Chapter 258: The Dao is Not Lightly Transmitted, the Dharma is Not Cheaply Sold

The Great Libationer of the Yellow Heaven Sect, Purple Sun Zhenren, revealed a cold sneer on his face: "Those who desire to last for a thousand generations will inevitably perish in the second, and those who desire to be immortalized will surely be cursed for ten thousand generations. It is also because our wisdom is insufficient, and the wisdom of all living beings is insufficient; otherwise, if everyone were enlightened, there would not be so many troubles."

Xu Jia said: "It is precisely because there are many enlightened people that there are many troubles. When people are hungry, they only think about one thing: eating. When they are full, they think about many things."

"Throughout the dynasties, only when a country is about to perish and the race is about to be extinguished do they promote the opening of the people's wisdom. The more peaceful the times, the more one must keep the people ignorant. The more ignorant the people, the easier it is for the country to perish. The closer it is to the fall of the country, the more one must keep the people ignorant to the extreme in order to maintain rule..."

Huang Muchun nodded: "Then what is it that you, fellow Daoist, wish to do? Since the Imperial Jade chose you, fellow Daoist, what kind of path is that?"

Xu Jia shook his head: "I do not know."

It was indeed true that he did not know. No one is born to rebel, nor is anyone born knowing how to succeed; there is no major in rebellion in the Great Learning.

Great Libationer Huang Muchun nodded slightly, then said: "Then, fellow Daoist, are you willing to inherit the orthodoxy of my Yellow Heaven Sect? There is a treasure in the mundane world that I, this poor Daoist, can decide to gift to you."

"No need." Xu Jia cupped his hands and said: "Many thanks for the Great Libationer's kindness."

"That is truly a great pity." Huang Muchun sighed: "Since you, fellow Daoist, do not need the treasures of my sect, then why did you enter my Dao Kingdom?"

Xu Jia said directly: "I am interested in the Daoist methods of the Yellow Heaven Sect and wish to understand them a little, but I do not wish to inherit your orthodoxy."

"After all, there is nothing free in this world." Huang Muchun said: "Having learned the Daoist methods, one has inherited the orthodoxy; inheriting the orthodoxy, one naturally must learn the Daoist methods."

Xu Jia did not know how many minor methods he had practiced, but there was only one orthodoxy, and that was the Lingbao orthodoxy, practicing the Great Cave Yellow Court True Scripture. He only said: "Just speak."

Huang Muchun said: "Fellow Daoist, the Dharma is not lightly transmitted, and the Dao is not cheaply sold. If transmitted lightly or sold cheaply, future generations will starve."

"Then you just said you were selfless and hoped that everyone would be like a dragon."

"That was then, this is now. If there is no orthodoxy to continue it, what difference is there between us and those Cold Altar Wandering Masters?"

"If there is no Incense Fire from future generations, in a few hundred years, we too will vanish into smoke."

"Haven't you all already ascended? Does the Shangjie not have an orthodoxy?"

"The Shangjie is the Shangjie, and this realm is this realm. This poor Daoist is an Incense Dharma Body, an Acquired Yin Spirit."

Xu Jia thought for a moment and said: "Since you will not transmit it, I will not force it. You wait for future generations to come and inherit your treasures."

That Huang Muchun had originally wanted to bait Xu Jia, but Xu Jia simply did not fall for it.

He immediately changed his tone: "If you, fellow Daoist, will not inherit it, fine. Having someone else learn it is the same. It does not require him to inherit the legacy of the Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable, but to form a Dharma lineage, have a teaching altar, and three or five fellow disciples—that is still better than being completely severed as it is now."

Xu Jia thought about it, and a thought popped into his mind, so he asked: "How about I, this poor Daoist, transmit the orthodoxy for you in San Francisco overseas?"

"Overseas?" Huang Muchun thought: "The reputation here is already rotten. Opening up new land overseas is not bad, but which mountain is this San Francisco..."

"Don't you worry about that." Xu Jia knew the Divine Path methods of the Yellow Heaven Sect, which could nourish the Earth Veins and form a "Spirit Qi recovery," so he already had an idea: he could let his disciples and grand-disciples over in America try to see if they could practice it.

"Fine." Huang Muchun agreed, then took a yellow jade Talisman from between his brows. The yellow jade Talisman shook and transformed into a Heavenly Book. The Heavenly Book shook again, ignited, and became a booklet. On the booklet was written "Taiping Dao Huangtian Secret Incantation."

Huang Muchun's expression became weary. This booklet was transformed from his memories and was also the source of his Yin Spirit. After taking it out, he could no longer preach or teach in the Dao Kingdom and could no longer serve as a Great Libationer.

What is lost is lost; there will be no compensation.

"My sect has a total of eight Great Libationers, each in charge of one-eighth of the orthodoxy. After the orthodoxy is completely lost, the Yellow Heaven Dao Kingdom will also dissipate. This portion is the Southeast Orthodoxy, and it is all here."

"Does the fellow Daoist still need to go to other teaching altars?"

Xu Jia entered the Dharma Realm at Three Pure Ones Mountain in the mundane world; the closest one was the Southeast General Altar of the Yellow Heaven Sect. It was impossible to go to other altars from here.

One-eighth of the orthodoxy was not bad either.

Xu Jia took the booklet. The next moment, the entire Dao Kingdom Dharma Realm began to reject Xu Jia, as if vomiting out a foreign object, expelling Xu Jia from this layer of space and returning him to the sea of Dharma Realm dimensions.

The Yellow Heaven Dao Kingdom itself disappeared like a dream bubble. The locked pillars and chains left no trace, as if they had never existed.

Xu Jia was lost in thought. Standing on the wooden raft, he sensed the location of his physical body in the mundane world and began to return his spirit.

Along the way, he encountered many Dharma Realm Demon Gods and monsters, which he avoided or drove away one by one. Soon, he arrived safely at the shallow layer of the Dharma Realm. Just then, a black shadow darted out—it was that Jar God, the one with an arm inside the jar.

This fellow had been hiding at the bottom of the wooden raft, wanting to sneak back into the shallow Dharma Realm so that when the time came, he could deceive a few believers in their dreams and be a hero again.

"You shameless broken jar, playing tricks in front of me?"

Xu Jia took out a mirror; this mirror was the Taiyin Dharma Mirror. Immediately, a mist arose. The jar bumped around randomly and the next moment crashed into the world of the mirror.

Xu Jia only said: "This fellow still has one hand and can do some manual labor; I cannot let it be idle."

Inside the Taiyin Dharma Mirror were Mist Dragon boats, all manned by dragon-headed Yin Military Officials, each one fierce and wicked. They surrounded the Jar God of the Jar Clan, tied it to the boat, and kicked it around, treating it like a soccer ball.

Xu Jia's consciousness returned to his physical body, stabilized his Primordial Spirit, and cleared his meridians. Only then did he open his eyes to see a booklet in his hand. This booklet was not made of paper but was formed by Incense Fire and wish power, "Borrowing the False to Cultivate the True." It was a genuine Immortal manual of Daoist methods.

It was not convenient to look through it randomly while in the Dharma Realm, lest there be any taboos, but now was the perfect time to take a look.

The Taiping Dao Huangtian Secret Manual was inspired by the Great Worthy Teacher Zhang Jiao, who heard the Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable recount the "Seven Chapters of the Huangtian Secret Incantation."

These seven chapters of the secret incantation contained the principle of "Dream Coming True." After practicing them, one could have their wishes fulfilled. At first, one could realize small wishes, and later, one could realize great wishes.

This was precisely the foundation of the Divine Path, which is "making a wish." The great wishes of all living beings and the great wishes of gods and Buddhas could all be realized and come true—whether real, in a dream, inverted, or imagined, all could come true.

Seeing this, Xu Jia found it incredible; it was clearly what one would call an Evil Sect.

Following that was the "Taiping Orthodoxy" created by Zhang Jiao after hearing the scriptures and incantations.

It mainly relied on thoughts and fantasies to confer titles upon corresponding gods. Each type of god could realize that type of wish.

Besides conferring titles on gods, there were also rituals for offering to gods and methods for the Daoist people to "Worshiping Spirits and Ingesting Qi." The so-called Worshiping Spirits and Ingesting Qi meant worshiping the corresponding god to obtain that god's "Sub-Qi."

Generally speaking, gods are the spiritual manifestations of some kind of Heavenly Origin Qi. True Gods are True Qi, Evil Gods are evil energy, Heavenly Gods are Heavenly Qi, and Acquired Gods are Acquired Qi.

By worshiping this god and obtaining its Sub-Qi, one could enter the Dao and practice this kind of Daoist method.

The "Gen Peak Qi-Ingestion Method" of Shanju Guan seemed to be derived from this: worship the Mountain God to obtain the Gen Peak Qi, worship the Dragon God to obtain the Flood Dragon Qi, worship the Ghost God to obtain the Nether Qi, worship the Wealth God to obtain the Wealth Qi, and worship the Plague God to obtain the Plague Qi.

In short, this was a set of "faith-based immortal cultivation" methods.

It also emphasized: "Those who seek to be Earth Immortals should perform three hundred good deeds; those who seek to be Heavenly Immortals should perform one thousand three hundred good deeds."

After reading it, Xu Jia only felt that this was actually an Evil Sect system where gods harvested believers like leeks, yet claimed it was for the believers' own good.

The hierarchy was strict and lacked mobility; once the divine positions were filled, no one else could cultivate to become a god.

Worshiping Spirits and Ingesting Qi originally meant worshiping the spirits of nature, but later it would gradually become anthropomorphized, and the divine heart is easily "selfish."

Xu Jia could already imagine many gods fighting and scheming for faith. The original order of the Divine Path, due to the proliferation of Quanshen, did not operate according to the order of Heaven and Earth itself, but only according to personal will...

After reading it, Xu Jia closed the booklet and finally shook his head.

However, this was only one-eighth of the Yellow Heaven Sect's orthodoxy, and there might be biases; one could not judge the whole by a part. But Xu Jia would absolutely not practice it recklessly. Why seek gods and worship Buddhas, using the heart of an external god to seize one's own will, killing gods if they block the way, and killing Buddhas if they block the way? However, this method was indeed suitable for those ignorant commoners with extremely poor aptitude. As long as they worshiped the gods, they would gain something, and as long as they made corresponding contributions, they would be rewarded.

Those who can restrain this kind of Divine Path are actually the "judges" of the previous generation, who can impeach deities and engage in Destroying Mountains and Breaking Temples.

But once this method is mastered, how could the spirits be willing to be ruled by you?

Within this lies such an inevitable contradiction.

However, this method is indeed suitable for America; America is full of Evil Sects and devils everywhere. Adding such a branch could instead regulate these Evil Sects and evil gods, and after subduing them, suppress them within the precious caves of Lingshan to nourish the world in return...

Register Conferment for Daoist followers can also start from America. After all, the aptitude of the disciples there is truly too poor; if they really had to cultivate from scratch, it would take five or ten years, and they might not succeed, nor do they have the perseverance. Instead, worshiping spirits aligns with their "desires."

"It just so happens that after subduing the Demon God Manor of Hannibal the Old Demon, I can also test it out; it is, after all, the Seventy-Three Pillar Demon Gods."

With his mind set, Xu Jia closed the book, placed it on the altar, and held it down with a Raw Rice Bowl.

Afterward, he picked up the Heavenly Emperor Relic Jade; Huang Muchun said this object is the core for constructing an External Scene Cave Heaven, and the Jade Brilliance Cave of Three Pure Ones Mountain previously used this as its core.

However, Jade Brilliance Cave was based on Incense Fire; once the Incense Fire was gone, the Cave Heaven collapsed on its own. At the very least, Xu Jia did not sense any Cave Heaven Blessed Land on Three Pure Ones Mountain.

But perhaps the Caiyu Zhenren of that year did sense it and also obtained a portion of the Yellow Heaven Sect's inheritance. This Genyue Qi-Ingestion Method—worshiping the Mountain God, ingesting the Qi of Genyue, and swallowing jade—is truly exactly the same as the method of Worshiping Spirits and Ingesting Qi.

It is said to have been learned from the Chang Yu giant python; it is estimated that this Chang Yu giant python was also a spirit python raised by the Yellow Heaven Sect followers back then.

Thinking of Chang Yu, he did not know if his Five Hundred Year Great Tribulation had passed. Now that he has completely petrified, it is still unknown when there will be hope for rebirth.

Cultivation for non-human beings is not easy, with tribulations at every turn; by comparison, he himself has been quite smooth sailing.

……

Xu Jia is also not in a hurry to return to America to preach and spread the Dharma; he would rather study the Register techniques first and cultivate a few more Body Gods.

……

In Yushan County, prosperity has recently become even greater, and it is bustling with activity.

For one, the Jin Chan Debt Pawn shop buys and sells Golden Toad Debt notes every day; with every transaction, they earn real gold and silver. Many landlords and wealthy merchants specifically send people to watch the big board every day to report the rising and falling points, seeing whether their wealth has increased or depreciated. Simply put, this board basically only rises, with little depreciation, so the more it rises, the more people buy, pushing it higher step by step.

Some small landlords even sold all their family's farmland, exchanged it for real gold and silver, and invested it here; in just two months, they had doubled their money...

Not only is the wealth of Yushan and Dexing counties running here, but the wealth of the entire Xinzhou also presents the appearance of a "Dragon Suction."

Ordinary commoners can also act as retail investors and invest a little; the prospects are bright.

With every transaction, a market circulation cycle is completed. If judged by True God standards, the Golden Toad cannot yet be considered a True Wealth God; if judged by evil god standards, he has already become a great evil god, a great demon god type.

Financial transactions have brought about a large number of peripheral industries; inns and restaurants have become increasingly numerous, and even housing prices have begun to grow. As housing prices grow, rents have also begun to grow. The Golden Toad, having invested in fixed assets early on, has already seen its assets multiply several times over; what was equivalent to buying for two hundred million is now worth two billion upon resale.

At the same time, the porcelain from nearby Jingdezhen, the tea from Wuyuan, and high-quality silk have all been transported here, because "bulk commodity" trading and "futures trading" have already begun.

It is just a pity that there are too few ports and the docked ships cannot be considered very large, but there are already many fleets; some are local Gan merchants, and others are Huizhou merchants.

Many people from Huizhou come here to be apprentices, whether as apprentices for Jingdezhen porcelain or apprentices for Wuyuan tea-firing.

Tea mountains have risen one after another, with many people contracting them; kiln sites have been built in rows—those digging mud, those burning charcoal, those painting porcelain—in short, within a short period of time, there is already an appearance of "flourishing."

"This small county town is actually so lively."

At the city entrance, two Daoist Priests looked on curiously: "Although it cannot compare to our Changan city, it has already surpassed the several large counties in the surrounding area."

"Jiangnan West Circuit is a wealthy land, a land of fish and rice, and a place of stability and peace with little war."

"Senior Sister, where are we going now?"

"Let's go to the City God Temple first. After paying respects to the local City God, we will properly ask about the matter of our Junior Sister."

The two Daoist Priests inquired of a peddler, bought two bowls of tofu pudding, learned the location of the City God Temple, and headed straight there.

Just as they passed the Jin Chan Debt Pawn shop, the two Daoist Priests' gazes froze. In the Dharma Realm, they saw a giant toad with a huge mouth swallowing the sky, inhaling the wealth of all directions. The wealth-Qi was like a long river, continuous and endless, circulating and rushing, flowing faster and faster, churning up countless bubbles.

(End of chapter)