The Daoist chamber was empty and secluded, incense burning in the auspicious censer.
After seeing off Xuanzhen Zi, the steward from Qingwei Palace, the temple manager gave Yunji Temple Master and the lecturer a full account of Daoist Dehong's purpose in coming.
When he had finished, he looked to Yunji Temple Master and asked:
"Senior Brother, do you think this matter is real or false?"
"When falsehood is treated as truth, truth too becomes false. There is no meaning in fretting over whether it is real now! Yan Zhen is a disciple of our Yunji Temple. How can Yunji Temple stand by and watch his reputation be sullied?"
Yunji Temple Master spoke with righteous severity, setting the tone and direction for the discussion.
The temple manager nodded lightly at this, then turned thoughtfully toward the lecturer, Juezhen Zi.
"Junior Brother, your studies are the broadest and your knowledge the most varied. Do you know what kind of Daoist art this Art of Decapitation Immortality might be?"
Juezhen Zi pondered briefly.
"The Great Dao is without intention, yet it runs through all things. Surviving decapitation is not rare; it often appears even in street performances."
"Since Patriarch Fu Luan called it a Daoist art, it presumably is not some mere trick of the eye!"
"To my knowledge, among the Seventy-two Earthly Fiend Techniques is one called Head Reattachment. Legend says that even after beheading, one can grow a new head in the blink of an eye, entirely unharmed. There is also a technique called the Splitting Technique, which can separate any limb from one's body and restore it as before."
"If what Fellow Daoist Dehong said is true, this art is most likely the Splitting Technique."
The temple manager's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "How powerful is this divine