Ancestral Land of Daoism

"There's no need to pursue the secrets of the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains—those are mysteries recorded on another Immortal Bone Map. This Jade Book merely mentions them; they're not taboos we can chase now."

Yan Kuan stopped Monkey and Old Crane from continuing their discussion of the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains' secrets. That was a forbidden mystery of Kunlun, and the demons of Ten Thousand Demons Valley were better off not knowing—they couldn't bear such a secret.

Old Crane looked at Yan Kuan and said in a deep voice, "The secret of the Immortal Bone? The secret of the Jade Book? Brother Li is the successor across generations of Grand Sage Red Pine; he should know how to interpret what this Jade Book records!"

"Mm."

Yan Kuan nodded and then spoke clearly: "Back then, the legendary Earth Immortal, the quasi-emperor Rongcheng, after learning the secrets of immortality and obtaining part of the Bone Fragment Terrain Map, broke into the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains. It's said he was trapped there for many years before escaping.

Afterward, he laid out Ninety-Nine Small Dragons for himself, imitating the Ninety-Nine Great Dragon Mountains. The Dragon Mountains carved on these nine ancient jade pieces aren't the original ninety-nine true Dragon Mountains—they're his own burial ground."

"Earth Immortal! Quasi-emperor Rongcheng!"

Monkey and Old Crane exchanged glances and immediately made a decision. "We must uncover this secret. Our predecessors spent so much time and effort; this matter needs a resolution.

Though this majestic momentum was artificially arranged, once such terrain takes shape, it will inevitably nurture divine essence. After thousands of years, it will affect the surrounding mountain patterns. We might be able to use this as a starting point to find the Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals.

Third Brother, send people to various parts of Sichuan..."

Old Crane was about to mobilize the elites of Ten Thousand Demons Valley to search for the Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals when Yan Kuan slowly and deliberately gathered all the jade pieces and then stopped their actions. "I know where that place is. I just don't know if the two Valley Lords dare to go with me."

Yan Kuan slowly spoke a place name. Both Valley Lords of Ten Thousand Demons Valley froze simultaneously, but after a moment, they made their decision—this matter had to have an outcome. So they set out that very day, traveling without pause until they reached the location, then observed from afar.

The mountain coiled like a dragon, leaping toward the sky, and crouched like a tiger, majestic in momentum—dragon and tiger vying for dominance, neither yielding. Water wound around the peaks, totaling ninety-nine peaks and twenty-four cliffs. Though not dragon-shaped, they possessed that aura, using water's softness to complement the dragon's hardness.

"An ancient great formation here seals the secret land, and it has affected the layout of the outer mountains and waters. The Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals should be here."

"This is the Ancestral Land of Daoism. We must be careful. If they discover us, at least half the Daoists in the world will fight us to the death."

Outside Dragon Tiger Mountain in Jiangxi, the two Valley Lords of Ten Thousand Demons Valley, top-tier Dragon Transformation Realm experts of the age, both appeared hesitant and timid. Yan Kuan, however, walked briskly toward the dragon-coiling, tiger-crouching mountain.

Dragon Tiger Mountain, embracing a posture like a coiled dragon and crouching tiger, was steep and perilous, with layered peaks. A dragon seemed to leap, a tiger to pounce, shaking off dust as purple qi rose.

After thousands of years of accumulation and several rises and falls, Dragon Tiger Mountain was recognized as the foremost Daoist mountain, the birthplace of Daoist culture, holding a prominent ancestral court status.

Dragon Tiger Mountain was deeply mysterious, the ancestral land of Daoism. Within, many old Daoists cultivated in seclusion, and there were even Great Divine Power Experts at the Immortal Platform Realm stationed there.

Monkey's golden eyes scanned the mountain terrain from afar. After a moment, he nodded and said quietly, "No wonder Daoism chose this place. Our Demon Race sages never understood, but now it's clear—an Earth Immortal, or rather a quasi-emperor expert, is buried here."

Old Crane also sighed. "In ancient times, a great formation guarded this place. When the Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals first formed, it couldn't yet affect the surrounding terrain. Now that the divine essence has matured, the terrain is hard to hide, allowing us to glimpse a corner. Daoism indeed had experts, choosing this place so early."

Speaking of the Daoist lineage, one must mention the pre-Qin Laozi and Zhuangzi, but its origins stretch even further back. Strictly speaking, it can be traced to ancient times.

Dao has existed since antiquity. The Yellow Emperor and Laozi's teachings expounded upon it, with numerous profound texts. Later generations honored the Yellow Emperor and Laozi as its founders.

Daoism existed early on, but as a true organization, it appeared later. The rise of Tianshi Dao, with Dragon Tiger Mountain as its ancestral court, was a landmark event.

Later, over thousands of years of rise and fall, Daoism gave birth to hundreds of sects, some interdependent, some branching off, some opposing each other—never truly unified.

From ancient times to the present, through many vicissitudes, Daoism's branches are many, but they can be broadly divided into two major schools: the northern Quanzhen Sect, which focuses on internal alchemy.

The other school is the southern Zhengyi Sect, which specializes in talismans, with its ancestral court at Dragon Tiger Mountain, occupying half the Daoist world. Its origin also marks the beginning of Daoism as an organized entity.

The Zhengyi Sect is divided into three branches: Tianshi Dao, Lingbao Sect, and Shangqing Sect. Tianshi Dao reveres Laozi, Lingbao Sect reveres the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, and Shangqing Sect reveres the Primal Celestial Venerable—the Three Pure Ones revered in Daoism originated from this. None of these three branches are much weaker than the Quanzhen Sect, and their influence is naturally terrifying.

Dragon Tiger Mountain being the ancestral court of Daoism, they had to act cautiously. One misstep could cause an incident, potentially making enemies of the entire Daoist world.

Yan Kuan led Monkey and Old Crane into the mountain. As they observed the terrain along the way, this Daoist ancestral land had ninety-nine peaks and twenty-four cliffs. Though the ninety-nine peaks lacked dragon form, they possessed dragon-tiger momentum.

The First Valley Lord drew a strand of purple qi from heaven and earth and sighed, "Now that heaven and earth's essence is depleted, this place still harbors inner purple qi. Truly the founding soil of Daoism."

His sigh had barely faded when the three arrived at the outer mountain ruins of the Daoist ancestral court. But alas, the former splendor was no longer visible.

At its peak, Dragon Tiger Mountain had ten great Dao palaces, eighty-one Daoist observatories, and thirty-six Daoist courts. During the Manchu Dynasty's rule, Tibetan Buddhism was favored, and Daoism, primarily a Han Chinese faith, was suppressed, leading to this place's decline.

After the Manchu Dynasty ended, the Central Plains suffered great calamities—a century of war and turmoil. In recent years, disaster struck again, and the Daoist temples were all destroyed, leaving only a single Tianshi Manor.

But these destroyed temples and palaces were only the outer mountain facade. The true inner ancient mountain was cut off from the mundane, with cultivators stationed there.

Monkey arrived at a mountain base and pointed to a cliff ahead. "Look, this should be the place. Even the outer mountain cliffs have hanging coffins, all over two thousand years old. The inner mountain must be even more so."

The Dragon Tiger Mountain Cliff Tombs, mostly coffins from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, were a unique wonder of China. It was said that Daoism took root and flourished here partly because of the hanging coffins' miraculous majesty.

Old Crane said, "Thinking about it now, Daoism was truly shrewd. They knew the Earth Immortal's hanging coffin was here long ago, arrived before anyone else, and claimed this place. Even if we enter now, we might not find the Earth Immortal's treasure."

As a Daoist ancestral land with thousands of years of history, Dragon Tiger Mountain's inner mountain was unknown to the mortal world. Neither the Demon Race nor Western traditions had ever entered. Even if earth-shattering secrets lay here, outsiders could never know, let alone find the entrance.