Ziwei North Pole Great Emperor, Gouchen Upper Palace Heavenly Sovereign Great Emperor, Southern Pole Longevity Great Emperor, and Eastern Pole Azure Florescence Great Emperor.

Below these eight great main deities are the countless stars, mountain and river earth deities, Youming Difu, the three hundred and sixty-five True Gods who manage the laws of the Great Dao within the revolving universe, as well as the subordinate deities of these True Gods.

Xu Jia did not require sacrifices for the subordinate deities, but the three hundred and sixty-five True Gods correspond to the "three hundred and sixty-five Body Gods" of the internal alchemy method.

The Three Pure Ones correspond to the Three Primes.

The Eight Vistas correspond to the Eight Emperors.

The human body itself becomes a "Daoist Heavenly Court Universe."

Therefore, it is necessary to construct internal and external Mandalas; the internal altar enshrines the three hundred and sixty-five Body Gods throughout the body, while the external Mandala enshrines the three hundred and sixty-five Heaven and Earth True Gods.

The altar ritual is complex and cumbersome; firstly, it consumes manpower and resources, and secondly, it requires proficiency in scriptures.

Although it cannot compare to the likes of the Luo Tian Jiao Ritual, it still burns through money like flowing water. If an ordinary Daoist temple were to hold such a ritual, it would inevitably require months of preparation in advance.

Xu Jia asking Shanju Guan to handle it on his behalf is truly putting them in a difficult position.

Although everything is to be simplified, it cannot be truly too simple.

First, the Zongtan must be built in a place with excellent Feng Shui, requiring it to be backed by mountains and facing water, with a quiet environment far from the hustle and bustle. The surrounding environment must be kept clean, avoiding any foul aura or noisy interference.

This part is easy to handle; the Sanqing Mountain that Xu Jia previously marked out will do, and there is a spot marked by Five Elements Divine Sand outside, which is a place with excellent Feng Shui.

Viewed from the outside, it looks like a giant Incense Burner with three large sticks of incense inserted.

Another thing is that, in addition to the deity Register Positions, the Daoists must also prepare various Magic Tools, such as copper gongs, magic bells, command tokens, Command Flags, Incense Burners, candle stands, and so on.

Besides Magic Tools, there must be five fruits, three sacrificial animals, fresh flowers, clear water, incense and candles, gold ingots, and paper money and horses for offerings.

Once these are prepared, one must also draw Talismans and write scripture banners; Talismans are used to summon deities and ward off evil, while scripture banners are inscribed with scriptures. These all require manual labor, and there is no printing capability here.

From Altar Opening, summoning deities, chanting scriptures, and worshiping, to sending off deities and closing the altar, every link has strict regulations and procedures; it is not something that can be done simply just because Xu Jia says so.

Therefore, although Zhang Zhenji and Jingzhu Daoren agreed, the other Daoists complained bitterly. It was not a matter of money, but truly a case of a clever housewife being unable to cook without rice. They were anxious and rushed.

After Xu Jia learned of the situation, he comforted them: "There is no rush to complete this immediately. That Dharma King was subdued by me and will not come knocking for a while, but try your best to complete the altar layout within ten days."

The several Daoists all respected Xu Jia and nodded one after another. Xu Jia did not make them work for nothing, so he said: "Once the altar is set up and I confer the Celestial Master Register, I will confer the Dugong Register upon you all as well." What the Daoists were to be conferred was not the Register passed down by Longhu Mountain, nor was it the "Three Mountains Orthodox Lineage," but a Private Register passed down by the Ancestor Cai Yu. The soldiers and Spirit Generals carried within the Register were all enshrined at the Ancestor's altar. Last time, because of the evil aura incident at Yushan, those soldiers and horses on the altar were all swallowed by the Flood Dragon, and even the previous temple master sacrificed himself, so they currently have no soldiers or Spirit Generals left.

Fortunately, Xu Jia improved their cultivation methods, and now they are each moving toward "internal alchemy," so these matters of summoning Spirit Generals and deploying soldiers are not done much.

If Xu Jia adds a Register for them, it would be a proper Three Mountains Talisman; even if they cannot summon heavenly soldiers and generals, they can cultivate them themselves and pass them down, to be inherited by disciples and grand-disciples; this is basically how family-style temples practice.

Although this has the suspicion of painting a pie in the sky, it is indeed very tempting.

Xu Jia added: "Do not think that you are working for me and getting no benefits. When I achieve the status of Earth Immortal and open up a Blessed Land here, Blessed Land and Cave Heaven are both hubs for communicating with the Shangjie. Immortals often descend from the Dharma Realm to visit and enjoy themselves. Even if you cannot become Earth Immortals, if you only manage to become Ghost Immortals, you can still reside in the Blessed Land, cultivate diligently with the body of a Ghost Immortal, pass the Ghost Immortal Demon Examination, and ascend to the Shangjie."

After Xu Jia finished speaking, these Daoists all nodded one after another; this was the real deal.

In all these years at Shanju Guan, only one ancestor has achieved the status of Earth Immortal. Throughout history, the number of people seeking immortality and the Dao has been as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river, but how many have left their names in the Immortal Register? Although among the Five Immortals, the Ghost Immortal is the lowest, if one cannot achieve true merit and true fruit, after a hundred years, one will eventually be a handful of yellow earth. Having the body of a Ghost Immortal is still better than only being able to be a wandering master or Yin Master as before.

Moreover, there is the development of the Blessed Land, which is a different matter entirely.

Xu Jia left Shanju Guan and headed toward Sanlong Dong, summoning Chang Yu to come out.

Chang Yu was resentful that Xu Jia had appointed him as an Acting Mountain God. He originally wanted to play deaf and dumb and pretend not to hear, but suddenly a distressing spell was chanted, controlling his true name.

It turned out that since Xu Jia had appointed Chang Yu as Acting Mountain God, it was equivalent to bestowing a divine taboo and true name. This, of course, did not have the power to govern life and death like Liu Yuanheng, but it was like the Sanskrit Sound of Soul-Taking; if you did not answer, it could keep bothering you.

Chang Yu did not move, but the two Snake Matrons did. Their minds were simpler than their husband's, and since they had been receiving incense fire at the Snake God Temple, they had gained many good thoughts and wishes—all prayers not to be bitten by venomous snakes when entering the mountains—and thus they had become more human-like. One of them had even begun to grow a human face, evolving in the direction of a "beautiful snake woman."

By comparison, apart from his huge size, Chang Yu had nothing to do with transforming into a human; he looked more like a "monster" than a "demon."

Seeing his two wives leaving the cave, Chang Yu had no choice but to follow them out.

They came to pay respects to Xu Jia.

Xu Jia had been chanting the spell for a while and smelled a fishy wind, which was very similar to the one in his dream, and then he saw Chang Yu and the three snakes arrive after sweeping through the forest.

Xu Jia jumped onto Chang Yu's head: "Go to Sanqing Mountain."

Chang Yu said nothing and carried Xu Jia away, though the two Snake Matrons on the side became interested in Xun Taizi.

"True Person, is this a Flood Dragon?"

"You could say that." Xu Jia took Xun Taizi off his shoulder. It opened its large mouth, swallowing and spitting out the mountain wind. The stronger the wind, the larger its body seemed to become; large amounts of wind were poured into its mouth and stored in its wind dantian.

Upon arriving at the summit of Sanqing Mountain, there were still faint traces of the last time the altar was opened to slay the Centipede Dragon. Xu Jia looked down from a height, gazing in the direction of Dexing County.

He saw evil aura permeating, with clumps of blood-colored Qi surging. In the Dharma Realm, one could faintly see a gloomy demon sitting cross-legged in the Black Qi.

(End of chapter)