Chapter 259: Lishan Sect

"What a sinister monster!"

To them, the golden toad was extremely strange—neither ghost nor demon, neither god nor mortal.

Those who squeezed through the door to get inside all looked manic, their essence and energy depleted.

There were also unknown debt-ghosts that transformed into small golden toads, attaching themselves to the merchants who were buying and selling in large quantities.

"This is a trap set by an Evil God of Wealth," the senior sister said. "The Evil God of Wealth is the most common type of evil god. I have heard that in the Jiangzhe, Min, Gui, Qian, and Southwest regions, these evil gods are extremely numerous, especially in the Ten Thousand Mountains and Min, where there are no fewer than a million ghost gods."

"But Longhu Mountain in the Jiangnan West Circuit is the birthplace of Taoism and is not far from here. Together with Zhongnan Mountain beside Changan, they are the two Ancestral Courts of Taoism. How could they allow such an evil god to appear right under their noses?"

The younger Daoist Priest pondered for a moment: "Could it be the Longevity Sect?"

They had also seen the Evil God of Wealth in Changan, all mixed in the slums near gambling dens and brothels, doing small-time schemes to trick a few fools.

When they went down the mountain to gain experience, they once encountered a child who had stumbled upon an evil god's gambling game and was cursed by the evil god; the child would lose every bet and became addicted to gambling. Every time the child lost, their luck would dissipate, and once their luck hit rock bottom, they would encounter evil...

But those small evil gods only had three or five believers; it was nothing like this place, where there felt to be at least one hundred thousand.

The two Daoist Priests hesitated for a moment, found a merchant with a small golden toad sitting on his shoulder biting coins and spitting treasure, and walked straight up to him.

"Two masters, is there something you need?"

The merchant was originally a bit impatient because he couldn't squeeze in to see the market board, or he had to buy someone else's second-hand transcript, which wasn't real-time trading information...

But seeing the two Daoist Priests were ordained practitioners, he felt a bit of respect. This was the rule of the jianghu: Daoists are not to be trifled with, especially Daoist Priests. To be able to walk the jianghu, they must have real skills.

"Believer, this poor Daoist observes black Qi on your body; you have been deluded by an evil god! I fear there is an omen of a broken home and lost lives."

"How dare you, nun! You don't say auspicious words, but instead curse your father here?" The merchant was furious: "I didn't get a lucky draw from the Yin-crossing nun today, and now I run into two jinxes like you."

The two Daoist Priests were not annoyed and only said: "Believer, you are facing a great disaster without knowing it. Do you not realize there is an evil toad crawling on you, devouring your wealth, Qi, and fortune?"

Hearing this, the merchant turned and left, unwilling to say anything more to these two nuns.

"Senior sister, these people are obsessed and won't listen. We can't get through to them. This Evil God of Wealth has already gained momentum. If we fight it directly, I fear we won't win. We should go to the City God Temple first to ask the City God what he has to say. Perhaps this toad has some other origin."

The older Daoist Priest nodded and immediately headed straight for the City God Temple.

Upon arriving at the City God Temple, they visited the resident Daoist, Zhang Zhenji.

Zhang Zhenji was an Earth Immortal Seed of Shanju Guan with the cultivation of a Human Immortal. After receiving guidance from Xu Jia, he changed his methods. Now his Daoist techniques were refined. He cultivated by borrowing the land of the City God Temple and also managed the Yushan Dao Record Office, handling all matters regarding the cultivation of side-door and miscellaneous schools.

He was currently using the City God's Blessed Field to plant Yin fungi, which, combined with the Jade Field of his own five internal organs, allowed him to grow Yang fungi Small Medicine. With Yin and Yang combined, his cultivation was more than three times faster than before.

There were several temple keepers and guest-receptionists in the City God Temple. At this time, they were holding the Tao Te Ching and discussing with him: "Master Zhang, that Earth Immortal True Person on Sanqing Mountain is going to open the mountain gates wide to screen disciples. He has entrusted us to open classes to lecture on the scriptures, lecturing on the Tao Te Ching for three months, especially emphasizing the first three chapters. But these first three chapters have so little content, how can we lecture on them for three months?"

Zhang Zhenji said: "Most of the common people are illiterate, so naturally we start by teaching them to read. Secondly, there are many Taoist terms in the text, and all the principles and allusions must be explained carefully."

"Not to mention the first chapter, 'The Dao that can be told,' just the third chapter alone is not something that can be explained in a moment."

"'Not exalting the virtuous prevents the people from competing. Not valuing rare goods prevents the people from stealing. Not displaying what is desirable keeps the people's hearts from being confused. Therefore, the Sage's governance empties their hearts, fills their bellies, weakens their ambitions, and strengthens their bones. By practicing non-action, there is nothing that cannot be governed.'"

This chapter discusses governance through non-action, which is the opposite of the Confucian concept of exalting the virtuous. It can be interpreted correctly or misinterpreted. How to interpret it correctly without deviating from the original meaning? And how many people can grasp it?

It needs to be combined with history, talking about the ancients...

"Could it be that senior brother is overcomplicating it? Does the True Person mean that as long as they can recite it, whether they understand it or not depends on their own enlightenment? If we force our own understanding onto them, will it lead to misconceptions instead?"

"That also makes sense..."

Just as they were speaking, a young Daoist came to report: "Uncle-master, two Daoist Priests have come to seek refuge, claiming to be from Changan and practitioners of the Lishan Sect in Xianyang."

"Lishan Sect?" Zhang Zhenji thought to himself: "Apart from my recent dealings with True Person Xu, my previous contacts were all practitioners from nearby mountains and waters, the furthest being no more than five hundred li away. Changan and Xianyang are at least a thousand, nearly two thousand li from here, separated by the north and south. Why have they come here?"

He did not know that Xu Jia had once asked the Yushan City God to write a letter to the Changan City God to inform him about the three-life Love Tribulation of the snake demon Liu Ruyan, who originated from the Lishan Sect.

So he returned the Tao Te Ching to the other City God Temple keepers and said: "Print more. Not just the first three chapters, print all five thousand words. Give a copy to anyone who comes to offer incense."

This world already had printing technology, but human labor was cheap, so printing was only suitable for mass production; ordinary people were still accustomed to copying books by hand.

"It just so happens there are a few book merchants who wanted to accumulate Merit a few days ago. I told them that lower-grade cultivation—printing scriptures, repairing statues, and releasing life to accumulate virtue—is easier for them to do."

Higher-grade cultivation is naturally like that of Zhang Zhenji—a True Cultivator with real ability.

Middle-grade cultivation is bowing in repentance, chanting scriptures, learning rituals, and knowing how to perform salvation... Even if one has not cultivated Dharma Power, by practicing the scriptures, one increases wisdom, possesses a Yin Spirit, and has the protection of various benevolent gods. Reciting scriptures and incantations one hundred thousand times also grants some Divine Abilities and magic, and one can subdue demons and ghosts. These all have certain thresholds; unless one leaves secular life, it is difficult to practice. It requires concentration, and most importantly, having a master to teach.

Lower-grade cultivation is just some miscellaneous schools and side-door paths, which ordinary people can also get involved in...

In Taoism, these practices are considered meager Merit, while in Buddhism, they are called "giving," which is said to be of immeasurable Merit...

But there is nothing to compare there.

Zhang Zhenji arrived at the guest hall, and the two Daoist Priests had already offered incense to the City God.

The Yushan City God immediately understood that these were Daoist Priests from the Lishan Sect who had come to subdue the snake demon. He dared not be negligent, so as a clear and spiritual god, he informed Zhang Zhenji of some of the background and simultaneously dispatched the Yeyou god to speak with Xu Jia.

After all, Xu Jia had once said that this Chen Liuxian had a master-disciple Karmic Connection with him.

Not long after the Yeyou god arrived, Xu Jia finished reading the Huangtian Secret Incantation and also had some analysis of the Taiping Secret Art within it. It was just that the Taiping Art relied most on the faith of the Divine Path, emphasizing Borrowing the False to Cultivate the True, and most of its many spells required the consumption of "Vow Power."

For example, the Invulnerable to Blades and Spears Talisman requires the practitioner of this method to firmly believe that they are invulnerable to blades and spears; only then can the power of the talisman be activated. It does not require true Qi or Dharma Power to maintain.

In other words, the firmer a person's faith and the stronger their spirit, the better the effect.

If one does not believe, it is just a piece of waste paper.

Its Scattering Beans to Form Soldiers is the same. To refine immortal beans, one needs to irrigate them with faith. The faith of ordinary people is not enough; it requires the faith of those who have entered the Dao. Only when they believe they can summon heavenly soldiers and generals can they truly summon them.

These so-called heavenly soldiers and generals are not summoned out of thin air; they are fierce ghosts captured by Daoists and bound within the bodies of military officials, which are the so-called "Dao Soldier Seeds."

Faith will change the fierce ghosts, allowing them to truly become heavenly soldiers and generals.

Therefore, when the Yellow Heaven Sect rose in rebellion, it was always Daoist Libationers coercing the common people, and then training the young men and boys with firm faith among them into Dao soldiers.

Once a doubt of faith arises, or if any side breaks their belief, they will scatter and become a rabble.

In other words, this method can only win, not lose. One must win all the way to the end. After seizing the world, if the people of the world believe you are truly heavenly soldiers and generals, then you will always be truly heavenly soldiers and generals.

This is the foundation of the Earth Court.

Xu Jia intended to combine this method to integrate a way of cultivating Dao soldiers.

At least binding the soldiers and horses of the altar into the body and then using this for "dual cultivation" is indeed a line of thought.

After all, Xiaopangdun had cultivated this way before, but Xiaopangdun practiced dual cultivation with a Fox Immortal and with Yin soldiers and ghost generals, which belongs to forbidden techniques and easily shortens one's lifespan and damages one's luck.

Therefore, Xu Jia must find a way to establish a simple "Shrine" within the bodies of his Military Officials; it is very difficult for this Shrine to be built by their own efforts, so he must make use of the "Register Method."

Xu Jia had absorbed some Demon Gods to serve as auxiliary Body Gods—the Nine-Child Mother Demon God, the Five Elements Demon God, and the Maiden Demon God; these Demon Gods were all fierce and malicious ghosts in their previous lives... but they were not enough.

Xu Jia even looked into the evil arts of the Longevity Sect; they actively create evil gods and bind them, possessing some similar experience.

Xu Jia felt that the Longevity Sect must have obtained a portion of the Yellow Heaven Sect's orthodoxy, and that the Longevity and Myriad Years Emperor of the Longevity Sect was likely trying to scheme for one of the positions of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors originally set by the Yellow Heaven Sect.

It is eight or nine times out of ten that they are the remnants of the Great Heng imperial clan from the previous dynasty who fled overseas, suddenly remembered the foundation of their ancestors, and thus declared themselves emperors and established a nation, wanting to inherit the orthodoxy and destiny of the Yellow Heaven Sect, along with various treasures and the like.

But it is clear they are not following the righteous path, but rather a shortcut method; the various gods they create are all quick-made evil gods, and they have not offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, but instead have brought disaster to the common people...

After dismissing the Yeyou, Xu Jia did not intend to show his face personally, so he summoned Xiaopangdun.

After experiencing the devilish illusion last time, Xiaopangdun had been completely avoiding Xu Jia, knowing that Xu Jia was very dissatisfied with his cowardice and would certainly force him to train his courage.

The focus of these days was entirely on cultivation; refining the Five Immortals with the Body Gods of the five viscera, the Fox Immortal belongs to the heart-fire, and the second one is the spleen-earth; he was cultivating a relationship with Huang Silang, but Huang Pipo and Hu Jinhua could not get along, and since the Yellow Immortal Temple was not a direct lineage temple system, his second Body God was still in the brewing stage.

At this moment, a Paper Crane flew over; this Paper Crane was the product of combining the Taiping Art with the Lunar Dharma Spell.

"Disciple, quickly go to the City God Temple to take a trip on behalf of your master."

Having said this, the Paper Crane grew larger, actually turning into the likeness of an Immortal Crane.

"This is good, this is something I can learn!"

Xiaopangdun sat on the Immortal Crane and immediately experienced the joy of flying through the sky.

(End of this chapter)