Chapter 44

A few days later.

Spiritual method practice was on the right track.

The two were on their way to the Immortal Source Temple again.

The mountain path was not easy to walk; many places were just trails that could barely be called roads or mountain cliffs that were barely walkable, slippery and dangerous. The two and one fox walked among them.

The sky clearly showed a faint blue, but the mountain top was in the clouds, and both their eyebrows and hair were covered with water droplets.

"Third Shixiong brother, the fox you picked up is going to be raised like a dog by you."

"It runs after those cats in the Daoist temple every day; it should be led to become a cat instead."

"But it has grown a little bit, and it's getting better looking—so slim and delicate!" the junior sister said as she walked. "Fourth Third Third Shixiong said it definitely isn't an ordinary fox; it might have been born to a fox spirit!"

"Possibly." Lin Jue thought of his previous experience, "A fox spirit is not necessarily inferior to a human."

"That's true! But in stories, foxes in the mountains all have the ability to change and confuse people. Third Shixiong brother, do you think it will have that too in the future!"

"Who knows?"

The little fox behind them walked with small, quick steps, as if it knew they were talking about it, and looked up at them.

"Third Shixiong brother, look at the mountain!"

The junior sister walking in front suddenly stopped and pointed to the distant mountain peak.

It was an extremely magnificent and steep mountain peak; almost the entire mountain body was exposed granite, covered with only a little green, and even the Yishan pine unique to this place could hardly take root on it. Originally, it was completely covered by clouds and mist; at this time, as the wind blew, the mountain top was revealed, standing tall above the sea of clouds, as if it led directly to heaven.

Looking in the direction the junior sister pointed—

He saw what looked like human figures on the mountain, one after another, walking and talking on the granite rocks that seemed dangerous, and then they seemed to sit down to play chess and drink tea.

"There are people up there!"

"I see..."

The junior sister looked up at the sky in a daze: "Master was right after all! There really are immortals in Yishan!"

"It's possible."

Lin Jue also looked up.

He only felt clouds and mist swirling, immortal energy drifting, and the figures were ethereal and difficult to see clearly; it really was like the immortal stories in books.

In the past month of traveling on this road, when they were lucky, they had seen the true face of this high peak; at other times, it was mostly covered by clouds and mist. Lin Jue had asked the senior brother and only knew it was called Tiandu, which seemed to mean "where the heavens meet." The other high peak opposite it was called Lianhua, which was the residence of the Mountain God.

However, this mountain peak looked close, but it was actually only because it was large. Lin Jue didn't know how to walk over there, nor did he know where one could climb.

At least it didn't look like it could be climbed.

It would be a different story if one had high-level spells.

"Let's go, Junior sister."

"Oh..."

The two arrived at the Immortal Source Temple again.

Lin Jue and the junior sister entered the mountain gate, walked up the stone steps, and arrived at the entrance of the great hall again.

Stopping to look closely at the great hall, there were also couplets on both sides:

Sweeping the mysterious wind under the pillars, the immortal history has already been verified in seventy characters;

Ruling the purple Qi in the mountains, the Daoist scriptures have already written five thousand words.

Lin Jue looked inside; more than a dozen young Daoists were already sitting inside, and Master Wangji Zi was also sitting in front, closing his eyes to rest in the swirling green smoke.

Over the past month, he had gradually learned that Master Wangji Zi was indeed a person who didn't forgive with his mouth but was not harsh in his heart. Seeing that two meditation cushions were still empty, the two walked over and sat down.

"Why are you only here now?" A young Daoist sitting in the front turned his head and stared at them with a frown. "Every time we have to wait for you for a while. I know the road is long, but don't you know how to leave earlier?"

"Daoist brother, you have waited a long time."

Lin Jue said while sitting on the meditation cushion.

These young Daoists also had their own personalities. This young Daoist named Daoist Yun Yi was more competitive. Among the more than a dozen disciples in this batch at the Immortal Source Temple, he was considered to have relatively good natural talent. It was just that in previous lectures, he often listened without understanding, while Lin Jue often answered Master Wangji Zi fluently. When learning to read, he was not as good as the junior sister who worked hard until late every night. He must have been frustrated for more than half a month.

It wasn't until some time ago that this batch of disciples at the Immortal Source Temple began to learn to practice spiritual methods and guide the Qi of Yin and Yang into their bodies—this was ahead of Fuqiu Temple—that they regained some confidence.

"Quiet!"

A voice came from above, from Master Wangji Zi.

Master Wangji Zi knew the road was long and dangerous, so he didn't say anything about it, but glanced at the young Daoist: "If you don't even have this bit of patience, what kind of Dao are you cultivating?"

Then he waved the horsetail whisk in his hand, stirring up the green smoke in the room.

"Have you also started practicing spiritual methods?" Master Wangji Zi aimed at the two sitting at the very back.

"We have started."

"How are you learning?"

"We have already guided the yin-yang spiritual rhythm into our bodies," Lin Jue said for the junior sister, while he had succeeded on the first day, so naturally, it had already been several days.

"That's good."

Master Wangji Zi said calmly:

"Guiding spiritual rhythm into the body counts as entering the door of cultivation. Since you have spiritual rhythm and cultivation, how can you not know spells? Today I won't talk about anything else, but will teach you a commonly used spell."

As soon as this was said, many young Daoists were very excited.

"This method is called: Calling the Wind."

Master Wangji Zi's expression was faint as he continued to recount:

"People often say 'calling the wind and summoning the rain,' but in fact, these are two spells: summoning rain is difficult to learn and has a very high threshold, while the threshold for calling the wind is much simpler; it's just that how big a wind you can raise depends on your cultivation. Even if you can only summon a breeze within a few feet, walking down the mountain and showing it to people, you will have a bit of the Daoist bone and immortal style."

Lin Jue sat still, and so did the junior sister.

For this month, the two were mostly like this. Whenever they listened to lectures or learned spiritual methods, they were definitely focused and wouldn't even look at each other. Only after listening would they discuss and study separately.

"Wind is the flow of the Qi of heaven and earth; it is formless but has traces, colorless but has sound. Its nature is soft, its power is hard; it can loosen the leaves of the third autumn, it can open the flowers of the second month, it can create thousand-foot waves across the river, it can make ten thousand bamboo poles slant..."

Master Wangji Zi recited slowly.

Mountain wind entered the hall, blowing the green smoke into chaos, bringing some coolness to this midsummer.

It still lasted for most of the day.

Unlike before, this time everyone was obsessed with the mystery of the spell, not even eating lunch. Master Wangji Zi spoke very engrossingly, and there was no pause in the middle.

Even the fox at the door listened carefully.

From morning to afternoon.

"This method is mysterious. You all practice the Yin-Yang Spiritual Method, but if you calculate it, this kind of natural spell of heaven and earth is actually closer to the five elements. You should go back and perceive it carefully; if you don't understand, you can ask the teachers in the temple. If you can blow a breeze within a month, it counts as having natural talent in this 'Calling the Wind.' If you still can't raise a wind in three months, it's not that your natural talent is insufficient or your comprehension is not enough, but that you have no affinity with the wind; there is no need to force it."

Daoist Master Wangji Zi said to them:

"Today is the seventh day. A month later, on the seventh day of the seventh month, I will come to examine your progress."

After speaking, he waved his sleeves and let everyone disperse.

Many young Daoists were eager to learn and were still unwilling to leave, but sat together whispering and discussing. After a while, someone got up.

"I wonder if the dining hall has left food?"

As soon as this was said, many young Daoists felt hungry and hurriedly got up, running to the dining hall to eat.

"Third Shixiong brother, we..."

The junior sister couldn't help but turn to look at Lin Jue.

It was a very fair and delicate face.

"I'm hungry too, and it's getting late. Let's go back quickly."

"Good!"

So they got up, went out, and walked back.

Looking up, the clouds and mist that had swirled around Tiandu Shanfeng in the morning had scattered a bit, but they hadn't completely scattered, still leaving some light gauze draped over it. The clouds and glow were there or not, rolling and changing, with ten thousand states in an instant, impossible to exhaust.

Only the human figures above had long since disappeared.

"Third Shixiong brother, did you understand?"

"Lost in the clouds and mist."

"Lost in the clouds and mist? What does that mean?"

"I didn't really understand. I just remembered it."

"Then I'm lost in the clouds and mist too!"

"It sounds very mysterious and hard to grasp."

"I think so too. I'm afraid I won't be able to learn it." Every time the junior sister said a word, she felt her expression was extremely earnest and her tone very solemn. "Starting tomorrow, I have to follow Master to learn 'Stone Grinding'."

"Then you must work hard."

"That goes without saying!"

"..."

"Third Shixiong brother, you must learn it quickly and don't be slower than them!"

"Look at the road carefully."

"Oh."

"..."

"Third Shixiong brother, do you think that after we learn spells in the future, we can climb that mountain?"

"That depends on whether any senior brother in the temple knows such spells."

"What if we ate the Spirit-Walking Pill?"

"If you don't fall to your death, you can definitely go up."

"Then let's wait until we learn spells in the future to climb that mountain and find the immortals. I'm afraid of falling to my death."

"..."

Lin Jue unconsciously quickened his pace.

The little fox ran behind to catch up.

At this time, there was no wind or rain, just right for traveling.

Soon they returned to the Daoist temple.

After eating something, Lin Jue returned to his room and opened the ancient book.

There was an extra page of handwriting in the book:

Calling the Wind, the method of raising wind.

Calling the wind and summoning the rain are both natural spells of heaven and earth. If you don't borrow divine power, you need to have a sense of the five elements of heaven and earth. It is mysterious and unpredictable; some can learn it in one night, while others cannot reach it in a lifetime.

This was about the same as what Master Wangji Zi said.

Lin Jue pinched the page, and a voice sounded again.

According to the book, this kind of natural spell of heaven and earth should be classified as a five-element spell, but it doesn't belong to any one of the five elements alone. If you want to practice it, there is no dead method; you can only have a sense of heaven and earth. Then it recounted many insights, tips, and precautions from predecessors.

Lin Jue listened in a daze, half-understanding.

After listening repeatedly twice, the sky was near dusk, so he put down the ancient book and pushed the door to go out.

He wanted to ask the Master and senior brothers for advice, but the temple was empty, leaving only the breeze. Lin Jue walked around and searched, but didn't see the shadows of the Master and senior brothers in the front and back courtyards and the two great halls, only hearing the faint sound of a flute coming from the mountain. It should be the Fourth Third Third Shixiong practicing spiritual methods and spells in the mountain, playing it for fun when bored.

"..."

Lin Jue stood in the courtyard and thought for a while, then simply picked up the firewood knife and basket, preparing to go to the mountain to stroll around, see if he could chop some firewood or pick some mushrooms, and by the way, look for the Fourth Third Third Shixiong.

So he walked up the mountain following the sound of the flute.

There were two small paths behind the Daoist temple, one left and one right. The one on the left passed by the Second Third Third Shixiong's alchemy pavilion, and the one on the right passed by a small pavilion in the mountain, then merged together above, finally leading to the peak of Fuqiu Shanfeng.

Lin Jue heard the flute sound coming from the right, so he walked along the small path on the right.

This section had steps, so it was easy to walk.

As he walked, the flute sound stopped.

"Hmm?"

Lin Jue stopped in the mountain, looked up and around at the mountain, the vast forest, unable to distinguish the direction for a moment.

But on second thought, this didn't matter.

Finding the Fourth Third Third Shixiong to ask for advice on "Calling the Wind" was one purpose, and chopping firewood and picking mushrooms on the mountain was also a purpose. If he couldn't find the Fourth Third Third Shixiong, he would just chop firewood. Moreover, the Fourth Third Third Shixiong might not necessarily know the method of calling the wind, and it would be good to ask the Master when eating dinner at night.

So Lin Jue shook his head, took out the firewood knife, and intended to walk down the steps and enter the dense forest to look for dead branches and rotten wood.

However, just as he took a step—

"Hoo..."

A wind suddenly rose in the mountain at dusk.

This wind was so big and free, blowing up Lin Jue's hair and clothes to show its shape. This wind was so cool, and the heat of climbing the mountain was taken away cleanly.

Lin Jue only felt as if he were in an ocean of wind.

It was midsummer, and the mountain was full of hanging bell flower trees, bearing green flower clusters the size of thumbs, shaped like the ancient bells rung every day in the Daoist temple, densely packed in strings. Beside the pavilion, there were tall trees bearing strings of green flower seeds, or perhaps tree fruits, smaller than mung beans, falling all over the road paved with bluestone slabs, covering a layer.

When the wind came, the hanging bell flowers and leaves all rustled, and the flower seeds on the ground all flew up with the wind, swirling around Lin Jue like green light dust, drawing the path of the wind.

Lin Jue suddenly froze in place.

Everything Master Wangji Zi said during the day came to mind, and the voice in the ancient book also sounded in his mind. In this instant, Lin Jue seemed to truly have a sense of heaven and earth at this moment, and instantly understood what wind was—a mystery that was difficult to describe in words.

Never in his life had Lin Jue felt the shape and sound of the wind more clearly than at this moment.

For a moment, it seemed he was about to ride the wind and rise.

Before long, the wind stopped.

Heaven and earth had just been swept by a gale, and now it was silent again, contrasting with the extreme stillness.

In the stillness, there was sound again.

"Wind..."

The hanging bell flowers beside the pavilion suddenly trembled and shook, like a string of emerald bells swaying, extremely cute.

Then the wind rose immediately, blowing the hanging bell flowers toward the direction of the wind, and the green dust on the ground flew up again, swirling around Lin Jue. The fox looked up and followed these flower seeds and dust with its eyes, its soft fur also being blown and shaking, outlining the shape of the wind.

Only the difference was that the wind at this time was only beside this pavilion.

Lin Jue was still standing in place.

At this time, his heart was full of mystery, and in the mystery, there was an indescribable sense of accomplishment, building up a rare interest and joy in the world, as if he had transformed into the wind, wandering in the mountains.