Chapter 443: Only the simplest method is needed

"Listening to this, the Snow Lotus Gathering was established for the purpose of viewing the thousand-year snow lotus, and snow lotus will also be distributed at the gathering. As long as you are invited, you can bring a gift to attend. If you are not invited, as long as your heart is sincere, you won't be stopped." Lin Jue sat on the back of the paper donkey, talking to himself. "It's a pity I didn't ask clearly that night what gifts those few brought."

"Like a wild boar drinking party!"

The bean fox on the donkey's head revealed the essence in one word, but its voice was as small as a mosquito's hum at this time.

"Rude, that is the Mountain God."

"Mountain God drinking party!"

"Mountain God banquet."

"Just call it a drinking party!"

The fox's voice was clear and thin, its tone stubborn.

Lin Jue smiled and didn't say much, continuing to ponder that question—

"What should I give to beg for a snow lotus?"

Lin Jue had brought quite a few treasures on this trip, but the Golden Core materials in the fox's belly naturally couldn't be missing any. The others were either not precious enough or not easy to give away.

After all, Lin Jue was going on a long journey, traveling light, only letting the fox swallow the mother-of-pearl box, and using a cloth bag to carry a bag of things, mostly useful items.

The useless ones were left in the capital or at the Red Leaf Temple.

The Longevity Wood naturally couldn't be given away either.

That was a fragment of the Wang Mu of the West's remains.

Giving too little would look stingy, and giving too much would fear changes.

After all, even some ordinary wood with tenacious life can take root and sprout again from just a branch, let alone this Longevity Wood, which is famous for vitality, longevity, and difficulty in dying, and it had even attained the Dao and become true.

Lin Jue wasn't afraid, though.

For one, the Wang Mu of the West should not be able to turn things around in the short term, and he wouldn't give her the chance.

For another, he was seeking the opportunity to attain the Dao and become true. Once he successfully became true, even if his Dao practice couldn't compare to the Wang Mu of the West in the short term, Dao practice has never represented ability, and the size of ability doesn't necessarily determine victory or defeat. There is also the saying of mutual generation and mutual restraint. Relying on the art of "Blooming in an Instant," he was completely confident in suppressing the Wang Mu of the West. When the time came, he would be the first to find her, so why would he fear her coming to find him?

While pondering, he arrived at the foot of Mount Tianshan.

A path had been vaguely walked out in the grassland, with cart tracks and hoof prints, and the green grass was obviously shallower.

The Daoist rode the paper donkey along this path.

But he couldn't help but turn his head—

Dozens of steps away, a figure over a zhang tall, covered in stones, was walking silently, having the same goal as him.

And an old man with half a body, leaning on a cane, was sitting on his shoulder, panting. The two seemed to know each other, or perhaps they had met by chance, and the old man saw that he was tall and strong, so he hitched a ride.

"What should I give to beg for a snow lotus?"

A clear and thin voice rang out on the donkey's head, repeating Lin Jue's previous murmur, and then, with a "shu," it turned into a white shadow, jumped onto the green grass, and changed to the size of a cat.

"Just ask and you'll know!"

In the boundless green grass, the fox's toes touched the ground, and it was another white shadow, leaping lightly, drawing a beautiful arc in the air.

One step covered half the distance.

Just as it landed, its toes lightly touched the tips of the grass, not even touching the ground, and it bounced out lightly again like a fish swimming in water, without weight, landing far away.

The fox looked up at the stone man.

Its voice came in the clear breeze:

"Are you made of stone?"

The fox's eyes were simple, and its voice was the same.

Asking like this, it thought Lord Tianweng wouldn't refuse to answer.

The stone man lowered his head and looked at it:

"Yes..."

"Are you a Mountain God?"

"Mountain God of Qiushan."

"Are you going to attend the Snow Lotus Gathering?"

"Yes..."

"What gift did you bring?"

The fox tilted its head and looked at them seriously.

"A piece of stone essence."

"And you? Are you an old Earth God?"

"A two-thousand-year-old ginseng." The old man looked at it with a smile. "I am the Earth God of Hamu."

The fox didn't stop at all and continued to ask: "What should I give so that the divine beings on the snow mountain will give back a thousand-year snow lotus?"

"..."

The Mountain God turned his head, and the old man also turned his head.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"Hahaha, this isn't bartering; how can there be a principle of giving as much as you get back?"

"How can that be said for sure?"

"I know!"

After the fox finished asking, it didn't linger and turned to jump back.

Only a word of thanks drifted from the wind, still clear and thin, without a trace of impurity.

Sometimes, for complex problems, only the simplest method is needed.

"Daoist! The fox asked for you!"

As soon as the fox jumped back, it chirped at him.

"I heard..."

Lin Jue smiled slightly and also bowed to that side.

The two on that side also returned the bow to him.

Walking to the foot of Mount Tianshan, there was a path going up.

It took half a day to reach the mountainside.

Sure enough, as in the scholar's story, four "people" wearing white helmets and white armor stopped him.

Saying "people," they actually only had human bodies, standing like humans. One of them had a snow leopard's head, two had eagle heads, and one had a bighorn sheep's head. Their helmets were also specially made.

That snow leopard armored soldier said something to him.

Lin Jue didn't understand, so he bowed and replied: "My Daoist name is Lin Fangjue, courtesy name Wuzhi, from Huizhou, Da Jiang. I have come to attend the Snow Lotus Gathering."

The four looked at each other, carefully examining Lin Jue, examining the paper donkey he was sitting on, then examining the fox beside him, and finally looking at Chen Niu who was pointing the way. They didn't make things too difficult and quickly moved aside.

"Guest, please enter."

Lin Jue understood this sentence.

Following the small path further up, he entered the clouds, and there was snow on the ground on the road.

The temperature dropped rapidly, and the cold air around him turned into mist.

I don't know how long he walked, but the mist in the distance dissipated slightly, and a magnificent palace was vaguely revealed inside, like a divine palace in the sky.

There were people guarding the entrance of the palace, registering guests coming and going.

There was no obstruction at this pass.

Lin Jue learned from the yaoguai and divine beings in front, and after leaving his name, he walked in.

!

The ground was like the rocks on the snow mountain, gray-black, covered with snow, with stairs built, and mist swirling. At the beginning, the mist was still very light, and one could see the road surface and the snow. As he walked further in, the mist became thicker and thicker, as if he had walked into a cloud palace, and the ground could no longer be seen clearly.

At the same time, in this mist, Lin Jue also felt a unique spiritual rhyme, cold and pure, like jade.

"Look!"

Suddenly, the fox made a sound.

Many snow lotuses suddenly grew by the roadside ahead.

Unlike the elegant colors of ordinary snow lotuses, they looked like jade. The stems looked like green jade, and the petals looked like white jade. The stamens could not be seen because the ones here had not yet bloomed, they were just buds. They grew out of the mist, and their roots could not be seen, as if they were growing in the clouds.

One person and one fox were also walking in the clouds.

"Does this gathering bloom today?"

"Does this gathering bloom today? The fox will go ask again!"

The fox didn't hesitate and jumped into the distance again.

Jumping into that cloud, its figure sank, likely jumping into a hollow by mistake, and then it rushed out with the wind.

After a while, the fox returned.

"They told me it blooms in summer! When the snow lotus blooms, the Snow Lotus Gathering begins. The mountain is too high, so they don't count days, so it's always blooming! It blooms every day, until the flowers wither!"

"Fuyao is truly amazing."

Lin Jue praised and sighed sincerely.

"Truly amazing!"

"They also said to go that way!" The fox looked in one direction. "There are twenty palaces on this mountain, each planted with snow lotus. Whichever palace's snow lotus blooms, the Snow Lotus Gathering is held there. This year it's blooming over there, let's go that way!"

"Thanks to you."

"Yes!"

Lin Jue smiled slightly.

No wonder so many adults like to let children ask for directions.

There were also several palaces over there, but they were not hard to find, because only one palace's snow lotus was blooming, while the others were either buds or even the buds and stems could not be seen.

There were still guards standing at the entrance.

"Lin Jue, a Daoist from Yishan in the Central Plains, has come to attend the gathering with gifts."

Lin Jue said, and the guard ignored him, so he walked inside.

At this moment, his eyes were full of novelty.

Amidst the novelty, he couldn't help but think of the story the scholar told for the first time.

As a person who cultivates the Dao and is well-traveled, he still felt novel when he arrived at this palace of the divine beings of Mount Tianshan. If that story was true, how would the ordinary merchant in the story feel when he quietly followed the yaoguai and divine beings alone into such a palace of divine beings, seeing so many yaoguai and divine beings, a place like a cloud palace?

How much courage would one need to walk here?

One step forward, and he arrived at the palace.

He saw that this palace was much larger than an ordinary palace, very spacious. Except for a path that seemed to be in the middle, only clouds and mist could be seen, and all other places in the hall were full of blooming snow lotuses.

These snow lotuses were as large as basins, and their spiritual rhyme was compelling.

However, there seemed to be open spaces among the snow lotuses.

Because Lin Jue saw many figures on the ground, some sitting alone in meditation, some lying down to rest, almost invisible in the mist, and some in groups of three or five chatting.

"Are these all thousand-year snow lotuses?

"Or is it..."

He turned his gaze to look directly above.

Above sat two figures, both dressed in gold and silver. One was an old woman, sitting in the center, and the other was a woman, sitting on the side. There were also several figures standing beside them, bowing and talking to them. And beside them, a snow lotus flower the size of a palm was blooming, and the spiritual rhyme of this one was astonishing.

"Another guest has arrived?"

Many figures looked toward Lin Jue.

"Lin Fangjue, a Daoist from Yishan in the Central Plains, has come to attend the gathering with gifts." Lin Jue bowed to those above.

"Eh?"

Sounds of doubt rang out from all around and above.

They must have felt this person was unfamiliar.

"Are you invited?"

The woman above asked.

"I came here out of admiration." Lin Jue said, presenting the gifts with both hands. "Meeting for the first time, I offer a piece of wood essence, a jin of spiritual gold, a bottle of spiritual pills, and a magical artifact."

"Do you know my mother's name?"

"I do not."

"You don't even know my mother's name, and you come to attend the gathering?"

"I have truly admired you for a long time."

"You ran so far, is it because you have admired my mother for a long time, or have you admired the snow lotus on Mount Tianshan for a long time?" The woman above asked again, her voice clearly transmitted, as if she had seen through his inner thoughts at a glance.

Many pairs of eyes were looking at Lin Jue.

Lin Jue really wanted to say a few polite words, but after thinking about it, he still said truthfully:

"I came for the thousand-year snow lotus."

With so many yaoguai and divine beings here, of all shapes and sizes, are they all here to see the divine beings on Mount Tianshan? Or are they all here for a gathering and conversation?

Lin Jue didn't believe that no one came for the thousand-year snow lotus.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 444 =====