Chapter 154: Eating Ji Xianren Fruit, Planting Ji Xianren Trees

The sun was setting, the golden sun hung in the sky, a thousand miles of cloud sea, ten thousand layers of green mountains—what a magnificent scene of sunset on a high mountain. No wonder the immortals liked to come here.

Climbing up was difficult, but climbing down was even harder.

When climbing up, they hadn't dared to look down, but when climbing down, they had to constantly watch their footing; one slip would be no different from jumping off a cliff.

Lin Jue even thought about taking a Spirit-Shen Shen Xing Dan to float down, stepping on the protruding rocks and ancient pines, but considering the preciousness of the pill, he resisted the urge and slowly crawled down, step by step.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, the sun had just set.

When they returned to the temple, it was already dark.

Seeing that they hadn't returned for a long time, the senior brothers had taken down the air-dried ribs from the beam, washed them simply, and cooked a pot of cured rib porridge, which the two were just in time to eat upon their return.

Today, the master had come out of seclusion and also came to eat dinner.

"Where have you two been? Why are you back so late?" asked Daoist Yunhe.

"Master, the peaches on the mountain were ripe, so I asked senior brother to go pick some. While picking, we thought that Daoist Wangji didn't have any peach trees, so I dragged senior brother to Xianyuan Temple to deliver some. On the way back, we saw immortals on Tiandou, so we climbed it," the junior sister answered honestly.

"You don't know the way, don't go falling off," the eldest senior brother said with immediate concern.

"We were very careful."

"Then did you meet the immortals?" Daoist Yunhe asked.

"We met them, but we didn't see them," the junior sister said, looking at Lin Jue. "Let senior brother tell you."

"I was just about to tell Master—"

Lin Jue said, taking two fruits from his robes.

Everyone present immediately turned their eyes toward them.

Anyone could recognize what these fruits were—

The Dragon-Eye Dan Fruit of Mount Yishan.

But compared to the Dan Fruits they had eaten before, these two were a full circle larger. The spiritual aura of the Dan Fruits in Mount Yishan was already extremely dense, but these two were even denser.

Everyone looked at each other, knowing exactly what they were.

"It's actually the original Dan Fruit!"

"The rumors in our temple are actually true. It really was the immortals eating immortal fruit on the clouds of Tiandou and scattering the pits that became the Dan Fruits in Mount Yishan."

"Junior brother and junior sister are truly lucky!"

"It seems that some of the predecessors in our temple have also met these two immortals on Tiandoufeng. Even if they weren't gifted immortal fruit, they must have seen them scattering the pits."

The senior brothers all clicked their tongues in wonder.

"Master..." Lin Jue looked at Daoist Yunhe. "Since these are immortal fruits, can they help with Master's longevity?"

"You little Daoist, where would one find longevity to force? In the future, when others mock you, remember to say you came from Xianyuan Temple," Daoist Yunhe said with a cheerful laugh, then said naturally, "Are the two immortals you met the two immortals Qingsong and Huang Shi?"

"Eh? Master knows them?"

"How could I know them? It's just that when I was young, I was like you, seeing the figures of immortals on the mountain, revealed by the clouds, and went to seek them," Daoist Yunhe said. "I have already received the opportunity given by these two immortals."

"What did Master receive?"

Many senior brothers and the junior sister all looked at him.

"Nothing much, just that when I climbed to the summit, I happened to hear them discussing the Dao of Yin and Yang, and I was amazed," Daoist Yunhe shook his head. "Unfortunately, I was young and arrogant at the time, thinking that after hearing the immortals preach, I could find the legendary Great Yin-Yang Dao by my own strength, forgetting the principle of gradual progress, which led to an imbalance of Yin and Yang."

Lin Jue suddenly understood.

If they were below the mountain, the Dao of Yin and Yang would be called the Great Yin-Yang Dao, but since Master specifically mentioned it, he could naturally guess that he was referring to the Great Yin-Yang Method.

Lin Jue had long known that Master had been greedy for progress when he was young, leading to an imbalance of Yin and Yang. After talking with his senior brothers, he had guessed that Master might have known there was a Great Yin-Yang Method besides the Small Yin-Yang Method, and he had likely wanted to find this Great Yin-Yang Method himself, but had failed.

Fuqiu Temple relied on Mount Yishan, such a treasure land of immortal mountains, and possessed the ability to know people and fate. If there were a Great Yin-Yang Method, even if it were difficult for the current Spirit Method Sect to achieve true Dao, there would be many among the generations of disciples who would have become immortals.

The limitation lay in the Great Yin-Yang Method.

Now it seemed that this guess was mostly true.

It was just unexpected that it had been influenced by the immortals preaching.

It seemed Master had also been a cultivation genius when he was young, which explained his confidence. It was just a pity that such things as creating spiritual methods required a sage to accomplish.

"Have the senior brothers also met immortals on Tiandoufeng before? Did you also get an opportunity?" the junior sister asked, curious and puzzled.

"I have met them," the eldest senior brother said.

"I haven't," the second senior brother said.

"Meeting immortals is not that easy. Not to mention meeting them, even seeing them from afar is not easy. It is said that those two immortals only come once a year, at an uncertain time. Whenever they come, Tiandou is always covered by clouds and mist. Only on rare occasions when the high-altitude wind is strong does the cloud and mist covering the peak occasionally reveal a corner. One must look up at Mount Yishan at this time and happen to be at the right angle to know they are on the mountain," the third senior brother said to them. "Perhaps the Daoists of Xianyuan Temple see them more often."

Lin Jue listened and could only say "no wonder."

No wonder the two of them had only vaguely seen immortals on Tiandou when they first came up the mountain, and this was only the second time they had seen them until now.

This opportunity had truly come unexpectedly.

Thinking about it carefully, it seemed very reasonable.

In stories, immortals give immortal fruit and wine to mortals; what reason is needed? People who cultivate the Dao cultivate freedom and ease, unconstrained. Thinking that those two immortals were not divine beings who became officials after death, if people who cultivated to become immortals were still calculating and haggling all day, that would be too unfree.

At this time, the master held his bowl and tilted his head to ask the junior sister: "I haven't tested your studies for a long time. I told you to build the road to Xianyuan Temple; how far have you built it?"

"I'm about to finish it."

"How long is 'about to'?"

"Within two months."

"You need to be faster. I'm waiting to walk on the road you built to visit Xianyuan Temple."

"!"

The junior sister's expression tightened: "Understood!"

Then she held her bowl and buried her head in her rice.

Lin Jue also continued to eat.

The air-dried cured ribs made by hand had a rich, fragrant taste. When cooked into the porridge, the porridge also had the salty and fresh taste of the cured ribs. Occasionally eating a piece of bone or meat was a surprise.

Returning to his room, he finished washing up.

Lin Jue didn't rush to take this fruit, but first spread a sheet of white paper on the table, took his brush, and hung it from the beam with a thin string, the tip of the brush just touching the paper, leaving a black dot.

Then he placed the fruit on it, placed the spirit-writing talisman on it, and lit three sticks of incense, sincerely asking:

"Please come, Spirit-Writing Ji Xianren.

"Please come, Third Shixiong Spirit-Writing Ji Xianren.

"Spirit-Writing Ji Xianren..."

With a "whoosh," a clear breeze blew into the room.

There was no movement before his eyes, and no sound in his ears, but Lin Jue knew that the Spirit-Writing Ji Xianren had arrived.

This senior who liked to refute was a bit cold.

Lin Jue asked directly:

"Today, this junior received an immortal fruit from an immortal on Tiandou. I would like to ask the Spirit-Writing Ji Xianren, what is its name?"

"..."

There was a long pause, and finally, the brush began to sway.

Two lines of ancient poetry were written on the paper in an ancient script:

"The vermilion gates of wine and meat are often just a facade;

"In the dust and grit, one sees the true gold."

By the time the words were finished, the thin string had been pulled to the side.

Suddenly, the force dissipated, and the brush swayed back, leaving several marks on the paper.

The Spirit-Writing Ji Xianren had already departed.

"This..."

This senior who liked to refute had actually followed the rules of the Spirit-Writing Ji Xianren and composed a spirit-writing poem for him.

Lin Jue leaned over to steady the brush so it wouldn't sway anymore, then stared at the two lines of poetry on the paper for a long time, still unsure what the fruit was called, only guessing that it was likely a hidden-head poem.

It was likely taking the two characters "Zhu Sha" (Cinnabar).

But not being sure didn't matter. Anyway, looking left and right, he didn't see the characters "Di Ling" (Earth Spirit).

As long as it wasn't Earth Spirit Pill or some other alchemy material, it was fine.

"Many thanks, Third Shixiong."

Lin Jue felt relieved and took the fruit.

This was an immortal fruit; its spiritual energy and aura were superior to the Dan Fruit. Although the two had eaten Dan Fruit before, they could still obtain the extra benefits.

Just like last time, his head quickly became dizzy.

After all, Lin Jue's cultivation was deeper, and since he was prepared, his resistance had also improved. He unhurriedly spat out the fruit pit, wiped it clean with a towel, took out Lady Lady Yao Hua's mother-of-pearl jewelry box, placed the pit in the layer where the Dan formula had been, and then lay down on the bed.

He covered himself with the bear-skin blanket and fell asleep in its softness.

When he woke up again, it was three days later.

Opening his eyes, he was still lying on the bed, on a cool mat, covered by the bear-skin blanket, only the fox, coveting the softness of the bear-skin blanket, had also come onto the bed and was sleeping on the blanket.

Seeing him wake up, it opened its eyes and turned to look at him.

Lin Jue had no time to pay attention to it, but carefully felt himself.

He had a faint feeling—

In terms of cultivation alone, he was probably not inferior to the sixth and seventh senior brothers, who were equally talented and had joined the temple several years earlier.

He might even be better than them.

Of course, cultivation didn't represent ability, and cultivation and ability didn't represent skill, and skill wasn't just about fighting. People had different aspirations. If it were about fighting, he and his junior sister had long since surpassed the sixth and seventh senior brothers, but this didn't affect Lin Jue's respect for his two senior brothers, nor did it affect Lin Jue learning from them, because they also had other things that surpassed Lin Jue.

Rubbing the fox, he got up and went out.

The junior sister had also just woken up and was sitting in the courtyard, holding a bowl of porridge and eating. Seeing him, she asked:

"Third Shixiong brother, how do you feel?"

"Very good, and you?"

"Me too," the junior sister said. "Now I want to find a big demon who does evil things and have a fight."

"Don't forget what the third senior brother told us," Lin Jue said. "The only secret to not losing a fight is not to fight."

"I know! I was just thinking about it!"

The junior sister said, then took a fruit pit from her robes, placed it in her white, tender palm, and handed it to Lin Jue: "Third Shixiong brother, do you think if we plant this, it can grow into a Dan Fruit tree?"

Lin Jue looked at her and smiled.

He had the same intention.

After breakfast, the two busied themselves in the inner courtyard of the temple, actually digging a pit in the floor. Fortunately, the junior sister's Stone-Crushing Technique was almost perfect, and she dug a perfectly natural circle, as if it had been carefully built rather than dug on a whim, revealing the soil underneath.

One dug the pit, the other went to the forest to dig humus soil, changed the soil and modified the hole, and then carefully buried the pit.

Then a bottle of spiritual liquid was poured down.

Some spiritual light rippled out.

"According to my understanding of plants, it should live," Lin Jue said. "I don't know how many years it will take for this Dan Fruit to grow, but anyway, it's good now. When the next generation of Fuqiu Temple disciples come up the mountain, the fruit on this tree will be a welcome gift from us two junior uncles."

"Hehe!"

The junior sister laughed happily.

The two only planted one, which was the junior sister's fruit pit.

It wasn't that Lin Jue was stingy, but that this Dan Fruit was originally an immortal fruit. Although those cultivated by spirits and Daoists after falling into the mountains were not as good as the original, their spiritual aura was still extremely strong, and they needed a lot of spiritual energy and essence to nurture them.

Even if Lin Jue and the second senior brother were both in the temple, it was almost impossible to support two Dan Fruit trees. And after they went down the mountain, with only the eldest senior brother on the mountain, it would be difficult to support even one.

They had to plant one.

The junior sister provided the seed, and Lin Jue took the opportunity to refine more spiritual liquid before going down the mountain to store in the temple for the eldest senior brother to water the tree, which would allow one temple to support one fruit tree.

And the fruit from just one tree was enough for the next generation of junior nephews to eat.

... ===== CHAPTER 155 =====