Chapter 280: Two Scenery Dao, Plucking the Laurel in the Toad Palace

As August arrived, the provincial capital of Nanchang had already begun to bustle with activity.

The scholars preparing for the provincial examination had all arrived one after another.

Those who were poorer stayed in temples and Daoist monasteries.

The temples and monasteries of Nanchang were nothing more than Youmin Temple and Wanshou Palace; Wanshou Palace, in particular, was also known as the Jiangxi Guild Hall.

These places were most fond of sponsoring these scholars for the exams—or rather, it wasn't so much sponsorship as providing a quiet place to stay, with two vegetarian meals a day guaranteed.

However, some scholars were not actually here to take the exams; they were taking advantage of their status as examinees to move about freely, bringing local specialties from their hometowns to sell in Nanchang.

Xu Jia's old father, Xu Zhiyuan, was standing in front of a stall set up by one such scholar, where it was written: "Yushan Specialties, Niu Family Old Brand, Eight Treasure Kidney Essence Wine, Seven Flavor Rehmannia Pill, Five Elements Heaven Mending Pill..."

"Are these Yushan specialties?"

"That's right! These are a few items that have been selling very hotly lately. By the way, the dried persimmons sold at the stall next to us are also Yushan specialties; they are sweeter than honey and sell for cheap, too—you can buy a bag for just fifteen wen."

Xu Zhiyuan: "I am from Yushan myself, how come I've never heard of a Niu Family Old Brand in Yushan?"

"Who are you?" The scholar, who had been busy doing business, scrutinized him for a moment and recognized Xu Zhiyuan; after all, there weren't that many scholars in Yushan County, and even fewer who were well-known.

"Brother Zhiyuan, it's you! I was wondering why I hadn't seen you in Yushan for a long time. I am Feng Zicai, who used to study at Jinghu Shuyuan."

"Oh, oh, oh, I have an impression..."

In truth, he didn't really recognize him. Not long after the New Year, he had come to Nanchang to study. Since consuming the Ink Pill and receiving Xu Jia's guidance to open his apertures, he already possessed the potential of a provincial graduate, though achieving a high rank was still quite difficult.

Coming to Nanchang, he had been recommended by both the County Magistrate and a certain provincial graduate Lu to study under a Great Worthy. Of course, Xu Zhiyuan was now a "Confucian Cultivator," cultivating the Vast Righteous Qi.

Although this Great Worthy had not opened his own apertures and was not yet at the same stage of cultivation as Xu Zhiyuan, his literary talent, Literary Qi, wisdom, spiritual intent, and even his experience were far superior to his own.

Over the past six months, he had rapidly cycled through the Analects, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean, and he had unexpectedly absorbed a massive amount of nourishment, as if he had never studied them before.

To describe it more vividly, it was as if his original reading level was only around level 3-4; after Xu Jia's guidance, he reached level 6-7. However, when reading on his own, he only gained +1 experience each time, whereas now, listening to the Great Worthy's lectures was like gaining +8 experience. In short, he was leveling up very quickly.

"So Yushan has already undergone so many changes." Xu Zhiyuan inexplicably thought of his son, Xu Jia: "Could it be that he is the one behind all this?"

Nine times out of ten.

"The biggest event in Yushan right now is that a Heavenly Master Xu is going to establish the Three Pure Ones Palace and is widely recruiting disciples. It's just a pity... I'm too old, otherwise I would go too. This Heavenly Master Xu is truly extraordinary. Previously, when an evil person in Dexing bewitched the commoners, he beheaded them. Later, when a Flood Dragon moved, he beheaded it. A few days ago, when he held a Dharma assembly, two River Earls actually fought each other, manifesting their divinity before the people to compete in bringing rain, and it was perfectly accurate. Now, it is a wonderful place with favorable weather and timely rain."

"What's a River Earl?" a merchant nearby said: "The truly powerful one is the Wealth God. This Yushan is truly strange; why have so many gods suddenly manifested? Especially this Wealth God—his methods are heaven-reaching. We invest ten taels of silver, and after a year, we can get twelve taels back. If you invest one hundred taels, you don't have to do anything, and you can get a dividend of two taels every month... Tsk tsk... You say, if you put in one thousand taels, you get twenty taels a month. A regular family only spends twenty taels in a whole year."

"And that's just the most basic savings service. If you buy a Debt Note, there are cases where you put in one tael and get one hundred taels back. For business like this, even the officials want to get involved. To say nothing else, just take the County Magistrate—he carries big chests inside, his face smiling like a pig's rear end."

"As for those who want to use force or trickery, by the next day, nobody knows what happened to them; they act like they're possessed by ghosts, ignoring everyone, and just go off to farm in the barren mountains."

"If they are bound, they break out in red rashes on the first day, grow boils on the second, and look like toads by the third. This isn't human operation; it's Ghost God operation. And behind these Ghost Gods, it is said, is this Heavenly Master Xu. Now everyone says that Yushan and Dexing are under the governance of the Heavenly Master, with ten thousand gods preaching the Dao; even incidents of being haunted or seeing ghosts have disappeared."

Xu Zhiyuan was completely certain that this was indeed his son's doing.

He bought a few boxes of dried persimmons, left the place, and returned to his small courtyard.

This small courtyard had been bought by Old Father Xu back when he donated for an Eighth-Rank Scattered Official title. He had made plans in advance, hoping his descendants could enter officialdom, and thus had bought this small courtyard in Luo Family Collection, Nanchang. Not far away were the Examination Hall, the School Palace, and nearby was Wanshou Palace.

He immediately went to the study and took out two wooden carvings. These carvings—one had large ears, looking like pig ears, very exaggerated; the other had large eyes, bulging out like two cylinders—were the two little ghosts Xu Jia had given to his old mother and Xu Zhiyuan to keep in touch: Duowen and Guangmu.

Xu Jia had not rewarded them during the previous conferment, but they were already on the Hall Genealogy. The disciples of the incense halls always had times when they needed to borrow their magic, and with a casual offering of a stick of incense, even if they couldn't take the main seat on the Hall Genealogy, they could still take the positions of the left and right Protectors.

Xu Zhiyuan lit a stick of cypress incense and summoned the two little ghosts.

Neither of the little ghosts liked dealing with him. Mother Xu would deep-fry meatballs for them to eat and would recite Buddhist scriptures and Dharma, cleansing their soul quality and increasing their Buddhist affinity.

But Xu Zhiyuan was determined to become a Virtuous one; even if he couldn't be a Great Worthy, being a Small Worthy was enough. He had followed Xu Jia's method and cultivated the Vast Righteous Qi.

Although this Righteous Qi was not much, it was supreme and rigid, comparable to the scorching sun at noon in summer. If they stayed too long, they were prone to melting like snow children.

Most importantly, their primary job was surveillance—to make sure he didn't mess around and produce any half-siblings for Xu Jia.

"Can you two get in touch with the Guardian Deity?"

The two little ghosts were mischievous and showed expressions of difficulty. Previously, they had only ever delivered written messages or relayed a few words orally.

However, the two little ghosts whispered and discussed it for a moment: "Didn't we gain the Small Heavenly Eye Penetration and Small Heavenly Ear Penetration through listening to Buddhist scriptures? But the Master still doesn't value us much. The others have all obtained Register methods, but we haven't. We must show off our skills, otherwise the Master will completely forget about us."

Immediately, the two began to tinker, bringing over a mirror and crashing into it. As a result, the mirror grew a mouth and ears, and inside the mirror, no human reflection could be seen; instead, the scenery of Yushan appeared.

Soon, Xu Jia, who was cultivating inner refinement at Shanju Guan and planning to cultivate the main path of Body Gods excluding the five viscera, sensed a strange connection to the Dharma Realm.

He immediately knew it was a long-distance call from Father Xu.

Excluding the main gods of the Three Primes and Eight Vistas, there were also three hundred and sixty-five True Gods and various acupuncture point gods, all of which needed to be visualized and condensed one by one.

It just so happened that Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit had previously ascended to the Zi Fu, which was actually enough to actively cultivate the various official gods of the face, especially the Eye God, Ear God, Skin God, and even the Hair God...

It was just that Xu Jia did not directly cultivate these deities; instead, he cared more about the overall harmony, cultivating the associated vessels of the five viscera together. For example, he had previously cultivated the spleen but not the stomach, extending to the pancreas, large intestine, small intestine, upper burner, middle burner, and lower burner...

Now, sensing the Qi of Heaven and Earth, combining the Five Elements, connecting the Four Symbols, and balancing Yin and Yang, he was cultivating palaces and chambers in the Inner Landscape, building foundation stones, and stacking steps—either nine layers or twelve tiers.

It was just that he could not fully connect them; it always felt like something was missing. Perhaps it was the lack of corresponding cultivation methods, Divine Abilities, or perhaps he needed to borrow the Qi of the True Gods of the Outer Heaven and Earth to draw out the God-Qi of the Inner Heaven and Earth.

In short, Xu Jia looked up to the stars, connecting with the spirits of the twenty-eight constellations, and looked down to the ten thousand spirits, obtaining the nourishment of earth and water.

He already had a faint, vague sense of connection between the entire Huaiyu Mountain Range and the Yuyu Blessed Land within his body.

It was as if once the External Scene Blessed Land was built, the Inner Blessed Land would naturally grow stronger; once the Inner Landscape Blessed Land was built, it would also, from a "mind-only" perspective, first influence the Dharma Realm, and then influence reality from the Dharma Realm—this was the so-called "two-way rush."

This was the so-called "Two Scenery Dao," namely the Inner Scenery Dao and the Outer Scenery Dao.

But the Two Scenery Dao was also related to the "Sun and Moon Method"; in essence, it was still a philosophy of "Heaven and Human Unity," adding the connection between the self and the universe.

At this moment, being disturbed by the two little ghosts, Xu Jia stopped and calculated for a moment, discovering that his old father was about to take the provincial examination.

Thus, he connected to this communication from the Dharma Realm, feeling somewhat surprised: "These two little ghosts have actually mastered wireless transmission technology; they can be considered talents."

He saw a circle of light appear before him, and within the circle of light appeared Father Xu's face, only surrounded by white, incandescent Qi—this was the Vast Righteous Qi. This was the scene the two little ghosts saw, which was indeed somewhat different from what living people saw.

"Guardian Deity?"

Xu Jia smiled: "What? Father, are you trying to embrace the Buddha's feet at the last minute? You're about to reach the examination hall, asking me for some secret manual?"

"That's not it. This time taking the provincial exam, although I dare not say I'll enter the top three, I am confident in the top ten. I just heard news about you and came to ask."

Xu Jia nodded frankly: "Indeed, it's hard to lie about this. I am about to open an altar and establish a sect on Yushan."

Xu Zhiyuan heard this and was unable to react for a moment. After a long time, he said: "That's right, you are a God Immortal who descended to the world, having awakened your Past Life Wisdom."

"Why did you suddenly ask about this?"

Xu Zhiyuan sighed and said, "News has come from the front lines that the Fubo General failed to suppress the rebels of the Longevity Sect; instead, the Longevity Sect has landed from Zhejiang and has already occupied Jinhua Prefecture in Zhejiang and its surrounding areas. The Longevity Sect's demonic arts are extremely powerful, and I am afraid that some demonic person has arrived at Yushan..."

"These demonic people are truly arrogant!" Xu Jia already had a plan. He intended to go to Poyang in Nanchang after setting up his Dharma Altar and establishing his sect, find a way to occupy the land of Poyang, and then head south via the waterways to Destroying Mountains and Breaking Temples and eradicate the Longevity Sect. In truth, the main goal was to open up maritime Water Luck; with sturdy ships and powerful cannons, he could blast open a path to properly conduct business in Nanyang, find a good place, and establish a Dao Kingdom.

The scope Xu Jia was currently considering was definitely the Americas, synchronized with his previous life, and opening a Tongtian Temple there as well, but it was truly too far away, and immigration would be difficult. The natives were Indians, and they were not very easy to civilize.

The most suitable places were definitely East Asia and South Asia, those vassal states that had paid tribute to the Central Plains since ancient times.

Nearby ones included Japan, Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, and even the Indian Peninsula.

But the northern plateau regions were vast and sparsely populated, and there were many nomadic peoples... they were not very suitable for farming and civilization.

South Asia was too far south, full of rainforests, poisonous insects, and miasma. However, the fact that crops could be harvested three times a year was still very attractive. If his maritime strength reached the level of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Oceans, and he installed a few refined thunder-fire heavenly steel cannons, then he would have nothing to fear.

Xu Jia was most fond of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, or perhaps Lanfang, Luzon, or the Korean Peninsula... Further away were some islands that no one had set foot on. Before his level improved, it would truly be survival on a desert island.

However, Xu Jia's goal was certainly not just to use these places as a base. Establishing a Dao Kingdom was just about starting with maritime power and monopolizing maritime trade... Once the Great Ning Dynasty was in complete chaos and everyone was rebelling, he could take the opportunity to gradually nibble away and swallow them up.

If Xu Jia were to be the leader of this Dao Kingdom, then Xu Zhiyuan would be the king in the future.

It was just that there was no need to reveal this to him: "Father, just set your mind at ease for the imperial examinations. Don't worry about these extraneous matters. The situation in Zhejiang is rotten, but it has little to do with you because you are a commoner. If you were a provincial graduate, you would be slightly involved; if you were a metropolitan graduate, you could offer some suggestions to the imperial court... One should only concern oneself with the affairs of one's own position."

Xu Jia would not tell his father directly that, based on the situation he saw, this Great Ning Dynasty was about to end. The new emperor's governance was just like that of the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in his previous life...

At the very least, having the status of a provincial graduate was always useful and authoritative. Even if the dynasty collapsed, would they not recognize the provincial graduates of the previous dynasty? They would still recognize them.

Xu Zhiyuan nodded, his eyes flashing with spirit: "The closer it gets to such a moment, the more one must support a building that is about to collapse."

Xu Jia retorted: "It's a pity that the current emperor dislikes Daoism and worships Buddhism, and the Longevity Sect is also rebelling in the name of the Daoist school. Otherwise, if we directly presented auspicious omens, it would be faster than honestly taking the imperial examinations to become an official."

This remark silenced Xu Zhiyuan.

After cutting off the Round Light Technique, Xu Jia began to think about adding a layer of buff to his father.

Since he happened to be offering sacrifices to the Taiyin Star Lord, and there were already two layers of efficacy, he did not mind adding a third.

The Lunar Method lineage had the meaning of "Toad Palace Plucking the Laurel," and Xu Jia wanted to pluck a laurel branch for his father.

It just so happened that within the Jingming Dharma Lineage, there was a Moon Running Method. Generally speaking, the Moon Palace was high above in the sky, and the moon of this world was likely bare; he had to run from the Dharma Realm to the spiritual moon of the Dharma Realm...

When he reached the moon, Xu Jia could also gather the Taiyin Yellow Essence Wonderful Qi to see if he could materialize the deity of his right eye; previously, it had only been a phantom shadow.

This was another layer of cultivation merit.

... Anyway, he had to save money, so he would accomplish several things with one Dharma Altar.

It was not considered shabby; after all, he was worshipping the Taiyin Star Lord, and it was not as if he would finish worshipping this one and then continue to worship another in the same Daochang.

(End of chapter)