Chapter 281: Taiyin Ritual

The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month... the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional time since ancient days to worship the Moon God.

At Shanju Guan, the Taiyin Dharma Altar had been set up early.

For this Taiyin Ritual, the most important task was to awaken the spirit of Chang Yu and assist the Mountain God in returning; of course, other matters were also important, such as recruiting disciples, refining the Lunar Method, and plucking a sprig of osmanthus for his own father.

By this time, many people had already begun to gather from the foot of the mountain, numbering roughly twenty to thirty thousand.

This was no small number; the combined population of Dexing and Yushan counties was estimated to be only one or two hundred thousand.

The majority were the unrecorded disciples for whom Xu Jia had established incense halls, leading the sprouts they had formed karmic connections with, all coming up the mountain with anticipation.

A portion were young men who genuinely wished to learn the Dao and cultivate, such as Jiang Qi and Shen Bao, to whom Xu Jia had granted the strength of a tiger and an ox some time ago.

There were also investments made by landlords and local gentry; the direct descendants of the main lineage were certainly expected to study for the imperial examinations or engage in commerce, as these were considered the proper paths in their eyes. To them, worshipping gods and burning incense were heterodox ways, yet these things were important and could not be ignored—such as the rituals for weddings, funerals, and marriages, or reading feng shui and physiognomy. They did not seek mastery, but only to avoid being easily fooled by charlatans.

Furthermore, due to superstition, they believed that learning such things would hinder their families or reduce their offspring, so they would invariably send close collateral relatives to learn these skills, then raise and support them well until the day they might be needed.

In short, the effect of Xu Jia's several public displays of divinity had been achieved.

Shanju Guan had expected perhaps a few thousand people to seek apprenticeship, but counting those from out of town, there were likely ten thousand people wanting to become disciples.

There were simply too many people wanting to apprentice; even if Sanqing Palace were fully completed, the mountain could not accommodate them, and even counting the other small temples in Dexing and Yushan, they still could not be housed.

Xu Jia had underestimated his own influence. An ordinary charlatan with a silver tongue, spouting nonsense about some divine sect or divine art, could pull in thousands or tens of thousands for an Evil Sect, let alone Xu Jia, a True Person who had manifested divinity in public. Moreover, in every village, he had taken in those cripples, lonely elders, and widows... and made them into spirit mediums and shamans. Their influence was real.

At the next level, carpenters, blacksmiths, stonemasons, and bricklayers... these craftsmen had also been organized by Hu Jinhua into hall disciples.

Xu Jia did not need to personally solicit faith; for the sake of their own hall's Incense Fire, how could the immortals under his command not manifest their divinity? When they manifested, whose name did they use?

What was the name of the highest hall? The Seat of Dharma Lord Master Xu! This meant that Xu Jia had a grassroots foundation. The common people had genuinely benefited from it and felt it was a good skill, so naturally, when they heard Xu Jia was opening the mountain gates to recruit disciples, they became active.

Furthermore, in this era, practitioners were all divided into various sects, guarding their own little patches of land, and recruiting disciples was an elite process. There was none of the atmosphere from Xu Jia's past life, where a small group of people learned and then exchanged knowledge without reservation. He could not wait to pull more people into the circle and turn it into a popular study.

Moreover, the conditions Xu Jia offered were so good: cultivate the Dao on the mountain, with all food and drink provided. Although some in Yushan and Dexing had already become wealthy, it was destined to be impossible to achieve complete common prosperity, let alone provide some money every month...

Where else in the world could one find such a good deal?

It was just that Xu Jia's level of opening the mountain gates, in the eyes of others, was already on the same path as the Yellow Heaven Sect and the Longevity Sect. Why recruit so many disciples? Are you planning to rebel? Especially the three cultivators of the Lishan Sect who had been turned into a sheep, a frog, and a hen.

They hid in the woods, watching the lights blazing, and felt it was utterly incomprehensible.

"What is he trying to do?"

Fenglei Daoren was even thinking: "Could it be that I injured him? I previously said he only recruited monsters and evil spirits, and now he is recruiting ten thousand disciples just to show me?"

It was clearly a case of wishful thinking.

On the first and fifteenth of every month, Jinshan Temple would open its gates wide to receive pilgrims.

But on this day, with so many people, few entered the temple to burn incense, which surprised the monks, though Elder Xianhuan did not care about such things.

Chen Liuxian, however, having guarded outside the temple for many days, had finally come inside.

Sensing a call from the nether, he arrived at the Cultivation Tower in the back.

Liu Ruyan also sensed Chen Liuxian's arrival and urged him: "Liuxian, you cannot go on like this. I know you have been guarding outside for more than ten days. This won't do. In the future, find a good family, marry and have children, and live the life of an ordinary person; as long as you are safe and sound for a lifetime, I will be at ease."

"I was too obsessive before. Being suppressed in the tower and hearing the Dharma, I have calmed down these days and realized many things. Such entanglement is meaningless..."

Hearing this, Chen Liuxian shed tears: "We must be together forever! You are my wife, my wedded wife. Now that you are suffering in the tower, how can I bear to abandon you and go enjoy life alone? I am afraid that one day I will wake up in the middle of the night, dreaming of you... I have failed you, failed her, and failed this relationship of ours... What have our past vows amounted to?"

Liu Ruyan's heart twitched, and suppressing her pain, she said cruelly: "Heh heh heh, you fool. I never told you before, but I am a snake demon, a snake demon with several hundred years of Daoist Practice. I am also very selfish. Being with you was only to harvest and supplement my foundation. In your past two lives, you were both practitioners of the Dao; I deliberately latched onto you and designed it so you would fall in love with me, all for the sake of your past-life foundation..." "I just didn't expect that you would learn the Battle Method, causing me to suddenly revert to my original form and violate the laws... That is what allowed you to save your own life... So stop acting like a lovesick fool; this was all your own wishful thinking. From beginning to end, I was only using you!"

"Hate me, Liuxian!"

"I knew it all along!" Chen Liuxian shouted: "I knew it before, but I don't care. I only care about you. Perhaps there really is some past life that made me feel like I had known you for a long time the moment I saw you, and that we were very intimate..."

"Then if you like me so much, how could you still lay a hand on my two senior brothers? Your love is cheap, thin, and like paper—a superficial gesture that breaks at a single poke!"

Hearing her bring up old scores, Chen Liuxian's eyes widened and his nostrils flared: "That wasn't my fault either!"

"Heh, taking advantage of others' precarious position is not the act of a gentleman. I must have been blind... You seek pleasure while pretending to be deeply affectionate; it truly disgusts me..."

"I disgust you? Are you any better? You are the selfish and arbitrary one, and you are the one full of faults. Is there any way I haven't accommodated you?"

It did not take long for the two to go from pouring out their deep affection to this magical, wall-separated bickering.

Mostly, they both harbored grudges. Plus, Liu Ruyan knew she was suppressed under the tower and could hardly escape, and even Fenglei Daoren had turned into a hen... so her mood was also terrible.

"Amitabha!" Master Xianhuan appeared beside Chen Liuxian: "Benefactor, this is a sacred place of the Buddha, not a place for husband and wife to flirt. I have one thing to say: as the saying goes, the one who tied the bell must untie it. If the benefactor wishes to save his beloved wife, he must go and beg the one who suppressed her."

Although Chen Liuxian had been scolded harshly and felt his good intentions were treated like a donkey's liver and lungs, he soon thought: "This is Ruyan's reverse psychology." And so, his love-struck brain took over again.

It was just like a husband and wife arguing; when a third party tries to persuade them, they end up focusing their fire on the third party.

Furthermore, they were in the midst of a Love Tribulation, so their thought processes were naturally different.

Elder Xianhuan saw the essence of it—he preferred reconciliation over separation and wished for them to be locked together, but he could not directly drive them away with force, so he had to change his approach.

Seeing that Elder Xianhuan was over a hundred years old and appeared wise and enlightened, Chen Liuxian asked in confusion: "Master, what do you mean by that?"

"Who was it that taught you your cultivation techniques? That is the root. Go find him to untie this root, and you will not reap the fruit you have today."

Liu Ruyan also calmed down and said: "Chen-lang, although the one who ordered my suppression was the Yushan City God, he was acting on behalf of an Earth Immortal True Person—the one who said he wanted to take you as a disciple last time, whom I blocked... He did it on purpose, to make it difficult for us husband and wife to meet again!"

"I will go find him! If he acts like this, I won't become his disciple!"

Elder Xianhuan smiled: "You have already missed two chances. Once or twice is fine, but not a third time. If you don't believe me, ask Miss Ruyan."

Ruyan sighed through the tower: "If you were his disciple, he would still care a little about your feelings. If this karmic connection of master and disciple is severed, then there is no need to consider anything at all. I offended him, I was suppressed under the tower, my master was teased by him and turned into a beast, and even my two senior brothers were schemed against and had their primordial yin harvested... He is completely devoid of morality and acts only according to his own will..."

"Then what should I do? Must I become his disciple?" Chen Liuxian still looked reluctant.

At this moment, his wisdom was obscured, and he could be treated as a fool. Even if he went to seek apprenticeship now, Xu Jia would not accept him.

As mentioned before, unless he breaks through small love and realizes great love, Xu Jia would not pay him any mind.

He was also of the "wishful thinking" variety.

"The City God said that I can only be released once I have completely cultivated a human body. To completely cultivate a human body, it must be the achievement of an Earth Immortal, with five hundred years of Daoist Practice. And those five hundred years of Daoist Practice would be dissolved, just to become a real human. If I want to cultivate again, I would have to start from scratch. If I become a human, I will experience birth, aging, sickness, and death... but I could also experience true seven emotions and six desires, rather than the inexplicable love and desire from stealing the Love Fruit..."

"Chen-lang, I may not be able to become an Earth Immortal, and even if I do, I may not be able to discard my entire Daoist Practice just to live a hundred years of carefree life. You should go..."

"No, I believe I can do it. I will save you. As long as I become an Immortal, like in my previous two lives, can I save you?"

Elder Xianhuan laughed: "For a mortal to want to become an Immortal, is it something that can be achieved just by saying so? I, the old monk, have contemplated while awake and contemplated while asleep for over ninety years, and haven't I still failed to attain Buddhahood!"

"Benefactor, go now; this temple is about to close. That person is going to hold the Lunar Method assembly, and we must also make offerings to the Moonlight Bodhisattva..."

Chen Liuxian seemed to make up his mind immediately: "Then I am determined to master it!"

(End of this chapter)