Tip of the Xuan Gate Iceberg

The Tip of the Xuan Gate Iceberg

Upon hearing about the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldiers, Wang Dao Xuan's expression changed dramatically.

Li Yan had been watching his expression all along. Seeing this, he finally put his mind at ease.

He had brought it up directly to sound him out.

Although Wang Dao Xuan had given him a good first impression, he was ultimately too down-and-out. If he had never even heard of the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldiers, then there would have been no need to tell him certain things.

"To be frank, I've run into some trouble..."

After confirming that the other man was an insider, Li Yan no longer beat around the bush and directly told him about the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldiers.

Of course, the martial world was treacherous, and one should speak only three parts of the truth to anyone. Thus, he concealed several important matters.

For example, regarding Widow Wang, he merely said she was the village's Spirit Medium and had later vanished mysteriously, without revealing the details, lest he cause trouble for them.

They were hiding from their enemies. He couldn't repay kindness with enmity.

Then there was the Yansheng Curse on the plaque.

Since it involved a feud between lineages, he had to be cautious. After all, the black hand behind it might well be connected to people from the Xuan Gate.

As for the Substitute Divine Statue, he would reveal it to no one.

Regarding the Olfactory Mystical Power, however, he told him everything.

Wang Dao Xuan listened carefully. He was puzzled at first, then furrowed his brows in deep thought. Finally, he stared at Li Yan with eyes full of disbelief and said,

"Your Eight Characters must be extraordinarily hard!"

A hard fate?

With a Substitute Divine Statue, his fate was naturally hard enough.

Li Yan hurriedly bent at the waist and clasped his hands. "I hope Daoist Wang can enlighten me."

Wang Dao Xuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Forget it. Since you've awakened a mystical power, you're fated to have ties with the Xuan Gate. Besides, this isn't exactly a secret. With careful investigation, you can always find out about it. There's no harm in telling you."

"When speaking of Rampaging Soldiers, one must first mention Xuan Gate soldiers. Whether they belong to the Orthodox Xuan Gate, local lineages, or even certain heretical paths, whenever they establish an altar and perform rituals, they will nurture soldiers."

"There are countless kinds of soldiers. There are the Lu Soldiers of the Orthodox Xuan Gate, the She Ling Soldiers of City God and Land God Temples, the Five Directions Five Camps Yin Soldiers of the various local lineages, the Five Paths Immortal Soldiers of Chuma Xian families, and the Five Connect Soldiers of folk Excessive Sacrifices..."

"These soldiers have neither form nor shadow, and ordinary people have difficulty seeing them. Dharma Masters can borrow them to search mountains and destroy temples, drive out monsters and capture evil spirits, battle others through ritual arts, and even take human lives..."

"The origins of Rampaging Soldiers are numerous and difficult to explain all at once, but they all share the traits of ferocity and difficulty in controlling or restraining them. Their power, however, is far from small."

"As for Cold Altars, they are what certain lineages become after dying out, when no disciples remain to inherit their incense offerings. They turn into Cold Altar Ruined Temples."

"Many people provide offerings to Rampaging Soldiers, but there's a troublesome point. Once the incense offerings are cut off, they lose control, attach themselves to beasts or people, and roam everywhere in search of blood food."

As he spoke, he said thoughtfully, "In the Guanzhong region, the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect regularly searches the mountains and destroys temples at fixed times. There are very few Cold Altars. These Rampaging Soldiers most likely came from the Qinling Mountains."

"Those Cold Altar Rampaging Soldiers were comparable to Fierce Ghosts. Though you awakened a mystical power and had someone guide you in breaking their curse, the fact that you survived means your fate was unquestionably hard enough!"

Li Yan said thoughtfully, "Are there many of these soldiers in the Xuan Gate?"

Wang Dao Xuan nodded. "The Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect possesses Lu Soldiers. No one knows their number, but there are definitely plenty of them. They're beings that can be called Celestial Soldiers and generals. Otherwise, how could it have become the Chief of the Orthodox Xuan Sect and received offerings from the imperial court for generations?"

"Not to mention the various local lineages. Some inheritances are ancient, and their Ancestor Soldiers number in the hundreds of thousands. Add in those obscure little folk sects, and the number of soldiers under Heaven is simply impossible to count..."

Li Yan was shaken to the core and could not calm down for a long time.

A single Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier had nearly cost him his life. If there were tens of thousands of them, the thought of that scene alone was enough to make his flesh creep.

He couldn't help asking, "The Xuan Gate's power is so terrifying. Wouldn't controlling the world be effortless?"

"It's not that easy."

Wang Dao Xuan gave a derisive laugh and shook his head. "There may be many soldiers, but one must also possess sufficient cultivation to command them. To control millions of soldiers, you need many High Merit Dharma Masters to conduct a large-scale ritual together. Sometimes, it can take several days just to prepare."

"Besides, the Great Dao has its own balance. Soldiers aren't invincible. For example, if you hide inside a City God or Land God Temple with flourishing incense, small-scale forces of soldiers can't enter at all..."

"There are countless methods within the Xuan Gate. Soldiers are only one of them..."

"And every famous mountain and great river, every Blessed Grotto-Heaven, has Innate Firm Qi gathered within. Take Mount Tai, the chief of the Five Sacred Mountains. Who would dare summon soldiers to besiege it?"

"Not only would the altar be blasted apart, the soldiers would also turn on their summoner, and might even disturb the gods within..."

Li Yan blurted out, "Are there really gods?"

Wang Dao Xuan nodded. "Naturally. But they're different from the gods in folk tales and legends. The matters involved are so complicated that even the High Merit Dharma Masters of those Orthodox Sects might not understand them fully, let alone a half-baked Daoist like me."

A trace of curiosity rose in Li Yan's eyes. "Then... what about immortals?"

Wang Dao Xuan sighed. "Immortality is all empty fantasy, and the immortal path is equally distant. Though there are legends of immortals, most are merely names heard without a trace of their whereabouts. I wouldn't dare speak recklessly."

Li Yan asked again, "After cultivating, can one fly through the heavens and flee across the earth, bring down stars and chase the moon? Or extend one's lifespan by several hundred years?"

Wang Dao Xuan looked somewhat speechless. "Even the Chief of the Orthodox Sect doesn't possess such abilities. When his time comes, he'll still go meet the Dao Ancestor."

As he spoke, he felt somewhat thirsty, so he picked up the cold tea beside him and drank.

Li Yan fell silent for a moment. Though disappointed, he still asked, "Daoist Wang, I've awakened a mystical power. Could you recommend me and help me enter the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect?"

Pfft!

Wang Dao Xuan sprayed out a mouthful of tea and choked, coughing for quite some time before shaking his head. "Your fate may be hard, but you can't keep expecting good things."

"Anyone who cultivates in the Xuan Gate must preserve the spirit and contemplate it. The older one is, the more cluttered one's thoughts become, and the harder it is to enter the path. Thus, whether Orthodox Sects or local lineages, most recruit children to train."

"Some folk lineages perform rituals for people. When they encounter a child who occasionally awakens a mystical power, they'll find a way to take him in. As for the Orthodox Xuan Gate, it has its own unique procedures and is in no shortage of disciples."

As he spoke, he gave a bitter laugh. "There are also plenty of people who awaken when they're older, like me. Unwilling to accept my fate, I forced my way into the Xuan Gate. After ten years of exhausting my family fortune, I went from being Shopkeeper Wang to Wang Lao Nian."

"After enduring countless hardships to enter the sect, I may call myself Dao Xuan, but in the eyes of my fellow practitioners, I'm still a laughingstock, unfit for the grand stage."

"If you want to solve your problem, that's easy enough. I know the ritual master of the local City God Temple and can help you perform a ritual to seal your Yang Six Roots mystical power. At the very least, you could live as an ordinary person and avoid being watched by evil entities."

"If you truly want to run off to the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect, that works too. But they would seal your mystical power as well, turn you into a Daoist who burns incense and sweeps the floor, and have you quietly recite the Yellow Court every day. That would still count as entering the Dao and escaping the mortal world."

Li Yan fell silent for a moment, then raised his head. "I don't want to accept my fate!"

"Good. Don't accept it."

Wang Dao Xuan stroked his beard. "If everyone in the world accepted their fate, how could the mortal realm keep turning, dynasties rise and fall, and the Human Path avoid entering a dead end?"

"I also know a method for preserving the spirit. Though it doesn't belong to the Orthodox Xuan Gate, it comes from a thousand-year-old lineage that has been passed down through the ages. If you successfully preserve the spirit, you'll be able to control your mystical power freely and even learn some simple techniques."

Li Yan was grateful and hurriedly asked, "Daoist, how much does your method cost?"

He had already seen that although Wang Dao Xuan was down-and-out, he still held righteous thoughts and treated people sincerely. Surely he wouldn't use a fake method to swindle him out of money.

"How much?"

Wang Dao Xuan sighed. "Back then, I exhausted my family fortune and begged people everywhere. I never obtained a true method, but I was cheated time and again. When I had grown disheartened, I encountered a wandering Daoist who was on the verge of death. He bestowed a true method upon me, asking only that I pass on the incense and not let it die out."

"How could I charge money for this single thread of incense? Besides, whether it will bring you fortune or misfortune remains unknown. If you can't preserve the spirit and are instead targeted by evil entities, wouldn't that harm you?"

"I wouldn't dare accept money like that."

As he spoke, he stood and took a booklet from the bookshelf behind him. "This is a secret manual. I copied several versions and checked them carefully. There won't be any mistakes. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me. I'll tell you the truth."

Li Yan still found it difficult to believe. "Daoist, aren't you afraid I'm a bad person who'll learn this art and use it to commit evil?"

Wang Dao Xuan laughed helplessly. "You're also a man of the martial world. Even if you only learned some ordinary fists and kicks, you could still kill someone. But would you dare kill people casually?"

"There are rules within the Xuan Gate as well. The Enforcement Hall of the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect isn't joking around, and the laws of the Great Xuan Dynasty must also be obeyed by people of the Xuan Gate."

Li Yan felt relieved. After taking it, he saw several large characters written on it: Western Xuan Cavern Nether True Scripture. When he opened it, the pages were covered in dense writing: Those who preserve the spirit must not associate with non-humans, must avoid affairs in a secluded chamber, roost with essence and tread upon emptiness, keep the mind and eyes in contemplation, subtly guard the void, still the soul and settle the form; then ten thousand harms cannot injure them, a hundred ghosts will flee, and a thousand demons will not advance...

Reading it made him dizzy, so he simply put it away for the time being and said, "I've come here for one other important matter. Daoist, do you remember Sha LiFei?"

"Sha LiFei?"

Wang Dao Xuan was utterly bewildered. He furrowed his brows and thought hard.

That guy really was bragging!

Li Yan had expected this. He described him, "A bald man with a face full of coarse flesh and a bushy beard. He liked to brag and spout nonsense..."

"Oh!"

Wang Dao Xuan suddenly understood. "I remember now. A few years ago, I met that Layman Sha once, and we had a very pleasant conversation."

"I remember it was spring. He said he would treat me to wine at the Drunken Flower Pavilion in Chang'an and even called over quite a few girls. But while I was drunk, he secretly ran off by himself."

"I nearly got beaten up. Fortunately, something supernatural was causing trouble in that brothel. After I performed a ritual to drive out the evil, that settled the bill..."

"What? Is Layman Sha coming to repay the money?"