Tuzhou, Painting Mountain.
Legend had it that a thousand years ago, a Painting Saint cultivated on an unnamed mountain, entered the Dao through painting, manifested sanctity in the mortal world, and then wandered away.
After that, the unnamed mountain was named Painting Mountain in remembrance.
Yet Painting Mountain was merely an ordinary small hill beyond the dozens of miles of mountains in Tuzhou. It had neither beautiful scenery nor famed cultural sites.
Thus, though it held commemorative significance, it was only a name. The occasional travelers who came to sightsee would not stay for long.
However, twenty or thirty years ago, a wandering daoist came here and purchased the deed to Painting Mountain from the Tuzhou authorities. He founded a sect upon the mountain and built a daoist temple of modest size.
The daoist was named Xuanyu.
The temple was named Jade Truth Temple.
After founding his sect, this daoist Xuanyu made Tuzhou his center, traveling through nearby counties, towns, markets, fields, villages, and forts, aiding those in danger and hardship, slaying demons and eliminating devils.
He then took in many disciples and spread the daoist teachings far and wide. He even compiled several methods for strengthening the body and taught them to local farmers, craftsmen, hunters, and merchants.
More than a decade later, Jade Truth Temple had already earned considerable fame in Tuzhou.
However, daoist Xuanyu's cultivation was not high, and he followed a grassroots path. Of his eight hundred disciples, some had only just developed Qi Sensation, while others were merely a little stronger than ordinary people.
Thus, they had never drawn the vigilance of the major surrounding sects. In their eyes, Jade Truth Temple was simply an utterly ordinary low-level sect.
Later, even when Jade Truth Temple's disciples went forth and spread throughout Linxi Province, they had