At noon, in one of the guest rooms of the Cangsheng Hall in the Shuoyang Taoist Temple on the east side of Shuoyang City in the Yue Kingdom, a white-haired Taoist wearing a bright yellow Taoist robe was receiving pilgrims who came to receive the "Jian Yue Lingpei".
"What do you call this little lady?" The white-haired old man said kindly, stroking his long beard and facing the pretty young woman in front of him.
"Taoist Priest, the name of the daughter-in-law is Su Qi, and this is her folk badge." A middle-aged woman who accompanied the young woman hurriedly handed over a small rectangular iron plaque, which was issued by the government. People's cards.
"Su Qi, a commoner in Shuoyang City, Pingyang Prefecture, was born in the 43rd year of Zhengshi"
The old white-haired Taoist took the official and civilian plaque and looked at it. The iron plaque had the above words engraved on the front, and the official seals of the four directions of Shuoyang City were engraved on the reverse. After confirming that it was correct, Meng Shengming returned the iron plate to the woman.
The white-haired old man took out a white square wooden sign from the exquisite wooden box on one side. There were still many identical wooden signs in the exquisite wooden box. There is a lifelike fairy carved on both the front and back of the wooden plaque, which is Fairy Jian Yue.
The old white-haired Taoist picked up the green bamboo pen on the table, dipped it in the blood-colored cinnabar, poured spiritual power into it, and wrote the two characters Su Qi above the fairy pattern on the back of the wooden plaque.
Then he put away his smile and said solemnly: "Donor Su, Fairy Jianyue, is a true fairy in the immortal world. She has a beautiful spirit, is compassionate, protects all living beings, and has immeasurable merit. Donor, are you willing to sincerely worship Fairy Jianyue? Pray for the fairy's blessing?"
"Little girl Su Qi, I would like to worship Fairy Jian Yue for the rest of her life. May the fairy bless the little girl with a safe life." Su Qi clasped her hands together and replied word for word according to her mother's repeated instructions in advance.
"Donor Su, as long as you sincerely worship Fairy Jian Yue, the fairy will protect you for life. Donor, please stretch out your left hand. I want to take a few drops of your essence and blood and inject it into the wooden pendant." After the white-haired old man finished speaking, he used his magic power. Take out a long fiery red needle from the brazier on one side and put it into a large bowl filled with cold water on the table to cool down.
When the young woman saw the long, red-hot needle, she couldn't help but feel a little frightened. Under the urging of her mother, she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and stretched out her clenched left hand. Her body was shaking slightly, obviously. Still very scared.
The white-haired old man took out a long needle from the water, grabbed the young woman's hand, pricked a needle on the index finger and middle finger, squeezed out a few drops of scarlet blood, and dripped it on the square wooden sign until the white wooden sign was completely dyed red. , then let go of the young woman's hand and said solemnly: "Okay, the Jian Yue Lingpei is ready. The donor needs to carry it with him every day and keep it properly."
"Don't worry! Taoist priest, my little girl will carry it with her every day." The woman next to her took the wooden sign, put it into the bag of tips she had prepared early in the morning, put the bag into the pocket of the young man's clothes, and said with a smile.
"Young lady knows! Thank you, Taoist Priest!" The young woman wrapped her left hand with a handkerchief, her eyes were a little red. After thanking the white-haired Taoist, she got up and followed her mother out of the house.
"Xiao Xuanzi, that's it for today. Let the pilgrims waiting behind you go back first and come back tomorrow!" After seeing off the mother and daughter, the old white-haired Taoist said to the young Taoist priest at the door.
"Okay, Master! By the way, Magistrate He is here, waiting in the backyard!" The little Taoist priest at the door responded hurriedly.
"I know, let's go!" The white-haired old man nodded.
After the little Taoist priest saluted, he ran to the front hall and asked the waiting pilgrims to disperse and come back tomorrow. Today, for some unknown reason, the temple master stopped accepting pilgrims at noon, which is really rare.
Soon the little Taoist priest smiled happily, "Who cares!" I thought: I can be lazy again today!
About a quarter of an hour later, the little Taoist priest could no longer be happy. He and other Taoist priests in the temple were called to the backyard dojo and lined up to wait under the scorching sun. Not only were there Taoist priests in the temple, but also magistrate He and other officials of Shuoyang City, as well as numerous police officers and government officials.
The backyard dojo is paved with large stones and is very wide. At the end stands the tall statue of Fairy Jane. This statue is made of white jade and is lifelike. It is ten feet high and looks like a hill. The statue has its hands in Ruyi mudra. Looking down at the entire Shuoyang City.
Xing Qu, the master of Shuoyang Taoist Temple, stood at the front of the queue. He was a man of white hair and was already an octogenarian. He was a disciple of the Huang Sheng Sect. He practiced Qi at the eighth level. After he had no hope of building a foundation, he first served in Pingyang Taoist Temple in Pingyang Fucheng for ten years. "Registered as a spiritual official", he was later transferred by the sect to Shuoyang Taoist Temple to serve as the temple's master.
Shuoyang City is a small city, with a total population of only more than 800,000. Shuoyang Taoist Temple is also a small temple. Although there is also a statue of Jian Yue in the temple, it is the same as the statue of Pingyang Taoist Temple in Fucheng. It cannot be generalized.
Although the two immortal statues are exactly the same in style but smaller in scale, the "Jian Yue Immortal Statue" in Shuoyang Taoist Temple cannot condense the "Qing Ke Dan".
It is precisely because of this that Xing Qu can become the master of the Shuoyang Taoist Temple with only the ninth level of Qi training. In addition to himself, there are two hired casual cultivators in the Taoist temple, one with the fifth level of Qi training and the other with Qi training. He is at the sixth level of Qi, not too young, and is a native of Shuoyang City.
The rest are ordinary Taoists with no magic power. There are more than 150 of them, and they help take care of the daily chores of Shuoyang Taoist Temple, such as people in the city coming to the temple to pray for blessings and offering incense, giving alms and meals, etc. .
There are nearly a thousand small temples like Shuoyang Taoist Temple in Yue Kingdom. Some Taoist temples are not as big as Shuoyang Taoist Temple. Even most of the temple owners are casual cultivators hired by Huang Shengzong Hua Lingshi.
When Xing Qu was first transferred to Shuoyang Taoist Temple, he always had a doubt in his mind. Why did the sect spend a lot of spiritual stones to build so many Taoist temples that could not condense the "Qingke Dan", and also hired a large number of casual cultivators to take care of the Taoist temples? Is it just In order to distribute "Jian Yue Ling Pei" to the people of the world for free?
Until ten years ago, an inspection envoy from the "Jianyue Immortal Sect" came to the Taoist Temple. Accompanied by a senior deacon of the sect, he carefully inspected the Shuoyang Taoist Temple and secretly visited the people in the city about the reputation of Shuoyang Taoism.
Xing Qu took the time to ask the sect's deacon and found out that the sect's expense and effort to maintain so many useless Taoist temples was not the sect's original intention, but a death order issued by the "Jian Yue Xian Sect".
As Xing Qu originally guessed, these Taoist temples were established precisely to distribute a "Jian Yue Ling Pendant" to everyone in the world. Not only Huang Sheng Sect needs this, but all sects in the world are the same.
The "Jian Yue Immortal Sect" has ordered that all towns with more than 10,000 people within the jurisdiction of the sects in the world must build a Jian Yue Taoist temple, and issue "Jian Yue Lingpei" to the people through the Taoist temple. If there is a war between sects, the Jian Yue Taoist Temple cannot be destroyed. Anyone who violates this will be severely punished.
Xing Qu asked why the "Jian Yue Immortal Sect" issued this order and what benefit would it bring to the "Jian Yue Immortal Sect"? But the sect deacon did not answer, or the sect deacon next to him knew the profound meaning of the order issued by the "Jian Yue Immortal Sect".
"Look! There." When a group of people were sweating like rain under the scorching sun, the sharp-eyed detective suddenly pointed to the horizon and exclaimed.
I saw several streaks of light appearing between the mountains and white clouds on the horizon. They were extremely fast and reached the sky above Shuoyang City in the blink of an eye. They were four immortals flying with swords. Below were the officials, policemen, and government officials of Shuoyang City. They all put their feet up and looked up, looking excited and chatting away.
"Silence! How unbecoming!" Magistrate He saw Old Temple Master Xing on the side looking unhappy, and immediately shouted to stop the people behind him.
"Xing Qu, the master of Shuoyang Taoist Temple, has met four fellow Taoists!" After the four sword lights fell, Xing Qu stepped forward and said with a smile.
"Xuanhan, a poor Taoist, came to Shuoyang City to host the "Spirit Testing Conference" under the order of the sect. This is the fourth junior brother Li Feng, this is the sixth junior brother Liu Yu, and this is the seventh junior sister Tang Zhi." Zhang Yuanzhen said. Disciple "Xuanhan" nodded slightly and responded.
"It turns out to be senior Xuanhan. Disciple Xing Qu is disrespectful!" The old man Xing Qu immediately raised his hands and saluted and said. Although the other party looks young, the world of cultivation can only have a name after establishing a foundation. Xing Qu does not dare to rely on his old age to show off his old age.
"Fellow Daoist Xing, there is no need to do this!" Xuan Han replied with a slight smile.
"These two fellow Taoists are enshrined in the temple! Fellow Daoist Huang and Fellow Daoist Li!" Xing Qu turned sideways and began to introduce the welcoming people behind him.
"The poor Taoist Huang Ci and the poor Taoist Li Fengyu have met four masters!" The two old casual cultivators employed by Huang Shengzong hurriedly stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Li Feng, Liu Yu, and Tang Zhi, I have met two fellow Taoists." The three of them hurriedly bowed in return.
"Senior "Xuanhan", this is the governor of Shuoyang City." Xing Qu introduced, pointing to the court official behind him who wore a black gauze hat and a blue-patterned belted robe.
"Your Majesty, He Niu, will bring all the officials of Shuoyang City to pay homage to the four immortal masters!" He Niu, the magistrate of Shuoyang City, bowed and said. Behind him, all the officials, big and small, and all the policemen and government officials knelt down one after another and shouted in unison. Said: "Little man, pay homage to the four immortal masters!"
"Everyone, please get up quickly!" Taoist Xuanhan stepped forward to help He Niu up, and then said to the kneeling officials, policemen, government servants and others.
"Does Magistrate He have any notice about this "spiritual testing conference"?" Taoist Xuanhan asked about the business.
"Master Immortal, please rest assured. All the seventy-eight townships in the six counties under the jurisdiction of Shuoyang City have posted notices. In half a month, a "Spirit Testing Conference" will be held at Shuoyang Taoist Temple in the capital city for a period of one month! All counties are ordered to arrest the police quickly. , Yamen servants are running around telling each other every day, and the people of this mansion will definitely come and actively participate!" Magistrate He hurriedly replied.
"Then Magistrate He will take everyone back first! Then we will make preparations for the "Spirit Testing Conference"." Taoist Xuanhan said with a frown as he looked at the crowd of people, dripping with sweat.
"Immortal Master, I have set up a banquet at the "Drunken Dream Tower" in the city to welcome all the immortal masters." Magistrate He said with a smile.
"Thank you all! I am tired from traveling for many days, so I won't go!" Taoist Xuanhan said politely.
"Zhifu He will go back first! The old Taoist master will greet the four masters." Seeing that Zhifu He still wanted to invite him, Master Xing hurriedly said to Zhifu He for fear of offending Taoist Xuanhan.
"Then I will resign first!" Magistrate He did not dare to say more. He bowed to Liu Yu and the others and left in a hurry with a group of people.
"Senior "Xuanhan", please follow Xing!" Master Xing led Liu Yu and the four of them to the quiet room that had been arranged to rest.
