Tianluo Mountain.
This mountain is a famous Taoist mountain, ranking among the top ten among the thirty-six caves and seventy-two blessed places in the world. The Ziyun Road in the mountain is also known as one of the three great roads in the world and is the leader of the Yue Kingdom Road.
With such a fairy mountain Dao lineage, it is natural that everyone in Pengli Mansion near Tianluo Mountain is a Taoist and is a believer in the Ziyun Dao lineage.
When Lu Yuan and others arrived near Tianluo Mountain, it was already too late. It was still dozens of miles away from the location of Ziyun Road, and they would not be able to reach it today.
It was getting dark, but there was no small town hotel around. Fortunately, I saw a small village nearby and walked in.
There were only a dozen households in the village and there was not much population. When they saw Lu Yuan and others coming in, they immediately attracted the attention of the villagers.
At this time, a group of strong men from the village gathered over, each holding a stick or weapon and looking warily at outsiders.
In these war-torn times, even if Yuzhang County is relatively peaceful, there are still some rogues in the area.
Therefore, any village will be wary of outsiders.
Lu Yuan came all the way from Dongting County and saw countless villages like this during his thousands of miles.
Yuzhang County is pretty good here.
In a place like Dongting County, where the war has been going on for several years, I am afraid that before they even get close to the village, there will be sentry guards in the village, who will shoot them with arrows and directly drive them away.
"Who are you? Why did you come to my village?" In front of a group of strong men was an old man with half-white beard and hair. Although he was old, he was quite burly. He could tell that he had practiced martial arts when he was young. At this time, his voice asked loudly.
"Back to you, old man. We are just tourists passing by. When we arrived here, it was already dark and there were no town hotels nearby, so we wanted to stay in the village. Don't worry, old man, I will pay for the food and accommodation later." Lu Yuan went up. One step forward and a request with a good attitude.
"Tourist?"
When the old man heard this, he was slightly stunned. Then he thought of something and looked at the people waiting on the roadside. When he landed on Qi Yun, he saw the black Taoist robe on the other side. He was slightly startled, and then asked: "How many of you were invited by Ziyun Taoist to attend the Tianluo Dharma Assembly?"
Lu Yuan looked surprised. He didn't know how the old man guessed it, but he still nodded and said: "The old man is right. This time, we are indeed invited by Ziyun Dao to participate in the Tianluo Dharma Assembly."
When the old man heard this, his face suddenly showed a bit of joy: "It turned out to be the Taoist priest who participated in the Dharma assembly. The old man was rude earlier. To be invited by Ziyun Taoist to participate in the Dharma assembly, he must be a Taoist master.
The old Wei De was appointed as the village chief. It is a great blessing for our village to be able to host so many of them. We are just in luck with the celestial spirit. Please invite the Taoist priests to come in quickly. "
The villagers behind Wei De showed respect on their faces after hearing that the people in front of them were Taoist priests who were going to attend the Tianluo Dharma Assembly.
Not only did he get out of the way, but he also followed Wei De and warmly invited Lu Yuan and the others to live in his home.
It can be seen that these villagers really want to invite these Taoist priests to their homes to soak up the immortal spirit as Wei De said.
Lu Yuan and others felt this huge change in attitude, and they were all surprised. On the way to the village chief's house, they couldn't help but ask: "Weng Wei, the villagers in your village are so enthusiastic towards every Taoist priest." ?"
Wei De had just driven away the villagers who were trying to steal his guests, and invited all four Taoist priests to his home. At this time, he was very happy, and when he heard the Taoist priest asking, he said happily: "The Taoist priest said more or less.
Every household in my village believes in Taoism, so they naturally have a good impression of Taoist priests.
In particular, the Taoist priest and others were invited by the immortal masters from Ziyun Mountain, so they were even more distinguished guests, and of course they had to be treated warmly. "
Wade had a matter-of-fact expression.
Hearing this, Lu Yuan and others looked at each other, and they were all shocked by Ziyundao's influence here.
The people at the bottom can support him from the bottom of their hearts, and even love the guests of Ziyundao.
Let’s not talk about other things, just such a message of people’s aspirations is enough to make people amazed.
Qi Yun next to him, on the other hand, didn't feel much about this.
He has already participated in the Tianluo Dharma Assembly twice. During the first two visits, he had already deeply felt how popular Ziyundao was here.
Looking at it now, the shock in my heart is much less, not even much touched.
However, seeing the expressions on his companions, he couldn't help but explain in a low voice: "Fellow Daoist Lu and fellow Taoist Shangguan, near Tianluo Mountain, or in the entire Pengli Mansion area, the local trend of cultivating immortals and cultivating Taoism is very strong.
On weekdays, many of the people here refer to themselves as lay Taoist friends. In each household, portraits of several famous real-life Celestial Masters from Ziyun Taoism are enshrined, and incense is burned day and night.
The local rural gentlemen and families often have Taoist friends who have been ordained as monks and practiced in the mountains. Even those who are not monks basically believe in Taoism, often hold Dharma meetings and donate money to build Taoist temples.
This resulted in Taoist temples of varying sizes being built in almost every city, every town, and even every township and village in Pengli Prefecture. In De Taoist temples, Taoist priests from the Ziyun Taoist sect are often invited to come down from Tianluo Mountain to teach and preside over the temple.
It can be said that hundreds of thousands of families in Pengli Mansion are all followers of Ziyun Tao.
Especially during this Tianluo Dharma Assembly, all Taoist temples under the Ziyun Taoist sect and the villages and towns where the Taoist temples are located will give advance instructions to the believers to help receive Taoist friends from all over the world.
Therefore, here, as long as they hear that we are guests invited by Ziyun Taoism, all believers of this Taoism will warmly welcome us. "
At this time, Shangguan Guangbai next to him also said: "The influence of Ziyun Dao is indeed so great, and it is even more than that. In fact, in addition to Pengli Mansion, the nearby Linchuan Mansion, Yuzhang Mansion, and Xunyang Mansion, There are also Taoist temples of Ziyun Taoism.
This time I came with my father on the march. When I passed through Xunyang and Yuzhang, I saw many Taoist temples of Ziyun Taoism.
At that time, I heard from my father that in the entire Yuzhang County, there were more than one million followers of Ziyun Dao, covering four prefectures and half of the county.
And not only does it have many believers, Ziyun Dao also has an extremely respected status among the various sects in the Yue Kingdom and even the world, and is one of the three sects in the world.
The imperial court will also canonize successive Ziyun Taoist masters and respect them as real people, with titles comparable to those of the Three Dukes and Princes.
In comparison, those national teachers currently canonized by the imperial court are only the second grade. "
Shangguan Guangbai's tone was a little complicated.
In fact, there was one thing he didn't say, which was that Shangguan Ming once said that despite the six surnames and seven clans in Linhai County, they have been inherited for thousands of years and are very noble. But when it comes to inheritance, it is far inferior to Ziyun Dao.
He also said that everyone in the world said that the innate master was the most powerful person in the world and could be regarded as a land god.
But in fact, in the eyes of a true Taoist master, even an innate grandmaster is nothing more than mediocre.
The so-called theory of gods is even more ridiculous.
And there is such a Taoist master in Ziyun Taoism, and it is the master of Ziyun Taoism.
Therefore, the imperial courts of all dynasties respected and enshrined Ziyun Dao, and recognized his true name without having to listen to the tune or the announcement. It was almost a rush to lick it.
Not even just the court.
Shangguan Guangbai still remembers that when his father told him these things, he once told him sincerely that if he met the Taoist priest of Ziyun Tao in the future, he must not offend him and make more contacts with him.
If you can make one or two Ziyun Dao friends, you may be of endless use in this life.
The direct descendants of the six surnames and seven clans were actually rushing to make friends with some foreign Taoist priests. This made Shangguan Guangbai, who had been accustomed to being arrogant since childhood, feel uncomfortable.
But he is also a smart man, and he knows that what his father said must be useful.
Therefore, a few days ago, after Shangguan Guangbai heard that Lu Yuan said that he was going to attend the Tianluo Dharma Assembly, he dragged his sister to her and insisted on going with him.
This is not only to continue to be friends with Lu Yuan, but also to take advantage of this opportunity to see who Ziyundao, whom his father also highly praised, is?
After listening to the introductions of the two companions, Lu Yuan's expression didn't change much, but his heart was already stirred up.
Originally, Ziyundao's status in his heart was already quite high. After all, he is the leader of the Yue Kingdom Dao Sect, and his influence is very wide, which is foreseeable.
But now it seems that my original estimate is still too small.
Millions of believers, what a terrifying number.
Take the simplest example.
Nowadays, the Qiang people who spread across Xichuan County and established the Shu Kingdom only have a clan number of 400,000-500,000. At this time, the total number of Miao people occupying the county and wreaking havoc in Dongting was only over a million.
Even Lu Yuan himself, the two prefectures of Hengyang and Luyang he controlled, had a population of only about 400,000.
The Ziyundao family has millions of followers.
Looking at the attitude of the villagers towards Ziyundao in the village now, there is no need to think too much. If Ziyundao rebels, these villagers will definitely follow without saying a word.
With the devout faith of these believers, they will probably turn into fervent berserkers.
If the Taoist priests of Ziyun Tao recited some spells, divided some talisman water, and asked God to bless them and become invulnerable, they would probably fight to the death and fight like crazy.
'And that's not all.
According to what Shangguan Guangbai said, the Taoist Master Ziyun who was conferred by the imperial court was a real person of the first rank. Those national masters canonized by Jianghu masters are also the second grade.
The real person is two levels higher than those national teachers.
From this aspect, that is to say, in the eyes of the court, Master Ziyun's strength is stronger than those of the innate masters.
Fellow Taoist Qi Yun said that he had personally seen Taoist Master Ziyun control the sound of heavenly fire and perform immortal magic.
Doesn't this mean that a cultivator at the level of Master Ziyun is already stronger than those innate masters in the world? '
Lu Yuan deduced this in his mind and couldn't help but shuddered slightly.
His fear of Taoist Master Ziyun, whom he had never met before, suddenly increased greatly.
Now, a congenital saint from the Five Poison Sect forced him to sleep soundly every night and had to change his sleeping place every night.
At this time, facing Taoist Master Ziyun who is stronger than the Xiantian Grandmaster, how can we not be even more fearful and awe-struck.
And even that's not all.
Since Ziyun Dao has a Taoist master, who can guarantee that there are no other immortal cultivators?
It is not necessary for these immortal cultivators to have the strength of Master Ziyun.
As long as it's a little worse than the innate masters in the world, it's an extremely terrifying power.
Moreover, in the Taoist sect, in addition to immortal magic, there are also people who practice martial arts.
Just like fellow Taoist Qi Yun, he is a second-rate person in the world.
A small temple like Qingyun Temple can produce a second-rate master.
Ziyundao's Taoist temples are spread throughout the four prefectures of Yuzhang County. How many martial arts masters can they cultivate?
The strength and foundation possessed by Ziyundao are really shocking when you think about it carefully.
'No wonder the imperial court gave Ziyun Tao such honor. It's not that the emperors and princes in the court admire Taoism, it's really you who can't do it without giving it. '
At this time, Lu Yuan deeply realized the difficulty of the court.
If Ziyundao is not taken care of well, the emperor will really not be able to sit still on the throne and will not be able to sleep.
The emperor has to worry all the time whether Taoist Master Ziyun will come to the palace one day and take away his life in his sleep.
With such a great immortal in the country, it would be difficult to be an emperor.
Lu Yuan sighed in his heart, he had already arrived at the home of village chief Wei De.
After entering the room, he looked around and saw a piece of incense eucalyptus placed in front of the dining table in the hall, with a statue of a god hanging on it. There was an incense burner in front of the statue, and the incense was already lit.
Looking at the statue, I saw an old man in white and blue robes, holding a wooden staff, with a purple cloud following behind him.
"This is the Immortal Lord Miaoyin Guangyuan. It is said that he is the Taoist master of Ziyun Taoism who ascended thousands of years ago." Qi Yun saw his friend staring at the portrait, walked over and recognized him, and said with a smile.
"Ascended a thousand years ago?"
Lu Yuan noticed this word, looked deeply at the portrait, and then looked away.
Thousands of years ago, is it possible that at that time, all the immortal cultivators in the world could ascend to immortality?
But didn’t the decline of fairy spirit already begin thousands of years ago?
Or is it said that one can become an immortal in this world even when spiritual energy is declining?
Lu Yuan had many more questions in his mind. He got too much information today, but most of it was messy and scattered, and he couldn't figure out a clue at all.
So after thinking about it for a while, it was still a mess, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
No matter what the truth is, if you look for it slowly in the future, you will always get the answer.
And in half a month, it will be the Tianluo Dharma Assembly.
At that time, Taoist Master Ziyun will appear in person to teach the Dharma. The immortal cultivators at that time will be right in front of you. If you have any doubts, you can wait and explore them slowly at that time.
The Weide family is very enthusiastic about the guests who come to attend the Tianluo Dharma Ceremony. They even killed a few chickens and took home bacon to entertain the guests.
Lu Yuan and the others enjoyed a dinner, and then went to the prepared guest rooms to rest.
At dawn the next day, several people left one or two pieces of silver behind despite Wei De's rejection, and then continued to ride on horseback to leave and rush to Ziyun Road.
After walking along the official road for more than thirty miles, a small town at the foot of a mountain came into view in the distance.
When we drove our horses into the town, we saw that the town was already crowded with people and was filled with Taoist priests from all over the world.
At the entrance of the town, there were several Taoist priests in green robes waiting with several tables.
When they saw Lu Yuan and others arriving, they immediately came over to greet them.
The first person performed a Taoist salute and immediately said with a smile: "How many Taoist friends are invited to attend the Dharma conference? The poor Taoist Ziyun Taoist Mu Hongying, Tian is the guest receptionist and is ordered to welcome the Taoist friends attending the conference."
Qi Yun took a step forward at this time, returned the gift first, then took out the jade plate seal letter from his arms and handed it over: "The master of Qingyun Temple in Hengyang Prefecture, Dongting County, is invited to come this time. I also invite fellow Taoists. Check.”
Mu Hongying took the jade plate certified by the government and the seal symbolizing the identity of the master of Ziyun Temple. After carefully checking it to confirm that it was authentic, he smiled and said: "It turns out that he is a Taoist friend of Qingyun Temple. There have been two invited places in the past, and the corresponding accommodation has been prepared in the town. Two Taoists can move in with this name tag."
With that said, Mu Hongying took two bamboo cards from the side and handed them to Qi Yun. After the latter accepted it, he looked at Lu Yuan and the others: "Who are these fellow Taoists?"
"Poverty Taoist Lu Yuan, I am here with fellow Taoist Qi Yun." Lu Yuan walked directly to Qi Yun, then took the bamboo sign from the other party's hand and showed his identity.
Mu Hongying nodded slightly, then looked at the Shangguan brothers and sisters.
Although Ziyun Dao's Tianluo Dharma Assembly invites everyone from all over the world to participate, not everyone can participate.
Those who are not virtuous people do not even have the threshold to join the association.
There are only two places in Qingyun Temple, but there are three people in front of you. The remaining two people will not be able to enter the town if there are no other invitation places.
The Shangguan brothers and sisters were so shrewd that they naturally saw what Ziyundao meant to receive the guests. Shangguan Guangbai took a step forward, then took out a jade pendant from his arms and handed it to him: "Shangguan Guangbai, this is My sister Shangguan Haiyue, my brother and sister are from Jintan Shangguan clan."
When Mu Hongying heard the name Jintan Shangguan, Mu Hongying's expression changed slightly. He took the jade pendant and looked at it carefully. After confirming carefully that it was the identity jade medal of the direct descendant of the Shangguan family, his expression also became serious, and he bowed and said: "It turns out it is. Young lady of the Shangguan family. Please come in, this is your brand name."
Mu Hongying personally took the bamboo cards and gave them to the Shangguan brothers and sisters. His attitude was much better than that towards Qi Yun.
But it's not his fault.
The Shangguan family is one of the six surnames and seven clans of the Yue Kingdom, and this year, an innate master was born. Now he is worshiped as the General of the Western Conquest and the Governor of Dongting County. He can lead an army of 100,000 and go out to quell the Miao rebellion.
This kind of power and birth is certainly not comparable to that of a small mountain temple like Qingyun Temple.
The four of them each got their name tags, registered their names, and then entered the town together.
Entering the town, you will notice that in addition to the residents of the town, there are countless Taoist priests.
These Taoist priests spoke with various accents, wore various Taoist uniforms, and even some strange costumes, making people wonder where they came from.
"Several fellow Taoists, the Taoists who come to participate in each Dharma conference come from more than ten countries in the world, and even from overseas. The customs and customs of each country are different, so there are naturally differences."
Qi Yun looked at the stunned fellow Taoists, smiled and explained, then looked at the nameplate and said: "If you want to stroll around the town or discuss Taoism with other fellow Taoists, you can come back later.
It's still half a month before the Dharma conference begins. During this period, I will be living in the town and have plenty of time to socialize with fellow practitioners.
Now let's go to the arranged accommodation and put away our luggage. "
At this time, several people were holding packages and leading horses. They were definitely not dressed up for strolling around, so the three of them nodded in agreement.
Then he took the name tag and followed Qi Yun to find a place to stay.
