Chapter 358: Purple Heaven Palace, Thunder Fire Hall

"This junior understands. Thank you for your help, Senior."

Li Yan had been prepared, so he naturally didn't feel surprised.

"You already knew?"

Wang Wang Jingxiu was startled, then immediately understood, shaking his head. "It seems Senior Brother Master Yulongzi has already told you about this."

"This is the decision of the Sect Leader; there is absolutely no chance."

"Actually, in my humble opinion, whether or not a temple is built on Mount Wudang Mountain is not important. The divine path and the human path are inseparable. As long as one protects the people, why would the commoners cut off the incense?"

"Climbing a tree to catch fish is not as good as casting a net to retreat."

Li Yan bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Senior. This junior will handle it properly. The agreement with you will not change either. Whatever medicinal herbs you need, we will do our best to find them."

He could tell that this old Daoist was truly not good at scheming.

Although Master Yulongzi had said quite a few things, some of which were crucial, none of them were aimless; there was deep meaning behind all of them.

Li Yan was grateful in his heart, but he also remained guarded.

As for Wang Wang Jingxiu, he didn't have so many thoughts; he was genuinely running errands to help them. Seeing that the matter hadn't been accomplished, he even felt a bit guilty.

Sure enough, hearing Li Yan say this, Wang Wang Jingxiu shook his head repeatedly. "The matter wasn't accomplished; how can this old Daoist take advantage of you juniors and order you around for nothing?"

"The spiritual herbs I need all grow in deep mountains and uninhabited places; they are basically all heavenly treasures. I will write a booklet later. As long as it is a precious herb on the list, I will purchase it long-term, and the price will definitely satisfy you."

"Don't feel bad about it either. After I refine the pills, there are plenty of wealthy squires who will buy them; I am not short of money."

Li Yan didn't stand on ceremony after hearing this. "We will follow your instructions, Senior."

This was also a good thing for them; it was equivalent to a long-term mission. From now on, whenever they traveled north and south and found precious herbs, they could collect them along the way.

"Good."

Wang Wang Jingxiu's mood was clearly very good after hearing this. He smiled and said, "Let's go. This old Daoist still has matters to attend to in Yunyang. I will help you get settled, and then I will leave."

With that, he led them toward the Purple Heaven Palace.

As they walked, he introduced: "This Purple Heaven Palace was first built during the Xuanhe period of the Northern Song Dynasty. It was expanded time and time again to reach its current scale. The main deity worshipped inside is the Jade Emperor."

"Although the area cannot compare to the Five Dragon Palace, the various ritual implements and talismans on Mount Wudang Mountain are basically worshipped here. I have already given instructions; you can purchase them as you wish..."

"The 'Purple Heaven Divine Lamp' is worshipped inside the Purple Heaven Golden Hall. It never goes out all year round. Every midnight, one can enter it to comprehend the Dao."

"The Taihe Palace at the top of the mountain is the hub of our Mount Wudang. If you want to go to the 'Thunder Fire Refining Hall,' you must apply in advance. Only during a great thunderstorm will you be allowed to enter; you cannot approach it on ordinary days."

"Remember, after going up to the Taihe Palace, except for the 'Thunder Fire Refining Hall,' you must not wander into other places, to avoid causing trouble..."

"I have asked my Junior Brother to observe the celestial phenomena; in another seven or eight days, there will be a great thunderstorm. During this time, just stay in the Purple Heaven Palace..."

This old Daoist was indeed a kind person. After giving instructions, he took them to see the host of the Purple Heaven Palace, Daoist Daoist Yu Feng Lingzi, and entrusted him to take care of them, before hurriedly leaving and descending the mountain.

Here, the situation was completely different from the Five Dragon Palace.

Although the various precepts within the Purple Heaven Palace were strict, because of the connection with Wang Wang Jingxiu, the Daoists in the palace treated them quite well.

There was another point that was vastly different from the Five Dragon Palace.

The Daoists in the Five Dragon Palace mainly focused on cultivating martial methods, while the Daoists in the Purple Heaven Palace were more proficient in various ritual altars, refining ritual implements, and medical and physiognomy arts, making them the logistics department of Mount Wudang Mountain.

After Li Yan and the others finished their meal, they strolled around the palace.

Inside the palace was the Dragon Tiger Hall, worshipping the Mystic Sect's protective deity, Wang Wang Lingguan, as well as the Azure Dragon and White Tiger. It was mainly an altar for soldiers and horses, and was also used for warding off disasters and praying for blessings on ordinary days.

The Daoists inside had a good attitude. As long as one didn't disturb their morning and evening lessons, they were quite amiable when speaking. Wang Wang Daoxuan asked about some problems regarding setting up ritual altars, and they were answered one by one...

The place where ritual implements were worshipped was the Lotus Leaf Hall. The main deities worshipped inside were the King of the Pure Joy Kingdom, the Great Emperor Zhang Mingzhen, and the Queen of Good Victory, the Immortal Qiongzhen.

There was a saying about this: it is rumored that the True Martial Great Emperor was the 82nd transformation of Taishang Laojun, born as the son of the King of the Pure Joy Kingdom in the Unbounded Heavenly Palace above the Great Luo Realm.

The Queen of Good Victory of the Pure Joy Kingdom dreamed that she swallowed the sun and became pregnant. After fourteen months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a prince, who was the future True Martial Great Emperor.

Of course, the Three Heavens Goddess, the Goddess of Child-giving, and others were also worshipped inside.

Li Yan checked them out but didn't find anything he wanted; after all, every one of his own ritual implements was an extraordinary artifact.

It was mainly Wang Wang Daoxuan who replenished some talisman paper, red rope, incense, lotus lamps, and other items, mainly used for setting up ritual altars.

Before they knew it, it was late at night.

At this time, the bright moon hung high. Inside the magnificent Purple Heaven Hall, the doors were wide open, and one could see the starlight-like candle flames inside, with many Daoists waiting.

This time, it was mainly Li Yan, Wang Wang Daoxuan, and Lu San who entered, while Sha Sha Li Fei and Wu Ba waited outside the Great Hall.

As the night deepened, the bell rang. A Daoist immediately walked out the door and said loudly: "The time has arrived. Everyone may enter the hall to cultivate. Do not make noise or fight inside the hall; each occupy one side and do not interfere with each other..."

After finishing a list of rules, he stepped aside.

Besides Li Yan and his group, there were eight other Daoists entering to cultivate this time, but they were not from the Purple Heaven Palace; they came from other Daoist temples on Mount Wudang Mountain.

Everyone remained silent and filed in.

Entering the Great Hall, one could see golden pillars and dougong brackets towering high, with an eight-sided caisson ceiling covering the top, and stone Sumeru throne shrines all around below.

The Jade Emperor in the center and the attendant deity statues on the left and right were all lifelike, as if they were looking down on all living beings in the dim candlelight.

Li Yan took a look, then lowered his head to offer incense respectfully.

By now, he had already grasped the pattern.

When he entered ordinary small temples with his official dispatch, the gods would often appear on their own, either to issue missions or request help.

For major secular gods like Captain Guan Sheng Di Jun, they were basically too lazy to pay attention to him; just offering incense respectfully was enough.

As for heavenly gods like the Buddha, the Jade Emperor, and the True Martial Great Emperor, they would often form incense gods within the divine halls. They were not clones, and one could see them using the method of communicating with gods, but it was best not to provoke trouble.

The Purple Heaven Hall was towering and vast. After everyone offered incense respectfully, they were assigned to various places, several meters apart from each other, and separated by pillars.

This was the power of the Mystic Realm.

When they cultivated, even if they built foundations and towers, the spreading power would be suppressed and would not affect others.

Wang Wang Daoxuan, Lu San, and some other Daoists from other temples all seized the time to set up, preparing to build their towers later.

Different from the previous two times, Wang Wang Daoxuan set up a lotus lamp ritual altar and placed a strange white stone in the center. It was pitch black in the middle, as if a single eye had grown out of it.

When cultivators built their third-story towers, they often needed heavenly treasures to cooperate. When Wang Wang Daoxuan was in Near Wuchang, he had asked Li Yan to buy this item.

This was called the "Earth Mother Eye," a type of special mica stone. It wasn't particularly precious, but it had long been proven to be the most stable for building towers.

As for Li Yan, he was simply cultivating.

Dang dang dang!

A few more bell rings sounded, accompanied by a rumbling sound. The doors of the Purple Heaven Hall slowly closed, and the hall became completely silent.

Pu!

Before the altar table of the Jade Emperor, an ancient oil lamp suddenly burst into a flame, gradually becoming bright and emitting purple light.

Li Yan's eyes widened immediately upon seeing this.

Within this Purple Heaven Golden Hall, divine abilities were also suppressed and could not be probed, but he could feel that the light of the purple oil lamp had a mysterious power, like a vast bright moon, suppressing all other candle flames.

Gradually, the surroundings became pitch black. The light of those candle flames all disappeared, and within everyone's line of sight, they could only see the light of the purple oil lamp.

Li Yan's brow furrowed slightly, and a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

He had already roughly figured out the principle.

This "Purple Heaven Divine Lamp," to a certain extent, was somewhat similar to his Northern Emperor Yin Mountain Method; both created unique environments to help people cultivate.

Sure enough, when he entered meditation and entered his inner space, the world was filled with purple light, forcing his inner space to change.

This feeling was only slightly better than the Northern Emperor Yin Mountain Method.

Although somewhat disappointed, Li Yan still entered meditation, using the Purple Heaven Divine Lamp to review the methods he had learned in the past.

He knew that this Purple Heaven Palace was not his own opportunity.

If he wanted a breakthrough, he feared he would have to be in the "Thunder Fire Refining Hall."

As for Lu San on the side, he wasn't doing much better. He inherited the ancient Chu Shaman Dao; although it couldn't be said to be incompatible with this place, the effect was no different from an ordinary spiritual aperture.

!.

Fortunately, he had been prepared in his heart. Following the methods of the "Classic of Mountain and Sea Spiritual Response," he danced the Nuo dance. In his inner space, two tall mountain peaks appeared, green and layered.

Different from the methods of Li Yan and the others, Lu San's method did not involve layered towers; instead, a ritual altar formed on each mountain.

Worshipped within the ritual altar was a divine statue, with a human head and beast body, looking extremely similar to his own face, like an ancient mountain god from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Lu San was recultivating the "Classic of Mountain and Sea Spiritual Response." Now that he had built two mountain peaks, it was equivalent to the second story of the Mystic Sect, and he had completed it easily...

Different from them, Wang Wang Daoxuan had a deep realization.

What he cultivated was the "Western Mystic Cave-Darkness True Sutra." He was honest and steady, step by step, gradually forming a third-story tower in his inner space.

The purple light transformed by the "Purple Heaven Divine Lamp" fell like moonlight from the sky, and Wang Wang Daoxuan's three inner consciousnesses all looked up.

At the same time, the "Earth Mother Eye" within the ritual altar also emitted various mysterious auras, which merged with the purple light and fell into the eyes of his inner consciousness.

Before long, the eyes of the three inner consciousnesses were all dyed purple.

At this moment, Wang Wang Daoxuan's eyes were swollen and painful, and various colorful rays of light flickered in his eyes incessantly.

He had finally welcomed his own opportunity...

…………

Rumbling!

Accompanied by a rumbling sound, the doors of the Great Hall were slowly opened.

Li Yan woke up from meditation and looked inside the Great Hall again. The "Purple Heaven Divine Lamp" had returned to normal, mixed among the many oil lamps, and one couldn't tell any difference.

"The time has arrived. Everyone, please leave..."

Following the loud call of the hall-guarding Daoist, everyone lined up to leave.

Just after walking out of the Great Hall, Sha Sha Li Fei hurried over anxiously. "How was it? How was it? Did you gain anything?"

Li Yan shook his head slightly. "I estimate it will be when we reach the Thunder Fire Refining Hall."

Lu San said in a muffled voice, "The second story is stable. The Daoist Mystic Realm is no different for me; I need to find another place next time."

Wang Wang Daoxuan rubbed his eyes, tears streaming down uncontrollably. He smiled bitterly, "This old Daoist fears I have awakened an eye divine ability; I can see some strange auras, but it hasn't stabilized yet."

"Congratulations, Daoist!"

Everyone offered their congratulations immediately.

When cultivators built their third-story towers, they had a chance to awaken a second divine ability, but it wasn't an opportunity everyone had.

Wang Wang Daoxuan had lived miserably in the past only because he was a lone individual, and his divine ability wasn't suitable, so many methods couldn't be used. After teaming up with Li Yan, his situation had gradually improved.

Now that he had awakened an eye divine ability, even if it was just the most basic Qi-gazing, it was a world-shaking change for him.

This cultivation session could be described as everyone being happy.

The group didn't rush up the mountain and stayed in the Purple Heaven Palace, waiting for the great thunderstorm to arrive.

A few days later, Wang Wang Daoxuan's divine ability finally stabilized. The result surprised everyone: the eye divine ability he awakened could not only view the two Qi of Gang and Sha but also the flow of Earth Vein Qi.

With this eye divine ability, his Feng Shui arts would naturally ascend to a higher level.

In his spare time, Li Yan also got familiar with the Daoists of the Purple Heaven Palace and obtained some intelligence from down the mountain, but none of it was good.

Over in Xiangyang, the epidemic began to spiral out of control, spreading from Fancheng to the surrounding areas. Many people wanted to flee, but the imperial court had already dispatched troops to blockade the roads to prevent the epidemic from spreading.

At the moment, not only the True Martial Palace but even the Baotong Zen Temple had sent people to investigate, and the Near Wuchang Prince's Mansion had also invited famous physicians to handle the matter...

In the mountains and forests of Jingchu, the imperial court's army was suddenly blocked.

Many mountain spirits and monsters were being controlled, and with many evil cultivators who practiced the "Demon Body Longevity Method" appearing, they caused heavy casualties to the imperial army.

These guys not only used strange secret methods but also carried new-style firearms, specifically targeting imperial officers, then released Gu poison and summoned poisonous mosquitoes and bees from the mountains to ambush them. They were simply elusive.

The Yunyang City God Temple sent Yin soldiers to search, but these monsters only attacked during the day and hid at night; the Yin soldiers could do nothing about them...

As for Zigui County, it was temporarily stable.

The new-style cannons of the imperial court's navy had terrifying power and occupied an absolute advantage; even with few people, they suppressed the Tusi City army so they couldn't move forward...

After learning this news, Li Yan's mood was also very heavy.

According to his original plan, with the imperial court's 200,000-strong army gathered and the navy's cooperation, the rebellion would be quelled soon.

But looking at this situation, I fear it will take some time.

The road to Fengdu in Shu will definitely not be peaceful...

…………

Rumbling!

Five days later, the thunderclouds arrived as promised.

Just past noon, the sky became gloomy, and pitch-black thunderclouds covered the sky and earth, as if the entire sky were about to collapse.

Thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed from time to time.

Because they had to go to the mountaintop, the hub of Mount Wudang, and face thunder strikes, Lu San and Sha Sha Li Fei stayed behind to accompany the shivering little demons and Wu Ba.

Li Yan and Wang Wang Daoxuan, led by a Daoist, headed to the mountaintop.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the mountaintop.

Just as Wang Wang Jingxiu had said, although they were allowed to enter the "Thunder Fire Refining Hall," they were forbidden from approaching other places.

Walking along the small corridor, there were sword-wielding Daoists guarding the path.

Rumbling!

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky and fell.

Li Yan only felt a constant rumbling in his ears. Looking up, he saw that at the top of the highest palace in the distance, the thunder fire had turned into fireballs, rolling back and forth on the roof like living creatures...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 359 =====